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into a fact; fully established; it is that of Rousseau; in 1789 and

during the three following years。  For; not only are his principles

embodied in the laws; and the Constitution throughout animated with

his spirit; but it seems as if the nation looked upon his

ideological gambols; his abstract fiction; as serious。  This fiction

it carried out in every particular。  A social contract; at one

spontaneous and practical; an immense gathering of men associating

together freely for the first time for the recognition of their

respective rights; forming a specific compact; and binding

themselves by a solemn oath: such is the social recipe prescribed by

the philosophers; and which is carried out to the letter。  Moreover;

as this recipe is esteemed infallible; the imagination is worked

upon and the sensibilities of the day are brought into play。  It is

admitted that men; on again becoming equals; have again become

brothers。'2' A sudden and amazing harmony of all volitions and all

intelligences will restore the golden age on earth。  It is proper;

accordingly; to regard the social contract as a festival; an

affecting; sublime idyll; in which; from one end of France to the

other; all; hand in hand; should assemble and swear to the new

compact; with song; with dance; with tears of joy; with shouts of

gladness; the worthy beginning of public felicity。  With unanimous

assent; indeed; the idyll is performed as if according to a written

program。



On the 29th of November; 1789; at Etoile; near Valence; the

federations began。'3'  Twelve thousand National Guards; from the two

banks of the Rh?ne; promise 〃to remain for ever united; to insure

the circulation of grain; and to maintain the laws passed by the

National Assembly。〃 On the 13th of December; at Montélimart; six

thousand men; the representatives of 27 000 other men; take a

similar oath and confederate themselves with the foregoing。 … Upon

this the excitement spreads from month to month and from province to

province。  Fourteen towns of the bailiwicks of Franche…Comté form a

patriotic league。  At Pontivy; Brittany enters into federal

relations with Anjou。  One thousand National Guards of Vivarais and

Languedoc send their delegates to Voute。  48 000 in the Vosges send

their deputies to Epinal。  During February; March; April; and May;

1790; in Alsace; Champagne; Dauphiny; Orléanais; Touraine; Lyonnais;

and Provence; there is the same spectacle。  At Draguignan eight

thousand National Guards take the oath in the presence of 20 000

spectators。  At Lyons 50 000 men; delegates of more than 500 000

others take the civic oath。 … But local unions are not sufficient to

complete the organization of France ; a general union of all

Frenchmen must take place。  Many of the various National Guards have

already written to Paris for the purpose of affiliating themselves

with the National Guard there; and; one the 5th of June; the

Parisian municipal body having proposed it; the Assembly decrees the

universal federation。  It is to take place on the 14th of July;

everywhere on the same day; both at the center and at the

extremities of the kingdom。  There is to be one in the principal

town of each district and of each department; and one in the

capital。  To the latter each body of the National Guards is to send

deputies in the proportion of one man to every two hundred; and each

regiment one officer; one non…commissioned officer; and four

privates。  Fourteen thousand representatives of the National Guard

of the provinces appear on the Champ de Mars; the theater of the

festival; also eleven to twelve thousand representatives of the land

and marine forces; besides the National Guard of Paris; and sixty

thousand spectators on the surrounding slopes; with a still greater

crowd on the heights of Chaillot and of Passy。  All rise to their

feet and swear fidelity to the nation; to the law; to the King and

to the new Constitution。  When the report of the cannon is heard

which announces the taking of the oath; those of the Parisians who

have remained at home; men; women; and children; raise their hands

in the direction of the Champ de Mars and likewise make their

affirmation。  In every principal town of every district; department;

and commune in France there is the same oath on the same day。  Never

was there a more perfect social compact heard of。  Here; for the

first time in the world; everybody beholds a veritable legitimate

society; for it is founded on free pledges; on solemn stipulations;

and on actual consent。  They possess the authentic act and the dated

official report of it。'4'



There is still something more … the time and the occasion betoken a

union of all hearts。  The barriers which have hitherto separated men

from each other are all removed and without effort。  Provincial

antagonisms are now to cease: the confederates of Brittany and Anjou

write that they no longer desire to be Angevins and Bretons; but

simply Frenchmen。  All religious discords are to come to an end: at

Saint…Jean…du…Gard; near Alais; the Catholic curé and the Protestant

pastor embrace each other at the altar; the pastor occupies the best

seat in the church; and at the Protestant meeting…house the curé has

the place of honor; and listens to the sermon of the pastor。'5'

Distinctions of rank and condition will no longer exist; at Saint…

Andéol 〃 the honor of taking the oath in the name of the people is

conferred on two old men; one ninety…three and the other ninety…four

years of age; one a noble and a colonel of the National Guard; and

the other a simple peasant。〃 At Paris; two hundred thousand persons

of all conditions; ages; and sexes; officers and soldiers; monks and

actors; school…boys and masters; dandies and ragamuffins; elegant

ladies and fishwives; workmen of every class and the peasants from

the vicinity; all flocked to the Champ de Mars to dig the earth

which was not ready; and in a week; trundling wheelbarrows and

handling the pick…ax as equals and comrades; all voluntarily yoked

in the same service; converted a flat surface into a valley between

two hills。 … At Strasbourg; General Luckner; commander…in…chief;

worked a whole afternoon in his shirt…sleeves just like the

commonest laborer。  The confederates are fed; housed; and have their

expenses paid everywhere on all the roads。  At Paris the publicans

and keepers of furnished houses lower their prices of their own

accord; and do not think of robbing their new guests。  〃The

districts;〃 moreover; 〃feast the provincials to their heart's

content。'6'  There are meals every day for from twelve to fifteen

hundred people。〃 Provincials and Parisians; soldiers and bourgeois;

seated and mingled together; drink each other's health and embrace。

The soldiers; especially; and the inferior officers are surrounded;

welcomed; and entertained to such an extent that they lose their

heads; their health; and more besides。  One 〃old trooper; who had

been over fifty years in the service; died on the way home; used up

with cordials and excess of pleasure。〃 In short; the joy is

excessive; as it should be on the great day when the wish of an

entire century is accomplished。 … Behold ideal felicity; as

displayed in the books and illustrations of the time! The natural

man buried underneath an artificial civilization is disinterred; and

again appears as in early days; as in Tahiti; as in philosophic and

literary pastorals; as in bucolic and mythological operas;

confiding; affectionate; and happy。  〃The sight of all these beings

again restored to the sweet sentiments of primitive brotherhood is

an exquisite delight almost too great for the soul to support;〃 and

the Frenchman; more light…hearted and far more childlike than he is

to…day; gives himself up unrestrainedly to his social; sympathetic;

and generous instincts。 Whatever the imagination of the day offers

him to increase his emotions; all the classical; rhetorical; and

dramatic material at his command; are employed for the embellishment

of his festival。  Already wildly enthusiastic; he is anxious to

increase his enthusiasm。 … At Lyons; the fifty thousand confederates

from the south range themselves in line of battle around an

artificial rock; fifty feet high; covered with shrubs; and

surmounted by a Temple of Concord in which stands a huge statue of

Liberty; the steps of the rock are decked with flags; and a solemn

mass precedes the administration of the oath。 … At Paris; an alter

dedicated to the nation is erected in the middle of the Champ de

Mars; which is transformed into a colossal circus。  The regular

troops and the federations of the departments stand in position

around it; the King being in front with the Queen and the dauphin;

while near them are the princes and princesses in a gallery; and the

members of the National Assembly in an amphitheater; two hundred

priests; draped in their albs and with tricolored belts; officiate

around Talleyrand; Bishop of

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