In the
communes in which we are masters we will make the Jacobins of the
place demand the abolition of worship, while, in other communes, we
will get rid of this authoritatively through our missionary
representatives. We will close the churches, demolish the steeples,
melt down the bells, send all sacred vessels to the Mint, smash the
images of the saints, desecrate relics, prohibit religious burials,
impose the civil burial, prescribe rest during the d?cadi[33] and
labor on Sundays. No exception whatever. Since all positive
religions deal in error, we will outlaw them all: we will exact from
Protestant clergymen a public abjuration; we will not let the Jews
practice their ceremonies; we will have "an 'auto-da-f?,' of all the
books and symbols of the faith of Moses."[34] But, of all these
various juggling machines, the worst is the Catholic, the most hostile
to nature due to the celibacy of its priesthood, the most opposed to
reason in the absurdity of its dogmas, the most opposed to democracy,
since its powers are delegated from above downwards, the best
protected from civil authority because its head is outside of
France.[35] Accordingly, we must be most furious against it; even
after Thermidor,[36] we will keep up constant persecution, great and
small; up to the Consulate, we will deport and shoot the priests, we
will revive against fanatics the laws of the Reign of Terror, we will
hamper their movements, we will exhaust their patience; we will keep
them anxious during the day and restless at night; we will not give
them a moment's repose.
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