[160] - In the towns, especially in federalist districts,
however, these robberies are complicated with other assaults. At
Lyons, whilst the regular troops are lodged in barracks, the
revolutionary army is billeted on the householders, two thousand vile,
sanguinary blackguards from Paris, and whom their general, Ronsin
himself, calls "scoundrels and brigands," alleging, in excuse for
this, that "honest folks cannot be found for such business." How they
treat their host, his wife and his daughters may be imagined;
contemporaries glide over these occurrences and, through decency or
disgust, avoid giving details.[161] Some simply use brutal force;
others get rid of a troublesome husband by the guillotine; in the most
exceptional cases they bring their wenches along with them, while the
housekeeper has to arouse herself at one o'clock at night and light a
fire for the officer who comes in with the jolly company. - And yet,
there are others still worse, for the worst attract each other. We
have seen the revolutionary committee at Nantes, also the
representative on mission in the same city; nowhere did the
revolutionary Sabbat rage so furiously, and nowhere was there such a
traffic in human lives.
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