In some cases, even the pettiest legal formalities
are dispensed with.
"When I am lucky enough to catch 'em," writes Gen. Vandamme, "I do
not trouble the military commission to try them. They are already
tried - my saber and pistols do their business."[7]
The second operation consists in depriving "suspects" of their
liberty, of which deprivation there are several degrees; there are
various ways of getting hold of people. - Sometimes, the "suspect" is
"adjourned," that is to say, the order of arrest is simply suspended;
he lives under a perpetual menace that is generally fulfilled; he
never knows in the morning that he will not sleep in a prison that
night. Sometimes, he is put on the limits of his commune. Sometimes,
he is confined to his house with or without guards, and, in the former
case, he is obliged to pay them. Again, finally, and which occurs
most frequently, he is shut up in this or that common jail. - In the
single department of Doubs, twelve hundred men and women are
"adjourned;" three hundred put on the limits of the commune, fifteen
hundred confined to their houses, and twenty two hundred
imprisoned.[8] In Paris, thirty-six such prisons and more than
"violins", or temporary jails, soon filled by the revolutionary
committees, do not suffice for the service.
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