Give to these men a countersign and they do not
discuss; provided it is legal, or seems so, they act accordingly, not
merely against strangers, but against Frenchmen: thus, already on the
13th Vend?miaire they mowed down the Parisians, and on the 18th of
Fructidor they purged the Legislative Corps. Let a famous general
appear, and provided he respects formalities, they will follow him and
once more repeat the operation. - One does appear, one who for three
years has thought of nothing else, but who on this occasion will
repeat the operation only for his own advantage. He is the most
illustrious of all, and precisely the conductor or promoter of the two
previous ones, the very same who personally brought about the 13th of
Vend?miaire, and likewise, at the hands of his lieutenant, Augereau,
the 18th of Fructidor. - Let him be authorized by the semblance of a
decree, let him be appointed major-general of the armed force by a
minority of one of the Councils, and the army will march behind him.
- Let him issue the usual proclamations, let him summon "his comrades"
to save the Republic and clear the hall of the Five Hundred; his
grenadiers will enter with fixed bayonets and even laugh at the sight
of the deputies, dressed as for the opera, scrambling off
precipitately out of the windows.
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