The Municipal bodies. - Their great task. - Their incapacity. -Their feeble authority.- Insufficiency of their means of action. -The role of the National Guard. -Let us follow these municipal kings into their own domain： the burden on their shoulders is immense， and much beyond what human strength can support. All the details of executive duty are confided to them； they have not to busy themselves with a petty routine， but with a complete social system which is being taken to pieces， while another is reconstructed in its place. - They are in possession of four milliards of ecclesiastical property， real and personal， and soon there will be two and a half milliards of property belonging to the emigrants， which must be sequestered， valued， managed， inventoried， divided， sold， and the proceeds received. They have seven or eight thousand monks and thirty thousand nuns to displace， install， sanction， and provide for. They have forty-six thousand ecclesiastics， bishops， canons， curés， and vicars， to dispossess， replace， often by force， and later on to expel， intern， imprison， and support. They are obliged to discuss， trace out， teach and make public new territorial boundaries， those of the commune， of the district and of the department. They have to convoke， lodge， and protect the numerous primary and secondary Assemblies， to supervise their operations， which sometimes last for weeks. They must install those elected by them， justices of the peace， officers of the National Guard， judges， public prosecutors， curés， bishops， district and departmental administrators. They are to form new lists of tax-payers， apportion amongst themselves， according to a new system of impost， entirely new real and personal taxes， decide on claims， appoint an assessor， regularly audit his accounts and verify his books， aid him with force， use force in the collection of the excise and salt duties， which being reduced， equalized， and transformed in vain by the National Assembly， afford no returns in spite of its decrees. They are obliged to find the funds for dressing， equipping， and arming the National Guard， to step in between it and the military commanders， and to maintain concord between its diverse battalions. They have to protect forests from pillage， communal land from being invaded， to maintain the octroi， to protect former functionaries， ecclesiastics， and nobles， suspected and threatened， and， above all， to provide， no matter how， provisions for the commune which lacks food， and consequently， to raise subscriptions， negotiate purchases at a distance and even abroad， organize escorts， indemnify bakers， supply the market every week notwithstanding the dearth， the insecurity of roads， and the resistance of cultivators. - Even an absolute chief；sent from a distance and from high place， the most energetic and expert possible， supported by the best-disciplined and most obedient troops， would scarcely succeed in such an undertaking； and there is instead only a municipality which has neither the authority， the means， the experience， the capacity， nor the will.
In the country， says an orator in the tribune，[21] "the municipal officers， in twenty thousand out of forty thousand municipalities， do not know how to read or write." The curé， in effect， is excluded from such offices by law， and， save in La Vendée and the noble is excluded by public opinion. Besides， in many of the provinces， nothing but patois is spoken.[22] French， especially the philosophic and abstract phraseology of the new laws and proclamations， remains gibberish to their inhabitants. They cannot possibly understand and apply the complicated decrees and fine-spun instructions which reach them from Paris. They hurry off to the towns， get the duties of the office imposed on them explained and commented on in detail， try to comprehend， imagine they do， and then， the following week， come back again without having understood anything， either the mode of keeping state registers， the distinction between feudal rights which are abolished and those retained， the regulations they should enforce in cases of election， the limits which the law imposes as to their powers and subordination. Nothing of all this finds its way into their rude， untrained brains； instead of a peasant who has just left his oxen， there is needed here a legal adept aided by a trained clerk. - Prudential considerations must be added to their ignorance.
