And yet this is merely the outskirts of the storm； the center is elsewhere， around N？mes， Avignon， Arles， and Marseilles， in a country where， for a long time， the conflict between cities and the conflict between religions have kindled and accumulated malignant passions.[71] Looking at the three departments of Gard， Bouches-de-Rh？ne and Vaucluse， one would imagine one's self in the midst of a war with savages. In fact， it is a Jacobin and plebeian invasion， and， consequently， conquest， dispossession， and extermination， -in Gard， a swarm of National Guards copy the jacquerie： the dregs of the Comtat come to the surface and cover Vaucluse with its scum； an army of six thousand from Marseilles sweeps down on Arles. - In the districts of N？mes， Sommières， Uzès， Alais， Jalais， and Saint-Hippolyte， title-deeds are burnt， proprietors put to ransom， and municipal officers threatened with death if they try to interpose；twenty chateaux and forty country-houses are sacked， burnt， and demolished. - The same month， Arles and Avignon，[72] given up to the bands of Marseilles and of the Comtat， see confiscation and massacres approaching. - Around the commandant， who has received the order to evacuate Aries，[73] "the inhabitants of all parties"gather as suppliants， "clasping his hands， entreating him with tears in their eyes not to abandon them； women and children cling to his boots，" so that he does not know how to free himself without hurting them； on his departure twelve hundred families emigrate. After the entrance of the Marseilles band we see eighteen hundred electors proscribed， their country-houses on the two banks of the Rhone pillaged， "as in the times of Saracen pirates，" a tax of 1，400，000livres levied on all people in good circumstances， absent or present， women and girls promenaded about half-naked on donkeys and publicly whipped." "A saber committee" disposes of lives， proscribes and executes： it is the reign of sailors， porters， and the dregs of the populace. - At Avignon，[74] it is that of simple brigands， incendiaries and assassins， who， six months previously， converted the Glacière[75] into a charnel-house. They return in triumph and state that "this time the Glacière will be full." Five hundred families had already sought asylum in France before the first massacre； now， the entire remainder of the honest bourgeoisie， twelve hundred persons， take to flight， and the terror is so great that the small neighboring towns dare not receive emigrants. In fact， from this time forth， both departments throughout Vaucluse and Bouches-de-Rh？ne are a prey： Bands of two thousand armed men， with women， children， and other volunteer followers， travel from commune to commune to live as they please at the expense of "fanatics." The well-bred people are not the only ones they despoil. Plain cultivators， taxed at 10，000 livres， have sixty men billeted on them； their cattle are slain and eaten before their eyes， and everything in their houses is broken up； they are driven out of their lodgings and wander as fugitives in the reed-swamps of the Rhone， awaiting a moment of respite to cross the river and take refuge in the neighboring department.[76] Thus， from the spring of 1792， if any citizen is suspected of unfriendliness or even of indifference towards the ruling faction， if， through but one opinion conscientiously held， he risks the vague possibility of mistrust or of suspicion， he undergoes popular hostility， pillage， exile， and worse besides； no matter how loyal his conduct may be， nor how loyal he may be at heart， no matter that he is disarmed and inoffensive；it is all the same whether it be a noble， bourgeois， peasant， aged priest， or woman； and this while public peril is yet neither great， present， nor visible， since France is at peace with Europe， and the government still subsists in its entirety.
IX.
General state of opinion. - The three convoys of non-juring priests on the Seine. - Psychological aspects of the Revolution.
