federating only in scattered groups; they desist from the formation of
a central government, and thus, through this fact alone, condemn
themselves to succumb, one after the other, in detail, and each at
home. -- What is worse, through conscientiousness and patriotism,
they prepare their own defeat: the refrain from calling upon the
armies and from stripping the frontiers; they do not contest the right
of the Convention to provide as it pleases for the national defense.
Lyons allows the passage of convoys of cannon-balls which are to be
subsequently used in cannonading its defenders[62]. The authorities
of Puy-de-Dome aid by sending to Vendée the battalion that they had
organized against the "Mountain." Bordeaux is to surrender Chateau-
Trompette, its munitions of war and supplies, to the representatives
on mission; and, without a word, with exemplary docility, both the
Bordeaux battalions which guard Blaye suffer themselves to be
dislodged by two Jacobin battalions.[63] -- Comprehending the
insurrection in this way, defeat is certain beforehand.

The insurgents are thus conscious of their false position; they have a
vague sort of feeling that, in recognizing the military authority of
the Convention, they admit its authority in full; insensibly they
glide down this slope, from concession to concession, until they reach
complete submission. From the 16th of June, at Lyons,[64] "people
begin to feel that it ought not break with the Convention." Five weeks
later, the authorities of Lyons "solemnly recognize that the
Convention is the sole central rallying point of all French citizens
and republicans," and decree that "all acts emanating from it
concerning the general interests of the republic are to be
executed."[65] Consequently, at Lyons and in other departments, the
administrations convoke the primary assemblies as the Convention has
prescribed; consequently, the primary assemblies accept the