VIII. The Reasons for the Terror.

The last local resistance. -- Political orthodoxy of the insurgent
towns. -- They stipulate but one condition. -- Reasons of State for
granting this. -- Party arguments against it.

If the men of the "Mountain" had been statesmen, or even sensible men,
they would have shown themselves humane, if not for the sake of
humanity, at least through calculation; for in this France, so little
republican, all the republican strength is not too great for the
founding of the Republic, while, through their principles, their
culture, their social position and their number, the Girondins form
the élite and the force, the flower and the sap of the party. -- The
death-cry of the "Mountain" against the insurgents of Lozére[69] and
Vendée can be understood: they had raised the king's white flag; they
accepted leaders and instructions from Coblentz and London. But
neither Bordeaux, Marseilles nor Lyons are royalist, or in alliance
with the foreigner.

"We, rebels!" write the Lyonnese;[70] "Why we see no other than the
tri-color flag waving; the white cockade, the symbol of rebellion, has
never been raised within our walls. We, royalists! Why, shouts of
'Long live the Republic' are heard on all sides, and, spontaneously
(in the session of July 2nd) we have all sworn to fall upon whoever
should propose a king. . . . Your representatives tell you that we
are anti-revolutionaries, we who have accepted the Constitution. They
tell you that we protect émigrés when we have offered to surrender all
those that you might indicate. They tell you that our streets are
filled with refractory priests, when we have not even opened the doors