It now remains to keep by force this power usurped by fraud. -Immediately after the suppression of the Jacobin riots the Convention， menaced on the right， turns over to the left； it requires allies， persons of executive ability. It takes them wherever it can find them， from the faction which decimated it before Thermidor and which， since Thermidor， it decimates. Consequently， its executive committee suspends all proceedings begun against the principal "Montagnards ；" a number of terrorists， former presidents of the sections， "the matadors of the quarter，" arrested after Prairial 1， are set free at the end of a month. They have good arms， are accustomed to vigorous striking without giving warning， especially when honest folks are to be knocked down or ripped open. The stronger public opinion is against the government the more does the government rely on men with bludgeons and pikes， on the strikers " turned out of the primary assemblies，" on the heroes of September 2 and May 31， dangerous nomads， inmates of Bicêtre， paid assassins out of employment， and roughs of the Quinze-Vingts and faubourg Saint- Antoine.[21] Finally on the 11th of Vendémiaire， it gathers together fifteen or eighteen hundred of them and arms them in battalions.[22] Such brigands are they， that Menon， "major-general of the army of the interior and commandant of the armed force of Paris，" comes the next day with several of his staff-officers and tells the Committee of Five that he "will not have such bandits in his army nor under his orders". "I will not march with a lot of rascals and assassins organized in battalions "under the name of "patriots of '89." Indeed， the true patriots of '89 are on the other side， the constitutionalists of 1791， sincere liberals， "forty thousand proprietors and merchants，" the elite and mass of the Parisian population，[23] "the majority of men really interested in public matters，" and at this moment， the common welfare is all that concerns them. Republic or royalty is merely a secondary thought， an idea in the back-ground； nobody dreams of restoring the ancient régime； but very few are preoccupied with the restoration of a limited monarchy.[24] "On asking those most in earnest what government they would like in place of the Convention， they reply 'We want that no longer， we want nothing belonging to it； we want the Republic and honest people for our rulers.'"[25] - That is all； their upraisal is not a political insurrection against the form of the government， but a moral insurrection against the criminals in office. Hence， on seeing the Convention arm their old executioners， "the tigers" of the Reign of Terror， admitted malefactors， against them， they cannot contain themselves.[26] "That day，" says a foreigner， who visited many public places in Paris， "I saw everywhere the deepest despair， the greatest expression of rage and fury. . . . Without that unfortunate order the insurrection would probably not have broken out." If they take up arms it is because they are brought back under the pikes of the Septembriseurs， and under Robespierre's axe. - But they are only national guards； most of them have no guns；[27] they are in want of gunpowder， those who have any having only five or six charges ； "the great majority do not think of fighting；" they imagine that "their presence is merely needed to enforce a petition；" they have no artillery， no positive leader； it is simply excitement， precipitation， disorder and mistaken maneuvers.[28] On the contrary， on the side of the Convention， with Henriot's old bullies， there are eight or nine thousand regular troops， and Bonaparte； his cannon， which rake the rue Saint Honoré and the Quai Voltaire， mow down five or six hundred sectionists. The rest disperse， and henceforth the check-mated Parisians are not to take up their guns against the Jacobin faction whatever it does.
III. A Directory of Regicides.
The Directory chosen among the regicides. - --It selects agents of its own species. - Leading Jacobins are deprived of their civic rights. - The Terrorists are set free and restored to their civic rights. - Example at Blois of these releases and of the new administrative staff.
Supreme authority is now once more in the hands of the revolutionary band. - In conformity with its decrees of Fructidor， it first obliges electors to take two-thirds of their new representatives from the Convention. And as， notwithstanding its decrees， the electoral assemblies have not re-elected a sufficient number of the Conventionalists， it nominates itself， from a list prepared by its Committee of Public Safety， the one hundred and four which are lacking： In this way， both in the council of the Five Hundred， as well as in the council of the Ancients， it secures a clear majority in both the houses of the Legislative Corps. In the executive branch， in the Directory， it assures itself of unanimity. The Five Hundred， by adroitly preparing the lists， impose their candidates on the Ancients， selecting the five names beforehand： Barras， La Révellière de Lépeaux， Reubell， Letourneur and Siéyès， and then， on Siéyès refusing， Carnot.
All of them are regicides and， under this terrible qualification， bound at the risk of their heads， to maintain the regicide faction in power. - Naturally the Directory chooses its agents from among their own people，[29] their ministers and the employees of their departments， ambassadors and consuls， officers of all ranks， collectors of taxes direct and indirect， administrators of the national domains， commissioners of civil and Criminal courts， and the commissioners of the departmental and municipal administrations.
