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amateurvoltaire · 10 months ago

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The Deputy of Humanity

In August 1790, Robespierre, then deputy in the National Assembly, received a letter from a young man in Aisne. The subject of the letter was of little consequence in the grand scheme of things: the author was expressing his concern that the free monthly markets for grain and sheep in his village of Blérancourt might be moved to the rival village of Coucy.

The subject of the letter may have been trivial, but its author was not. Louis Antoine Saint-Just, not yet twenty-three, was quickly outgrowing local politics and had his eyes on debuting on the national stage. In around two years’ time, he would become one of Robespierre’s closest allies. But back in 1790, the young man only knew him “like God, through miracles” ("comme Dieu, par des merveilles"). This would be the first contact between the two men.

The letter has been widely translated, quoted, and speculated on. It is very well-written, with the effusive admiration and almost hero worship of the young man practically jumping off the page. Whether Saint-Just was entirely genuine or not is hardly consequential. Robespierre clearly found his admiration touching because he kept the letter until the end of his life.

The fact that Robespierre kept the letter is a sweet gesture that can be interpreted in a myriad of different ways. Perhaps he enjoyed the flattery, or maybe he wanted to keep a memento of the beginning of their friendship with Saint-Just. Maybe he simply forgot to throw it away. In my opinion, it's not very important.

What I find more interesting and revealing about Robespierre's character is that a young lieutenant colonel of the National Guard of the department of Aisne felt empowered to raise his provincial concerns to a deputy who wasn't even representing his constituency. Why would he do that? Setting aside Saint-Just's audacity and desire for recognition, the simple reason is that he knew he would be heard.

Since the days of the Estates General, Robespierre had not only been gaining popularity but was also notorious for standing up for the interests of the common man beyond his own province (later on department). For all the flattery, Saint-Just was right: Robespierre wasn’t only the deputy from Arras; he was “[the deputy] of humanity and the Republic (1)”. He frequently weighed in, as a dissenting voice, on matters of national importance, maintaining a consistent stance that always favoured the underdog. This was nothing new. His entire career in Arras had been built on helping the common man. On a national stage, he vocally continued that work.

He opposed the king's veto power over constitutional laws and emphasized the sovereignty of the nation over monarchical traditions. He also opposed the exclusion of "passive" citizens (2) from the National Guard and advocated for extending voting rights. All this, along with his defense of civic equality for various groups, including actors, Protestants, and Jews, solidified his position as a defender of the people.

Despite facing mockery from royalist publications and some of his peers, he remained steadfast in his dedication to the universal principles of the Revolution, with the most crucial principle being the sovereignty of the people. If the people are sovereign, then their grievances are significant. It's understandable that Saint-Just would reach out to him regarding the issue with the village market. He wasn't the only one.

For what it's worth, Robespierre probably didn’t intervene in the matter, but Blérancourt ultimately did retain its markets.

Translation (3)

Blérancourt, near Noyon, August 19, 1790

You who support the faltering homeland against the torrent of despotism and intrigue, you whom I know only, like God, through miracles; I address you, sir, to ask you to join me in saving my sad country.

The town of Coucy has transferred (so the rumour goes here) the free markets from the village of Blérancourt. Why should the cities swallow up the privileges of the countryside? Then, nothing will remain for the latter but the taille (direct tax) and taxes! Please, support with all your talent a petition that I am sending by the same mail, in which I ask for my inheritance to be joined to the national domains of the district so that my country may retain a privilege without which it must starve.

I do not know you, but you are a great man. You are not just the representative of a province; you are that of humanity and the Republic. Please ensure that my request is not scorned.

I have the honour of being, sir, your humble and obedient servant,

Saint-Just,

elector (4) in the department of Aisne.

Notes

(1) Here Saint-Just doesn't refer to Republic as a form of government, but uses the word as a substitute for nation/country. In 1790 France was a constitutional monarchy.

(2)Passive citizens were those who, for a variety of reasons (mostly tax related), were not allowed to vote. (3) The parts that are in bold, are underlined in the original . As usual, this is my own translation and you can surely find much better ones out there!

(4) Touchy subject...

(BONUS) The letter is Recto-Verso. The small red arrows in the image indicate where the back page starts. I edited the two sides in one image for ease of reading.

Source

I really like Saint-Just but his handwriting is just as bad as mine (yes. I can barely read mine either). The french text of the letter comes from:

Saint-Just, Louis Antoine Léon. Œuvres. Paris: Gallimard, 2014

#frev #french revolution #robespierre #maximilien robespierre #saint just #committee of public safety #history #amateurvoltaire's essay ramblings #the letter that launched 1000 speculations

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nanistar · 4 days ago

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I'm a bit confused on why Moonclan would help Bonesight's coup- in the flashback they didn't trust after Tonguestar after he took her to the surface and she was injured. but it seems like that wouldn't be enough motive to kill tonguestar and injure like half of the already small group of Moonclan cats. Especially when its basically just on Bonesight's word who has clearly had delusions before? Am i just not picking up on contexts?

bonesight was loved by the clan in addition to being a great public speaker, who proved herself to be a strong and worthy deputy in place of her mother. from the rest of the clan’s perspective, tonguestar took nursing mother Bonesight away from her kits and family, attacked her, and then returned after she saw him fall and die and couldn’t speak to defend himself. his biggest supporters were his child (of course they would be on his side) and the apothecary, which is already a mysterious position that’s not completely trusted.

the rest of the clan does not know about bonesight’s delusions. nobody knows about her postpartum or her head injury (or her new partial-blindness), because clan medicine just isn’t that advanced. cats who know her closely like webwhisker or chalknose know something is wrong with her, they know she’s very scared, but that’s about the extent of it.

to bonesight, her delusions are real. and shes convinced and convincing enough that others believe her. because why would she lie about tonguestar attacking her, especially when she had the scratches on her flank to prove it? where else would saltkit go, since they never found a body, and tonguestar already proved he knew “secret” tunnels that the rest of the clan didn’t

starclan and 9 lives is only a legend in moonclan, so tonguestar returning from the presumed-dead was enough to convince some cats that he needed to die for real. especially since he won’t (can’t) share his side of the story.

#bonestar #tonguestar

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salt-clangen · 2 months ago

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How the codekeeper role works exactly? Sorry if it was already answered it, but i had searched and couldn't find it.

No worries! So codekeepers were created by @rippleclan but they’re comfortable letting others use the concept. You can read their description of it here.

In simple terms codekeepers are the justice system of the clans, they spend majority of the time as standard warriors; hunting, patrolling, skirmishes etc. They don’t differ from regular warriors much until a possible crime- or ‘code break’- occurs, then they are instructed by the Leader/Deputy/Clerics to investigate the allegations. These crimes are basically anything that goes against the warrior code- I also have a different warrior code than canon srry. Examples can be anything from murder to treason to trespassing and more. It can be very nuanced, the code keepers (also called ‘keepers or ‘guards’ in my story) are supposed to look for evidence and witnesses to the crime, once that’s completed there’s a trial. Codekeepers are allowed to cross clan borders and question other clan’s cats to complete this task (within reason).

Depending on the crime, the evidence, and the leaders involved the time between allegations and a trial could be anywhere between a few days to a moon. A trial must be done in a timely manner but the codes are a lil loose with the definition of ‘timely’ so some leaders will prolong the investigatory period to multiple moons but this isn’t common.

During the trial there are two key code keepers, one argues against the accused cat and the other argues for the accused. Similar to American courts of law and lawyers (I’m from America I don’t really know how courts work in other countries just to clarify). These codekeepers take turn calling witnesses, presenting evidence, and making arguments. This all takes place before the leader and the clan (who must remain orderly and quiet). Once both sides have made their arguments and all the evidence is presented the leader will confer with their deputy and cleric (usually the lead cleric but not always) before they make a ruling. Punishments can be varied and are usually tied to the crime in some way, the more severe the crime the more severe the punishment. Punishment can be restriction of leaving camp, doing unwanted jobs, social exile (shunning), dishonor titles (like Burnpaw’s). Severe punishments include exile (either temporary or permanent) and even execution in the most extreme cases.

Codekeepers aren’t enforcers of the code, every clan member is expected to uphold the warrior code and hold others to that standard, keepers are just the ones who help keep it fair if an allegation is made and let the leader remain as unbiased as possible to make a decision.

Now this is where the similarities end with me and rippleclan’s use of codekeepers, I really liked the concept of this being an official role but I wanted to kinda push it a little further.

In my clangen, codekeepers are the warriors that want to be the most warriors that ever warriored. Basically these are the cats that want to not just study the code and defend it, they want to excel in every aspect of the warrior role. These cats are like Warriors Plus, y’know.

To be a codekeeper isn’t easy, you have to have a great memory, critical thinking skills, strong morals, objectivity, endurance, public speaking, and debating. A lot of cats can’t perform in this role, the leader and mentors will hold small mock trials to see if a codekeeper apprentice can graduate into a full warrior. If they fail, they may try again in a moon or, if they passed their other assessments, they can graduate as a regular warrior.

Codekeepers have a lot in common with other roles that are non combative, such as mediators and historians. While historians and mediators often hunt and patrol with regular warriors to provide for the clan, they aren’t used in fights or wars (Ashenstep being a notable exception and is an excellent fighter). Like mediators they have to maintain a level of objectivity and demonstrate emotional intelligence, these are their clan mates and loved ones they might be investigating. Though the leader will usually pick keepers who aren’t related or too close to the accused. And like historians they have to memorize and understand the code on many levels, this is without a formal writing system too.

Codekeepers are also called Guards because they are often sent with patrols made up of non combative cats/clerics as a sort of security. In Honeyclan keepers are also in charge of watching the fields while patrols are out of camp bc the land is so flat and so close to the boating place, sometimes humans go out into the fields to see the flowers or dogs get loose and can cross the territory quickly. There’s very few places to hide in the fields.

Duskclan has the most keepers, Oakclan the second most, and Honeyclan the third. Saltclan obv has none (technically Wolfstar, but she never actually took the bar exam lol)

Sorry this was long but I encourage you to check out the rippleclan post about codekeepers as well.

#clangen #warrior cats #wc #saltclan #saltclan lore #lore ask #warrior code

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mariacallous · 4 months ago

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A court in Dagestan has jailed a local blogger and well-known sports commentator for illegal weapons possession. Police say they found a pistol and a live grenade on Ramazan Rabadonov’s person when they arrested him on November 6.

Shamil Khadulaev, the deputy head of Dagestan’s public monitoring commission (a kind of human rights watchdog), has speculated that Rabadonov’s arrest is connected to his stated plan to attend courtroom hearings in the case against alleged perpetrators of the October 2023 anti-Jewish riots at Makhachkala Airport. Rabadonov has spoken out in support of the defendants. He reportedly told his family that the arresting officers planted the weapons on him.

Rabadonov’s son serves in the Russian military and is currently deployed to Ukraine. Following his father’s arrest, the young man released a video message asking Vladimir Putin to “sort out the situation,” calling the decision to jail his father “lawlessness and an outrage.”

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the-eternal-quest-for-balance · 1 year ago

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U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese, in his ruling, emphatically stated, “Here in America, we do not arrest our political opponents.” He underscored the importance of the constitutional protections for free speech, particularly the right to criticize public officials and representatives.

Calabrese held that the sheriff, two deputies, and the two county commissioners named in the lawsuit, one of whom has since left the board, are personally liable for damages. A subsequent hearing will determine the extent of these damages.

Judge Calabrese pointed out that the evidence clearly demonstrated that Frenchko’s arrest was a consequence of her speech, and he rejected the defendants’ claims to immunity from damages. He emphasized that any reasonable official should know that arresting someone for protected speech is a violation of the First Amendment.

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todaysdocument · 4 months ago

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Memorandum Opinion - Madalyn Murray O'Hair v. Thomas O. Paine.

Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United StatesSeries: Civil Case FilesFile Unit: 69CA109: Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Richard F. O'Hair v. Thomas O. Paine

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

AUSTIN DIVISION

Filed Dec 1 1969 Dan W. Benedict, Clerk

by W E Lyons Deputy

MADALYN MURRAY O'HAIR, ET AL. (brackets)

VS. (brackets)

THOMAS O. PAINE, ET AL. (brackets)

CIVIL ACTION NO. A-69-CA-109

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This is an action brought by Madalyn Murray O'Hair,

Richard F. O'Hair and the Society of Separationists, Inc., against

Thomas O. Paine, individually and as Administrator of the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The plaintiffs are

seeking an order enjoining NASA from (1) doing any act whatsoever

which abridges the plaintiffs' freedom from religion or establishes

Christianity as the official religion of the United States, and

(2) enforcing any policy or regulation which has been heretofore

promulgated and which has such above effect. The plaintiffs

also seek a temporary restraining order enjoining the defendants'

"from doing any act whatsoever which restricts or abridges plaintiffs'

freedom from religion and specifically enjoining NASA and its

administrator and and personnel from further directing or permitting

religious activities, or ceremonies and especially the reading

of the sectarian Christian religion Bible and from prayer reci-

tation in space and in relation to all future space flight activity."

Jurisdication of the case is founded upon 28 U.S.C. 1346 (a) (2).

Upon request of the plaintiffs, a three-judge court was

convened in accordance with Jackson v. Choate, (name is underlined) 404 F.2d 910

(5 Cir., 1968). That Court, consisting of the United States Circuit

Judge Homer Thornberry, United States District Judge Adrian A. Spears,

and United States District Judge Jack Roberts, determined that this

case was not properly a three-judge matter. Sardino v. Federal Re-

serve Bank of New York, 361 F.2d 106 (2 Cir. 1966); Pennsylvania

Public Utility Commission v. Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 383 U.S. 281

(1965). The case was accordingly remanded to Judge Roberts of

decision.

The various plaintiffs are atheists, deists, and believers

in the complete separation of church and state. They have asserted

the right to bring suit in two separate grounds: (1) taxpayer status; [complete document and transcription at link]

#archivesgov #december 1 #1969 #1960s #nasa #separation of church and state

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offender42085 · 9 months ago

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Post 1289

Before and after.....

Harley Ray Ard, born 2000, South Carolina inmate 371808, incarceration intake September 2020 at age 20, scheduled for release February 2026

Failure to Stop for an LEO, Grand Larceny, Burglary, Possession of a Stolen Vehicle

In September 2017, a 17-year-old Paxville man who was indicted with 27 charges in for his role in a string of burglaries, automobile break-ins and larcenies was sentenced to concurrent sentences under the Youthful Offender Act to a term not to exceed six years and not to exceed three years after in post prison supervision.

Clarendon County Public Defender Scott L. Robinson represented Ard during the plea. Sheriff Tim Baxley said that deputies arrested both Ard and another man for their alleged roles in "15 home and auto break-ins, including larcenies that were reported during the same week." He said stolen property included guns, electronics, cash and four-wheelers. At the time of Ard's arrest, Baxley said not all of the property had been recovered.

At that time, Ard was already serving concurrent probationary sentences for second-degree burglary, non-violent, second-degree assault and battery and possession of stolen vehicle of a value greater than $2,000, but less than $10,000. He received sentences of five years, three years and four years in prison, respectively, on those charges, all of which were suspended to six months in prison and three years’ probation.

Failure to satisfy probation terms resulted in his incarceration as an adult.

#inmate

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communist-manifesto-daily · 7 months ago

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Socialism: Utopian and Scientific - Part 2

[ First | Prev | Table of Contents | Next ]

At the request of my friend, Paul Lafargue, now representative of Lille in the French Chamber of Deputies, I arranged three chapters of this book as a pamphlet, which he translated and published in 1880, under the title: "Socialisme utopique et Socialisme scientifique". From this French text, a Polish and a Spanish edition were prepared. In 1883, our German friends brought out the pamphlet in the original language. Italian, Russian, Danish, Dutch, and Roumanian translations, based upon the German text, have since been published. Thus, the present English edition, this little book circulates in 10 languages. I am not aware that any other Socialist work, not even our Communist Manifesto of 1848, or Marx's Capital, has been so often translated. In Germany, it has had four editions of about 20,000 copies in all.

The Appendix, "The Mark", was written with the intention of spreading among the German Socialist party some elementary knowledge of the history and development of landed property in Germany. This seemed all the more necessary at a time when the assimilation by that party of the working-people of the towns was in a fair way of completion, and when the agricultural laborers and peasant had to be taken in hand. This appendix has been included in the translation, as the original forms of tenure of land common to all Teutonic tribes, and the history of their decay, are even less known in England and in Germany. I have left the text as it stands in the original, without alluding to the hypothesis recently started by Maxim Kovalevsky, according to which the partition of the arable and meadow lands among the members of the Mark was preceded by their being cultivated for joint-account by a large patriarchal family community, embracing several generations (as exemplified by the still existing South Slavonian Zadruga), and that the partition, later on, took place when the community had increased, so as to become too unwieldy for joint-account management. Kovalevsky is probably quite right, but the matter is still sub judice [under consideration].

The economic terms used in this work, as afar as they are new, agree with those used in the English edition of Marx's Capital. We call "production of commodities" that economic phase where articles are produced not only for the use of the producers, but also for the purpose of exchange; that is, as commodities, not as use values. This phase extends from the first beginnings of production for exchange down to our present time; it attains its full development under capitalist production only, that is, under conditions where the capitalist, the owner of the means of production, employs, for wages, laborers, people deprived of all means of production except their own labor-power, and pockets the excess of the selling price of the products over his outlay. We divide the history of industrial production since the Middle Ages into three periods:

handicraft, small master craftsman with a few journeymen and apprentices, where each laborer produces a complete article;

manufacture, where greater numbers of workmen, grouped in one large establishment, produce the complete article on the principle of division of labor, each workman performing only one partial operation, so that the product is complete only after having passed successively through the hands of all;

modern industry, where the product is produced by machinery driven by power, and where the work of the laborer is limited to superintending and correcting the performance of the mechanical agent.

I am perfectly aware that the contents of this work will meet with objection from a considerable portion of the British public. But, if we Continentals had taken the slightest notice of the prejudices of British "respectability", we should be even worse off than we are. This book defends what we call "historical materialism", and the word materialism grates upon the ears of the immense majority of British readers. "Agnosticism" might be tolerated, but materialism is utterly inadmissible.

And, yet, the original home of all modern materialism, from the 17th century onwards, is England.

[ First | Prev | Table of Contents | Next ]

#socialism: utopian and scientific #communist manifesto daily #friedrich engels

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eyedrateanatomy · 4 months ago

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I needed to share this idea to you because it’s too GOOD

what if the mayor isn’t part of the cult and the cult kills him? Imagine he’s just a narcissistic idiot who doesn’t know how to manage the town and makes the police do everything so he gets all the glory?

it seems like a funny possibility because of all the build up around it. Sounds like a joke that can easily be made, but I think that he’s gonna get killed off by the cult by drowning (to go with the Narcissus myth)

but why would I bring this up? The town would CRUMBLE without him. It would make them vulnerable to the cult and all the pressure would fall onto John’s back

also, there wouldn’t be any authority for the town to follow. Someone would have to fill that spot

still, I’m DEAD SET in the idea he isn’t actually a cult member

I thought this was a very interesting idea and I wanted to share it with you 👍

LET ME THINK ABOUT THIS cause there are some good points. so, i half agree with evermore not being a member. i think hes in on it, hes just not aware that he is. no one can recognize when theyre in a cult. i think evermore was given the finances by the cult to rise to this amount of power and fame and become the mayor because of his insistence. remember, his sin is greed

its just hard for me to imagine someone with such a high ranking in the town to Not know about skiddad and his followers, and perhaps the eyes. i think he knows of the missing children, but not what happens to them. hes a pawn whos not being told everything. they just let him loose after reshaping his worldview and making him dependent on them. evermore is just... good enough for the cult. yes hes great at public speeches and controlling the masses, yes he spends 99% of his time in his office staring at a mirror so others can do his dirty work (meaning he wouldnt know the extent of everything going on in town). hes like the cults mascot in a way

i think the most rational explanation for this is that he had a quick visit with the eyes of the universe, and had his greed and desire for fame and riches get taken advantage of. hes indoctrinated just enough to side with the cult so that he wont question anything theyre doing. surely they Must be a good group, they helped him become the mayor!

it wouldnt exactly matter if evermore knew of the cult or not, because hes still doing exactly what they want. and evermore doesnt work alone. kill him off by drowning, or whatever is most fitting, and he could be replaced with anyone... it Could be john, but in all honesty, my bet is on garcia

so. this is something ive been considering for some time. garcia is confirmed to be a secretary + lawyer. he holds a lot of responsibilities in this position, organizing events and meetings, handling large amounts of data, keeping track of all of evermores employees, etc. he has a lot of insight on the town, if not more than the mayor. hes also capable of controlling evermores decisions by being a secretary. being a lawyer means he can represent criminals and cult members, and defend them in court. hes a very convincing man

i know pelo probably doesnt understand the exact definitions of secretary and lawyer, but im trying to say that garcia has an insane amount of power by having these organizational and social skills. hes not deputy mayor, but he is up there with evermore, being his assistant and all. and like i said earlier, evermore likes making people do the work for him

also he is Undeniably mr clown. you cannot convince me otherwise. not only are they visually similar, but its odd how garcia just Showed Up after mr clowns supposed "death" (which he likely faked). we know mr clown is a dedicated member, hes been kidnapping and murdering children for who knows how long, and now hes confirmed to have political power over the town on nearly the same level as the mayor. if evermore truly doesnt know enough of whats going on compared to his own secretary, that makes all this information scarier

between evermore and garcia, whos really the one in control?

#spooky month #stayed up last night to write this

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sillyletterscomposingsillywords · 1 month ago

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can you speak more on buzot? why do you like him? i only really know of his death with pétion lol

His politicial principles

You will most likely hold your glaze on Buzot's name for the first time between April and June 1791, a period of high concentration of his speeches in Constituent Assembly given on various themes.

Buzot’s favorite idea was, probably, the one of separation of powers. Not necessarily the three branches of power, but any.

The declaration he wrote with Petion before his death starts as follows:

“The evils that Despotism had done to the Earth had, since long ago, inspired in us a hatred of Kings. It has always seemed to us absurd and degrading for people that the fate of Millions of them depended on the will and passion of one.

“It seemed to us it was revolting and dangerous that one man inherits the right to command his fellow men as a Sovereign.

“This system, the only one which weighed on the world for centuries, seemed to be the main Source of Mistakes, prejudices and evils which desolate and degrade a society of people.

“From the beginning of the Revolution we have hoped to see an annihilation of this fatal and criminal system.

“We have been constantly working to fulfill this object of our dearest wishes” (published in Vatel, Vol.2, p.360)

When the Constituent Assembly debated which form to use to inquire the King and the Queen returned from Varennes, Buzot defended, it was on 26th June, the need to entrust the questioning to the ordinary court without forming a commission of deputies to prevent mixing of legislative and judicial powers (Journal des débats et des décrets n°766, p13).

On May 17th, 1791, he spoke against re-election to the next Assembly and to executive power. "In general, the continuation of any powers and functions is a principle of corruption. <...> Could you forget your principles and your wise foresight for a matter able to compromise the purity of the legislative body and one day alter the respect and confidence which people have for representatives? And you place another one arm in the hands of executive power for it to grow insensibly at the expense of public freedom. <...> Do not believe that only entire corruption leads to the conquest of the majority in a big assembly. A small number of people, an eloquence of one orator, intrigues of another, some cleverly managed terrors can master it in spite of itself, deceive its probity, force it to abandon its principles, to show weakness and injustice it will later repent. And unfortunately, it is these infinitely dangerous and perverse people to whom ministries tend to attach themselves." (Moniteur)

On April 13th, 1791, he said that it is administrative power instead of the Minister of Colonies who National guard should obey to prevent the concentration of ministerial power (Moniteur).

He even proposed a project of dividing the Assembly into two equal parts formed by draw each month and discussing the same matters independently (21st May 1791, Moniteur).

He viewed the post of a deputy and the one of a Governor of the Dauphin incompatible. And the first was much more honorable for him: "I believe that it is unworthy of a Representative of the Nation to leave his post to be a Governor of the Dauphin." (28 June 1791, Journal des débats et des décrets n°768, p 9)

Another idea that needs to be noted is that all citizens must have an ability to participate in political life to maintain their republican spirit. On 28 April 1791 Buzot defended the right of everyone (not only active citizens) to serve in the National Guard (Moniteur).

He was amongst those who supported the right of petitions signed by organizations: "To leave the right of petitions only to individuals is to annihilate it. Wait until the despotism, which is already raising its head so proudly, will acquire the strength it is rising to. Who will then dare to defy the bayonets and be the first to sign a brave petition? Woe to that first signed. Even if there was someone brave enough to defy the power of the oppressor, the later would laugh at this petition. Whereas a petition which is a general wish strongly expressed by cities, associations and hundred thousand men would make the despots pale." (9th May 1791, Révolutions de France et des Royaumes etc., n°77)

It was 6th August 1789 when he said: “And first of all, I maintain that ecclesiastical property belongs to the Nation.” (Moniteur) He attacked the church as an institution, but do not hasten to classify him as a radical. On 18th April 1791 he supported the opinion that non-sworn priests must be allowed to worship (Journal des débats et des décrets n°693).

Who he was before

Such brilliant career in the National Assembly resulted in Buzot receiving, by the end of it, two offers: of a post of vice-president of the criminal court in Paris and of a president of the same court in his hometown. He chose the last.

François Nicolas Léonard Buzot was born in Èvreux on the first of March 1760. He is mostly known by the name François but Archives National and Louvet in his memoires call him Léonard. His father was a prosecutor and his maternal grandfather was a lawyer in the same court (baptismal certificate, published by Vatel, Vol.2, p.160). On December 26, 1787, he became a lawyer in the court of Èvreux and one year and three months later, on March 28, 1789, he was elected to États généraux (d'Actes de convocation et de députation aux États généraux, published by Vatel, Vol 2 p. 283).

“Born with an independent and proud character, never yielding to the command of any person, how could I support an idea of hereditary rule and inviolability of one person? My head and heart were full of Greek and Roman history, of great men who, in these ancient republics, honored people the most. I’ve shared their maxims from the youngest age. I fed myself with their virtues. My youth was almost wild. My passions, concentrated in my ardent and sensitive heart, were violent, extreme, but dedicated to a single object, always to it. Never debauchery will wither my soul with its impure breath. Lechery always horrified me and to the old age never a licentious word spoiled my lips. But I’ve known misfortune early, still I stayed attached to virtue, whose consolations were my only asylum. What charm I still feel when I recall those happy days of my life now never to return, when I wandered silently through the mountains and woods round the city I was born, reading some works of Plutarch or Rousseaux with delight or recollecting the pieces of their moral and philosophy I cherished the most. Sometimes, sitting on a flowering grass in a shade of dense trees, I, in a sweet melancholy, gave myself over to the memories of the pains and pleasures of my first days. At the evenings, the precious works of two good man often occupied and entertained me and my friend the same age as me whom death took from me when we were thirty years old and whose memory, always cherished and respected, protected me from many mistakes! That was my character, slightly changed by the clash of revolutionary passions, when I arrived at the Constituent Assembly.” (Memoires, p 24)

Development of his principles and his liaisons

Madame Roland opened her salon in the spring of 1791. Not surprising that one of its visitors was Buzot, a friend of Brissot and Pétion. They became friends. Rolands exchanged letters with him since they have all departed from Paris in September 1791, the letters which must have been nothing close to the tender, soulful lines madame Roland would wrote in little less than two years later. Yet these letters allowed them to thoroughly study the souls of each other and, having become intimate soon, brought up the love they found themselves in by the time they saw each other a year after. “Buzot with pure principles, courage, sensitivity and gentle manners has infinitely inspired me with esteem and attachment to him.” (Madame Roland, Memoires, p. 119)

Then, in the reopened salon, he would find two new close friends of him: Louvet and Barbaroux, whom he describes in his Memoires as talented and of great character (p.90).

On 24 September 1792, in the midst of a heated argument caused by Kersaint’s proposition of a law against those who instigate murders, Buzot climbed the rostrum to say:

“Strange to the revolutions of Paris, I arrived here with confidence that I would retain the independence of my soul. Good that I know what to wait for or to fear. What does citizen Kersaint propose? Firstly, to inform each of us about the actual situation in both the Republic and the capital. That is the first thing I demand to be clarified. Secondly, to discover if we have any laws against instigators of murders. <…> We need a public force to provide the compliance with laws. <…> I also demand a public force in which all the departments will participate, because I belong to Paris no more than to the other departments. That is my will, a strongly expressed which will not be suffocated by the declamations of those who speak about Prussians, whom I do not have the honor of knowing, because I lived in my department as if retired. <..> I ask for appointment of four or six commissaires for examining the state that Paris and 83 departments are in to propose in future a project of a law not bloody – I have always raised against those ones, I have fought against that Mirabeau, who had made a martial law – but gentle, which simultaneously reassures good citizens and gives justice to the miscreants. I demand the National Convention to be surrounded by force so imposing that not only did we have nothing to fear but also our departments were completely confident that we have nothing to fear. Oh! Some may think they will make us slaves of some deputies of Paris… I have said this word. It is not too strong. I ask the Convention to examine these questions and for us not to be portrayed as enemies of the people when we want to establish a government that will bring them peace and give them bread.”(Moniteur)

This proposal (which was adopted) and Girondins’ eagerness to bring the guard to life became later one of the reasons for accusing them in federalism.

“When I said yesterday that the Convention must be surrounded by the guard formed by men from all 83 departments, wasn’t I speaking in favor of this unity? I proposed this measure and I say that all we need to prevent the federal division, this tearing of the French republic is to bring departments here, is each primary assembly to send here a man as a guarantee of the unity. <…> One decree is not enough to establish the unity of French Republic. This unity must exist as a fact, as a union of people sent from 83 departments to surround the convention. But these ideas must be organized with care. So, I ask for these observations to be sent to the Editing Commission for it to present its report as soon as possible.” (Moniteur)

To the report on the departmental guard, which Buzot made on 8th October, belongs this definition of republic: “Republic is a holy confederation of people who see themselves as similar and proud, who cherish their kind, honor their character and dignity, work together for the happiness of all to better provide the happiness of every, because in society one necessarily depends on others and is made more significant, more solid by it; of people, finally, equal, independent, but wise and appreciating no rule except law emanated from the general will freely expressed by the representatives by the entire Republic. That beautiful association is not limited by the borders of a small land. It is one, indivisible throughout France. Its perfection, its safety is an interest of 25 million men.” (Moniteur)

What Montagnards called federalism was, in fact, an irritation from Parisians affecting politics under the name of the nation on the basis that they were the nurse of liberty and a fight against what Girondins saw as and called a tyranny of one city. And some party spirit, of course. An important part in this quotation is Buzot talking about cantons. He opposes Paris’ influence with every citizen in the Republic able to vote. During the debates on the king’s trial, he asked for an appeal to people. He would be happy to live in a direct democracy.

It was March 10, 1793. Cambacérès proposed proceeding to the organization of the (future-called) Revolutionary tribunal and the ministries, “the ministries which are now organized as if two powers existed”. He said: “All powers were given to you; you must exercise them all. No separation must exist between the body that discusses and the body that acts.”

“(Cries “to the vote! to the vote!” are heard in the big part of the Assembly. Some murmurs then follow the cries – that is Buzot appears on the tribune.)

Buzot: Citizens, I request the floor. (The murmurs on the left are heard once again) This noise tells me, and I knew before, that some courage is needed to oppose the ideas by which some want to lead us to despotism more terrible than anarchy. (The same murmurs) For every moment I live I thank those who let me to. I view my life as a voluntary concession from their side. (The murmurs continue in the very big part of the Assembly) But may they at least give me the time to save my memory from dishonor by letting me vote against the despotism of the Convention.” (Histoire Parlementaire, t.XXV, p.50)

A prophecy.

By that time Buzot was extremely unloved by all left. His endless attacks, sometimes absurd, e.g. his accusation of Robespierre and Danton being in the Orlean’s party (he did not believe it himself), his resistance to Dubois-Crancé’s army reform made him unbearable. He would become even more after his resistance to the Committee of Public Safety’s power expanding, his eager to bring Marat to justice (even more fiery because he had called him innocent for months before, but that is a story for another day). No one would forget that he stood for the stay of execution (and had an argument on that matter with Barbaroux).

On 8 May 1793 he tells the Convention the following story when one deputy reminds it to him.

“My servant was arrested on fifth of that month. He was riding a horse of my friend [Dugazon]. He was taken to the Garde-Meuble and asked to show his civil card. He had no. Therefore, I had to present myself four times to the Section Quatre-Nations, where I live. I was refused. The servant said he was mine and this single circumstance determined his arrest and imprisonment. He was being held at the city hall, and I went there with my claim. There I saw, among others, a man with big moustache and big saber, a type which can be frequently seen near the Convention. I was refused taking my servant back in front of witnesses. I asked for their names but was refused. A big man [the man with big moustache] asked me if I needed his help, "the one on the end of my saber" — he added. I answered that I'm ready for it, armed with my courage and some bullets. I went out. The guard decided to follow me. I refused him, but he still did. I came to the mayor who received me decently. I've been there for a very little time when a municipal officer and a military officer began to argue. The object of their argument was the arrest of the man with big moustache and the cause of the arrest was his treat to leave only with my head. This man was taken to the Committee of police and released by it, because he said he was a true patriot and a good citizen. Finally, after two hours and a half of interrogation, when all means to get my servant make contradictions ended, he was returned to me.” (Moniteur)

On 22nd of May Buzot spoke about big municipalities division (Moniteur, I recommend reading it), and on May 23rd about 10th March (Moniteur). He said no single word on 31st of May. On the 2nd of June he stayed at Meillan's, as many other girondins did, and had no intention of participating in the session. Having heard that the idea of proscribing thirty-four deputies instead of twenty-two had been suggested, Buzot rushed to the door, willing to die on the tribune of the Convention. While his colleagues were holding him by pure physical strength, Barbaroux, possessed by the same desire, managed to escape unnoticed (Memories de Meillan, p.52).

Who he became

He became the soul of the Federalist revolt. A great inspirator. Next to his and Barbaroux 's names Brissot, in Saint-Just’s report on 8th July, looks like a petty hooligan.

Madame Roland, an author of at once chaste and passionate letters, wrote him on 6th July: "I’m penetrated by your courage, your affection honors me and I praise everything that inspires your proud and sensitive soul." (Madame Roland’s third letter, published by Dauban, p.36)

Those were the days of energy and hope. They soon ended, being followed by "cruel adventures" (Louvet's word) about which Buzot, in one of many fits of rage, writes in his memoires: “Yes, to avenge! To avenge my friends, their memory on the barbarians oppressing us. That is my goal, my will, my hope! It takes me whole; I think of it all day, I see it in my dreams, to fulfill this duty is the only reason I live! And who of us could agree, without this reassuring hope, to wander in this senseless, torturing life from district to district, from house to house, sometimes staying in the wild and desert forests of Bretagne and Perigord, sometimes sailing two hundred lieus on the sea, exposed to illnesses, inconstancy of the stormy sea, invasion of English, pirates and to the danger a thousand times more cruel than all English and storms, to the danger of being recognized by French, finding hearts cold everywhere, indifferent, frozen with fear or terrible souls tainted with our blood? Could we have another interest? Who of us could agree, without that reassuring hope, to live in our free land after death of our friends and our independence. Alas! We desire no more! What is left of us except pain?” (p.128)

He always was a man of feeling more than a one of thought. And so to say, a man of a deep, strong feeling. All his memories (and they consist of three chapters written in different times and places and to be the last words) are written to splash out the emotions he could not take any more. “My heart cannot handle the feelings oppressing it. There are still some cruel ones I have to devour in silence! Great God! How long do I have to endure? How much is it left of me? You’ve given hope to an unfortunate man but hope also abandoned me! <…> I search in vain for something dear to me, that will force me to once again love life. But in an isolated loneliness I now find nothing. On a despair of no longer having tender, honest feelings. Of no longer having a heart able to respond and rekindle my life with its sweet flame. All is lost for me, forever lost! How terrible those words! They plunge me into oblivion.” (p.132)

His Memoires possess no structure of Barbaroux's or facts of Pétion's. They were written in the same time, Buzot and Pétion were working on them literally elbow to elbow, so it says a lot about their priorities.

Prone to melancholy (Madame Roland's description of him), Buzot rapidly changes his tone from flashes of high lyricism to furious screams but is always uncommonly permeated by sadness.

"Celestial ray, shining from Divinity itself, I bless you for the evils I suffer for you! Support my courage and make me, always faithful to myself, never be unfaithful to your laws.” (p.41)

“Pache, Garat, awful names! Execrable memories! What regrets, what remorse they cause in me! You are partly obliged to me in your sudden rising and I’m well punished for it.” (p.100)

He barely tries to properly explain his theories. The only one chapter that contains them is the one about federalism (p.149), but it still has nothing specific, only an idea of it being a reasonable system, still never ever proposed by him to France.

A consequence of this will to turn his soul inside out is a brilliant honesty he writes with. Not objectivity, but honesty of judgements he had the moment he was writing.

“Following the basis of known ideas of Saint-Just, Robespierre and Barère, I see only a fatal advantage of having a new revolution every new year until the people, tired by its poverty and anarchy, finally fall back, under their own weight, to the most absolute despotism.” (p.158)

“Danton loves glory not less than pleasure and money; he is indifferent to crime as well as to courage, cruelty for him is only a calculated mean; following his interests, he signed pardon for September prisoners as he signed their massacre. <…> I don’t consider him as envious as Robespierre and as stained with blood as Marat, but he drinks it when it’s in his interests. <…> His mind knows no culture, he doesn’t hear arguments, he has no knowledge in any field; he was born awful and becomes even more in his convulsions of anger.” (p.94)

“What will happen with humanity, morals, virtues if Robespierre, Barère and Danton die peacefully in their beds?” (p. 131)

The attitude is clear. Yet – Memoires had been already finished – Buzot wrote on a piece of paper: “I’ve just read about Danton’s trial, and I found myself regretting his death.” (p.195)

"Alas! In the sad refuge where I am confined, I feel no longer the gracious heat of the sun, I see no green of the fields, the murmur of the stream doesn't come to my ear to doze the pains of my heart. Nothing living mixes its tears with mine. I see nothing breathing, and hope itself proposes to me nothing but a funeral shroud! Oh! A few more days, a few days after the fall of our tyrants to fulfil the supreme duty that remains to me, and the dream of life can vanish forever! But if it is my destiny to, after long sufferings, perish in France, in the midst of executioners, surrounding and pressing me, oh you, who are interested in the glory of mine and my friends, do not fear anything undignified of us. Our souls have never feared death, but never will the assassin have the glory of contributing it. And till the last breath Pétion, Barbaroux and Buzot will be free!.." (p.187, and the last)

He killed himself together with Pétion on the same day and the same wheat patch as Barbaroux.

"We've discussed a lot and decided nothing. I will always remember the opinion that Buzot developed with great energy. The question was if we were accused, should we prefer a voluntary death to the ignominy of mounting the echafaud. Buzot preferred the last and proved that the death on the echafaud was more courageous, more dignified to the patriots, and, even more, it was more useful for the Liberty." (Brissot, Memoires, Vol.4, p.261)

(A copy of a portrait belonged to Madame Roland published by Dauban)

#gonna call it buzot master post #frev #french revolution #girondins #buzot #cant believe ive finally finished it

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4bttnra · 1 month ago

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Heather Cox Richardson

February 14, 2025 (Friday)

On this day, I always like to tell the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s terrible 1884 Valentine’s Day and how it led to the Progressive Era. But things are happening too fast these days to leave a gap in the record, so you’ll have to look back at last year—or forward to next—for that story. For this year, here goes:

The administration’s order to drop federal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for his cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sparked a crisis in the Trump administration’s Department of Justice, led by President Trump’s own appointees.

Yesterday that crisis led to multiple resignations from the department as acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon resigned rather than drop the corruption charges. When the acting deputy attorney general of the Department of Justice, Emil Bove III, tried to do an end run around the Southern District of New York by taking the case to the Public Integrity Section in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and getting lawyer there to dismiss the case, at least five of them resigned as well.

This crisis is really over whether the Department of Justice will defend the rule of law or declare loyalty to Trump alone. And the crisis is growing.

Bove claims that administration officials did not make an arrangement with Adams to dismiss charges in exchange for his political support. But this morning, Adams and Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan undermined that assertion when they appeared together on the Fox News Channel. "If he doesn’t come through,” Homan said of Adams, "I'll be back in New York City and we won't be sitting on the couch. I'll be in his office, up his butt saying, 'Where the hell is the agreement we came to?'”

Today, Hagan Scotten, the acting assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned in a blistering letter to Bove, calling his justification for dropping the charges against Adams “transparently pretextual.” “[N]o system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives,” he wrote.

Scotten was awarded two bronze stars as a troop commander in Iraq and clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts. He pointed out to Bove that “[t]here is a tradition in public service of resigning in a last-ditch effort to head off a serious mistake…. [A]ny assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way.”

He continued: “If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion [to dismiss the case]. But it was never going to be me. Please consider this my resignation.”

Also this morning, legal analyst Barb McQuade reported that “DOJ leadership has put all Public Integrity Section lawyers into a room with 1 hour to decide who will dismiss Adams indictment or else all will be fired.” “Sending them strength to stand by their oath, which is to support the Constitution, not the president’s political agenda,” she added. According to Jeremy Roebuck, Shayna Jacobs, Mark Berman, and Carol D. Leonnig of the Washington Post, one lawyer at the meeting said the discussion was “gut-wrenching” and “not anything any of us expected to see in America.”

At first, they all agreed to resign together, but then Edward Sullivan, a career federal prosecutor approaching retirement, said he would sign the motion to dismiss the case in a bid to save the jobs of his colleagues.

The crisis was reminiscent of the “Saturday Night Massacre” of October 20, 1973, when President Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox after Cox subpoenaed a number of the tapes Nixon had recorded in the Oval Office concerning the break-in to the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Washington, D.C., Watergate complex. Richardson and his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, refused to execute Nixon’s order and resigned in protest; it was only the third man at the Justice Department, Solicitor General Robert Bork, who was willing to carry out the order firing Cox.

In that case, popular outrage at the resignations and firing forced Nixon to ask Bork—now acting attorney general—to appoint a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, a Democrat who had voted for Nixon, on November 1. On November 17, Nixon assured the American people: “I am not a crook.”

The administration’s determination to impose its will on the United States is behind its insistence that Trump can rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Denali, the highest peak in North America, by executive order. In 2017, Trump pushed hard to make Americans accept that the crowds at his inauguration were bigger than those at President Barack Obama’s, an immediately disprovable lie that seemed unimportant at the time but was key to establishing the primacy of Trump’s vision over reality, an acceptance that led, eventually, to the Big Lie that Trump had won the 2020 presidential election and now, apparently, to the lie that Elon Musk is cutting “waste and fraud” from the government when, in fact, he appears simply to be cutting programs he and Trump dislike.

Although tech companies and various media outlets have accepted Trump’s language, the Associated Press has continued to use the internationally accepted, historic name: the Gulf of Mexico. The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative founded in 1846 that produces and distributes news reports across the country and the world. White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich today claimed that the AP’s use of “Gulf of Mexico” showed its “commitment to misinformation,” and announced that the AP would be barred from the Oval Office and Air Force One.

In the Senate, Alaska’s senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, are pushing back on Trump’s name change for Denali, sponsoring a bill to require the mountain to be designated “Denali” on maps, documents, and any official U.S. records.

Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) pushed back today on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “rookie mistake” on Wednesday when he offered that the U.S. would not support Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and that it was “unrealistic” for Ukraine to demand a return to its borders before Russia invaded in 2014, essentially offering to let Russia keep Crimea.

Wicker said he was “puzzled” and “disturbed” by Hegseth’s comments and added: “I don’t know who wrote the speech—it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool.” Joe Gould and Jamie Dettmer of Politico identified Carlson as a “pro-Putin broadcaster.”

“There are good guys and bad guys in this war, and the Russians are the bad guys,” Wicker said. “They invaded, contrary to almost every international law, and they should be defeated. And Ukraine is entitled to the promises that the world made to it.”

Hackers pushed back today on Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” website, launched earlier this week after Musk claimed that the group was posting its actions on the DOGE website. At the time, the website was essentially blank. Jason Koebler of 404 Media reported that the website was built out on Wednesday and Thursday. It appears not to be on government servers, is not secure, and pulls information from an open database that anyone could edit. Coders promptly added: “this is a joke of a .gov site” and “THESE ‘EXPERTS’ LEFT THEIR DATABASE OPEN-roro.” One coder told Koebler that the website “[f]eels like it was completely slapped together. Tons of errors and details leaked in the page source code.”

Indeed, Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost pointed out that one of the errors on the page is that it appears to have posted classified information about the size and staff of a U.S. intelligence agency. Security clearance lawyer Bradley Moss posted: “If you’re a clearance holder, stay away from the DOGE site. These ignorant virgins are going to find themselves prosecuted for violating the Espionage Act before all is said and done.”

Protesters today packed Christopher Park in New York City’s Greenwich Village near the Stonewall National Monument after the Trump administration erased “TQ+” from the LGBTQ+ on the monument’s website. The Stonewall Uprising of 1969, six days of conflict between police and LGBTQ+ protesters after police raided the Stonewall Inn, brought the longstanding efforts of LGBTQ+ activists for civil rights to popular attention, making Stonewall a symbol of LGBTQ+ rights.

Trans activists Marsha P. Johnson and Silvia Rivera were key figures in the Stonewall Uprising. Acknowledging their contribution, one protester held a sign that read, “NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: YOU CAN’T SPELL HISTORY WITHOUT A ‘T’”

Former Republican operative Stuart Stevens had a different take. He posted: “When I see the sexual orientation hate come out of the Republican party under the pretext of just being anti-Trans, I am very tempted to name the Republican operatives and elected officials who are closeted gays. It’s not a short list.”

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nesiacha · 5 months ago

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Survey: Who is your favorite mathematician from the French Revolution among this group?

These individuals contributed to mathematics during the Revolution, or used this field to better support or contribute to the Revolution.

Here are a few I’ve selected (a brief introduction even though we all know them, or almost)

Lazare Carnot:

Before the Revolution, he was a captain in the Corps of Engineers and had completed brilliant scientific studies. Elected as a deputy for Pas-de-Calais along with his brother, he immediately focused on military matters before his appointment to the Committee of Public Safety, where he oversaw the conduct of the war, both in Paris and on the battlefield. Upon his re-election after the fall of the monarchy, he voted for the king’s execution without delay and supported the proposal for public assistance, among other initiatives. He also collaborated with Condorcet, Pastoret, and Guilloud on women’s education. Despite his revolutionary activities, Carnot continued to write on mathematics, including his "Réflexions sur la métaphysique du calcul infinitésimal ", written in 1790 (first edition published in 1797). So, even during the Revolution, he did not forget mathematics.

Nicolas de Condorcet:

Here is the revolutionary defender of gender equality that everyone anticipated. Born a noble, he became a revolutionary and engaged early on with progressive ideas, whether scientific or political. He advocated for the rights of Black people, equal rights, and gender equality. He was critical of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the Constitution of 1791, which he found too moderate. Elected to the Paris Commune and later as a deputy, he held republican views and proposed a public education plan that laid the foundation for the school system envisioned under the Third Republic. Strongly opposed to the death penalty, he suggested condemning Louis XVI to hard labor instead. Condorcet also made contributions to mathematics. While in hiding, following his wife Sophie de Grouchy's advice, he wrote a mathematical work titled "Esquisse", which was published posthumously by his widow and traced the general progress of the human spirit across political and scientific history. He also passed notes to his wife for his "Éléments d'Arithmétique et de Géométrie", a two-part book for teachers and students.

Prieur de la Côte-d'Or:

After brilliant scientific studies in Dijon and Paris, he joined the Jacobin Club in 1790 and even presided over it during Louis XVI's flight. Elected to the Legislative Assembly, he opposed the royal veto and supported measures such as the decrees against émigrés and refractory priests, as well as the call for volunteers in 1792, while working on various committees, especially the education committee. After the fall of the monarchy, he was sent to eastern France with Carnot to reorganize civil and military authorities in an urgent context. Often dispatched on military-related missions throughout France, he joined the Committee of Public Safety. As a scientist and mathematician, he was particularly useful to the Revolution, notably in technical aspects like troop supply, weapons innovations, and the creation of military schools. After leaving the Committee, he joined the Education Committee, where he contributed to the creation of elite schools and the development of the metric system.

Gaspard Monge:

One of the main architects of the 19th-century mathematical revival, he was also a professor and friend of Lazare Carnot. Monge entered politics in 1790 and was an enthusiastic member of the Jacobin Club. He served as Minister of the Navy from August 1792 until 1793, tasked by the Committee of Public Safety with the procurement of arms, ammunition, and clothing for the army. He succeeded in significantly increasing the production of bronze cannons and rifles, among other resources, finding ways to secure saltpeter and other materials that were hard to obtain during the war with neighboring countries. Monge also contributed to the establishment of École Polytechnique and served as its director. One of his most important works is "Feuilles d'analyse appliquée à la géométrie", published in 1795. He was a professor at the École Normale, created in 1793, and was appointed a member of the Institut de France in 1795.

Charles-Gilbert Romme

Lastly, one of the last Montagnards, often called "the Crêtois." He also pursued brilliant studies, excelling in mathematics . He welcomed the French Revolution with enthusiasm and was one of the few deputies advocating for more civic rights for women, co-founding with Théroigne de Méricourt the mixed-gender Club des Amis de la Loi. Elected as a deputy to the Legislative Assembly, he supported the war effort. Later re-elected, he initially sat with the Plain before permanently joining the Mountain, where he voted for the king’s execution without delay and opposed Marat’s prosecution. He was sent on several missions for the Convention, including one to Caen, where he was imprisoned. Romme joined the Hébertists in supporting de-Christianization, endorsing the Cult of Reason and the de-priesting of Gobel. However, he did not witness the executions of the Dantonists, Hébertists, or the events of 9 Thermidor as he was on a mission that began in February 1794 and ended in September 1794. He remained faithful to his beliefs, even in 1795 when the liberalization of the economy worsened poverty, and the Convention took a more right-wing turn. He supported the 1st Prairial insurrection. Regarding mathematics, Romme was one of the creators of the Republican Calendar. His mathematical skills were vital in its design, as it adhered to the decimal system.

Sources:

Antoine Resche

Jacqueline Feldman

Le bicentenaire de Gaspard Monge ( article) write by Sergescu

#frev #french revolution #poll #lazare carnot #claude antoine prieur #monge gaspard #Romme Charles Gilbert #condorcet

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mariacallous · 16 days ago

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Prosecutors from Romania’s anti-organised crime unit, DIICOT, on Thursday announced the detention of six people suspected of treason and of “undermining the sovereignty and independence of the Romanian state through political subversion and the weakening of the country’s defence capacity”.

Investigators say the group established contacts with foreign agents in Romania and Russia and “took steps to negotiate with external political-military actors regarding Romania’s withdrawal from NATO”.

They also allegedly sought to overthrow the constitutional order, dissolve political parties, install a new government, adopt a new constitution and change the country’s name, flag, and national anthem.

Some of the suspects allegedly made repeated contact with foreign agents, both within Romania and Russia.

“Two of the defendants travelled to Moscow in January where they met individuals willing to support their organisation’s efforts to seize power in Romania,” a DIICOT press release said.

On Wednesday evening, Romania also expelled the Russian military attaché and his deputy for what it described as activities violating diplomatic rules. Bucharest did not provide further details. Moscow vowed to respond.

The moves are the latest signs of growing tensions between Romania and Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and allegations of electoral interference that led to the annulment of Romania’s presidential elections last December.

Last month, Romanian authorities launched an investigation into a group of 27 people for allegedly “acting against Romania’s constitutional order” and “creating an organisation that spreads fascist, racist and xenophobic messages”.

In a related development, on February 26 prosecutors indicted the right-wing presidential candidate Calin Georgescu on six charges, including incitement to undermine the constitutional order, spreading false information and founding an anti-Semitic organisation.

Georgescu, a populist politician known for his NATO-sceptic and pro-Russian views, faces ten to 20 years in prison if convicted, and may be barred from May’s re-run presidential election. He was leading in the first round of the initial election held last November before it was annulled by the Constitutional Court.

Georgescu’s surprise win sent a signal that EU-member Romania was joining the region’s growing trend toward far-right populism.

The Constitutional Court in December ordered a re-run of the vote citing alleged manipulation of public opinion by a “foreign state”, likely referring to Russia.

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aedislumen · 1 year ago

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Simonne Évrard's speech of 8 August 1793 in the National Convention

"I am not here to ask you the favors of cupidity that claims and craves for indigence. Marat’s widow just needs a grave. Before I get to the relieving end of my tormented life, I come to ask you for justice towards the new attacks committed against the memory of the most intrepid and outraged of the people’s defenders. These monsters, how much gold did they lavish! How many hypocritical pamphleteers were paid to put his name to shame! With such hateful rage, they tried so hard to give him a colossal political existence and a detestable celebrity, in order to dishonor the people’s cause that he proudly defended. This day, still stained by his blood, they persecute him to his grave; some other day, they still dare to murder his memory. They are even trying to depict the monster, who pierced his chest with the parricide iron, as an intriguing heroine. In this circle we see the vilest of them all, the Carra, the Ducos, the Dulaure, the shameless praises in their periodicals to encourage their peers to slaughter what is left of the defenders of liberty. I do not talk about the vile Pétion who, in Caen, during a meeting with his accomplices, dared to say that the murder was a virtue.

Soon enough the foolish treachery of the conspirators, who pretend to honor the civic virtues, will make the infamous publications grow, where the horrible murder is presented in favorable ways and the martyr of the patrie is disfigured by the most hideous convulsions.

But here it is the most wicked of their schemes: They bribed some foolish writers who shamelessly usurp his name and tarnish his principles to immortalize the empires of lies which he was victim of! Cowards! First, they flatter the people’s pain to get their praise, then they speak the language of patriotism and morality so that the people believe to still be listening to Marat; but all of this is just to slander the most zealous defenders who have protected them. It is to preach, in Marat’s name, the exaggerations that his enemies attributed to him.

I denounce two men in particular, Jacques Roux and Leclerc, who claim to carry on his patriotic papers and make his shadow talk to insult his memory and to betray the people. After spouting revolutionary platitudes, they encourage the people to outlaw the government. It is in those occasions that they use his name to stain in blood the day of the 10th of August, because his sensitive soul, devastated by the sight of the crimes of tyranny and the uneasiness of humanity, sometimes let out some rightful curses towards the people’s oppressors and public leeches. They try to preserve the parricide lie that persecuted him and made him look like a foolish apostle of anarchy and chaos. And who are these men that claim his place? It is a priest, who the day after the faithful deputies triumphed over their cowardly enemies, came to insult the National Convention through a seditious and wicked speech. There is another man, no less perverse, who is associated with the mercenary furors of said impostor. What is important to remark is that these two men are the same who had been denounced by him at the Cordeliers’ club just a few days before his death as people paid by our enemies to create public disorder and, on the same occasion, they were also formally expelled from this popular society. What is the aim of this perfidious faction that fuels these criminal intrigues? It is to vilify the people who honor the memory of the one who died for their cause. It is to slander all the friends of the patrie, whom it has designated as Maratists; to deceive all the French people across the whole republic, who gather for the reunion of August the 10th, by presenting them their perfidious writings, in which they preach the teaching of the very people’s representative they slaughtered. It is to cause disturbance in these solemn days through some disastrous catastrophe.

God! What will become of the people? If these men can usurp their trust! What is the deplorable condition of their intrepid defenders if death itself cannot avoid them the fury of their murderers! Legislators, for how long would you endure it if crime insulted virtue? Where does this privilege come from, of English and Austrian emissaries to trap public opinion, to give daggers to the defenders of our laws and to know the founding valor of our raising republic? If you let them go unpunished then I denounce them all here to the French people, to the universe. The memory of the martyrs of liberty and the heritage of the people; that of Marat is the only good deed left to me, I devote to his defense the last days of a languid life. Legislators, avenge the patrie, the honesty, the misfortune and the virtue, striking at the most cowardly of all the enemies.”

Original in French

I did the translation in English myself. Let me know if I made some mistakes or if some parts need revision!

Last edit: 31/10/23

#simonne evrard #frev #french revolution #my translations #marat

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