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La Vendee by Anthony Trollope

A >> Anthony Trollope >> La Vendee




"It little matters to me," said Quetineau, "what becomes of me; were you
to give me unconditional liberty, I should go to Paris--and the
Convention would accuse me of betraying my trust, and I should become
another victim of the guillotine."

"Of the guillotine!" said Henri; "why, what bloody monsters are those
you serve they send you soldiers who know nothing but how to run; do
they expect that with such troops as these you should be victorious,
when opposed to men who are individually striving for everything that
is dear to them?"

"The Convention," said Quetineau, "would ensure success by punishing
defeat. You will find in the end that they are politic; there will,
however, be many victims, and I am fated to be one of them."

"Stay with us, General Quetineau," said de Lescure, "join our forces,
and here you will find that honesty and courage are respected. You
cannot, you do not approve of the tyranny of the Convention. We know
each other of old, and I know that in joining the army, you never
intended to serve under a Republic. You cannot say that in your heart
you are a repubhican."

"Did I wish to shew myself a royalist, it would not now become me to
proclaim myself one," answered Quetineau. "I entered the army of the
King, but I have chosen to remain a soldier of the Republic. Whatever
may be my feelings, adversity shall not make me false to the colours I
have carried; besides, gentlemen, if I escaped the anger of the
Convention myself, I have a wife in Paris, whose life would be made to
satisfy it; under such circumstances, I presume you would not counsel
me to become a royalist."

This was an argument which it was impossible to answer. General
Quetineau accepted the present of his liberty, and soon as he was free,
he returned to Paris; he was immediately sent to the revolutionary
tribunal and tried for his life; and as he himself had predicted, was
guillotined by the Convention for the cowardice of the troops, whom he
had been called upon to take under his command. In the old days of
Greece, when the Kings sinned, the people suffered for it: this law was
reversed under the first French Republic; when the soldiers ran away,
the Generals were beheaded.

The joy of the Vendeans, when they found themselves masters of Saumur,
knew no bounds, but they were grotesque rather than unruly in their
demonstrations; they plundered nothing from the poor people, or even
from the shopkeepers; the money that was found in the republican chest
was divided among them, but as this consisted almost entirely of
assignats, it was of but little value. The shopkeepers were surprised
at the liberality of their enemies and conquerors, who were willing to
dispose of these assignats for anything they would fetch--a little wine,
or a few ounces of tobacco; whereas, their own friends, the republicans,
had insisted that they should be taken at their nominal value as money,
for all goods exposed for sale.

An enormous poplar had been planted by the towns-people in the centre
of the marketplace, which they called the tree of liberty. This was now
a doomed tree. On the evening of the day in which they took the town,
the royalist peasants went in procession, and with many cheers hewed it
to the ground; it was then treated with every possible contumely--it was
chopped, and hacked, and barked; it was kicked, and cuffed, and spat
upon; the branches were cut off, and on the bare top was placed a large
tattered cap of liberty; the Vendean marksmen then turned out, and fired
at the cap till it was cut to pieces; after that, all the papers and
books, which had belonged to the municipality, every document which
could be found in the Town-hall, were brought into the square, and piled
around the roots of the tree; and then the whole was set on fire--and
tree, papers, and cap of liberty, were consumed together.

On the next morning, considerable difficulty was experienced in
disposing of the prisoners there were about two thousand in the town,
and the Vendeans knew that they had no means of keeping them, nor did
they wish to be at the great expense of feeding them; it was contrary
to their inclination, their practice, and their consciences, to kill
them in cold blood: and they knew from experience, that if they gave
them their liberty, the same men would return within a fortnight,
newly-armed, to carry on the war against their liberators, in spite of
any oaths they might take to the contrary.

"I'll tell you what we will do, M. Henri," said Chapeau, speaking to his
master, "we will put a mark upon them, so that if we catch them again,
we may know them; and then I do think it would be all right to hang
them; or perhaps for the second time we might cut off their ears, and
hang them the third time."

"But how would you mark them, Jacques; men are not like cattle that you
can brand them."

"I will tell you what," said the little Chevalier, "shave them all like
pigs; they cannot all buy wigs, and we shall know them by their bald
sconces."

"That is the very thing, M. Arthur," said Chapeau delighted, "we will
shave their heads as clear as the palm of my hand. I am an excellent
barber myself; and I will even get a dozen or two assistants; hair shall
be cheap in Saumur tomorrow; though I fear soap and razors will be
scarce."

Chapeau was so delighted with the proposal that he at once hurried away
to carry it into execution; and Arthur, though he felt that his dignity
as an officer would be somewhat compromised, could not resist the boyish
temptation to follow him and see the fun.

He and Chapeau were not long in raising an efficient corps of barbers
and assistant barbers; and few of the shopkeepers, when called upon,
thought it advisable to refuse the loan of a razor and a shaving dish.
They established themselves in the large room of the Town-hall, and had
the prisoners brought in by a score at a time; vehemently did the men
plead for their hair, and loud did they swear that if allowed to escape
free, they would never again carry arms against the Vendeans; but
neither their oaths or their prayers were of any avail, nor yet the
bribes which were offered by those who had ought to give; the order to
sit down was given imperatively, and if not immediately obeyed, the
command was somewhat roughly enforced.

They were shaved by twenty at a time, and while one lot was being
operated on, another twenty, who were next destined to fill the chairs,
were kept standing against the wall. The long hair was first cut off
with scissors, and then the head and whiskers were closely shaved. The
first candidates for the soap-dish were very unruly under the operation,
but they only got their ears snipped and their skin chipped, and had to
return to their prisons with their polls all bloody as well as bald.
Those who looked on, took a lesson from the folly of their comrades, and
most of them remained quiet. The manoeuvres of the men however were very
different during the process; some took it with good humour, and
endeavoured to laugh as their locks were falling; some sat still as
death; others looked fierce and warlike; some were even moved to tears;
some fought, and kicked and scratched, and at last had to be corded to
their seats. One unfortunate went down upon his knees, and implored
Chapeau by the memory of his mistress, if ever he had been in love, by
his regard for his wife, if he chanced to be married, not to shave his
head. He was engaged to be married, he said, to a young girl at Angers,
who had many lovers; she had preferred him for the beauty of his hair:
if he returned back bald, he knew that he would be rejected. Chapeau for
a time was moved, but the patriot and the royalist triumphed over the
man, and Jacques, turning away his face on which a tear was gleaming,
with a wave of his hand motioned the young man to the chair.

Insult was added to injury, for the Chevalier stood at the door with a
brush, and a large jar of red paint, and as each man went out of the
room, Arthur made a huge cross upon his bare pate. The poor wretches in
their attempt to rub it off, merely converted the cross into a red
patch, and as they were made to walk across the market-place with their
bald red heads, they gave rise to shouts of laughter, not only from the
royalists, but from the inhabitants of the town.

For three days the shaving went on, and as the men became experienced
from practice, it was conducted with wonderful rapidity. At last, the
prisoners were all deprived of their hair, and set at liberty--a
temporary bridge was thrown across the Loire, near the Green Cross, and
the men were allowed to march over. As soon as they found themselves on
the other side of the Loire, they were free.

"Come, my bald pates, come my knights of the ruddy scalp," said Jacques,
standing at the corner of the bridge as they passed over, "away with you
to the Convention; and if your friends like your appearance, send them
to Saumur, and they shall be shaved close, and the barber shall ask for
no fee; but remember, if you return again yourselves, your ears will be
the next sacrifice you will be called on to make for your country."



CHAPTER II

COUNCIL OF WAR

The taking of the fortified town of Saumur, and the total dispersion of
the large army which had been collected there by the Republic, was an
enterprise of much greater magnitude than anything which had previously
been undertaken by the Vendeans: it gave them great advantages, it
supplied them plentifully with arms, ammunition and clothes for their
soldiers, and greatly inspirited the peasants; but it made the
Convention feel that it had no contemptible enemy to deal with in La
Vendee, and that the best soldiers of France would be required to crush
the loyalty which inspired the peasants of Anjou and Poitou.

The Vendean leaders felt that their responsibilities were greatly
increased, and that very much depended on the decision to which they
might now come as regarded their further operations. A general council
of war was accordingly held in Saumur, at which the matter was debated
among them. Twelve of the Vendeans were admitted to this consultation,
and all others were strictly excluded; they were Cathelineau, Bonchamps,
who though badly wounded, had caused himself to be brought thither from
Doue, de Lescure, who had remained in action for eight hours after his
arm was broken, and had consequently suffered much from it,
Larochejaquein, d'Elbee, Stofflet, Adolphe Denot, Father Jerome, Foret,
M. Donnessan, Lescure's father-in-law, Marigny, and the Prince de
Talmont.

The first question was the selection of a chief officer. Cathelineau had
been named before the battle of Saumur; but, as he himself alleged, his
command was to last only during that siege; he had been, he said,
selected for a special purpose, which purpose, by the grace of God, was
accomplished, and he was now ready to resign his commission into the
hands of those who had given it to him.

"I am not so foolish," said he, "as to suppose that I am qualified to
take the command in the war which we have now to carry on. No; one
privilege I beg to exercise on retiring from my command. I will name a
successor; let any one who pleases name another; we will then put it to
the vote, and let him who has most votes be our General."

"So be it," said Henri. "Nothing can be better."

"I name M. de Lescure," said Cathelineau. "Some of us are beloved by the
people, but are not educated; others are highly educated, but are not
yet known to the peasants. We are all, I am sure, brave men: but M. de
Lescure is beloved by all; his knowledge fits him for his high position,
and his cool, constant, determined courage, no man who has seen him in
the hour of battle will doubt. I name M. de Lescure."

De Lescure was about to rise, when Henri put his hand upon his friends
arm, and said:

"Let me speak, Charles. We all know that what Cathelineau has said of
my cousin is no more than the truth. Be still, Charles: when I have
spoken you can then say what you please, but I am sure you will agree
with me. Nevertheless, I will not give my vote that he be our chief
General. Cathelineau has desired that any one differing from him should
name another, and that the question should then be put to the vote. I
differ from him, and, therefore, I name another. I name the good
Cathelineau, the Saint of Anjou."

"Now let us vote," said the Prince de Talmont. "Come, Bonchamps, do you
begin."

"I never heard of deposing a Commander-in-Chief in consequence of a
complete victory," said Bonchamps. "The Convention murders their
Generals when they are defeated, but even the Convention rewards them
for victory. I vote for Cathelineau."

"And you, Foret," said the Prince.

"I say Cathelineau," said Foret: "the peasants generally would be
disappointed to see any put above him."

"I certainly vote for Cathelineau," said Father Jerome, who came next.

"We should be offending our Creator," said M. d'Elbee, "were we to
reject the great and good Commander, whom His gracious providence has
sent us. I vote for Cathelineau."

"And you, M. Denot," said the Prince. Adolphe Denot especially disliked
Cathelineau: he was jealous of his reputation and popularity: he could
not bear to feel himself in any way under the control of a man so much
his inferior in rank; he fancied, moreover, that Cathelineau regarded
Agatha Larochejaquelin; he had been quick enough to perceive that the
ineffable grace and beauty of his mistress had filled the heart of the
poor postillion with admiration, and he feared that his own rejection
had been caused by some mutual feeling in Agatha's breast, which future
events might warm into love. Adolphe, therefore, hated Cathelineau, and
would have delighted, had he dared to do so, to express his
disapprobation of the choice; but, after pausing for a few moments, he
found that he did not dare; so he merely said:

"Oh, Cathelineau, of course. When you are all resolved, what's the use
of voting about it?"

"To show that we all are resolved," said de Lescure; "to make
Cathelineau understand that it is positively his duty to take the
position we wish him to fill."

And so, one after another, they all recorded their votes that
Cathelineau should be the Commander-in-Chief of the Vendean army; and
they all declared that they would, without reserve, obey any military
orders, which he might give them.

"Well, gentlemen," said he, again seating himself at the head of the
table, "I should pay but a bad compliment to your understanding, were
I any further to insist on my own unworthiness. I will not, at any rate,
be wanting in zeal for the good cause, and I will trust to Him who
directs us all, for assistance in the difficult duties which you have
imposed on me."

They then debated on the all-important question of what should be their
next movement, and on this subject there was much difference of opinion.
Bonchamps was again asked to speak first, and he advised that they
should at once proceed to Paris.

"We can do nothing," said he, "while the present Convention sits in
Paris; it has but one head, but it has ten thousand bloody hands. There
can be no peace, no rest in France, while Danton, Robespierre and
Barrere are omnipotent. Let us at once start for Paris: Brittany will
join us, and parts of Normandy; the Southerns will follow us; the men
of Bordeaux and of the Gironde: have not their own orators, the leaders
of the Revolution, been murdered in their seats, because they were not
willing that all France should become one Golgotha? Lyons, even, and
Marseilles, are now sick of the monsters who have crawled forth from the
haunts of the Jacobins to depopulate the country, and annihilate
humanity. There is now but a small faction, even in Paris, to whom the
restoration of order would not be acceptable. .The intensity of their
cruelty is the only strength of the governing faction; the extent of
their abominations alone makes them terrible. Hundreds will fly from one
Indian snake, so potent is its venom, so sure to inflict death: but let
one brave man set his heel upon its head, and the noxious animal is
destroyed for ever: so it is with the party who now rules the
Convention. Now that we have with us the all-powerful prestige of
victory, let us march at once to Paris; hundreds will join us on the
way, and what force can at the moment be collected to stop us? Let us
proceed at once to Paris, and proclaim at the door of the Convention,
in the gardens of the Tuilleries, in the Place Louis Quinze, where our
sainted monarch so nobly shed his blood, that France again submits
herself to her King."

"Would that we could!" said de Lescure; "would that the spirit of
revolution was yet sufficiently quenched in France to allow us to follow
your advice; but there is much, very much to be done before a royalist
army can march from La Vendee to Paris; unthought of sufferings to be
endured, the blood of thousands to be sacrificed, before France will own
that she has been wrong in the experiment she has made. We must fight
our battles by inches, and be satisfied, if, when dying, we can think
that we have left to our children a probability of final victory.
Normandy and the Gironde may be unwilling to submit to the Jacobin
leaders, but they are as yet as warmly attached to the Republic as Paris
itself. And, Bonchamps, you little know the dispositions and character
of the men, who at our bidding have left their homes and come to Saumur,
if you think that at our bidding they will march to Paris; they are even
now burning to return home, to recount to their wives and children what
they have done.

"Not half the number that came to Saumur would leave the town with us on
the road to Paris; and before we could reach Tours, the army would have
melted away from us like snow from a mountain top, when the sun begins
to shine. It is here, in our own locality, that we should endeavour to
extend our influence. In Southern Brittany the people, I believe, are
with us, but the towns are full of the troops of the Republic. Let us
drive them out of Angers, Ancenis, and Nantes, as we have driven them
from Saumur. Let us force them from the banks of the Loire, and become
masters of the coast of Southern Brittany. Then we may expect men and
money from England. Then we may fairly hope for such foreign aid as may
enable us to face the Republic; but at present, if we march to Paris,
we march to certain destruction."

"M. de Lescure is right," said Stofflet, "our men would not go far from
their homes; we must remember that they are not paid, nor have we the
means of paying them; if we had English gold, we might perhaps make our
way to Paris."

"Our men are not so mercenary, Stofflet," said Bonchamps, "I do not
think they have shewn any great desire for plunder."

"No," said Stofflet, "but they must live; if they are to have neither
pay nor plunder, how are they to get to Paris?"

"I agree with you, Bonchamps," said Henri, "come what, come may, I would
make a dash at Paris; we shall be cut to pieces here, while we are
waiting for English aid; some of the men would follow us--most of them
I believe; where we meet with friends, they will give us provisions;
where we find enemies, we will take them, and pay the owners in
republican assignats; they would get no other payment in the
market-towns. I am sorry to disagree with you, Charles, but my voice is
for Paris."

"And mine also, certainly," said Adolphe, "let our career be short, at
any rate let it be glorious; let us march to Paris and strike terror
into the tyrants of the Convention."

"It is difficult to strike terror into tyrants," said de Lescure
quickly, "when the number of their supporters is ten times greater than
that of their opponents."

"Well, Cathelineau," said Bonchamps, "what do you say? it is for you to
settle the question between us; are we to go forward to Paris, or march
back to Nantes?"

"I would wish to hear what others say; for myself, I fear that M. de
Lescure is right. I fear the peasants would not follow us so far from
their own homes. What does the Prince de Talmont say?"

"I will have no voice in the matter," said the Prince. "I have joined
you but lately, and as yet am only fit to follow where others lead."

"And you, M. d'Elbee?" said Cathelineau.

"I hardly know how to speak," said d'Elbee, "where the subject is so
important."

"M. d'Elbee is not wont to be so modest," said Stofflet; "does he not
trust that Providence will inspire him with wisdom, when he opens his
mouth to give his opinion?"

"Certainly, Stofflet; I trust in that all-seeing eye, at which you are
so willing to scoff; but I do not expect that I am to be allowed to see
further into futurity than another; however, if I am to express an
opinion, I think we should endeavour to march on Paris; if we find that
the men desert us, and that others do not join our standards, we must
return."

"And how are we to return," said de Lescure, "and to whom? think you
that we can collect another army in La Vendee, when one has deserted us
on the road? will the peasants again trust in us, after they have once
left us? Never If the army dissolves itself in despair, you will never
be able to establish it again."

"Who talks of despair, Charles?" said Henri, "you did not despair when
you were thundering against the gates of Saumur with four republicans
to one royalist opposed to you; why should you despair now; or why
should the army despair; I believe they would go anywhere at the command
of their priests, and with the hope of restoring the King to his
throne."

The question was then put to the vote. De Lescure and four others, voted
for attacking Nantes. Bonchamps, and five others, declared for
proceeding at once to Paris, with the view of arresting the present
leaders of the Convention. Cathelineau was then called on to express his
opinion, which would of course be decisive.

"I think M. de Lescure is right," said he, "I think we are not in a
position to advance to Paris. I have not the heart to ask the men to
follow me into a strange country, so far from their own homes."

The numbers were now equally divided, but as Cathelineau was the
Commander-in-Chief, his voice turned the scale; and the expedition to
Paris was postponed.

"So be it," said Bonchamps; "let us prepare then for Nantes; it is not
fortified like Saumur, but the troops there are very numerous."

It was then decided that Cathelineau should name six lieutenants under
him, to take command of the different districts from which the army was
collected, and to which the men would be sure to return; and also
appoint an officer in command of the artillery, and another in command
of the cavalry. Cathelineau would have willingly dispensed with the task
of selecting his officers--a work in which he could hardly fail to give
offence to some, and in which he might probably give entire satisfaction
to none; but it was to be done, and he felt that it was useless for him
to shrink from it.

"M. Bonchamps," said he, "will of course take the command of the men of
Anjou, and M. de Lescure of those from the southern parts of the Bocage,
and they will assist me, I hope, in selecting the others. It is very
difficult to select, where so many are fit."

"Rather say," said Henri, laughing, "where so many are equally unfit.
Why, Bonchamps and Marigny are the only soldiers by profession we have
among us."

"You'll all be soldiers shortly," said Father Jerome. "You are at any
rate going the right way to learn the trade."

"Marigny of course will take the artillery," said Bonchamps. "We are
very lucky in having so good an artillery officer among us."

"There is no one, at any rate, to dispute your claim, Marigny," said de
Lescure.

"So he's president over 'Marie Jeanne' and the gunpowder," said Henri;
"that's settled, isn't it Cathelineau?"

"Unless M. Marigny refuses," said Cathelineau.

"I am not modest enough for that, General," said Marigny. "Do you
furnish me with guns, and I'll fight them. Do you collect the gunpowder,
and I'll consume it."

"And the Prince de Talmont will take the cavalry?" said Cathelineau.

"No, indeed," said the Prince. "I will not interfere with Henri
Larochejaquelin."

"Henri Larochejaquelin is much obliged to you, Prince," said Henri, "but
he is not ambitious of making a fool of himself; nor does he wish to be
made a fool of. Moreover, Henri Larochejaquelin does not wish to quarrel
with an old friend like you, Prince; but he might be tempted to do so,
if you take any liberties with his name."

"But, Cathelineau," said the Prince, "Henri has been at the head of the
cavalry all through."

"Don't set a bad example, Prince," said de Lescure. "Let every man
coincide with Cathelineau's directions without a word; so shall we be
spared the ill effects of over modesty, and of too much assurance."

"Besides," said Cathelineau, "M. Larochejaquelin will be much wanted
elsewhere. As a matter of course, he will be the leader of all the
parishes round Chatillon; I doubt if the men would follow any one else."

"Dear Cathelineau," said Henri, "if you will take my advice, you will
not make leaders of us youngsters at all. Adolphe and I will be well
contented to be hussars for awhile. Let these grey-headed seniors be
our leaders," and he pointed to d'Elbee whose hair was grizzled.

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Stephen King fan publishes Shining's Jack Torrance's novel
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A Stephen King fan has published an 80-page version of the book which novelist Jack Torrance obsessively writes during King's The Shining, where his descent into madness is revealed when his wife discovers that his work consists of just one phrase, endlessly repeated.

Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson in terrifying form in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, is a frustrated writer who goes with his wife and son to spend the winter in the isolated Overlook Hotel in an attempt to get the novel he has always wanted to write started. But the hotel's grisly past and unquiet ghosts have their way with him, and his wife Wendy eventually finds that the manuscript he has been working on actually only contains the phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", typed over and over again.

Now New York artist Phil Buehler, who describes himself as "a big fan of Stanley Kubrick and Stephen King", has self-published a book credited to Torrance, repeating the phrase throughout but formatting each page differently, using the words to create different shapes from zigzags to spirals.

"The idea has probably been marinating for years, because I loved the movie and the Stephen King book," said Buehler. "I'd just finished my own obsessive art project [and] it was an idea I had over the Christmas holidays."

He said he decided to stick to type and formatting that could have been created on a typewriter, with the first ten pages duplicating shots of Torrance's work from the film. "I thought 'if he continues to get crazier, what would those pages look like?'" he said. "I hit writer's block about 60 pages in, and I had to get to 80 - that went on for about a week." His fiancée, who had neither read the book nor seen the film, became a little concerned about his actions. "I finally showed her the movie, and she realised I wasn't really losing it," said Buehler.

He's included a spoof review from the blog OverThinkingIt.com on the book's back jacket, which compares it to "the best of Beckett" in its "lack of forward momentum", and considers the struggles of the author, "heroically pitting himself against the Sisyphusean sentence". "It's that metatextual struggle of Man vs. Typewriter that gives this book its spellbinding power," the review says. "Some will dismiss it as simplistic; that's like dismissing a Pollack canvas as mere splatters of paint."

So far, Buehler says that around 1,000 people have viewed the book, for sale on Blurb.com for $8.95 in paperback, or $22.95 in hardback, and he's sold "a few" copies, with sales now starting to pick up steam. "A few people have asked me to sign it - they're looking it as a piece of art rather than a funny thing to give to a Kubrick fan," he said. "If you're not a Kubrick or King fan, you might not even get it."

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