The noise was magnificent and formidable, and it was growing even louder when, on an order from the prefecture, a squad9 of police marched upon the demonstrators. Lacrisse watched them approaching without surprise, and as soon as they were within hearing he shouted, “Hurrah for the police!”
This enthusiasm was not lacking in prudence10, and it was also sincere. Bonds of friendship had been formed between the brigades of the prefecture and the Nationalist demonstrators in the ever-to-be-regretted times, if I may say so, of the ploughman Minister who allowed cudgel-bearing roughs to club the silent Republicans in the streets. That is what he called acting11 with moderation. O gentle country customs! O primitive12 simplicity13! O happy days! Who knew you not never knew the meaning of life! O simplicity of the man of the open fields, who vowed14 that the Republic had no enemies! Where were the Royalist conspirators15 and seditious monks16? There were none. He had hidden them all under his long Sunday-go-to-meeting coat. Joseph Lacrisse had not forgotten those happy days, and relying on the old alliance of rioters and police he cheered the black brigades. Standing17 in the front rank of the Leaguers he waved his hat on the end of his stick in token of peace, shouting twenty times over, “Hurrah for the police!” But times had changed. Indifferent to this friendly welcome, deaf to these flattering shouts, the police charged. The shock was violent. The Nationalist ranks wavered and fell back. Human affairs are subject to time’s revenges. Lacrisse, who had stopped cheering the attackers and had replaced his hat on his head, found it knocked over his eyes by a vigorous blow. Indignant at the insult he broke his stick over a policeman’s head, and had it not been for the efforts of friends who came to his assistance he would have been marched off to the police station and thrown into a cell like a Socialist18.
The policeman whose head was cracked was taken to the hospital, where he received a silver medal from the prefect of police.
Joseph Lacrisse was chosen by the Nationalist Committee for the ward19 of the Grandes-écuries as their candidate at the municipal elections of the 6th of May.
This was the former Committee of Monsieur Collinard, a Conservative who had been blackballed at the preceding elections, and was not standing on this occasion. The president of the Committee, Monsieur Bonnaud, a pork-butcher, undertook to assure Joseph Lacrisse of a triumphant20 return.
Raimondin, a Radical21 Republican, the retiring councillor, wished to be re-elected, but the electors had lost their faith in him. He had disappointed every one, and had neglected the interests of his ward. He had not even obtained the tramway which had been demanded for the last twelve years, and was even accused of favouring the Dreyfusards.
It was an excellent ward. The householders were all Nationalists, and the tradespeople severely22 condemned23 the Waldeck-Millerand Cabinet. There were some Jews among them, but they were anti-Semites. The religious communities, which were both rich and numerous, would do their best, and the Fathers who had opened the Chapel24 of Saint-Antoine were especially to be relied upon. Success was certain. It was merely necessary that Monsieur Lacrisse should not expressly and in so many words announce himself as a Royalist, in order to spare the feelings of the small shopkeepers, who feared a change of regime, particularly during the Exhibition.
Lacrisse objected to this. He was a Royalist and did not intend to put his colours in his pocket. Monsieur Bonnaud stuck to his point. He knew the elector. He knew what sort of animal he was, and how to manage him. If Monsieur Lacrisse would come forward as a Nationalist he, Bonnaud, would win the election for him. Otherwise the thing was impossible.
Joseph Lacrisse was puzzled, and wondered whether he should write to the King about the matter. But time pressed, and, besides, how could Philippe at such a distance be a competent judge of his own interests? Lacrisse consulted his friends.
“Our strength lies in our principles,” replied Henri Léon. “A Monarchist cannot call himself a Republican, even during the Exhibition. But they are not asking you to call yourself a Republican. They do not even ask you to call yourself a Republican Progressive, or a Republican Liberal, which is quite another thing than a Republican. They are asking you to call yourself a Nationalist. You can do that in all honesty, for you are a Nationalist. Don’t hesitate. Success depends upon it, and it is of importance to the good cause that you should be elected.”
Joseph Lacrisse gave in out of patriotism, writing to the Prince to explain the situation and to assure him of his devotion.
The terms of the programme were drawn25 up without difficulty. The National Army was to be defended against a mob of maniacs26. Cosmopolitanism27 was to be combated. Paternal28 rights, jeopardized29 by the Government’s proposal in respect of the Universities, were to be upheld. The peril30 of Collectivism was to be averted31. A tramway was to connect the Grandes-écuries with the Exhibition. The banner of France was to be held high, and the water supply improved.
There was no question of a plebiscite; people did not know what it was in the Grandes-écuries ward. Joseph Lacrisse had not the trouble of reconciling his doctrine32, which was that of Divine Right, with the doctrine of the Sovereignty of the People. Though he admired and loved Déroulède, he did not blindly follow him.
“I will have tricolour posters,” he said to Monsieur Bonnaud. “It will look well, and we must neglect nothing that will take the people’s fancy.”
Bonnaud approved of this; but Raimondin, the retiring councillor, having managed to secure, at the last moment, the establishment of a steam-tramway from the Grandes-écuries to the Trocadero, was publishing broadcast the news of his success. He, too, praised the Army in his circulars, and spoke1 of the wonders of the Exhibition as the triumph of the industrial and commercial genius of France and the glory of Paris. He was becoming a formidable rival.
Feeling that the struggle would be a hard one, the Nationalists did everything in their power to stimulate33 the courage of their adherents34. They accused Raimondin, at innumerable meetings, of having allowed his old mother to die of starvation, and of having voted that the municipality should subscribe35 for Urbain Gohier’s book.
Every night they attacked Raimondin, the candidate of the Jews and Panamists. A group of Republican Progressives was formed to support Joseph Lacrisse, and published the following manifesto36:
To the Electors
“Gentlemen,
“The critical circumstances through which we are now passing make it our duty to ask of the candidates at the forthcoming municipal elections a statement of their opinion as to the general policy, on which the future of the country depends. At an hour when some deluded37 persons entertain the criminal hope of stirring up an unseemly agitation38 calculated to weaken our beloved country, at an hour when Collectivism, audaciously installed in power, threatens our property, the sacred fruit of our thrift39 and labour; at an hour when a Government established against public opinion is preparing tyrannical laws, you will all vote for
“M. JOSEPH LACRISSE,
“Advocate in the Court of Appeal,
“Candidate for the Liberty of
Conscience of an honest
Republic.”
The Nationalist Socialists40 of the ward had thought at first of choosing their own candidate, whose votes, at the second scrutiny41, would have gone to Lacrisse, but the danger was so imminent42 as to necessitate43 union. So the Nationalist Socialists of the Grandes-écuries rallied round Lacrisse, and made the following appeal to the electors:
“Citizens,
“We commend to you the definitely Republican, Socialist and Nationalist candidate,
“CITIZEN LACRISSE.
“Down with the traitors44! Down with the Dreyfusards! Down with the Panamists! Down with the Jews! Long live the National-Socialist Republic!”
The Fathers, who possessed45 a chapel and an enormous amount of house-property in the ward, strictly46 refrained from meddling47 in electoral affairs. They were too obedient to the Sovereign Pontiff to infringe48 his orders, and absorption in the works of piety49 kept them far removed from mundane50 affairs. But some of their lay friends composed a circular which exactly expressed the thoughts of the worthy51 Fathers. Here is the text of this circular, which was distributed throughout the ward:
“The Charity of St. Anthony, for the restoration of lost property, jewels, valuables and objects of every description, such as land, houses, furniture, money, feelings, affections, etc., etc.
“Gentlemen,
“It is chiefly during elections that the devil attempts to trouble our consciences. And to attain52 this object he has recourse to innumerable devices. Alas53, has he not in his service the whole army of the Freemasons? But you will know how to defeat the wiles54 of the enemy. You will reject with horror and disgust the candidate of the incendiaries, the burners of churches and other Dreyfusards.
“It is only by placing righteous men in power that you will put an end to the abominable55 persecution56 which is so cruelly being undertaken at the present moment, and will prevent an iniquitous57 Government from laying its hands upon the money of the poor. Vote for
“M. JOSEPH LACRISSE,
“Advocate in the Court of Appeal,
“St. Anthony’s Candidate.
“Gentlemen, do not grieve the good St. Anthony by inflicting58 upon him the unmerited grief of seeing his candidate defeated.
“Signed: Ribagou, advocate; Wertheimer, publicist; Florimond, architect; Bèche, retired59 captain; Molon, artisan.”
These documents will suffice to show to what intellectual and moral heights Nationalism elevated the discussion of the candidates for the Municipal Council of Paris.
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1
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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socialist
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| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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20
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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maniacs
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| n.疯子（maniac的复数形式） | |
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cosmopolitanism
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| n. 世界性,世界主义 | |
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paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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jeopardized
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| 危及，损害( jeopardize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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31
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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subscribe
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| vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助 | |
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36
manifesto
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| n.宣言，声明 | |
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37
deluded
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| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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39
thrift
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| adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约 | |
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40
socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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41
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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42
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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43
necessitate
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| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
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44
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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45
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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47
meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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48
infringe
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| v.违反，触犯，侵害 | |
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49
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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50
mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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51
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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52
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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53
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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54
wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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55
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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56
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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57
iniquitous
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| adj.不公正的；邪恶的；高得出奇的 | |
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58
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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