A grateful Commune, and Country, would wish to recompense you adequately; but cannot, for you know its want of funds.  Whoever shall have worked (travaille) in a Prison shall receive a draft of one louis, payable by our cashier.  Continue your work.” (Montgaillard, iii. 191.)—­The Constituted Authorities are of yesterday; all pulling different ways:  there is properly not Constituted Authority, but every man is his own King; and all are kinglets, belligerent, allied, or armed-neutral, without king over them.

‘O everlasting infamy,’ exclaims Montgaillard, ’that Paris stood looking on in stupor for four days, and did not interfere!’ Very desirable indeed that Paris had interfered; yet not unnatural that it stood even so, looking on in stupor.  Paris is in death-panic, the enemy and gibbets at its door:  whosoever in Paris has the heart to front death finds it more pressing to do it fighting the Prussians, than fighting the killers of Aristocrats.  Indignant abhorrence, as in Roland, may be here; gloomy sanction, premeditation or not, as in Marat and Committee of Salvation, may be there; dull disapproval, dull approval, and acquiescence in Necessity and Destiny, is the general temper.  The Sons of Darkness, ’two hundred or so,’ risen from their lurking-places, have scope to do their work.  Urged on by fever-frenzy of Patriotism, and the madness of Terror;—­urged on by lucre, and the gold louis of wages?  Nay, not lucre:  for the gold watches, rings, money of the Massacred, are punctually brought to the Townhall, by Killers sans-indispensables, who higgle afterwards for their twenty shillings of wages; and Sergent sticking an uncommonly fine agate on his finger (’fully meaning to account for it’), becomes Agate-Sergent.  But the temper, as we say, is dull acquiescence.  Not till the Patriotic or Frenetic part of the work is finished for want of material; and Sons of Darkness, bent clearly on lucre alone, begin wrenching watches and purses, brooches from ladies’ necks ’to equip volunteers,’ in daylight, on the streets,—­does the temper from dull grow vehement; does the Constable raise his truncheon, and striking heartily (like a cattle-driver in earnest) beat the ‘course of things’ back into its old regulated drove-roads.  The Garde-Meuble itself was surreptitiously plundered, on the 17th of the Month, to Roland’s new horror; who anew bestirs himself, and is, as Sieyes says, ’the veto of scoundrels,’ Roland veto des coquins. (Helen Maria Williams, iii. 27.)—­

This is the September Massacre, otherwise called ’Severe Justice of the People.’  These are the Septemberers (Septembriseurs); a name of some note and lucency,—­but lucency of the Nether-fire sort; very different from that of our Bastille Heroes, who shone, disputable by no Friend of Freedom, as in heavenly light-radiance:  to such phasis of the business have we advanced since then!  The numbers massacred are, in Historical fantasy, ‘between two and three thousand;’ or indeed they are ’upwards of six thousand,’