“Westerman is right,” said Barrere; “they are mean curs, these Vendeans, and like curs they must be destroyed; the earth must be rid of men who know not how to take possession of their property in that earth which nature has given them.  Believe me, citizen General, that any sympathy with such a reptile as Cathelineau is not compatible with the feeling which should animate the heart of a true republican, intending honestly and zealously to do the work of the Republic.”

General Chouardin made no reply to the rebuke which these words conveyed; he did not dare to do so; he did not dare to repeat the opinion that there was anything admirable in the courage of a royalist.  Much less than had now been said had before this been deemed sufficient to mark as a victim for the revolutionary tribunal some servant of the Republic, and few wished to experience the tender mercies of Fouquier Tinville, the public accuser.  Even Santerre was silenced; despite his popularity, his well-known devotion to the cause, his hatred of the aristocrats, and his aversion to royalty, so horridly displayed at the execution of the King, even he felt that it might not be safe for him to urge that the memory of Cathelineau was not despicable.

“His death must have much weakened them,” said Bourbotte.  “I know them well, the miscreants!  I doubt if they will follow any other leader, that is, in great numbers.  The fools looked on this man as a kind of god; they now find that their god is dead.  I doubt whether there is another leader among them, who can induce them to leave their parishes.”

“If they won’t come to us,” said Barrere, “we must go to them; they have gone too far now to recede.  Whether they return to their homes, or again take up arms, matters little; they must all be destroyed, for blood alone can establish the Republic on a basis which can never be overturned.”

“The name of a royalist shall be as horrible in men’s ears as that of a parricide,” said Santerre.

“But what will you do if you find no army to oppose you?” said Bourbotte.  “You cannot well fight without an enemy.”

“Never fear,” said Westerman, “your muskets shall not grow rusty for want of use.  We will go from parish to parish, and leave behind us dead corpses, and burning houses.”

“You will not ask soldiers to do the work of executioners?” said Bourbotte.

“I expect the soldiers to do the work of the Convention,” said Barrere; “and I also expect the officers to do the same:  these are not times in which a man can be chary as to the work which he does.”

“We must not leave a royalist alive in the west of France,” said Westerman.  “You may be assured, Generals, that our soldiers will obey us, however slow yours may be to obey you.”

“Perhaps so,” said Bourbotte; “my men have not yet been taught to massacre unarmed crowds.”

“It is difficult to know what they have been taught,” said Westerman.  “Whenever they have encountered a few peasants with clubs in their hands, your doughty heroes have invariably ran away.”