1.2.3-Lifeisyetfair

1.2.3
Hooray, actual dialogue!

"Still in this Third Estate," replied Boisberthelot, "there are estimable men. Take, for example, the clockmaker Joly. He was a sergeant in the Flanders regiment; he becomes a Vendéan chief; he commands a company on the coast; he has a son, who is a republican, and while the father serves with the Whites, the son serves with the Blues. They meet. Battle. The father takes his son prisoner, and blows his brains out."

''"That is good," said la Vieuville.

''"A royalist Brutus," replied Boisberthelot.

So here we have an example of politics overriding family ties, and of harshness overriding mercy. Approved by people whom we’re not intended to approve of. pilferingapples made the excellent point that “The soldiers, who actually ARE in the fight, in an up close and personal way, take the first chance they find to show mercy, to have LESS blood, to be compassionate fools by the officers’ thinking.”

Brutus, the founder of the Roman Republic who had his own sons executed for trying to overthrow the republic, was a much-referenced positive figure on the Republican side, so we’re reminded that it’s not only the royalists who support this attitude.

Have a picture of David’s The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons, a favorite painting of mine, which is from, of all months of all years, July 1789. Brutus is off to the side, in the shadows:



In terms of keeping track of where characters are from, we now know for sure that the Mysterious Passenger is Breton.

I can’t tell, during the discussion on the Duc de Chartres, Louis-Philippe, when they’re talking about his father, Philippe Egalite, and when about him. In any case, the future Louis-Philippe at this point has recently defected after his commanding officer, General Dumouriez tried and failed to overthrow the Convention. Philippe Egalite would be arrested as a result of this plot and eventually executed.

Of the other people they mention, I only recognize Henri de la Rochejaquelin, the very young (20 years old) military leader who at this point is winning victory after victory. He will be made commander of the entire Vendee rebel force in October. Here’s a picture:



I am of Tinténiac’s opinion: ‘A leader and powder!’

Vincent de Tinteniac

''D’Elbée is nobody

Louis d’Elbee

''Bonchamps is tender-hearted, he is good, he is stupid

Charles-Melchior Arthus, Marquis de Bonchamps

''Charette is horrible

François Athanase de Charette de la Contrie

''Stoffier is a tricky gamekeeper

I believe this refers not to anyone namd Stoffier but to Jean-Nicolas Stofflet

"My dear la Vieuville, I make an exception of this Gaston. He hasn’t acted badly in his command at Guéménée. He shot three hundred Blues very prettily, after making them dig their own graves."

Gaston the wigmaker is Gaston Bourdic. This book says that (19th century historian, politician, and suppressor of the Commune) Thiers “imputes to him the massacres due to Souchu,” so it’s possible that he didn’t actually commit the massacre mentioned here and that there was a mistake in Hugo’s source. I have no idea.

Commentary
Pilferingapples Oh wow, thank you for the reference-tracking! I wonder, too, with stuff like the Gaston reference, how much contradictory histories might be being consciously invoked; it’s hard to know all the facts of war while it’s going on, after all, especially when you’re not in-country and may not have the best/most honest lines of communication. And these two are obviously not meant to be infallible judges of the situation. But are they supposed to be being wrong about accurate facts, or wrong about facts that are also not totally correct? I DO NOT KNOW but I think it works either way!