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[backupmemories]

(also posted on revolution_fr)

As most of you know, I'm doing a reenactment of some scenes from the French Revolution with my friends in a few weeks, and I was wondering - does anyone have an English translation of Camille Desmoulins' Aux Armes speech on July 12? The "jump on a table, pull out a pistol or two, and get everyone to wear green" speech; I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. ^^

Also, I'm looking for Saint-Just's "Report on the Dantonists" (again, in English - alas, I speak no French).

Anything else you can get me in English, I'd be grateful. Preferably by Robespierre, Desmoulins, Danton, Saint-Just, Marat, etc. All is welcome; presume we know nothing. ^_^

We have a pretty willing group, so if there's anything you'd like to see people in costume performing in front of a camera in Central Park or wherever it ends up being...just ask. ^___^

Also, if anyone knows a lot about costumes of specific people and can link me to something that has really good images, that would be very helpful! It's the little details, like "What did stockings look like" and "What type of shoes?" and "What do the sleeves look like again?" that really get you...and if you can answer any of those questions, that helps. ^^

Thanks, everyone!

Comments

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Hm, did you get the email I sent you with my reenactment for Capet's trial? (By the way, do you know when exactly your reenactment is going to take place? Because I'm fairly certain I can come. ^_^)

And which specific people did you have in mind? I know of some fairly good pictures of a lot of the Revolutionaries...

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did! I sent it off to our scriptwriter to look over, and it's definitely going to be used in some form or another. ^___^ And it's going to be on the 13th or 14th - most likely the 14th, but there are one or two people who have yet to get back with a definite answer.

Well, pictures? I need most of them - Saint-Just, Robespierre, Desmoulins, Danton, Marat, Couthon (maybe), Verginaud, Tallien, Louis XVI...and random people of the time, essentially. Anyone you can think of that we've missed that could be easily put into a situation. (We need some members of the Gironde, the Montagne, etc. as most of our scenes happen at the convention...)

Essentially, what I'm looking for is their clothing, not themselves. Did they wear a wig, what clothing did they wear, what colors did they favor, etc. A lot of the costumes are likely to be jury-rigged anyway, but I'd at least like to TRY for historical accuracy)

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Wow, you have a scriptwriter? XD So is this very official then--do I need to pick a part in advance? (Are there any left? :O)

I hate to say it, but a lot of them dressed pretty much the same. There are a lot of bust portraits floating around, but I don't know how useful they'd be to you. As far as costume goes, there's some good generic stuff here (and a few Revolutionaries in particular): http://costumes.org/HISTORY/100pages/frenchrevdirect.htm

And then, if you still want some bust-portraits, there are a great many here: http://membres.lycos.fr/discours/portraits.htm

Here's some other portraits that show more of the sitters' costumes; for those whose portraits I don't have, unless they're someone like Marat or Louis Capet--who, obviously for different reasons--dressed differently, any Conventionnel can pretty much be wearing interchangeable clothes.

That said, here's a couple different portraits of Robespierre--the first one is c. 1791, the second one is later, so you can see how fashions changed, subtly (Robespierre was not, contrary to popular belief, the only Conventionnel who continued to dress like that; in fact, as you'll note, with the exception of the wig issue, most of them dressed pretty much like Robespierre):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Robespierre3.jpg
http://pics.livejournal.com/maelicia (maelicia will hopefully forgive me for linking to her gallery. >.>)

Here's Saint-Just (you can compare with other portraits for a more accurate assessment of how he dressed): http://www.saint-just.net/art/greuze2.jpg

I know you've seen Barère's portrait... I'm not sure I know of any other Revolutionaries with full-length portraits, unfortunately. I know a few random facts about people's coat-colors: Robespierre is known to have owned three, one olive, one striped, and one blue; Danton liked to go around in a blood-red one, especially during his ministry (-_-;). For most of them you probably can't go wrong with something neutral though.

As to the "exceptions" I mentioned earlier, kurotoshi is probably the best person to ask about anything Marat-related. As for Louis Capet, well, he *liked* to dress like this: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Antoine-Fran%C3%A7ois_Callet_-_Lu%C3%ADs_XVI.jpg. However, take note that this portrait was painted in 1786. During the Revolution, he gradually lost the right to wear all those decorations you see on him there; by the time of his trial, he was wearing extremely ordinary clothes--not only extremely ordinary, but less fashionable than those of the Conventionnels. Considering what seems to be your time-frame, I would recommend dressing him plainly. (Also, I do, for one reason or another, remember two random facts about his wardrobe that you may or may not find useful: on the 10th of August he wore a lavender suit--lavender was the color of royal mourning--and he was executed in a grey one.)

My only other piece of advice if you're trying to be accurate is to be wary of 19th century portraits, unless they're the only source you have, for reasons that I'm sure you can figure out on your own. Good luck, and let me know if there's anything else I can do (if there's any document you absolutely need, I may be able to translate it)!

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

XD Well, by "scriptwriter" I mean "the person in the group who happens to be in college to be a scriptwriter", so it's not that official. ^__^ Besides, it's all meant in fun, not as a very serious, strictly interpreted reenactment. That would also be fun to do, but I doubt my ability to corral college students extends that far. ^^

The two speeches we absolutely need right now are Desmoulins' Aux Armes/jump-on-a-table speech and Saint-Just's Report on the Dantonists. The former I don't have at all and have been completely unable to find; the latter I think I have in French but need a translation. Any other speeches you can think would be suitable for us would be good, too - Danton needs something; we don't have anything for him yet and he's not exactly the mute type...stuff like that. ^^;;

Thanks a lot for the pictures! And don't worry; we're not trying to be too accurate. Price constrains us far more than accuracy.

As to who you should be...well, no one has been assigned permanent parts yet except Desmoulins, SJ, and Maxime. Do you have any preference for character..?

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Well, it's somewhat officia; I didn't know you were scripting it. XD; Though I might have inferred that from your welcoming of my script, I suppose.

I think I may be able to find or translate both of those, if no one's already done so.

I have some tips on faking costumes, in that case. Thin high socks or tights are really the best for faking the sort of stockings they would have worn (this only applies to Conventionnels, of course; if you were going to portray any sans-culottes or other lower class people, thicker wool socks/stockings would be more appropriate).

People still wear culottes, so those shouldn't be too difficult to find--on the off-chance that they are though, anyone wearing high boots can just tuck pants into those and it won't really make a difference.

Coats, despite how depressing this is going to be in New York in the middle of July, are pretty much mandatory unless you're being executed, since going out in shirtsleeves would have been considered going out in one's underwear. The nice thing about coats though is--provided the character is not in a situation in which he needs to remove it, it matters much less what is worn underneath it.

Cravats can be made from any old strip of fabric, so that's usually fairly simple... If you have trouble finding and/or making cockades, I know how to make them fairly quickly and I have the materials, so I could make some for you pretty easily.

People would generally be wearing hats outside, but they're not strictly necessary and they're often one of the most difficult items to find, along with proper buckled shoes and wigs--I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of good recommendations for those things, unless you can raid a costume shop.

I'm used to portraying Éléonore Duplay, but obviously, she lacked really any kind of public role, so I doubt she would be a good choice. I could portray either Le Bas or Couthon fairly credibly, especially the former, but the problem is, neither of them really said much. (Ironically, if you look at the minutes of the Convention and the clubs, the people who hold the floor the most are relative unknowns for the most part.)
With a little work I could probably portray just about any of the Committee members--the trouble is, there's certainly a great many I wouldn't *want* to portray.
I suppose I could be Billaud in a pinch, even if he was a Thermidorian, or Le Pelletier and be assassinated--though what I would do after that point, I don't know--or Saint-André--though he again doesn't have much to say--or Romme, even if his role was somewhat peripheral.
I definitely don't think I could portray a Girondin, and still less anyone who was corrupt--I would have no idea where to begin approaching a character like Danton or Barras.
If worst comes to worst I could just fill in for whatever's needed, but I have a feeling that wouldn't be as much fun... Tell me, given what you know about the project and what's needed, what you think. In the meantime I'll reflect a bit more.

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Well, by "script" I don't mean it's all scripted - it's more "we can't have them reading speeches if we don't have speeches for them to read!" The original plan was just to gather and read speeches; no scenes at all, and all else failing that's still the plan. We just figured - hey, if we're all there, in costume, we may as well act out a few scenes; why not? And then someone offered to build us a guillotine, and it all went odd from there.

Please, anything you can find and translate would be helpful! I still need those two; and if you can find something for Danton to say I would be very grateful. Really, if you can find/have anything in English, we'd be happy for it. ^___^

We are most certainly raiding a costume shop; our dorm is actually down the street from one, so we're very lucky in that regard...

Well, I don't want you to think too seriously about the whole role thing. Most of the people who are playing parts are not familiar with the Revolution and are doing this mostly for fun - it's still just a July 14th picnic in the park at heart; the costumes and video camera parts are just extra perks. Everyone's going to get overly hot and overly sugar-hyper, and I suspect "serious" is going to go out the window very quickly. As will "in character". Everyone who doesn't have a main character is essentially going to switch between minor parts for the reenactment part of the day, and then the video will likely just consist of people sitting around, making jokes, and eating food. So I wouldn't worry too much about being in character and just play someone you like, because chances are everything you do will be ad-lib. And probably jokingly. (An example, perhaps, is that our Desmoulins and Saint-Just actors have discovered that their characters don't like each other, and have happily announced that they've decided that they will get into a food fight before the day is over. They have - reluctantly - agreed to hold it off until after filming is done. And those are among those who actually DO know something about the Revolution...)

...basically, what my rambling is attempting to imply is: be anyone you like. If you'd like to be Le Bas, we have a pistol for you to shoot yourself with on 9 Thermidor; if you want to be Eleonore, that means our Charlotte Corday isn't the only girl-dressed person in the cast; having a Couthon would just be interesting...all good choices, each as excellent as the other. ^^

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay. That makes sense. XD Who's going to be executed?

Well, I'll see what I can do. I've translated the account quoted by Desmoulins (quoting him, strangely enough) in the "Vieux Cordelier" of his harangue of 12 July 1789; that was fairly easy to translate, because it was so short. I *can* translate Saint-Just's report on the Dantonistes, but first I want to know how much of it you would use--it's 16 pages long, you see. >.>

I figured as much, but it *is* rather amusing to be silly in character; I mean, I can be silly as myself all the time, how often do I get to do a crack!portrayal of a Revolutionary? XD

The trouble is, if I want to be able read some kind of authentic text, I can't be Éléonore--the only letter I have signed by her is to free her father and brother after they were arrested relating to Babeuf's Conspiracy of Equals post-Thermidor--and obviously she never gave any speeches.

Le Bas didn't really do much public speaking either; though while I don't know if it would work for characters for to read letters, I do have plenty of those for Le Bas (and Saint-Just--some of them are signed by both of them, from when they were on mission together).

The only speech I can find of Couthon's is on the Law of 22 Prairial, and I'm not exactly sure I want to portray him reading that, as if it were the only thing he did during the Revolution--which wouldn't really serve his image in the eyes of people who don't know anything else about him. -__-;

...I'll figure something out though, I suppose.

Also, I forgot to ask--what exactly is the timeframe on this? Obviously, it starts pretty early, in order to have 12 July 1789 in it, but does it skip to the Convention then, or are there any characters portraying important Constituents (Barnave, Mirabeau, etc.) and do any "scenes" take place under the Legislative Assembly? (The reason I need to know this is in part because it will help me know which of Danton's speeches you want, and also, which character to portray.)

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Who's going to be executed?

Who isn't may be a better question. XD

Yes, good point re:length. Really, something similar to what you did with the King's Trial would be ideal - the important points and perhaps the better lines in it. Enough to give the idea without overly burdening the poor person who has to play Saint-Just, nor boring the living daylights out of the people watching.

I agree on playing crack!Revolutionaries. ^^ Just know that you might be cast as multiple roles...and yes, I see the problem with authentic text. You'll have plenty of lines without authentic text, but really, it's much more fun to have something to say...

If you want to be Le Bas or something, you're welcome to read some of the letters he wrote. You may get a comment from the peanut gallery of "Wow, our postal system sucks if you have to read it to us!", but I think that may be closer in spirit to the actual Convention than any more dignified conversation would be...^^

It skips. It really, really skips. Basically, we tried to calculate more on characters than on an actual flowing time frame - we have, at present, Desmoulins, Saint-Just, Robespierre, Danton, Marat, some Gironde (Verginaud, Charlotte), maybe Tallien, and then random people who we're probably going to assign things to as we need them. This basically means that we're going to start it with Camille's speech (because seriously, he does nothing else and the person playing him needs some reason to justify their existence other than "...it would be wrong to not have him?"...) and then...mostly, skip around time-wise, read some speeches if we have them (we need speeches by everyone at this point, sigh, and we don't have them...), then start killing off factions. And before, in between, and after, we have a picnic. Dead people may show up in later time periods to throw popcorn at the living. Stuff like that. XD

"Crack" is not, perhaps, a bad way to view the whole idea...XDDDD

Um, re:translations, as you seem to be the most available/willing of people we know, we have some other stuff we need translated - we have a Verginaud, for example, for the King's Trial, but we also have some speeches (in French) that he says, but being as they are in French and none of us had the wisdom to start learning it early, it's not currently useful. So...if we scanned/sent things, could you help with that, perhaps? Again, we don't need a direct translation half the the time; just the ideas, the notable phrases, and direct enough to give an idea of the person speaking...I know I'm asking for a lot, but we thought we had someone who could translate for us, and they vanished off the face of the earth at the most inconvenient time. -_-;; We don't need that much - some Gironde speeches, some Danton speeches, that's mostly it. As you can see, general disorder and chaos over on this end. ^____^

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Who isn't may be a better question. XD
Hopefully no one who wasn't historically...?

I'll see what I can do about shortening the speech, but it's sometimes difficult to cut a lot, especially in a report of this nature. :/

I'll bring the translation of some of Le Bas's letters with me, in that case. Or I can send them to you beforehand, if you're trying to organize the way this is going to go at all.

So, in other words, for all intents and purposes it's going to be Convention-oriented? (Other than Desmoulins' harangue, that is...) Also, not to sound like a propagandist here, but it might be good if not all the speeches tended toward violent ends--as potentially uninteresting as it might be to listen to a speech on education or subsistence. (I understand that violent speeches have more potential for crack and that that's the main mood here, but all the same.) >___>

I'll see what I can do as far as translations go--feel free to send me anything you have, though I'm sure I have a great deal of it already, if only through royet.org.

Also, you never answered my question about the cockades--have you been able to find any of those?

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Hopefully no one who wasn't historically...?
Well, we'll try, but if my friend actually comes through with his promise of a guillotine, chances are everyone and their invisible cousin is going to be guillotined at least once. Unless they're too scared to put their necks under it, of course.

Well, bring some, and do send some ahead of time so I have a general idea of what you're going to say; though feel free to bring things you haven't mentioned.

Yes, mostly Convention-oriented. And I have no problem with non-violent speeches - I was considering having the whole Louvet-Robespierre thing, but that would be long and I have no translation for it, alas. And if you could find/send some translations of anything else, I'd be more than happy to include it. This is originally not supposed to be a reenactment in the strict sense, but rather people standing around reading all sorts of speeches. Alas, we've gotten rather close to the time and we still have very few speeches...! >_< (I've always wanted to find the speech that has Robespierre's "No one likes armed missionaries" line, but I don't know which one that is. Sigh.) So, yes, it's a "anything you can find/send/etc" situation over here right now...

Oh, no, we haven't found any cockades. I just imagined we'd make some if necessary...why? Do you have/know where to find?

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Well, just as long as they're not guillotined while portraying characters who weren't, I suppose it will be all right.

I have three basic types when it comes to Le Bas's letters: letters to his father, letters to his wife, and letters to Robespierre/reports to the CSP. They all have something interesting to say about what's going on where he is at the time, but do you think it would be better to just include the last kind, since the recipients will actually be present...?

(That line is in one of Robespierre's discourses against the war with Austria--the first, I believe, though I wouldn't swear to it--and is sure to be included in any collection of his speeches you can find.) Other than that, I'll see what I can find/translate, speechwise.

I mentioned it earlier; I have some tricolor ribbon and a technique for making them fairly easily, so I could definitely make some.

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Well, unless we really go crack on everyone, but yes, generally not. We're not going to guillotine Marat or anything; that would be silly.

Bring what you want to read. I leave it to your discretion what you like. ^^ If people will put up with one of Robespierre's long little things, they'll put up with Le Bas.

Thanks a lot! I'm very much obliged. ^^

Oh! I didn't see that, somehow. Yes, please make some! Make plenty! Thank you very, very much! ^_^

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's what I mean; that makes sense.

Okay. Besides, I'm sure they won't be able to help liking Le Bas. XD

Sure. ^_^

You're quite welcome!

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Also, I don't know if you still need them, but in the original version of this comment you said you might need some Maxime speeches...? Just so you know, there was a book of them published fairly recently by Slavoj Zizek, and there's also an older collection of them translated by George Rudé.

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Yes, I got note of those and intend to hunt them down as soon as possible. ^__^ That's why I changed the comment, actually...

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

And here's Desmoulins' harangue, as quoted in the "Vieux Cordelier" from another source quoting Desmoulins himself (so, in essence, the "quotings" cancel each other out):

“Then Camille Desmoulins appeared; he must himself be heard:
‘It was already two thirty; I came to sound the people. My anger against the despots had turned into despair. I did not see groups, however strongly moved or appalled, enough disposed to uprising. Three young people seemed to me excited by a more vehement courage; they held each other by the hand. I saw that they had come to the Palais-Royal with the same design as I; some passive citizens were following them: “Messieurs,” I said to them, “here are the beginnings of a civic rebellion; one of us needs to devote himself and climb onto a table to harangue the people.
‘–Get up there.
‘ –I’ll do it.” Immediately I was rather lifted onto the table than climbing there. Hardly was I there than I saw myself surrounded by an immense crowd. Here is my short harangue, which I will never forget.
‘“Citizens! There is not a moment to lose. I’ve come from Versailles; M. Necker has been sacked: this dismissal is the tocsin for a Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of patriots. This evening, all the Swiss and German battalions will come from the Champ-de-Mars to slit our throats. Only one resource remains to us; to take to arms and wear cockades so that we may recognize each other.”
‘I had tears in my eyes, and I spoke with an agency that I could neither find again nor depict. My motion was received with infinite applause. I continued:
‘“What colors do you want?”
‘Someone cried: “Choose.
‘–Do you want green, color of hope, or the blue of Cincinnatus, color of American liberty and of democracy?”
‘Voices shouted: “Green, color of hope!”
‘Then I cried: “Friends, the signal has been given: here are the spies and the police satellites directly facing me. At the least I will not fall into their hands alive.” Then, drawing two pistols from my pocket, I said: “May every citizen imitate me!” I descended, smothered by embraces; some pressed me against their hearts; others bathed me with their tears: a citizen of Toulouse, fearing for my life, did not want to abandon me. However I had been brought a green ribbon. I put it first on my hat, and I distributed some to those who surrounded me.’”

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Oh, and look what I found on the Internetz:

(From the session of 5 September 1793:)

The president [Robespierre] announces that a large number of Parisian citizens were requesting permission to enter the chamber and have their delegation present a petition.

The delegation is introduced, headed by the mayor and several municipal officers.

Chaumette: Citizen legislators, the citizens of Paris are tired of a situation that has been uncertain and wavering for too long and want to settle their fate once and for all. EuropeÕs tyrants, along with the stateÕs internal enemies, persist outrageously in their hideous plot to starve the French People into submission and to force them to shamefully trade their liberty and sovereignty for a piece of breadÑsomething they will certainly never do.

New lords, just as cruel, just as greedy, and just as brazen as those they replaced, have risen up in the ruins of feudalism. They have leased or bought the properties of their former masters and continue to follow the well-worn paths of crime, to profit from public misery, to stem the tide of abundance, and to tyrannize those who destroyed tyranny.

Another class, as greedy and as criminal as the first, has seized control of [the supply of] basic necessities. You have dealt them a blow, but they were only dazed. They continue to plunder beneath the very nose of the law.

You have passed wise laws, laws that promise happiness. But they have not been implemented because the power to do so is lacking. If you do not create that power quickly, these laws risk becoming obsolete almost at birth.

At this very moment, the enemies of the state are raising their swords against it . . . swords already stained with the state's own blood. You both possess and implement the needed skills which then, in republican hands, change metal into weapons capable of felling tyrants. But where are the hands that can drive these weapons into the traitors' breasts?

Hidden domestic enemies, freely speaking the word "liberty," stem the flow of life. In spite of your benevolent laws, they close granaries and coolly engage in the heinous calculation of how much they stand to make from a famine, a riot, or a massacre. Your spirit buckles at the very thought, so you turn over the granariesÕ keys and the execrable ledgers of these monsters back to the administrators. But where is the strong hand that will forcefully turn that key so fatal to such traitors? Where is that proud and impassible being, unyielding to conspiracy and corruption, who will tear out the pages of the book that has been written with the PeopleÕs blood, immediately commuting it into a death sentence against those who are starving the nation?

Every day we learn of new betrayals and new crimes. Every day we become upset at the discovery and the reappearance of new conspiracies. Every day new disturbances stir up the Republic, ready to drag it into their stormy whirlwinds, hurling it into the bottomless abyss of the centuries to come. But where is that powerful being whose terrible cry will reawaken sleeping justiceÑor rather justice that has been paralyzed, dazed by the clamor of factionsÑand force it at last to strike off criminal heads? Where is that powerful being who will crush all these reptiles who corrupt everything they touch and whose venomous stings stir up our citizens, transforming political gatherings into gladiatorial arenas where each passion, each interest, finds apologists and armies? [...]

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

(Continued:)
Legislators, it is time to put an end to the impious struggle that has been going on since 1789 between the sons and daughters of the nation and those who have abandoned it. Your fate, and ours, is tied to the unvarying establishment of the republic. We must either destroy its enemies, or they will destroy us. They have thrown down the gauntlet in the midst of the People, who have picked it up. They have stirred up agitation. They have attempted to separate, to divide the mass of the citizens, in order to crush the People and to avoid being crushed themselves. Today, the mass of the People, who are without resources, must destroy them using their own weight and willpower. . . .

. . . Legislators, the immense gathering of citizens who assembled yesterday and today in the Commune building, and in the square outside it, passed only one resolution, which is brought to you by a delegation. It is: Food, and to get it, strength for the law. As a result, we are charged with demanding the creation of the revolutionary army which you have already decreed but which the guilty, through plotting and fear, have aborted. [Unanimous applause breaks out several times.] Let this army form its core in Paris immediately, and from every department through which it passes, let all men join who want a republic united and indivisible. Let an incorruptible and formidable tribunal follow this army, as well as that deadly tool which, with a single stroke, ends both the conspiracies and the days of their authors. Let this tribunal be tasked with making avarice and cupidity cough up the wealth of the land, that inexhaustible wet nurse of all children. Let it bear the following words on its standards, which shall be its constant order: Peace to men of good will; war on those who would starve people; protection for the weak; war on tyrants; justice; and no oppression.

Finally, let this army be established such that there remains in each city sufficient forces to restrain malicious people. . . .

Billaud-Varenne: It is by taking advantage of the energy of the People that we will finally exterminate the enemies of the revolution. We will lack neither food supplies nor plots of land on which to grow this food. Even more importantly, and what we must hope for, is that all the malicious people disappear from the face of the earth. As we stated before the Convention, it is finally time, it is more than time, that we settle the fate of the revolution. Indeed, we must congratulate ourselves, for it is in fact the very misfortunes of the People that increase their energy and make us equal to the task of exterminating our enemies. . . . The time has come to act . . . the time for deliberations is over. We must place all our enemies under arrest this very day. [Applause]

If revolutions drag on, it is because only half measures are taken. Let us leave it to weaker minds to worry about the results of the revolution. We work everything out . . . we see the grand vision of what must be achieved for the happiness of the People . . . let us boldly go along the path we have set for ourselves. Let us save the People, they will assist us. They want liberty regardless of the price. Let us crush the enemies of the revolution, and starting today, let the government take action, let the laws be executed, let the lot of the People be strengthened, and let liberty be saved.

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

(Continued:)
Danton: . . . You have just proclaimed to all of France that it is still in a real and active state of revolution. Well, this revolution must be consummated. You must never fear movements that could tempt counterrevolutionaries in Paris, who would no doubt like to extinguish the flame of liberty where it burns the brightest. But the immense number of true patriots, of sans-culottes who have crushed their enemies a hundred times, still exists [and] is ready to take action. We only need to know how to lead them, and once again they will confound and foil all conspiracies. It is not enough to have a revolutionary army; you must be revolutionary yourselves. Remember that industrious men who live by the sweat of their brow cannot attend the sections and that it is only when the true patriots are absent that scheming can take over the section meetings. Therefore decree that two large section-meetings be held each week, and that the man of the People who attends these political assemblies will receive just remuneration for the time spent away from his work.

It is also good that you proclaim to all our enemies that we are determined to be continually and completely prepared for them. You have ordered thirty million [francs] placed at the disposal of the Minister of War in order to manufacture weapons. Decree that this emergency production cease only when the nation has given a gun to each citizen. Let us announce the firm resolution of having as many guns and almost as many cannon as there are sans-culottes. [Applause] Let it be the republic that puts a gun into the hands of the citizen, the true patriot, and let the republic say to him, "The country entrusts this weapon to you with for its defense. You will stand up for your country each month of the year, as well as any other time you are required to do so by the national authority." Let a gun be our most sacred object. . .let each of us lose our life rather than our gun. [Applause] I therefore ask that you decree at least 100 million [francs] to produce all kinds of weapons because, had we all had arms, we would all have marched. It is the lack of weapons that enslaves us. A country in danger will never be short of citizens.


Source: Réimpression de l'ancien Moniteur, 32 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 185863), 17:58083, 586, 591.

Doubtless you'll find this useful, if you don't have it already.

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

Hah! Thank you!

Hmm. ...would you consider being Chaumette, and also perhaps Le Bas, maybe? We don't have anyone being Chaumette, and *gestures upwards* as you can see, we now have text for him. ^_^ And since he has a relatively short appearance, you could also be Le Bas...*shrug* Up to you, though. Pick as you like; it's a suggestion, not even a request. If you don't want to, I'm sure we could turn one of our random-bystander-people into him. ^__^

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Sure thing. ^__^

I could be Chaumette and Le Bas--and also anyone else you might need, in a pinch, though you'll have to tell me ahead of time so I can do a bit of research into their characters. (It's just one of those things; in the case of Chaumette, for example, it's not that I don't presently know who he *is*, but rather, I've never bothered to learn anything particularly in-depth about him, which I should do if I'm going to portray him.)

[nirejseki.livejournal.com]

^____^ Sounds great!

[citoyenneclark.livejournal.com]

Barere always wore a red scarf. Don't know why, but he's almost always described with his trademark red scarf.