There were at the time thousands, and tens
and hundreds of thousands in France who would gladly have welcomed the
extinction of the fearful Republic which domineered over them, had not
every man feared to express his opinion. The Republic had declared, that
opposition to its behests, in deed, or in word, or even in thought, as
far as thoughts could be surmised, should he punished with death; and
by adhering to the purport of this horrid decree, the voice of a nation
returning to its senses was subdued. Men feared to rise against the
incubus which oppressed them, lest others more cowardly than themselves
should not join them; and the Committee of Public Safety felt that their
prolonged existence depended on their being able to perpetuate this
fear. It determined, therefore, to strike terror into the nation by
exhibiting a fearful example in La Vendee. After full consideration, the
Committee absolutely resolved to exterminate the inhabitants of the
country--utterly to destroy them all, men, women, and children--to burn
every town, every village, and every house--to put an end to all life
in the doomed district, and to sweep from the face of the country man,
beast, and vegetable.
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