With the same blow， and amongst the same playacting， they have nearly disarmed their adversaries. -- On learning the events of May 31 and June 2， a loud cry of indignation arose among republicans of the cultivated class in this generation， who， educated by the philosophers， sincerely believed in the rights of man.[48] Sixty-nine department administrations had protested，[49] and， in almost all the towns of the west， the south， the east and the center of France， at Caen， Alen？on， Evreux， Rennes， Brest， Lorient， Nantes and Limoges， at Bordeaux， Toulouse， Montpellier， N？mes and Marseilles， at Grenoble， Lyons， Clermont， Lons-le-Saunier， Besan？on， Macon and Dijon，[50] the citizens， assembled in their sections， had provoked， or maintained by cheering them on， the acts of their administrators. Rulers and citizens， all declared that， the Convention not being free， its decrees after the 31st of May， no longer had the force of law； that the troops of the departments should march on Paris to deliver that city from its oppressors， and that their substitutes should be called out and assemble at Bourges. In many places words were converted into acts. Already before the end of May， Marseilles and Lyons had taken up arms and checkmated their local Jacobins. After the 2nd of June， Normandy， Brittany， Gard， Jura， Toulouse and Bordeaux， had also raised troops. At Marseilles， Bordeaux and Caen representatives on mission， arrested or under guard， were retained as hostages.[51] At Nantes， the national Guard and popular magistrates who， a week before， had so bravely repulsed the great Vendéan army， dared to more than this； they limited the powers of the Convention and condemned all meddling：
according to them， the sending of representatives on mission was "an usurpation， an attack on national sovereignty；" representatives had been elected"to make and not to execute laws， to prepare a constitution and regulate all public powers， and not to confound these together and exercise them all at once； to protect and maintain intermediary powers which the people have delegated， and not to encroach upon and annihilate them."[52]
With still greater boldness， Montpellier enjoined all representatives everywhere to meet at the headquarters of their respective departments， and await the verdict of a national jury. In short， in accordance with the very democratic creed， "nothing was visible amid the ruins of the Convention，" mutilated and degraded， but interloping "attorneys." "The people's workmen" are summoned "to return to obedience and do justice to the reproaches addressed to them by their legitimate master；"[53] the nation canceled the pay of its clerks at the capital， withdrew the mandate they had misused， and declared them usurpers if they persisted in not yielding up their borrowed sovereignty "to its inalienable sovereignty." -- To this stroke， which strikes deep， the "Mountain" replies by a similar stroke； it also renders homage to principles and falls back on the popular will.
Through the sudden manufacture of an ultra-democratic constitution， through a convocation of the primary assemblies， and a ratification of its work by the people in these assemblies， through the summoning of delegates to Paris， through the assent of these converted， fascinated， or constrained delegates， it exonerates and justifies itself， and thus deprives the Girondins of the grievances to which they had given currency， of the axioms they had displayed on their standards， and of the popularity they thought they had acquired.[54] -- Henceforth， the ground their opponents had built on sinks under their feet； the materials collected by them disintegrate in their hands； their league dissolves before it is completed， and the incurable weakness of the party appears in full daylight.
Firstly， in the departments， as at Paris，[55] the party has no roots.
For the past three years all the sensible and orderly people， occupied with their own affairs， who has no taste or interest in politics， nine-tenths of the electors， abstain from voting and in this large mass the Girondins have no adherents. As they themselves admit，[56]
this class remains attached to the institutions of 1791， which they have overthrown； if it has any esteem for them， it is as "extremely honest madmen." Again， this esteem is mingled with aversion： it reproaches them with the violent decrees they have passed in concert with the "Mountain；" with persecutions， confiscations， every species of injustice and cruelty； it always sees the King's blood on their hands； they， too， are regicides， anti-Catholics， anti-Christians， demolishers and levelers.[57] -- Undoubtedly they are less so than the "Mountain；" hence， when the provincial insurrection breaks out， many Feuillants and even Royalists follow them to the section assemblies and join in their protests. But the majority goes no further， and soon falls back into is accustomed inertia. It is not in harmony with its leaders：[58] its latent preferences are opposed to their avowed program； it does not wholly trust them； it has only a half-way affection for them； its recent sympathies are deadened by old animosities： everywhere， instead of firmness there is only caprice.
All this affords no assurance of steadfast loyalty and practical adhesion. The Girondin deputies scattered through the provinces relied upon each department arousing itself at their summons and forming a republican Vendée against the "Mountain：" nowhere do they find anything beyond mild approval and speculative hopes.