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[ Cf. on this general attitude of the clergy, Sauzay, V. I. and the whole of V. II.—Mercure de France, September 10, 1791: "No impartial man will fail to see that, in the midst of this oppression, amidst so many fanatical charges of which the reproach of fanaticism and revolt is the pretext, not one act of resistance has yet been manifest. Informers and municipal bodies, governed by clubs, have caused a large number of non-jurors to be cast into dungeons. All have come out of them, or groan there untried, and no tribunal has found any of them guilty."—Report of M. Cahier, Minister of the Interior, February 18, 1792. He declares that "he had no knowledge of any priest being convicted by the courts as a disturber of the public peace, although several had been accused."—Moniteur May 6, 1792. (Report of Français de Nantes) "Not one has been punished for thirty months.">[
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[ On these spontaneous brutal acts of the Catholic peasants, cf. "Archives Nationales," F7, 3236 (Lozère, July-November, 1791). Deliberation of the district of Florac, July 6, 1791, and the official statement of the commissioner of the department on the disturbances in Espagnac. On the 5th of July, Richard, a constitutional curé, calls upon the municipality to proceed to his installation. "The ceremony could not take place, owing to the hooting, of the women and children, and the threats of various persons who exclaimed: 'Kill him! strangle him, he is a Protestant, is married, and has children;' and owing to the impossibility of entering the church, the doors of which were obstructed by the large number of women standing in front of them:"—On the 6th of July, he is installed, but with difficulty. "Inside the church a crowd of women uttered loud cries and bemoaned the removal of their old curé On returning, in the streets, a large number of women, unsettled by the sight of the constitutional cure, turned their faces aside. . . and contented themselves with uttering disjointed words.—without doing anything more than cover their faces with their bonnets, casting themselves on the ground."—July 15. The clerk will no longer serve at the mass nor ring the bells; the curé, Richard, attempting to ring them himself, the people threaten him with ill-treatment if he runs the risk.—September 8, 1791. Letter from the curé of Fau, district of Saint-Chély. "That night I was on the brink of death through a troop of bandits who took my parsonage away from me, after having broken in the doors and windows."—December 30, 1791. Another curé who goes to take possession of his parsonage is assailed with stones by sixty women, and thus pursued beyond the limits of the parish.—August 5, 1791. Petition of the constitutional bishop of Mende and his four vicars. "Not a day passes that we are not insulted in the performance of our duties. We cannot take a step without encountering hooting. If we go out we are threatened with cowardly assassination, and with being beaten with clubs."—F7, 3235 (Bas-Rhin, letter from the Directory of the Department, April 9, 1792): "Ten out of eleven, at least, of the Catholics refuse to recognize sworn priests.">[
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[ Duvergier, decrees (not sanctioned) of November 29 and May 27, 1792.—Decree of August 26, 1792, after the fall of the throne.—Moniteur, XII. 200 (sitting of April 23, 1793). Report of the Minister of the Interior.]
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[ Lallier, "Le District de Machecoul," p.261, 263.—"Archives Nationales," F7, 3234. Demand of the prosecuting attorney of the commune of Tonneins (December 21, 1791) for the arrest or expulsion of eight priests "at the slightest act of internal or external hostility."—Ibid., F7, 3264. Act of the Council-general of Corrèze (July 16, 17, 18, 1792) to place in arrest all nonjuring priests.—Between these two dates, act, of various kinds and of increasing severity are found in nearly all the departments against the non-jurors.]
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[ "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Official statement by the directory of the department, March 18, 1791, with all the documents in relation thereto.—F7, 3200. Letter of the Directory of Calvados, June 13, 1792, with the interrogations. The damages are estimated at 15,000 livres.]