There remains to support them the élite of the republican party， the scholars and lovers of literature， who are honest and sincere thinkers， who， worked upon by the current dogmas， have accepted the philosophical catechism literally and seriously. Elected judges， or department， district， and city administrators， commanders and officers of the National Guard， presidents and secretaries of sections， they occupy most of the places conferred by local authority， and hence their almost unanimous protest seems at first to be the voice of France. In reality， it is only the despairing cry of a group of staff-officers without an army. Chosen under the electoral pressure with which we are familiar， they possess rank， office and titles， but no credit or influence； they are supported only by those whom they really represent， that is to say， those who elected them， a tenth of the population， and forming a sectarian minority. Again， in this minority there are a good many who are lukewarm； with most men the distance is great between conviction and action； the interval is filled up with acquired habits， indolence， fear and egoism. One's belief in the abstractions of the "Contrat-social" is of little account； no one readily bestirs oneself for an abstract end.
Uncertainties beset one at the outset； the road one has to follow is found to be perilous and obscure， and one hesitates and postpones； one feels himself a home-body and is afraid of engaging too deeply and of going too far. Having expended one's breath in words one is less willing to give one's money； another may open his purse but he may not be disposed to give himself， which is as true of the Girondins as it is of the Feuillants.
"At Marseilles，[59] at Bordeaux，" says a deputy， "in nearly all the principal towns， the proprietor， slow， indifferent and timid， could not make up his mind to leave home for a moment； it was to mercenaries that he entrusted his cause his arms."Only the federates of Mayenne， Ile-et-Vilaine， and especially of Finisterre， were "young men well brought up and well informed about the cause they were going to support." In Normandy， the Central Committee， unable to do better， has to recruit its soldiers， and especially gunners， from the band of Carabots， former Jacobins， a lot of ruffians ready for anything， pillagers and runaways at the first canon-shot. At Caen， Wimpffen， having ordered the eight battalions of the National Guard to assemble in the court， demands volunteers and finds that only seventeen step forth； on the following day a formal requisition brings out only one hundred and thirty combatants； other towns， except Vire， which furnishes about twenty， refuse their contingent. In short， a marching army cannot be formed， or， if it does march， it halts at the first station， that of Evreux before reaching Vernon， and that of Marseilles at the walls of Avignon.
On the other hand， by virtue of being sincere and logical， those who have rebelled entertain scruples and themselves define the limits of their insurrection. The fugitive deputies at their head would believe themselves guilty of usurpation had they， like the "Mountain" at Paris， constituted themselves at Caen en sovereign assembly[60]：
according to them， their right and their duty is reduced to giving testimony concerning the 31st of May and the 1st of June， and to exhorting the people and to being eloquent. They are not legally qualified to take executive power； it is for the local magistrates， the élus(elected) of the sections， and better still， the department committees to command in the departments. Lodged as they are in official quarters， they are merely to print formal statements， write letters， and， behaving properly， wait until the sovereign people， their employer， reinstates them. It has been outraged in their persons； it must avenge itself for this outrage； since it approves of its mandatories， it is bound to restore them to office； it being the master of the house， it is bound to have its own way in the house. --As to the department committees， it is true that， in the heat of the first excitement， they thought of forming a new Convention at Bourges，[61] either through a muster of substitute deputies， or through the convocation of a national commission of one hundred and seventy members. But time is wanting， also the means， to carry out the plan； it remains suspended in the air like vain menace； at the end of a fortnight it vanishes in smoke； the departments succeed in federating only in scattered groups； they desist from the formation of a central government， and thus， through this fact alone， condemn themselves to succumb， one after the other， in detail， and each at home. -- What is worse， through conscientiousness and patriotism， they prepare their own defeat： the refrain from calling upon the armies and from stripping the frontiers； they do not contest the right of the Convention to provide as it pleases for the national defense.
Lyons allows the passage of convoys of cannon-balls which are to be subsequently used in cannonading its defenders[62]. The authorities of Puy-de-Dome aid by sending to Vendée the battalion that they had organized against the "Mountain." Bordeaux is to surrender Chateau-Trompette， its munitions of war and supplies， to the representatives on mission； and， without a word， with exemplary docility， both the Bordeaux battalions which guard Blaye suffer themselves to be dislodged by two Jacobin battalions.[63] -- Comprehending the insurrection in this way， defeat is certain beforehand.
