Let us trace， (say the Jacobins)， the progress of this liberating operation. -- Always timid and at loggerheads with the ecclesiastical organization， the Constituent Assembly could take only half-measures；it cut into the bark without daring to drive the ax into the solid trunk. Its work reduced itself down to the confiscation of clerical property， to a dissolution of the religious orders， and to a check upon the authority of the pope； its object was to establish a new church and transform priests into sworn functionaries of the State， and this was all. As if Catholicism， even administrative， would cease to be Catholicism！ As if the noxious tree， once stamped with the public seal， would cease to be noxious！ Instead of the old laboratory of falsehoods being destroyed another one is officially established alongside of it， so that there are now two instead of one. With or without the official label it operates in every commune in France and， as in the past， it distributes with impunity its drug to the public.
This is precisely what we， (the Jacobins) cannot tolerate. - We must， indeed， keep up appearances， and， as far as words go， we will decree anew freedom of worship.[29] But， in fact and in practice， we will demolish the laboratory and prevent the drug from being sold； there shall no longer be any Catholic worship in France， no baptism， no confession， no marriage， no extreme unction， no mass； nobody shall preach or listen to a sermon； nobody shall administer or receive a sacrament， save in secret， and with the prospect before him of imprisonment or the scaffold. - With this object in mind， we do one thing at a time. There is no problem with the Church claiming to be be orthodox： its members having refused to take the oath are outlaws；one excludes oneself from an association when one repudiates the pact；they have lost their qualifications as citizens and have become ordinary foreigners under the surveillance of the police； and， as they propagate around them discontent and disobedience， they are not only foreigners but seditious persons， enemies in disguise， the authors of a secret and widespread Vendée； it is not necessary for us to prosecute them as charlatans， it is sufficient to strike them down as rebels. As such， we have already banished from France all unsworn ecclesiastics， about forty thousand priests， and we are deporting those who did not cross the frontier within the allotted time： we allow only sexagenarians and the infirm to remain on French soil， and， again， as prisoners and in seclusion； they incur the penalty of death if they do not of their own accord report to the prisons of their country town； the banished who return home incur the penalty of death， and there is penalty of death against those who shelter priests.[30]
