2082 Les Miserables
and irresistibly human movement begun on the 14th of July,
1789; these soldiers are priests. The French revolution is an
act of God.
Moreover, there are, and it is proper to add this dis-
tinction to the distinctions already pointed out in another
chapter,—there are accepted revolutions, revolutions which
are called revolutions; there are refused revolutions, which
are called riots.
An insurrection which breaks out, is an idea which is
passing its examination before the people. If the people lets
fall a black ball, the idea is dried fruit; the insurrection is a
mere skirmish.
Waging war at every summons and every time that Uto-
pia desires it, is not the thing for the peoples. Nations have
not always and at every hour the temperament of heroes
and martyrs.
They are positive. A priori, insurrection is repugnant to
them, in the first place, because it often results in a catastro-
phe, in the second place, because it always has an abstraction
as its point of departure.
Because, and this is a noble thing, it is always for the ideal,
and for the ideal alone, that those who sacrifice themselves
do thus sacrifice themselves. An insurrection is an enthusi-
asm. Enthusiasm may wax wroth; hence the appeal to arms.
But every insurrection, which aims at a government or a
regime, aims higher. Thus, for instance, and we insist upon
it, what the chiefs of the insurrection of 1832, and, in par-
ticular, the young enthusiasts of the Rue de la Chanvrerie
were combating, was not precisely Louis Philippe. The ma-