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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9602-8.txt b/9602-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..90254e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/9602-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15099 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the French Revolution from 1789 +to 1814, by F. A. M. Miguet + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814 + +Author: F. A. M. Miguet + +Posting Date: November 23, 2011 [EBook #9602] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 9, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIST. FRENCH REVOLUTION, 1789-1814 *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, +and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + + + + + + + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM 1789 TO 1814 + +BY + +F.A.M. MIGNET + + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Of the great incidents of History, none has attracted more attention or +proved more difficult of interpretation than the French Revolution. The +ultimate significance of other striking events and their place in the +development of mankind can be readily estimated. It is clear enough that +the barbarian invasions marked the death of the classical world, already +mortally wounded by the rise of Christianity. It is clear enough that the +Renaissance emancipated the human intellect from the trammels of a bastard +mediaevalism, that the Reformation consolidated the victory of the "new +learning" by including theology among the subjects of human debate. But +the French Revolution seems to defy complete analysis. Its complexity was +great, its contradictions numerous and astounding. A movement ostensibly +directed against despotism culminated in the establishment of a despotism +far more complete than that which had been overthrown. The apostles of +liberty proscribed whole classes of their fellow-citizens, drenching in +innocent blood the land which they claimed to deliver from oppression. The +apostles of equality established a tyranny of horror, labouring to +extirpate all who had committed the sin of being fortunate. The apostles +of fraternity carried fire and sword to the farthest confines of Europe, +demanding that a continent should submit to the arbitrary dictation of a +single people. And of the Revolution were born the most rigid of modern +codes of law, that spirit of militarism which to-day has caused a world to +mourn, that intolerance of intolerance which has armed anti-clerical +persecutions in all lands. Nor were the actors in the drama less varied +than the scenes enacted. The Revolution produced Mirabeau and Talleyrand, +Robespierre and Napoleon, Sieyès and Hébert. The marshals of the First +Empire, the doctrinaires of the Restoration, the journalists of the +Orleanist monarchy, all were alike the children of this generation of +storm and stress, of high idealism and gross brutality, of changing +fortunes and glory mingled with disaster. + +To describe the whole character of a movement so complex, so diverse in +its promises and fulfilment, so crowded with incident, so rich in action, +may well be declared impossible. No sooner has some proposition been +apparently established, than a new aspect of the period is suddenly +revealed, and all judgments have forthwith to be revised. That the +Revolution was a great event is certain; all else seems to be uncertain. +For some it is, as it was for Charles Fox, much the greatest of all events +and much the best. For some it is, as it was for Burke, the accursed +thing, the abomination of desolation. If its dark side alone be regarded, +it oppresses the very soul of man. A king, guilty of little more than +amiable weakness and legitimate or pious affection; a queen whose gravest +fault was but the frivolity of youth and beauty, was done to death. For +loyalty to her friends, Madame Roland died; for loving her husband, +Lucille Desmoulins perished. The agents of the Terror spared neither age +nor sex; neither the eminence of high attainment nor the insignificance of +dull mediocrity won mercy at their hands. The miserable Du Barri was +dragged from her obscure retreat to share the fate of a Malesherbes, a +Bailly, a Lavoisier. Robespierre was no more protected by his cold +incorruptibility, than was Barnave by his eloquence, Hébert by his +sensuality, Danton by his practical good sense. Nothing availed to save +from the all-devouring guillotine. Those who did survive seem almost to +have survived by chance, delivered by some caprice of fortune or by the +criminal levity of "les tricoteuses," vile women who degraded the very +dregs of their sex. + +For such atrocities no apology need be attempted, but their cause may be +explained, the factors which produced such popular fury may be understood. +As he stands on the terrace of Versailles or wanders through the vast +apartments of the château, the traveller sees in imagination the dramatic +panorama of the long-dead past. The courtyard is filled with half-demented +women, clamouring that the Father of his People should feed his starving +children. The Well-Beloved jests cynically as, amid torrents of rain, +Pompadour is borne to her grave. Maintenon, gloomily pious, urges with +sinister whispers the commission of a great crime, bidding the king save +his vice-laden soul. Montespan laughs happily in her brief days of +triumph. And dominating the scene is the imposing figure of the Grand +Monarque. Louis haunts his great creation; Louis in his prime, the admired +and feared of Europe, the incarnation of kingship; Louis surrounded by +his gay and brilliant court, all eager to echo his historic boast, to sink +in their master the last traces of their identity. + +Then a veil falls. But some can lift it, to behold a far different, a far +more stirring vision, and to such the deeper causes of the Terror are +revealed. For they behold a vast multitude, stained with care, haggard, +forlorn, striving, dying, toiling even to their death, that the passing +whim of a tyrant may be gratified. Louis commanded; Versailles arose, a +palace of rare delight for princes and nobles, for wits and courtly +prelates, for grave philosophers and ladies frail as fair. A palace and a +hell, a grim monument to regal egoism, created to minister to the inflated +vanity of a despot, an eternal warning to mankind that the abuse of +absolute power is an accursed thing. Every flower, in those wide gardens +has been watered with the tears of stricken souls; every stone in that +vast pile of buildings was cemented with human blood. None can estimate +the toll of anguish exacted that Versailles might be; none can tell all +its cost, since for human suffering there is no price. The weary toilers +went to their doom, unnoticed, unhonoured, their misery unregarded, their +pain ignored, And the king rejoiced in his glory, while his poets sang +paeans in his praise. + +But the day of reckoning came, and that day was the Terror. The heirs of +those who toiled made their account with the heirs of those who played. +The players died bravely, like the gallant gentlemen they were; their +courage is applauded, a world laments their fate. The misery, thus +avenged, is forgotten; all the long agony of centuries, all the sunless +hours, all the darkness of a land's despair. For that sadness was hidden; +it was but the exceeding bitter lot of the poor, devoid of that dramatic +interest which illumines one immortal hour of pain. Yet he who would +estimate aright the Terror, who would fully understand the Revolution, +must reflect not only upon the suffering of those who fell victims to an +outburst of insensate frenzy, but also upon the suffering by which that +frenzy was aroused. In a few months the French people took what recompense +they might for many decades of oppression. They exacted retribution for +the building of Versailles, of all the châteaux of Touraine; for all the +burdens laid upon them since that day when liberty was enchained and +France became the bond-slave of her monarchs. Louis XVI. paid for the +selfish glory of Louis XIV.; the nobles paid for the pleasures which their +forefathers had so carelessly enjoyed; the privileged classes for the +privileges which they had usurped and had so grievously misused. + +The payment fell heavily upon individuals; the innocent often suffered for +the guilty; a Liancourt died while a Polignac escaped. Many who wished +well to France, many who had laboured for her salvation, perished; virtue +received the just punishment of vice. But the Revolution has another side; +it was no mere nightmare of horrors piled on horrors. It is part of the +pathos of History that no good has been unattended by evil, that by +suffering alone is mankind redeemed, that through the valley of shadow +lies the path by which the race toils slowly towards the fulfilment of its +high destiny. And if the victims of the guillotine could have foreseen the +future, many might have died gladly. For by their death they brought the +new France to birth. The Revolution rises superior to the crimes and +follies of its authors; it has atoned to posterity for all the sorrow that +it caused, for all the wrong that was done in its name. If it killed +laughter, it also dried many tears. By it privilege was slain in France, +tyranny rendered more improbable, almost impossible. The canker of a +debased feudalism was swept away. Men were made equal before the law. +Those barriers by which the flow of economic life in France was checked +were broken down. All careers were thrown open to talent. The right of the +producer to a voice in the distribution of the product was recognised. +Above all, a new gospel of political liberty was expounded. The world, and +the princes of the world, learned that peoples do not exist for the +pleasure of some despot and the profit of his cringing satellites. In the +order of nature, nothing can be born save through suffering; in the order +of politics, this is no less true. From the sorrow of brief months has +grown the joy of long years; the Revolution slew that it might also make +alive. + +Herein, perhaps, may be found the secret of its complexity, of its seeming +contradictions. The authors of the Revolution pursued an ideal, an ideal +expressed in three words, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. That they might +win their quest, they had both to destroy and to construct. They had to +sweep away the past, and from the resultant chaos to construct a new +order. Alike in destruction and construction, they committed errors; they +fell far below their high ideals. The altruistic enthusiasts of the +National Assembly gave place to the practical politicians of the +Convention, the diplomatists of the Directory, the generals of the +Consulate. The Empire was far from realising that bright vision of a +regenerate nation which had dazzled the eyes of Frenchmen in the first +hours of the States-General. Liberty was sacrificed to efficiency; +equality to man's love for titles of honour; fraternity to desire of +glory. So it has been with all human effort. Man is imperfect, and his +imperfection mars his fairest achievements. Whatever great movement may be +considered, its ultimate attainment has fallen far short of its initial +promise. The authors of the Revolution were but men; they were no more +able than their fellows to discover and to hold fast to the true way of +happiness. They wavered between the two extremes of despotism and anarchy; +they declined from the path of grace. And their task remained unfulfilled. +Many of their dreams were far from attaining realisation; they inaugurated +no era of perfect bliss; they produced no Utopia. But their labour was not +in vain. Despite its disappointments, despite all its crimes and blunders, +the French Revolution was a great, a wonderful event. It did contribute to +the uplifting of humanity, and the world is the better for its occurrence. + +That he might indicate this truth, that he might do something to +counteract the distortion of the past, Mignet wrote his _Histoire de la +Révolution Française_. At the moment when he came from Aix to Paris, the +tide of reaction was rising steadily in France. Decazes had fallen; Louis +XVIII. was surrendering to the ultra-royalist cabal. Aided by such +fortuitous events as the murder of the Duc de Berri, and supported by an +artificial majority in the Chamber, Villèle was endeavouring to bring back +the _ancien régime_. Compensation for the _émigrés_ was already mooted; +ecclesiastical control of education suggested. Direct criticism of the +ministry was rendered difficult, and even dangerous, by the censorship of +the press. Above all, the champions of reaction relied upon a certain +misrepresentation of the recent history of their country. The memory of +the Terror was still vivid; it was sedulously kept alive. The people were +encouraged to dread revolutionary violence, to forget the abuses by which +that violence had been evoked and which it had swept away. To all +complaints of executive tyranny, to all demands for greater political +liberty, the reactionaries made one answer. They declared that through +willingness to hear such complaints Louis XVI. had lost his throne and +life; that through the granting of such demands, the way had been prepared +for the bloody despotism of Robespierre. And they pointed the apparent +moral, that concessions to superficially mild and legitimate requests +would speedily reanimate the forces of anarchy. They insisted that by +strong government and by the sternest repression of the disaffected alone +could France be protected from a renewal of that nightmare of horror, at +the thought of which she still shuddered. And hence those who would +prevent the further progress of reaction had first of all to induce their +fellow-countrymen to realise that the Revolution was no mere orgy of +murder. They had to deliver liberty from those calumnies by which its +curtailment was rendered possible and even popular. + +Understanding this, Mignet wrote. It would have been idle for him to have +denied that atrocities had been committed, nor had the day for a panegyric +on Danton, for a defence of Robespierre, yet dawned. Mignet did not +attempt the impossible. Rather by granting the case for his opponents he +sought to controvert them the more effectively. He laid down as his +fundamental thesis that the Revolution was inevitable. It was the outcome +of the past history of France; it pursued the course which it was bound to +pursue. Individuals and episodes in the drama are thus relatively +insignificant and unimportant. The crimes committed may be regretted; +their memory should not produce any condemnation of the movement as a +whole. To judge the Revolution by the Terror, or by the Consulate, would +be wrong and foolish; to declare it evil, because it did not proceed in a +gentle and orderly manner would be to outrage the historical sense. It is +wiser and more profitable to look below the surface, to search out those +deep lessons which may be learned. And Mignet closes his work by stating +one of these lessons, that which to him was, perhaps, the most vital: "On +ne peut régir désormais la France d'une manière durable, qu'en +satisfaisant le double besoin qui lui a fait entreprendre la révolution. +Il lui faut, dans le gouvernement, une liberté politique réelle, et dans +la société, le bien-être matériel que produit le développement sans cesse +perfectionné de la civilisation." + +It was not Mignet's object to present a complete account of the +Revolution, and while he records the more important events of the period, +he does not attempt to deal exhaustively with all its many sides. It is +accordingly possible to point out various omissions. He does not explain +the organisation of the "deputies on mission," he only glances at that of +the commune or of the Committee of Public Safety. His account of the +Consulate and of the Empire appears to be disproportionately brief. But +the complexity of the period, and the wealth of materials for its history, +render it impossible for any one man to discuss it in detail, and Mignet's +work gains rather than loses by its limitations. Those facts which +illustrate his fundamental thesis are duly recorded; the causes and +results of events are clearly indicated; the actions of individuals are +described in so far as they subserve the author's purpose. The whole book +is marked by a notable impartiality; it is only on rare occasions, as in +the case of Lafayette, that the circumstances in which it was written have +been permitted to colour the judgments passed. Nor is the value of the +work seriously reduced by the fact that modern research compels its +revision in certain particulars, since it is so clearly not intended to be +a final and detailed history of the period. It is a philosophical study of +a great epoch, and as such, however its point of view may be criticised, +it is illuminating and well worthy of preservation. It supplies a +thoughtful and inspiring commentary upon the French Revolution. + +L. CECIL JANE. +1915. + + +BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.--François Auguste Marie Mignet was born at Aix in +Provence in 1796. He was educated at Avignon and in his native town, at +first studying law. But, having gained some literary successes, he removed +to Paris in 1821 and devoted himself to writing. He became professor of +history at the _Athenée_, and after the Revolution of 1830 was made +director of the archives in the Foreign Office, a post which he held until +1848. He was then removed by Lamartine and died in retirement in 1854. His +_Histoire de la Révolution Française_ was first published in 1824; a +translation into English appeared in Bogue's European library in 1846 and +is here re-edited. Among Mignet's other works may be mentioned _Antoine +Perez et Philippe II._ and _Histoire de Marie Stuart_. As a journalist, he +wrote mainly on foreign policy for the _Courrier Français_. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +Éloge de Charles VII., 1820; Les Institutions de Saint Louis, 1821; De la +féodalité, des institutions de Saint Louis et de l'influence de la +législation de ce prince, 1822; Histoire de la révolution française, 1824 +(trans. 2 vols., London, 1826, Bonn's Libraries, 1846); La Germanie au +VIIIe et au IXe siècle, sa conversion au christianisme, et son +introduction dans la société civilisée de l'Europe occidentale, 1834; +Essai sur la formation territoriale et politique de la France depuis la +fin de XIe siècle jusqu'a la fin du XVe, 1836; Notices et Mémoires +historiques, 1843; Charles Quint, son abdication, son séjour, et sa mort +au monastère de Yuste, 1845; Antonio Perez et Philippe II., 1845 +(translated by C. Cocks, London, 1846; translated from second French +edition by W. F. Ainsworth, London, 1846); Histoire de Marie Stuart, 2 +vols., 1851 (translated by A. R. Scoble, 1851); Portraits et Notices, +historiques et littéraires, 2 vols., 1852; Éloges historiques, 1864; +Histoire de la rivalité de François I. et de Charles Quint, 1875; Nouveaux +éloges historiques, 1877. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +Character of the French revolution--Its results, its progress--Successive +forms of the monarchy--Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--State of men's minds, of +the finances, of the public power and the public wants at the accession of +Louis XVI.--His character--Maurepas, prime minister--His policy--Chooses +popular and reforming ministers--His object--Turgot, Malesherbes, Necker-- +Their plans--Opposed by the court and the privileged classes--Their +failure--Death of Maurepas--Influence of the Queen, Marie-Antoinette-- +Popular ministers are succeeded by court ministers--Calonne and his +system--Brienne, his character and attempts--Distressed state of the +finances--Opposition of the assembly of the notables, of the parliament, +and provinces--Dismissal of Brienne--Second administration of Necker-- +Convocation of the states-general--Immediate causes of the revolution. + +CHAPTER I + +FROM THE 5TH OF MAY, 1789, TO THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST + +Opening of the states-general--Opinion of the court, of the ministry, and +of the various bodies of the kingdom respecting the states--Verification +of powers--Question of vote by order or by poll--The order of the commons +forms itself into a national assembly--The court causes the Hall of the +states to be closed--Oath of the Tennis-court--The majority of the order +of the clergy unites itself with the commons--Royal sitting of the 23rd of +June--Its inutility--Project of the court--Events of the 12th, 13th, and +14th of July--Dismissal of Necker--Insurrection of Paris--Formation of +the national guard--Siege and taking of the Bastille--Consequences of the +14th of July--Decrees of the night of the 4th of August--Character of the +revolution which had just been brought about. + +CHAPTER II + +FROM THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST TO THE 5TH AND 6TH OF +OCTOBER, 1789 + +State of the constituent assembly--Party of the high clergy and nobility-- +Maury and Cazales--Party of the ministry and of the two chambers: Mounier, +Lally-Tollendal--Popular party: triumvirate of Barnave, Duport, and +Lameth--Its position--Influence of Sieyès--Mirabeau chief of the assembly +at that period--Opinion to be formed of the Orleans party--Constitutional +labours--Declaration of rights--Permanency and unity of the legislative +body--Royal sanction--External agitation caused by it--Project of the +court--Banquet of the gardes-du-corps--Insurrection of the 5th and 6th +October--The king comes to reside at Paris. + +CHAPTER III + +FROM THE 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789, TO THE DEATH OF MIRABEAU, +APRIL, 1791 + +Results of the events of October--Alteration of the provinces into +departments--Organization of the administrative and municipal authorities +according to the system of popular sovereignty and election--Finances; all +the means employed are insufficient--Property of the clergy declared +national--The sale of the property of the clergy leads to assignats--Civil +constitution of the clergy--Religious opposition of the bishops-- +Anniversary of the 14th of July--Abolition of titles--Confederation of the +Champ de Mars--New organization of the army--Opposition of the officers-- +Schism respecting the civil constitution of the clergy--Clubs--Death of +Mirabeau--During the whole of this period the separation of parties +becomes more decided. + +CHAPTER IV + +FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 30TH SEPTEMBER, THE END OF THE +CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY + +Political state of Europe before the French revolution--System of alliance +observed by different states--General coalition against the revolution-- +Motives of each power--Conference of Mantua, and circular of Pavia--Flight +to Varennes--Arrest of the king--His suspension--The republican party +separate, for the first time, from the party of the constitutional +monarchy--The latter re-establishes the king--Declaration of Pilnitz--The +king accepts the constitution--End of the constituent assembly--Opinion of +it. + + + +THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + +CHAPTER V + +FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792 + +Early relations between the legislative assembly and the king--State of +parties: the Feuillants rely on the middle classes, the Girondists on the +people--Emigration and the dissentient clergy; decree against them; the +king's veto--Declarations of war--Girondist ministry; Dumouriez, Roland-- +Declaration of war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia--Disasters of +our armies; decree for a camp of reserve for twenty thousand men at Paris; +decree of banishment against the nonjuring priests; veto of the king; fall +of the Girondist ministry--Petition of insurgents of the 20th of June to +secure the passing of the decrees and the recall of the ministers--Last +efforts of the constitutional party--Manifesto of the duke of Brunswick-- +Events of the 10th of August--Military insurrection of Lafayette against +the authors of the events of the 10th of August; it fails--Division of the +assembly and the new commune; Danton--Invasion of the Prussians-- +Massacres of the 2nd of September--Campaign of the Argonne--Causes of the +events under the legislative assembly. + + +THE NATIONAL CONVENTION + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1792, TO THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793 + +First measures of the Convention--Its composition--Rivalry of the Gironde +and of the Mountain--Strength and views of the two parties--Robespierre: +the Girondists accuse him of aspiring to the dictatorship--Marat--Fresh +accusation of Robespierre by Louvet; Robespierre's defence; the Convention +passes to the order of the day--The Mountain, victorious in this struggle, +demand the trial of Louis XVI.--Opinions of parties on this subject--The +Convention decides that Louis XVI. shall be tried, and by itself--Louis +XVI. at the Temple; his replies before the Convention; his defence; his +condemnation; courage and serenity of his last moments--What he was, and +what he was not, as a king. + +CHAPTER VII + +FROM THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793, TO THE 2ND OF JUNE + +Political and military situation of France--England, Holland, Spain, +Naples, and all the circles of the empire fall in with the coalition-- +Dumouriez, after having conquered Belgium, attempts an expedition into +Holland--He wishes to re-establish constitutional monarchy--Reverses of +our armies--Struggle between the Gironde and the Mountain--Conspiracy of +the 10th of March--Insurrection of La Vendée; its progress--Defection of +Dumouriez--The Gironde accused of being his accomplices--New conspiracies +against them--Establishment of the Commission of Twelve to frustrate the +conspirators--Insurrections of the 27th and 31st of May against the +Commission of Twelve; its suppression--Insurrection of the 2nd of June +against the two-and-twenty leading Girondists; their arrest--Total defeat +of that party. + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE 2ND OF JUNE, 1793, TO APRIL, 1794 + +Insurrection of the departments against the 31st of May--Protracted +reverses on the frontiers--Progress of the Vendéans--The _Montagnards_ +decree the constitution of 1793, and immediately suspend it to maintain +and strengthen the revolutionary government--_Levée en masse_; law against +suspected persons--Victories of the _Montagnards_ in the interior, and on +the frontiers--Death of the queen, of the twenty-two Girondists, etc.-- +Committee of public safety; its power; its members--Republican calendar-- +The conquerors of the 31st of May separate--The ultra-revolutionary +faction of the commune, or the Hébertists, abolish the catholic religion, +and establish the worship of Reason; its struggle with the committee of +public safety; its defeat--The moderate faction of the _Montagnards_, or +the Dantonists, wish to destroy the revolutionary dictatorship, and to +establish the legal government; their fall--The committee of public safety +remains alone, and triumphant. + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE DEATH OF DANTON, APRIL, 1794, TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR +(27TH JULY, 1794) + +Increase of terror; its cause--System of the democrats; Saint-Just-- +Robespierre's power--Festival of the Supreme Being--Couthon presents the +law of the 22nd Prairial, which reorganizes the revolutionary tribunal; +disturbances; debates; final obedience of the convention--The active +members of the committee have a division--Robespierre, Saint-Just, and +Couthon on one side; Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, Barrère, and the +members of the committee of general safety on the other--Conduct of +Robespierre--He absents himself from the committee, and rests on the +Jacobins and the commune--On the 8th of Thermidor he demands the renewal +of the committees; the motion is rejected--Sitting of the 9th Thermidor; +Saint-Just denounces the committees; is interrupted by Tallien; Billaud- +Varennes violently attacks Robespierre; general indignation of the +convention against the triumvirate; they are arrested--The commune rises +and liberates the prisoners--Peril and courage of the convention; it +outlaws the insurgents--The sections declare for the convention--Defeat +and execution of Robespierre. + +CHAPTER X + +FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). +EPOCH OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY + +The convention, after the fall of Robespierre; party of the committees; +Thermidorian party; their constitution and object--Decay of the democratic +party of the committees--Impeachment of Lebon and Carrier--State of Paris +--The Jacobins and the Faubourgs declare for the old committees; the +_jeunesse dorée_, and the sections for the Thermidorians--Impeachment of +Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, Barrère, and Vadier--Movement of +Germinal--Transportation of the accused, and of a few of the Mountain, +their partisans--Insurrection of the 1st Prairial--Defeat of the +democratic party; disarming of the Faubourgs--The lower class is excluded +from the government, deprived of the constitution of '93, and loses its +material power. + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE 1ST PRAIRIAL (20TH OF MAY, 1795) TO THE 4TH BRUMAIRE +(26TH OF OCTOBER), YEAR IV., THE CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION + +Campaign of 1793 and 1794--Disposition of the armies on hearing the news +of the 9th Thermidor--Conquest of Holland; position on the Rhine--Peace of +Basel with Prussia--Peace with Spain--Descent upon Quiberon--The reaction +ceases to be conventional, and becomes royalist--Massacre of the +revolutionists, in the south--Directorial constitution of the year III.-- +Decrees of Fructidor, which require the re-election of two-thirds of the +convention--Irritation of the sectionary royalist party--It becomes +insurgent--The 13th of Vendémiaire--Appointment of the councils and of the +directory--Close of the convention; its duration and character. + + +THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY + +CHAPTER XII + +FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THE DIRECTORY, ON THE 27TH OCTOBER, 1795, TO THE +COUP-D'ÉTAT OF THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, YEAR V. (3RD AUGUST, 1797) + +Review of the revolution--Its second character of reorganization; +transition from public to private life--The five directors; their labours +for the interior--Pacification of La Vendée--Conspiracy of Babeuf; final +defeat of the democratic party--Plan of campaign against Austria; conquest +of Italy by general Bonaparte; treaty of Campo-Formio; the French republic +is acknowledged, with its acquisitions, and its connection with the Dutch, +Lombard, and Ligurian republics, which prolonged its system in Europe-- +Royalist elections in the year V.; they alter the position of the +republic--New contest between the counter-revolutionary party in the +councils, in the club of Clichy, in the salons, and the conventional +party, in the directory, the club of _Salm_, and the army--Coup d'état of +the 18th Fructidor; the Vendémiaire party again defeated. + +CHAPTER XIII + +FROM THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, IN THE YEAR V. (4TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1797), TO THE +18TH BRUMAIRE, IN THE YEAR VIII. (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) + +By the 18th Fructidor the directory returns, with slight mitigation, to +the revolutionary government--General peace, except with England--Return +of Bonaparte to Paris--Expedition into Egypt--Democratic elections for the +year VI.--The directory annuls them on the 22nd Floréal--Second coalition; +Russia, Austria, and England attack the republic through Italy, +Switzerland, and Holland; general defeats--Democratic elections for the +year VII.; on the 30th Prairial the councils get the upper hand, and +disorganize the old directory--Two parties in the new directory, and in +the councils: the moderate republican party under Sieyès, Roger-Ducos, and +the ancients; the extreme republican party under Moulins, Golier, the Five +Hundred, and the Society of the Manège--Various projects--Victories of +Masséna, in Switzerland; of Brune, in Holland--Bonaparte returns from +Egypt; comes to an understanding with Sieyès and his party--The 18th and +19th Brumaire--End of the directorial system. + + +THE CONSULATE + +CHAPTER XIV + +FROM THE 18TH BRUMAIRE (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) TO THE 2ND +OF DECEMBER, 1804 + +Hopes entertained by the various parties, after the 18th Brumaire-- +Provisional government--Constitution of Sieyès; distorted into the +consular constitution of the year VIII.--Formation of the government; +pacific designs of Bonaparte--Campaign of Italy; victory of Marengo-- +General peace: on the continent, by the treaty of Lunéville with England; +by the treaty of Amiens--Fusion of parties; internal prosperity of France +--Ambitious system of the First Consul; re-establishes the clergy in the +state, by the Concordat of 1802; he creates a military order of +knighthood, by means of the Legion of Honour; he completes this order of +things by the consulate for life--Resumption of hostilities with England-- +Conspiracy of Georges and Pichegru--The war and royalist attempts form a +pretext for the erection of the empire--Napoleon Bonaparte appointed +hereditary emperor; is crowned by the pope on the 2nd of December, 1804, +in the church of Notre Dame--Successive abandonment of the revolution-- +Progress of absolute power during the four years of the consulate. + + +THE EMPIRE + +CHAPTER XV + +FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE, 1804-1814 + +Character of the empire--Change of the republics created by the directory +into kingdoms--Third coalition; capture of Vienna; victories of Ulm and +Austerlitz; peace of Pressburg; erection of the two kingdoms of Bavaria +and Wurtemberg against Austria--Confederation of the Rhine--Joseph +Napoleon appointed king of Naples; Louis Napoleon, king of Holland--Fourth +coalition; battle of Jena; capture of Berlin; victories of Eylau and +Friedland; peace of Tilsit; the Prussian monarchy is reduced by one half; +the kingdoms of Saxony and Westphalia are instituted against it; that of +Westphalia given to Jerome Napoleon--The grand empire rises with its +secondary kingdoms, its confederation of the Rhine, its Swiss mediation, +its great fiefs; it is modelled on that of Charlemagne--Blockade of the +continent--Napoleon employs the cessation of commerce to reduce England, +as he had employed arms to subdue the continent--Invasion of Spain and +Portugal; Joseph Napoleon appointed to the throne of Spain; Murat replaces +him on the throne of Naples--New order of events: national insurrection of +the peninsula; religious contest with the pope--Commercial opposition of +Holland--Fifth coalition--Victory of Wagram; peace of Vienna; marriage of +Napoleon with the archduchess Marie Louise--Failure of the attempt at +resistance; the pope is dethroned; Holland is again united to the empire, +and the war in Spain prosecuted with vigour--Russia renounces the +continental system; campaign of 1812; capture of Moscow; disastrous +retreat--Reaction against the power of Napoleon; campaign of 1813; general +defection--Coalition of all Europe; exhaustion of France; marvellous +campaign of 1814--The allied powers at Paris; abdication at Fontainbleau; +character of Napoleon; his part in the French revolution--Conclusion. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I am about to take a rapid review of the history of the French revolution, +which began the era of new societies in Europe, as the English revolution +had begun the era of new governments. This revolution not only modified +the political power, but it entirely changed the internal existence of the +nation. The forms of the society of the middle ages still remained. The +land was divided into hostile provinces, the population into rival +classes. The nobility had lost all their powers, but still retained all +their distinctions: the people had no rights, royalty no limits; France +was in an utter confusion of arbitrary administration, of class +legislation and special privileges to special bodies. For these abuses the +revolution substituted a system more conformable with justice, and better +suited to our times. It substituted law in the place of arbitrary will, +equality in that of privilege; delivered men from the distinctions of +classes, the land from the barriers of provinces, trade from the shackles +of corporations and fellowships, agriculture from feudal subjection and +the oppression of tithes, property from the impediment of entails, and +brought everything to the condition of one state, one system of law, one +people. + +In order to effect such mighty reformation as this, the revolution had +many obstacles to overcome, involving transient excesses with durable +benefits. The privileged sought to prevent it; Europe to subject it; and +thus forced into a struggle, it could not set bounds to its efforts, or +moderate its victory. Resistance from within brought about the sovereignty +of the multitude, and aggression from without, military domination. Yet +the end was attained, in spite of anarchy and in spite of despotism: the +old society was destroyed during the revolution, and the new one became +established under the empire. + +When a reform has become necessary, and the moment for accomplishing it +has arrived, nothing can prevent it, everything furthers it. Happy were it +for men, could they then come to an understanding; would the rich resign +their superfluity, and the poor content themselves with achieving what +they really needed, revolutions would then be quietly effected, and the +historian would have no excesses, no calamities to record; he would merely +have to display the transition of humanity to a wiser, freer, and happier +condition. But the annals of nations have not as yet presented any +instance of such prudent sacrifices; those who should have made them have +refused to do so; those who required them have forcibly compelled them; +and good has been brought about, like evil, by the medium and with all the +violence of usurpation. As yet there has been no sovereign but force. + +In reviewing the history of the important period extending from the +opening of the states-general to 1814, I propose to explain the various +crises of the revolution, while I describe their progress. It will thus be +seen through whose fault, after commencing under such happy auspices, it +so fearfully degenerated; in what way it changed France into a republic, +and how upon the ruins of the republic it raise the empire. These various +phases were almost inevitable, so irresistible was the power of the events +which produced them. It would perhaps be rash to affirm that by no +possibility could the face of things have been otherwise; but it is +certain that the revolution, taking its rise from such causes, and +employing and arousing such passions, naturally took that course, and +ended in that result. Before we enter upon its history, let us see what +led to the convocation of the states-general, which themselves brought on +all that followed. In retracing the preliminary causes of the revolution, +I hope to show that it was as impossible to avoid as to guide it. + +From its establishment the French monarchy had had no settled form, no +fixed and recognised public right. Under the first races the crown was +elective, the nation sovereign, and the king a mere military chief, +depending on the common voice for all decisions to be made, and all the +enterprises to be undertaken. The nation elected its chief, exercised the +legislative power in the Champs de Mars under the presidentship of the +king, and the judicial power in the courts under the direction of one of +his officers. Under the feudal regime, this royal democracy gave way to a +royal aristocracy. Absolute power ascended higher, the nobles stripped the +people of it, as the prince afterwards despoiled the nobles. At this +period the monarch had become hereditary; not as king, but as individually +possessor of a fief; the legislative authority belonged to the seigneurs, +in their vast territories or in the barons' parliaments; and the judicial +authority to the vassals in the manorial courts. In a word, power had +become more and more concentrated, and as it had passed from the many to +the few, it came at last from the few to be invested in one alone. During +centuries of continuous efforts, the kings of France were battering down +the feudal edifice, and at length they established themselves on its +ruins, having step by step usurped the fiefs, subdued the vassals, +suppressed the parliaments of barons, annulled or subjected the manorial +courts, assumed the legislative power, and effected that judicial +authority should be exercised in their name and on their behalf, in +parliaments of legists. + +The states-general, which they convoked on pressing occasions, for the +purpose of obtaining subsidies, and which were composed of the three +orders of the nation, the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate or +commons, had no regular existence. Originated while the royal prerogative +was in progress, they were at first controlled, and finally suppressed by +it. The strongest and most determined opposition the kings had to +encounter in their projects of aggrandizement, proceeded much less from +these assemblies, which they authorized or annulled at pleasure, than from +the nobles vindicating against them, first their sovereignty, and then +their political importance. From Philip Augustus to Louis XI. the object +of all their efforts was to preserve their own power; from Louis XI. to +Louis XIV. to become the ministers of that of royalty. The Fronde was the +last campaign of the aristocracy. Under Louis XIV. absolute monarchy +definitively established itself, and dominated without dispute. + +The government of France, from Louis XIV. to the revolution, was still +more arbitrary than despotic; for the monarchs had much more power than +they exercised. The barriers that opposed the encroachments of this +immense authority were exceedingly feeble. The crown disposed of persons +by _lettres de cachet_, of property by confiscation, of the public revenue +by imposts. Certain bodies, it is true, possessed means of defence, which +were termed privileges, but these privileges were rarely respected. The +parliament had that of ratifying or of refusing an impost, but the king +could compel its assent, by a _lit de justice_, and punish its members by +exile. The nobility were exempt from taxation; the clergy were entitled to +the privilege of taxing themselves, in the form of free gifts; some +provinces enjoyed the right of compounding the taxes, and others made the +assessment themselves. Such were the trifling liberties of France, and +even these all turned to the benefit of the privileged classes, and to the +detriment of the people. + +And this France, so enslaved, was moreover miserably organized; the +excesses of power were still less endurable than their unjust +distribution. The nation, divided into three orders, themselves subdivided +into several classes, was a prey to all the attacks of despotism, and all +the evils of inequality. The nobility were subdivided: into courtiers, +living on the favours of the prince, that is to say, on the labour of the +people, and whose aim was governorships of provinces, or elevated ranks in +the army; ennobled parvenus, who conducted the interior administration, +and whose object was to obtain comptrollerships, and to make the most of +their place while they held it, by jobbing of every description; legists +who administered justice, and were alone competent to perform its +functions; and landed proprietors who oppressed the country by the +exercise of those feudal rights which still survived. The clergy were +divided into two classes: the one destined for the bishoprics and abbeys, +and their rich revenues; the other for the apostolic function and its +poverty. The third estate, ground down by the court, humiliated by the +nobility, was itself divided into corporations, which, in their turn, +exercised upon each other the evil and the contempt they received from the +higher classes. It possessed scarcely a third part of the land, and this +was burdened with the feudal rents due to the lords of the manor, tithes +to the clergy, and taxes to the king. In compensation for all these +sacrifices it enjoyed no political right, had no share in the +administration, and was admitted to no public employment. + +Louis XIV. wore out the main-spring of absolute monarchy by too protracted +tension and too violent use. Fond of sway, rendered irritable by the +vexations of his youth, he quelled all resistance, forbad every kind of +opposition,--that of the aristocracy which manifested itself in revolt,-- +that of the parliaments displayed by remonstrance,--that of the +protestants, whose form was a liberty of conscience which the church +deemed heretical, and royalty factious. Louis XIV. subdued the nobles by +summoning them to his court, where favours and pleasures were the +compensation for their dependence. Parliament, till then the instrument of +the crown, attempted to become its counterbalance, and the prince +haughtily imposed upon it a silence and submission of sixty years' +duration. At length, the revocation of the edict of Nantes completed this +work of despotism. An arbitrary government not only will not endure +resistance, but it demands that its subjects shall approve and imitate it. +After having subjected the actions of men, it persecutes conscience; +needing to be ever in motion, it seeks victims when they do not fall in +its way. The immense power of Louis XIV. was exercised, internally, +against the heretics; externally, against all Europe. Oppression found +ambitious men to counsel it, dragoons to serve, and success to encourage +it; the wounds of France were hidden by laurels, her groans were drowned +in songs of victory. But at last the men of genius died, the victories +ceased, industry emigrated, money disappeared; and the fact became +evident, that the very successes of despotism exhaust its resources, and +consume its future ere that future has arrived. + +The death of Louis XIV. was the signal for a reaction; there was a sudden +transition from intolerance to incredulity, from the spirit of obedience +to that of discussion. Under the regency, the third estate acquired in +importance, by their increasing wealth and intelligence, all that the +nobility lost in consideration, and the clergy in influence. Under Louis +XV., the court prosecuted ruinous wars attended with little glory, and +engaged in a silent struggle with opinion, in an open one with the +parliament. Anarchy crept into its bosom, the government fell into the +hands of royal mistresses, power was completely on the decline, and the +opposition daily made fresh progress. + +The parliaments had undergone a change of position and of system. Royalty +had invested them with a power which they now turned against it. No sooner +had the ruin of the aristocracy been accomplished by the combined efforts +of the parliament and of royalty, than the conquerors quarrelled, +according to the common practice of allies after a victory. Royalty sought +to destroy an instrument that became dangerous when it ceased to be +useful, and the parliament sought to govern royalty. This struggle, +favourable to the monarch under Louis XIV., of mixed reverses and success +under Louis XV., only ceased with the revolution. The parliament, from its +very nature, was only called upon to serve as an instrument. The exercise +of its prerogative, and its ambition as a body, leading it to oppose +itself to the strong and support the weak, it served by turns the crown +against the aristocracy and the nation against the crown. It was this that +made it so popular under Louis XV. and Louis XVI., although it only +attacked the court from a spirit of rivalry. Opinion, without inquiring +into its motives, applauded not its ambition but its resistance, and +supported it because defended by it. Rendered daring by such +encouragement, it became formidable to authority. After annulling the will +of the most imperious and best-obeyed of monarchs; after protesting +against the Seven Years' War; after obtaining the control of financial +operations and the destruction of the Jesuits, its resistance became so +constant and energetic, that the court, meeting with it in every +direction, saw the necessity of either submitting to or subjecting it. It +accordingly carried into execution the plan of disorganization proposed by +the chancellor Maupeou. This daring man, who, to employ his own +expression, had offered _retirer la couronne du greffe_, replaced this +hostile parliament by one devoted to power, and subjected to a similar +operation the entire magistracy of France, who were following the example +of that of Paris. + +But the time had passed for coups d'état. The current had set in against +arbitrary rule so decidedly that the king resorted to it with doubt and +hesitation, and even encountered the disapprobation of his court. A new +power had arisen--that of opinion; which, though not recognised, was not +the less influential, and whose decrees were beginning to assume sovereign +authority. The nation, hitherto a nonentity, gradually asserted its +rights, and without sharing power influenced it. Such is the course of all +rising powers; they watch over it from without, before they are admitted +into the government; then, from the right of control they pass to that of +co-operation. The epoch at which the third estate was to share the sway +had at last arrived. It had at former periods attempted to effect this, +but in vain, because its efforts were premature. It was then but just +emancipated, and possessed not that which establishes superiority, and +leads to the acquisition of power; for right is only obtained by might. +Accordingly, in insurrections as in the states-general, it had held but +the third rank; everything was done with its aid, but nothing for it. In +times of feudal tyranny, it had served the kings against the nobles; when +ministerial and fiscal despotism prevailed, it assisted the nobles against +the kings; but, in the first instance, it was nothing more than the +servant of the crown; in the second, than that of the aristocracy. The +struggle took place in a sphere, and on the part of interests, with which +it was reputed to have no connexion. When the nobles were definitively +beaten in the time of the Fronde, it laid down its arms; a clear proof how +secondary was the part it had played. + +At length, after a century of absolute submission, it reappeared in the +arena, but on its own account. The past cannot be recalled; and it was not +more possible for the nobles to rise from their defeat than it would now +be for absolute monarchy to regain its position. The court was to have +another antagonist, for it must always have one, power never being without +a candidate. The third estate, which increased daily in strength, wealth, +intelligence, and union, was destined to combat and to displace it. The +parliament did not constitute a class, but a body; and in this new +contest, while able to aid in the displacement of authority, it could not +secure it for itself. + +The court had favoured the progress of the third estate, and had +contributed to the development of one of its chief means of advancement, +its intelligence. The most absolute of monarchs aided the movement of +mind, and, without intending it, created public opinion. By encouraging +praise, he prepared the way for blame; for we cannot invite an examination +in our favour, without undergoing one afterwards to our prejudice. When +the songs of triumph, and gratulation, and adulation were exhausted, +accusation began, and the philosophers of the eighteenth century succeeded +to the litterateurs of the seventeenth. Everything became the object of +their researches and reflections; governments, religion, abuses, laws. +They proclaimed rights, laid bare men's wants, denounced injustice. A +strong and enlightened public opinion was formed, whose attacks the +government underwent without venturing to attempt its suppression. It even +converted those whom it attacked; courtiers submitted to its decisions +from fashion's sake, power from necessity, and the age of reform was +ushered in by the age of philosophy, as the latter had been by the age of +the fine arts. + +Such was the condition of France, when Louis XVI. ascended the throne on +the 11th of May, 1774. Finances, whose deficiencies neither the +restorative ministry of cardinal de Fleury, nor the bankrupt ministry of +the abbé Terray had been able to make good, authority disregarded, +intractable parliaments, an imperious public opinion; such were the +difficulties which the new reign inherited from its predecessors. Of all +princes, Louis XVI., by his tendencies and his virtues, was best suited to +his epoch. The people were weary of arbitrary rule, and he was disposed to +renounce its exercise; they were exasperated with the burdensome +dissoluteness of the court of Louis XV.; the morals of the new king were +pure and his wants few; they demanded reforms that had become +indispensable, and he appreciated the public want, and made it his glory +to satisfy it. But it was as difficult to effect good as to continue evil; +for it was necessary to have sufficient strength either to make the +privileged classes submit to reform, or the nation to abuses; and Louis +XVI. was neither a regenerator nor a despot. He was deficient in that +sovereign will which alone accomplishes great changes in states, and which +is as essential to monarchs who wish to limit their power as to those who +seek to aggrandize it. Louis XVI. possessed a sound mind, a good and +upright heart, but he was without energy of character and perseverance in +action. His projects of amelioration met with obstacles which he had not +foreseen, and which he knew not how to overcome. He accordingly fell +beneath his efforts to favour reform, as another would have fallen in his +attempt to prevent it. Up to the meeting of the states-general, his reign +was one long and fruitless endeavour at amelioration. + +In choosing, on his accession to the throne, Maurepas as prime minister, +Louis XVI. eminently contributed to the irresolute character of his reign. +Young, deeply sensible of his duties and of his own insufficiency, he had +recourse to the experience of an old man of seventy-three, who had lost +the favour of Louis XV. by his opposition to the mistresses of that +monarch. In him the king found not a statesman, but a mere courtier, whose +fatal influence extended over the whole course of his reign. Maurepas had +little heed to the welfare of France, or the glory of his master; his sole +care was to remain in favour. Residing in the palace at Versailles, in an +apartment communicating with that of the king, and presiding over the +council, he rendered the mind of Louis XVI. uncertain, his character +irresolute; he accustomed him to half-measures, to changes of system, to +all the inconsistencies of power, and especially to the necessity of doing +everything by others, and nothing of himself. Maurepas had the choice of +the ministers, and these cultivated his good graces as assiduously as he +the king's. Fearful of endangering his position, he kept out of the +ministry men of powerful connections, and appointed rising men, who +required his support for their own protection, and to effect their +reforms. He successively called Turgot, Malesherbes, and Necker to the +direction of affairs, each of whom undertook to effect ameliorations in +that department of the government which had been the immediate object of +his studies. + +Malesherbes, descended from a family in the law, inherited parliamentary +virtues, and not parliamentary prejudices. To an independent mind, he +united a noble heart. He wished to give to every man his rights; to the +accused, the power of being defended; to protestants, liberty of +conscience; to authors, the liberty of the press; to every Frenchman, +personal freedom; and he proposed the abolition of the torture, the re- +establishment of the edict of Nantes, and the suppression of _lettres de +cachet_ and of the censure. Turgot, of a vigorous and comprehensive mind, +and an extraordinary firmness and strength of character, attempted to +realize still more extensive projects. He joined Malesherbes, in order, +with his assistance, to complete the establishment of a system which was +to bring back unity to the government and equality to the country. This +virtuous citizen constantly occupied himself with the amelioration of the +condition of the people; he undertook, alone, what the revolution +accomplished at a later period,--the suppression of servitude and +privilege. He proposed to enfranchise the rural districts from statute +labour, provinces from their barriers, commerce from internal duties, +trade from its shackles, and lastly, to make the nobility and clergy +contribute to the taxes in the same proportion as the third estate. This +great minister, of whom Malesherbes said, "he has the head of Bacon and +the heart of l'Hôpital," wished by means of provincial assemblies to +accustom the nation to public life, and prepare it for the restoration of +the states-general. He would have effected the revolution by ordinances, +had he been able to stand. But under the system of special privileges and +general servitude, all projects for the public good were impraticable. +Turgot dissatisfied the courtiers by his ameliorations, displeased the +parliament by the abolition of statute labour, wardenships, and internal +duties, and alarmed the old minister by the ascendancy which his virtue +gave him over Louis XVI. The prince forsook him, though at the same time +observing that Turgot and himself were the only persons who desired the +welfare of the people: so lamentable is the condition of kings! + +Turgot was succeeded in 1776 in the general control of the finances by +Clugny, formerly comptroller of Saint Domingo, who, six months after, was +himself succeeded by Necker. Necker was a foreigner, a protestant, a +banker, and greater as an administrator than as a statesman; he +accordingly conceived a plan for reforming France, less extensive than +that of Turgot, but which he executed with more moderation, and aided by +the times. Appointed minister in order to find money for the court, he +made use of the wants of the court to procure liberties for the people. He +re-established the finances by means of order, and made the provinces +contribute moderately to their administration. His views were wise and +just; they consisted in bringing the revenue to a level with the +expenditure, by reducing the latter; by employing taxation in ordinary +times, and loans when imperious circumstances rendered it necessary to tax +the future as well as the present; by causing the taxes to be assessed by +the provincial assemblies, and by instituting the publication of accounts, +in order to facilitate loans. This system was founded on the nature of +loans, which, needing credit, require publicity of administration; and on +that of taxation, which needing assent, requires also a share in the +administration. Whenever there is a deficit and the government makes +applications to meet it, if it address itself to lenders, it must produce +its balance-sheet; if it address itself to the tax-payers, it must give +them a share in its power. Thus loans led to the production of accounts, +and taxes to the states-general; the first placing authority under the +jurisdiction of opinion, and the second placing it under that of the +people. But Necker, though less impatient for reform than Turgot, although +he desired to redeem abuses which his predecessor wished to destroy, was +not more fortunate than he. His economy displeased the courtiers; the +measures of the provincial assemblies incurred the disapprobation of the +parliaments, which wished to monopolize opposition; and the prime minister +could not forgive him an appearance of credit. He was obliged to quit +power in 1781, a few months after the publication of the famous _Comptes +rendus_ of the finances, which suddenly initiated France in a knowledge of +state matters, and rendered absolute government for ever impossible. + +The death of Maurepas followed close upon the retirement of Necker. The +queen took his place with Louis XVI., and inherited all his influence over +him. This good but weak prince required to be directed. His wife, young, +beautiful, active, and ambitious, gained great ascendancy over him. Yet it +may be said that the daughter of Marie Thérèse resembled her mother too +much or too little. She combined frivolity with domination, and disposed +of power only to invest with it men who caused her own ruin and that of +the state. Maurepas, mistrusting court ministers, had always chosen +popular ministers; it is true he did not support them; but if good was not +brought about, at least evil did not increase. After his death, court +ministers succeeded the popular ministers, and by their faults rendered +the crisis inevitable, which others had endeavoured to prevent by their +reforms. This difference of choice is very remarkable; this it was which, +by the change of men, brought on the change in the system of +administration. The revolution dates from this epoch; the abandonment of +reforms and the return of disorders hastened its approach and augmented +its fury. + +Calonne was called from an intendancy to the general control of the +finances. Two successors had already been given to Necker, when +application was made to Calonne in 1783. Calonne was daring, brilliant and +eloquent; he had much readiness and a fertile mind. Either from error or +design he adopted a system of administration directly opposed to that of +his predecessor. Necker recommended economy, Calonne boasted of his lavish +expenditure. Necker fell through courtiers, Calonne sought to be upheld by +them. His sophisms were backed by his liberality; he convinced the queen +by _fêtes_, the nobles by pensions; he gave a great circulation to the +finances, in order that the extent and facility of his operations might +excite confidence in the justness of his views; he even deceived the +capitalists, by first showing himself punctual in his payments. He +continued to raise loans after the peace, and he exhausted the credit +which Necker's wise conduct had procured to the government. Having come to +this point, having deprived himself of a resource, the very employment of +which he was unable to manage, in order to prolong his continuance in +power he was obliged to have recourse to taxation. But to whom could he +apply? The people could pay no longer, and the privileged classes would +not offer anything. Yet it was necessary to decide, and Calonne, hoping +more from something new, convoked an assembly of notables, which began its +sittings at Versailles on the 22nd of February, 1787. But a recourse to +others must prove the end of a system founded on prodigality. A minister +who had risen by giving, could not maintain himself by asking. + +The notables, chosen by the government from the higher classes, formed a +ministerial assembly, which had neither a proper existence nor a +commission. It was, indeed, to avoid parliaments and states-general, that +Calonne addressed himself to a more subordinate assembly, hoping to find +it more docile. But, composed of privileged persons, it was little +disposed to make sacrifices. It became still less so, when it saw the +abyss which a devouring administration had excavated. It learned with +terror, that the loans of a few years amounted to one thousand six hundred +and forty-six millions, and that there was an annual deficit in the +revenue of a hundred and forty millions. This disclosure was the signal +for Calonne's fall. He fell, and was succeeded by Brienne, archbishop of +Sens, his opponent in the assembly. Brienne thought the majority of the +notables was devoted to him, because it had united with him against +Calonne. But the privileged classes were not more disposed to make +sacrifices to Brienne than to his predecessor; they had seconded his +attacks, which were to their interest, and not his ambition, to which they +were indifferent. + +The archbishop of Sens, who is censured for a want of plan, was in no +position to form one. He was not allowed to continue the prodigality of +Calonne; and it was too late to return to the retrenchments of Necker. +Economy, which had been a means of safety at a former period, was no +longer so in this. Recourse must be had either to taxation, and that +parliament opposed; or loans, and credit was exhausted; or sacrifices on +the part of the privileged classes, who were unwilling to make them. +Brienne, to whom office had been the chief object of life, who with, the +difficulties of his position combined slenderness of means attempted +everything, and succeeded in nothing. His mind was active, but it wanted +strength; and his character rash without firmness. Daring, previous to +action, but weak afterwards, he ruined himself by his irresolution, want +of foresight, and constant variation of means. There remained only bad +measures to adopt, but he could not decide upon one, and follow that one; +this was his real error. + +The assembly of notables was but little submissive and very parsimonious. +After having sanctioned the establishment of provincial assemblies, a +regulation of the corn trade, the abolition of corvées, and a new stamp +tax, it broke up on the 25th of May, 1787. It spread throughout France +what it had discovered respecting the necessities of the throne, the +errors of the ministers, the dilapidation of the court, and the +irremediable miseries of the people. + +Brienne, deprived of this assistance, had recourse to taxation, as a +resource, the use of which had for some time been abandoned. He demanded +the enrolment of two edicts--that of the stamps and that of the +territorial subsidies. But parliament, which was then in the full vigour +of its existence and in all the ardour of its ambition, and to which the +financial embarrassment of the ministry offered a means of augmenting its +power, refused the enrolment. Banished to Troyes, it grew weary of exile, +and the minister recalled it on condition that the two edicts should be +accepted. But this was only a suspension of hostilities; the necessities +of the crown soon rendered the struggle more obstinate and violent. The +minister had to make fresh applications for money; his existence depended +on the issue of several successive loans to the amount of four hundred and +forty millions. It was necessary to obtain the enrolment of them. + +Brienne, expecting opposition from the parliament, procured the enrolment +of this edict by a _lit de justice_, and to conciliate the magistracy and +public opinion, the protestants were restored to their rights in the same +sitting, and Louis XVI. promised an annual publication of the state of +finances, and the convocation, of the states-general before the end of +five years. But these concessions were no longer sufficient: parliament +refused the enrolment, and rose against the ministerial tyranny. Some of +its members, among others the duke of Orleans, were banished. Parliament +protested, by a decree, against _lettres de cachet_, and required the +recall of its members. This decree was annulled by the king, and confirmed +by parliament. The warfare increased. + +The magistracy of Paris was supported by all the magistracy of France, and +encouraged by public opinion. It proclaimed the rights of the nation, and +its own incompetence in matters of taxation; and, become liberal from +interest, and rendered generous by oppression, it exclaimed against +arbitrary imprisonment, and demanded regularly convoked states-general. +After this act of courage, it decreed the irremovability of its members, +and the incompetence of any who might usurp their functions. This bold +manifesto was followed by the arrest of two members, d'Eprémenil and +Goislard, by the reform of the body, and the establishment of a plenary +court. + +Brienne understood that the opposition of the parliament was systematic, +that it would be renewed on every fresh demand for subsidies, or on the +authorization of every loan. Exile was but a momentary remedy, which +suspended opposition, without destroying it. He then projected the +reduction of this body to judicial functions, and associated with himself +Lamoignon, keeper of the seals, for the execution of this project. +Lamoignon was skilled in coups d'état. He had audacity, and combined with +Maupeou's energetic determination a greater degree of consideration and +probity. But he made a mistake as to the force of power, and what it was +possible to effect in his times. Maupeou had re-established parliament, +changing its members; Lamoignon wished to disorganize it. The first of +these means, if it had succeeded, would only have produced temporary +repose; the second must have produced a definitive one, since it aimed at +destroying the power, which the other only tried to displace; but +Maupeou's reform did not last, and that of Lamoignon could not be +effected. The execution of the latter was, however, tolerably well framed. +All the magistracy of France was exiled on the same day, in order that the +new judicial organization might take place. The keeper of the seals +deprived the parliament of Paris of its political attributes, to invest +with them a plenary court, ministerially composed, and reduced its +judicial competence in favour of bailiwicks, the jurisdiction of which he +extended. Public opinion was indignant; the Châtelet protested, the +provinces rose, and the plenary court could neither be formed nor act. +Disturbances broke out in Dauphiné, Brittany, Provence, Flanders, +Languedoc, and Béarn; the ministry, instead of the regular opposition of +parliament, had to encounter one much more animated and factious. The +nobility, the third estate, the provincial states, and even the clergy, +took part in it. Brienne, pressed for money, had called together an +extraordinary assembly of the clergy, who immediately made an address to +the king, demanding the abolition of his plenary court, and the recall of +the states-general: they alone could thenceforth repair the disordered +state of the finances, secure the national debt, and terminate such +conflicts of authority. + +The archbishop of Sens, by his contest with the parliament, had postponed +the financial, by creating a political difficulty. The moment the latter +ceased, the former re-appeared, and made his retreat inevitable. Obtaining +neither taxes nor loans, unable to make use of the plenary court, and not +wishing to recall the parliaments, Brienne, as a last resource, promised +the convocation of the states-general. By this means he hastened his ruin. +He had been called to the financial department in order to remedy +embarrassments which he had augmented, and to procure money which he had +been unable to obtain. So far from it, he had exasperated the nation, +raised a rebellion in the various bodies of the state, compromised the +authority of the government, and rendered inevitable the states-general, +which, in the opinion of the court, was the worst means of raising money. +He succumbed on the 25th of August, 1788. The cause of his fall was a +suspension of the payment of the interest on the debt, which was the +commencement of bankruptcy. This minister has been the most blamed because +he came last. Inheriting the faults, the embarrassments of past times, he +had to struggle with the difficulties of his position with insufficient +means. He tried intrigue and oppression; he banished, suspended, +disorganized parliament; everything was an obstacle to him, nothing aided +him. After a long struggle, he sank under lassitude and weakness; I dare +not say from incapacity, for had he been far stronger and more skilful, +had he been a Richelieu or a Sully, he would still have fallen. It no +longer appertained to any one arbitrarily to raise money or to oppress the +people. It must be said in his excuse, that he had not created that +position from which he was not able to extricate himself; his only mistake +was his presumption in accepting it. He fell through the fault of Calonne, +as Calonne had availed himself of the confidence inspired by Necker for +the purposes of his lavish expenditure. The one had destroyed credit, and +the other, thinking to re-establish it by force, had destroyed authority. + +The states-general had become the only means of government, and the last +resource of the throne. They had been eagerly demanded by parliament and +the peers of the kingdom, on the 13th of July, 1787; by the states of +Dauphiné in the assembly of Vizille; by the clergy in its assembly at +Paris. The provincial states had prepared the public mind for them; and +the notables were their precursors. The king after having, on the 18th of +December, 1787, promised their convocation in five years, on the 8th of +August, 1788, fixed the opening for the 1st of May, 1789. Necker was +recalled, parliament re-established, the plenary court abolished, the +bailiwicks destroyed, and the provinces satisfied; and the new minister +prepared everything for the election of deputies and the holding of the +states. + +At this epoch a great change took place in the opposition, which till then +had been unanimous. Under Brienne, the ministry had encountered opposition +from all the various bodies of the state, because it had sought to oppress +them. Under Necker, it met with resistance from the same bodies, which +desired power for themselves and oppression for the people. From being +despotic, it had become national, and it still had them all equally +against it. Parliament had maintained a struggle for authority, and not +for the public welfare; and the nobility had united with the third estate, +rather against the government than in favour of the people. Each of these +bodies had demanded the states-general: the parliament, in the hope of +ruling them as it had done in 1614; and the nobility, in the hope of +regaining its lost influence. Accordingly, the magistracy proposed as a +model for the states-general of 1789, the form of that of 1614, and public +opinion abandoned it; the nobility refused its consent to the double +representation of the third estate, and a division broke out between these +two orders. + +This double representation was required by the intellect of the age, the +necessity of reform, and by the importance which the third estate had +acquired. It had already been admitted in the provincial assemblies. +Brienne, before leaving the ministry, had made an appeal to the writers of +the day, in order to know what would be the most suitable method of +composing and holding the states-general. Among the works favourable to +the people, there appeared the celebrated pamphlet of Sieyès on the Third +Estate, and that of d'Entraigues on the States-general. + +Opinion became daily more decided, and Necker wishing, yet fearing, to +satisfy it, and desirous of conciliating all orders, of obtaining general +approbation, convoked a second assembly of notables on the 6th of +November, 1788, to deliberate on the composition of the states-general, +and the election of its members. He thought to induce it to accept the +double representation of the third estate, but it refused, and he was +obliged to decide, in spite of the notables, that which he ought to have +decided without them. Necker was not the man to avoid disputes by removing +all difficulties beforehand. He did not take the initiative as to the +representation of the third estate, any more than at a later period he +took it with regard to the question of voting by orders or by poll. When +the states-general were assembled, the solution of this second question, +on which depended the state of power and that of the people, was abandoned +to force. + +Be this as it may, Necker, having been unable to make the notables adopt +the double representation of the third estate, caused it to be adopted by +the council. The royal declaration of the 27th of November decreed that +the deputies in the states-general should amount to at least a thousand, +and that the deputies of the third estate should be equal in number to the +deputies of the nobility and clergy together. Necker moreover obtained the +admission of the curés into the order of the clergy, and of protestants +into that of the third estate. The district assemblies were convoked for +the elections; every one exerted himself to secure the nomination of +members of his own party, and to draw up manifestoes setting forth his +views. Parliament had but little influence in the elections, and the court +none at all. The nobility selected a few popular deputies, but mainly such +as were devoted to the interests of their order, and as much opposed to +the third estate as to the oligarchy of the great families of the court. +The clergy nominated bishops and abbés attached to privilege, and curés +favourable to the popular cause, which was their own; lastly, the third +estate selected men enlightened, firm, and unanimous in their wishes. The +deputation of the nobility was comprised of two hundred and forty-two +gentlemen, and twenty-eight members of the parliament; that of the clergy, +of forty-eight archbishops or bishops, thirty-five abbés or deans, and two +hundred and eight curés; and that of the communes, of two ecclesiastics, +twelve noblemen, eighteen magistrates of towns, two hundred county +members, two hundred and twelve barristers, sixteen physicians, and two +hundred and sixteen merchants and agriculturists. The opening of the +states-general was then fixed for the 5th of May, 1789. + +Thus was the revolution brought about. The court in vain tried to prevent, +as it afterwards endeavoured to annul it. Under the direction of Maurepas, +the king nominated popular ministers, and made attempts at reform; under +the influence of the queen, he nominated court ministers, and made +attempts at authority. Oppression met with as little success as reform. +After applying in vain to courtiers for retrenchments, to parliament for +levies, to capitalists for loans, he sought for new tax-payers, and made +an appeal to the privileged orders. He demanded of the notables, +consisting of the nobles and the clergy, a participation in the charges of +the state, which they refused. He then for the first time applied to all +France, and convoked the states-general. He treated with the various +bodies of the nation before treating with the nation itself; and it was +only on the refusal of the first, that he appealed from it to a power +whose intervention and support he dreaded. He preferred private +assemblies, which, being isolated, necessarily remained secondary, to a +general assembly, which representing all interests, must combine all +powers. Up to this great epoch every year saw the wants of the government +increasing, and resistance becoming more extensive. Opposition passed from +parliaments to the nobility, from the nobility to the clergy, and from +them all to the people. In proportion as each participated in power it +began its opposition, until all these private oppositions were fused in or +gave way before the national opposition. The states-general only decreed a +revolution which was already formed. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +FROM THE 5TH OF MAY, 1789, TO THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST + +The 5th of May, 1789, was fixed for the opening of the states-general. A +religious ceremony on the previous day prefaced their installation. The +king, his family, his ministers, the deputies of the three orders, went in +procession from the church of Notre-Dame to that of Saint Louis, to hear +the opening mass. Men did not without enthusiasm see the return of a +national ceremony of which France had for so long a period been deprived. +It had all the appearance of a festival. An enormous multitude flocked +from all parts to Versailles; the weather was splendid; they had been +lavish of the pomp of decoration. The excitement of the music, the kind +and satisfied expression of the king, the beauty and demeanour of the +queen, and, as much as anything, the general hope, exalted every one. But +the etiquette, costumes, and order of the ranks of the states in 1614, +were seen with regret. The clergy, in cassocks, large cloaks, and square +caps, or in violet robes and lawn sleeves, occupied the first place. Then +came the nobles, attired in black coats with waistcoats and facings of +cloth of gold, lace cravats, and hats with white plumes, turned up in the +fashion of Henry IV. The modest third estate came last, clothed in black, +with short cloaks, muslin cravats, and hats without feathers or loops. In +the church, the same distinction as to places existed between the three +orders. + +The royal session took place the following day in the Salle des Menus. +Galleries, arranged in the form of an amphitheatre, were filled with +spectators. The deputies were summoned and introduced according to the +order established in 1614. The clergy were conducted to the right, the +nobility to the left, and the commons in front of the throne at the end of +the hall. The deputations from Dauphiné, from Crépi in Valois, to which +the duke of Orleans belonged, and from Provence, were received with loud +applause. Necker was also received on his entrance with general +enthusiasm. Public favour was testified towards all who had contributed to +the convocation of the states-general. When the deputies and ministers had +taken their places, the king appeared, followed by the queen, the princes, +and a brilliant suite. The hall resounded with applause on his arrival. +When he came in, Louis XVI. took his seat on the throne, and when he had +put on his hat, the three orders covered themselves at the same time. The +commons, contrary to the custom of the ancient states, imitated the +nobility and clergy, without hesitation: the time when the third order +should remain uncovered and speak kneeling was gone by. The king's speech +was then expected in profound silence. Men were eager to know the true +feeling of the government with regard to the states. Did it purpose +assimilating the new assembly to the ancient, or to grant it the part +which the necessities of the state and the importance of the occasion +assigned to it? + +"Gentlemen," said the king, with emotion, "the day I have so anxiously +expected has at length arrived, and I see around me the representatives of +the nation which I glory in governing. A long interval had elapsed since +the last session of the states-general, and although the convocation of +these assemblies seemed to have fallen into disuse, I did not hesitate to +restore a custom from which the kingdom might derive new force, and which +might open to the nation a new source of happiness." + +These words which promised much, were only followed by explanations as to +the debt and announcements of retrenchment in the expenditure. The king, +instead of wisely tracing out to the states the course they ought to +follow, urged the orders to union, expressed his want of money, his dread +of innovations, and complained of the uneasiness of the public mind, +without suggesting any means of satisfying it. He was nevertheless very +much applauded when he delivered at the close of his discourse the +following words, which fully described his intentions: "All that can be +expected from the dearest interest in the public welfare, all that can be +required of a sovereign, the first friend of his people; you may and ought +to hope from my sentiments. That a happy spirit of union may pervade this +assembly, gentlemen, and that this may be an ever memorable epoch for the +happiness and prosperity of the kingdom, is the wish of my heart, the most +ardent of my desires; it is, in a word, the reward which I expect for the +uprightness of my intentions, and my love of my subjects." + +Barentin, keeper of the seals, spoke next. His speech was an amplification +respecting the states-general, and the favours of the king. After a long +preamble, he at last touched upon the topics of the occasion. "His +Majesty," he said, "has not changed the ancient method of deliberation, by +granting a double representation in favour of the most numerous of the +three orders, that on which the burden of taxation chiefly falls. Although +the vote by poll, by producing but one result, seems to have the advantage +of best representing the general desire, the king wishes this new form +should be adopted only with the free consent of the states, and the +approval of his majesty. But whatever may be the opinion on this question, +whatever distinctions may be drawn between the different matters that will +become subjects of deliberation, there can be no doubt but that the most +entire harmony will unite the three orders on the subject of taxation." +The government was not opposed to the vote by poll in pecuniary matters, +it being more expeditious; but in political questions it declared itself +in favour of voting by order, as a more effectual check on innovations. In +this way it sought to arrive at its own end,--namely, subsidies, and not +to allow the nation to obtain its object, which was reform. The manner in +which the keeper of the seals determined the province of the states- +general, discovered more plainly the intentions of the court. He reduced +them, in a measure, to the inquiry into taxation, in order to vote it, and +to the discussion of a law respecting the press, for the purpose of fixing +its limits, and to the reform of civil and criminal legislation. He +proscribed all other changes, and concluded by saying: "All just demands +have been granted; the king has not noticed indiscreet murmurs; he has +condescended to overlook them with indulgence; he has even forgiven the +expression of those false and extravagant maxims, under favour of which +attempts have been made to substitute pernicious chimeras for the +unalterable principles of monarchy. You will with indignation, gentlemen, +repel the dangerous innovations which the enemies of the public good seek +to confound with the necessary and happy changes which this regeneration +ought to produce, and which form the first wish of his majesty." + +This speech displayed little knowledge of the wishes of the nation, or it +sought openly to combat them. The dissatisfied assembly looked to M. +Necker, from whom it expected different language. He was the popular +minister, had obtained the double representation, and it was hoped he +would approve of the vote by poll, the only way of enabling the third +estate to turn its numbers to account. But he spoke as comptroller-general +and as a man of caution. His speech, which lasted three hours, was a +lengthened budget; and when, after tiring the assembly, he touched on the +topic of interest, he spoke undecidedly, in order to avoid committing +himself either with the court or the people. + +The government ought to have better understood the importance of the +states-general. The restoration of this assembly alone announced a great +revolution. Looked for with hope by the nation, it reappeared at an epoch +when the ancient monarchy was sinking, and when it alone was capable of +reforming the state and providing for the necessities of royalty. The +difficulties of the time, the nature of their mission, the choice of their +members, everything announced that the states were not assembled as tax- +payers, but as legislators. The right of regenerating France had been +granted them by opinion, was devolved on them by public resolutions, and +they found in the enormity of the abuses and the public encouragement, +strength to undertake and accomplish this great task. + +It behoved the king to associate himself with their labours. In this way +he would have been able to restore his power, and ensure himself from the +excesses of a revolution, by himself assisting in bringing it about. If, +taking the lead in these changes, he had fixed the new order of things +with firmness, but with justice; if, realizing the wishes of France, he +had determined the rights of her citizens, the province of the states- +general and the limits of royalty; if, on his own part, he had renounced +arbitrary power, inequality on the part of the nobility, and privileges on +the part of the different bodies; in a word, if he had accomplished all +the reforms which were demanded by public opinion, and executed by the +constituent assembly, he would have prevented the fatal dissensions which +subsequently arose. It is rare to find a prince willing to share his +power, or sufficiently enlightened to yield what he will be reduced to +lose. Yet Louis XVI. would have done this, if he had been less influenced +by those around him, and had he followed the dictates of his own mind. But +the greatest anarchy pervaded the councils of the king. When the states- +general assembled, no measures had been taken, nothing had been decided +on, which might prevent dispute. Louis XVI. wavered between his ministry, +directed by Necker, and his court, directed by the queen and a few princes +of his family. + +Necker, satisfied with obtaining the representation of the third estate, +dreaded the indecision of the king and the discontent of the court. Not +appreciating sufficiently the importance of a crisis which he considered +more as a financial than a social one, he waited for the course of events +in order to act, and flattered himself with the hope of being able to +guide these events, without attempting to prepare the way for them. He +felt that the ancient organization of the states could no longer be +maintained; that the existence of three orders, each possessing the right +of refusal, was opposed to the execution of reform and the progress of +administration. He hoped, after a trial of this triple opposition, to +reduce the number of the orders, and bring about the adoption of the +English form of government, by uniting the clergy and nobility in one +chamber, and the third estate in another. He did not foresee that the +struggle once begun, his interposition would be in vain: that half +measures would suit neither party; that the weak through obstinacy, and +the strong through passion, would oppose this system of moderation. +Concessions satisfy only before a victory. + +The court, so far from wishing to organize the states-general, sought to +annul them. It preferred the casual resistance of the great bodies of the +nation, to sharing authority with a permanent assembly. The separation of +the orders favoured its views; it reckoned on fomenting their differences, +and thus preventing them from acting. The states-general had never +achieved any result, owing to the defect of their organization; the court +hoped that it would still be the same, since the two first orders were +less disposed to yield to the reforms solicited by the last. The clergy +wished to preserve its privileges and its opulence, and clearly foresaw +that the sacrifices to be made by it were more numerous than the +advantages to be acquired. The nobility, on its side, while it resumed a +political independence long since lost, was aware that it would have to +yield more to the people than it could obtain from royalty. It was almost +entirely in favour of the third estate, that the new revolution was about +to operate, and the first two orders were induced to unite with the court +against the third estate, as but lately they had coalesced with the third +estate against the court. Interest alone led to this change of party, and +they united with the monarch without affection, as they had defended the +people without regard to public good. + +No efforts were spared to keep the nobility and clergy in this +disposition. The deputies of these two orders were the objects of favours +and allurements. A committee, to which the most illustrious persons +belonged, was held at the countess de Polignac's; the principal deputies +were admitted to it. It was here that were gained De Eprémenil and De +Entraigues, two of the warmest advocates of liberty in parliament, or +before the states-general, and who afterwards became its most decided +opponents. Here also the costume of the deputies of the different orders +was determined on, and attempts made to separate them, first by etiquette, +then by intrigue, and lastly, by force. The recollection of the ancient +states-general prevailed in the court; it thought it could regulate the +present by the past, restrain Paris by the army, the deputies of the third +estate by those of the nobility, rule the states by separating the orders, +and separate the orders by reviving ancient customs which exalted the +nobles and lowered the commons. Thus, after the first sitting, it was +supposed that all had been prevented by granting nothing. + +On the 6th of May, the day after the opening of the states, the nobility +and clergy repaired to their respective chambers, and constituted +themselves. The third estate being, on account of its double +representation, the most numerous order, had the Salle des États allotted +to it, and there awaited the two other orders; it considered its situation +as provisional, its members as presumptive deputies, and adopted a system +of inactivity till the other orders should unite with it. Then a memorable +struggle commenced, the issue of which was to decide whether the +revolution should be effected or stopped. The future fate of France +depended on the separation or reunion of the orders. This important +question arose on the subject of the verification of powers. The popular +deputies asserted very justly, that it ought to be made in common, since, +even if the union of the orders were refused, it was impossible to deny +the interest which each of them had in the examination of the powers of +the others; the privileged deputies argued, on the contrary, that since +the orders had a distinct existence, the verification ought to be made +respectively. They felt that one single co-operation would, for the +future, render all separation impossible. + +The commons acted with much circumspection, deliberation, and steadiness. +It was by a succession of efforts, not unattended with peril, by slow and +undecided success, and by struggles constantly renewed, that they attained +their object. The systematic inactivity they adopted from the commencement +was the surest and wisest course; there are occasions when the way to +victory is to know how to wait for it. The commons were unanimous, and +alone formed the numerical half of the states-general; the nobility had in +its bosom some popular dissentients; the majority of the clergy, composed +of several bishops, friends of peace, and of the numerous class of the +curés, the third estate of the church, entertained sentiments favourable +to the commons. Weariness was therefore to bring about a union; this was +what the third estate hoped, what the bishops feared, and what induced +them on the 13th of May to offer themselves as mediators. But this +mediation was of necessity without any result, as the nobility would not +admit voting by poll, nor the commons voting by order. Accordingly, the +conciliatory conferences, after being prolonged in vain till the 27th of +May, were broken up by the nobility, who declared in favour of separate +verification. + +The day after this hostile decision, the commons determined to declare +themselves the assembly of the nation, and invited the clergy to join them +_in the name of the God of peace and the common weal_. The court taking +alarm at this measure, interfered for the purpose of having the +conferences resumed. The first commissioners appointed for purposes of +reconciliation were charged with regulating the differences of the orders; +the ministry undertook to regulate the differences of the commissioners. +In this way, the states depended on a commission, and the commission had +the council of the prince for arbiter. But these new conferences had not a +more fortunate issue than the first. They lingered on without either of +the orders being willing to yield anything to the others, and the nobility +finally broke them up by confirming all its resolutions. + +Five weeks had already elapsed in useless parleys. The third estate, +perceiving the moment had arrived for it to constitute itself, and that +longer delay would indispose the nation towards it, and destroy the +confidence it had acquired by the refusal of the privileged classes to co- +operate with it, decided on acting, and displayed herein the same +moderation and firmness it had shown during its inactivity. Mirabeau +announced that a deputy of Paris had a motion to propose; and Sieyès, +physically of timid character, but of an enterprising mind, who had great +authority by his ideas, and was better suited than any one to propose a +measure, proved the impossibility of union, the urgency of verification, +the justice of demanding it in common, and caused it to be decreed by the +assembly that the nobility and clergy should be _invited_ to the Salle des +États in order to take part in the verification, which would take place, +_whether they were absent or present_. + +The measure for general verification was followed by another still more +energetic. The commons, after having terminated the verification on the +17th of June, on the motion of Sieyès, constituted themselves _the +National Assembly_. This bold step, by which the most numerous order and +the only one whose powers were legalized, declared itself the +representation of France and refused to recognise the other two till they +submitted to the verification, determined questions hitherto undecided, +and changed the assembly of the states into an assembly of the people. The +system of orders disappeared in political powers, and this was the first +step towards the abolition of classes in the private system. This +memorable decree of the 17th of June contained the germ of the night of +the 4th of August; but it was necessary to defend what they had dared to +decide, and there was reason to fear such a determination could not be +maintained. + +The first decree of _the National Assembly_ was an act of sovereignty. It +placed the privileged classes under its dependence, by proclaiming the +indivisibility of the legislative power. The court remained to be +restrained by means of taxation. The assembly declared the illegality of +previous imposts, voted them provisionally, as long as it continued to +sit, and their cessation on its dissolution; it restored the confidence of +capitalists by consolidating the public debt, and provided for the +necessities of the people, by appointing a committee of subsistence. + +Such firmness and foresight excited the enthusiasm of the nation. But +those who directed the court saw that the divisions thus excited between +the orders had failed in their object; and that it was necessary to resort +to other means to obtain it. They considered the royal authority alone +adequate to prescribe the continuance of the orders, which the opposition +of the nobles could no longer preserve. They took advantage of a journey +to Marly to remove Louis XVI. from the influences of the prudent and +pacific counsels of Necker, and to induce him to adopt hostile measures. +This prince, alike accessible to good and bad counsels, surrounded by a +court given up to party spirit, and entreated for the interests of his +crown and in the name of religion to stop the pernicious progress of the +commons, yielded at last, and promised everything. It was decided that he +should go in state to the assembly, annul its decrees, command the +separation of the orders as constitutive of the monarchy, and himself fix +the reforms to be effected by the states-general. From that moment the +privy council held the government, acting no longer secretly, but in the +most open manner. Barentin, the keeper of the seals, the count d'Artois, +the prince de Condé, and the prince de Conti conducted alone the projects +they had concerted. Necker lost all his influence; he had proposed to the +king a conciliatory plan, which might have succeeded before the struggle +attained this degree of animosity, but could do so no longer. He had +advised another royal sitting, in which the vote by poll in matters of +taxation was to be granted, and the vote by order to remain in matters of +private interest and privilege. This measure, which was unfavourable to +the commons, since it tended to maintain abuses by investing the nobility +and clergy with the right of opposing their abolition, would have been +followed by the establishment of two chambers for the next states-general. +Necker was fond of half measures, and wished to effect, by successive +concessions, a political change which should have been accomplished at +once. The moment was arrived to grant the nation all its rights, or to +leave it to take them. His project of a royal sitting, already +insufficient, was changed into a stroke of state policy by the new +council. The latter thought that the injunctions of the throne would +intimidate the assembly, and that France would be satisfied with promises +of reform. It seemed to be ignorant that the worst risk royalty can be +exposed to is that of disobedience. + +Strokes of state policy generally come unexpectedly, and surprise those +they are intended to influence. It was not so with this; its preparations +tended to prevent success. It was feared that the majority of the clergy +would recognise the assembly by uniting with it; and to prevent so decided +a step, instead of hastening the royal sitting, they closed the Salle des +États, in order to suspend the assembly till the day of the sitting. The +preparations rendered necessary by the presence of the king was the +pretext for this unskilful and improper measure. At that time Bailly +presided over the assembly. This virtuous citizen had obtained, without +seeking them, all the honours of dawning liberty. He was the first +president of the assembly, as he had been the first deputy of Paris, and +was to become its first mayor. Beloved by his own party, respected by his +adversaries, he combined with the mildest and most enlightened virtues, +the most courageous sense of duty. Apprised on the night of the 20th of +June, by the keeper of the seals, of the suspension of the sitting, he +remained faithful to the wishes of the assembly, and did not fear +disobeying the court. At an appointed hour on the following day, he +repaired to the Salle des États, and finding an armed force in possession, +he protested against this act of despotism. In the meantime the deputies +arrived, dissatisfaction increased, all seemed disposed to brave the +perils of a sitting. The most indignant proposed going to Marly, and +holding the assembly under the windows of the king; one named the Tennis- +court; this proposition was well received, and the deputies repaired +thither in procession. Bailly was at their head; the people followed them +with enthusiasm; even soldiers volunteered to escort them, and there, in a +bare hall, the deputies of the commons standing with upraised hands, and +hearts full of their sacred mission, swore, with only one exception, not +to separate till they had given France a constitution. + +This solemn oath, taken on the 20th of June, in the presence of the +nation, was followed on the 22nd by an important triumph. The assembly, +still deprived of their usual place of meeting, unable to make use of the +Tennis-court, the princes having hired it purposely that it might be +refused them, met in the church of Saint Louis. In this sitting, the +majority of the clergy joined them in the midst of patriotic transports. +Thus, the measures taken to intimidate the assembly, increased its +courage, and accelerated the union they were intended to prevent. By these +two failures the court prefaced the famous sitting of the 23rd of June. + +At length it took place. A numerous guard surrounded the hall of the +states-general, the door of which was opened to the deputies, but closed +to the public. The king came surrounded with the pomp of power; he was +received, contrary to the usual custom, in profound silence. His speech +completed the measure of discontent by the tone of authority with which he +dictated measures rejected by public opinion and by the assembly. The king +complained of a want of union, excited by the court itself; he censured +the conduct of the assembly, regarding it only as the order of the third +estate; he annulled its decrees, enjoined the continuance of the orders, +imposed reforms, and determined their limits; enjoined the states-general +to adopt them, and threatened to dissolve them and to provide alone for +the welfare of the kingdom, if he met with more opposition on their part. +After this scene of authority, so ill-suited to the occasion, and at +variance with his heart, Louis XVI. withdrew, having commanded the +deputies to disperse. The clergy and nobility obeyed. The deputies of the +people, motionless, silent, and indignant, remained seated. They continued +in that attitude some time, when Mirabeau suddenly breaking silence, said: +"Gentlemen, I admit that what you have just heard might be for the welfare +of the country, were it not that the presents of despotism are always +dangerous. What is this insulting dictatorship? The pomp of arms, the +violation of the national temple, are resorted to--to command you to be +happy! Who gives this command? Your mandatary. Who makes these imperious +laws for you? Your mandatary; he who should rather receive them from you, +gentlemen--from us, who are invested with a political and inviolable +priesthood; from us, in a word, to whom alone twenty-five millions of men +are looking for certain happiness, because it is to be consented to, and +given and received by all. But the liberty of your discussions is +enchained; a military force surrounds the assembly! Where are the enemies +of the nation? Is Catiline at our gates? I demand, investing yourselves +with your dignity, with your legislative power, you inclose yourselves +within the religion of your oath. It does not permit you to separate till +you have formed a constitution." + +The grand master of the ceremonies, finding the assembly did not break up, +came and reminded them of the king's order. + +"Go and tell your master," cried Mirabeau, "that we are here at the +command of the people, and nothing but the bayonet shall drive us hence." + +"You are to-day," added Sieyès, calmly, "what you were yesterday. Let us +deliberate." + +The assembly, full of resolution and dignity, began the debate +accordingly. On the motion of Camus, it was determined to persist in the +decrees already made; and upon that of Mirabeau the inviolability of the +members of the assembly was decreed. + +On that day the royal authority was lost. The initiative in law and moral +power passed from the monarch to the assembly. Those who, by their +counsels, had provoked this resistance, did not dare to punish it. Necker, +whose dismissal had been decided on that morning, was, in the evening, +entreated by the queen and Louis XVI. to remain in office. This minister +had disapproved of the royal sitting, and, by refusing to be present at +it, he again won the confidence of the assembly, which he had lost through +his hesitation. The season of disgrace was for him the season of +popularity. By this refusal he became the ally of the assembly, which +determined to support him. Every crisis requires a leader, whose name +becomes the standard of his party; while the assembly contended with the +court, that leader was Necker. + +At the first sitting, that part of the clergy which had united with the +assembly in the church of Saint Louis, again sat with it; a few days +after, forty-seven members of the nobility, among whom was the duke of +Orleans, joined them; and the court was itself compelled to invite the +nobility, and a minority of the clergy, to discontinue a dissent that +would henceforth be useless. On the 27th of June the deliberation became +general. The orders ceased to exist legally, and soon disappeared. The +distinct seats they had hitherto occupied in the common hall soon became +confounded; the futile pre-eminences of rank vanished before national +authority. + +The court, after having vainly endeavoured to prevent the formation of the +assembly, could now only unite with it, to direct its operations. With +prudence and candour it might still have repaired its errors and caused +its attacks to be forgotten. At certain moments, the initiative may be +taken in making sacrifices; at others, all that can be done is to make a +merit of accepting them. At the opening of the states-general, the king +might himself have made the constitution, now he was obliged to receive it +from the assembly; had he submitted to that position, he would infallibly +have improved it. But the advisers of Louis XVI., when they recovered from +the first surprise of defeat, resolved to have recourse to the use of the +bayonet, after they had failed in that of authority. They led the king to +suppose that the contempt of his orders, the safety of his throne, the +maintenance of the laws of the kingdom, and even the well-being of his +people depended on his reducing the assembly to submission; that the +latter, sitting at Versailles, close to Paris, two cities decidedly in its +favour, ought to be subdued by force, and removed to some other place or +dissolved; that it was urgent that this resolution should be adopted in +order to stop the progress of the assembly, and that in order to execute +it, it was necessary speedily to call together troops who might intimidate +the assembly and maintain order at Paris and Versailles. + +While these plots were hatching, the deputies of the nation began their +legislative labours, and prepared the anxiously expected constitution, +which they considered they ought no longer to delay. Addresses poured in +from Paris and the principal towns of the kingdom, congratulating them on +their wisdom, and encouraging them to continue their task of regenerating +France. The troops, meantime, arrived in great numbers; Versailles assumed +the aspect of a camp; the Salle des États was surrounded by guards, and +the citizens refused admission. Paris was also encompassed by various +bodies of the army, ready to besiege or blockade it, as the occasion might +require. These vast military preparations, trains of artillery arriving +from the frontiers, and the presence of foreign regiments, whose obedience +was unlimited, announced sinister projects. The populace were restless and +agitated; and the assembly desired to enlighten the throne with respect to +its projects, and solicit the removal of the troops. At Mirabeau's +suggestion, it presented on the 9th of July a firm but respectful address +to the king, which proved useless. Louis XVI. declared that he alone had +to judge the necessity of assembling or dismissing troops, and assured +them, that those assembled formed only a precautionary army to prevent +disturbances and protect the assembly. He moreover offered the assembly to +remove it to Noyon or Soissons, that is to say, to place it between two +armies and deprive it of the support of the people. + +Paris was in the greatest excitement; this vast city was unanimous in its +devotion to the assembly. The perils that threatened the representatives +of the nation, and itself, and the scarcity of food disposed it to +insurrection. Capitalists, from interest and the fear of bankruptcy; men +of enlightenment and all the middle classes, from patriotism; the people, +impelled by want, ascribing their sufferings to the privileged classes and +the court, desirous of agitation and change, all had warmly espoused the +cause of the revolution. It is difficult to conceive the movement which +disturbed the capital of France. It was arising from the repose and +silence of servitude; it was, as it were, astonished at the novelty of its +situation, and intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm. The press excited +the public mind, the newspapers published the debates of the assembly, and +enabled the public to be present, as it were, at its deliberations, and +the questions mooted in its bosom were discussed in the open air, in the +public squares. It was at the Palais Royal, more especially, that the +assembly of the capital was held. The garden was always filled by a crowd +that seemed permanent, though continually renewed. A table answered the +purpose of the _tribune_, the first citizen at hand became the orator; +there men expatiated on the dangers that threatened the country, and +excited each other to resistance. Already, on a motion made at the Palais +Royal, the prisons of the Abbaye had been broken open, and some grenadiers +of the French guards, who had been imprisoned for refusing to fire on the +people, released in triumph. This outbreak was attended by no +consequences; a deputation had already solicited, in behalf of the +delivered prisoners, the interest of the assembly, who had recommended +them to the clemency of the king. They had returned to prison, and had +received pardon. But this regiment, one of the most complete and bravest, +had become favourable to the popular cause. + +Such was the disposition of Paris when the court, having established +troops at Versailles, Sèvres, the Champ de Mars, and Saint Denis, thought +itself able to execute its project. It commenced, on the 11th of July, by +the banishment of Necker, and the complete reconstruction of the ministry. +The marshal de Broglie, la Galissonnière, the duke de la Vauguyon, the +Baron de Breteuil, and the intendant Foulon, were appointed to replace +Puységur, Montmorin, La Luzerne, Saint Priest, and Necker. The latter +received, while at dinner on the 11th of July, a note from the king +enjoining him to leave the country immediately. He finished dining very +calmly, without communicating the purport of the order he had received, +and then got into his carriage with Madame Necker, as if intending to +drive to Saint Omer, and took the road to Brussels. + +On the following day, Sunday, the 12th of July, about four in the +afternoon, Necker's disgrace and departure became known at Paris. This +measure was regarded as the execution of the plot, the preparations for +which had so long been observed. In a short time the city was in the +greatest confusion; crowds gathered together on every side; more than ten +thousand persons flocked to the Palais Royal all affected by this news, +ready for anything, but not knowing what measure to adopt. Camille +Desmoulins, a young man, more daring than the rest, one of the usual +orators of the crowd, mounted on a table, pistol in hand, exclaiming: +"Citizens, there is no time to lose; the dismissal of Necker is the knell +of a Saint Bartholomew for patriots! This very night all the Swiss and +German battalions will leave the Champ de Mars to massacre us all; one +resource is left; to take arms!" These words were received with violent +acclamations. He proposed that cockades should be worn for mutual +recognition and protection. "Shall they be green," he cried, "the colour +of hope; or red, the colour of the free order of Cincinnatus?" "Green! +green!" shouted the multitude. The speaker descended from the table, and +fastened the sprig of a tree in his hat. Every one imitated him. The +chestnut-trees of the palace were almost stripped of their leaves, and +the crowd went in tumult to the house of the sculptor Curtius. + +They take busts of Necker and the duke of Orleans, a report having also +gone abroad that the latter would be exiled, and covering them with crape, +carry them in triumph. This procession passes through the Rues Saint +Martin, Saint Denis, and Saint Honoré, augmenting at every step. The crowd +obliges all they meet to take off their hats. Meeting the horse-patrol, +they take them as their escort. The procession advances in this way to the +Place Vendôme, and there they carry the two busts twice round the statue +of Louis XIV. A detachment of the Royal-allemand comes up and attempts to +disperse the mob, but are put to flight by a shower of stones; and the +multitude, continuing its course, reaches the Place Louis XV. Here they +are assailed by the dragoons of the prince de Lambesc; after resisting a +few moments they are thrown into confusion; the bearer of one of the busts +and a soldier of one of the French guards are killed. The mob disperses, +part towards the quays, part fall back on the Boulevards, the rest hurry +to the Tuileries by the Pont Tournant. The prince de Lambesc, at the head +of his horsemen, with drawn sabre pursues them into the gardens, and +charges an unarmed multitude who were peaceably promenading and had +nothing to do with the procession. In this attack an old man is wounded by +a sabre cut; the mob defend themselves with the seats, and rush to the +terraces; indignation becomes general; the cry _To arms!_ soon resounds on +every side, at the Palais Royal and the Tuileries, in the city and in the +faubourgs. + +We have already said that the regiment of the French guard was favourably +disposed towards the people: it had accordingly been ordered to keep in +barracks. The prince de Lambesc, fearing that it might nevertheless take +an active part, ordered sixty dragoons to station themselves before its +dépôt, situated in the Chaussée-d'Antin. The soldiers of the guards, +already dissatisfied at being kept as prisoners, were greatly provoked at +the sight of these strangers, with whom they had had a skirmish a few days +before. They wished to fly to arms, and their officers using alternately +threats and entreaties, had much difficulty in restraining them. But they +would hear no more, when some of their men brought them intelligence of +the attack at the Tuileries, and the death of one of their comrades: they +seized their arms, broke open the gates, and drew up in battle array at +the entrance of the barracks, and cried out, "_Qui vive?_"--"Royal- +allemand."--"Are you for the third estate?" "We are for those who command +us." Then the French guards fired on them, killed two of their men, +wounded three, and put the rest to flight. They then advanced at quick +time and with fixed bayonets to the Place Louis XV. and took their stand +between the Tuileries and the Champs Élysées, the people and the troops, +and kept that post during the night. The soldiers of the Champ de Mars +were immediately ordered to advance. When they reached the Champs Élysées, +the French guards received them with discharges of musketry. They wished +to make them fight, but they refused: the Petits-Suisses were the first to +give this example, which the other regiments followed. The officers, in +despair, ordered a retreat; the troops retired as far as the Grille de +Chaillot, whence they soon withdrew into the Champ de Mars. The defection +of the French guard, and the manifest refusal even of the foreign troops +to march on the capital, caused the failure of the projects of the court. + +During the evening the people had repaired to the Hôtel de Ville, and +requested that the tocsin might be sounded, the districts assembled, and +the citizens armed. Some electors assembled at the Hôtel de Ville, and +took the authority into their own hands. They rendered great service to +their fellow-citizens and the cause of liberty by their courage, prudence, +and activity, during these days of insurrection; but in the first +confusion of the rising it was with difficulty they succeeded in making +themselves heard. The tumult was at its height; each only answered the +dictates of his own passions. Side by side with well-disposed citizens +were men of suspicious character, who only sought in insurrection +opportunities for pillage and disorder. Bands of labourers employed by +government in the public works, for the most part without home or +substance, burnt the barriers, infested the streets, plundered houses, and +obtained the name of brigands. The night of the 12th and 13th was spent in +tumult and alarm. + +The departure of Necker, which threw the capital into this state of +excitement, had no less effect at Versailles and in the assembly. It +caused the same astonishment and discontent. The deputies repaired early +in the morning to the Salle des États; they were gloomy, but their silence +arose from indignation rather than dejection. "At the opening of the +session," said a deputy, "several addresses of adherence to the decrees +were listened to in mournful silence by the assembly, more attentive to +their own thoughts than to the addresses read." Mounier began; he +exclaimed against the dismissal of ministers beloved by the nation, and +the choice of their successors. He proposed an address to the king +demanding their recall, showing him the dangers attendant on violent +measures, the misfortunes that would follow the employment of troops, and +telling him that the assembly solemnly opposed itself to an infamous +national bankruptcy. At these words, the feelings of the assembly, +hitherto restrained, broke out in clapping of hands, and cries of +approbation. Lally-Tollendal, a friend of Necker, then came forward with a +sorrowful air, and delivered a long and eloquent eulogium on the banished +minister. He was listened to with the greatest interest; his grief +responded to that of the public; the cause of Necker was now that of the +country. The nobility itself sided with the members of the third estate, +either considering the danger common, or dreading to incur the same blame +as the court if it did not disapprove its conduct, or perhaps it obeyed +the general impulse. + +A noble deputy, the count de Virieu, set the example, and said: "Assembled +for the constitution, let us make the constitution; let us tighten our +mutual bonds; let us renew, confirm, and consecrate the glorious decrees +of the 17th of June; let us join in the celebrated resolution made on the +20th of the same month. Let us all, yes, all, all the united orders, swear +to be faithful to those illustrious decrees which now can alone save the +kingdom." "_The constitution shall be made, or we will cease to be_," +added the duc de la Rochefoucauld. But this unanimity became still more +confirmed when the rising of Paris, the excesses which ensued the burning +of the barriers, the assembling of the electors at the Hôtel de Ville, the +confusion of the capital, and the fact that citizens were ready to be +attacked by the soldiers or to slaughter each other, became known to the +assembly. Then one cry resounded through the hall: "Let the recollection +of our momentary divisions be effaced! Let us unite our efforts for the +salvation of the country!" A deputation was immediately sent to the king, +composed of eighty members, among whom were all the deputies of Paris. The +archbishop of Vienne, president of the assembly, was at its head. It was +to represent to the king the dangers that threatened the capital, the +necessity of sending away the troops, and entrusting the care of the city +to a militia of citizens; and if it obtained these demands from the king, +a deputation was to be sent to Paris with the consolatory intelligence. +But the members soon returned with an unsatisfactory answer. + +The assembly now saw that it must depend on itself, and that the projects +of the court were irrevocably fixed. Far from being discouraged, it only +became more firm, and immediately voted unanimously a decree proclaiming +the responsibility of the present ministers of the king, and of all his +counsellors, _of whatever rank they might be_; it further passed a vote of +regret for Necker and the other disgraced ministers; it resolved that it +would not cease to insist upon the dismissal of the troops and the +establishment of a militia of citizens; it placed the public debt under +the safeguard of French honour, and adhered to all its previous decrees. +After these measures, it adopted a last one, not less necessary; +apprehending that the Salle des États might, during the night, be occupied +by a military force for the purpose of dispersing the assembly, it +resolved to sit permanently till further orders. It decided that a portion +of the members should sit during the night, and another relieve them early +in the morning. To spare the venerable archbishop of Vienne the fatigue of +a permanent presidency, a vice-president was appointed to supply his place +on these extraordinary occasions. Lafayette was elected to preside over +the night sittings. It passed off without a debate; the deputies remaining +in their seats, observing silence, but apparently calm and serene. It was +by these measures, this expression of public regret, by these decrees, +this unanimous enthusiasm, this sustained good sense, this inflexible +conduct, that the assembly rose gradually to a level with its dangers and +its mission. + +On the 13th the insurrection took at Paris a more regular character. Early +in the morning the populace flocked to the Hôtel de Ville; the tocsin was +sounded there and in all the churches; and drums were beat in the streets +to call the citizens together. The public places soon became thronged. +Troops were formed under the titles of volunteers of the Palais Royal, +volunteers of the Tuileries, of the Basoche, and of the Arquebuse. The +districts assembled, and each of them voted two hundred men for its +defence. Arms alone were wanting; and these were eagerly sought wherever +there was any hope of finding them. All that could be found at the gun- +smiths and sword-cutlers were taken, receipts being sent to the owners. +They applied for arms at the Hôtel de Ville. The electors who were still +assembled, replied in vain that they had none; they insisted on having +them. The electors then sent the head of the city, M. de Flesselles, the +Prévôt des marchands, who alone knew the military state of the capital, +and whose popular authority promised to be of great assistance in this +difficult conjuncture. He was received with loud applause by the +multitude: "_My friends_," said he, "_I am your father; you shall be +satisfied_." A permanent committee was formed at the Hôtel de Ville, to +take measures for the general safety. + +About the same time it was announced that the Maison des Lazaristes, which +contained a large quantity of grain, had been despoiled; that the Garde- +Meuble had been forced open to obtain old arms, and that the gun-smiths' +shops had been plundered. The greatest excesses were apprehended from the +crowd; it was let loose, and it seemed difficult to master its fury. But +this was a moment of enthusiasm and disinterestedness. The mob itself +disarmed suspected characters; the corn found at the Lazaristes was taken +to the Halle; not a single house was plundered, and carriages and vehicles +filled with provisions, furniture and utensils, stopped at the gates of +the city, were taken to the Place de Grève, which became a vast depôt. +Here the crowd increased every moment, shouting _Arms!_ It was now about +one o'clock. The provost of the merchants then announced the immediate +arrival of twelve thousand guns from the manufactory of Charleville, which +would soon be followed by thirty thousand more. + +This appeased the people for some time, and the committee was enabled to +pursue quietly its task of organizing a militia of citizens. In less than +four hours the plan was drawn up, discussed, adopted, printed, and +proclaimed. It was resolved that the Parisian guard should, till further +orders, be increased to forty-eight thousand men. All citizens were +invited to enrol their names; every district had its battalion; every +battalion its leaders; the command of this army of citizens was offered to +the duc d'Aumont, who required twenty-four hours to decide. In the +meantime the marquis de la Salle was appointed second in command. The +green cockade was then exchanged for a blue and red one, which were the +colours of the city. All this was the work of a few hours. The districts +gave their assent to the measures adopted by the permanent committee. The +clerks of the Châtelet, those of the Palais, medical students, soldiers of +the watch, and what was of still greater value, the French guards offered +their services to the assembly. Patrols began to be formed, and to +perambulate the streets. + +The people waited with impatience the realisation of the promise of the +provost of the merchants, but no guns arrived; evening approached, and +they feared during the night another attack from the troops. They thought +they were betrayed when they heard of an attempt to convey secretly from +Paris nearly fifty cwt. of powder, which had been intercepted by the +people at the barriers. But soon after some cases arrived, labelled +_Artillery_. At this sight, the commotion subsided; the cases were +escorted to the Hôtel de Ville, it being supposed that they contained the +guns expected from Charleville. On opening them, they were found to +contain old linen and pieces of wood. A cry of treachery arose on every +side, mingled with murmurs and threats against the committee and the +provost of the merchants. The latter apologized, declaring he had been +deceived; and to gain time, or to get rid of the crowd, sent them to the +Chartreux, to seek for arms. Finding none there, the mob returned, enraged +and mistrustful. The committee then felt satisfied there was no other way +of arming Paris, and curing the suspicions of the people, than by forging +pikes; and accordingly gave orders that fifty thousand should be made +immediately. To avoid the excesses of the preceding night, the town was +illuminated, and patrols marched through it in every direction. + +The next day, the people that had been unable to obtain arms on the +preceding day, came early in the morning to solicit some from the +committee, blaming its refusal and failures of the day before. The +committee had sent for some in vain; none had arrived from Charleville, +none were to be found at the Chartreux, and the arsenal itself was empty. + +The mob, no longer satisfied with excuses, and more convinced than ever +that they were betrayed, hurried in a mass to the Hôtel des Invalides, +which contained a considerable depot of arms. It displayed no fear of the +troops established in the Champ de Mars, broke into the Hôtel, in spite of +the entreaties of the governor, M. de Sombreuil, found twenty-eight +thousand guns concealed in the cellars, seized them, took all the sabres, +swords, and cannon, and carried them off in triumph. The cannon were +placed at the entrance of the Faubourgs, at the palace of the Tuileries, +on the quays and on the bridges, for the defence of the capital against +the invasion of troops, which was expected every moment. + +Even during the same morning an alarm was given that the regiments +stationed at Saint Denis were on the march, and that the cannon of the +Bastille were pointed on the Rue Saint Antoine. The committee immediately +sent to ascertain the truth; appointed bands of citizens to defend that +side of the town, and sent a deputation to the governor of the Bastille, +soliciting him to withdraw his cannon and engage in no act of hostility. +This alarm, together with the dread which that fortress inspired, the +hatred felt for the abuses it shielded, the importance of possessing so +prominent a point, and of not leaving it in the power of the enemy in a +moment of insurrection, drew the attention of the populace in that +direction. From nine in the morning till two, the only rallying word +throughout Paris was "à la Bastille! à la Bastille!" The citizens hastened +thither in bands from all quarters, armed with guns, pikes, and sabres. +The crowd which already surrounded it was considerable; the sentinels of +the fortress were at their posts, and the drawbridges raised as in war. + +A deputy of the district of Saint Louis de la Culture, named Thuriot de la +Rosière, then requested a parley with De Launay, the governor. When +admitted to his presence he summoned him to change the direction of the +cannon. The governor replied, that the cannon had always been placed on +the towers, and it was not in his power to remove them; yet, at the same +time, having heard of the alarm prevalent among the Parisians, he had had +them withdrawn a few paces, and taken out of the port-holes. With some +difficulty Thuriot obtained permission to enter the fortress further, and +examine if its condition was really as satisfactory for the town as the +governor represented it to be. As he advanced, he observed three pieces of +cannon pointed on the avenues leading to the open space before the +fortress, and ready to sweep those who might attempt to attack it. About +forty Swiss, and eighty Invalides, were under arms. Thuriot urged them, as +well as the staff of the place, in the name of honour and of their +country, not to act as the enemies of the people. Both officers and +soldiers swore they would not make use of their arms unless attacked. +Thuriot then ascended the towers, and perceived a crowd gathering in all +directions, and the inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint Antoine, who were +rising in a mass. The multitude without, not seeing him return, were +already demanding him with great clamour. To satisfy the people, he +appeared on the parapet of the fortress, and was received with loud +applause from the gardens of the arsenal. He then rejoined his party, and +having informed them of the result of his mission, proceeded to the +committee. + +But the impatient crowd now clamoured for the surrender of the Bastille. +From time to time the cry arose, "The Bastille! we will have the +Bastille!" At length, two men, more determined than the rest, darting from +the crowd, sprang on a guardhouse, and struck at the chains of the +drawbridge with heavy hatchets. The soldiers shouted to them to retire, +and threatened to fire; but they continued to strike, succeeded in +breaking the chains and lowering the bridge, and then rushed over it, +followed by the crowd. In this way they advanced to cut the chains of the +second bridge. The garrison now dispersed them with a discharge of +musketry. They returned, however, to the attack, and for several hours +their efforts were confined to the second bridge, the approach to which +was defended by a ceaseless fire from the fortress. The mob infuriated by +this obstinate resistance, tried to break in the gates with hatchets, and +to set fire to the guard-house. A murderous discharge of grapeshot +proceeded from the garrison, and many of the besiegers were killed and +wounded. They only became the more determined, and seconded by the daring +and determination of the two brave men, Elie and Hulin, who were at their +head, they continued the attack with fury. + +The committee of the Hôtel de Ville were in a state of great anxiety. The +siege of the Bastille seemed to them a very rash enterprise. They ever and +anon received intelligence of the disasters that had taken place before +the fortress. They wavered between fear of the troops should they prove +victorious, and that of the multitude who clamoured for ammunition to +continue the siege. As they could not give what they did not possess, the +mob cried treachery. Two deputations had been sent by the committee for +the purpose of discontinuing hostilities, and inviting the governor to +confide the keeping of the place to the citizens; but in the midst of the +tumult, the cries, and the firing, they could not make themselves heard. A +third was sent, carrying a drum and banner, that it might be more easily +distinguished, but it experienced no better fortune: neither side would +listen to anything. The assembly at the Hôtel de Ville, notwithstanding it +efforts and activity, still incurred the suspicions of the populace. The +provost of the merchants, especially, excited the greatest mistrust. "He +has already deceived us several times during the day," said one. "He +talks," said another, "of opening a trench; he only wants to gain time, to +make us lose ours." Then an old man cried: "Comrades, why do you listen to +traitors? Forward, follow me! In less than two hours the Bastille will be +taken!" + +The siege had lasted more than four hours when the French guards arrived +with cannon. Their arrival changed the appearance of the combat. The +garrison itself begged the governor to yield. The unfortunate De Launay, +dreading the fate that awaited him, wished to blow up the fortress, and +bury himself under its ruins and those of the faubourg. He went in despair +towards the powder magazine, with a lighted match. The garrison stopped +him, raised a white standard on the platform, and reversed the guns, in +token of peace. But the assailants still continued to fight and advance, +shouting, "Lower the bridges!" Through the battlements a Swiss officer +proposed to capitulate, with permission to retire from the building with +the honours of war. "No! no!" clamoured the crowd. The same officer +proposed to lay down arms, on the promise that their lives should be +spared. "Lower the bridge," rejoined the foremost of the assailants, "you +shall not be injured." The gates were opened and the bridge lowered, on +this assurance, and the crowd rushed into the Bastille. Those who led the +multitude wished to save from its vengeance the governor, Swiss soldiers, +and Invalides; but cries of "Give them up! give them up! they fired on +their fellow-citizens, they deserve to be hanged!" rose on every side. The +governor, a few Swiss soldiers and Invalides were torn from the protection +of those who sought to defend them, and put to death by the implacable +crowd. + +The permanent committee knew nothing of the issue of the combat. The hall +of the sittings was invaded by a furious multitude, who threatened the +provost of the merchants and electors. Flesselles began to be alarmed at +his position; he was pale and agitated. The object of the most violent +reproaches and threats, they obliged him to go from the hall of the +committee to the hall of the general assembly, where a great crowd of +citizens was assembled. "Let him come; let him follow us," resounded from +all sides. "This is too much!" rejoined Flesselles. "Let us go, since they +request it; let us go where I am expected." They had scarcely reached the +great hall, when the attention of the multitude was drawn off by shouts on +the Place de Grève. They heard the cries of "Victory! victory! liberty!" +It was the arrival of the conquerors of the Bastille which this announced. +They themselves soon entered the hall with the most noisy and the most +fearful pomp. The persons who had most distinguished themselves were +carried in triumph, crowned with laurels. They were escorted by more than +fifteen hundred men, with glaring eyes and dishevelled hair, with all +kinds of arms, pressing one upon another, and making the flooring yield +beneath their feet. One carried the keys and standard of the Bastille; +another, its regulations suspended to his bayonet; a third, with horrible +barbarity, raised in his bleeding hand the buckle of the governor's stock. +With this parade, the procession of the conquerors of the Bastille, +followed by an immense crowd that thronged the quays, entered the hall of +the Hôtel de Ville to inform the committee of their triumph, and decide +the fate of the prisoners who survived. A few wished to leave it to the +committee, but others shouted: "No quarter for the prisoners! No quarter +for the men who fired on their fellow-citizens!" La Salle, the commandant, +the elector Moreau de Saint-Méry, and the brave Elie, succeeded in +appeasing the multitude, and obtained a general amnesty. + +It was now the turn of the unfortunate Flesselles. It is said that a +letter found on De Launay proved the treachery of which he was suspected. +"I am amusing the Parisians," he wrote, "with cockades and promises. Hold +out till the evening, and you shall be reinforced." The mob hurried to his +office. The more moderate demanded that he should be arrested and confined +in the Châtelet; but others opposed this, saying that he should be +conveyed to the Palais-Royal, and there tried. This decision gave general +satisfaction. "To the Palais-Royal! To the Palais-Royal!" resounded from +every side. "Well--be it so, gentlemen," replied Flesselles, with +composure, "let us go to the Palais-Royal." So saying, he descended the +steps, passed through the crowd, which opened to make way for him, and +which followed without offering him any violence. But at the corner of the +Quay Pelletier a stranger rushed forward, and killed him with a pistol- +shot. + +After these scenes of war, tumult, dispute, and vengeance, the Parisians, +fearing, from some intercepted letters, that an attack would be made +during the night, prepared to receive the enemy. The whole population +joined in the labour of fortifying the town; they formed barricades, +opened intrenchments, unpaved streets, forged pikes, and cast bullets. +Women carried stones to the tops of the houses to crush the soldiers as +they passed. The national guard were distributed in posts; Paris seemed +changed into an immense foundry and a vast camp, and the whole night was +spent under arms, expecting the conflict. + +While the insurrection assumed this violent, permanent, and serious +character at Paris, what was doing at Versailles? The court was preparing +to realize its designs against the capital and assembly. The night of the +14th was fixed upon for their execution. The baron de Breteuil, who was at +the head of the ministry, had promised to restore the royal authority in +three days. Marshal de Broglie, commander of the army collected around +Paris, had received unlimited powers of all kinds. On the 15th the +declaration of the 23rd of June was to be renewed, and the king, after +forcing the assembly to adopt it, was to dissolve it. Forty thousand +copies of this declaration were in readiness to be circulated throughout +the kingdom; and to meet the pressing necessities of the treasury more +than a hundred millions of paper money was created. The movement in Paris, +so far from thwarting the court, favoured its views. To the last moment it +looked upon it as a passing tumult that might easily be suppressed; it +believed neither in its perseverance nor in its success, and it did not +seem possible to it that a town of citizens could resist an army. + +The assembly was apprised of these projects. For two days it had sat +without interruption, in a state of great anxiety and alarm. It was +ignorant of the greater portion of what was passing in Paris. At one time +it was announced that the insurrection was general, and that all Paris was +marching on Versailles; then that the troops were advancing on the +capital. They fancied they heard cannon, and they placed their ears to the +ground to assure themselves. On the evening of the 14th it was announced +that the king intended to depart during the night, and that the assembly +would be left to the mercy of the foreign regiments. This last alarm was +not without foundation. A carriage and horses were kept in readiness, and +the body-guard remained booted for several days. Besides, at the Orangery, +incidents truly alarming took place; the troops were prepared and +stimulated for their expedition by distributions of wine and by +encouragements. Everything announced that a decisive moment had arrived. + +Despite the approaching and increasing danger, the assembly was unshaken, +and persisted in its first resolutions. Mirabeau, who had first required +the dismissal of the troops, now arranged another deputation. It was on +the point of setting out, when the viscount de Noailles, a deputy, just +arrived from Paris, informed the assembly of the progress of the +insurrection, the pillage of the Invalides, the arming of the people, and +the siege of the Bastille. Wimpfen, another deputy, to this account added +that of the personal dangers he had incurred, and assured them that the +fury of the populace was increasing with its peril. The assembly proposed +the establishment of couriers to bring them intelligence every half hour. + +M. M. Ganilh and Bancal-des-Issarts, despatched by the committee at the +Hôtel de Ville as a deputation to the assembly, confirmed all they had +just heard. They informed them of the measures taken by the electors to +secure order and the defence of the capital; the disasters that had +happened before the Bastille; the inutility of the deputations sent to the +governor, and told them that the fire of the garrison had surrounded the +fortress with the slain. A cry of indignation arose in the assembly at +this intelligence, and a second deputation was instantly despatched to +communicate these distressing tidings to the king. The first returned with +an unsatisfactory answer; it was now ten at night. The king, on learning +these disastrous events, which seemed to presage others still greater, +appeared affected. Struggling against the part he had been induced to +adopt, he said to the deputies,--"You rend my heart more and more by the +dreadful news you bring of the misfortunes of Paris. It is impossible to +suppose that the orders given to the troops are the cause of these +disasters. You are acquainted with the answer I returned to the first +deputation; I have nothing to add to it." This answer consisted of a +promise that the troops of the Champ de Mars should be sent away from +Paris, and of an order given to general officers to assume the command of +the guard of citizens. Such measures were not sufficient to remedy the +dangerous situation in which men were placed; and it neither satisfied nor +gave confidence to the assembly. + +Shortly after this, the deputies d'Ormesson and Duport announced to the +assembly the taking of the Bastille, and the deaths of De Launay and +Flesselles. It was proposed to send a third deputation to the king, +imploring the removal of the troops. "No," said Clermont Tonnerre, "leave +them the night to consult in; kings must buy experience as well as other +men." In this way the assembly spent the night. On the following morning, +another deputation was appointed to represent to the king the misfortunes +that would follow a longer refusal. When on the point of starting, +Mirabeau stopped it: "Tell him," he exclaimed, "that the hordes of +strangers who invest us, received yesterday, visits, caresses, +exhortations, and presents from the princes, princesses, and favourites; +tell him that, during the night, these foreign satellites, gorged with +gold and wine, predicted in their impious songs the subjection of France, +and invoked the destruction of the national assembly; tell him, that in +his own palace, courtiers danced to the sound of that barbarous music, and +that such was the prelude to the massacre of Saint Bartholomew! Tell him +that the Henry of his ancestors, whom he wished to take as his model, +whose memory is honoured by all nations, sent provisions into a Paris in +revolt when besieging the city himself, while the savage advisers of Louis +send away the corn which trade brings into Paris loyal and starving." + +But at that moment the king entered the assembly. The duke de Liancourt, +taking advantage of the access his quality of master of the robes gave +him, had informed the king, during the night, of the desertion of the +French guard, and of the attack and taking of the Bastille. At this news, +of which his councillors had kept him in ignorance, the monarch exclaimed, +with surprise, "this is a revolt!" "No sire! it is a revolution." This +excellent citizen had represented to him the danger to which the projects +of the court exposed him; the fears and exasperations of the people, the +disaffection of the troops, and he determined upon presenting himself +before the assembly, to satisfy them as to his intentions. The news at +first excited transports of joy. Mirabeau represented to his colleagues, +that it was not fit to indulge in premature applause. "Let us wait," said +he, "till his majesty makes known the good intentions we are led to expect +from him. The blood of our brethren flows in Paris. Let a sad respect be +the first reception given to the king by the representatives of an +unfortunate people: the silence of the people is the lesson of kings." + +The assembly resumed the sombre demeanour which had never left it during +the three preceding days. The king entered without guards, and only +attended by his brothers. He was received, at first, in profound silence; +but when he told them he was _one with the nation_, and that, relying on +the love and fidelity of his subjects, he had ordered the troops to leave +Paris and Versailles; when he uttered the affecting words--_Eh bien, c'est +moi qui me fie à vous_, general applause ensued. The assembly arose +spontaneously, and conducted him back to the château. + +This intelligence diffused gladness in Versailles and Paris, where the +reassured people passed, by sudden transition, from animosity to +gratitude. Louis XVI. thus restored to himself, felt the importance of +appeasing the capital in person, of regaining the affection of the people, +and of thus conciliating the popular power. He announced to the assembly +that he would recall Necker, and repair to Paris the following day. The +assembly had already nominated a deputation of a hundred members, which +preceded the king to the capital. It was received with enthusiasm. Bailly +and Lafayette, who formed part of it, were appointed, the former mayor of +Paris, the latter commander-in-chief of the citizen guard. Bailly owed +this recompense to his long and difficult presidency of the assembly, and +Lafayette to his glorious and patriotic conduct. A friend of Washington, +and one of the principal authors of American independence, he had, on his +return to his country, first pronounced the name of the states-general, +had joined the assembly, with the minority of the nobility, and had since +proved himself one of the most zealous partisans of the revolution. + +On the 27th, the new magistrates went to receive the king at the head of +the municipality and the Parisian guard. "Sire," said Bailly, "I bring +your majesty the keys of your good town of Paris; they are the same which +were presented to Henry IV.; he had regained his people; now the people +have regained their king." From the Place Louis XV. to the Hôtel de Ville, +the king passed through a double line of the national guard, placed in +ranks three or four deep, and armed with guns, pikes, lances, scythes, and +staves. Their countenances were still gloomy; and no cry was heard but the +oft-repeated shout of "Vive la Nation!" But when Louis XVI. had left his +carriage and received from Bailly's hands the tri-coloured cockade, and, +surrounded by the crowd without guards, had confidently entered the Hôtel +de Ville, cries of "Vive le Roi!" burst forth on every side. The +reconciliation was complete; Louis XVI. received the strongest marks of +affection. After approving the choice of the people with respect to the +new magistrates, he returned to Versailles, where some anxiety was +entertained as to the success of his journey, on account of the preceding +troubles. The national assembly met him in the Avenue de Paris; it +accompanied him as far as the château, where the queen and her children +ran to his arms. + +The ministers opposed to the revolution, and all the authors of the +unsuccessful projects, retired from court. The count d'Artois and his two +sons, the prince de Condé, the prince de Conti, and the Polignac family, +accompanied by a numerous train, left France. They settled at Turin, where +the count d'Artois and the prince de Condé were soon joined by Calonne, +who became their agent. Thus began the first emigration. The emigrant +princes were not long in exciting civil war in the kingdom, and forming an +European coalition against France. + +Necker returned in triumph. This was the finest moment of his life; few +men have had such. The minister of the nation, disgraced for it, and +recalled for it, he was welcomed along the road from Bâle to Paris, with +every expression of public gratitude and joy. His entry into Paris was a +day of festivity. But the day that raised his popularity to its height put +a term to it. The multitude, still enraged against all who had +participated in the project of the 14th of July, had put to death, with +relentless cruelty, Foulon, the intended minister, and his nephew, +Berthier. Indignant at these executions, fearing that others might fall +victims, and especially desirous of saving the baron de Besenval, +commander of the army of Paris, under marshal de Broglie, and detained +prisoner, Necker demanded a general amnesty and obtained it from the +assembly of electors. This step was very imprudent, in a moment of +enthusiasm and mistrust. Necker did not know the people; he was not aware +how easily they suspect their chiefs and destroy their idols. They thought +he wished to protect their enemies from the punishment they had incurred; +the districts assembled, the legality of an amnesty pronounced by an +unauthorised assembly was violently attacked, and the electors themselves +revoked it. No doubt, it was advisable to calm the rage of the people, and +recommend them to be merciful; but instead of demanding the liberation of +the accused, the application should have been for a tribunal which would +have removed them from the murderous jurisdiction of the multitude. In +certain cases that which appears most humane is not really so. Necker, +without gaining anything, excited the people against himself, and the +districts against the electors; from that time he began to contend against +the revolution, of which, because he had been for a moment its hero, he +hoped to become the master. But an individual is of slight importance +during a revolution which raises the masses; that vast movement either +drags him on with it, or tramples him under foot; he must either precede +or succumb. At no time is the subordination of men to circumstances more +clearly manifested: revolutions employ many leaders, and when they submit, +it is to one alone. + +The consequences of the 14th of July were immense. The movement of Paris +communicated itself to the provinces; the country population, imitating +that of the capital, organized itself in all directions into +municipalities for purposes of self-government; and into bodies of +national guards for self-defence. Authority and force became wholly +displaced; royalty had lost them by its defeat, the nation had acquired +them. The new magistrates were alone powerful, alone obeyed; their +predecessors were altogether mistrusted. In towns, the people rose against +them and against the privileged classes, whom they naturally supposed +enemies to the change that had been effected. In the country, the châteaux +were fired and the peasantry burned the title-deeds of their lords. In a +moment of victory it is difficult not to make an abuse of power. But to +appease the people it was necessary to destroy abuses, in order that, they +might not, while seeking to get rid of them, confound privilege with +property. Classes had disappeared, arbitrary power was destroyed; with +these, their old accessory, inequality, too, must be suppressed. Thus must +proceed the establishment of the new order of things, and these +preliminaries were the work of a single night. + +The assembly had addressed to the people proclamations calculated to +restore tranquillity. The Châtelet was constituted a court for trying the +conspirators of the 14th of July, and this also contributed to the +restoration of order by satisfying the multitude. An important measure +remained to be executed, the abolition of privileges. On the night of the +4th of August, the viscount de Noailles gave the signal for this. He +proposed the redemption of feudal rights, and the suppression of personal +servitude. With this motion began the sacrifice of all the privileged +classes; a rivalry of patriotism and public offerings arose among them. +The enthusiasm became general; in a few hours the cessation of all abuses +was decreed. The duke du Châtelet proposed the redemption of tithes and +their conversion into a pecuniary tax; the bishop of Chartres, the +abolition of the game-laws; the count de Virieu, that of the law +protecting doves and pigeons. The abolition of seigneurial courts, of the +purchase and sale of posts in the magistracy, of pecuniary immunities, of +favouritism in taxation, of surplice money, first-fruits, pluralities, and +unmerited pensions, were successively proposed and carried. After +sacrifices made by individuals, came those of bodies, of towns and +provinces. Companies and civic freedoms were abolished. The marquis des +Blacons, a deputy of Dauphiné, in the name of his province, pronounced a +solemn renunciation of its privileges. The other provinces followed the +example of Dauphiné, and the towns that of the provinces. A medal was +struck to commemorate the day; and the assembly decreed to Louis XVI. the +title of _Restorer of French Liberty_. + +That night, which an enemy of the revolution designated at the time, the +Saint Bartholomew of property, was only the Saint Bartholomew of abuses. +It swept away the rubbish of feudalism; it delivered persons from the +remains of servitude, properties from seigneurial liabilities; from the +ravages of game, and the exaction of tithes. By destroying the seigneurial +courts, that remnant of private power, it led to the principle of public +power; in putting an end to the purchasing posts in the magistracy, it +threw open the prospect of unbought justice. It was the transition from an +order of things in which everything belonged to individuals, to another in +which everything was to belong to the nation. That night changed the face +of the kingdom; it made all Frenchmen equal; all might now obtain public +employments; aspire to the idea of property of their own, of exercising +industry for their own benefit. That night was a revolution as important +as the insurrection of the 14th of July, of which it was the consequence. +It made the people masters of society, as the other had made them masters +of the government, and it enabled them to prepare the new, while +destroying the old constitution. + +The revolution had progressed rapidly, had obtained great results in a +very short time; it would have been less prompt, less complete, had it not +been attacked. Every refusal became for it the cause of a new success; it +foiled intrigue, resisted authority, triumphed over force; and at the +point of time we have reached, the whole edifice of absolute monarchy had +fallen to the ground, through the errors of its chiefs. The 17th of June +had witnessed the disappearance of the three orders, and the states- +general changed into the national assembly; with the 23rd of June +terminated the moral influence of royalty; with the 14th of July its +physical power; the assembly inherited the one, the people the other; +finally, the 4th of August completed this first revolution. The period we +have just gone over stands prominently out from the rest; in its brief +course force was displaced, and all the preliminary changes were +accomplished. The following period is that in which the new system is +discussed, becomes established, and in which the assembly, after having +been destructive, becomes constructive. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FROM THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST TO THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789 + + +The national assembly, composed of the élite of the nation, was full of +intelligence, pure intentions, and projects for the public good. It was +not, indeed, free from parties, or wholly unanimous; but the mass was not +dominated by any man or idea; and it was the mass which, upon a conviction +ever untrammelled and often entirely spontaneous, decided the +deliberations and bestowed popularity. The following were the divisions of +views and interests it contained within itself:-- + +The court had a party in the assembly, the privileged classes, who +remained for a long time silent, and took but a tardy share in the +debates. This party consisted of those who during the dispute as to the +orders had declared against union. The aristocratic classes, +notwithstanding their momentary agreement with the commons, had interests +altogether contrary to those of the national party; and, accordingly, the +nobility and higher clergy, who formed the Right of the assembly, were in +constant opposition to it, except on days of peculiar excitement. These +foes of the revolution, unable to prevent it by their sacrifices, or to +stop it by their adhesion, systematically contended against all its +reforms. Their leaders were two men who were not the first among them in +birth or rank, but who were superior to the rest in talents. Maury and +Cazalès represented, as it were, the one the clergy, and the other the +nobility. + +These two orators of the privileged classes, according to the intentions +of their party, who put little faith in the duration of these changes, +rather protested than stood on the defensive; and in all their discussions +their aim was not to instruct the assembly, but to bring it into +disrepute. Each introduced into his part the particular turn of his mind +and character: Maury made long speeches, Cazalès lively sallies. The first +preserved at the tribune his habits as a preacher and academician; he +spoke on legislative subjects without understanding them, never seizing +the right view of the subject, nor even that most advantageous to his +party; he gave proofs of audacity, erudition, skill, a brilliant and well- +sustained facility, but never displayed solidity of judgment, firm +conviction, or real eloquence. The abbé Maury spoke as soldiers fight. No +one could contradict oftener or more pertinaciously than he, or more +flippantly substitute quotations and sophisms for reasoning, or rhetorical +phrases for real bursts of feeling. He possessed much talent, but wanted +the faculty which gives it life and truth. Cazalès was the opposite of +Maury: he had a just and ready mind; his eloquence was equally facile, but +more animated; there was candour in his outbursts, and he always gave the +best reasons. No rhetorician, he always took the true side of a question +that concerned his party, and left declamation to Maury. With the +clearness of his views, his ardent character, and the good use he made of +his talents, his only fault was that of his position; Maury, on the other +hand, added the errors of his mind to those which were inseparable from +the cause he espoused. + +Necker and the ministry had also a party; but it was less numerous than +the other, on account of its moderation. France was then divided into the +privileged classes opposed to the revolution, and the people who +strenuously desired it. As yet there was no place for a mediating party +between them. Necker had declared himself in favour of the English +constitution, and those who from ambition or conviction were of his views, +rallied round him. Among these was Mounier, a man of strong mind and +inflexible spirit, who considered that system as the type of +representative governments; Lally-Tollendal, as decided in his views as +the former, and more persuasive; Clermont-Tonnerre, the friend and ally of +Mounier and Lally; in a word, the minority of the nobility, and some of +the bishops, who hoped to become members of the upper chamber, should +Necker's views be adopted. + +The leaders of this party, afterwards called the monarchical party, wished +to affect a revolution by compromise, and to introduce into France a +representative government, ready formed, namely, that of England. At every +point, they besought the powerful to make a compromise with the weak. +Before the 14th of July they asked the court and privileged classes to +satisfy the commons; afterwards, they asked the commons to agree to an +arrangement with the court and the privileged classes. They thought that +each ought to preserve his influence in the state; that deposed parties +are discontented parties, and that a legal existence must be made for +them, or interminable struggles be expected on their part. But they did +not see how little their ideas were appropriate to a moment of exclusive +passions. The struggle was begun, the struggle destined to result in the +triumph of a system, and not in a compromise. It was a victory which had +made the three orders give place to a single assembly, and it was +difficult to break the unity of this assembly in order to arrive at a +government of two Chambers. The moderate party had not been able to obtain +this government from the court, nor were they to obtain it from the +nation: to the one it had appeared too popular; for the other, it was too +aristocratic. + +The rest of the assembly consisted of the national party. As yet there +were not observed in it men who, like Robespierre, Pétion, Buzot, etc., +wished to begin a second revolution when the first was accomplished. At +this period the most extreme of this party were Duport, Barnave, and +Lameth, who formed a triumvirate, whose opinions were prepared by Duport, +sustained by Barnave, and managed by Alexander Lameth. There was something +remarkable and announcing the spirit of equality of the times, in this +intimate union of an advocate belonging to the middle classes, of a +counsellor belonging to the parliamentary class, and a colonel belonging +to the court, renouncing the interests of their order to unite in views of +the public good and popular happiness. This party at first took a more +advanced position than that which the revolution had attained. The 14th of +July had been the triumph of the middle class; the constituent assembly +was its legislature, the national guard its armed force, the mayoralty its +popular power. Mirabeau, Lafayette, Bailly, relied on this class; one was +its tribune, the other its general, and the third its magistrate. Duport, +Barnave, and Lameth's party were of the principles and sustained the +interests of that period of the revolution; but this party, composed of +young men of ardent patriotism, who entered on public affairs with +superior qualities, fine talents, and elevated positions, and who joined +to the love of liberty the ambition of playing a leading part, placed +itself from the first rather in advance of the revolution of July the +14th. Its fulcrum within the assembly was the members of the extreme left +without, in the clubs, in the nation, in the party of the people, who had +co-operated on the 14th of July, and who were unwilling that the +bourgeoisie alone should derive advantage from the victory. By putting +itself at the head of those who had no leaders, and who being a little out +of the government aspired to enter it, it did not cease to belong to this +first period of the revolution; only it formed a kind of democratic +opposition, even in the middle class itself, only differing from its +leaders on a few unimportant points, and voting with them on most +questions. It was, among these popular men, rather a patriotic emulation +than a party dissension. + +Duport, who was strong-minded, and who had acquired premature experience +of the management of political passions, in the struggles which parliament +had sustained against the ministry, and which he had chiefly directed, +knew well that a people reposes the moment it has gained its rights, and +that it begins to grow weak as soon as it reposes. To keep in vigour those +who governed in the assembly, in the mayoralty, in the militia; to prevent +public activity from slackening, and not to disband the people, whose aid +he might one day require, he conceived and executed the famous +confederation of the clubs. This institution, like everything that gives a +great impulse to a nation, caused a great deal of good, and a great deal +of harm. It impeded legal authority, when this of itself was sufficient; +but it also gave an immense energy to the revolution, when, attacked on +all sides, it could only save itself by the most violent efforts. For the +rest, the founders of this association had not calculated all its +consequences. They regarded it simply as a wheel destined to keep or put +in movement the public machine, without danger, when it tended to abate or +to cease its activity; they did not think they were working for the +advantage of the multitude. After the flight of Varennes, this party had +become too exacting and too formidable; they forsook it, and supported +themselves against it with the mass of the assembly and the middle class, +whose direction was left vacant by the death of Mirabeau. At this period, +it was important to them speedily to fix the constitutional revolution; +for to protract it would have been to bring on the republican revolution. + +The mass of the assembly, we have just mentioned, abounded in just, +experienced, and even superior minds. Its leaders were two men, strangers +to the third estate, and adopted by it. Without the abbé Sieyès, the +constituent assembly would probably have had less unity in its operation, +and without Mirabeau, less energy in its conduct. + +Sieyès was one of those men who create sects in an age of enthusiasm, and +who exercise the ascendancy of a powerful reason in an enlightened era. +Solitude and philosophical studies had matured him at an early age. His +views were new, strong, and extensive, but somewhat too systematic. +Society had especially been the subject of his examination; he had watched +its progress, investigated its springs. The nature of government appeared +to him less a question of right than a question of epoch. His vast +intellect ranged the society of our days in its divisions, relations, +powers, and movement. Sieyès, though of cold temperament, had the ardour +which the pursuit of truth inspires, and the passion which its discovery +gives; he was accordingly absolute in his views, disdaining those of +others, because he considered them incomplete, and because, in his +opinion, half truth was error. Contradiction irritated him; he was not +communicative. Desirous of making himself thoroughly known, he could not +do so with every one. His disciples imparted his systems to others, which +surrounded him with a sort of mystery, and rendered him the object of a +species of reverence. He had the authority which complete political +science procures, and the constitution might have emerged from his head +completely armed, like the Minerva of Jupiter, or the legislation of the +ancients, were it not that in our days every one sought to be engaged in +the task, or to criticise it. Yet, with the exception of some +modifications, his plans were generally adopted, and he had in the +committees more disciples than colleagues. + +Mirabeau obtained in the tribune the same ascendancy as Sieyès in the +committees. He was a man who only waited the occasion to become great. At +Rome, in the best days of the republic, he would have been a Gracchus; in +its decline, a Catiline; under the Fronde, a cardinal de Retz; and in the +decrepitude of a monarchy, when such a being could only find scope for his +immense faculties in agitation, he became remarkable for the vehemence of +his passions, and for their punishment, a life passed in committing +excesses, and suffering for them. This prodigious activity required +employment; the revolution provided it. Accustomed to the struggle against +despotism, irritated by the contempt of a nobility who were inferior to +him, and who excluded him from their body; clever, daring, eloquent, +Mirabeau felt that the revolution would be his work, and his life. He +exactly corresponded to the chief wants of his time. His thought, his +voice, his action, were those of a tribune. In perilous circumstances, his +was the earnestness which carries away an assembly; in difficult +discussions, the unanswerable sally which at once puts an end to them; +with a word he prostrated ambition, silenced enmities, disconcerted +rivalries. This powerful being, perfectly at his ease in the midst of +agitation, now giving himself up to the impetuosity, now to the +familiarities of conscious strength, exercised a sort of sovereignty in +the assembly. He soon obtained immense popularity, which he retained to +the last; and he whom, at his first entrance into the legislature, every +eye shunned, was, at his death, received into the Pantheon, amidst the +tears of the assembly; and of all France. Had it not been for the +revolution, Mirabeau would have failed in realizing his destiny, for it is +not enough to be great: one must live at the fitting period. + +The duke of Orleans, to whom a party has been given, had but little +influence in the assembly; he voted with the majority, not the majority +with him. The personal attachment of some of its members, his name, the +fears of the court, the popularity his opinions enjoyed, hopes rather than +conspiracies had increased his reputation as a factious character. He had +neither the qualities nor the defects of a conspirator; he may have aided +with his money and his name popular movements, which would have taken +place just the same without him, and which had another object than his +elevation. It is still a common error to attribute the greatest of +revolutions to some petty private manoeuvring, as if at such an epoch a +whole people could be used as the instrument of one man. + +The assembly had acquired the entire power; the corporations depended on +it; the national guards obeyed it. It was divided into committees to +facilitate its operations, and execute them. The royal power, though +existing of right, was in a measure suspended, since it was not obeyed, +and the assembly had to supply its action by its own. Thus, independently +of committees entrusted with the preparation of its measures, it had +appointed others to exercise a useful superintendence without. A committee +of supply occupied itself with provisions, an important object in a year +of scarcity; a committee of inquiry corresponded with the corporations and +provinces; a committee of researches received informations against the +conspirators of the 14th of July. But finance and the constitution, which +the past crises had adjourned, were the special subjects of attention. + +After having momentarily provided for the necessities of the treasury, the +assembly, although now become sovereign, consulted, by examining the +_cahiers_, the wishes of its constituents. It then proceeded to form its +institutions with a method, a liberal and extensive spirit of discussion, +which was to procure for France a constitution conformable with justice +and suited to its necessities. The United States of America, at the time +of its independence, had set forth in a declaration the rights of man, and +those of the citizen. This will ever be the first step. A people rising +from slavery feels the necessity of proclaiming its rights, even before it +forms its government. Those Frenchmen who had assisted at the American +revolution, and who co-operated in ours, proposed a similar declaration as +a preamble to our laws. This was agreeable to an assembly of legislators +and philosophers, restricted by no limits, since no institutions existed, +and directed by primitive and fundamental ideas of society, since it was +the pupil of the eighteenth century. Though this declaration only +contained general principles, and confined itself to setting forth in +maxims what the constitution was to put into laws, it was calculated to +elevate the mind, and impart to the citizens a consciousness of their +dignity and importance. At Lafayette's suggestion, the assembly had before +commenced this discussion; but the events at Paris, and the decrees of the +4th of August, had interrupted its labours; they were now resumed, and +concluded, by determining the principles which were to form the table of +the new law, and which were the assumption of right in the name of +humanity. + +These generalities being adopted, the assembly turned its attention to the +organization of the legislative power. This was one of its most important +objects; it was to fix the nature of its functions, and establish its +relations with the king. In this discussion the assembly had only to +decide the future condition of the legislative power. Invested as it was +with constituent authority, it was raised above its own decisions, and no +intermediate power could suspend or prevent its mission. But what should +be the form of the deliberative body in future sessions? Should it remain +indivisible, or be divided into two chambers? If the latter form should be +adopted, what should be the nature of the second chamber? Should it be +made an aristocratic assembly, or a moderative senate? And, whatever the +deliberative body might be, was it to be permanent or periodical, and +should the king share the legislative power with it? Such were the +difficulties that agitated the assembly and Paris during the month of +September. + +If we consider the position of the assembly and its ideas of sovereignty, +we shall easily understand the manner in which these questions were +decided. It regarded the king merely as the hereditary agent of the +nation, having neither the right to assemble its representatives nor that +of directing or suspending them. Accordingly, it refused to grant him the +initiative in making laws and dissolving the assembly. It considered that +the legislative body ought not to be dependent on the king. It moreover +feared that by granting the government too strong an influence over the +assembly, or by not keeping the latter always together, the prince might +profit by the intervals in which he would be left alone, to encroach on +the other powers, and perhaps even to destroy the new system. Therefore to +an authority in constant activity, they wished to oppose an always +existing assembly, and the permanence of the assembly was accordingly +declared. The debate respecting its indivisibility, or its division, was +very animated. Necker, Mounier, and Lally-Tollendal desired, in addition +to a representative chamber, a senate, to be composed of members to be +appointed by the king on the nomination of the people. They considered +this as the only means of moderating the power, and even of preventing the +tyranny of a single assembly. They had as partisans such members as +participated in their ideas, or who hoped to form part of the upper +chamber. The majority of the nobility did not wish for a house of peers, +but for an aristocratic assembly, whose members it should elect. They +could not agree; Mounier's party refusing to fall in with a project +calculated to revive the orders, and the aristocracy refusing to accept a +senate, which would confirm the ruin of the nobility. The greater portion +of the deputies of the clergy and of the commons were in favour of the +unity of the assembly. The popular party considered it illegal to appoint +legislators for life; it thought that the upper chamber would become the +instrument of the court and aristocracy, and would then be dangerous, or +become useless by uniting with the commons. Thus the nobility, from +dissatisfaction, and the national party, from a spirit of absolute +justice, alike rejected the upper chamber. + +This determination of the assembly has been the object of many reproaches. +The partisans of the peerage have attributed all the evils of the +revolution to the absence of that order; as if it had been possible for +anybody whatsoever to arrest its progress. It was not the constitution +which gave it the character it has had, but events arising from party +struggles. What would the upper chamber have done between the court and +the nation? If in favour of the first, it would have been unable to guide +or save it; if in favour of the second, it would not have strengthened it; +in either case, its suppression would have infallibly ensued. In such +times, progress is rapid, and all that seeks to check it is superfluous. +In England, the house of lords, although docile, was suspended during the +crisis. These various systems have each their epoch; revolutions are +achieved by one chamber, and end with two. + +The royal sanction gave rise to great debates in the assembly, and violent +clamours without. The question was as to the part of the king in the +making of laws; the deputies were nearly all agreed on one point. They +were determined, in admitting his right to sanction or refuse laws; but +some desired that this right should be unlimited, others that it should be +temporary. This, in reality, amounted to the same thing, for it was not +possible for the king to prolong his refusal indefinitely, and the veto, +though absolute, would only have been suspensive. But this faculty, +bestowed on a single man, of checking the will of the people, appeared +exorbitant, especially out of the assembly, where it was less understood. + +Paris had not yet recovered from the agitation of the 14th of July; the +popular government was but beginning, and the city experienced all its +liberty and disorder. The assembly of electors, who in difficult +circumstances had taken the place of a provisional corporation, had just +been replaced. A hundred and eighty members nominated by the districts, +constituted themselves legislators and representatives of the city. While +they were engaged on a plan of municipal organization, each desired to +command; for in France the love of liberty is almost the love of power. +The committees acted apart from the mayor; the assembly of representatives +arose against the committees, and the districts against the assembly of +representatives. Each of the sixty districts attributed to itself the +legislative power, and gave the executive power to its committees; they +all considered the members of the general assembly as their subordinates, +and themselves as invested with the right of annulling their decrees. This +idea of the sovereignty of the principal over the delegate made rapid +progress. Those who had no share in authority, formed assemblies, and then +gave themselves up to discussion; soldiers debated at the Oratoire, +journeymen tailors at the Colonnade, hairdressers in the Champs Élysées, +servants at the Louvre; but the most animated debates took place in the +Palais Royal. There were inquired into the questions that occupied the +national assembly, and its discussions criticised. The dearth of +provisions also brought crowds together, and these mobs were not the least +dangerous. + +Such was the state of Paris when the debate concerning the veto was begun. +The alarm which this right conferred on the king excited, was extreme. It +seemed as though the fate of liberty depended on the decision of this +question, and that the veto alone would bring back the ancient system. The +multitude, ignorant of the nature and limits of power, wished the +assembly, on which it relied, to do all, and the king, whom it mistrusted, +to do nothing. Every instrument left at the disposal of the court appeared +the means of a counter-revolution. The crowds at the Palais Royal grew +turbulent; threatening letters were sent to those members of the assembly, +who, like Mounier, had declared in favour of the absolute veto. They spoke +of dismissing them as faithless representatives, and of marching upon +Versailles. The Palais Royal sent a deputation to the assembly, and +required the commune to declare that the deputies were revocable, and to +make them at all times dependent on the electors. The commune remained +firm, rejected the demands of the Palais Royal, and took measures to +prevent the riotous assemblies. The national guard supported it; this body +was well disposed; Lafayette had acquired its confidence; it was becoming +organised, it wore a uniform, submitted to discipline after the example of +the French guard, and learned from its chief the love of order and respect +for the law. But the middle class that composed it had not yet taken +exclusive possession of the popular government. The multitude which was +enrolled on the 14th of July, was not as yet entirely disbanded. This +agitation from without rendered the debates upon the veto stormy; in this +way a very simple question acquired great importance, and the ministry, +perceiving how fatal the influence of an absolute decision might prove, +and seeing, also, that the _unlimited veto_ and the _suspensive veto_ were +one and the same thing, induced the king to be satisfied with the latter, +and give up the former. The assembly declared that the refusal of his +sanction could not be prolonged by the prince beyond two sessions; and +this decision satisfied every one. + +The court took advantage of the agitation in Paris to realise other +projects. For some time it had influenced the king's mind. At first, he +had refused to sanction the decrees of the 4th of August, although they +were constitutive, and consequently he could not avoid promulgating them. +After accepting them, on the remonstrances of the assembly, he renewed the +same difficulties relative to the declaration of rights. The object of the +court was to represent Louis XVI. as oppressed by the assembly, and +constrained to submit to measures which he was unwilling to accept; it +endured its situation with impatience and strove to regain its former +authority. Flight was the only means, and it was requisite to legitimate +it; nothing could be done in the presence of the assembly, and in the +neighbourhood of Paris. Royal authority had fallen on the 23rd of June, +military power on the 14th of July; there was no alternative but civil +war. As it was difficult to persuade the king to this course, they waited +till the last moment to induce him to flee; his hesitation caused the +failure of the plan. It was proposed to retire to Metz, to Bouillé, in the +midst of his army; to call around the monarch the nobility, the troops who +continued faithful, the parliaments; to declare the assembly and Paris in +a state of rebellion; to invite them to obedience or to force them to it; +and if the ancient system could not be entirely re-established, at least +to confine themselves to the declaration of the 20th of June. On the other +hand, if the court had an interest in removing the king from Versailles, +that it might effect something, it was the interest of the partisans of +the revolution to bring him to Paris; the Orleans faction, if one existed, +had an interest in driving the king to flight, by intimidating him, in the +hope that the assembly would appoint its leader _lieutenant-general of the +kingdom_; and, lastly, the people, who were in want of bread, wished for +the king to reside at Paris, in the hope that his presence would diminish, +or put a stop to the dearth of provisions. All these causes existing, an +occasion was only wanting to bring about an insurrection; the court +furnished this occasion. On the pretext of protecting itself against the +movements in Paris, it summoned troops to Versailles, doubled the +household guards, and sent for the dragoons and the Flanders regiment. All +this preparation of troops gave rise to the liveliest fears; a report +spread of an anti-revolutionary measure, and the flight of the king, and +the dissolution of the assembly, were announced as at hand. Strange +uniforms, and yellow and black cockades, were to be seen at the +Luxembourg, the Palais Royal, and at the Champs Élysées; the foes of the +revolution displayed a degree of joy they had not manifested for some +time. The behaviour of the court confirmed these suspicions, and disclosed +the object of all these preparations. + +The officers of the Flanders regiment, received with anxiety in the town +of Versailles, were fêted at the château, and even admitted to the queen's +card tables. Endeavours were made to secure their devotion, and a banquet +was given to them by the king's guards. The officers of the dragoons and +the chasseurs, who were at Versailles, those of the Swiss guards, of the +hundred Swiss, of the prevoté, and the staff of the national guard were +invited. The theatre in the château, which was reserved for the most +solemn fêtes of the court, and which, since the marriage of the second +brother of the king, had only been used for the emperor Joseph II., was +selected for the scene of the festival. The king's musicians were ordered +to attend this, the first fête which the guards had given. During the +banquet, toasts to the king and royal family were drunk with enthusiasm, +while the nation was omitted or rejected. At the second course, the +grenadiers of Flanders, the two bodies of Swiss, and the dragoons were +admitted to witness the spectacle, and share the sentiments which animated +the guests. The enthusiasm increased every moment. Suddenly the king was +announced; he entered attired in a hunting dress, the queen leaning on his +arm, and carrying the dauphin. Shouts of affection and devotion arose on +every side. The health of the royal family was drunk, with swords drawn; +and when Louis XVI. withdrew, the music played, "_O Richard! O mon roi! +l'univers t'abandonne_." The scene now assumed a very significant +character; the march of the Hullans, and the profusion of wine, deprived +the guests of all reserve. The charge was sounded; tottering guests +climbed the boxes, as if mounting to an assault; while cockades were +distributed; the tri-coloured cockade, it is said, was trampled on, and +the guests then spread through the galleries of the château, where the +ladies of the court loaded them with congratulations, and decorated them +with ribbons and cockades. + +Such was this famous banquet of the 1st of October, which the court was +imprudent enough to repeat on the third. One cannot help lamenting its +fatal want of foresight; it could neither submit to nor change its +destiny. This assembling of the troops, so far from preventing aggression +in Paris, provoked it; the banquet did not make the devotion of the +soldiers any more sure, while it augmented the ill disposition of the +people. To protect itself there was no necessity for so much ardour, nor +for flight was there needful so much preparation; but the court never took +the measure calculated to make its designs succeed, or else it only half +took it, and, in order to decide, it always waited until there was no +longer any time. + +The news of this banquet, and the appearance of black cockades, produced +the greatest sensation in Paris. From the 4th, suppressed rumours, +counter-revolutionary provocations, the dread of conspiracies, indignation +against the court, and increasing alarm at the dearth of provisions, all +announced an insurrection; the multitude already looked towards +Versailles. On the 5th, the insurrection broke out in a violent and +invincible manner; the entire want of flour was the signal. A young girl, +entering a guardhouse, seized a drum, and rushed through the streets +beating it, and crying, "Bread! Bread!" She was soon surrounded by a crowd +of women. This mob advanced towards the Hôtel de Ville, increasing as it +went. It forced the guard that stood at the door, and penetrated into the +interior, clamouring for bread and arms; it broke open doors, seized +weapons, sounded the tocsin, and marched towards Versailles. The people +soon rose _en masse_, uttering the same demand, till the cry, "To +Versailles!" rose on every side. The women started first, headed by +Maillard, one of the volunteers of the Bastille. The populace, the +national guard, and the French guards requested to follow them. The +commander, Lafayette, opposed their departure a long time, but in vain; +neither his efforts nor his popularity could overcome the obstinacy of the +people. For seven hours he harangued and retained them. At length, +impatient at this delay, rejecting his advice, they prepared to set +forward without him; when, feeling that it was now his duty to conduct as +it had previously been to restrain them, he obtained his authorization +from the corporation, and gave the word for departure about seven in the +evening. + +The excitement at Versailles was less impetuous, but quite as real; the +national guard and the assembly were anxious and irritated. The double +banquet of the household troops, the approbation the queen had expressed, +_J'ai été enchantée de la journée de Jeudi_--the king's refusal to accept +simply the Rights of Man, his concerted temporizings, and the want of +provisions, excited the alarm of the representatives of the people and +filled them with suspicion. Pétion, having denounced the banquets of the +guards, was summoned by a royalist deputy to explain his denunciation, and +make known the guilty parties. "Let it be expressly declared," exclaimed +Mirabeau, "that whosoever is not king is a subject and responsible, and I +will speedily furnish proofs." These words, which pointed to the queen, +compelled the Right to be silent. This hostile discussion was preceded and +succeeded by debates equally animated, concerning the refusal of the +sanction, and the scarcity of provisions in Paris. At length, just as a +deputation was despatched to the king, to require his pure and simple +acceptance of the Rights of Man, and to adjure him to facilitate with all +his power the supplying Paris with provisions, the arrival of the women, +headed by Maillard, was announced. + +Their unexpected appearance, for they had intercepted all the couriers who +might have announced it, excited the terrors of the court. The troops of +Versailles flew to arms and surrounded the château, but the intentions of +the women were not hostile. Maillard, their leader, had recommended them +to appear as suppliants, and in that attitude they presented their +complaints successively to the assembly and to the king. Accordingly, the +first hours of this turbulent evening were sufficiently calm. Yet it was +impossible but that causes of hostility should arise between an excited +mob and the household troops, the objects of so much irritation. The +latter were stationed in the court of the château opposite the national +guard and the Flanders regiment. The space between was filled by women and +volunteers of the Bastille. In the midst of the confusion, necessarily +arising from such a juxtaposition, a scuffle arose; this was the signal +for disorder and conflict. An officer of the guards struck a Parisian +soldier with his sabre, and was in turn shot in the arm. The national +guards sided against the household troops; the conflict became warm, and +would have been sanguinary, but for the darkness, the bad weather, and the +orders given to the household troops first to cease firing and then to +retire. But as these were accused of being the aggressors, the fury of the +multitude continued for some time; their quarters were broken into, two of +them were wounded, and another saved with difficulty. + +During this tumult, the court was in consternation; the flight of the king +was suggested, and carriages prepared; a picket of the national guard saw +them at the gate of the Orangery, and, after closing the gate, compelled +them to go back; moreover, the king, either ignorant of the designs of the +court, or conceiving them impracticable, refused to escape. Fears were +mingled with his pacific intentions, when he hesitated to repel the +aggression or to take flight. Conquered, he apprehended the fate of +Charles I. of England; absent, he feared that the duke of Orleans would +obtain the lieutenancy of the kingdom. But, in the meantime, the rain, +fatigue, and the inaction of the household troops, lessened the fury of +the multitude, and Lafayette arrived at the head of the Parisian army. + +His presence restored security to the court, and the replies of the king +to the deputation from Paris, satisfied the multitude and the army. In a +short time, Lafayette's activity, the good sense and discipline of the +Parisian guard, restored order everywhere. Tranquillity returned. The +crowd of women and volunteers, overcome by fatigue, gradually dispersed, +and some of the national guard were entrusted with the defence of the +château, while others were lodged with their companions in arms at +Versailles. The royal family, reassured after the anxiety and fear of this +painful night, retired to rest about two o'clock in the morning. Towards +five, Lafayette, having visited the outposts which had been confided to +his care, and finding the watch well kept, the town calm, and the crowds +dispersed or sleeping, also took a few moments repose. + +About six, however, some men of the lower class, more enthusiastic than +the rest, and awake sooner than they, prowled round the château. Finding a +gate open, they informed their companions, and entered. Unfortunately, the +interior posts had been entrusted to the household guards, and refused to +the Parisian army. This fatal refusal caused all the misfortunes of the +night. The interior guard had not even been increased; the gates scarcely +visited, and the watch kept as negligently as on ordinary occasions. These +men, excited by all the passions that had brought them to Versailles, +perceiving one of the household troops at a window, began to insult him. +He fired, and wounded one of them. They then rushed on the household +troops who defended the château breast to breast, and sacrificed +themselves heroically. One of them had time to warn the queen, whom the +assailants particularly threatened; and half dressed, she ran for refuge +to the king. The tumult and danger were extreme in the château. + +Lafayette, apprised of the invasion of the royal residence, mounted his +horse, and rode hastily to the scene of danger. On the square he met some +of the household troops surrounded by an infuriated mob, who were on the +point of killing them. He threw himself among them, called some French +guards who were near, and having rescued the household troops, and +dispersed their assailants, he hurried to the château. He found it already +secured by the grenadiers of the French guard, who, at the first noise of +the tumult, had hastened and protected the household troops from the fury +of the Parisians. But the scene was not over; the crowd assembled again in +the marble court under the king's balcony, loudly called for him, and he +appeared. They required his departure for Paris; he promised to repair +thither with his family, and this promise was received with general +applause. The queen was resolved to accompany him; but the prejudice +against her was so strong that the journey was not without danger; it was +necessary to reconcile her with the multitude. Lafayette proposed to her +to accompany him to the balcony; after some hesitation, she consented. +They appeared on it together, and to communicate by a sign with the +tumultuous crowd, to conquer its animosity, and awaken its enthusiasm, +Lafayette respectfully kissed the queen's hand; the crowd responded with +acclamations. It now remained to make peace between them and the household +troops. Lafayette advanced with one of these, placed his own tricoloured +cockade on his hat, and embraced him before the people, who shouted +"_Vivent les gardes-du-corps!_" Thus terminated this scene; the royal +family set out for Paris, escorted by the army, and its guards mixed with +it. + +The insurrection of the 5th and 6th of October was an entirely popular +movement. We must not try to explain it by secret motives, nor attribute +it to concealed ambition; it was provoked by the imprudence of the court. +The banquet of the household troops, the reports of flight, the dread of +civil war, and the scarcity of provisions alone brought Paris upon +Versailles. If special instigators, which the most careful inquiries have +still left doubtful, contributed to produce this movement, they did not +change either its direction or its object. The result of this event was +the destruction of the ancient régime of the court; it deprived it of its +guard, it removed it from the royal residence at Versailles to the capital +of the revolution, and placed it under the surveillance of the people. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FROM THE 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789, TO THE DEATH OF MIRABEAU, APRIL, 1791 + + +The period which forms the subject of this chapter was less remarkable for +events than for the gradually decided separation of parties. In proportion +as changes were introduced into the state and the laws, those whose +interests or opinions they injured declared themselves against them. The +revolution had had as enemies, from the beginning of the states-general, +the court; from the union of orders and the abolition of privileges, the +nobility; from the establishment of a single assembly and the rejection of +the two chambers, the ministry and the partisans of the English form of +government. It had, moreover, against it since the departmental +organization, the provinces; since the decree respecting the property and +civil constitution of the clergy, the whole ecclesiastical body; since the +introduction of the new military laws, all the officers of the army. It +might seem that the assembly ought not to have effected so many changes at +once, so as to have avoided making so many enemies; but its general plans, +its necessities, and the very plots of its adversaries, required all these +innovations. + +After the 5th and 6th of October, the assembly emigrated as the court had +done after the 14th of July. Mounier and Lally-Tollendal deserted it, +despairing of liberty from the moment their views ceased to be followed. +Too absolute in their plans, they wanted the people, after having +delivered the assembly on the 14th of July, suddenly to cease acting, +which was displaying an entire ignorance of the impetus of revolutions. +When the people have once been made use of, it is difficult to disband +them, and the most prudent course is not to contest, but to regulate +intervention. Lally-Tollendal renounced his title of Frenchman, and +returned to England, the land of his ancestors. Mounier repaired to +Dauphiné, his native province, which he endeavoured to excite to a revolt +against the assembly. It was inconsistent to complain of an insurrection, +and yet to provoke one, especially when it was to the profit of another +party, for his was too weak to maintain itself against the ancient régime +and the revolution. Notwithstanding his influence in Dauphiné, whose +former movements he had directed, Mounier was unable to establish there a +centre of permanent resistance, but the assembly was thereby warned to +destroy the ancient provincial organisation, which might become the frame- +work of a civil war. + +After the 5th and 6th of October, the national representatives followed +the king to the capital, which their common presence had contributed +greatly to tranquillise. The people were satisfied with possessing the +king, the causes which had excited their ebullition had ceased. The duke +of Orleans, who, rightly or wrongly, was considered the contriver of the +insurrection, had just been sent away; he had accepted a mission to +England; Lafayette was resolved to maintain order; the national guard, +animated by a better spirit, acquired every day habits of discipline and +obedience; the corporation, getting over the confusion of its first +establishment, began to have authority. There remained but one cause of +disturbance--the scarcity of provisions. Notwithstanding the zeal and +foresight of the committee entrusted with the task of providing supplies, +daily assemblages of the people threatened the public tranquillity. The +people, so easily deceived when suffering, killed a baker called François, +who was unjustly accused as a monopolist. On the 21st of October a martial +law was proclaimed, authorizing the corporation to employ force to +disperse the mob, after having summoned the citizens to retire. Power was +vested in a class interested in maintaining order; the districts and the +national guard were obedient to the assembly. Submission to the law was +the prevailing passion of that epoch. The deputies on their side only +aspired at completing the constitution and effecting the re-organisation +of the state. They had the more reason for hastening their task, as the +enemies of the assembly made use of what remained of the ancient régime, +to occasion it embarrassment. Accordingly, it replied to each of their +endeavours by a decree, which, changing the ancient order of things, +deprived them of one of their means of attack. + +It began by dividing the kingdom more equally and regularly. The +provinces, which had witnessed with regret the loss of their privileges, +formed small states, the extent of which was too vast, and the +administration too independent. It was essential to reduce their size, +change their names, and subject them to the same government. On the 22nd +of December, the assembly adopted in this respect the project conceived by +Sieyès, and presented by Thouret in the name of the committee, which +occupied itself constantly on this subject for two months. + +France was divided into eighty-three departments, nearly equal in extent +and population; the departments were subdivided into districts and +cantons. Their administration received a uniform and hierarchical form. +The department had an administrative council composed of thirty-six +members, and an executive directory composed of five members: as the names +indicate, the functions of the one were to decide, and of the other to +act. The district was organised in the same way; although on a smaller +scale, it had a council and a directory, fewer in number, and subordinate +to the superior directory and council. The canton composed of five or six +parishes, was an electoral not an administrative division; the active +citizens, and to be considered such it was necessary to pay taxes +amounting to three days' earnings, united in the canton to nominate their +deputies and magistrates. Everything in the new plan was subject to +election, but this had several degrees. It appeared imprudent to confide +to the multitude the choice of its delegates, and illegal to exclude them +from it; this difficult question was avoided by the double election. The +active citizens of the canton named electors intrusted with nominating the +members of the national assembly, the administrators of the department, +those of the district, and the judges of tribunals; a criminal court was +established in each department, a civil court in each district, and a +police-court in each canton. + +Such was the institution of the department. It remained to regulate that +of the corporation: the administration of this was confided to a general +council and a municipality, composed of members whose numbers were +proportioned to the population of the towns. The municipal officers were +named immediately by the people, and could alone authorize the employment +of the armed force. The corporation formed the first step of the +association, the kingdom formed the last; the department was intermediate +between the corporation and the state, between universal interests and +purely local interests. + +The execution of this plan, which organized the sovereignty of the people, +which enabled all citizens to concur in the election of their magistrates, +and entrusted them with their own administration, and distributed them +into a machinery which, by permitting the whole state to move, preserved a +correspondence between its parts, and prevented their isolation, excited +the discontent of some provinces. The states of Languedoc and Brittany +protested against the new division of the kingdom, and on their side the +parliaments of Metz, Rouen, Bordeaux, and Toulouse rose against the +operations of the assembly which suppressed the Chambres de Vacations, +abolished the orders, and declared the commissions of the states +incompetent. The partisans of the ancient régime employed every means to +disturb its progress; the nobility excited the provinces, the parliaments +took resolutions, the clergy issued mandates, and writers took advantage +of the liberty of the press to attack the revolution. Its two principal +enemies were the nobles and the bishops. Parliament, having no root in the +nation, only formed a magistracy, whose attacks were prevented by +destroying the magistracy itself, whereas the nobility and the clergy had +means of action which survived the influence of the body. The misfortunes +of these two classes were caused by themselves. After harassing the +revolution in the assembly, they afterwards attacked it with open force-- +the clergy, by internal insurrections--the nobility, by arming Europe +against it. They had great expectations from anarchy, which, it is true, +caused France many evils, but which was far from rendering their own +position better. Let us now see how the hostilities of the clergy were +brought on; for this purpose we must go back a little. + +The revolution had commenced with the finances, and had not yet been able +to put an end to the embarrassments by which it was caused. More important +objects had occupied the attention of the assembly. Summoned, no longer to +defray the expenses of administration, but to constitute the state, it had +suspended its legislative discussions, from time to time, in order to +satisfy the more pressing necessities of the treasury. Necker had proposed +provisional means, which had been adopted in confidence, and almost +without discussion. Despite this zeal, he did not without displeasure see +the finances considered as subordinate to the constitution, and the +ministry to the assembly. A first loan of thirty millions (1,200,000l.), +voted the 9th of August, had not succeeded; a subsequent loan of eighty +millions (3,200,000l.), voted the 27th of the same month, had been +insufficient. Duties were reduced or abolished, and they yielded scarcely +anything, owing to the difficulty of collecting them. It became useless to +have recourse to public confidence, which refused its aid; and in +September, Necker had proposed, as the only means, an extraordinary +contribution of a fourth of the revenue, to be paid at once. Each citizen +was to fix his proportion himself, making use of that simple form of oath, +which well expressed these first days of honour and patriotism:--"_I +declare with truth._" + +Mirabeau now caused Necker to be invested with a complete financial +dictatorship. He spoke of the urgent wants of the state, of the labours of +the assembly which did not permit it to discuss the plan of the minister, +and which at the same time prevented its examining any other; of Necker's +skill, which ensured the success of his own measure; and urged the +assembly to leave with him the responsibility of its success, by +confidently adopting it. As some did not approve of the views of the +minister, and others suspected the intentions of Mirabeau with respect to +him, he closed his speech, one of the most eloquent he ever delivered, by +displaying bankruptcy impending, and exclaiming, "Vote this extraordinary +subsidy, and may it prove sufficient! Vote it; for if you have doubts +respecting the means, you have none respecting the want, and our inability +to supply it. Vote it, for the public circumstances will not bear delay, +and we shall be accountable for all postponement. Beware of asking for +time; misfortune never grants it. Gentlemen, on the occasion of a +ridiculous motion at the Palais Royal, an absurd incursion, which had +never had any importance, save in feeble imaginations, or the minds of men +of ill designs and bad faith, you once heard these words, '_Catiline is at +the gates of Rome, and yet they deliberate!_' And yet there were around us +neither Catiline, nor perils, nor factions, nor Rome. But now bankruptcy, +hideous bankruptcy, is there; it threatens to consume you, your +properties, your honour, and yet you deliberate!" Mirabeau had carried +away the assembly by his oratory; and the patriotic contribution was voted +with unanimous applause. + +But this resource had only afforded momentary relief. The finances of the +revolution depended on a more daring and more vast measure. It was +necessary not only to support the revolution, but to repair the immense +deficit which stopped its progress, and threatened its future destiny. One +way alone remained--to declare ecclesiastical property national, and to +sell it for the rescue of the state. Public interest prescribed this +course; and it could be done with justice, the clergy not being the +proprietors, but the simple administrators of this property, devoted to +religion, and not to the priests. The nation, therefore, by taking on +itself the expenses of the altar, and the support of its ministers might +procure and appropriate an important financial resource, and obtain a +great political result. + +It was important not to leave an independent body, and especially an +ancient body, any longer in the state; for in a time of revolution +everything ancient is hostile. The clergy, by its formidable hierarchy and +its opulence, a stranger to the new changes, would have remained as a +republic in the kingdom. Its form belonged to another system: when there +was no state, but only bodies, each order had provided for its own +regulation and existence. The clergy had its decretals, the nobility its +law of fiefs, the people its corporations; everything was independent, +because everything was private. But now that functions were becoming +public, it was necessary to make a magistracy of the priesthood as they +had made one of royalty; and, in order to make them dependent on the +state, it was essential they should be paid by it, and to resume from the +monarch his domains, from the clergy its property, by bestowing on each of +them suitable endowments. This great operation, which destroyed the +ancient ecclesiastical régime, was effected in the following manner: + +One of the most pressing necessities was the abolition of tithes. As these +were a tax paid by the rural population to the clergy, the sacrifice would +be for the advantage of those who were oppressed by them. Accordingly, +after declaring they were redeemable, on the night of the 4th of August, +they were suppressed on the 11th, without providing any equivalent. The +clergy opposed the measure at first, but afterwards had the good sense to +consent. The archbishop of Paris gave up tithes in the name of all his +brethren, and by this act of prudence he showed himself faithful to the +line of conduct adopted by the privileged classes on the night of the 4th +of August; but this was the extent of his sacrifices. + +A short time after, the debate respecting the possession of ecclesiastical +property began. Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, proposed to the clergy that +they should renounce it in favour of the nation, which would employ it in +defraying the expenses of worship, and liquidating its debt. He proved the +justice and propriety of this measure; and he showed the great advantages +which would accrue to the state. The property of the clergy amounted to +several thousand millions of francs. After paying its debts, providing for +the ecclesiastical services and that of hospitals, and the endowment of +its ministers, sufficient would still remain to extinguish the public +debt, whether permanent or annuities, and to reimburse the money paid for +judicial offices. The clergy rose against this proposition. The discussion +became very animated; and it was decided, in spite of their resistance, +that they were not proprietors, but simple depositaries of the wealth that +the piety of kings and of the faithful had devoted to religion, and that +the nation, on providing for the service of public worship, had a right to +recall such property. The decree which placed it at its disposal was +passed on the 2nd of December, 1789. + +From that moment the hatred of the clergy to the revolution broke out. At +the commencement of the states-general it had been less intractable than +the nobility, in order to preserve its riches; it now showed itself as +opposed as they to the new régime, of which it became the most tenacious +and furious foe. Yet, as the decree placed ecclesiastical property at the +disposal of the nation, without, as yet, displacing it, it did not break +out into opposition at once. The administration was still confided to it, +and it hoped that the possessions of the church might serve as a mortgage +for the debt, but would not be sold. + +It was, indeed, difficult to effect the sale, which, however, could not be +delayed, the treasury only subsisting on anticipations, and the exchequer, +which supplied it with bills, beginning to lose all credit on account of +the number it had issued. + +They obtained their end, and proceeded with the new financial organisation +in the following manner: The necessities of this and the following year +required a sale of this property to the amount of four hundred millions of +francs; to facilitate it, the corporation of Paris made considerable +subscriptions, and the municipalities of the kingdom followed the example +of Paris. They were to return to the treasury the equivalent of the +property they received from the state to sell to private individuals; but +they wanted money, and they could not deliver the amount since they had +not yet met with purchasers. What was to be done? They supplied municipal +notes intended to reimburse the public creditors, until they should +acquire the funds necessary for withdrawing the notes. Once arrived thus +far, they saw that, instead of municipal notes, it would be better to +create exchequer bills, which would have a compulsory circulation, and +answer the purpose of specie: this was simplifying the operation by +generalising it. In this way the assignats had their origin. + +This invention was of great utility to the revolution, and alone secured +the sale of ecclesiastical property. The assignats, which were a means of +payment for the state, became a pledge to the creditors. The latter by +receiving them were not obliged to accept payment in land for what they +had furnished in money. But sooner or later the assignats would fall into +the hands of men disposed to realise them, and then they were to be +destroyed at the same time that they ceased to be a pledge. In order that +they might fulfil their design, their forced circulation was required; to +render them safe, the quantity was limited to the value of the property +proposed for sale; and that they might not fall by too sudden a change, +they were made to bear interest. The assembly, from the moment of their +issue, wished to give them all the consistency of money. It was hoped that +specie concealed by distrust would immediately re-appear, and that the +assignats would enter into competition with it. Mortgage made them quite +as sure, and interest made them more profitable; but this interest, which +was attended with much inconvenience, disappeared after the first issue. +Such was the origin of the paper money issued under so much necessity, and +with so much prudence, which enabled the revolution to accomplish such +great things, and which was brought into discredit by causes that belonged +less to its nature than to the subsequent use made of it. + +When the clergy saw by a decree of the 29th of December the administration +of church property transferred to the municipalities, the sale they were +about to make of it to the value of four hundred millions of francs, and +the creation of a paper money calculated to facilitate this spoliation, +and render it definitive, it left nothing undone to secure the +intervention of God in the cause of its wealth. It made a last attempt: it +offered to realize in its own name the loan of four hundred millions of +francs, which was rejected, because otherwise, after having decided that +it was not the proprietor of church property, it would thus have again +been admitted to be so. It then sought every means of impeding the +operations of the municipalities. In the south, it raised catholics +against protestants; in the pulpit, it alarmed consciences; in the +confessional, it treated sales as sacrilegious, and in the tribune it +strove to render the sentiments of the assembly suspected. It excited as +much as possible religious questions for the purpose of compromising the +assembly, and confounding the cause of its own interest with that of +religion. The abuses and inutility of monastic vows were at this period +admitted by every one, even by the clergy. At their abolition on the 13th +of February, 1790, the bishop of Nancy proposed incidentally and +perfidiously that the catholic religion alone should have a public +worship. The assembly were indignant at the motives that suggested such a +proposition, and it was abandoned. But the same motion was again brought +forward in another sitting, and after stormy debates the assembly declared +that from respect to the Supreme Being and the catholic religion, the only +one supported at the expense of the state, it conceived it ought not to +decide upon the question submitted to it. + +Such was the disposition of the clergy, when, in the months of June and +July, 1790, the assembly turned its attention to its internal +organization. The clergy waited with impatience for this opportunity of +exciting a schism. This project, the adoption of which caused so much +evil, went to re-establish the church on its ancient basis, and to restore +the purity of its doctrine; it was not the work of philosophers, but of +austere Christians, who wished to support religion by the state, and to +make them concur mutually in promoting its happiness. The reduction of +bishoprics to the same number as the departments, the conformity of the +ecclesiastical circumscription with the civil circumscription, the +nomination of bishops by electors, who also chose deputies and +administrators, the suppression of chapters, and the substitution of +vicars for canons, were the chief features of this plan; there was nothing +in it that attacked the dogmas or worship of the church. For a long time +the bishops and other ecclesiastics had been nominated by the people; as +for diocesan limits, the operation was purely material, and in no respect +religious. It moreover generously provided for the support of the members +of the church, and if the high dignitaries saw their revenues reduced, the +curés, who formed the most numerous portion, had theirs augmented. + +But a pretext was wanting, and the civil constitution of the clergy was +eagerly seized upon. From the outset of the discussion, the archbishop of +Aix protested against the principles of the ecclesiastical committee. In +his opinion, the appointment or suspension of bishops by civil authority +was opposed to discipline; and when the decree was put to the vote, the +bishop of Clermont recapitulated the principles advanced by the archbishop +of Aix, and left the hall at the head of all the dissentient members. The +decree passed, but the clergy declared war against the revolution. From +that moment it leagued more closely with the dissentient nobility. Equally +reduced to the common condition, the two privileged classes employed all +their means to stop the progress of reform. + +The departments were scarcely formed when agents were sent by them to +assemble the electors, and try new nominations. They did not hope to +obtain a favourable choice, but aimed at fomenting divisions between the +assembly and the departments. This project was denounced from the tribune, +and failed as soon as it was made known. Its authors then went to work in +another way. The period allotted to the deputies of the states-general had +expired, their power having been limited to one year, according to the +desire of the districts. The aristocrats availed themselves of this +circumstance to require a fresh election of the assembly. Had they gained +this point, they would have acquired a great advantage, and with this view +they themselves appealed to the sovereignty of the people. "Without +doubt," replied Chapelier, "all sovereignty rests with the people; but +this principle has no application to the present case; it would be +destroying the constitution and liberty to renew the assembly before the +constitution is completed. This is, indeed, the hope of those who wish to +see liberty and the constitution perish, and to witness the return of the +distinction of orders, of prodigality in the public expenditure, and of +the abuses that spring from despotism." At this moment all eyes were +turned to the Right, and rested on the abbé Maury. "_Send those people to +the Châtelet,_" cried the latter, sharply; "_or if you do not know them, +do not speak of them._" "The constitution," continued Chapelier, "can only +be made by one assembly. Besides, the former electors no longer exist; the +bailiwicks are absorbed in the departments, the orders are no longer +separate. The clause respecting the limitation of power is consequently +without value; it will therefore be contrary to the constitution, if the +deputies do not retain their seats in this assembly; their oath commands +them to continue there, and public interest requires it." + +"You entangle us in sophisms," replied the abbé Maury; "how long have we +been a national convention? You talk of the oath we took on the 20th of +June, without considering that it cannot weaken that which we made to our +constituents. Besides, gentlemen, the constitution is completed; you have, +only now to declare that the king enjoys the plenitude of the executive +power. We are here for the sole purpose of securing to the French nation +the right of influencing its legislation, of establishing the principle +that taxation shall be consented to by the people, and of securing our +liberty. Yes, the constitution is made; and I will oppose every decree +calculated to limit the rights of the people over their representatives. +The founders of liberty ought to respect the liberty of the nation; the +nation is above us all, and we destroy our authority by limiting the +national authority." + +The abbé Maury's speech was received with loud applause from the Right. +Mirabeau immediately ascended the tribune. "It is asked," said he, "how +long the deputies of the people have been a national convention? I answer, +from the day when, finding the door of their session-house surrounded by +soldiers, they went and assembled where they could, and swore to perish +rather than betray or abandon the rights of the nation. Whatever our +powers were, that day their nature was changed; and whatever powers we may +have exercised, our efforts and labours have rendered them legitimate, and +the adhesion of the nation has sanctified them. You all remember the +saying of the great man of antiquity, who had neglected legal forms to +save his country. Summoned by a factious tribune to declare whether he had +observed the laws, he replied, 'I swear I have saved my country!' +Gentlemen," he exclaimed, turning to the deputies of the commons, "I swear +that you have saved France!" + +The assembly then rose by a spontaneous movement, and declared that the +session should not close till their task was accomplished. + +Anti-revolutionary efforts were increasing, at the same time, without the +assembly. Attempts were made to seduce or disorganize the army, but the +assembly took prudent measures in this respect. It gained the affections +of the troops by rendering promotion independent of the court, and of +titles of nobility. The count d'Artois and the prince de Condé, who had +retired to Turin after the 14th of July, corresponded with Lyons and the +south; but the emigrants not having yet the external influence they +afterwards acquired at Coblentz, and failing to meet with internal +support, all their efforts were vain. The attempts at insurrection, +originating with the clergy in Languedoc, had as little effect. They +brought on some transient disturbances, but did not effect a religious +war. Time is necessary to form a party; still more is required to induce +it to decide on serious hostilities. A more practicable design was that of +carrying off the king and conveying him to Peronne. The marquis de Favras, +with the support of _Monsieur_, the king's brother, was preparing to +execute it, when it was discovered. The Châtelet condemned to death this +intrepid adventurer, who had failed in his enterprise, through undertaking +it with too much display. The king's flight, after the events of October, +could only be effected furtively, as it subsequently happened at Varennes. + +The position of the court was equivocal and embarrassing. It encouraged +every anti-revolutionary enterprise and avowed none; it felt more than +ever its weakness and dependence on the assembly; and while desirous of +throwing off the yoke, feared to make the attempt because success appeared +difficult. Accordingly, it excited opposition without openly co-operating +in it; with some it dreamed of the restoration of the ancient régìme, with +others it only aimed at modifying the revolution. Mirabeau had been +recently in treaty with it. After having been one of the chief authors of +reform, he sought to give it stability by enchaining faction. His object +was to convert the court to the revolution, not to give up the revolution +to the court. The support he offered was constitutional; he could not +offer any other; for his power depended on his popularity, and his +popularity on his principles. But he was wrong in suffering it to be +bought. Had not his immense necessities obliged him to accept money and +sell his counsels, he would not have been more blameable than the +unalterable Lafayette, the Lameths and the Girondins, who successively +negotiated with it. But none of them gained the confidence of the court; +it only had recourse to them in extremity. By their means it endeavoured +to suspend the revolution, while by the means of the aristocracy it tried +to destroy it. Of all the popular leaders, Mirabeau had perhaps the +greatest ascendancy over the court, because he was the most winning, and +had the strongest mind. + +The assembly worked unceasingly at the constitution, in the midst of these +intrigues and plots. It decreed the new judicial organization of France. +All the new magistracies were temporary. Under the absolute monarchy, all +powers emanated from the throne, and all functionaries were appointed by +the king; under the constitutional monarchy, all powers emanating from the +people, the functionaries were to be appointed by it. The throne alone was +transmissible; the other powers being the property neither of a man nor of +a family, were neither of life-tenure, nor hereditary. The legislation of +that period depended on one sole principle, the sovereignty of the nation. +The judicial functions had themselves that changeable character. Trial by +jury, a democratic institution formerly common to nearly all the +continent, but which in England alone had survived the encroachments of +feudalism and the throne, was introduced into criminal causes. For civil +causes special judges were nominated. Fixed courts were established, two +courts of appeal to prevent error, and a _cour de cassation_ intended to +secure the preservation of the protecting forms of the law. This +formidable power, when it proceeds from the throne, can only be +independent by being fixed; but it must be temporary when it proceeds from +the people; because, while depending on all, it depends upon no one. + +In another matter, quite as important, the right of making peace or war, +the assembly decided a new and delicate question, and this in a sure, +just, and prompt manner, after one of the most luminous and eloquent +discussions that ever distinguished its sittings. As peace and war +belonged more to action than to will, it confided, contrary to the usual +rule, the initiative to the king. He who was best able to judge of its +fitness was to propose the question, but it was left to the legislative +body to decide it. + +The popular torrent, after having burst forth against the ancient regime, +gradually subsided into its bed; new dykes restrained it on all sides. The +government of the revolution was rapidly becoming established. The +assembly had given to the new régime its monarch, its national +representation, its territorial division, its armed force, its municipal +and administrative power, its popular tribunals, its currency, its clergy; +it had made an arrangement with respect to its debt, and it had found +means to reconstruct property without injustice. + +The 14th of July approached: that day was regarded by the nation as the +anniversary of its deliverance, and preparations were made to celebrate it +with a solemnity calculated to elevate the souls of the citizens, and to +strengthen the common bonds of union. A confederation of the whole kingdom +was appointed to take place in the Champ de Mars; and there, in the open +air, the deputies sent by the eighty-three departments, the national +representatives, the Parisian guard, and the monarch, were to take the +oath to the constitution. By way of prelude to this patriotic fête, the +popular members of the nobility proposed the abolition of titles; and the +assembly witnessed another sitting similar to that of the 4th of August. +Titles, armorial bearings, liveries, and orders of knighthood, were +abolished on the 20th of June, and vanity, as power had previously done, +lost its privileges. + +This sitting established equality everywhere, and made things agree with +words, by destroying all the pompous paraphernalia of other times. +Formerly titles had designated functions; armorial bearings had +distinguished powerful families; liveries had been worn by whole armies of +vassals; orders of knighthood had defended the state against foreign foes, +Europe against Islamism; but now, nothing of this remained. Titles had +lost their truth and their fitness; nobility, after ceasing to be a +magistracy, had even ceased to be an ornament; and power, like glory, was +henceforth to spring from plebeian ranks. But whether the aristocracy set +more value on their titles than on their privileges, or whether they only +awaited a pretext for openly declaring themselves, this last measure, more +than any other, decided the emigration and its attacks. It was for the +nobility what the civil constitution had been for the clergy, an occasion, +rather than a cause of hostility. + +The 14th of July arrived, and the revolution witnessed few such glorious +days--the weather only did not correspond with this magnificent fête. The +deputies of all the departments were presented to the king, who received +them with much affability; and he, on his part, met also with the most +touching testimonies of love, but as a constitutional king. "Sire," said +the leader of the Breton deputation, kneeling on one knee, and presenting +his sword, "I place in your hands the faithful sword of the brave Bretons: +it shall only be reddened by the blood of your foes." Louis XVI. raised +and embraced him, and returned the sword. "It cannot be in better hands +than in those of my brave Bretons," he replied; "I have never doubted +their loyalty and affection; assure them that I am the father and brother, +the friend of all Frenchmen." "Sire," returned the deputy, "every +Frenchman loves, and will continue to love you, because you are a citizen- +king." + +The confederation was to take place in the Champ de Mars. The immense +preparations were scarcely completed in time; all Paris had been engaged +for several weeks in getting the arrangements ready by the 14th. At seven +in the morning, the procession of electors, of the representatives of the +corporation, of the presidents of districts, of the national assembly, of +the Parisian guard, of the deputies of the army, and of the federates of +the departments, set out in complete order from the site of the Bastille. +The presence of all these national corps, the floating banners, the +patriotic inscriptions, the varied costumes, the sounds of music, the joy +of the crowd, rendered the procession a most imposing one. It traversed +the city, and crossed the Seine, amidst a volley of artillery, over a +bridge of boats, which had been thrown across it the preceding day. It +entered the Champ de Mars under a triumphal arch, adorned with patriotic +inscriptions. Each body took the station assigned it in excellent order, +and amidst shouts of applause. + +The vast space of the Champ de Mars was inclosed by raised seats of turf, +occupied by four hundred thousand spectators. An antique altar was erected +in the middle; and around it, on a vast amphitheatre, were the king, his +family, the assembly, and the corporation. The federates of the +departments were ranged in order under their banners; the deputies of the +army and the national guards were in their ranks, and under their ensigns. +The bishop of Autun ascended the altar in pontifical robes; four hundred +priests in white copes, and decorated with flowing tricoloured sashes, +were posted at the four corners of the altar. Mass was celebrated amid the +sounds of military music; and then the bishop of Autun blessed the +oriflamme, and the eighty-three banners. + +A profound silence now reigned in the vast inclosure, and Lafayette, +appointed that day to the command in chief of all the national guards of +the kingdom, advanced first to take the civic oath. Borne on the arms of +grenadiers to the altar of the country, amidst the acclamations of the +people, he exclaimed with a loud voice, in his own name, and that of the +federates and troops: "We swear eternal fidelity to the nation, the law, +and the king; to maintain to the utmost of our power the constitution +decreed by the national assembly, and accepted by the king; and to remain +united with every Frenchman by the indissoluble ties of fraternity." +Forthwith the firing of cannon, prolonged cries of "Vive la nation!" "Vive +le roi!" and sounds of music, mingled in the air. The president of the +national assembly took the same oath, and all the deputies repeated it +with one voice. Then Louis XVI. rose and said: "I, king of the French, +swear to employ all the power delegated to me by the constitutional act of +the state, in maintaining the constitution decreed by the national +assembly and accepted by me." The queen, carried away by the enthusiasm of +the moment, rose, lifted up the dauphin in her arms, and showing him to +the people, exclaimed: "Behold my son, he unites with me in the same +sentiments." At that moment the banners were lowered, the acclamations of +the people were heard, and the subjects believed in the sincerity of the +monarch, the monarch in the affection of the subjects, and this happy day +closed with a hymn of thanksgiving. + +The fêtes of the confederation were protracted for some days. +Illuminations, balls, and sports were given by the city of Paris to the +deputies of the departments. A ball took place on the spot where had +stood, a year before, the Bastille; gratings, fetters, ruins, were +observed here and there, and on the door was the inscription, "_Ici on +danse_," a striking contrast with the ancient destination of the spot. A +contemporary observes: "They danced indeed with joy and security on the +ground where so many tears had been shed; where courage, genius, and +innocence had so often groaned; where so often the cries of despair had +been stifled." A medal was struck to commemorate the confederation; and at +the termination of the fêtes the deputies returned to their departments. + +The confederation only suspended the hostility of parties. Petty intrigues +were resumed in the assembly as well as out of doors. The duke of Orleans +had returned from his mission, or, more strictly speaking, from his exile. +The inquiry respecting the events of the 5th and 6th of October, of which +he and Mirabeau were accused as the authors, had been conducted by the +Châtelets inquiry, which had been suspended, was now resumed. By this +attack the court again displayed its want of foresight; for it ought to +have proved the accusation or not to have made it. The assembly having +decided on giving up the guilty parties, had it found any such, declared +there was no ground for proceeding; and Mirabeau, after an overwhelming +outburst against the whole affair, obliged the Right to be silent, and +thus arose triumphantly from an accusation which had been made expressly +to intimidate him. + +They attacked not only a few deputies but the assembly itself. The court +intrigued against it, but the Right drove this to exaggeration. "We like +its decrees," said the abbé Maury; "we want three or four more of them." +Hired libellists sold, at its very doors, papers calculated to deprive it +of the respect of the people; the ministers blamed and obstructed its +progress. Necker, still haunted by the recollection of his former +ascendancy, addressed to it memorials, in which he opposed its decrees and +gave it advice. This minister could not accustom himself to a secondary +part: he would not fall in with the abrupt plans of the assembly, so +entirely opposed to his ideas of gradual reform. At length, convinced or +weary of the inutility of his efforts, he left Paris, after resigning, on +the 4th of September, 1790, and obscurely traversed those provinces which +a year before he had gone through in triumph. In revolutions, men are +easily forgotten, for the nation sees many in its varied course. If we +would not find them ungrateful, we must not cease for an instant to serve +according to their own desire. + +On the other hand, the nobility which had found a new subject of +discontent in the abolition of titles, continued its anti-revolutionary +efforts. As it did not succeed in exciting the people, who, from their +position, found the recent changes very beneficial, it had recourse to +means which it considered more certain; it quitted the kingdom, with the +intention of returning thither with all Europe as its armed ally; but +while waiting till a system of emigration could be organised, while +waiting for the appearance of foreign foes to the revolution, it continued +to arouse enemies to it in the interior of the kingdom. The troops, as we +have before observed, had already for some time been tampered with in +various ways. The new military code was favourable to the soldiers; +promotion formerly granted to the nobility was now granted to seniority. +Most of the officers were attached to the ancient régime, nor did they +conceal the fact. Compelled to take what had become the common oath, the +oath of fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king, some left the army, +and increased the number of emigrants, while others endeavoured to win the +soldiers over to their party. + +General Bouillé was of this number. After having long refused to take the +civic oath, he did so at last with this intention. He had a numerous body +of troops under his command near the northern frontier; he was clever, +resolute, attached to the king, opposed to the revolution, such as it had +then become, though the friend of reform; a circumstance that afterwards +brought him into suspicion at Coblentz. He kept his army isolated from the +citizens, that it might remain faithful, and that it might not be infected +with the spirit of insubordination which they communicated to the troops. +By skilful management, and the ascendancy of a great mind, he also +succeeded in retaining the confidence and attachment of his soldiers. It +was not thus elsewhere. The officers were the objects of a general +dislike; they were accused of diminishing the pay, and having no concern +for the great body of the troops. The prevailing opinions had also +something to do with this dissatisfaction. These combined causes led to +revolts among the men; that of Nancy, in August, 1790, produced great +alarm, and became almost the signal of a civil war. Three regiments, those +of Châteauvieux, Maître-de-camp, and the King's own, rebelled against +their chiefs. Bouillé was ordered to march against them; he did so at the +head of the garrison and national guard of Metz. After an animated +skirmish, he subdued them. The assembly congratulated him; but Paris, +which saw in Bouillé a conspirator, was thrown into fresh agitation at +this intelligence. Crowds collected, and the impeachment of the ministers +who had given orders to Bouillé to march upon Nancy was clamorously +demanded. Lafayette, however, succeeded in allaying this ebullition, +supported by the assembly, which, finding itself placed between a counter- +revolution and anarchy, opposed both with equal wisdom and courage. + +The aristocracy triumphed at the sight of the difficulties which perplexed +the assembly. They imagined that it would be compelled to be dependent on +the multitude, or deprive itself entirely of its support; and in either +case the return to the ancient régime appeared to them short and easy. The +clergy had its share in this work. The sale of church property, which it +took every means to impede, was effected at a higher price than that +fixed. The people, delivered from tithes and reassured as to the national +debt, were far from listening to the angry suggestions of the priests; +they accordingly made use of the civil constitution of the clergy to +excite a schism. We have seen that this decree of the assembly did not +affect either the discipline or the creed of the church. The king +sanctioned it on the 26th of December; but the bishops, who sought to +cover their interests with the mantle of religion, declared that it +encroached on the spiritual authority. The pope, consulted as to this +purely political measure, refused his assent to it, which the king +earnestly sought, and encouraged the opposition of the priests. The latter +decided that they would not concur in the establishment of the civil +constitution; that those of them who might be suppressed would protest +against this uncanonical act, that every bishopric created without the +concurrence of the pope should be null, and that the metropolitans should +refuse institution to bishops appointed according to civil forms. + +The assembly strengthened this league by attempting to frustrate it. If, +contrary to their real desire, it had left the dissentient priests to +themselves, they would not have found the elements of a religious war. But +the assembly decreed that the ecclesiastics should swear fidelity to the +nation, the law, and the king, and to maintain the civil constitution of +the clergy. Refusal to take this oath was to be attended by the +substitution of others in their bishoprics and cures. The assembly hoped +that the higher clergy from interest, and the lower clergy from ambition, +would adopt this measure. + +The bishops, on the contrary, thought that all the ecclesiastics would +follow their example, and that by refusing to swear, they would leave the +state without public worship, and the people without priests. The result +satisfied the expectations of neither party; the majority of the bishops +and curés of the assembly refused to take the oath, but a few bishops and +many curés took it. The dissentient incumbents were deprived, and the +electors nominated successors to them, who received canonical institution +from the bishops of Autun and Lida. But the deprived ecclesiastics refused +to abandon their functions, and declared their successors intruders, the +sacraments administred by them null, and all Christians who should venture +to recognise them excommunicated. They did not leave their dioceses; they +issued charges, and excited the people to disobey the laws; and thus an +affair of private interest became first a matter of religion and then a +matter of party. There were two bodies of clergy, one constitutional, the +other refractory; they had each its partisans, and treated each other as +rebels and heretics. According to passion or interest, religion became an +instrument or an obstacle; and while the priests made fanatics the +revolution made infidels. The people, not yet infected with this malady of +the upper classes, lost, especially in towns, the faith of their fathers, +from the imprudence of those who placed them between the revolution and +their religion. "The bishops," said the marquis de Ferrières, who will not +be suspected, "refused to fall in with any arrangements, and by their +guilty intrigues closed every approach to reconciliation; sacrificing the +catholic religion to an insane obstinacy, and a discreditable attachment +to their wealth." + +Every party sought to gain the people; it was courted as sovereign. After +attempting to influence it by religion, another means was employed, that +of the clubs. At that period, clubs were private assemblies, in which the +measures of government, the business of the state, and the decrees of the +assembly were discussed; their deliberations had no authority, but they +exercised a certain influence. The first club owed its origin to the +Breton deputies, who already met together at Versailles to consider the +course of proceeding they should take. When the national representatives +were transferred from Versailles to Paris, the Breton deputies and those +of the assembly who were of their views held their sittings in the old +convent of the Jacobins, which subsequently gave its name to their +meetings. It did not at first cease to be a preparatory assembly, but as +all things increase in time, the Jacobin club did not confine itself to +the influencing the assembly; it sought also to influence the municipality +and the people, and received as associates members of the municipality and +common citizens. Its organization became more regular, its action more +powerful; its sittings were regularly reported in the papers; it created +branch clubs in the provinces, and raised by the side of legal power +another power which first counselled and then conducted it. + +The Jacobin club, as it lost its primitive character and became a popular +assembly, had been forsaken by part of its founders. The latter +established another society on the plan of the old one, under the name of +the club of '89. Sieyès, Chapelier, Lafayette, La Rochefoucauld directed +it, as Lameth and Barnave directed that of the Jacobins. Mirabeau belonged +to both, and by both was equally courted. These clubs, of which the one +prevailed in the assembly and the other amongst the people, were attached +to the new order of things, though in different degrees. The aristocracy +sought to attack the revolution with its own arms; it opened royalist +clubs to oppose the popular clubs. That first established under the name +of the _Club des Impartiaux_ could not last because it addressed itself to +no class opinion. Reappearing under the name of the _Club Monarchique_, it +included among its members all those whose views it represented. It sought +to render itself popular with the lower classes, and distributed bread; +but far from accepting its overtures, the people considered such +establishments as a counter-revolutionary movement. The people disturbed +their sittings, and obliged them several times to change their place of +meeting. At length, the municipal authority found itself obliged, in +January, 1791, to close this club, which had been the cause of several +riots. + +The distrust of the multitude was extreme; the departure of the king's +aunts, to which it attached an exaggerated importance, increased its +uneasiness, and led it to suppose another departure was preparing. These +suspicions were not unfounded, and they occasioned a kind of rising which +the anti-revolutionists sought to turn to account by carrying off the +king. This project failed, owing to the resolution and skill of Lafayette. +While the crowd went to Vincennes to demolish the dungeon which they said +communicated with the Tuileries, and would favour the flight of the king, +more than six hundred persons armed with swords and daggers entered the +Tuileries to compel the king to flee. Lafayette, who had repaired to +Vincennes to disperse the multitude, returned to quell the anti- +revolutionists of the château, after dissipating the mob of the popular +party, and by this second expedition he regained the confidence which his +first had lost him. + +The attempt rendered the escape of Louis XVI. more feared than ever. +Accordingly, a short time after, when he wished to go to Saint Cloud, he +was prevented by the crowd and even by his own guard, despite the efforts +of Lafayette, who endeavoured to make them respect the law, and the +liberty of the monarch. The assembly on its side, after having decreed the +inviolability of the prince, after having regulated his constitutional +guard, and assigned the regency to the nearest male heir to the crown, +declared that his flight from the kingdom would lead to his dethronement. +The increasing emigration, the open avowal of its objects, and the +threatening attitude of the European cabinets, all cherished the fear that +the king might adopt such a determination. + +Then, for the first time, the assembly sought to stop the progress of +emigration by a decree; but this decree was a difficult question. If they +punished those who left the kingdom, they violated the maxims of liberty, +rendered sacred by the declaration of rights; if they did not raise +obstacles to emigration, they endangered the safety of France, as the +nobles merely quitted it in order to invade it. In the assembly, setting +aside those who favoured emigration, some looked only at the right, others +only at the danger, and every one sided with or opposed the restrictive +law, according to his mode of viewing the subject. Those who desired the +law, wished it to be mild; but only one law could be practicable at such a +moment, and the assembly shrank from enacting it. This law, by the +arbitrary order of a committee of three members, was to pronounce a +sentence of civil death on the fugitive, and the confiscation of his +property. "The horror expressed on the reading of this project," cried +Mirabeau, "proves that this is a law worthy of being placed in the code of +Draco, and cannot find place among the decrees of the national assembly of +France. I proclaim that I shall consider myself released from every oath +of fidelity I have made towards those who may be infamous enough to +nominate a dictatorial commission. The popularity I covet, and which I +have the honour to enjoy, is not a feeble reed; I wish it to take root in +the soil, based on justice and liberty." The exterior position was not yet +sufficiently alarming for the adoption of such a measure of safety and +revolutionary defence. + +Mirabeau did not long enjoy the popularity which he imagined he was so +sure of. That was the last sitting he attended. A few days afterwards he +terminated a life worn out by passions and by toil. His death, which +happened on the 2nd of March, 1791, was considered a public calamity; all +Paris attended his funeral; there was a general mourning throughout +France, and his remains were deposited in the receptacle which had just +been consecrated _aux grands hommes_, in the name of _la patrie +reconnaissante_. No one succeeded him in power and popularity; and for a +long time, in difficult discussions, the eyes of the assembly would turn +towards the seat from whence they had been accustomed to hear the +commanding eloquence which terminated their debates. Mirabeau, after +having assisted the revolution with his daring in seasons of trial, and +with his powerful reasoning since its victory, died seasonably. He was +revolving vast designs; he wished to strengthen the throne, and +consolidate the revolution; two attempts extremely difficult at such a +time. It is to be feared that royalty, if he had made it independent, +would have put down the revolution; or, if he had failed, that the +revolution would have put down royalty. It is, perhaps, impossible to +convert an ancient power into a new order; perhaps a revolution must be +prolonged in order to become legitimate, and the throne, as it recovers, +acquire the novelty of the other institutions. + +From the 5th and 6th of October, 1789, to the month of April, 1791, the +national assembly completed the reorganization of France; the court gave +itself up to petty intrigues and projects of flight; the privileged +classes sought for new means of power, those which they formerly possessed +having been successively taken from them. They took advantage of all the +opportunities of disorder which circumstances furnished them with, to +attack the new régime and restore the old, by means of anarchy. At the +opening of the law courts the nobility caused the Chambres de vacations to +protest; when the provinces were abolished, it made the orders protest. As +soon as the departments were formed, it tried new elections; when the old +writs had expired, it sought the dissolution of the assembly; when the new +military code passed, it endeavoured to excite the defection of the +officers; lastly, all these means of opposition failing to effect the +success of its designs, it emigrated, to excite Europe against the +revolution. The clergy, on its side, discontented with the loss of its +possessions still more than with the ecclesiastical constitution, sought +to destroy the new order by insurrections, and to bring on insurrections +by a schism. Thus it was during this epoch that parties became gradually +disunited, and that the two classes hostile to the revolution prepared the +elements of civil and foreign war. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 3OTH SEPTEMBER. THE END OF THE CONSTITUENT +ASSEMBLY + + +The French revolution was to change the political state of Europe, to +terminate the strife of kings among themselves, and to commence that +between kings and people. This would have taken place much later had not +the kings themselves provoked it. They sought to suppress the revolution, +and they extended it; for by attacking it they were to render it +victorious. Europe had then arrived at the term of the political system +which swayed it. The political activity of the several states after being +internal under the feudal government, had become external under the +monarchical government. The first period terminated almost at the same +time among all the great nations of Europe. Then kings who had so long +been at war with their vassals, because they were in contact with them, +encountered each other on the boundaries of their kingdoms, and fought. As +no domination could become universal, neither that of Charles V. nor that +of Louis XIV., the weak always uniting against the strong, after several +vicissitudes of superiority and alliance, a sort of European equilibrium +was established. In order to appreciate ulterior events, I propose to +consider this equilibrium before the revolution. + +Austria, England, and France had been, from the peace of Westphalia to the +middle of the eighteenth century, the three great powers of Europe. +Interest had leagued the two first against the third. Austria had reason +to dread the influence of France in the Netherlands; England feared it on +the sea. Rivalry of power and commerce often set them at variance, and +they sought to weaken or plunder each other. Spain, since a prince of the +house of Bourbon had been on the throne, was the ally of France against +England. This, however, was a fallen power: confined to a corner of the +continent, oppressed by the system of Philip II., deprived by the Family +Compact of the only enemy that could keep it in action, by sea only had it +retained any of its ancient superiority. But France had other allies on +all sides of Austria: Sweden on the north; Poland and the Porte on the +east; in the south of Germany, Bavaria; Prussia on the west; and in Italy, +the kingdom of Naples. These powers, having reason to dread the +encroachments of Austria, were naturally the allies of her enemy. +Piedmont, placed between the two systems of alliance, sided, according to +circumstances and its interests, with either. Holland was united with +England or with France, as the party of the stadtholders or that of the +people prevailed in the republic. Switzerland was neutral. + +In the last half of the eighteenth century, two powers had risen in the +north, Russia and Prussia. The latter had been changed from a simple +electorate into an important kingdom, by Frederick-William, who had given +it a treasure and an army; and by his son Frederick the Great, who had +made use of these to extend his territory. Russia, long unconnected with +the other states, had been more especially introduced into the politics of +Europe by Peter I. and Catharine II. The accession of these two powers +considerably modified the ancient alliances. In concert with the cabinet +of Vienna, Russia and Prussia had executed the first partition of Poland +in 1772; and after the death of Frederick the Great, the empress Catharine +and the emperor Joseph united in 1785 to effect that of European Turkey. + +The cabinet of Versailles, weakened since the imprudent and unfortunate +Seven Years' War, had assisted at the partition of Poland without opposing +it, had raised no obstacle to the fall of the Ottoman empire, and even +allowed its ally, the republican party in Holland, to sink under the blows +of Prussia and England, without assisting it. The latter powers had in +1787 re-established by force the hereditary, stadtholderate of the United +Provinces. The only act which did honour to French policy, was the support +it had happily given to the emancipation of North America. The revolution +of 1789, while extending the moral influence of France, diminished still +more its diplomatic influence. + +England, under the government of young Pitt, was alarmed in 1788 at the +ambitious projects of Russia, and united with Holland and Prussia to put +an end to them. Hostilities were on the point of commencing when the +emperor Joseph died, in February, 1790, and was succeeded by Leopold, who +in July accepted the convention of Reichenbach. This convention, by the +mediation of England, Russia, and Holland, settled the terms of the peace +between Austria and Turkey, which was signed definitively, on the 4th of +August, 1791, at Sistova; it at the same time provided for the +pacification of the Netherlands. Urged by England and Prussia, Catharine +II. also made peace with the Porte at Jassy, on the 29th of December, +1791. These negotiations, and the treaties they gave rise to, terminated +the political struggles of the eighteenth century, and left the powers +free to turn their attention to the French Revolution. + +The princes of Europe, who had hitherto had no enemies but themselves, +viewed it in the light of a common foe. The ancient relations of war and +of alliance, already overlooked during the Seven Years' War, now ceased +entirely: Sweden united with Russia, and Prussia with Austria. There was +nothing now but the kings on one side, and people on the other, waiting +for the auxiliaries which its example, or the faults of princes might give +it. A general coalition was soon formed against the French revolution. +Austria engaged in it with the hope of aggrandizement, England to avenge +the American war, and to preserve itself from the spirit of the +revolution; Prussia to strengthen the threatened absolute power, and +profitably to engage its unemployed army; the German states to restore +feudal rights to some of their members who had been deprived of them, by +the abolition of the old régime in Alsace; the king of Sweden, who had +constituted himself the champion of arbitrary power, to re-establish it in +France, as he had just done in his own country; Russia, that it might +execute without trouble the partition of Poland, while the attention of +Europe was directed elsewhere; finally, all the sovereigns of the house of +Bourbon, from the interest of power and family attachments. The emigrants +encouraged them in these projects, and excited them to invasion. According +to them, France was without an army, or at least without leaders, +destitute of money, given up to disorder, weary of the assembly, disposed +to the ancient régime, and without either the means or the inclination to +defend itself. They flocked in crowds to take a share in the promised +short campaign, and formed into organized bodies under the prince de +Condé, at Worms, and the count d'Artois, at Coblentz. + +The count d'Artois especially hastened the determination of the cabinets. +The emperor Leopold was in Italy, and the count repaired to him, with +Calonne as minister, and the count Alphonse de Durfort, who had been his +mediator with the court of the Tuileries, and who had brought him the +king's authority to treat with Leopold. The conference took place at +Mantua, and the count de Durfort returned, and delivered to Louis XVI. in +the name of the emperor, a secret declaration, in which was announced to +him the speedy assistance of the coalition. Austria was to advance thirty- +five thousand men on the frontier of Flanders; the German states, fifteen +thousand on Alsace; the Swiss, fifteen thousand on the Lyonese frontier; +the king of Sardinia, fifteen thousand on that of Dauphiné; Spain was to +augment its army in Catalonia to twenty thousand; Prussia was well +disposed in favour of the coalition, and the king of England was to take +part in it as elector of Hanover. All these troops were to move at the +same time, at the end of July; the house of Bourbon was then to make a +protest, and the powers were to publish a manifesto; until then, however, +it was essential to keep the design secret, to avoid all partial +insurrection, and to make no attempt at flight. Such was the result of the +conferences at Mantua on the 20th May, 1791. + +Louis XVI., either from a desire not to place himself entirely at the +mercy of foreign powers, or dreading the ascendency which the count +d'Artois, should he return at the head of the victorious emigrants, would +assume over the government he had established, preferred restoring the +government alone. In general Bouillé he had a devoted and skilful +partisan, who at the same time condemned both emigration and the assembly, +and promised him refuge and support in his army. For some time past, a +secret correspondence had taken place between him and the king. Bouillé +prepared everything to receive him. He established a camp at Montmedy, +under the pretext of a movement of hostile troops on the frontier; he +placed detachments on the route the king was to take, to serve him for +escort, and as a motive was necessary for these arrangements, he alleged +that of protecting the money despatched for the payment of the troops. + +The royal family on its side made every preparation for departure; very +few persons were informed of it, and no measures betrayed it. Louis XVI. +and the queen, on the contrary, pursued a line of conduct calculated to +silence suspicion; and on the night of the 20th of June, they issued at +the appointed hour from the château, one by one, in disguise. In this way +they eluded the vigilance of the guard, reached the Boulevard, where a +carriage awaited them, and took the road to Châlons and Montmedy. + +On the following day the news of this escape threw Paris into +consternation; indignation soon became the prevailing sentiment; crowds +assembled, and the tumult increased. Those who had not prevented the +flight were accused of favouring it. Neither Bailly nor Lafayette escaped +the general mistrust. This event was considered the precursor of the +invasion of France, the triumph of the emigrants; the return of the +ancient régime, and a long civil war. But the conduct of the assembly soon +restored the public mind to calmness and security. It took every measure +which so difficult a conjuncture required. It summoned the ministers and +authorities to its bar; calmed the people by a proclamation; used proper +precautions to secure public tranquillity; seized on the executive power, +commissioned Montmorin, the minister of foreign affairs, to inform the +European powers of its pacific intentions; sent commissioners to secure +the favour of the troops, and receive their oath, no longer made in the +name of the king, but in that of the assembly, and lastly, issued an order +through the departments for the arrest of any one attempting to leave the +kingdom. "Thus, in less than four hours," says the marquis de Ferrières, +"the assembly was invested with every kind of power. The government went +on; public tranquillity did not experience the slightest shock; and Paris +and France learned from this experience, so fatal to royalty, that the +monarch is almost always a stranger to the government that exists in his +name." + +Meantime Louis XVI. and his family were drawing near the termination of +their journey. The success of the first days' journeys, the increasing +distance from Paris, rendered the king less reserved and more confident; +he had the imprudence to show himself, was recognised, and arrested at +Varennes on the 21st. The national guard were under arms instantly; the +officers of the detachments posted by Bouillé sought in vain to rescue the +king; the dragoons and hussars feared or refused to support them. Bouillé, +apprised of this fatal event, hastened himself at the head of a regiment +of cavalry. But it was too late; on reaching Varennes, he found that the +king had left it several hours before; his squadrons were tired, and +refused to advance. The national guard were on all sides under arms, and +after the failure of his enterprise, he had no alternative but to leave +the army and quit France. + +The assembly, on hearing of the king's arrest, sent to him, as +commissioners, three of its members, Pétion, Latour-Maubourg, and Barnave. +They met the royal family at Epernay and returned with them. It was during +this journey, that Barnave, touched by the good sense of Louis XVI., the +fascinations of Marie Antoinette, and the fate of this fallen family, +conceived for it an earnest interest. From that day he gave it his +assiduous counsel and support. On reaching Paris the royal party passed +through an immense crowd, which expressed neither applause nor murmurs, +but observed a reproachful silence. + +The king was provisionally suspended: he had had a guard set over him, as +had the queen; and commissioners were appointed to question him. Agitation +pervaded all parties. Some desired to retain the king on the throne, +notwithstanding his flight; others maintained, that he had abdicated by +condemning, in a manifesto addressed to the French on his departure, both +the revolution, and the acts which had emanated from him during that +period, which he termed a time of captivity. + +The republican party now began to appear. Hitherto it had remained either +dependent or hidden, because it had been without any existence of its own, +or because it wanted a pretext for displaying itself. The struggle, which +lay at first between the assembly and the court, then between the +constitutionalists and the aristocrats, and latterly among the +constitutionalists themselves, was now about to commence between the +constitutionalists and the republicans. In times of revolution such is the +inevitable course of events. The partisans of the order newly established +then met and renounced differences of opinion which were detrimental to +their cause, even while the assembly was all powerful, but which had +become highly perilous, now that the emigration party threatened it on the +one hand, and the multitude on the other. Mirabeau was no more. The +Centre, on which this powerful man had relied, and which constituted the +least ambitious portion of the assembly, the most attached to principles, +might by joining the Lameths, re-establish Louis XVI. and constitutional +monarchy, and present a formidable opposition to the popular ebullition. + +This alliance took place; the Lameth party came to an understanding with +André and the principal members of the Centre, made overtures to the +court, and opened the club of the Feuillants in opposition to that of the +Jacobins. But the latter could not want leaders; under Mirabeau, they had +contended against Mounier; under the Lameths against Mirabeau; under +Pétion and Robespierre, they contended against the Lameths. The party +which desired a second revolution had constantly supported the most +extreme actors in the revolution already accomplished, because this was +bringing within its reach the struggle and the victory. At this period, +from subordinate it had become independent; it no longer fought for others +and for opinions not its own, but for itself, and under its own banner. +The court, by its multiplied faults, its imprudent machinations, and, +lastly, by the flight of the monarch, had given it a sort of authority to +avow its object; and the Lameths, by forsaking it, had left it to its true +leaders. + +The Lameths, in their turn, underwent the reproaches of the multitude, +which saw only their alliance with the court, without examining its +conditions. But supported by all the constitutionalists, they were +strongest in the assembly; and they found it essential to establish the +king as soon as possible, in order to put a stop to a controversy which +threatened the new order, by authorizing the public party to demand the +abolition of the royal power while its suspension lasted. The +commissioners appointed to interrogate Louis XVI. dictated to him a +declaration, which they presented in his name to the assembly, and which +modified the injurious effect of his flight. The reporter declared, in the +name of the seven committees entrusted with the examination of this great +question, that there were no grounds for bringing Louis XVI. to trial, or +for pronouncing his dethronement. The discussion which followed this +report was long and animated; the efforts of the republican party, +notwithstanding their pertinacity, were unsuccessful. Most of their +orators spoke; they demanded deposition or a regency; that is to say, +popular government, or an approach towards it. Barnave, after meeting all +their arguments, finished his speech with these remarkable words: +"Regenerators of the empire, follow your course without deviation. You +have proved that you had courage to destroy the abuses of power; you have +proved that you possessed all that was requisite to substitute wise and +good institutions in their place; prove now that you have the wisdom to +protect and maintain these. The nation has just given a great evidence of +its strength and courage; it has displayed, solemnly and by a spontaneous +movement, all that it could oppose to the attacks which threatened it. +Continue the same precautions; let our boundaries, let our frontiers be +powerfully defended. But while we manifest our power, let us also prove +our moderation; let us present peace to the world, alarmed by the events +which take place amongst us; let us present an occasion for triumph to all +those who in foreign lands have taken an interest in our revolution. They +cry to us from all parts: you are powerful; be wise, be moderate, therein +will lie your highest glory. Thus will you prove that in various +circumstances you can employ various means, talents, and virtues." + +The assembly sided with Barnave. But to pacify the people, and to provide +for the future safety of France, it decreed that the king should be +considered as abdicating, _de facto_, if he retracted the oath he had +taken to the constitution; if he headed an army for the purpose of making +war upon the nation, or permitted any one to do so in his name; and that, +in such case, become a simple citizen, he would cease to be inviolable, +and might be responsible for acts committed subsequent to his abdication. + +On the day that this decree was adopted by the assembly, the leaders of +the republican party excited the multitude against it. But the hall in +which it sat was surrounded by the national guard, and it could not be +assailed or intimidated. The agitators unable to prevent the passing of +the decree, aroused the people against it. They drew up a petition, in +which they denied the competency of the assembly; appealed from it to the +sovereignty of the nation, treated Louis XVI. as deposed since his flight, +and demanded a substitute for him. This petition, drawn up by Brissot, +author of the _Patriote Français_, and president of the _Comité des +Recherches_ of Paris, was carried, on the 17th of July, to the altar of +the country in the Champ de Mars: an immense crowd flocked to sign it. The +assembly, apprized of what was taking place, summoned the municipal +authorities to its bar, and directed them to preserve the public +tranquillity. Lafayette marched against the crowd, and in the first +instance succeeded in dispersing it without bloodshed. The municipal +officers took up their quarters in the Invalides; but the same day the +crowd returned in greater numbers, and with more determination. Danton and +Camille Desmoulins harangued them from the altar of the country. Two +Invalides, supposed to be spies, were massacred and their heads stuck on +pikes. The insurrection became alarming. Lafayette again repaired to the +Champ de Mars, at the head of twelve hundred of the national guard. Bailly +accompanied him, and had the red banner unfurled. The crowd was then +summoned to disperse in the name of the law; it refused to retire, and, +contemning authority, shouted, "Down with the red flag!" and assailed the +national guard with stones. Lafayette ordered his men to fire, but in the +air. The crowd was not intimidated with this, and resumed the attack; +compelled by the obstinacy of the insurgents, Lafayette then ordered +another discharge, a real and effective one. The terrified multitude fled, +leaving many dead on the field. The disturbances now ceased, order was +restored; but blood had flown, and the people never forgave Bailly or +Lafayette the cruel necessity to which the crowd had driven them. This was +a regular combat, in which the republican party, not as yet sufficiently +strong or established, was defeated by the constitutional monarchy party. +The attempt of the Champ de Mars was the prelude of the popular movements +which led to the 10th of August. + +While this was passing in the assembly and at Paris, the emigrants, whom +the flight of Louis XVI. had elated with hope, were thrown into +consternation at his arrest. _Monsieur_, who had fled at the same time as +his brother, and with better fortune, arrived alone at Brussels with the +powers and title of regent. The emigrants thenceforth relied only on the +assistance of Europe; the officers quitted their colours; two hundred and +ninety members of the assembly protested against its decrees; in order to +legitimatize invasion, Bouillé wrote a threatening letter, in the +inconceivable hope of intimidating the assembly, and at the same time to +take upon himself the sole responsibility of the flight of Louis XVI.; +finally, the emperor, the king of Prussia, and the count d'Artois met at +Pilnitz, where they made the famous declaration of the 27th of August, +preparatory to the invasion of France, and which, far from improving the +condition of the king, would have imperilled him, had not the assembly, in +its wisdom, continued to follow out its new designs, regardless at once of +the clamours of the multitude at home, and the foreign powers. + +In the declaration of Pilnitz, the sovereigns considered the cause of +Louis XVI. as their own. They required that he should be free to go where +he pleased, that is to say, to repair to them that he should be restored +to his throne; that the assembly should be dissolved, and that the princes +of the empire having possessions in Alsace, should be reinstated in their +feudal rights In case of refusal, they threatened France with a war in +which all the powers who were guarantees for the French monarchy would +concur. This declaration, so far from discouraging, only served to +irritate the assembly and the people. Men asked only another, what right +the princes of Europe had to interfere in the government of France; by +what right they gave orders to great people, and imposed conditions upon +it; and since the sovereigns appealed to force, the people of France +prepared to resist them. The frontiers were put in a state of defence; the +hundred thousand men of the national guard were enrolled, and they awaited +in calm serenity the attack of the enemy, well convinced that the French +people, on their own soil and in a state of revolution, would be +invincible. + +Meantime, the assembly approached the close of its labours; civil +relations, public taxation, the nature of crimes, their prosecution, and +their punishment, had been by it as wisely regulated as were the public +and constitutional relations of the country. Equality had been introduced +into the laws of inheritance, into taxation, and into punishments; nothing +remained but to unite all the constitutional decrees into a body and +submit them to the king for his approval. The assembly was growing weary +of its labours and of its dissensions; the people itself, who in France +ever become tired of that which continues beyond a certain time, desired a +new national representation; the convocation of the electoral colleges was +therefore fixed for the 5th of August. Unfortunately, the members of the +present assembly could not form part of the succeeding one; this had been +decided before the flight to Varennes. In this important question, the +assembly had been drawn away by the rivalry of some, the disinterestedness +of others, the desire for anarchy on the part of the aristocrats, and of +domination on that of the republicans. Vainly did Duport exclaim: "While +every one is pestering us with new principles of all sorts, how is it +overlooked that stability is also a principle of government? Is France, +whose children are so ardent and changeable, to be exposed every two years +to a revolution in her laws and opinions?" This was the desire of the +privileged classes and the Jacobins, though with different views. In all +such matters, the constituent assembly was deceived or overruled; when the +ministry was in question, it decided, in opposition to Mirabeau, that no +deputy could hold office; on the subject of re-election, it decided, in +opposition to its own members, that it could not take place; in the same +spirit, it prohibited their accepting, for four years, any post offered +them by the prince. This mania of disinterestedness soon induced Lafayette +to divest himself of the command of the national guard, and Bailly to +resign the mayoralty. Thus this remarkable epoch entirely annihilated the +constituent body. + +The collection of the constitutional decrees into one body led to the idea +of revising them. But this idea of revision gave great dissatisfaction, +and was almost of no effect; it was not desirable to render the +constitution more aristocratic by after measures, lest the multitude +should require it to be made more popular. To limit the sovereignty of the +nation, and, at the same time, not to overlook it, the assembly declared +that France had a right to revise its constitution, but that it was +prudent not to exercise this right for thirty years. + +The act of the constitution was presented to the king by sixty deputies; +the suspension being taken off, Louis XVI. resumed the exercise of his +power; and the guard the law had given him was placed under his own +command. Thus restored to freedom, the constitution was submitted to him. +After examining it for several days, "I accept the constitution," he wrote +to the assembly; "I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all +attacks from abroad; and to cause its execution by all the means it places +at my disposal. I declare, that being informed of the attachment of the +great majority of the people to the constitution, I renounce my claim to +assist in the work, and that being responsible to the nation alone, no +other person, now that I have made this renunciation, has a right to +complain." + +This letter excited general approbation. Lafayette demanded and procured +an amnesty in favour of those who were under prosecution for favouring the +king's flight, or for proceedings against the revolution. Next day the +king came in person to accept the constitution in the assembly. The +populace attended him thither with acclamations; he was the object of the +enthusiasm of the deputies and spectators, and he regained that day the +confidence and affection of his subjects. The 29th of September was fixed +for the closing of the assembly; the king was present; his speech was +often interrupted by applause, and when he said, "For you, gentlemen, who +during a long and arduous career have displayed such indefatigable zeal, +there remains one duty to fulfil when you have returned to your homes over +the country: to explain to your fellow-citizens the true meaning of the +laws you have made for them; to counsel those who slight them; to clarify +and unite all opinions by the example you shall afford of your love of +order, and of submission to the laws." Cries of "Yes! yes!" were uttered +by all the deputies with one common voice. "I rely on your being the +interpreters of my sentiments to your fellow-citizens." "Yes! yes!" "Tell +them all that the king will always be their first and most faithful +friend; that he needs their love; that he can only be happy with them and +by their means; the hope of contributing to their happiness will sustain +my courage, as the satisfaction of having succeeded will be my sweetest +recompense" + +"It is a speech worthy of Henry IV.," said a voice, and the king left the +hall amidst the loudest testimonials of love. + +Then Thouret, in a loud voice, and addressing the people, exclaimed: "The +constituent assembly pronounces its mission accomplished, and that its +sittings now terminate." Thus closed this first and glorious assembly of +the nation. It was courageous, intelligent, just, and had but one passion +--a passion for law. It accomplished, in two years, by its efforts, and +with indefatigable perseverance, the greatest revolution ever witnessed by +one generation of men. Amidst its labours, it repressed despotism and +anarchy, by frustrating the conspiracies of the aristocracy and +maintaining the multitude in subordination. Its only fault was that it did +not confide the guidance of the revolution to those who were its authors; +it divested itself of power, like those legislators of antiquity who +exiled themselves from their country after giving it a constitution. A new +assembly did not apply itself to consolidating its work, and the +revolution, which ought to have been finished, was recommenced. + +The constitution of 1791 was based on principles adapted to the ideas and +situation of France. This constitution was the work of the middle class, +then the strongest; for, as is well known, the predominant force ever +takes possession of institutions. When it belongs to one man alone, it is +despotism; when to several, it is privilege; when to all, it is right; +this last state is the limit, as it is the origin, of society. France had +at length attained it, after passing through feudalism, which was the +aristocratic institution, and absolute power, which was the monarchical +institution. Equality was consecrated among the citizens, and delegation +recognised among the powers; such were to be, under the new system, the +condition of men, and the form of government. + +In this constitution the people was the source of all powers, but it +exercised none; it was entrusted only with election in the first instance, +and its magistrates were selected by men chosen from among the enlightened +portions of the community. The latter constituted the assembly, the law +courts, the public offices, the corporations, the militia, and thus +possessed all the force and all the power of the state. It alone was fit +to exercise them, because it alone had the intelligence necessary for the +conduct of government. The people was not yet sufficiently advanced to +participate in power, consequently, it was only by accident, and in the +most casual and evanescent manner, that power fell into its hands; but it +received civic education, and was disciplined to government in the primary +assemblies, according to the true aim of society, which is not to confer +its advantages as a patrimony on one particular class, but to make all +share in them, when all are capable of acquiring them. This was the +leading characteristic of the constitution of 1791; as each, by degrees, +became competent to enjoy the right, he was admitted to it; it extended +its limits with the extension of civilization, which every day calls a +greater number of men to the administration of the state. In this way it +had established true equality, whose real character is admissibility, as +that of inequality is exclusion. In rendering power transferable by +election, it made it a public magistracy; whilst privilege, in rendering +it hereditary by transmission, makes it private property. + +The constitution of 1791 established homogeneous powers which corresponded +among themselves, and thus reciprocally restrained each other; still, it +must be confessed, the royal authority was too subordinate to popular +power. It is never otherwise: sovereignty, from whatever source derived, +gives itself a feeble counterpoise when it limits itself. A constituent +assembly enfeebles royalty; a king who is a legislator limits the +prerogatives of an assembly. + +This constitution was, however, less democratic than that of the United +States, which had been practicable, despite the extent of the territory, +proving that it is not the form of institutions, but the assent which they +obtain, or the dissent which they excite, which permits or hinders their +establishment. In a new country, after a revolution of independence, as in +America, any constitution is possible; there is but one hostile party, +that of the metropolis, and when that is overcome, the struggle ceases, +because defeat leads to its expulsion. It is not so with social +revolutions among nations who have long been in existence. Changes attack +interests, interests form parties, parties enter into contest, and the +more victory spreads the greater grows opposition. This is what happened +in France. The work of the constituent assembly perished less from its +defects than from the attacks of faction. Placed between the aristocracy +and the multitude, it was attacked by the one and invaded by the other. +The latter would not have become sovereign, had not civil war and the +foreign coalition called for its intervention and aid. To defend the +country, it became necessary that it should govern it; then it effected +its revolution, as the middle class had effected its own. It had its 14th +of July in the 10th of August; its constituent assembly, the convention; +its government, which was the committee of public safety; yet, as we shall +see, without emigration there would have been no republic. + + + + +THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + + + + +CHAPTER V + +FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792 + + +The new assembly opened its session on the 1st October, 1791. It declared +itself immediately _the national legislative assembly_. From its first +appearance, it had occasion to display its attachment to the actual state +of things, and the respect it felt for the authors of French liberty. The +book of the constitution was solemnly presented to it by the archivist +Camus, accompanied by twelve of the oldest members of the national +representation. The assembly received the constitutional act standing and +uncovered, and on it took the oath, amidst the acclamations of the people +who occupied the tribunes, "_to live free or perish!_" A vote of thanks +was given by it to the members of the constituent assembly, and it then +prepared to commence its labours. + +But its first relations with the king had not the same character of union +and confidence. The court, doubtless hoping to regain under the +legislative, the superior position which it had lost under the constituent +assembly, did not employ sufficient management towards a susceptible and +anxious popular authority, which was then considered the first of the +state. The assembly sent a deputation of sixty of its members to the king +to announce its opening. The king did not receive them in person, and sent +word by the minister of justice that he could not give them audience till +noon on the following day. This unceremonious dismissal, and the indirect +communication between the national representatives and the prince, by +means of a minister, hurt the deputation excessively. Accordingly, when +the audience took place, Duchastel, who headed the deputation, said to him +laconically: "Sire, the national legislative assembly is sitting; we are +deputed to inform you of this." Louis XVI. replied still more drily: "I +cannot visit you before Friday." This conduct of the court towards the +assembly was impolitic, and little calculated to conciliate the affection +of the people. + +The assembly approved of the cold manner assumed by the deputation, and +soon indulged in an act of reprisal. The ceremony with which the king was +to be received among them was arranged according to preceding laws. A +fauteuil in the form of a throne was reserved for him; they used towards +him the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_, and the deputies, standing and +uncovered on his entrance, were to sit down, put on their hats, and rise +again, following with deference all the movements of the prince. Some +restless and exaggerated minds considered this condescension unworthy of a +sovereign assembly. The deputy Grangeneuve required that the words _sire_ +and _majesty_ should be replaced by the "more constitutional and finer" +title of _king of the French_. Couthon strongly enforced this motion, and +proposed that a simple fauteuil should be assigned to the king, exactly +like the president's. These motions excited some slight disapprobation on +the part of a few members, but the greater number received them eagerly. +"It gives me pleasure to suppose," said Guadet, "that the French people +will always venerate the simple fauteuil upon which sits the president of +the national representatives, much more than the gilded fauteuil where +sits the head of the executive power. I will say nothing, gentlemen, of +the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_. It astonishes me to find the national +assembly deliberating whether they shall be retained. The word _sire_ +signifies seigneur; it belonged to the feudal system, which has ceased to +exist. As for the term _majesty_, it should only be employed in speaking +of God and of the people." + +The previous question was demanded, but feebly; these motions were put to +the vote, and carried by a considerable majority. Yet, as this decree +appeared hostile, the constitutional opinion pronounced itself against it, +and censured this too excessive rigour in the application of principles. +On the following day those who had demanded the previous question moved +that the decisions of the day before should be abandoned. A report was +circulated, at the same time, that the king would not enter the assembly +if the decree were maintained; and the decree was revoked. These petty +skirmishes between two powers who had to fear usurpations, assumptions, +and more especially ill will between them, terminated here on this +occasion, and all recollection of them was effaced by the presence of +Louis XVI. in the legislative body, where he was received with the +greatest respect and the most lively enthusiasm. + +General pacification formed the chief topic of his speech. He pointed out +to the assembly the subjects that ought to attract its attention,-- +finance, civil law, commerce, trade, and the consolidation of the new +government; he promised to employ his influence to restore order and +discipline in the army, to put the kingdom in a state of defence, and to +diffuse ideas respecting the French revolution, calculated to re-establish +a good understanding in Europe. He added the following words, which were +received with much applause: "Gentlemen, in order that your important +labours, as well as your zeal, may produce all the good which may be +expected from them, a constant harmony and unchanging confidence should +reign between the legislative body and the king. The enemies of our peace +seek but too eagerly to disunite us, but let love of country cement our +union, and let public interest make us inseparable! Thus public power may +develop itself without obstacle; government will not be harassed by vain +fears; the possessions and faith of each will be equally protected, and no +pretext will remain for any one to live apart from a country where the +laws are in vigour, and where the rights of all are respected." +Unfortunately there were two classes, without the revolution, that would +not enter into composition with it, and whose efforts in Europe and the +interior of France were to prevent the realization of these wise and +pacific words. As soon as there are displaced parties in a state, a +struggle will result, and measures of hostility must be taken against +them. Accordingly, the internal troubles, fomented by non-juring priests, +the military assemblings of emigrants, and the preparations for the +coalition, soon drove the legislative assembly further than the +constitution allowed, and than it itself had proposed. + +The composition of this assembly was completely popular. The prevailing +ideas being in favour of the revolution, the court, nobility, and clergy +had exercised no influence over the elections. There were not in this +assembly, as in the preceding, partisans of absolute power and of +privilege. The two fractions of the Left who had separated towards the +close of the constituent assembly were again brought face to face; but no +longer in the same proportion of number and strength. The popular minority +of the previous assembly became the majority in this. The prohibition +against electing representatives already tried, the necessity of choosing +deputies from those most distinguished by their conduct and opinions, and +especially the active influence of the clubs, led to this result. Opinions +and parties soon became known. As in the constituent assembly there was a +Right, a Centre, a Left, but of a perfectly different character. + +The Right, composed of firm and absolute constitutionalists, composed the +Feuillant party. Its principal speakers were Dumas, Ramond, Vaublanc, +Beugnot, etc. It had some relations with the court, through Barnave, +Duport, and Alexander Lameth, who were its former leaders; but whose +counsels were rarely followed by Louis XVI., who gave himself up with more +confidence to the advice of those immediately around him. Out of doors, it +supported itself on the club of the Feuillants and upon the bourgeoisie. +The national guard, the army, the directory of the department, and in +general all the constituted authorities, were favourable to it. But this +party, which no longer prevailed in the assembly, soon lost a post quite +as essential, that of the municipality, which was occupied by its +adversaries of the Left. + +These formed the party called Girondist, and which in the revolution only +formed an intermediate party between the middle class and the multitude. +It had then no subversive project; but it was disposed to defend the +revolution in every way, and in this differed from the constitutionalists +who would only defend it with the law. At its head were the brilliant +orators of the Gironde, [Footnote: The name of the river Garonne, after +its confluence with the Dordogne.] who gave their name to the party, +Vergniaud, Guadet, Gensonné, and the Provençal Isnard, who had a style of +still more impassioned eloquence than theirs. Its chief leader was +Brissot, who, a member of the corporation of Paris during the last +session, had subsequently become a member of the assembly. The opinions of +Brissot, who advocated a complete reform; his great activity of mind, +which he developed at once in the journal the _Patriote_, in the tribune +of the assembly, and at the club of the Jacobins; his exact and extensive +knowledge of the position of foreign powers, gave him great ascendancy at +the moment of a struggle between parties, and of a war with Europe. +Condorcet possessed influence of another description; he owed this to his +profound ideas, to his superior reason, which almost procured him the +place of Sieyès in this second revolutionary generation. Pétion, of a calm +and determined character, was the active man of this party. His tranquil +brow, his fluent elocution, his acquaintance with the people, soon +procured for him the municipal magistracy, which Bailly had discharged for +the middle class. + +The Left had in the assembly the nucleus of a party more extreme than +itself, and the members of which, such as Chabot, Bazire, Merlin, were to +the Girondists what Pétion, Buzot, Robespierre, had been to the Left of +the constituent. This was the commencement of the democratic faction +which, without, served as auxiliary to the Gironde, and which managed the +clubs and the multitude. Robespierre in the society of the Jacobins, where +he established his sway after leaving the assembly; Danton, Camille +Desmoulins, and Fabre-d'Eglantine at the Cordeliers, where they had +founded a club of innovators more extreme than the Jacobins, composed of +men of the bourgeoisie; the brewer Santerre in the faubourgs, where the +popular power lay; were the true chiefs of this faction, which depended on +one whole class, and aspired at founding its own régime. + +The Centre of the legislative assembly was sincerely attached to the new +order of things. It had almost the same opinions, the same inclination for +moderation as the Centre of the constituent assembly; but its power was +very different: it was no longer at the head of a class established, and +by the aid of which it could master all the extreme parties. Public +dangers, making the want of exalted opinions and parties from without +again felt, completely annulled the Centre. It was soon won over to the +strongest side, the fate of all moderate parties, and the Left swayed it. + +The situation of the assembly was very difficult. Its predecessor had left +it parties which it evidently could not pacify. From the beginning of the +session it was obliged to turn its attention to these, and that in +opposing them. Emigration was making an alarming progress: the king's two +brothers, the prince de Condé and the duke de Bourbon, had protested +against Louis XVI. accepting the constitutional act, that is, against the +only means of accommodation; they had said that the king could not +alienate the rights of the ancient monarchy; and their protest, +circulating throughout France, had produced a great effect on their +partisans. Officers quitted the armies, the nobility their châteaux, whole +companies deserted to enlist on the frontiers. Distaffs were sent to those +who wavered; and those who did not emigrate were threatened with the loss +of the position when the nobility should return victorious. In the +Austrian Low Countries and the bordering electorates, there was formed +what was called _La France extérieure_. The counterrevolution was openly +preparing at Brussels, Worms, and Coblentz, under the protection and even +with the assistance of foreign courts. The ambassadors of the emigrants +were received, while those of the French government were dismissed, ill +received, or even thrown into prison, as in the case of M. Duveryer. +French merchants and travellers suspected of patriotism and attachment to +the revolution were scouted throughout Europe. Several powers had declared +themselves without disguise: of this number were Sweden, Russia, and +Spain; the latter at that time being governed by the marquis Florida- +Blanca, a man entirely devoted to the emigrant party. At the same time, +Prussia kept its army prepared for war: the lines of the Spanish and +Sardinian troops increased on our Alpine and Pyrenean frontiers, and +Gustavus was assembling a Swedish army. + +The dissentient ecclesiastics left nothing undone which might produce a +diversion in favour of the emigrants at home. "Priests, and especially +bishops," says the marquis de Ferrières, "employed all the resources of +fanaticism to excite the people, in town and country, against the civil +constitution of the clergy." Bishops ordered the priests no longer to +perform divine service in the same church with the constitutional priests, +for fear the people might confound the two. "Independently," he adds, "of +circular letters written to the curés, instructions intended for the +people were circulated through the country. They said that the sacraments +could not be effectually administered by the constitutional priests, whom +they called _Intruders_, and that every one attending their ministrations +became by their presence guilty of a mortal sin; that those who were +married by Intruders, were not married; that they brought a curse upon +themselves and upon their children; that no one should have communication +with them, or with those separated from the church; that the municipal +officers who installed them, like them became apostates; that the moment +of their installation all bell-ringers and sextons ought to resign their +situations.... These fanatical addresses produced the effect which the +bishops expected. Religious disturbances broke out on all sides." + +Insurrection more especially broke out in Calvados, Gevaudan, and La +Vendée. These districts were ill-disposed towards the revolution, because +they contained few of the middle and intelligent classes, and because the +populace, up to that time, had been kept in a state of dependence on the +nobility and clergy. The Girondists, taking alarm, wished to adopt +rigorous measures against emigration and the dissentient priests, who +attacked the new order of things. Brissot proposed putting a stop to +emigration, by giving up the mild system hitherto observed towards it. He +divided the emigrants into three classes:--1st. The principal leaders, and +at their head the brothers of the king. 2ndly. Public functionaries who +forsook their posts and country, and sought to entice their colleagues. +3rdly. Private individuals, who, to preserve life, or from an aversion to +the revolution, or from other motives, left their native land, without +taking arms against it. He required that severe laws should be put in +force against the first two classes; but thought it would be good policy +to be indulgent towards the last. With respect to non-juring +ecclesiastics and agitators, some of the Girondists proposed to confine +themselves to a stricter surveillance; others thought there was only one +safe line of conduct to be pursued towards them: that the spirit of +sedition could only be quelled by banishing them from the country. "All +attempts at conciliation," said the impetuous Isnard, "will henceforth be +in vain. What, I ask, has been the consequence of these reiterated +pardons? The daring of your foes has increased with your indulgence; they +will only cease to injure you when deprived of the means of doing so. They +must be conquerors or conquered. On this point all must agree; the man who +will not see this great truth is, in my opinion, politically blind." + +The constitutionalists were opposed to all these measures; they did not +deny the danger, but they considered such laws arbitrary. They said, +before everything it was necessary to respect the constitution, and from +that time to confine themselves to precautionary measures; that it was +sufficient to keep on the defensive against the emigrants; and to wait, in +order to punish the dissentient priests, till they discovered actual +conspiracies on their part. They recommended that the law should not be +violated even towards enemies, for fear that once engaging in such a +course, it should be impossible to arrest that course, and so the +revolution be lost, like the ancient régime, through its injustice. But +the assembly, which deemed the safety of the state more important than the +strict observance of the law, which saw danger in hesitation, and which, +moreover, was influenced by passions which lead to expeditious measures, +was not stopped by these considerations. With common consent it again, on +the 30th of October, passed a decree relative to the eldest brother of the +king, Louis-Stanislaus-Xavier. This prince was required, in the terms of +the constitution, to return to France in two months, or at the expiration +of that period he would be considered to have forfeited his rights as +regent. But agreement ceased as to the decrees against emigrants and +priests. On the 9th of November the assembly resolved, that the French +gathered together beyond the frontiers were suspected of conspiracy +against their country; that if they remained assembled on the 1st of +January, 1792, they would be treated as conspirators, be punishable by +death, and that after condemnation to death for contumacy, the proceeds of +their estates were to be confiscated to the nation, always without +prejudice to the rights of their wives, children, and lawful creditors. On +the 29th of the same month it passed a similar decree respecting the +dissentient priests. They were obliged to take the civic oath, under pain +of being deprived of their pensions and suspected of revolt against the +law. If they still refused they were to be closely watched; and if any +religious disturbances took place in their parishes, they were to be taken +to the chief town of the department, and if found to have taken any part +in exciting disobedience, they were liable to imprisonment. + +The king sanctioned the first decree respecting his brother; he put his +veto on the other two. A short time before he had disavowed emigration by +public measures, and he had written to the emigrant princes recalling them +to the kingdom. He invited them to return in the name of the tranquillity +of France, and of the attachment and obedience they owed to him as their +brother and their king. "I shall," said he, in concluding the letter, +"always be grateful to you for saving me the necessity of acting in +opposition to you, through the invariable resolution I have made to +maintain what I have announced." These wise invitations had led to no +result: but Louis XVI., while he condemned the conduct of the emigrants, +would not give his consent to the measures taken against them. In refusing +his sanction he was supported by the friends of the constitution and the +directory of the department. This support was not without use to him, at a +time when, in the eyes of the people, he appeared to be an accomplice of +emigration, when he provoked the dissatisfaction of the Girondists, and +separated himself from the assembly. He should have united closely with +it, since he invoked the constitution against the emigrants in his +letters, and against the revolutionist, by the exercise of his +prerogative. His position could only become strong by sincerely falling in +with the first revolution, and making his own cause one with that of the +bourgeoisie. + +But the court was not so resigned; it still expected better times, and was +thus prevented from pursuing an invariable line of conduct, and induced to +seek grounds for hope in every quarter. Now and then disposed to favour +the intervention of foreign powers, it continued to correspond with +Europe; it intrigued with its ministers against the popular party, and +made use of the Feuillants against the Girondists, though with much +distrust. At this period its chief resource was in the petty schemes of +Bertrand de Moleville, who directed the council; who had established a +_French club_, the members of which he paid; who purchased the applause of +the tribunes of the assembly, hoping by this imitation of the revolution +to conquer the true revolution, his object being to deceive parties, and +annul the effects of the constitution by observing it literally. + +By this line of conduct the court had even the imprudence to weaken the +constitutionalists, whom it ought to have reinforced; at their expense it +favoured the election of Pétion to the mayoralty. Through the +disinterestedness with which the preceding assembly had been seized, all +who had held popular posts under it successively gave them up. On the 18th +of October, Lafayette resigned the command of the national guard, and +Bailly had just retired from the mayoralty. The constitutional party +proposed that Lafayette should replace him in this first post of the +state, which, by permitting or restraining insurrections, delivered Paris +into the power of him who occupied it. Till then it had been in the hands +of the constitutionalists, who, by this means, had repressed the rising of +the Champ de Mars. They had lost the direction of the assembly, the +command of the national guard; they now lost the corporation. The court +gave to Pétion, the Girondist candidate, all the votes at its disposal. +"M. de Lafayette," observed the queen to Bertrand de Moleville, "only +wishes to be mayor of Paris in order to become mayor of the palace. Pétion +is a jacobin, a republican, but he is a fool, incapable of ever leading a +party." On the 4th of November, Pétion was elected mayor by a majority of +6708 votes in a total of 10,632. + +The Girondists, in whose favour this nomination became decisive, did not +content themselves with the acquisition of the mayoralty. France could not +remain long in this dangerous and provisional state. The decrees which, +justly or otherwise, were to provide for the defence of the revolution, +and which had been rejected by the king, were not replaced by any +government measure; the ministry manifested either unwillingness or sheer +indifference. The Girondists, accordingly, accused Delessart, the minister +for foreign affairs, of compromising the honour and safety of the nation +by the tone of his negotiations with foreign powers, by his +procrastination, and want of skill. They also warmly attacked Duportail, +the war minister, and Bertrand de Moleville, minister of the marine, for +neglecting to put the coasts and frontiers in a state of defence. The +conduct of the Electors of Trèves, Mayence, and the bishop of Spires, who +favoured the military preparations of the emigrants, more especially +excited the national indignation. The diplomatic committee proposed a +declaration to the king, that the nation would view with satisfaction a +requisition by him to the neighbouring princes to disperse the military +gatherings within three weeks, and his assembling the forces necessary to +make them respect international law. By this important measure, they also +wished to make Louis XVI. enter into a solemn engagement, and signify to +the diet of Ratisbon, as well as to the other courts of Europe, the firm +intentions of France. + +Isnard ascended the tribune to support this proposition. "Let us," said +he, "in this crisis, rise to the full elevation of our mission; let us +speak to the ministers, to the king, to all Europe, with the firmness that +becomes us. Let us tell our ministers, that hitherto the nation is not +well satisfied with the conduct of any of them; that henceforth they will +have no choice but between public gratitude and the vengeance of the laws; +and that by the word responsibility we understand death. Let us tell the +king that it is his interest to defend the constitution; that he only +reigns by the people and for the people; that the nation is his sovereign, +and that he is subject to the law. Let us tell Europe, that if the French +people once draw the sword, they will throw away the scabbard, and will +not raise it again till it may be crowned with the laurels of victory; +that if cabinets engage kings in a war against the people, we will engage +the people in a mortal warfare against kings. Let us tell them, that all +the fights the people shall fight at the order of despots"--here he was +interrupted by loud applause--"Do not applaud," he cried--"do not applaud; +respect my enthusiasm; it is that of liberty! Let us say to Europe, that +all the fights which the people shall fight at the command of despots, +resemble the blows that two friends, excited by a perfidious instigator, +inflict on each other in darkness. When light arrives, they throw down +their arms, embrace, and chastise their deceiver. So will it be if, when +foreign armies are contending with ours, the light of philosophy shine +upon them. The nations will embrace in the presence of dethroned tyrants-- +of the earth consoled, of Heaven satisfied." + +The assembly unanimously, and with transport, passed the proposed measure, +and, on the 29th of November, sent a message to the king. Vaublanc was the +leader of the deputation. "Sire," said he to Louis XVI., "the national +assembly had scarcely glanced at the state of the nation ere it saw that +the troubles which still agitate it arise from the criminal preparations +of French emigrants. Their audacity is encouraged by German princes, who +trample under foot the treaties between them and France, and affect to +forget that they are indebted to this empire for the treaty of Westphalia, +which secured their rights and their safety. These hostile preparations, +these threats of invasion, will require armaments absorbing immense sums, +which the nation would joyfully pay over to its creditors. It is for you, +sire, to make them desist; it is for you to address to foreign powers the +language befitting the king of the French. Tell them, that wherever +preparations are permitted to be made against France, there France +recognises only foes; that we will religiously observe our oath to make no +conquests; that we offer them the good neighbourship, the inviolable +friendship of a free and powerful people; that we will respect their laws, +their customs, and their constitutions; but that we will have our own +respected! Tell them, that if princes of Germany continue to favour +preparations directed against the French, the French will carry into their +territories, not indeed fire and sword, but liberty. It is for them to +calculate the consequences of this awakening of nations." + +Louis XVI. replied, that he would give the fullest consideration to the +message of the assembly; and in a few days he came in person to announce +his resolutions on the subject. They were conformable with the general +wish. The king said, amidst vehement applause, that he would cause it to +be declared to the elector of Trèves and the other electors, that, unless +all gatherings and hostile preparations on the part of the French +emigrants in their states ceased before the 15th of January, he would +consider them as enemies. He added, that he would write to the emperor to +engage him, as chief of the empire, to interpose his authority for the +purpose of averting the calamities which the lengthened resistance of a +few members of the Germanic body would occasion. "If these declarations +are not heeded, then, gentlemen," said he, "it will only remain for me to +propose war--war, which a people who have solemnly renounced conquest, +never declares without necessity, but which a free and generous nation +will undertake and carry on when its honour and safety require it." + +The steps taken by the king with the princes of the empire were supported +by military preparations. On the 6th of December a new minister of war +replaced Duportail; Narbonne, taken from the Feuillants, young, active, +ambitious of distinguishing himself by the triumph of his party and the +defence of the revolution, repaired immediately to the frontiers. A +hundred and fifty thousand men were placed in requisition; for this object +the assembly voted an extraordinary supply of twenty millions of francs; +three armies were formed under the command of Rochambeau, Luckner, and +Lafayette; finally, a decree was passed impeaching _Monsieur_, the count +d'Artois, and the prince de Condé as conspirators against the general +safety of the state and of the constitution. Their property was +sequestrated, and the period previously fixed on for _Monsieur's_ return +to the kingdom having expired, he was deprived of his claim to the +regency. + +The elector of Trèves engaged to disperse the gatherings, and not to allow +them in future. It was, however, but the shadow of a dispersion. Austria +ordered marshal Bender to defend the elector if he were attacked, and +ratified the conclusions of the diet of Ratisbon, which required the +restoration of the princes' possessions; refused to sanction any pecuniary +indemnity for the loss of their rights, and only left France the +alternative of restoring feudalism in Alsace, or war. These two measures +of the cabinet of Vienna were by no means pacific. Its troops advanced +towards the frontiers of France, and gave further proof that it would not +be safe to trust to its neutrality. It had fifty thousand men in the +Netherlands; six thousand posted in Breisgau; and thirty thousand men on +their way from Bohemia. This powerful army of observation might at any +moment be converted into an army of attack. + +The assembly felt that it was urgently necessary to bring the emperor to a +decision. It looked on the electors as merely his agents, and on the +emigrants as his instruments; for the prince von Kaunitz recognised as +legitimate "the league of sovereigns united for the safety and honour of +crowns." The Girondists, therefore, wished to anticipate this dangerous +adversary, in order not to give him time for more mature preparations. +They required from him, before the 10th of February, a definite and +precise explanation of his real intentions with regard to France. They at +the same time proceeded against those ministers on whom they could not +rely in the event of war. The incapacity of Delessart, and the intrigues +of Moleville especially, gave room for attack; Narbonne was alone spared. +They were aided by the divisions of the council, which was partly +aristocratic in Bertrand de Moleville, Delessart, etc., and partly +constitutional, in Narbonne, and Cahier de Gerville, minister of the +interior. Men so opposed in character and intentions could scarcely be +expected to agree; Bertrand de Moleville had warm contests with Narbonne, +who wished his colleagues to adopt a frank, decided line of conduct, and +to make the assembly the fulcrum of the throne. Narbonne succumbed in this +struggle, and his dismissal involved the disorganization of the ministry. +The Girondists threw the blame upon Bertrand de Moleville and Delessart; +the former had the address to exonerate himself; but the latter was +brought before the high court of Orleans. + +The king, intimidated by the assaults of the assembly upon the members of +his council, and more especially by the impeachment of Delessart, had no +resource but to select his new ministers from amongst the victorious +party. An alliance with the actual rulers of the revolution could alone +save liberty and the throne, by restoring concord between the assembly, +the supreme authority, and the municipality; and if this union had been +maintained, the Girondists would have effected with the court that which, +after the rupture itself, they considered they could only effect without +it. The members of the new ministry were:--minister of the marine, +Lacoste; of finance, Clavière; of justice, Duranton; of war, de Grave, +soon afterwards replaced by Servan; of foreign affairs, Dumouriez; of the +interior, Roland. The two latter were the most important and most +remarkable men in the cabinet. + +Dumouriez was forty-seven years of age when the revolution began; he had +lived till then immersed in intrigue, and he retained his old habits too +closely at an epoch when he should have employed small means only to aid +great ones, instead of supplying their place. The first part of his +political life was spent in seeking those by whom he might rise: the +second, those by whom he might maintain his position. A courtier up to +1789, a constitutionalist under the first assembly, a Girondist under the +second, a Jacobin under the republic, he was eminently a man of +circumstances. But he had all the resources of great men; an enterprising +character, indefatigable activity, a ready, sure, and extensive +perception, impetuosity of action, and an extraordinary confidence of +success; he was, moreover, open, easy, witty, daring; adapted alike for +arms and for factions, full of expedients, wonderfully ready, and, in +difficult positions, versed in the art of stooping to conquer. It is true +that his great qualities were weakened by defects; he was rash, flighty, +full of inconsistency of thought and action, owing to his continual thirst +for movement and machination. But his great defect was the total absence +of a political conviction. In times of revolution, nothing can be done for +liberty or power by him who is not decidedly of one party or another, and +when he is ambitious, unless he see further than the immediate objects of +that party, and have a stronger will than his colleagues. This it was made +Cromwell; this it was made Buonaparte; while Dumouriez, the employed of +all parties, thought he could get the better of them all by intriguing. He +wanted the passion of his time: that which completes a man, and alone +enables him to sway. + +Roland was the opposite of Dumouriez; his was a character which Liberty +found ready formed, as if moulded by herself. Roland had simple manners, +austere morals, tried opinions; enthusiastically attached to liberty, he +was capable of disinterestedly devoting to her cause his whole life, or of +perishing for her, without ostentation and without regret. A man worthy of +being born in a republic, but out of place in a revolution, and ill +adapted for the agitation and struggle of parties; his talents were not +superior, his temper somewhat uncompliant; he was unskilled in the +knowledge and management of men; and though laborious, well informed, and +active, he would have produced little effect but for his wife. All he +wanted she had for him; force, ability, elevation, foresight. Madame +Roland was the soul of the Gironde; it was at her house that those +brilliant and courageous men assembled to discuss the necessities and +dangers of their country; it was she who stimulated to action those whom +she saw were qualified for action, and who encouraged to the tribune those +whom she knew to be eloquent. + +The court named this ministry, which was appointed during the month of +March, _le Ministère Sans-Culotte_. The first time Roland appeared at the +château with strings in his shoes and a round hat, contrary to etiquette, +the master of the ceremonies refused to admit him. Obliged, however, to +give way, he said, despairingly, to Dumouriez, pointing to Roland: "_Ah, +sir--no buckles in his shoes_." "Ah, sir, all is lost," replied Dumouriez, +with an air of the most sympathising gravity. Such were the trifles which +still occupied the attention of the court. The first step of the new +ministry was war. The position of France was becoming more and more +dangerous; everything was to be feared from the enmity of Europe. Leopold +was dead, and this event was calculated to accelerate the decision of the +cabinet of Vienna. His young successor, Francis II., was likely to be less +pacific or less prudent than he. Moreover, Austria was assembling its +troops, forming camps, and appointing generals; it had violated the +territory of Bâle, and placed a garrison in Porentruy, to secure for +itself the entry of the department of Doubs. There could be no doubt as to +its projects. The gatherings at Coblenz had recommenced to a greater +extent than before; the cabinet of Vienna had only temporarily dispersed +the emigrants assembled in the Belgian provinces, in order to prevent the +invasion of that country, at a time when it was not yet ready to repel +invasion; it had, however, merely sought to save appearances, and had +allowed a staff of general officers, in full uniform, and with the white +cockade, to remain at Brussels. Finally, the reply of the prince von +Kaunitz to the required explanations was by no means satisfactory. He even +refused to negotiate directly, and the baron von Cobenzl was commissioned +to reply, that Austria would not depart from the required conditions +already set forth. The re-establishment of the monarchy on the basis of +the royal sitting of the 23rd of June; the restitution of its property to +the clergy; of the territory of Alsace, with all their rights, to the +German princes; of Avignon and the Venaissin to the pope; such was the +_ultimatum_ of Austria. All accord was now impossible; peace could no +longer be maintained. France was threatened with the fate which Holland +had just experienced, and perhaps with that of Poland. The sole question +now was whether to wait for or to initiate war, whether to profit by the +enthusiasm of the people or to allow that enthusiasm to cool. The true +author of war is not he who declares it, but he who renders it necessary. + +On the 20th of April, Louis XVI. went to the assembly, attended by all his +ministers. "I come, gentlemen," said he, "to the national assembly for one +of the most important objects that can occupy the representatives of the +nation. My minister for foreign affairs will read to you the report drawn +up in our council, as to our political situation." Dumouriez then rose. He +set forth the grounds of complaint that France had against the house of +Austria; the object of the conferences of Mantua, Reichenbach and Pilnitz; +the coalition it had formed against the French revolution; its armaments +becoming more and more considerable; the open protection it afforded to +bodies of emigrants; the imperious tone and the undisguised +procrastination of its negotiations, lastly, the intolerable conditions of +its _ultimatum_; and, after a long series of considerations, founded on +the hostile conduct of the king of Hungary and Bohemia (Francis II. was +not yet elected emperor); on the urgent circumstances of the nation; on +its formally declared resolution to endure no insult, no encroachment on +its rights; on the honour and good faith of Louis XVI., the depositary of +the dignity and safety of France; he demanded war against Austria. Louis +XVI. then said, in a voice slightly tremulous: "You have heard, gentlemen, +the result of my negotiations with the court of Vienna. The conclusions of +the report are based upon the unanimous opinion of my council; I have +myself adopted them. They are conformable with the wishes often expressed +to me by the national assembly, and with the sentiments frequently +testified by bodies of citizens in different parts of the kingdom; all +prefer war, to witnessing the continuance of insult to the French people, +and danger threatening the national existence. It was my duty first to try +every means of maintaining peace. Having failed in these efforts, I now +come, according to the terms of the constitution, to propose to the +national assembly war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia." The king's +address was received with some applause, but the solemnity of the +circumstances, and the grandeur of the decision, filled every bosom with +silent and concentrated emotion. As soon as the king had withdrawn, the +assembly voted an extraordinary sitting for the evening. In that sitting +war was almost unanimously decided upon. Thus was undertaken, against the +chief of the confederate powers, that war which was protracted throughout +a quarter of a century, which victoriously established the revolution, and +which changed the whole face of Europe. + +All France received the announcement with joy. War gave a new movement to +the people already so much excited. Districts, municipalities, popular +societies, wrote addresses; men were enrolled, voluntary gifts offered, +pikes forged, and the nation seemed to rise up to await Europe, or to +attack it. But enthusiasm, which ensures victory in the end, does not at +first supply the place of organization. Accordingly, at the opening of the +campaign, the regular troops were all that could be relied upon until the +new levies were trained. This was the state of the forces. The vast +frontier, from Dunkirk to Huninguen, was divided into three great military +districts. On the left, from Dunkirk to Philippeville, the army of the +north, of about forty thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, was under +the orders of marshal de Rochambeau. Lafayette commanded the army of the +centre, composed of forty-five thousand foot, and seven thousand horse, +and occupying the district between Philippeville and the lines of +Weissemberg. Lastly, the army of the Rhine, consisting of thirty-five +thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, extending from the lines of +Weissemberg to Bâle, was under the command of marshal Luckner. The +frontier of the Alps and Pyrenees was confided to general Montesquiou, +whose army was inconsiderable; but this part of France was not as yet in +danger. + +The marshal de Rochambeau was of opinion that it would be prudent to +remain on the defensive, and simply to guard the frontiers. Dumouriez, on +the contrary, wished to take the initiative in action, as they had done in +declaring war, so as to profit by the advantage of being first prepared. +He was very enterprising, and as, although minister of foreign affairs, he +directed the military operations, his plan was adopted. It consisted of a +rapid invasion of Belgium. This province had, in 1790, essayed to throw +off the Austrian yoke, but, after a brief victory, was subdued by superior +force. Dumouriez imagined that the Brabant patriots would favour the +attack of the French, as a means of freedom for themselves. With this +view, he combined a triple invasion. The two generals, Theobald Dillon, +and Biron, who commanded in Flanders under Rochambeau, received orders to +advance, the one with four thousand men from Lille upon Tournai--the +other, with ten thousand, from Valenciennes upon Mons. At the same time, +Lafayette, with a part of his army, quitted Metz, and advanced by forced +marches upon Namur, by Stenai, Sedan, Mézières, and Givet. But this plan +implied in the soldiers a discipline which they had not of course as yet +acquired, and on the part of the chiefs a concert very difficult to +obtain; besides, the invading columns were not strong enough for such an +enterprise. Theobald Dillon had scarcely passed the frontier, when, on +meeting the first enemy on the 28th of April, a panic terror seized upon +the troops. The cry of _sauve qui peut_ ran through the ranks, and the +general was carried off, and massacred by his troops. Much the same thing +took place, under the same circumstances, in the corps of Biron, who was +obliged to retreat in disorder to his previous position. The sudden and +concurrent flight of these two columns must be attributed either to fear +of the enemy, on the part of troops who had never before stood fire, or to +a distrust of their leaders, or to traitors who sounded the alarm of +treachery. + +Lafayette, on arriving at Bouvines, after travelling fifty leagues of bad +roads in two or three days, learnt the disasters of Valenciennes and +Lille; he at once saw that the object of the invasion had failed; and he +justly thought that the best course would be to effect a retreat. +Rochambeau complained of the precipitate and incongruous nature of the +measures which had been in the most absolute manner prescribed to him. As +he did not choose to remain a passive machine, obliged to fill, at the +will of the ministers, a post which he himself ought to have the full +direction of, he resigned. From that moment the French army resumed the +defensive. The frontier was divided into two general commands only, the +one intrusted to Lafayette, extending from the sea to Longwy, and the +other, from the Moselle to the Jura, being confided to Luckner. Lafayette +placed his left under the command of Arthur Dillon, and with his right +reached to Luckner, who had Biron as his lieutenant on the Rhine. In this +position they awaited the allies. + +Meantime, the first checks increased the rupture between the Feuillants +and the Girondists. The generals ascribed them to the plans of Dumouriez, +the ministry attributed them to the manner in which its plans had been +executed by the generals, who, having been appointed by Narbonne, were of +the constitutional party. The Jacobins, on the other hand, accused the +anti-revolutionists of having occasioned the flight by the cry of _sauve +qui peut!_ Their joy, which they did not conceal, the declared hope of +soon seeing the confederates in Paris, the emigrants returned, and the +ancient regime restored, confirmed these suspicions. It was thought that +the court, which had increased the household troops from eighteen hundred +to six thousand men, and these carefully selected anti-revolutionists, +acted in concert with the coalition. The public denounced, under the name +of _comité Autrichien_, a secret committee, the very existence of which +could not be proved, and mistrust was at its height. + +The assembly at once took decided measures. It had entered upon the career +of war, and it was thenceforth condemned to regulate its conduct far more +with reference to the public safety than with regard to the mere justice +of the case. It resolved upon sitting permanently; it discharged the +household troops; on account of the increase of religious disturbances, it +passed a decree exiling refractory priests, so that it might not have at +the same time to combat a coalition and to appease revolts. To repair the +late defeats, and to have an army of reserve near the capital, it voted on +the 8th of June, and on the motion of the minister for war, Servan, the +formation of a camp outside Paris of twenty thousand men drawn from the +provinces. It also sought to excite the public mind by revolutionary +fêtes, and began to enroll the multitude and arm them with pikes, +conceiving that no assistance could be superfluous in such a moment of +peril. + +All these measures were not carried without opposition from the +constitutionalists. They opposed the establishment of the camp of twenty +thousand men, which they regarded as the army of a party directed against +the national guard and the throne. The staff of the former protested, and +the recomposition of this body was immediately effected in accordance with +the views of the dominant party. Companies armed with pikes were +introduced into the new national guard. The constitutionalists were still +more dissatisfied with this measure, which introduced a lower class into +their ranks, and which seemed to them to aim at superseding the +bourgeoisie by the populace. Finally, they openly condemned the banishment +of the priests, which in their opinion was nothing less than proscription. + +Louis XVI. had for some time past manifested a coolness towards his +ministers, who on their part had been more exacting with him. They urged +him to admit about him priests who had taken the oath, in order to set an +example in favour of the constitutional religion, and to remove pretexts +for religious agitation; he steadily refused this, determined as he was to +make no further religious concession. These last decrees had put an end to +his concord with the Gironde; for several days he did not mention the +subject, much less make known his intentions respecting it. It was on this +occasion that Roland addressed to him his celebrated letter on his +constitutional duties, and entreated him to calm the public mind, and to +establish his authority, by becoming frankly the king of the revolution. +This letter still more highly irritated Louis XVI., already disposed to +break with the Girondists. He was supported in this by Dumouriez, who, +forsaking his party, had formed with Duranton and Lacoste, a division in +the ministry against Roland, Servan, and Clavière. But, able as well as +ambitious, Dumouriez advised Louis, while dismissing the ministers of whom +he had to complain, to sanction their decrees, in order to make himself +popular. He described that against the priests as a precaution in their +favour, exile probably removing them from a proscription still more fatal; +he undertook to prevent any revolutionary consequences from the camp of +twenty thousand men, by marching off each battalion to the army +immediately upon its arrival at the camp. On these conditions, Dumouriez +took upon himself the post of minister for war, and sustained the attacks +of his own party. The king dismissed his ministers on the 13th of June, +rejected the decrees on the 29th, and Dumouriez set out for the army, +after having rendered himself an object of suspicion. The assembly +declared that Roland, Servan, and Clavière carried with them the regrets +of the nation. + +The king selected his new ministers from among the Feuillants. Scipio +Chambonnas was appointed minister of foreign affairs; Terrier de Monceil, +of the interior; Beaulieu, of finance; Lajarre, of war; Lacoste and +Duranton remained provisionally ministers of justice and of the marine. +All these men were without reputation or credit, and their party itself +was approaching the term of its existence. The constitutional situation, +during which it was to sway, was changing more and more decidedly into a +revolutionary situation. How could a legal and moderate party maintain +itself between two extreme and belligerent parties, one of which was +advancing from without to destroy the revolution, while the other was +resolved to defend it at any cost? The Feuillants became superfluous in +such a conjuncture. The king, perceiving their weakness, now seemed to +place his reliance upon Europe alone, and sent Mallet-Dupan on a secret +mission to the coalition. + +Meantime, all those who had been outstripped by the popular tide, and who +belonged to the first period of the revolution, united to second this +slight retrograde movement. The monarchists, at whose head were Lally- +Tollendal and Malouet, two of the principal members of the Mounier and +Necker party; Feuillants, directed by the old triumvirate, Duport, Lameth, +and Barnave; lastly, Lafayette, who had immense reputation as a +constitutionalist, tried to put down the clubs, and to re-establish legal +order and the power of the king. The Jacobins made great exertions at this +period; their influence was becoming enormous; they were at the head of +the party of the populace. To oppose them, to check them, the old party of +the bourgeoisie was required; but this was disorganised, and its influence +grew daily weaker and weaker. In order to revive its courage and strength, +Lafayette, on the 16th of June, addressed from the camp at Maubeuge a +letter to the assembly, in which he denounced the Jacobin faction, +required the cessation of the clubs, the independence and confirmation of +the constitutional throne, and urged the assembly in his own name, in that +of his army, in that of all the friends of liberty, only to adopt such +measures for the public welfare as were sanctioned by law. This letter +gave rise to warm debates between the Right and Left in the assembly. +Though dictated only by pure and disinterested motives, it appeared, +coming as it did from a young general at the head of his army, a +proceeding _à la Cromwell_, and from that moment Lafayette's reputation, +hitherto respected by his opponents, became the object of attack. In fact, +considering it merely in a political point of view, this step was +imprudent. The Gironde, driven from the ministry, stopped in its measures +for the public good, needed no further goading; and, on the other hand, it +was quite undesirable that Lafayette, even for the benefit of his party, +should use his influence. + +The Gironde wished, for its own safety and that of the nation, to recover +power, without, however, departing from constitutional means. Its object +was not, as at a later period, to dethrone the king, but to bring him back +amongst them. For this purpose it had recourse to the imperious petitions +of the multitude. Since the declaration of war, petitioners had appeared +in arms at the bar of the national assembly, had offered their services in +defence of the country, and had obtained permission to march armed through +the house. This concession was blameable, neutralizing all the laws +against military gatherings; but both parties found themselves in an +extraordinary position, and each employed illegal means; the court having +recourse to Europe, and the Gironde to the people. The latter was in a +state of great agitation. The leaders of the Faubourgs, among whom were +the deputy Chabot, Santerre, Legendre, a butcher, Gonchon, the marquis de +Saint Hurugue, prepared them, during several days, for a revolutionary +outbreak, similar to the one which failed at the Champ de Mars. The 20th +of June was approaching, the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis-court. +Under the pretext of celebrating this memorable day by a civic fête, and +of planting a May-pole in honour of liberty, an assemblage of about eight +thousand men left the Faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau, on the +20th of June, and took their way to the assembly. + +Roederer, the recorder, brought the tidings to the assembly, but in the +meantime the mob had reached the doors of the hall. Their leaders asked +permission to present a petition, and to defile before the assembly. A +violent debate arose between the Right, who were unwilling to admit the +armed petitioners, and the Left, who, on the ground of custom, wished to +receive them, Vergniaud declared that the assembly would violate every +principle by admitting armed bands among them; but, considering actual +circumstances, he also declared that it was impossible to deny a request +in the present case, that had been granted in so many others. It was +difficult not to yield to the desires of an enthusiastic and vast +multitude, when seconded by a majority of the representatives. The crowd +already thronged the passages, when the assembly decided that the +petitioners should be admitted to the bar. The deputation was introduced. +The spokesman expressed himself in threatening language. He said that the +people were astir; that they were ready to make use of great means--the +means comprised in the declaration of rights, _resistance of oppression_; +that the dissentient members of the assembly, if there were any, _would +purge the world of liberty_, and would repair to Coblentz; then returning +to the true design of this insurrectional petition, he added: "The +executive power is not in union with you; we require no other proof of it +than the dismissal of the patriot ministers. It is thus, then, that the +happiness of a free nation shall depend on the caprice of a king! But +should this king have any other will than that of the law? The people will +have it so, and the life of the people is as valuable as that of crowned +despots. That life is the genealogical tree of the nation, and the feeble +reed must bend before this sturdy oak! We complain, gentlemen, of the +inactivity of our armies; we require of you to penetrate into the cause of +this; if it spring from the executive power, let that power be destroyed!" + +The assembly answered the petitioners that it would take their request +into consideration; it then urged them to respect the law and legal +authorities, and allowed them to defile before it. This procession, +amounting to thirty thousand persons, comprising women, children, national +guards, and men armed with pikes, among whom waved revolutionary banners +and symbols, sang, as they traversed the hall, the famous chorus, _Ca +ira_, and cried: "Vive la nation!" "Vivent les sans-culottes!" "A bas le +veto!" It was led by Santerre and the marquis de Saint Hurugue. On leaving +the assembly, it proceeded to the château, headed by the petitioners. + +The outer doors were opened at the king's command; the multitude rushed +into the interior. They ascended to the apartments, and while forcing the +doors with hatchets, the king ordered them to be opened, and appeared +before them, accompanied by a few persons. The mob stopped a moment before +him; but those who were outside, not being awed by the presence of the +king, continued to advance. Louis XVI. was prudently placed in the recess +of a window. He never displayed more courage than on this deplorable day. +Surrounded by national guards, who formed a barrier against the mob, +seated on a chair placed on a table, that he might breathe more freely and +be seen by the people, he preserved a calm and firm demeanour. In reply to +the cries that arose on all sides for the sanction of the decrees, he +said: "This is neither the mode nor the moment to obtain it of me." Having +the courage to refuse the essential object of the meeting, he thought he +ought not to reject a symbol, meaningless for him, but in the eyes of the +people, that of liberty; he placed on his head a red cap presented to him +on the top of a pike. The multitude were quite satisfied with this +condescension. A moment or two afterwards, they loaded him with applause, +as, almost suffocated with hunger and thirst, he drank off, without +hesitation, a glass of wine presented to him by a half-drunken workman. In +the meantime, Vergniaud, Isnard, and a few deputies of the Gironde, had +hastened thither to protect the king, to address the people, and put an +end to these indecent scenes. The assembly, which had just risen from a +sitting, met again in haste, terrified at this outbreak, and despatched +several successive deputations to Louis XVI. by way of protection. At +length, Pétion, the mayor, himself arrived; he mounted a chair, harangued +the people, urged them to retire without tumult, and the people obeyed. +These singular insurgents, whose only aim was to obtain decrees and +ministers, retired without having exceeded their mission, but without +discharging it. + +The events of the 20th of June excited the friends of the constitution +against its authors. The violation of the royal residence, the insults +offered to Louis XVI., the illegality of a petition presented amidst the +violence of the multitude, and the display of arms, were subjects of +serious censure against the popular party. The latter saw itself reduced +for a moment to the defensive; besides being guilty of a riot, it had +undergone a complete check. The constitutionalists assumed the tone and +superiority of an offended and predominant party; but this lasted only a +short time, for they were not seconded by the court. The national guard +offered to Louis XVI. to remain assembled round his person; the duc de la +Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, who commanded at Rouen, wished to convey him to +his troops, who were devoted to his cause. Lafayette proposed to take him +to Compiègne, and place him at the head of his army; but Louis XVI. +declined all these offers. He conceived that the agitators would be +disgusted at the failure of their last attempt; and, as he hoped for +deliverance from the coalition of European powers, rendered more active by +the events of the 20th of June, he was unwilling to make use of the +constitutionalists, because he would have been obliged to treat with them. + +Lafayette, however, attempted to make a last effort in favour of legal +monarchy. After having provided for the command of his army, and collected +addresses protesting against the late events, he started for Paris, and on +the 28th of June he unexpectedly presented himself at the bar of the +assembly. He required in his name, as well as in that of his army, the +punishment of the insurrectionists of the 20th of June, and the +destruction of the Jacobin party. His proceeding excited various +sentiments in the assembly. The Right warmly applauded it, but the Left +protested against his conduct. Guadet proposed that an inquiry should be +made as to his culpability in leaving his army and coming to dictate laws +to the assembly. Some remains of respect prevented the latter from +following Guadet's advice; and after tumultuous debates, Lafayette was +admitted to the honours of the sitting, but this was all on the part of +the assembly. Lafayette then turned to the national guard, that had so +long been devoted to him, and hoped with its aid to close the clubs, +disperse the Jacobins, restore to Louis XVI. the authority which the law +gave him, and again establish the constitution. The revolutionists were +astounded, and dreaded everything from the daring and activity of this +adversary of the Champ de Mars. But the court, which feared the triumph of +the constitutionalists, caused Lafayette's projects to fail; he had +appointed a review, which it contrived to prevent by its influence over +the officers of the royalist battalions. The grenadiers and chasseurs, +picked companies still better disposed than the rest, were to assemble at +his residence and proceed against the clubs; scarcely thirty men came. +Having thus vainly attempted to rally in the cause of the constitution, +and the common defence, the court and the national guard, and finding +himself deserted by those he came to assist, Lafayette returned to his +army, after having lost what little influence and popularity remained to +him. This attempt was the last symptom of life in the constitutional +party. + +The assembly naturally returned to the situation of France, which had not +changed. The extraordinary commission of twelve presented, through +Pastoret, an unsatisfactory picture of the state and divisions of party. +Jean Debry, in the name of the same commission, proposed that the assembly +should secure the tranquillity of the people, now greatly disturbed, by +declaring that when the crisis became imminent, the assembly would declare +_the country is in danger_; and that it would then take measures for the +public safety. The debate opened upon this important subject. Vergniaud, +in a speech which deeply moved the assembly, drew a vivid picture of all +the perils to which the country was at that moment exposed. He said that +it was in the name of the king that the emigrants were assembled, that the +sovereigns of Europe had formed a coalition, that foreign armies were +marching on our frontiers, and that internal disturbances were taking +place. He accused him of checking the national zeal by his refusals, and +of giving France up to the coalition. He quoted the article of the +constitution by which it was declared that "if the king placed himself at +the head of an army and directed its force against the nation, or if he +did not formally oppose such an enterprise, undertaken in his name, he +should be considered as having abdicated the throne." Supposing, then, +that Louis XVI. voluntarily opposed the means of defending the country, in +that case, said he: "have we not a right to say to him: 'O king, who +thought, no doubt, with the tyrant Lysander, that truth was of no more +worth than falsehood, and that men were to be amused by oaths, as children +are diverted by toys; who only feigned obedience to the laws that you +might better preserve the power that enables you to defy them; and who +only feigned love for the constitution that it might not precipitate you +from the throne on which you felt bound to remain in order to destroy the +constitution, do you expect to deceive us by hypocritical protestations? +Do you think to deceive us as to our misfortunes by the art of your +excuses? Was it defending us to oppose to foreign soldiers forces whose +known inferiority admitted of no doubt as to their defeat? To set aside +projects for strengthening the interior? Was it defending us not to check +a general who was violating the constitution, while you repressed the +courage of those who sought to serve it? Did the constitution leave you +the choice of ministers for our happiness or our ruin? Did it place you at +the head of our army for our glory or our shame? Did it give you the right +of sanction, a civil list and so many prerogatives, constitutionally to +lose the empire and the constitution? No! no! man! whom the generosity of +the French could not affect, whom the love of despotism alone actuates, +you are now nothing to the constitution you have so unworthily violated, +and to the people you have so basely betrayed!'" + +The only resource of the Gironde, in its present situation, was the +abdication of the king; Vergniaud, it is true, as yet only expressed +himself ambiguously, but all the popular party attributed to Louis XVI. +projects which Vergniaud had only expressed in the form of suppositions. +In a few days, Brissot expressed himself more openly. "Our peril," said +he, "exceeds all that past ages have witnessed. The country is in danger, +not because we are in want of troops, not because those troops want +courage, or that our frontiers are badly fortified, and our resources +scanty. No, it is in danger, because its force is paralysed. And who has +paralysed it? A man--one man, the man whom the constitution has made its +chief, and whom perfidious advisers have made its foe. You are told to +fear the kings of Hungary and Prussia; I say, the chief force of these +kings is at the court, and it is there that we must first conquer them. +They tell you to strike the dissentient priests throughout the kingdom. I +tell you to strike at the Tuileries, that is, to fell all the priests with +a single blow; you are told to prosecute all factious and intriguing +conspirators; they will all disappear if you once knock loud enough at the +door of the cabinet of the Tuileries, for that cabinet is the point to +which all these threads tend, where every scheme is plotted, and whence +every impulse proceeds. The nation is the plaything of this cabinet. This +is the secret of our position, this is the source of the evil, and here +the remedy must be applied." + +In this way the Gironde prepared the assembly for the question of +deposition. But the great question concerning the danger of the country +was first terminated. The three united committees declared that it was +necessary to take measures for the public safety, and on the 5th July the +assembly pronounced the solemn declaration: _Citizens, the country is in +danger!_ All the civil authorities immediately established themselves _en +surveillance permanente_. All citizens able to bear arms, and having +already served in the national guard, were placed in active service; every +one was obliged to make known what arms and ammunition he possessed; pikes +were given to those who were unable to procure guns; battalions of +volunteers were enrolled on the public squares, in the midst of which +banners were placed, bearing the words--"Citizens, the country is in +danger!" and a camp was formed at Soissons. These measures of defence, now +become indispensable, raised the revolutionary enthusiasm to the highest +pitch. It was especially observable on the anniversary of the 14th of +July, when the sentiments of the multitude and the federates from the +departments were manifested without reserve. Pétion was the object of the +people's idolatry, and had all the honours of the federation. A few days +before, he had been dismissed, on account of his conduct on the 20th of +June by the directory of the department and the council; but the assembly +had restored him to his functions, and the only cry on the day of the +federation was: "_Pétion or death!_" A few battalions of the national +guard, such as that of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, still betrayed attachment +to the court; they became the object of popular resentment and mistrust. A +disturbance was excited in the Champs Élysées between the grenadiers of +the Filles-Saint-Thomas and the federates of Marseilles, in which some +grenadiers were wounded. Every day the crisis became more imminent; the +party in favour of war could no longer endure that of the constitution. +Attacks against Lafayette multiplied; he was censured in the journals, +denounced in the assembly. At length hostilities began. The club of the +Feuillants was closed; the grenadier and chasseur companies of the +national guard which formed the force of the bourgeoisie were disbanded; +the soldiers of the line, and a portion of the Swiss, were sent away from +Paris, and open preparations were made for the catastrophe of the 10th of +August. + +The progress of the Prussians and the famous manifesto of Brunswick +contributed to hasten this movement. Prussia had joined Austria and the +German princes against France. This coalition, to which the court of Turin +joined itself, was formidable, though it did not comprise all the powers +that were to have joined it at first. The death of Gustavus, appointed at +first commander of the invading army, detached Sweden; the substitution of +the count d'Aranda, a prudent and moderate man, for the minister Florida- +Blanca, prevented Spain from entering it; Russia and England secretly +approved the attacks of the European league, without as yet co-operating +with it. After the military operations already mentioned, they watched +each other rather than fought. During the interval, Lafayette had inspired +his army with good habits of discipline and devotedness; and Dumouriez, +stationed under Luckner at the camp of Maulde, had inured the troops +confided to him by petty engagements and daily successes. In this way they +had formed the nucleus of a good army; a desirable thing, as they required +organization and confidence to repel the approaching invasion of the +coalesced powers. + +The duke of Brunswick directed it. He had the chief command of the enemy's +army, composed of seventy thousand Prussians, and sixty-eight thousand +Austrians, Hessians, or emigrants. The plan of invasion was as follows:-- +The duke of Brunswick with the Prussians, was to pass the Rhine at +Coblentz, ascend the left bank of the Moselle, attack the French frontier +by its central and most accessible point, and advance on the capital by +way of Longwy, Verdun, and Châlons. The prince von Hohenlohe on his left, +was to advance in the direction of Metz and Thionville, with the Hessians +and a body of emigrants; while general Clairfayt, with the Austrians and +another body of emigrants, was to overthrow Lafayette, stationed before +Sedan and Mézieres, cross the Meuse, and march upon Paris by Rheims and +Soissons. Thus the centre and two wings were to make a concentrated +advance on the capital from the Moselle, the Rhine, and the Netherlands. +Other detachments stationed on the frontier of the Rhine and the extreme +northern frontier, were to attack our troops on these sides and facilitate +the central invasion. + +On the 26th of July, when the army began to move from Coblentz, the duke +of Brunswick published a manifesto in the name of the emperor and the king +of Prussia. He reproached _those who had usurped the reins of +administration in France_, with having disturbed order and overturned the +legitimate government; with having used daily-renewed violence against the +king and his family; with having arbitrarily suppressed the rights and +possessions of the German princes in Alsace and Lorraine; and, finally, +with having crowned the measure by declaring an unjust war against his +majesty the emperor, and attacking his provinces in the Netherlands. He +declared that the allied sovereigns were advancing to put an end to +anarchy in France, to arrest the attacks made on the altar and the throne; +to restore to the king the security and liberty he was deprived of, and to +place him in a condition to exercise his legitimate authority. He +consequently rendered the national guard and the authorities responsible +for all the disorders that should arise until the arrival of the troops of +the coalition. He summoned them to return to their ancient fidelity. He +said that the inhabitants of towns, _who dared to stand on the defensive_, +should instantly be punished as rebels, with the rigour of war, and their +houses demolished or burned; that if the city of Paris did not restore the +king to full liberty, and render him due respect, the princes of the +coalition would make the members of the national assembly, of the +department, of the district, the corporation, and the national guard, +personally responsible with their heads, to be tried by martial-law, and +without hope of pardon; and that if the château were attacked or insulted, +the princes would inflict an exemplary and never-to-be-forgotten +vengeance, by delivering Paris over to military execution, and total +subversion. He promised, on the other hand, if the inhabitants of Paris +would promptly obey the orders of the coalition, to secure for them the +mediation of the allied princes with Louis XVI. for the pardon of their +offences and errors. + +This fiery and impolitic manifesto, which disguised neither the designs of +the emigrants nor those of Europe, which treated a great nation with a +truly extraordinary tone of command and contempt, which openly announced +to it all the miseries of an invasion, and, moreover, vengeance and +despotism, excited a national insurrection. It more than anything else +hastened the fall of the throne, and prevented the success of the +coalition. There was but one wish, one cry of resistance, from one end of +France to the other; and whoever had not joined in it, would have been +looked on as guilty of impiety towards his country and the sacred cause of +its independence. The popular party, placed in the necessity of +conquering, saw no other way than that of annihilating the power of the +king, and in order to annihilate it, than that of dethroning him. But in +this party, every one wished to attain the end in his own way: the Gironde +by a decree of the assembly; the leaders of the multitude by an +insurrection. Danton, Robespierre, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre-d'Eglantine, +Marat, etc., were a displaced faction requiring a revolution that would +raise it from the midst of the people to the assembly and the corporation. +They were the true leaders of the new movement about to take place by the +means of the lower class of society against the middle class, to which the +Girondists belonged by their habits and position. A division arose from +that day between those who only wished to suppress the court in the +existing order of things, and those who wished to introduce the multitude. +The latter could not fall in with the tardiness of discussion. Agitated by +every revolutionary passion, they disposed themselves for an attack by +force of arms, the preparations for which were made openly, and a long +time beforehand. + +Their enterprise had been projected and suspended several times. On the +26th of July, an insurrection was to break out; but it was badly +contrived, and Pétion prevented it. When the federates from Marseilles +arrived, on their way to the camp at Soissons, the faubourgs were to meet +them, and then repair, unexpectedly, to the château. This insurrection +also failed. Yet the arrival of the Marseillais encouraged the agitators +of the capital, and conferences were held at Charenton between them and +the federal leaders for the overthrow of the throne. The sections were +much agitated; that of Mauconseil was the first to declare itself in a +state of insurrection, and notified this to the assembly. The dethronement +was discussed in the clubs, and on the 3rd of August, the mayor Pétion +came to solicit it of the legislative body, in the name of the commune and +of the sections. The petition was referred to the extraordinary commission +of twelve. On the 8th, the accusation of Lafayette was discussed. Some +remains of courage induced the majority to support him, and not without +danger. He was acquitted; but all who had voted for him were hissed, +pursued, and ill treated by the people at the breaking up of the sitting. + +The following day the excitement was extreme. The assembly learned by the +letters of a large number of deputies, that the day before on leaving the +house they had been ill used, and threatened with death, for voting the +acquittal of Lafayette. Vaublanc announced that a crowd had invested and +searched his house in pursuit of him. Girardin exclaimed: "Discussion is +impossible, without perfect liberty of opinion; I declare to my +constituents that I cannot deliberate if the legislative body does not +secure me liberty and safety." Vaublanc earnestly urged that the assembly +should take the strongest measures to secure respect to the law. He also +required that the federates, who were defended by the Girondists, should +be sent without delay to Soissons. During these debates the president +received a message from de Joly, minister of justice. He announced that +the mischief was at its height, and the people urged to every kind of +excess. He gave an account of those committed the evening before, not only +against the deputies, but against many other persons. "I have," said the +minister, "denounced these attacks in the criminal court; but law is +powerless; and I am impelled by honour and probity to inform you, that +without the promptest assistance of the legislative body, the government +can no longer be responsible." In the meantime, it was announced that the +section of the Quinze-vingts had declared that, if the dethronement were +not pronounced that very day, at midnight they would sound the tocsin, +would beat the générale and attack the château. This decision had been +transmitted to the forty-eight sections, and all had approved it, except +one. The assembly summoned the recorder of the department, who assured +them of his good-will, but his inability; and the mayor, who replied that, +at a time when the sections had resumed their sovereignty, he could only +exercise over the people the influence of persuasion. The assembly broke +up without adopting any measures. + +The insurgents fixed the attack on the château for the morning of the 10th +of August. On the 8th, the Marseillais had been transferred from their +barracks in the Rue Blanche to the Cordeliers, with their arms, cannon, +and standard. They had received five thousand ball cartridges, which had +been distributed to them by command of the commissioner of police. The +principal scene of the insurrection was the Faubourg Saint Antoine. In the +evening, after a very stormy sitting, the Jacobins repaired thither in +procession; the insurrection was then organized. It was decided to +dissolve the department; to dismiss Pétion, in order to withdraw him from +the duties of his place, and all responsibility; and, finally, to replace +the general council of the present commune by an insurrectional +municipality. Agitators repaired at the same time to the sections of the +faubourgs and to the barracks of the federate Marseillais and Bretons. + +The court had been apprised of the danger for some time, and had placed +itself in a state of defence. At this juncture, it probably thought it was +not only able to resist, but also entirely to re-establish itself. The +interior of the château was occupied by Swiss, to the number of eight or +nine hundred, by officers of the disbanded guard, and by a troop of +gentlemen and royalists, who had offered their services, armed with +sabres, swords, and pistols. Mandat, the general-in-chief of the national +guard, had repaired to the château, with his staff, to defend it; he had +given orders to the battalions most attached to the constitution to take +arms. The ministers were also with the king; the recorder of the +department had gone thither in the evening at the command of the king, who +had also sent for Pétion, to ascertain from him the state of Paris, and +obtain an authorization to repel force by force. + +At midnight, the tocsin sounded; the générale was beaten. The insurgents +assembled, and fell into their ranks; the members of the sections broke up +the municipality, and named a provisional council of the commune, which +proceeded to the Hôtel de Ville to direct the insurrection. The battalions +of the national guard, on their side, took the route to the château, and +were stationed in the court, or at the principal posts, with the mounted +gendarmerie; artillerymen occupied the avenues of the Tuileries, with +their pieces; while the Swiss and volunteers guarded the apartments. The +defence was in the best condition. + +Some deputies, meanwhile, aroused by the tocsin, had hurried to the hall +of the legislative body, and had opened the sitting under the +presidentship of Vergniaud. Hearing that Pétion was at the Tuileries, and +presuming he was detained there, and wanted to be released, they sent for +him to the bar of the assembly, to give an account of the state of Paris. +On receiving this order, he left the château; he appeared before the +assembly, where a deputation again inquired for him, also supposing him to +be a prisoner at the Tuileries. With this deputation he returned to the +Hôtel de Ville, where he was placed under a guard of three hundred men by +the new commune. The latter, unwilling to allow any other authority on +this day of disorder than the insurrectional authorities, early in the +morning sent for the commandant Mandat, to know what arrangements were +made at the château. Mandat hesitated to obey; yet, as he did not know +that the municipality had been changed, and as his duty required him to +obey its orders, on a second call which he received from the commune, he +proceeded to the Hôtel de Ville. On perceiving new faces as he entered, he +turned pale. He was accused of authorizing the troops to fire on the +people. He became agitated, and was ordered to the Abbaye, and the mob +murdered him as he was leaving, on the steps of the Hôtel de Ville. The +commune immediately conferred the command of the national guard on +Santerre. + +The court was thus deprived of its most determined and influential +defender. The presence of Mandat, and the order he had received to employ +force in case of need, were necessary to induce the national guard to +fight. The sight of the nobles and royalists had lessened its zeal. Mandat +himself, previous to his departure, had urged the queen in vain to dismiss +this troop, which the constitutionalists considered as a troop of +aristocrats. + +About four in the morning the queen summoned Roederer, the recorder of the +department, who had passed the night at the Tuileries, and inquired what +was to be done under these circumstances? Roederer replied, that he +thought it necessary that the king and the royal family should proceed to +the national assembly. "You propose," said Dubouchage, "to take the king +to his foes." Roederer replied, that, two days before, four hundred +members of that assembly out of six hundred, had pronounced in favour of +Lafayette; and that he had only proposed this plan as the least dangerous. +The queen then said, in a very positive tone: "Sir, we have forces here: +it is at length time to know who is to prevail, the king and the +constitution, or faction?" "In that case, madam," rejoined Roederer, "let +us see what arrangements have been made for resistance." Laschenaye, who +commanded in the absence of Mandat, was sent for. He was asked if he had +taken measures to prevent the crowd from arriving at the château? If he +had guarded the Carrousel? He replied in the affirmative; and, addressing +the queen, he said, in a tone of anger: "I must not allow you to remain in +ignorance, madam, that the apartments are filled with people of all kinds, +who very much impede the service, and prevent free access to the king, a +circumstance which creates dissatisfaction among the national guard." +"This is out of season," replied the queen; "I will answer for those who +are here; they will advance first or last, in the ranks, as you please; +they are ready for all that is necessary; they are sure men." They +contented themselves with sending the two ministers, Joly and Champion to +the assembly to apprise it of the danger, and ask for its assistance and +for commissioners. [Footnote: _Chronique des Cinquante Jours_, par P. L. +Roederer, a writer of the most scrupulous accuracy.] + +Division already existed between the defenders of the château, when Louis +XVI. passed them in review at five o'clock in the morning. He first +visited the interior posts, and found them animated by the best +intentions. He was accompanied by some members of his family, and appeared +extremely sad. "I will not," he said, "separate my cause from that of good +citizens; we will save ourselves or perish together." He then descended +into the yard, accompanied by some general officers. As soon as he +arrived, they beat to arms. The cry of "Vive le roi!" was heard, and was +repeated by the national guard; but the artillerymen, and the battalion of +the Croix Rouge replied by the cry of "Vive la nation!" At the same +instant, new battalions, armed with guns and pikes, defiled before the +king, and took their places upon the terrace of the Seine, crying; "Vive +la nation!" "Vive Pétion!" The king continued the review, not, however, +without feeling saddened by this omen. He was received with the strongest +evidences of devotion by the battalions of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, and +Petits-Pères, who occupied the terrace, extending the length of the +château. As he crossed the garden to visit the ports of the Pont Tournant, +the pike battalions pursued him with the cry of: "Down with the veto!" +"Down with the traitor!" and as he returned, they quitted their position, +placed themselves near the Pont Royal, and turned their cannon against the +château. Two other battalions stationed in the courts imitated them, and +established themselves on the Place du Carrousel in an attitude of attack. +On re-entering the château, the king was pale and dejected; and the queen +said, "All is lost! This kind of review has done more harm than good." + +While all this was passing at the Tuileries, the insurgents were advancing +in several columns; they had passed the night in assembling, and becoming +organized. In the morning, they had forced the arsenal, and distributed +the arms. The column of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, about fifteen thousand +strong, and that of the Faubourg Saint Marceau, amounting to five +thousand, began to march about six. The crowd increased as they advanced. +Artillerymen had been placed on the Pont Neuf by the directory of the +department, in order to prevent the union of the insurgents from the two +sides of the river. But Manuel, the town clerk, had ordered them to be +withdrawn, and the passage was accordingly free. The vanguard of the +Faubourgs, composed of Marseillais and Breton federates, had already +arrived by the Rue Saint Honoré, stationed themselves in battle array on +the Carrousel, and turned their cannon against the château. De Joly and +Champion returned from the assembly, stating that the attendance was not +sufficient in number to debate; that it scarcely amounted to sixty or +eighty members, and that their proposition had not been heard. Then +Roederer, the recorder of the department, with the members of the +department, presented himself to the crowd, observing that so great a +multitude could not have access to the king, or to the national assembly, +and recommending them to nominate twenty deputies, and entrust them with +their requests. But they did not listen to him. He turned to the national +guard, reminded them of the article of the law, which enjoined them when +attacked, to repel force by force. A very small part of the national guard +seemed disposed to do so; and a discharge of cannon was the only reply of +the artillerymen. Roederer, seeing that the insurgents were everywhere +triumphant, that they were masters of the field, and that they disposed of +the multitude, and even of the troops, returned hastily to the château, at +the head of the executive directory. + +The king held a council with the queen and ministers. A municipal officer +had just given the alarm by announcing that the columns of the insurgents +were advancing upon the Tuileries. "Well, and what do they want?" asked +Joly, keeper of the seals. "Abdication," replied the officer. "To be +pronounced by the assembly," added the minister. "And what will follow +abdication?" inquired the queen. The municipal officer bowed in silence. +At this moment Roederer arrived, and increased the alarm of the court by +announcing that the danger was extreme; that the insurgents would not be +treated with, and that the national guard could not be depended upon. +"Sire," said he, urgently, "your majesty has not five minutes to lose: +your only safety is in the national assembly; it is the opinion of the +department that you ought to repair thither without delay. There are not +sufficient men in the court to defend the château; nor are we sure of +them. At the mention of defence, the artillerymen discharged their +cannon." The king replied, at first, that he had not observed many people +on the Carrousel; and the queen rejoined with vivacity, that the king had +forces to defend the château. But, at the renewed urgency of Roederer, the +king after looking at him attentively for a few minutes, turned to the +queen, and said, as he rose: "Let us go." "Monsieur Roederer," said Madame +Elizabeth, addressing the recorder, "you answer for the life of the king?" +"Yes, madame, with my own," he replied. "I will walk immediately before +him." + +Louis XVI. left his chamber with his family, ministers, and the members of +the department, and announced to the persons assembled for the defence of +the château that he was going to the national assembly. He placed himself +between two ranks of national guards, summoned to escort him, and crossed +the apartments and garden of the Tuileries. A deputation of the assembly, +apprised of his approach, came to meet him: "Sire," said the president of +this deputation, "the assembly, eager to provide for your safety, offers +you and your family an asylum in its bosom." The procession resumed its +march, and had some difficulty in crossing the terrace of the Tuileries, +which was crowded with an animated mob, breathing forth threats and +insults. The king and his family had great difficulty in reaching the hall +of the assembly, where they took the seats reserved for the ministers. +"Gentlemen," said the king, "I come here to avoid a great crime; I think I +cannot be safer than with you." "Sire," replied Vergniaud, who filled the +chair, "you may rely on the firmness of the national assembly. Its members +have sworn to die in maintaining the rights of the people, and the +constituted authorities." The king then took his seat next the president. +But Chabot reminded him that the assembly could not deliberate in the +presence of the king, and Louis XVI. retired with his family and ministers +into the reporter's box behind the president, whence all that took place +could be seen and heard. + +All motives for resistance ceased with the king's departure. The means of +defence had also been diminished by the departure of the national guards +who escorted the king. The gendarmerie left their posts, crying "Vive la +nation!" The national guard began to move in favour of the insurgents. But +the foes were confronted, and, although the cause was removed, the combat +nevertheless commenced. The column of the insurgents surrounded the +château. The Marseillais and Bretons who occupied the first rank had just +forced the Porte Royale on the Carrousel, and entered the court of the +château. They were led by an old subaltern, called Westermann, a friend of +Danton, and a very daring man. He ranged his force in battle array, and +approaching the artillerymen, induced them to join the Marseillais with +their pieces. The Swiss filled the windows of the château, and stood +motionless. The two bodies confronted each other for some time without +making an attack. A few of the assailants advanced amicably, and the Swiss +threw some cartridges from the windows in token of peace. They penetrated +as far as the vestibule, where they were met by other defenders of the +château. A barrier separated them. Here the combat began, but it is +unknown on which side it commenced. The Swiss discharged a murderous fire +on the assailants, who were dispersed. The Place du Carrousel was cleared. +But the Marseillais and Bretons soon returned with renewed force; the +Swiss were fired on by the cannon, and surrounded. They kept their posts +until they received orders from the king to cease firing. The exasperated +mob did not cease, however, to pursue them, and gave itself up to the most +sanguinary reprisals. It now became a massacre rather than a combat; and +the crowd perpetrated in the château all the excesses of victory. + +All this time the assembly was in the greatest alarm. The first cannonade +filled them with consternation. As the firing became more frequent, the +agitation increased. At one moment, the members considered themselves +lost. An officer entering the hall, hastily exclaimed: "To your places, +legislators; we are forced!" A few rose to go out. "No, no," cried others, +"this is our post." The spectators in the gallery exclaimed instantly, +"Vive l'assemblée nationale!" and the assembly replied, "Vive la nation!" +Shouts of victory were then heard without, and the fate of monarchy was +decided. + +The assembly instantly made a proclamation to restore tranquillity, and +implore the people to respect justice, their magistrates, the rights of +man, liberty, and equality. But the multitude and their chiefs had all the +power in their hands, and were determined to use it. The new municipality +came to assert its authority. It was preceded by three banners, inscribed +with the words, "Patrie, liberté, egalité." Its address was imperious, and +concluded by demanding the deposition of the king, and a national +convention. Deputations followed, and all expressed the same desire, or +rather issued the same command. + +The assembly felt itself compelled to yield; it would not, however, take +upon itself the deposition of the king. Vergniaud ascended the tribune, in +the name of the commission of twelve, and said: "I am about to propose to +you a very rigorous measure; I appeal to the affliction of your hearts to +judge how necessary it is to adopt it immediately." This measure consisted +of the convocation of a national assembly, the dismissal of the ministers, +and the suspension of the king. The assembly adopted it unanimously. The +Girondist ministers were recalled; the celebrated decrees were carried +into execution, about four thousand non-juring priests were exiled, and +commissioners were despatched to the armies to make sure of them. Louis +XVI., to whom the assembly had at first assigned the Luxembourg as a +residence, was transferred as a prisoner to the Temple, by the all- +powerful commune, under the pretext that it could not otherwise be +answerable for the safety of his person. Finally, the 23rd of September +was appointed for opening the extraordinary assembly, destined to decide +the fate of royalty. But royalty had already fallen on the 10th of August, +that day marked by the insurrection of the multitude against the middle +classes and the constitutional throne, as the 14th of July had seen the +insurrection of the middle class against the privileged class and the +absolute power of the crown. On the 10th of August began the dictatorial +and arbitrary epoch of the revolution. Circumstances becoming more and +more difficult to encounter, a vast warfare arose, requiring still greater +energy than ever, and that energy irregular, because popular, rendered the +domination of the lower class restless, cruel, and oppressive. The nature +of the question was then entirely changed; it was no longer a matter of +liberty, but of public safety; and the conventional period, from the end +of the constitution of 1791, to the time when the constitution of the year +III. established the directory, was only a long campaign of the revolution +against parties and against Europe. It was scarcely possible it should be +otherwise. "The revolutionary movement once established," says M. de +Maîstre, in his _Considerations sur la France._ [Footnote: Lausanne, +1796.] "France and the monarchy could only be saved by Jacobinism. Our +grandchildren, who will care little for our sufferings, and will dance on +our graves, will laugh at our present ignorance; they will easily console +themselves for the excesses we have witnessed, and which will have +preserved the integrity of the finest of kingdoms." + +The departments adhered to the events of the 10th of August. The army, +which shortly afterwards came under the influence of the revolution, was +at yet of constitutional royalist principles; but as the troops were +subordinate to parties, they would easily submit to the dominant opinion. +The generals, second in rank, such as Dumouriez, Custines, Biron, +Kellermann, and Labourdonnaie, were disposed to adopt the last changes. +They had not yet declared for any particular party, looking to the +revolution as a means of advancement. It was not the same with the two +generals in chief. Luckner floated undecided between the insurrection of +the 10th of August, which he termed, "a little accident that had happened +to Paris and his friend, Lafayette." The latter, head of the +constitutional party, firmly adhering to his oaths, wished still to defend +the overturned throne, and a constitution which no longer existed. He +commanded about thirty thousand men, who were devoted to his person and +his cause. His head-quarters were near Sedan. In his project of resistance +in favour of the constitution, he concerted with the municipality of that +town, and the directory of the department of Ardennes, to establish a +civil centre round which all the departments might rally. The three +commissioners, Kersaint, Antonelle, and Péraldy, sent by the legislature +to his army, were arrested and imprisoned in the tower of Sedan. The +reason assigned for this measure was, that the assembly having been +intimidated, the members who had accepted such a mission were necessarily +but the leaders or instruments of the faction which had subjugated the +national assembly and the king. The troops and the civil authorities then +renewed their oath to the constitution, and Lafayette endeavoured to +enlarge the circle of the insurrection of the army against the popular +insurrection. + +General Lafayette at that moment thought, possibly, too much on the past, +on the law, and the common oath, and not enough on the really +extraordinary position in which France then was. He only saw the dearest +hopes of the friends of liberty destroyed, the usurpation of the state by +the multitude, and the anarchical reign of the Jacobins; he did not +perceive the fatality of a situation which rendered the triumph of the +latest comer in the revolution indispensable. It was scarcely possible +that the bourgeoisie, which had been strong enough to overthrow the old +system and the privileged classes, but which had reposed after that +victory, could resist the emigrants and all Europe. For this a new shock, +a new faith were necessary; there was need of a numerous, ardent, +inexhaustible class, as enthusiastic for the 10th of August, as the +bourgeoisie had been for the 14th of July. Lafayette could not associate +with this party; he had combated it, under the constituent assembly, at +the Champ de Mars, before and after the 20th of June. He could not +continue to play his former part, nor defend a cause just in itself, but +condemned by events, without compromising his country, and the results of +a revolution to which he was sincerely attached. His resistance, if +continued, would have given rise to a civil war between the people and the +army, at a time when it was not certain that the combination of all +parties would suffice against a foreign war. + +It was the 19th of August, and the army of invasion having left Coblentz +on the 30th of July, was ascending the Moselle, and advancing on that +frontier. In consideration of the common danger, the troops were disposed +to resume their obedience to the assembly; Luckner, who at first approved +of Lafayette's views, retracted, weeping and swearing, before the +municipality of Metz; and Lafayette himself saw the necessity of yielding +to a more powerful destiny. He left his army, taking upon himself all the +responsibility of the whole insurrection. He was accompanied by Bureau-de- +Pusy, Latour-Maubourg, Alexander Lameth, and some officers of his staff. +He proceeded through the enemy's posts towards Holland, intending to go to +the United States, his adopted country. But he was discovered and arrested +with his companions. In violation of the rights of nations, he was treated +as a prisoner of war, and confined first in the dungeons of Magdeburg, and +then by the Austrians at Olmütz. The English parliament itself took steps +in his favour; but it was not until the treaty of Campo-Formio that +Bonaparte released him from prison. During four years of the hardest +captivity, subject to every description of privation, kept in ignorance of +the state of his country and of liberty, with no prospect before him but +that of perpetual and harsh imprisonment, he displayed the most heroic +courage. He might have obtained his liberty by making certain +retractations, but he preferred remaining buried in his dungeon to +abandoning in the least degree the sacred cause he had embraced. + +There have been in our day few lives more pure than Lafayette's; few +characters more beautiful; few men whose popularity has been more justly +won and longer maintained. After defending liberty in America at the side +of Washington, he desired to establish it in the same manner in France; +but this noble part was impossible in our revolution. When a people in the +pursuit of liberty has no internal dissension, and no foes but foreigners, +it may find a deliverer; may produce, in Switzerland a William Tell, in +the Netherlands a prince of Orange, in America a Washington; but when it +pursues it against its own countrymen and foreigners, at once amidst +factions and battles, it can only produce a Cromwell or a Bonaparte, who +become the dictators of revolutions when the struggle subsides and parties +are exhausted. Lafayette, an actor in the first epoch of the crisis, +enthusiastically declared for its results. He became the general of the +middle class, at the head of the national guard under the constituent +assembly, in the army under the legislative assembly. He had risen by it, +and he would end with it. It may be said of him, that if he committed some +faults of position, he had ever but one object, liberty, and that he +employed but one means, the law. The manner in which, when yet quite +young, he devoted himself to the deliverance of the two worlds, his +glorious conduct and his invariable firmness, will transmit his name with +honour to posterity, with whom a man cannot have two reputations, as in +the time of party, but his own alone. + +The authors of the events of the 10th of August became more and more +divided, having no common views as to the results which should arise from +that revolution. The more daring party, which had got hold of the commune +or municipality, wished by means of that commune to rule Paris; by means +of Paris, the national assembly; and by means of the assembly, France. +After having effected the transference of Louis XVI. to the Temple, it +threw down all the statues of the kings, and destroyed all the emblems of +the monarchy. The department exercised a right of superintendence over the +municipality; to be completely independent, it abrogated this right. The +law required certain conditions to constitute a citizen; it decreed the +cessation of these, in order that the multitude might be introduced into +the government of the state. At the same time, it demanded the +establishment of an extraordinary tribunal to try _the conspirators of the +10th of August_. As the assembly did not prove sufficiently docile, and +endeavoured by proclamations to recall the people to more just and +moderate sentiments, it received threatening messages from the Hôtel de +Ville. "As a citizen," said a member of the commune, "as a magistrate of +the people, I come to announce to you that this evening, at midnight, the +tocsin will sound, the drum beat to arms. The people are weary of not +being avenged; tremble lest they administer justice themselves." "If, +before two or three hours pass, the foreman of the jury be not named," +said another, "and if the jury be not itself in a condition to act, great +calamities will befall Paris." To avert the threatened outbreaks, the +assembly was obliged to appoint an extraordinary criminal tribunal. This +tribunal condemned a few persons, but the commune having conceived the +most terrible projects, did not consider it sufficiently expeditious. + +At the head of the commune were Marat, Panis, Sergent, Duplain, Lenfent, +Lefort, Jourdeuil, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, Tallien, etc.; but +the chief leader of the party at that time was Danton. He, more than any +other person, had distinguished himself on the 10th of August. During the +whole of that night he had rushed about from the sections to the barracks +of the Marseillais and Bretons, and from these to the Faubourgs. A member +of the revolutionary commune, he had directed its operations, and had +afterwards been appointed minister of justice. + +Danton was a gigantic revolutionist; he deemed no means censurable so they +were useful, and, according to him, men could do whatever they dared +attempt. Danton, who has been termed the Mirabeau of the populace bore a +physical resemblance to that tribune of the higher classes; he had +irregular features, a powerful voice, impetuous gesticulation, a daring +eloquence, a lordly brow. Their vices, too, were the same; only Mirabeau's +were those of a patrician, Danton's those of a democrat; that which there +was of daring in the conceptions of Mirabeau, was to be found in Danton, +but in another way, because, in the revolution, he belonged to another +class and another epoch. Ardent, overwhelmed with debts and wants, of +dissolute habits, given up now to his passions, now to his party, he was +formidable while in the pursuit of an object, but became indifferent as +soon as he had obtained it. This powerful demagogue presented a mixture of +the most opposite vices and qualities. Though he had sold himself to the +court, he did not seem sordid; he was one of those who, so to speak, give +an air of freedom even to baseness. He was an absolute exterminator, +without being personally ferocious; inexorable towards masses, humane, +generous even towards individuals. [Footnote: At the time the commune was +arranging the massacre of the 2nd September, he saved all who applied to +him; he, of his own accord, released from prison Duport, Barnave, and Ch. +Lameth, his personal antagonists.] Revolution, in his opinion, was a game +at which the conqueror, if he required it, won the life of the conquered. +The welfare of his party was, in his eyes, superior to law and even to +humanity; this will explain his endeavours after the 10th of August, and +his return to moderation when he considered the republic established. + +At this period the Prussians, advancing on the plan of invasion described +above, passed the frontier, after a march of twenty days. The army of +Sedan was without a leader, and incapable of resisting a force so superior +in numbers and so much better organised. On the 20th of August, Longwy was +invested by the Prussians; on the 21st it was bombarded, and on the 24th +it capitulated. On the 30th the hostile army arrived before Verdun, +invested it, and began to bombard it. Verdun taken, the road to the +capital was open. The capture of Longwy, and the approach of so great a +danger, threw Paris into the utmost agitation and alarm. The executive +council, composed of the ministers, was summoned by the committee of +general defence, to deliberate on the best measures to be adopted in this +perilous conjuncture. Some proposed to wait for the enemy under the walls +of the capital, others to retire to Saumur. "You are not ignorant," said +Danton, when his turn to speak arrived, "that France is Paris; if you +abandon the capital to the foreigner, you surrender yourselves, and you +surrender France. It is in Paris that we must defend ourselves by every +possible means. I cannot sanction any plan tending to remove you from it. +The second project does not appear to me any better. It is impossible to +think of fighting under the walls of the capital. The 10th of August has +divided France into two parties, the one attached to royalty, the other +desiring a republic. The latter, the decided minority of which in the +state cannot be concealed, is the only one on which you can rely to fight; +the other will refuse to march; it will excite Paris in favour of the +foreigner, while your defenders, placed between two fires, will perish in +repelling him. Should they fall, which seems to me beyond a doubt, your +ruin and that of France are certain; if, contrary to all expectation, they +return victorious over the coalition, this victory will still be a defeat +for you; for it will have cost you thousands of brave men, while the +royalists, more numerous than you, will have lost nothing of their +strength and influence. It is my opinion, that to disconcert their +measures and stop the enemy, we must make the royalists fear." The +committee, at once understanding the meaning of these words, were thrown +into a state of consternation. "Yes, I tell you," resumed Danton, "we must +make them fear." As the committee rejected this proposition by a silence +full of alarm, Danton concerted with the commune. His aim was to put down +its enemies by terror, to involve the multitude more and more by making +them his accomplices, and to leave the revolution no other refuge than +victory. + +Domiciliary visits were made with great and gloomy ceremony; a large +number of persons whose condition, opinions, or conduct rendered them +objects of suspicion, were thrown into prison. These unfortunate persons +were taken especially from the two dissentient classes, the nobles and the +clergy, who were charged with conspiracy under the legislative assembly. +All citizens capable of bearing arms were enrolled in the Champ de Mars, +and departed on the first of September for the frontier. The générale was +beat, the tocsin sounded, cannon were fired, and Danton, presenting +himself to the assembly to report the measures taken to save the country, +exclaimed: "The cannon you hear are no alarm cannon, but the signal for +attacking the enemy! To conquer them, to prostrate them, what is +necessary? Daring, again daring, and still again and ever daring!" +Intelligence of the taking of Verdun arrived during the night of the 1st +of September. The commune availed themselves of this moment, when Paris, +filled with terror, thought it saw the enemy already at its gates, to +execute their fearful projects. The cannon were again fired, the tocsin +sounded, the barriers were closed, and the massacre began. + +During three days, the prisoners confined in the Carmes, the Abbaye, the +Conciergérie, the Force, etc., were slaughtered by a band of about three +hundred assassins, directed and paid by the commune. This body, with a +calm fanaticism, prostituting to murder the sacred forms of justice, now +judges, now executioners, seemed rather to be practising a calling than to +be exercising vengeance; they massacred without question, without remorse, +with the conviction of fanatics and the obedience of executioners. If some +peculiar circumstances seemed to move them, and to recall them to +sentiments of humanity, to justice, and to mercy, they yielded to the +impression for a moment, and then began anew. In this way a few persons +were saved; but they were very few. The assembly desired to prevent the +massacres, but were unable to do so. The ministry were as incapable as the +assembly; the terrible commune alone could order and do everything; +Pétion, the mayor, had been cashiered; the soldiers placed in charge of +the prisoners feared to resist the murderers, and allowed them to take +their own course; the crowd seemed indifferent, or accomplices; the rest +of the citizens dared not even betray their consternation. We might be +astonished that so great a crime should, with such deliberation, have been +conceived, executed, and endured, did we not know what the fanaticism of +party will do, and what fear will suffer. But the chastisement of this +enormous crime fell at last upon the heads of its authors. The majority of +them perished in the storm they had themselves raised, and by the same +violent means that they had themselves employed. Men of party seldom +escape the fate they have made others undergo. + +The executive council, directed, as to military operations by general +Servan, advanced the newly-levied battalions towards the frontier. As a +man of judgment, he was desirous of placing a general at the threatened +point; but the choice was difficult. Among the generals who had declared +in favour of the late political events, Kellermann seemed only adapted for +a subordinate command, and the authorities had therefore merely placed him +in the room of the vacillative and incompetent Luckner. Custine was but +little skilled in his art; he was fit for any dashing _coup de main_, but +not for the conduct of a great army intrusted with the destiny of France. +The same military inferiority was chargeable upon Biron, Labourdonnaie, +and the rest, who were therefore left at their old stations, with the +corps under their command. Dumouriez alone remained, against whom the +Girondists still retained some rancour, and in whom they, moreover, +suspected the ambitious views, the tastes, and character of an adventurer, +while they rendered justice to his superior talents. However, as he was +the only general equal to so important a position, the executive council +gave him the command of the army of the Moselle. + +Dumouriez repaired in all haste from the camp at Maulde to that of Sedan. +He assembled a council of war, in which the general opinion was in favour +of retiring towards Châlons or Rheims, and covering themselves with the +Marne. Far from adopting this dangerous plan, which would have discouraged +the troops, given up Lorraine, Trois Evêchés, and a part of Champagne, and +thrown open the road to Paris, Dumouriez conceived a project full of +genius. He saw that it was necessary, by a daring march, to advance on the +forest of Argonne, where he might infallibly stop the enemy. This forest +had four issues; that of the Chêne-Populeux on the left; those of the +Croix-au-Bois and of Grandpré in the centre, and that of Les Islettes on +the right, which opened or closed the passage into France. The Prussians +were only six leagues from the forest, and Dumouriez had twelve to pass +over, and his design of occupying it to conceal, if he hoped for success. +He executed his project skilfully and boldly. General Dillon, advancing on +the Islettes, took possession of them with seven thousand men; he himself +reached Grandpré, and there established a camp of thirteen thousand men. +The Croix-au-Bois, and the Chêne-Populeux were in like manner occupied and +defended by some troops. It was here that he wrote to the minister of war, +Servan:--"Verdun is taken; I await the Prussians. The camps of Grandpré +and Les Islettes are the Thermopylae of France; but I shall be more +fortunate than Leonidas." + +In this position, Dumouriez might have stopped the enemy, and himself have +securely awaited the succours which were on their road to him from every +part of France. The various battalions of volunteers repaired to the camps +in the interior, whence they were despatched to his army, as soon as they +were at all in a state of discipline. Beurnonville, who was on the Flemish +frontier, had received orders to advance with nine thousand men, and to be +at Rhétel, on Dumouriez's left, by the 13th of September. Duval was also +on the 7th to march with seven thousand men to the Chêne-Populeux; and +Kellermann was advancing from Metz, on his right, with a reinforcement of +twenty-two thousand men. Time, therefore, was all that was necessary. + +The duke of Brunswick, after taking Verdun, passed the Meuse in three +columns. General Clairfait was operating on his right, and prince +Hohenlohe on his left. Renouncing all hope of driving Dumouriez from his +position by attacking him in front, he tried to turn him. Dumouriez had +been so imprudent as to place nearly his whole force at Grandpré and the +Islettes, and to put only a small corps at Chêne-Populeux and Coix-au- +Bois--posts, it is true, of minor importance. The Prussians, accordingly, +seized upon these, and were on the point of turning him in his camp at +Grandpré, and of thus compelling him to lay down his arms. After this +grand blunder, which neutralized his first manoeuvres, he did not despair +of his situation. He broke up his camp secretly during the night of the +14th September, passed the Aisne, the approach to which might have been +closed to him, made a retreat as able as his advance on the Argonne had +been, and concentrated his forces in the camp at Sainte-Menehould. He had +already delayed the advance of the Prussians at Argonne. The season, as it +advanced, became bad. He had now only to maintain his post till the +arrival of Kellermann and Beurnonville, and the success of the campaign +would be certain. The troops had become disciplined and inured, and the +army amounted to about seventy thousand men, after the arrival of +Beurnonville and Kellermann, which took place on the 17th. + +The Prussian army had followed the movements of Dumouriez. On the 20th, it +attacked Kellermann at Valmy, in order to cut off from the French army the +retreat on Châlons. There was a brisk cannonade on both sides. The +Prussians advanced in columns towards the heights of Valmy, to carry them. +Kellermann also formed his infantry in columns, enjoined them not to fire, +but to await the approach of the enemy, and charge them with the bayonet. +He gave this command, with the cry of _Vive la nation!_ and this cry, +repeated from one end of the line to the other, startled the Prussians +still more than the firm attitude of our troops. The duke of Brunswick +made his somewhat shaken battalions fall back; the firing continued till +the evening; the enemy attempted a fresh attack, but were repulsed. The +day was ours; and the success of Valmy, almost insignificant in itself, +produced on our troops, and upon opinion in France, the effect of the most +complete victory. + +From the same epoch may be dated the discouragement and retreat of the +enemy. The Prussians had entered upon this campaign on the assurance of +the emigrants that it would be a mere military promenade. They were +without magazines or provisions; in the midst of a perfectly open country, +they encountered a resistance each day more energetic; the incessant rains +had broken up the roads; the soldiers marched knee-deep in mud, and, for +four days past, boiled corn had been their only food. Diseases, produced +by the chalky water, want of clothing, and damp, had made great ravages in +the army. The duke of Brunswick advised a retreat, contrary to the opinion +of the king of Prussia and the emigrants, who wished to risk a battle, and +get possession of Châlons. But as the fate of the Prussian monarchy +depended on its army, and the entire ruin of that army would be the +inevitable consequence of a defeat, the duke of Brunswick's opinion +prevailed. Negotiations were opened, and the Prussians, abating their +first demands, now only required the restoration of the king upon the +constitutional throne. But the convention had just assembled; the republic +had been proclaimed, and the executive council replied, "that the French +republic could listen to no proposition until the Prussian troops had +entirely evacuated the French territory." The Prussians, upon this, +commenced their retreat on the evening of the 30th of September. It was +slightly disturbed by Kellermann, whom Dumouriez sent in pursuit, while he +himself proceeded to Paris to enjoy his triumph, and concert measures for +the invasion of Belgium. The French troops re-entered Verdun and Longwy; +and the enemy, after having crossed the Ardennes and Luxembourg, repassed +the Rhine at Coblentz, towards the end of October. This campaign had been +marked by general success. In Flanders, the duke of Saxe-Teschen had been +compelled to raise the siege of Lille, after seven days of a bombardment, +contrary, both in its duration and in its useless barbarity, to all the +usages of war. On the Rhine, Custine had taken Trèves, Spires, and +Mayence. In the Alps, general Montesquiou had invaded Savoy, and general +Anselme the territory of Nice. Our armies, victorious in all directions, +had everywhere assumed the offensive, and the revolution was saved. + +If we were to present the picture of a state emerging from a great crisis, +and were to say: "There were in this state an absolute government whose +authority has been restricted; two privileged classes which have lost +their supremacy; a vast population, already freed by the effect of +civilization and intelligence, but without political rights, and who have +been obliged, by reason of repeated refusals, to gain these for +themselves"; if we were to add: "The government, after opposing this +revolution, submitted to it, but the privileged classes constantly opposed +it,"--the following would probably be concluded from these data: + +"The government will be full of regret, the people will exhibit distrust, +and the privileged classes will attack the new order of things, each in +its own way. The nobility, unable to do so at home, from its weakness +there, will emigrate, in order to excite foreign powers, who will make +preparations for attack; the clergy, who would lose its means of action +abroad, will remain at home, where it will seek out foes to the +revolution. The people, threatened from without, in danger at home, +irritated against the emigrants who seek to arm foreign powers, against +foreign powers about to attack its independence, against the clergy, who +excite the country to insurrection, will treat as enemies clergy, +emigrants, and foreign powers. It will require first surveillance over, +then the banishment of the refractory priests; confiscation of the +property of the emigrants; war against allied Europe, in order to +forestall it. The first authors of the revolution will condemn such of +these measures as shall violate the law; the continuators of the +revolution will, on the contrary, regard them as the salvation of the +country; and discord will arise between those who prefer the constitution +to the state, and those who prefer the state to the constitution. The +monarch, induced by his interests as king, his affections and his +conscience, to reject such a course of policy, will pass for an accomplice +of the counter-revolution, because he will appear to protect it. The +revolutionists will then seek to gain over the king by intimidation, and +failing in this, will overthrow his authority." + +Such was the history of the legislative assembly. Internal disturbances +led to the decree against the priests; external menaces to that against +the emigrants; the coalition of foreign powers to war against Europe; the +first defeat of our armies, to the formation of the camp of twenty +thousand. The refusal of Louis XVI. to adopt most of these decrees, +rendered him an object of suspicion to the Girondists; the dissensions +between the latter and the constitutionalists, who desired some of them to +be legislators, as in time of peace, others, enemies, as in time of war, +disunited the partisans of the revolution. With the Girondists the +question of liberty was involved in victory, and victory in the decrees. +The 20th of June was an attempt to force their acceptance; but having +failed in its effect, they deemed that either the crown or the revolution +must be renounced, and they brought on the 10th of August. Thus, but for +emigration which induced the war, but for the schism which induced the +disturbances, the king would probably have agreed to the constitution, and +the revolutionists would not have dreamed of the republic. + + + + +THE NATIONAL CONVENTION + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1792, TO THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793 + + +The convention was constituted on the 20th of September, 1792, and +commenced its deliberations on the 21st. In its first sitting it abolished +royalty, and proclaimed the republic. On the 22nd, it appropriated the +revolution to itself, by declaring it would not date from _year IV. of +Liberty_; but from _year I. of the French Republic_. After these first +measures, voted by acclamation, with a sort of rivalry in democracy and +enthusiasm in the two parties, which had become divided at the close of +the legislative assembly, the convention, instead of commencing its +labours, gave itself up to intestine quarrels. The Girondists and the +Mountain, before they established the new revolution, desired to know to +which of them it was to belong, and the enormous dangers of their position +did not divert them from this contest. They had more than ever to fear the +efforts of Europe. Austria, Prussia, and some of the German princes having +attacked France before the 10th of August, there was every reason to +believe that the other sovereigns of Europe would declare against it after +the fall of the monarchy, the imprisonment of the king, and the massacres +of September. Within, the enemies of the revolution had increased. To the +partisans of the ancient regime, of the aristocracy and clergy, were now +to be added the friends of constitutional monarchy, with whom the fate of +Louis XVI. was an object of earnest solicitude, and those who imagined +liberty impossible without order, or under the empire of the multitude. +Amidst so many obstacles and adversaries, at a moment when their strictest +union was requisite, the Gironde and the Mountain attacked each other with +the fiercest animosity. It is true that these two parties were wholly +incompatible, and that their respective leaders could not combine, so +strong and varied were the grounds of separation in their rivalry for +power, and in their designs. + +Events had compelled the Girondists to become republicans. It would have +suited them far better to have remained constitutionalists. The integrity +of their purposes, their distaste for the multitude, their aversion for +violent measures, and especially the prudence which counselled them only +to attempt that which seemed possible--every circumstance made this +imperative upon them; but they had not been left free to remain what they +at first were. They had followed the bias which led them onward to the +republic, and they had gradually habituated themselves to this form of +government. They now desired it ardently and sincerely, but they felt how +difficult it would be to establish and consolidate it. They deemed it a +great and noble thing; but they felt that the men for it were wanting. The +multitude had neither the intelligence nor the virtue proper for this kind +of government. The revolution effected by the constituent assembly was +legitimate, still more because it was possible than because it was just; +it had its constitution and its citizens. But a new revolution, which +should call the lower classes to the conduct of the state, could not be +durable. It would injuriously affect too many interests, and have but +momentary defenders, the lower class being capable of sound action and +conduct in a crisis, but not for a permanency. Yet, in consenting to this +second revolution, it was this inferior class which must be looked to for +support. The Girondists did not adopt this course, and they found +themselves placed in a position altogether false; they lost the assistance +of the constitutionalists without procuring that of the democrats; they +had a hold upon neither extreme of society. Accordingly, they only formed +a half party, which was soon overthrown, because it had no root. The +Girondists, after the 10th of August, were, between the middle class and +the multitude, what the monarchists, or the Mounier and Necker party, had +been after the 24th of July, between the privileged classes and the +bourgeoisie. + +The Mountain, on the contrary, desired a republic of the people. The +leaders of this party, annoyed at the credit of the Girondists, sought to +overthrow and to supersede them. They were less intelligent, and less +eloquent, but abler, more decided, and in no degree scrupulous as to +means. The extremest democracy seemed to them the best of governments, and +what they termed the people, that is, the lowest populace, was the object +of their constant adulation, and most ardent solicitude. No party was more +dangerous; most consistently it laboured for those who fought its battle. + +Ever since the opening of the convention, the Girondists had occupied the +right benches, and the Mountain party the summit of the left, whence the +name by which they are designated. The Girondists were the strongest in +the assembly; the elections in the departments had generally been in their +favour. A great number of the deputies of the legislative assembly had +been re-elected, and as at that time connexion effected much, the members +who had been united with the deputation of the Gironde and the commune of +Paris before the 10th of August, returned with the same opinions. Others +came without any particular system or party, without enmities or +attachments: these formed what was then called the _Plaine_ or the +_Marais_. This party, taking no interest in the struggles between the +Gironde and the Mountain, voted with the side they considered the most +just, so long as they were allowed to be moderate; that is to say, so long +as they had no fears for themselves. + +The Mountain was composed of deputies of Paris, elected under the +influence of the commune of the 10th of August, and of some very decided +republicans from the provinces; it, from time to time, increased its ranks +with those who were rendered enthusiastic by circumstances, or who were +impelled by fear. But though inferior in the convention in point of +numbers, it was none the less very powerful, even at this period. It +swayed Paris; the commune was devoted to it, and the commune had managed +to constitute itself the supreme authority in the state. The Mountain had +sought to master the departments, by endeavouring to establish an identity +of views and conduct between the municipality of Paris and the provincial +municipalities; they had not, however, completely succeeded in this, and +the departments were for the most part favourable to their adversaries, +who cultivated their good will by means of pamphlets and journals sent by +the minister Roland, whose house the Mountain called a _bureau d'esprit +public_, and whose friends they called _intrigants_. But besides this +junction of the communes, which sooner or later would take place, they +were adopted by the Jacobins. This club, the most influential as well as +the most ancient and extensive, changed its views at every crisis without +changing its name; it was a framework ready for every dominating power, +excluding all dissentients. That at Paris was the metropolis of +Jacobinism, and governed the others almost imperiously. The Mountain had +made themselves masters of it; they had already driven the Girondists from +it, by denunciation and disgust, and replaced the members taken from the +bourgeoisie by sans-culottes. Nothing remained to the Girondists but the +ministry, who, thwarted by the commune, were powerless in Paris. The +Mountain, on the contrary, disposed of all the effective force of the +capital, of the public mind by the Jacobins, of the sections and faubourgs +by the sans-culottes, of the insurrectionists by the municipality. + +The first measure of parties after having decreed the republic, was to +contend with each other. The Girondists were indignant at the massacres of +September, and they beheld with horror on the benches of the convention +the men who had advised or ordered them. Above all others, two inspired +them with antipathy and disgust; Robespierre, whom they suspected of +aspiring to tyranny; and Marat, who from the commencement of the +revolution had in his writings constituted himself the apostle of murder. +They denounced Robespierre with more animosity than prudence; he was not +yet sufficiently formidable to incur the accusation of aspiring to the +dictatorship. His enemies by reproaching him with intentions then +improbable, and at all events incapable of proof, themselves augmented his +popularity and importance. + +Robespierre, who played so terrible a part in our revolution, was +beginning to take a prominent position. Hitherto, despite his efforts, he +had had superiors in his own party: under the constituent assembly, its +famous leaders; under the legislative, Brissot and Pétion; on the 10th of +August, Danton. At these different periods he had declared himself against +those whose renown or popularity offended him. Only able to distinguish +himself among the celebrated personages of the first assembly by the +singularity of his opinions, he had shown himself an exaggerated reformer; +during the second, he became a constitutionalist, because his rivals were +innovators, and he had talked in favour of peace to the Jacobins, because +his rivals advocated war. From the 10th of August he essayed in that club +to ruin the Girondists, and to supplant Danton, always associating the +cause of his vanity with that of the multitude. This man, of ordinary +talents and vain character, owed it to his inferiority to rank with the +last, a great advantage in times of revolution; and his conceit drove him +to aspire to the first rank, to do all to reach it, to dare all to +maintain himself there. + +Robespierre had the qualifications for tyranny; a soul not great, it is +true, but not common; the advantage of one sole passion, the appearance of +patriotism, a deserved reputation for incorruptibility, an austere life, +and no aversion to the effusion of blood. He was a proof that amidst civil +troubles it is not mind but conduct that leads to political fortune, and +that persevering mediocrity is more powerful than wavering genius. It must +also be observed that Robespierre had the support of an immense and +fanatical sect, whose government he had solicited, and whose principles he +had defended since the close of the constituent assembly. This sect +derived its origin from the eighteenth century, certain opinions of which +it represented. In politics, its symbol was the absolute sovereignty of +the _Contrat social_ of J.J. Rousseau, and for creed, it held the deism of +_la Profession de foi du Vicaire Savoyard_; at a later period it succeeded +in realizing these for a moment in the constitution of '93, and the +worship of the Supreme Being. More fanaticism and system existed in the +different epochs of the revolution than is generally supposed. + +Whether the Girondists distinctly foresaw the dominion of Robespierre, or +whether they suffered themselves to be carried away by their indignation, +they accused him, with republicans, of the most serious of crimes. Paris +was agitated by the spirit of faction; the Girondists wished to pass a law +against those who excited disorders and violence, and at the same time to +give the convention an independent force derived from the eighty-three +departments. They appointed a commission to present a report on this +subject. The Mountain attacked this measure as injurious to Paris; the +Gironde defended it, by pointing out the project of a triumvirate formed +by the deputation of Paris. "I was born in Paris," said Osselin; "I am +deputy for that town. It is announced that a party is formed in the very +heart of it, desiring a dictatorship, triumvirs, tribunes, etc. I declare +that extreme ignorance or profound wickedness alone could have conceived +such a project. Let the member of the deputation of Paris who has +conceived such an idea be anathematized!" "Yes," exclaimed Rebecqui of +Marseilles, "yes, there exists in this assembly a party which aspires at +the dictatorship, and I will name the leader of this party; Robespierre. +That is the man whom I denounce." Barbaroux supported this denunciation by +his evidence; he was one of the chief authors of the 10th of August; he +was the leader of the Marseillais, and he possessed immense influence in +the south. He stated that about the 10th of August, the Marseillais were +much courted by the two parties who divided the capital; he was brought to +Robespierre's, and there he was told to ally himself to those citizens who +had acquired most popularity, and that Paris expressly named to him, +_Robespierre, as the virtuous man who was to be dictator of France_. +Barbaroux was a man of action. There were some members of the Right who +thought with him, that they ought to conquer their adversaries, in order +to avoid being conquered by them. They wished, making use of the +convention against the commune, to oppose the departments to Paris, and +while they remained weak, by no means to spare enemies, to whom they would +otherwise be granting time to become stronger. But the greater number +dreaded a rupture, and trembled at the idea of energetic measures. + +This accusation against Robespierre had no immediate consequences; but it +fell back on Marat, who had recommended a dictatorship, in his journal +"L'Ami du Peuple," and had extolled the massacres. When he ascended the +tribune to justify himself, the assembly shuddered. "_A bas! à bas_!" +resounded from all sides. Marat remained imperturbable. In a momentary +pause, he said: "I have a great number of personal enemies in this +assembly. (_Tous! tous!_) I beg of them to remember decorum; I exhort them +to abstain from all furious clamours and indecent threats against a man +who has served liberty and themselves more than they think. For once let +them learn to listen." And this man delivered in the midst of the +convention, astounded at his audacity and sangfroid, his views of the +proscriptions and of the dictatorship. For some time he had fled from +cellar to cellar to avoid public anger, and the warrants issued against +him. His sanguinary journal alone appeared; in it he demanded heads, and +prepared the multitude for the massacres of September. There is no folly +which may not enter a man's head, and what is worse, which may not be +realized for a moment. Marat was possessed by certain fixed ideas. The +revolution had enemies, and, in his opinion, it could not last unless +freed from them; from that moment he deemed nothing could be more simple +than to exterminate them, and appoint a dictator, whose functions should +be limited to proscribing; these two measures he proclaimed aloud, with a +cynical cruelty, having no more regard for propriety than for the lives of +men, and despising as weak minds all those who called his projects +atrocious, instead of considering them profound. The revolution had actors +really more sanguinary than he, but none exercised a more fatal influence +over his times. He depraved the morality of parties already sufficiently +corrupt; and he had the two leading ideas which the committee of public +safety subsequently realized by its commissioners or its government-- +extermination in mass, and the dictatorship. + +Marat's accusation was not attended with any results; he inspired more +disgust, but less hatred than Robespierre; some regarded him as a madman; +others considered these debates as the quarrels of parties, and not as an +object of interest for the republic. Moreover, it seemed dangerous to +attempt to purify the convention, or to dismiss one of its members, and it +was a difficult step to get over, even for parties. Danton did not +exonerate Marat. "I do not like him," said he; "I have had experience of +his temperament; it is volcanic, crabbed and unsociable. But why seek for +the language of a faction in what he writes? Has the general agitation any +other cause than that of the revolutionary movement itself?" Robespierre, +on his part, protested that he knew very little of Marat; that, previous +to the 10th of August, he had only had one conversation with him, after +which Marat, whose violent opinions he did not approve, had considered his +political views so narrow, that he had stated in his journal, _that he had +neither the higher views nor the daring of a statesman_. + +But he was the object of much greater indignation because he was more +dreaded. The first accusation of Rebecqui and Barbaroux had not succeeded. +A short time afterwards, the Minister Roland made a report on the state of +France and Paris; in it he denounced the massacres of September, the +encroachments of the commune, and the proceedings of the agitators. +"When," said he, "they render the wisest and most intrepid defenders of +liberty odious or suspected, when principles of revolt and slaughter are +boldly professed and applauded in the assemblies, and clamours arise +against the convention itself, I can no longer doubt that partisans of the +ancient regime, or false friends of the people, concealing their +extravagance or wickedness under a mask of patriotism, have conceived the +plan of an overthrow in which they hope to raise themselves on ruins and +corpses, and gratify their thirst for blood, gold, and atrocity." + +He cited, in proof of his report, a letter in which the vice-president of +the second section of the criminal tribunal informed him, that he and the +most distinguished Girondists were threatened; that, in the words of their +enemies, _another bleeding was wanted_; and that these men would hear of +no one but Robespierre. + +At these words the latter hastened to the tribune to justify himself. "No +one," he cried, "dare accuse me to my face!" "I dare!" exclaimed Louvet, +one of the most determined men of the Gironde. "Yes, Robespierre," he +continued, fixing his eye upon him; "I accuse you!" Robespierre, hitherto +full of assurance, became moved. He had once before, at the Jacobins, +measured his strength with this formidable adversary, whom he knew to be +witty, impetuous, and uncompromising. Louvet now spoke, and in a most +eloquent address spared neither acts nor names. He traced the course of +Robespierre to the Jacobins, to the commune, to the electoral assembly: +"calumniating the best patriots; lavishing the basest flatteries on a few +hundred citizens, at first designated as the people of Paris, afterwards +as the people absolutely, and then as the sovereign; repeating the eternal +enumeration of his own merits, perfections, and virtues; and never +failing, after he had dwelt on the strength, grandeur, and sovereignty of +the people, to protest that he was the people too." He then described him +concealing himself on the 10th of August, and afterwards swaying the +conspirators of the commune. Then he came to the massacres of September, +and exclaimed: "The revolution of the 10th of August belongs to all!" he +added, pointing out a few of the members of the Mountain in the commune, +"but that of the 2nd of September, that belongs to them--and to none but +them! Have they not glorified themselves by it? They themselves, with +brutal contempt, only designated us as the patriots of the 10th of August. +With ferocious pride they called themselves the patriots of the 2nd of +September! Ah, let them retain this distinction worthy of the courage +peculiar to them; let them retain it as our justification, and for their +lasting shame! These pretended friends of the people wish to cast on the +people of Paris the horrors that stained the first week of September. They +have basely slandered them. The people of Paris can fight; they cannot +murder! It is true, they were assembled all the day long before the +château of the Tuileries on the glorious 10th of August; it is false that +they were seen before the prisons on the horrible 2nd of September. How +many executioners were there within? Two hundred; probably not two +hundred. And without, how many spectators could be reckoned drawn thither +by truly incomprehensible curiosity? At most, twice the number. But, it is +asked, why, if the people did not assist in these murders, did they not +hinder them? Why? Because Pétion's tutelary authority was fettered; +because Roland spoke in vain; because Danton, the minister of justice, did +not speak at all,... because the presidents of the forty-eight sections +waited for orders which the general in command did not give; because +municipal officers, wearing their scarfs, presided at these atrocious +executions. But the legislative assembly? The legislative assembly! +representatives of the people, you will avenge it! The powerless state +into which your predecessors were reduced is, in the midst of such crimes, +the greatest for which these ruffians, whom I denounce, must be punished." +Returning to Robespierre, Louvet pointed out his ambition, his efforts, +his extreme ascendancy over the people, and terminated his fiery philippic +by a series of facts, each one of which was preceded by this terrible +form: "_Robespierre, I accuse thee!_" + +Louvet descended from the tribune amidst applause, Robespierre mounted it +to justify himself; he was pale, and was received with murmurs. Either +from agitation or fear of prejudice, he asked for a week's delay. The time +arrived; he appeared less like one accused than as a triumpher; he +repelled with irony Louvet's reproaches, and entered into a long apology +for himself. It must be admitted that the facts were vague, and it +required little trouble to weaken or overturn them. Persons were placed in +the gallery to applaud him; even the convention itself, who regarded this +quarrel as the result of a private pique, and, as Barrère said, did not +fear _a man of a day, a petty leader of riots_, was disposed to close +these debates. Accordingly, when Robespierre observed, as he finished: +"For my part, I will draw no personal conclusions; I have given up the +easy advantage of replying to the calumnies of my adversaries by more +formidable denunciations; I wished to suppress the offensive part of my +justification. I renounce the just vengeance I have a right to pursue +against my calumniators; I ask for no other than the return of peace and +triumph of liberty!" he was applauded, and the convention passed to the +order of the day. Louvet in vain sought to reply; he was not allowed. +Barbaroux as vainly presented himself as accuser and Lanjuinais opposed +the motion for the order without obtaining the renewal of the discussion. +The Girondists themselves supported it: they committed one fault in +commencing the accusation, and another in not continuing it. The Mountain +carried the day, since they were not conquered, and Robespierre was +brought nearer the assumption of the part he had been so far removed from. +In times of revolution, men very soon become what they are supposed to be, +and the Mountain adopted him for their leader because the Girondists +pursued him as such. + +But what was much more important than personal attacks, were the +discussions respecting the means of government, and the management of +authorities and parties. The Girondists struck, not only against +individuals but against the commune. Not one of their measures succeeded; +they were badly proposed or badly sustained. They should have supported +the government, replaced the municipality, maintained their post among the +Jacobins and swayed them, gained over the multitude, or prevented its +acting; and they did nothing of all this. One among them, Buzot, proposed +giving the convention a guard of three thousand men, taken from the +departments. This measure, which would at least have made the assembly +independent, was not supported with sufficient vigour to be adopted. Thus +the Girondists attacked the Mountain without weakening them, the commune +without subduing it, the Faubourgs without suppressing them. They +irritated Paris by invoking the aid of the departments, without procuring +it; thus acting in opposition to the most common rules of prudence, for it +is always safer to do a thing than to threaten to do it. + +Their adversaries skilfully turned this circumstance to advantage. They +secretly circulated a report which could not but compromise the +Girondists; it was, that they wished to remove the republic to the south, +and give up the rest of the empire. Then commenced that reproach of +federalism, which afterwards became so fatal. The Girondists disdained it +because they did not see the consequences; but it necessarily gained +credit in proportion as they became weak and their enemies became daring. +What had given rise to the report was the project of defending themselves +behind the Loire, and removing the government to the south, if the north +should be invaded and Paris taken, and the predilection they manifested +for the provinces, and their indignation against the agitators of the +capital. Nothing is more easy than to change the appearance of a measure +by changing the period in which the measure was adopted, and discover in +the disapprobation expressed at the irregular acts of a city, an intention +to form the other cities of the state into a league against it. +Accordingly, the Girondists were pointed out to the multitude as +federalists. While they denounced the commune, and accused Robespierre and +Marat, the Mountain decreed _the unity and indivisibility of the +republic_. This was a way of attacking them and bringing them into +suspicion, although they themselves adhered so eagerly to these +propositions that they seemed to regret not having made them. + +But a circumstance, apparently unconnected with the disputes of these two +parties, served still better the cause of the Mountain. Already emboldened +by the unsuccessful attempts which had been directed against them, they +only waited for an opportunity to become assailants in their turn. The +convention was fatigued by these long discussions. Those members who were +not interested in them, and even those of the two parties who were not in +the first rank, felt the need of concord, and wished to see men occupy +themselves with the republic. There was an apparent truce, and the +attention of the assembly was directed for a moment to the new +constitution, which the Mountain caused it to abandon, in order to decide +on the fate of the fallen prince. The leaders of the extreme Left were +driven to this course by several motives: they did not want the +Girondists, and the moderate members of the Plain, who directed the +committee of the constitution, the former by Pétion, Condorcet, Brissot, +Vergniaud, Gensonné, the others by Barrère, Sieyès, and Thomas Paine, to +organize the republic. They would have established the system of the +bourgeoisie, rendering it a little more democratic than that of 1791, +while they themselves aspired at constituting the people. But they could +only accomplish their end by power, and they could only obtain power by +protracting the revolutionary state in France. Besides the necessity of +preventing the establishment of legal order by a terrible coup d'état, +such as the condemnation of Louis XVI., which would arouse all passions, +rally round them the violent parties, by proving them to be the inflexible +guardians of the republic, they hoped to expose the sentiments of the +Girondists, who did not conceal their desire to save Louis XVI., and thus +ruin them in the estimation of the multitude. There were, without a doubt, +in this conjuncture, a great number of the Mountain, who, on this +occasion, acted with the greatest sincerity and only as republicans, in +whose eyes Louis XVI. appeared guilty with respect to the revolution; and +a dethroned king was dangerous to a young democracy. But this party would +have been more clement, had it not had to ruin the Gironde at the same +time with Louis XVI. + +For some time past, the public mind had been prepared for his trial. The +Jacobin club resounded with invectives against him; the most injurious +reports were circulated against his character; his condemnation was +required for the firm establishment of liberty. The popular societies in +the departments addressed petitions to the convention with the same +object. The sections presented themselves at the bar of the assembly, and +they carried through it, on litters, the men wounded on the 10th of +August, who came to cry for vengeance on Louis Capet. They now only +designated Louis XVI. by this name of the ancient chief of his race, +thinking to substitute his title of king by his family name. + +Party motives and popular animosities combined against this unfortunate +prince. Those who, two months before, would have repelled the idea of +exposing him to any other punishment than that of dethronement, were +stupefied; so quickly does man lose in moments of crisis the right to +defend his opinions! The discovery of the iron chest especially increased +the fanaticism of the multitude, and the weakness of the king's defenders. +After the 10th of August, there were found in the offices of the civil +list documents which proved the secret correspondence of Louis XVI. with +the discontented princes, with the emigration, and with Europe. In a +report, drawn up at the command of the legislative assembly, he was +accused of intending to betray the state and overthrow the revolution. He +was accused of having written, on the 16th April, 1791, to the bishop of +Clermont, that if he regained his power he would restore the former +government and the clergy to the state in which they previously were; of +having afterwards proposed war, merely to hasten the approach of his +deliverers; of having been in correspondence with men who wrote to him-- +"War will compel all the powers to combine against the seditious and +abandoned men who tyrannize over France, in order that their punishment +may speedily serve as an example to all who shall be induced to trouble +the peace of empires. You may rely on a hundred and fifty thousand men, +Prussians, Austrians, and Imperialists, and on an army of twenty thousand +emigrants;" of having been on terms with his brothers, whom his public +measures had discountenanced: and, lastly, of having constantly opposed +the revolution. + +Fresh documents were soon brought forward in support of this accusation. +In the Tuileries, behind a panel in the wainscot, there was a hole wrought +in the wall, and closed by an iron door. This secret closet was pointed +out by the minister, Roland, and there were discovered proofs of all the +conspiracies and intrigues of the court against the revolution; projects +with the popular leaders to strengthen the constitutional power of the +king, to restore the ancient régime and the aristocrats; the manoeuvres of +Talon, the arrangements with Mirabeau, the proposition accepted by +Bouillé, under the constituent assembly, and some new plots under the +legislative assembly. This discovery increased the exasperation against +Louis XVI. Mirabeau's bust was broken by the Jacobins, and the convention +covered the one which stood in the hall where it held its sittings. + +For some time there had been a question in the assembly as to the trial of +this prince, who, having been dethroned, could no longer be proceeded +against. There was no tribunal empowered to pronounce his sentence, no +punishment which could be inflicted on him: accordingly, they plunged into +false interpretations of the inviolability granted to Louis XVI., in order +to condemn him legally. The greatest error of parties, next to being +unjust, is the desire not to appear so. The committee of legislation, +commissioned to draw up a report on the question as to whether Louis XVI. +could be tried, and whether he could be tried by the convention, decided +in the affirmative. The deputy Mailhe opposed, in its name, the dogma of +inviolability; but as this dogma had influenced the preceding epoch of the +revolution, he contended that Louis XVI. was inviolable as king, but not +as an individual. He maintained that the nation, unable to give up its +guarantee respecting acts of power, had supplied the inviolability of the +monarch by the responsibility of his ministers; and that, when Louis XVI. +had acted as a simple individual, his responsibility devolving on no one, +he ceased to be inviolable. Thus Mailhe limited the constitutional +safeguard given to Louis XVI. to the acts of the king. He concluded that +Louis XVI. could be tried, the dethronement not being a punishment, but a +change of government; that he might be brought to trial, by virtue of the +penal code relative to traitors and conspirators; that he could be tried +by the convention, without observing the process of other tribunals, +because, the convention representing the people--the people including all +interests, and all interests constituting justice--it was impossible that +the national tribunal could violate justice, and that, consequently, it +was useless to subject it to forms. Such was the chain of sophistry, by +means of which the committee transformed the convention into a tribunal. +Robespierre's party showed itself much more consistent, dwelling only on +state reasons, and rejecting forms as deceptive. + +The discussion commenced on the 13th of November, six days after the +report of the committee. The partisans of inviolability, while they +considered Louis XVI. guilty, maintained that he could not be tried. The +principal of these was Morrison. He said, that inviolability was general; +that the constitution had anticipated more than secret hostility on the +part of Louis XVI., an open attack, and even in that case had only +pronounced his deposition; that in this respect the nation had pledged its +sovereignty; that the mission of the convention was to change the +government, not to judge Louis XVI.; that, restrained by the rules of +justice, it was so also by the usages of war, which only permitted an +enemy to be destroyed during the combat--after a victory, the law +vindicates him; that, moreover, the republic had no interest in condemning +Louis; that it ought to confine itself with respect to him, to measures of +general safety, detain him prisoner, or banish him from France. This was +the opinion of the Right of the convention. The Plain shared the opinion +of the committee; but the Mountain repelled, at the same time, the +inviolability and the trial of Louis XVI. + +"Citizens," said Saint-Just, "I engage to prove that the opinion of +Morrison, who maintains the king's inviolability, and that of the +committee which requires his trial as a citizen, are equally false; I +contend that we should judge the king as an enemy; that we have less to do +with trying than with opposing him: that having no place in the contract +which unites Frenchmen, the forms of the proceeding are not in civil law, +but in the law of the right of nations; thus, all delay or reserve in this +case are sheer acts of imprudence, and next to the imprudence which +postpones the moment that should give us laws, the most fatal will be that +which makes us temporize with the king." Reducing everything to +considerations of enmity and policy, Saint-Just added, "The very men who +are about to try Louis have a republic to establish: those who attach any +importance to the just chastisement of a king, will never found a +republic. Citizens, if the Roman people, after six hundred years of virtue +and of hatred towards kings; if Great Britain after the death of Cromwell, +saw kings restored in spite of its energy, what ought not good citizens, +friends of liberty, to fear among us, when they see the axe tremble in +your hands, and a people, from the first day of their freedom, respect the +memory of their chains?" + +This violent party, who wished to substitute a coup d'état for a sentence, +to follow no law, no form, but to strike Louis XVI. like a conquered +prisoner, by making hostilities even survive victory, had but a very +feeble majority in the convention; but without, it was strongly supported +by the Jacobins and the commune. Notwithstanding the terror which it +already inspired, its murderous suggestions were repelled by the +convention; and the partisans of inviolability, in their turn, +courageously asserted reasons of public interest at the same time as rules +of justice and humanity. They maintained that the same men could not be +judges and legislators, the jury and the accusers. They desired also to +impart to the rising republic the lustre of great virtues, those of +generosity and forgiveness; they wished to follow the example of the +people of Rome, who acquired their freedom and retained it five hundred +years, because they proved themselves magnanimous; because they banished +the Tarquins instead of putting them to death. In a political view, they +showed the consequences of the king's condemnation, as it would affect the +anarchical party of the kingdom, rendering it still more insolent; and +with regard to Europe, whose still neutral powers it would induce to join +the coalition against the republic. + +But Robespierre, who during this long debate displayed a daring and +perseverance that presaged his power, appeared at the tribune to support +Saint-Just, to reproach the convention with involving in doubt what the +insurrection had decided, and with restoring, by sympathy and the +publicity of a defence, the fallen royalist party. "The assembly," said +Robespierre, "has involuntarily been led far away from the real question. +Here we have nothing to do with trial: Louis is not an accused man; you +are not judges, you are, and can only be, statesmen. You have no sentence +to pronounce for or against a man, but you are called on to adopt a +measure of public safety; to perform an act of national precaution. A +dethroned king is only fit for two purposes, to disturb the tranquillity +of the state, and shake its freedom, or to strengthen one or the other of +them. + +"Louis was king; the republic is founded; the famous question you are +discussing is decided in these few words. Louis cannot be tried; he is +already tried, he is condemned, or the republic is not absolved." He +required that the convention should declare Louis XVI. a traitor towards +the French, criminal towards humanity, and sentence him at once to death, +by virtue of the insurrection. + +The Mountain by these extreme propositions, by the popularity they +attained without, rendered condemnation in a measure inevitable. By +gaining an extraordinary advance on the other parties, it obliged them to +follow it, though at a distance. The majority of the convention, composed +in a large part of Girondists, who dared not pronounce Louis XVI. +inviolable, and of the Plain, decided, on Pétion's proposition, against +the opinion of the fanatical Mountain and against that of the partisans of +inviolability, that Louis XVI. should be tried by the convention. Robert +Lindet then made, in the name of the commission of the twenty-one, his +report respecting Louis XVI. The arraignment, setting forth the offences +imputed to him, was drawn up, and the convention summoned the prisoner to +its bar. + +Louis had been confined in the Temple for four months. He was not at +liberty, as the assembly at first wished him to be in assigning him the +Luxembourg for a residence. The suspicious commune guarded him closely; +but, submissive to his destiny, prepared for everything, he manifested +neither impatience, regret, nor indignation. He had only one servant about +his person, Cléry, who at the same time waited on his family. During the +first months of his imprisonment, he was not separated from his family; +and he still found solace in meeting them. He comforted and supported his +two companions in misfortune, his wife and sister; he acted as preceptor +to the young dauphin, and gave him the lessons of an unfortunate man, of a +captive king. He read a great deal, and often turned to the History of +England, by Hume; there he read of many dethroned kings, and one of them +condemned by the people. Man always seeks destinies similar to his own. +But the consolation he found in the sight of his family did not last long; +as soon as his trial was decided, he was separated from them. The commune +wished to prevent the prisoners from concerting their justification; the +surveillance it exercised over Louis XVI. became daily more minute and +severe. + +In this state of things, Santerre received the order to conduct Louis XVI. +to the bar of the convention. He repaired to the Temple, accompanied by +the mayor, who communicated his mission to the king, and inquired if he +was willing to descend. Louis hesitated a moment, then said: "This is +another violence. I must yield!" and he decided on appearing before the +convention; not objecting to it, as Charles I. had done with regard to his +judges. "Representatives," said Barrère, when his approach was announced, +"you are about to exercise the right of national justice. Let your +attitude be suited to your new functions;" and turning to the gallery, he +added, "Citizens, remember the terrible silence which accompanied Louis on +his return from Varennes; a silence which was the precursor of the trial +of kings by nations." Louis XVI. appeared firm as he entered the hall, and +he took a steady glance round the assembly. He was placed at the bar, and +the president said to him in a voice of emotion: "Louis, the French nation +accuses you. You are about to hear the charges of the indictment. Louis, +be seated." A seat had been prepared for him; he sat in it. During a long +examination, he displayed much calmness and presence of mind, he replied +to each question appropriately, often in an affecting and triumphant +manner. He repelled the reproaches addressed to him respecting his conduct +before the 14th of July, reminding them that his authority was not then +limited; before the journey to Varennes, by the decree of the constituent +assembly, which had been satisfied with his replies; and after the 10th of +August, by throwing all public acts on ministerial responsibility, and by +denying all the secret measures which were personally attributed to him. +This denial did not, however, in the eyes of the convention, overthrow +facts, proved for the most part by documents written or signed by the hand +of Louis XVI. himself; he made use of the natural right of every accused +person. Thus he did not admit the existence of the iron chest, and the +papers that were brought forward. Louis XVI. invoked a law of safety, +which the convention did not admit, and the convention sought to protect +itself from anti-revolutionary attempts, which Louis XVI. would not admit. + +When Louis had returned to the Temple, the convention considered the +request he had made for a defender. A few of the Mountain opposed the +request in vain. The convention determined to allow him the services of a +counsel. It was then that the venerable Malesherbes offered himself to the +convention to defend Louis XVI. "Twice," he wrote, "have I been summoned +to the council of him who was my master, at a time when that function was +the object of ambition to every man; I owe him the same service now, when +many consider it dangerous." His request was granted, Louis XVI. in his +abandonment, was touched by this proof of devotion. When Malesherbes +entered his room, he went towards him, pressed him in his arms, and said +with tears:--"Your sacrifice is the more generous, since you endanger your +own life without saving mine." Malesherbes and Tronchet toiled +uninterruptedly at his defence, and associated M. Desèze with them; they +sought to reanimate the courage of the king, but they found the king +little inclined to hope. "I am sure they will take my life; but no matter, +let us attend to my trial as if I were about to gain it. In truth, I shall +gain it, for I shall leave no stain on my memory." + +At length the day for the defence arrived; it was delivered by M. Desèze; +Louis was present. The profoundest silence pervaded the assembly and the +galleries. M. Desèze availed himself of every consideration of justice and +innocence in favour of the royal prisoner. He appealed to the +inviolability which had been granted him; he asserted that as king he +could not be tried; that as accusers, the representatives of the people +could not be his judges. In this he advanced nothing which had not already +been maintained by one party of the assembly. But he chiefly strove to +justify the conduct of Louis XVI. by ascribing to him intentions always +pure and irreproachable. He concluded with these last and solemn words:-- +"Listen, in anticipation, to what History will say to Fame; Louis +ascending the throne at twenty, presented an example of morals, justice, +and economy; he had no weakness, no corrupting passion: he was the +constant friend of the people. Did the people desire the abolition of an +oppressive tax? Louis abolished it: did the people desire the suppression +of slavery? Louis suppressed it: did the people solicit reforms? he made +them: did the people wish to change its laws? he consented to change them: +did the people desire that millions of Frenchmen should be restored to +their rights? he restored them: did the people wish for liberty? he gave +it them. Men cannot deny to Louis the glory of having anticipated the +people by his sacrifices; and it is he whom it is proposed to slay. +Citizens, I will not continue, I leave it to History; remember, she will +judge your sentence, and her judgment will be that of ages." But passion +proved deaf and incapable of foresight. + +The Girondists wished to save Louis XVI., but they feared the imputation +of royalism, which was already cast upon them by the Mountain. During the +whole transaction, their conduct was rather equivocal; they dared not +pronounce themselves in favour of or against the accused; and their +moderation ruined them without serving him. At that moment his cause, not +only that of his throne, but of his life, was their own. They were about +to determine, by an act of justice or by a coup d'état, whether they +should return to the legal regime, or prolong the revolutionary regime. +The triumph of the Girondists or of the Mountain was involved in one or +the other of these solutions. The latter became exceedingly active. They +pretended that, while following forms, men were forgetful of republican +energy, and that the defence of Louis XVI. was a lecture on monarchy +addressed to the nation. The Jacobins powerfully seconded them, and +deputations came to the bar demanding the death of the king. + +Yet the Girondists, who had not dared to maintain the question of +inviolability, proposed a skilful way of saving Louis XVI. from death, by +appealing from the sentence of the convention to the people. The extreme +Right still protested against the erection of the assembly into a +tribunal; but the competence of the assembly having been previously +decided, all their efforts were turned in another direction. Salles +proposed that the king should be pronounced guilty, but that the +application of the punishment should be left to the primary assembly. +Buzot, fearing that the convention would incur the reproach of weakness, +thought that it ought to pronounce the sentence, and submit the judgment +it pronounced to the decision of the people. This advice was vigorously +opposed by the Mountain, and even by a great number of the more moderate +members of the convention, who saw, in the convocation of the primary +assemblies, the germ of civil war. + +The assembly had unanimously decided that Louis was guilty, when the +appeal to the people was put to the question. Two hundred and eighty-four +voices voted for, four hundred and twenty-four against it; ten declined +voting. Then came the terrible question as to the nature of the +punishment. Paris was in a state of the greatest excitement: deputies were +threatened at the very door of the assembly; fresh excesses on the part of +the populace were dreaded; the Jacobin clubs resounded with extravagant +invectives against Louis XVI., and the Right. The Mountain, till then the +weakest party in the convention, sought to obtain the majority by terror, +determined, if it did not succeed, none the less to sacrifice Louis XVI. +Finally, after four hours of nominal appeal, the president, Vergniaud, +said: "Citizens, I am about to proclaim the result of the scrutiny. When +justice has spoken, humanity should have its turn." There were seven +hundred and twenty-one voters. The actual majority was three hundred and +sixty-one. The death of the king was decided by a majority of twenty-six +votes. Opinions were very various: Girondists voted for his death, with a +reservation, it is true; most of the members of the Right voted for +imprisonment or exile; a few of the Mountain voted with the Girondists. As +soon as the result was known, the president said, in a tone of grief: "In +the name of the convention, I declare the punishment, to which it condemns +Louis Capet, to be death." Those who had undertaken the defence appeared +at the bar; they were deeply affected. They endeavoured to bring back the +assembly to sentiments of compassion, in consideration of the small +majority in favour of the sentence. But this subject had already been +discussed and decided. "Laws are only made by a simple majority," said one +of the Mountain. "Yes," replied a voice, "but laws may be revoked; you +cannot restore the life of a man." Malesherbes wished to speak, but could +not. Sobs prevented his utterance; he could only articulate a few +indistinct words of entreaty. His grief moved the assembly. The request +for a reprieve was received by the Girondists as a last resource; but this +also failed them, and the fatal sentence was pronounced. + +Louis expected it. When Malesherbes came in tears to announce the +sentence, he found him sitting in the dark, his elbows resting on a table, +his face hid in his hands, and in profound meditation. At the noise of his +entrance, Louis rose and said: "For two hours I have been trying to +discover if, during my reign, I have deserved the slightest reproach from +my subjects. Well, M. de Malesherbes, I swear to you, in the truth of my +heart, as a man about to appear before God, that I have constantly sought +the happiness of my people, and never indulged a wish opposed to it." +Malesherbes urged that a reprieve would not be rejected, but this Louis +did not expect. As he saw Malesherbes go out, Louis begged him not to +forsake him in his last moments; Malesherbes promised to return; but he +came several times, and was never able to gain access to him. Louis asked +for him frequently, and appeared distressed at not seeing him. He received +without emotion the formal announcement of his sentence from the minister +of justice. He asked three days to prepare to appear before God; and also +to be allowed the services of a priest, and permission to communicate +freely with his wife and children. Only the last two requests were +granted. + +The interview was a distressing scene to this desolate family; but the +moment of separation was far more so. Louis, on parting with his family, +promised to see them again the next day; but, on reaching his room, he +felt that the trial would be too much, and, pacing up and down violently, +he exclaimed, "I will not go!" This was his last struggle; the rest of his +time was spent in preparing for death. The night before the execution he +slept calmly. Cléry awoke him, as he had been ordered, at five, and +received his last instructions. He then communicated, commissioned Cléry +with his dying words, and all he was allowed to bequeath, a ring, a seal, +and some hair. The drums were already beating, and the dull sound of +travelling cannon, and of confused voices, might be heard. At length +Santerre arrived. "You are come for me," said Louis; "I ask one moment." +He deposited his will in the hands of the municipal officer, asked for his +hat, and said, in a firm tone: "Let us go." + +The carriage was an hour on its way from the Temple to the Place de la +Revolution. A double row of soldiers lined the road; more than forty +thousand men were under arms. Paris presented a gloomy aspect. The +citizens present at the execution manifested neither applause nor regret; +all were silent. On reaching the place of execution, Louis alighted from +the carriage. He ascended the scaffold with a firm step, knelt to receive +the benediction of the priest, who is recorded to have said, "Son of Saint +Louis, ascend to heaven!" With some repugnance he submitted to the binding +of his hands, and walked hastily to the left of the scaffold; "I die +innocent," said he; "I forgive my enemies; and you, unfortunate people..." +Here, at a signal, the drums and trumpets drowned his voice, and the three +executioners seized him. At ten minutes after ten he had ceased to live. + +Thus perished, at the age of thirty-nine, after a reign of sixteen years +and a half, spent in endeavouring to do good, the best but weakest of +monarchs. His ancestors bequeathed to him a revolution. He was better +calculated than any of them to prevent and terminate it; for he was +capable of becoming a reformer-king before it broke out, or of becoming a +constitutional king afterwards. He is, perhaps, the only prince who, +having no other passion, had not that of power, and who united the two +qualities which make good kings, fear of God and love of the people. He +perished, the victim of passions which he did not share; of those of the +persons about him, to which he was a stranger, and to those of the +multitude, which he had not excited. Few memories of kings are so +commendable. History will say of him, that, with a little more strength of +mind, he would have been an exemplary king. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +FROM THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793, TO THE 2ND OF JUNE + + +The death of Louis XVI. rendered the different parties irreconcilable, and +increased the external enemies of the revolution. The republicans had to +contend with all Europe, with several classes of malcontents, and with +themselves. But the Mountain, who then directed the popular movement, +imagined that they were too far involved not to push matters to extremity. +To terrify the enemies of the revolution, to excite the fanaticism of the +people by harangues, by the presence of danger, and by insurrections; to +refer everything to it, both the government and the safety of the +republic; to infuse into it the most ardent enthusiasm, in the name of +liberty, equality, and fraternity; to keep it in this violent state of +crisis for the purpose of making use of its passions and its power; such +was the plan of Danton and the Mountain, who had chosen him for their +leader. It was he who augmented the popular effervescence by the growing +dangers of the republic, and who, under the name of revolutionary +government, established the despotism of the multitude, instead of legal +liberty. Robespierre and Marat went even much further than he. They sought +to erect into a permanent government what Danton considered as merely +transitory. The latter was only a political chief, while the others were +true sectarians; the first, more ambitious, the second, more fanatical. + +The Mountain had, by the catastrophe of the 21st of January, gained a +great victory over the Girondists, whose politics were much more moral +than theirs, and who hoped to save the revolution, without staining it +with blood. But their humanity, their spirit of justice, proved of no +service, and even turned against them. They were accused of being the +enemies of the people, because they opposed their excesses; of being the +accomplices of the tyrant, because they had sought to save Louis XVI.; and +of betraying the republic, because they recommended moderation. It was +with these reproaches that the Mountain persecuted them with constant +animosity in the bosom of the convention, from the 21st of January till +the 31st of May and the 2nd of June. The Girondists were for a long time +supported by the Centre, which sided with the Right against murder and +anarchy, and with the Left for measures of public safety. This mass, +which, properly speaking, formed the spirit of the convention, displayed +some courage, and balanced the power of the Mountain and the Commune as +long as it possessed those intrepid and eloquent Girondists, who carried +with them to prison and to the scaffold all the generous resolutions of +the assembly. + +For a moment, union existed among the various parties of the assembly. +Lepelletier Saint Fargeau was stabbed by a retired member of the household +guard, named Pâris, for having voted the death of Louis XVI. The members +of the convention, united by common danger, swore on his tomb to forget +their enmities; but they soon revived them. Some of the murderers of +September, whose punishment was desired by the more honourable +republicans, were proceeded against at Meaux. The Mountain, apprehensive +that their past conduct would be inquired into, and that their adversaries +would take advantage of a condemnation to attack them more openly +themselves, put a stop to these proceedings. This impunity further +emboldened the leaders of the multitude; and Marat, who at that period had +an incredible influence over the multitude, excited them to pillage the +dealers, whom he accused of monopolizing provisions. He wrote and spoke +violently, in his pamphlets and at the Jacobins, against the aristocracy +of the burghers, merchants, and _statesmen_ (as he designated the +Girondists), that is to say, against those who, in the assembly or the +nation at large, still opposed the reign of the Sans-culottes and the +Mountain. There was something frightful in the fanaticism and invincible +obstinacy of these sectaries. The name given by them to the Girondists +from the beginning of the convention, was that of Intrigants, on account +of the ministerial and rather stealthy means with which they opposed in +the departments the insolent and public conduct of the Jacobins. + +Accordingly, they denounced them regularly in the club. "At Rome, an +orator cried daily: 'Carthage must be destroyed!' well, let a Jacobin +mount this tribune every day, and say these single words, 'The intrigants +must be destroyed!' Who could withstand us? We oppose crime, and the +ephemeral power of riches; but we have truth, justice, poverty, and virtue +in our cause. With such arms, the Jacobins will soon have to say: 'We had +only to pass on, they were already extinct.'" Marat, who was much more +daring than Robespierre, whose hatred and projects still concealed +themselves under certain forms, was the patron of all denouncers and +lovers of anarchy. Several of the Mountain reproached him with +compromising their cause by his extreme counsels, and by unseasonable +excesses; but the entire Jacobin people supported him even against +Robespierre, who rarely obtained the advantage in his disputes with him. +The pillage recommended in February, in _L'Ami du Peuple_, with respect to +some dealers, "by way of example," took place, and Marat was denounced to +the convention, who decreed his accusation after a stormy sitting. But +this decree had no result, because the ordinary tribunals had no +authority. This double effort of force on one side, and weakness on the +other, took place in the month of February. More decisive events soon +brought the Girondists to ruin. + +Hitherto, the military position of France had been satisfactory. Dumouriez +had just crowned the brilliant campaign of Argonne by the conquest of +Belgium. After the retreat of the Prussians, he had repaired to Paris to +concert measures for the invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. Returning +to the army on the 20th of October, 1792, he began the attack on the 28th. +The plan attempted so inappropriately, with so little strength and +success, at the commencement of the war, was resumed and executed with +superior means. Dumouriez, at the head of the army of Belgium, forty +thousand strong, advanced from Valenciennes upon Mons, supported on the +right by the army of the Ardennes, amounting to about sixteen thousand +men, under general Valence, who marched from Givet upon Namur; and on his +left, by the army of the north, eighteen thousand strong, under general +Labourdonnaie, who advanced from Lille upon Tournai. The Austrian army, +posted before Mons, awaited battle in its intrenchments. Dumouriez +completely defeated it; and the victory of Jemappes opened Belgium to the +French, and again gave our arms the ascendancy in Europe. A victor on the +6th of November, Dumouriez entered Mons on the 7th, Brussels on the 14th, +and Liége on the 28th. Valence took Namur, Labourdonnaie Antwerp; and by +the middle of December, the invasion of the Netherlands was completely +achieved. The French army, masters of the Meuse and the Scheldt, went into +their winter quarters, after driving beyond the Roër the Austrians, whom +they might have pushed beyond the Lower Rhine. + +From this moment hostilities began between Dumouriez and the Jacobins. A +decree of the convention, dated the 15th of September, abrogated the +Belgian customs, and democratically organized that country. The Jacobins +sent agents to Belgium to propagate revolutionary principles, and +establish clubs on the model of the parent society; but the Flemings, who +had received us with enthusiasm, became cool at the heavy demands made +upon them, and at the general pillage and insupportable anarchy which the +Jacobins brought with them. All the party that had opposed the Austrian +army, and hoped to be free under the protection of France, found our rule +too severe, and regretted having sought our aid, or supported us. +Dumouriez, who had projects of independence for the Flemings, and of +ambition for himself, came to Paris to complain of this impolitic conduct +with regard to the conquered countries. He changed his hitherto equivocal +course; he had employed every means to keep on terms with the two +factions; he had ranged himself under the banner of neither, hoping to +make use of the Right through his friend Gensonné, and the Mountain +through Danton and Lacroix, whilst he awed both by his victories. But in +this second journey he tried to stop the Jacobins and save Louis XVI.; not +having been able to attain his end, he returned to the army to begin the +second campaign, very dissatisfied, and determined to make his new +victories the means of suspending the revolution and changing its +government. + +This time all the frontiers of France were to be attacked by the European +powers. The military successes of the revolution, and the catastrophe of +the 21st of January, had made most of the undecided or neutral governments +join the coalition. + +The court of St. James', on learning the death of Louis XVI., dismissed +the ambassador Chauvelin, whom it had refused to acknowledge since the +10th of August and the dethronement of the king. The convention, finding +England already leagued with the coalition, and consequently all its +promises of neutrality vain and elusive, on the 1st of February, 1793, +declared war against the king of Great Britain and the stadtholder of +Holland, who had been entirely guided by the English cabinet since 1788. +England had hitherto preserved the appearances of neutrality, but it took +advantage of this opportunity to appear on the scene of hostilities. For +some time disposed for a rupture, Pitt employed all his resources, and in +the space of six months concluded seven treaties of alliance, and six +treaties of subsidies. [Footnote: These treaties were as follows: the 4th +March, articles between Great Britain and Hanover; 25th March, treaty of +alliance at London between Russia and Great Britain; 10th April, treaty of +subsidies with the landgrave of Hesse Cassel; 25th April, treaty of +subsidies with Sardinia; 25th May, treaty of alliance at Madrid with +Spain; 12th July, treaty of alliance with Naples, the kingdom of the Two +Sicilies; 14th July, treaty of alliance at the camp before Mayence with +Prussia; 30th August, treaty of alliance at London with the emperor; 21st +September, treaty of subsidies with the margrave of Baden; 26th September, +treaty of alliance at London with Portugal. By these treaties England gave +considerable subsidies, more especially to Austria and Prussia.] England +thus became the soul of the coalition against France; her fleets were +ready to sail; the minister had obtained 3,200,000l. extraordinary, and +Pitt designed to profit by our revolution by securing the preponderance of +Great Britain, as Richelieu and Mazarin had taken advantage of the crisis +in England in 1640, to establish the French domination in Europe. The +court of St. James' was only influenced by motives of English interests; +it desired at any cost to effect the consolidation of the aristocratical +power at home, and the exclusive empire in the two Indies, and on the +seas. + +The court of St. James' then made the second levy of the coalition. Spain +had just undergone a ministerial change; the famous Godoy, duke of +Alcudia, afterwards Prince of the Peace, had been placed at the head of +the government by means of an intrigue of England and the emigrants. This +power came to a rupture with the republic, after having interceded in vain +for Louis XVI., and made its neutrality the price of the life of the king. +The German empire entirely adopted the war; Bavaria, Suabia, and the +elector palatine joined the hostile circles of the empire. Naples followed +the example of the Holy See; and the only neutral powers were Venice, +Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey. Russia was still engaged with +the second partition of Poland. + +The republic was threatened on all sides by the most warlike troops of +Europe. It would soon have to face forty-five thousand Austro-Sardinians +in the Alps; fifty thousand Spaniards on the Pyrenees; seventy thousand +Austrians or Imperialists, reinforced by thirty-eight thousand English and +Dutch troops, on the Lower Rhine and in Belgium; thirty-three thousand +four hundred Austrians between the Meuse and the Moselle; a hundred and +twelve thousand six hundred Prussians, Austrians and Imperialists on the +Middle and Upper Rhine. In order to confront so many enemies, the +convention decreed a levy of three hundred thousand men. This measure of +external defence was accompanied by a party measure for the interior. At +the moment the new battalions, about to quit Paris, presented themselves +to the assembly, the Mountain demanded the establishment of an +extraordinary tribunal to maintain the revolution at home, which the +battalions were going to defend on the frontiers. This tribunal, composed +of nine members, was to try without jury or appeal. The Girondists arose +with all their power against so arbitrary and formidable an institution, +but it was in vain; for they seemed to be favouring the enemies of the +republic by rejecting a tribunal intended to punish them. All they +obtained was the introduction of juries into it, the removal of some +violent men, and the power of annulling its acts, as long as they +maintained any influence. + +The principal efforts of the coalition were directed against the vast +frontier extending from the north sea to Huninguen. The prince of Coburg, +at the head of the Austrians, was to attack the French army on the Roër +and the Meuse, to enter Belgium; while the Prussians, on the other point, +should march against Custine, give him battle, surround Mayence, and after +taking it, renew the preceding invasion. These two armies of operation +were sustained in the intermediate position by considerable forces. +Dumouriez, engrossed by ambitious and reactionary designs, at a moment +when he ought only to have thought of the perils of France, proposed to +himself to re-establish the monarchy of 1791, in spite of the convention +and Europe. What Bouillé could not do for an absolute, nor Lafayette for a +constitutional throne, Dumouriez, at a less propitious time, hoped alone +to carry through in the interest of a destroyed constitution and a +monarchy without a party. Instead of remaining neutral among factions, as +circumstances dictated to a general, and even to an ambitious man, +Dumouriez preferred a rupture, in order to sway them. He conceived a +design of forming a party out of France; of entering Holland by means of +the Dutch republicans opposed to the stadtholdership, and to English +influence; to deliver Belgium from the Jacobins; to unite these countries +in a single independent state, and secure for himself their political +protectorate after having acquired all the glory of a conqueror. To +intimidate parties, he was to gain over his troops, march on the capital, +dissolve the convention, put down popular meetings, re-establish the +constitution of 1791, and give a king to France. + +This project, impracticable amidst the great shock between the revolution +and Europe, appeared easy to the fiery and adventurous Dumouriez. Instead +of defending the line, threatened from Mayence to the Roër, he threw +himself on the left of the operations, and entered Holland at the head of +twenty thousand men. By a rapid march he was to reach the centre of the +United Provinces, attack the fortresses from behind, and be joined at +Nymegen by twenty-five thousand men under General Miranda, who would +probably have made himself master of Maestricht. An army of forty thousand +men was to observe the Austrians and protect his right. + +Dumouriez vigorously prosecuted his expedition into Holland; he took Breda +and Gertruydenberg, and prepared to pass the Biesbos, and capture +Dordrecht. But the army of the right experienced in the meantime the most +alarming reverses on the Lower Meuse. The Austrians assumed the offensive, +passed the Roër, beat Miazinski at Aix-la-Chapelle; made Miranda raise the +blockade of Maestricht, which he had uselessly bombarded; crossed the +Meuse, and at Liège put our army, which had fallen back between Tirlemont +and Louvain, wholly to the rout. Dumouriez received from the executive +council orders to leave Holland immediately, and to take the command of +the troops in Belgium; he was compelled to obey, and to renounce in part +his wildest but dearest hopes. + +The Jacobins, at the news of these reverses, became much more intractable; +unable to conceive a defeat without treachery, especially after the +brilliant and unexpected victories of the last campaign, they attributed +these military disasters to party combinations. They denounced the +Girondists, the ministers, and generals who, they supposed, had combined +to abandon the republic, and clamoured for their destruction. Rivalry +mingled with suspicion, and they desired as much to acquire an exclusive +domination, as to defend the threatened territory; they began with the +Girondists. As they had not yet accustomed the multitude to the idea of +the proscription of representatives, they at first had recourse to a plot +to get rid of them; they resolved to strike them in the convention, where +they would all be assembled, and the night of the 10th of March was fixed +on for the execution of the plot. The assembly sat permanently on account +of the public danger. It was decided on the preceding day at the Jacobins +and Cordeliers to shut the barriers, sound the tocsin, and march in two +bands on the convention and the ministers. They started at the appointed +hour, but several circumstances prevented the conspirators from +succeeding. The Girondists, apprised, did not attend the evening sitting; +the sections declared themselves opposed to the plot, and Beurnonville, +minister for war, advanced against them at the head of a battalion of +Brest federalists; these unexpected obstacles, together with the ceaseless +rain, obliged the conspirators to disperse. The next day Vergniaud +denounced the insurrectional committee who had projected these murders, +demanded that the executive council should be commissioned to make +inquiries respecting the conspiracy of the 10th of March, to examine the +registers of the clubs, and to arrest the members of the insurrectional +committee. "We go," said he, "from crimes to amnesties, from amnesties to +crimes. Numbers of citizens have begun to confound seditious insurrections +with the great insurrection of liberty; to look on the excitement of +robbers as the outburst of energetic minds, and robbery itself as a +measure of general security. We have witnessed the development of that +strange system of liberty, in which we are told: 'you are free; but think +with us, or we will denounce you to the vengeance of the people; you are +free, but bow down your head to the idol we worship, or we will denounce +you to the vengeance of the people; you are free, but join us in +persecuting the men whose probity and intelligence we dread, or we will +denounce you to the vengeance of the people.' Citizens, we have reason to +fear that the revolution, like Saturn, will devour successively all its +children, and only engender despotism and the calamities which accompany +it." These prophetic words produced some effect in the assembly; but the +measures proposed by Vergniaud led to nothing. + +The Jacobins were stopped for a moment by the failure of their first +enterprise against their adversaries; but the insurrection of La Vendée +gave them new courage. The Vendéan war was an inevitable event in the +revolution. This country, bounded by the Loire and the sea, crossed by few +roads, sprinkled with villages, hamlets, and manorial residences, had +retained its ancient feudal state. In La Vendée there was no civilization +or intelligence, because there was no middle class; and there was no +middle class because there were no towns, or very few. At that time the +peasants had acquired no other ideas than those few communicated to them +by the priests, and had not separated their interests from those of the +nobility. These simple and sturdy men, devotedly attached to the old state +of things, did not understand a revolution, which was the result of a +faith and necessities entirely foreign to their situation. The nobles and +priests, being strong in these districts, had not emigrated; and the +ancient regime really existed there, because there were its doctrines and +its society. Sooner or later, a war between France and La Vendée, +countries so different, and which had nothing in common but language, was +inevitable. It was inevitable that the two fanaticisms of monarchy and of +popular sovereignty, of the priesthood and human reason, should raise +their banners against each other, and bring about the triumph of the old +or of the new civilization. + +Partial disturbances had taken place several times in La Vendée. In 1792 +the count de la Rouairie had prepared a general rising, which failed on +account of his arrest; but all yet remained ready for an insurrection, +when the decree for raising three hundred thousand men was put into +execution. This levy became the signal of revolt. The Vendéans beat the +gendarmerie at Saint Florent, and took for leaders, in different +directions, Cathelineau, a waggoner, Charette, a naval officer, and +Stofflet, a gamekeeper. Aided by arms and money from England, the +insurrection soon overspread the country; nine hundred communes flew to +arms at the sound of the tocsin; and then the noble leaders Bonchamps, +Lescure, La Rochejaquelin, d'Elbée, and Talmont, joined the others. The +troops of the line and the battalions of the national guard who advanced +against the insurgents were defeated. General Marcé was beaten at Saint +Vincent by Stofflet; general Gauvilliers at Beaupréau, by d'Elbée and +Bonchamps; general Quetineau at Aubiers, by La Rochejaquelin; and general +Ligonnier at Cholet. The Vendéans, masters of Châtillon, Bressuire, and +Vihiers, considered it advisable to form some plan of organization before +they pushed their advantages further. They formed three corps, each from +ten to twelve thousand strong, according to the division of La Vendée, +under three commanders; the first, under Bonchamps, guarded the banks of +the Loire, and was called the _Armée d'Anjou_; the second, stationed in +the centre, formed the _Grande armée_ under d'Elbée; the third, in Lower +Vendée, was styled the _Armée du Marais_, under Charette. The insurgents +established a council to determine their operations, and elected +Cathelineau generalissimo. These arrangements, with this division of the +country, enabled them to enrol the insurgents, and to dismiss them to +their fields, or call them to arms. + +The intelligence of this formidable insurrection drove the convention to +adopt still more rigorous measures against priests and emigrants. It +outlawed all priests and nobles who took part in any gathering, and +disarmed all who had belonged to the privileged classes. The former +emigrants were banished for ever; they could not return, under penalty of +death; their property was confiscated. On the door of every house, the +names of all its inmates were to be inscribed; and the revolutionary +tribunal, which had been adjourned, began its terrible functions. + +At the same time, tidings of new military disasters arrived, one after the +other. Dumouriez, returned to the army of Belgium, concentrated all his +forces to resist the Austrian general, the prince of Coburg. His troops +were greatly discouraged, and in want of everything; he wrote to the +convention a threatening letter against the Jacobins, who denounced him. +After having again restored to his army a part of its former confidence by +some minor advantages, he ventured a general action at Neerwinden, and +lost it. Belgium was evacuated, and Dumouriez, placed between the +Austrians and Jacobins, beaten by the one and assailed by the other, had +recourse to the guilty project of defection, in order to realize his +former designs. He had conferences with Colonel Mack, and agreed with the +Austrians to march upon Paris for the purpose of re-establishing the +monarchy, leaving them on the frontiers, and having first given up to them +several fortresses as a guarantee. It is probable that Dumouriez wished to +place on the constitutional throne the young duc de Chartres, who had +distinguished himself throughout this campaign; while the prince of Coburg +hoped that if the counter-revolution reached that point, it would be +carried further and restore the son of Louis XVI. and the ancient +monarchy. A counter-revolution will not halt any more than a revolution; +when once begun, it must exhaust itself. The Jacobins were soon informed +of Dumouriez's arrangements; he took little precaution to conceal them; +whether he wished to try his troops, or to alarm his enemies, or whether +he merely followed his natural levity. To be more sure of his designs, the +Jacobin club sent to him a deputation, consisting of Proly, Péreira, and +Dubuisson, three of its members. Taken to Dumouriez's presence, they +received from him more admissions than they expected: "The convention," +said he, "is an assembly of seven hundred and thirty-five tyrants. While I +have four inches of iron I will not suffer it to reign and shed blood with +the revolutionary tribunal it has just created; as for the republic," he +added, "it is an idle word. I had faith in it for three days. Since +Jemappes, I have deplored all the successes I obtained in so bad a cause. +There is only one way to save the country--that is, to re-establish the +constitution of 1791, and a king." "Can you think of it, general?" said +Dubuisson; "the French view royalty with horror--the very name of Louis--" +"What does it signify whether the king be called Louis, Jacques, or +Philippe?" "And what are your means?" "My army--yes, my army will do it, +and from my camp, or the stronghold of some fortress, it will express its +desire for a king." "But your project endangers the safety of the +prisoners in the Temple." "Should the last of the Bourbons be killed, even +those of Coblentz, France shall still have a king, and if Paris were to +add this murder to those which have already dishonoured it, I would +instantly march upon it." After thus unguardedly disclosing his +intentions, Dumouriez proceeded to the execution of his impracticable +design. He was really in a very difficult position; the soldiers were very +much attached to him, but they were also devoted to their country. He was +to surrender some fortresses which he was not master of, and it was to be +supposed that the generals under his orders, either from fidelity to the +republic, or from ambition, would treat him as he had treated Lafayette. +His first attempt was not encouraging; after having established himself at +Saint Amand, he essayed to possess himself of Lille, Condé, and +Valenciennes; but failed in this enterprise. The failure made him +hesitate, and prevented his taking the initiative in the attack. + +It was not so with the convention; it acted with a promptitude, a +boldness, a firmness, and, above all, with a precision in attaining its +object, which rendered success certain. When we know what we want, and +desire it strongly and speedily, we nearly always attain our object. This +quality was wanting in Dumouriez, and the want impeded his audacity and +deterred his partisans. As soon as the convention was informed of his +projects, it summoned him to its bar. He refused to obey; without, +however, immediately raising the standard of revolt. The convention +instantly despatched four representatives: Camus, Quinette, Lamarque, +Bancal, and Beurnonville, the war minister, to bring him before it, or to +arrest him in the midst of his army. Dumouriez received the commissioners +at the head of his staff. They presented to him the decree of the +convention; he read it and returned it to them, saying that the state of +his army would not admit of his leaving it. He offered to resign, and +promised in a calmer season to demand judges himself, and to give an +account of his designs and of his conduct. The commissioners tried to +induce him to submit, quoting the example of the ancient Roman generals. +"We are always mistaken in our quotations," he replied; "and we disfigure +Roman history by taking as an excuse for our crimes the example of their +virtues. The Romans did not kill Tarquin; the Romans had a well ordered +republic and good laws; they had neither a Jacobin club nor a +revolutionary tribunal. We live in a time of anarchy. Tigers wish for my +head; I will not give it them." "Citizen general," said Camus then, "will +you obey the decree of the national convention, and repair to Paris?" "Not +at present." "Well, then, I declare that I suspend you; you are no longer +a general; I order your arrest." "This is too much," said Dumouriez; and +he had the commissioners arrested by German hussars, and delivered them as +hostages to the Austrians. After this act of revolt he could no longer +hesitate. Dumouriez made another attempt on Condé, but it succeeded no +better than the first. He tried to induce the army to join him, but was +forsaken by it. The soldiers were likely for a long time to prefer the +republic to their general; the attachment to the revolution was in all its +fervour, and the civil power in all its force. Dumouriez experienced, in +declaring himself against the convention, the fate which Lafayette +experienced when he declared himself against the legislative assembly, and +Bouillé when he declared against the constituent assembly. At this period, +a general, combining the firmness of Bouillé with the patriotism and +popularity of Lafayette, with the victories and resources of Dumouriez, +would have failed as they did. The revolution, with the movement imparted +to it, was necessarily stronger than parties, than generals, and than +Europe. Dumouriez went over to the Austrian camp with the duc de Chartres, +colonel Thouvenot, and two squadrons of Berchiny. The rest of his army +went to the camp at Famars, and joined the troops commanded by Dampierre. + +The convention, on learning the arrest of the commissioners, established +itself as a permanent assembly, declared Dumouriez a traitor to his +country, authorized any citizen to attack him, set a price on his head, +decreed the famous committee of public safety, and banished the duke of +Orleans and all the Bourbons from the republic. Although the Girondists +had assailed Dumouriez as warmly as the Mountain, they were accused of +being his accomplices, and this was a new cause of complaint added to the +rest. Their enemies became every day more powerful; and it was in moments +of public danger that they were especially dangerous. Hitherto, in the +struggle between the two parties, they had carried the day on every point. +They had stopped all inquiries into the massacres of September; they had +maintained the usurpation of the commune; they had obtained, first the +trial, then the death of Louis XVI.; through their means the plunderings +of February and the conspiracy of the 10th of March, had remained +unpunished; they had procured the erection of the revolutionary tribunal +despite the Girondists; they had driven Roland from the ministry, in +disgust; and they had just defeated Dumouriez. It only remained now to +deprive the Girondists of their last asylum--the assembly; this they set +about on the 10th of April, and accomplished on the 2nd of June. + +Robespierre attacked by name Brissot, Guadet, Vergniaud, Pétion, and +Gensonné, in the convention; Marat denounced them in the popular +societies. As president of the Jacobins, he wrote an address to the +departments, in which he invoked the thunder of petitions and accusations +against the traitors and faithless delegates who had sought to save the +tyrant by an appeal to the public or his imprisonment. The Right and the +Plain of the convention felt that it was necessary to unite. Marat was +sent before the revolutionary tribunal. This news set the clubs in motion, +the people, and the commune. By way of reprisal, Pache, the mayor, came in +the name of the thirty-five sections and of the general council, to demand +the expulsion of the principal Girondists. Young Boyer Fonfrède required +to be included in the proscription of his colleagues, and the members of +the Right and the Plain rose, exclaiming, "All! all!" This petition, +though declared calumnious, was the first attack upon the convention from +without, and it prepared the public mind for the destruction of the +Gironde. + +The accusation of Marat was far from intimidating the Jacobins who +accompanied him to the revolutionary tribunal. Marat was acquitted, and +borne in triumph to the assembly. From that moment the approaches to the +hall were thronged with daring sans-culottes, and the partisans of the +Jacobins filled the galleries of the convention. The clubists and +Robespierre's _tricoteuses_ (knitters) constantly interrupted the speakers +of the Right, and disturbed the debate; while without, every opportunity +was sought to get rid of the Girondists. Henriot, commandant of the +section of sans-culottes, excited against them the battalions about to +march for La Vendée. Gaudet then saw that it was time for something more +than complaints and speeches; he ascended the tribune. "Citizens," said +he, "while virtuous men content themselves with bewailing the misfortunes +of the country, conspirators are active for its ruin. With Caesar they +say: 'Let them talk, we will act.' Well, then, do you act also. The evil +consists in the impunity of the conspirators of the 10th of March; the +evil is in anarchy; the evil is in the existence of the authorities of +Paris--authorities striving at once for gain and dominion. Citizens, there +is yet time; you may save the republic and your compromised glory. I +propose to abolish the Paris authorities, to replace within twenty-four +hours the municipality by the presidents of the sections, to assemble the +convention at Bourges with the least possible delay, and to transmit this +decree to the departments by extraordinary couriers." The Mountain was +surprised for a moment by Guadet's motion. Had his measures been at once +adopted, there would have been an end to the domination of the commune, +and to the projects of the conspirators; but it is also probable that the +agitation of parties would have brought on a civil war, that the +convention would have been dissolved by the assembly at Bourges, that all +centre of action would have been destroyed, and that the revolution would +not have been sufficiently strong to contend against internal struggles +and the attacks of Europe. This was what the moderate party in the +assembly feared. Dreading anarchy if the career of the commune was not +stopped, and counter-revolution if the multitude were too closely kept +down, its aim was to maintain the balance between the two extremes of the +convention. This party comprised the committees of general safety and of +public safety. It was directed by Barrère, who, like all men of upright +intentions but weak characters, advocated moderation so long as fear did +not make him an instrument of cruelty and tyranny. Instead of Guadet's +decisive measures, he proposed to nominate an extraordinary commission of +twelve members, deputed to inquire into the conduct of the municipality; +to seek out the authors of the plots against the national representatives, +and to secure their persons. This middle course was adopted; but it left +the commune in existence, and the commune was destined to triumph over the +convention. + +The Commission of Twelve threw the members of the commune into great alarm +by its inquiries. It discovered a new conspiracy, which was to be put into +execution on the 22nd of May, and arrested some of the conspirators, and +among others, Hébert, the deputy recorder, author of _Père Duchesne_, who +was taken in the very bosom of the municipality. The commune, at first +astounded, began to take measures of defence. From that moment, not +conspiracy, but insurrection was the order of the day. The general +council, encouraged by the Mountain, surrounded itself with the agitators +of the capital; it circulated a report that the Twelve wished to purge the +convention, and to substitute a counter-revolutionary tribunal for that +which had acquitted Marat. The Jacobins, the Cordeliers, the sections sat +permanently. On the 26th of May, the agitation became perceptible; on the +27th; it was sufficiently decided to induce the commune to open the +attack. It accordingly appeared before the convention and demanded the +liberation of Hébert and the suppression of the Twelve; it was accompanied +by the deputies of the sections, who expressed the same desire, and the +hall was surrounded by a large mob. The section of the City even presumed +to require that the Twelve should be brought before the revolutionary +tribunal. Isnard, president of the assembly, replied in a solemn tone: +"Listen to what I am about to say. If ever by one of those insurrections, +of such frequent recurrence since the 10th of March, and of which the +magistrates have never apprised the assembly, a hostile hand be raised +against the national representatives, I declare to you in the name of all +France, Paris will be destroyed. Yes, universal France would rise to +avenge such a crime, and soon it would be matter of doubt on which side of +the Seine Paris had stood." This reply became the signal for great tumult. +"And I declare to you," exclaimed Danton, "that so much impudence begins +to be intolerable; we will resist you." Then turning to the Right, he +added: "No truce between the Mountain and the cowards who wished to save +the tyrant." + +The utmost confusion now reigned in the hall. The strangers' galleries +vociferated denunciations of the Right; the Mountain broke forth into +menaces; every moment deputations arrived without, and the convention was +surrounded by an immense multitude. A few sectionaries of the Mail and of +the Butte-des-Moulins, commanded by Raffet, drew up in the passages and +avenues to defend it. The Girondists withstood, as long as they could, the +deputations and the Mountain. Threatened within, besieged without, they +would have availed themselves of this violence to arouse the indignation +of the assembly. But the minister of the interior, Garat, deprived them of +this resource. Called upon to give an account of the state of Paris, he +declared that the convention had nothing to fear; and the opinion of +Garat, who was considered impartial, and whose conciliatory turn of mind +involved him in equivocal proceedings, emboldened the members of the +Mountain. Isnard was obliged to resign the chair, which was taken by +Hérault de Séchelles, a sign of victory for the Mountain. The new +president replied to the petitioners, whom Isnard had hitherto kept in the +background. "The power of reason and the power of the people are the same +thing. You demand from us a magistrate and justice. The representatives of +the people will give you both." It was now very late; the Right was +discouraged, some of its members had left. The petitioners had moved from +the bar to the seats of the representatives, and there, mixed up with the +Mountain, with outcry and disorder, they voted, all together, for the +dismissal of the Twelve, and the liberation of the prisoners. It was at +half-past twelve, amidst the applause of the galleries and the people +outside, that this decree was passed. + +It would, perhaps, have been wise on the part of the Girondists, since +they were really not the strongest party, to have made no recurrence to +this matter. The movement of the preceding day would have had no other +result than the suppression of the Twelve, if other causes had not +prolonged it. But animosity had attained such a height, that it had become +necessary to bring the quarrel to an issue; since the two parties could +not endure each other, the only alternative was for them to fight; they +must needs go on from victory to defeat, and from defeat to victory, +growing more and more excited every day, until the stronger finally +triumphed over the weaker party. Next day, the Right regained its position +in the convention, and declared the decree of the preceding day illegally +passed, in tumult and under compulsion, and the commission was re- +established. "You yesterday," said Danton, "did a great act of justice; +but I declare to you, if the commission retains the tyrannical power it +has hitherto exercised; if the magistrates of the people are not restored +to their functions; if good citizens are again exposed to arbitrary +arrest; then, after having proved to you that we surpass our enemies in +prudence, in wisdom, we shall surpass them in audacity and revolutionary +vigour." Danton feared to commence the attack; he dreaded the triumph of +the Mountain as much as he did that of the Girondists: he accordingly +sought, by turns, to anticipate the 31st of May, and to moderate its +results. But he was reduced to join his own party during the conflict, and +to remain silent after the victory. + +The agitation, which had been a little allayed by the suppression of the +Twelve, became threatening at the news of their restoration. The benches +of the sections and popular societies resounded with invectives, with +cries of danger, with calls to insurrection. Hébert, having quitted his +prison, reappeared at the commune. A crown was placed on his brow, which +he transferred to the bust of Brutus, and then rushed to the Jacobins to +demand vengeance on the Twelve. Robespierre, Marat, Danton, Chaumette, and +Pache then combined in organising a new movement. The insurrection was +modelled on that of the 10th of August. The 29th of May was occupied in +preparing the public mind. On the 30th, members of the electoral college, +commissioners of the clubs, and deputies of sections assembled at the +Evêché, declared themselves in a state of insurrection, dissolved the +general council of the commune, and immediately reconstituted it, making +it take a new oath; Henriot received the title of commandant-general of +the armed force, and the sans-culottes were assigned forty sous a day +while under arms. These preparations made, early on the morning of the +31st the tocsin rang, the drums beat to arms, the troops were assembled, +and all marched towards the convention, which for some time past had held +its sittings at the Tuileries. + +The assembly had met at the sound of the tocsin. The minister of the +interior, the administrators of the department, and the mayor of Paris had +been summoned, in succession, to the bar. Garat had given an account of +the agitated state of Paris, but appeared to apprehend no dangerous +result. Lhuillier, in the name of the department, declared it was only a +_moral_ insurrection. Pache, the mayor, appeared last, and informed them, +with an hypocritical air, of the operations of the insurgents; he +pretended that he had employed every means to maintain order; assured them +that the guard of the convention had been doubled, and that he had +prohibited the firing of the alarm cannon; yet, at the same moment, the +cannon was heard in the distance. The surprise and excitement of the +assembly were extreme. Cambon exhorted the members to union, and called +upon the people in the strangers' gallery to be silent. "Under these +extraordinary circumstances," said he, "the only way of frustrating the +designs of the malcontents is to make the national convention respected." +"I demand," said Thuriot, "the immediate abolition of the Commission of +Twelve." "And I," cried Tallien, "that the sword of the law may strike the +conspirators who profane the very bosom of the convention." The +Girondists, on their part, required that the audacious Henriot should be +called to the bar, for having fired the alarm cannon without the +permission of the convention. "If a struggle take place," said Vergniaud, +"be the success what it may, it will be the ruin of the republic. Let +every member swear to die at his post." The entire assembly rose, +applauding the proposition. Danton rushed to the tribune: "Break up the +Commission of Twelve! you have heard the thunder of the cannon. If you are +politic legislators, far from blaming the outbreak of Paris, you will turn +it to the profit of the republic, by reforming your own errors, by +dismissing your commission.--I address those," he continued, on hearing +murmurs around him, "who possess some political talent, not dullards, who +can only act and speak in obedience to their passions.--Consider the +grandeur of your aim; it is to save the people from their foes, from the +aristocrats, to save them from their own blind fury. If a few men, really +dangerous, no matter to what party they belong, should then seek to +prolong a movement, become useless, by your act of justice, Paris itself +will hurl them back into their original insignificance. I calmly, simply, +and deliberately demand the suppression of the commission, on political +grounds." The commission was violently attacked on one side, feebly +defended on the other; Barrère and the committee of public safety, who +were its creators proposed its suppression, in order to restore peace, and +to save the assembly from being left to the mercy of the multitude. The +moderate portion of the Mountain were about to adopt this concession, when +the deputations arrived. The members of the department, those of the +municipality, and the commissaries of sections, being admitted to the bar, +demanded not merely the suppression of the Twelve, but also the punishment +of the moderate members, and of all the Girondist chiefs. + +The Tuileries was completely blockaded by the insurgents; and the presence +of their commissaries in the convention emboldened the extreme Mountain, +who were desirous of destroying the Girondist party. Robespierre, their +leader and orator, spoke: "Citizens, let us not lose this day in vain +clamours and unnecessary measures; this is, perhaps, the last day in which +patriotism will combat with tyranny. Let the faithful representatives of +the people combine to secure their happiness." He urged the convention to +follow the course pointed out by the petitioners, rather than that +proposed by the committee of public safety. He was thundering forth a +lengthened declamation against his adversaries, when Vergniaud interfered: +"Conclude this!"--"I am about to conclude, and against you! Against you, +who, after the revolution of the 10th of August, sought to bring to the +scaffold those who had effected it. Against you, who have never ceased in +a course which involved the destruction of Paris. Against you, who desired +to save the tyrant. Against you, who conspired with Dumouriez. Against +you, who fiercely persecuted the same patriots whose heads Dumouriez +demanded. Against you, whose criminal vengeance provoked those cries of +vengeance which you seek to make a crime in your victims. I conclude my +conclusion is--I propose a decree of accusation against all the +accomplices of Dumouriez, and against those who are indicated by the +petitioners." Notwithstanding the violence of this outbreak, Robespierre's +party were not victorious. The insurrection had only been directed against +the Twelve, and the committee of public safety, who proposed their +suppression prevailed over the commune. The assembly adopted the decree of +Barrère, which dissolved the Twelve, placed the public force in permanent +requisition, and, to satisfy the petitioners, directed the committee of +public safety to inquire into the conspiracies which they denounced. As +soon as the multitude surrounding the assembly was informed of these +measures, it received them with applause, and dispersed. + +But the conspirators were not disposed to rest content with this half +triumph: they had gone further on the 30th of May than on the 29th; and on +the 2nd of June they went further than on the 31st of May. The +insurrection, from being moral, as they termed it, became personal; that +is to say, it was no longer directed against a power, but against the +deputies; it passed from Danton and the Mountain, to Robespierre, Marat, +and the commune. On the evening of the 31st, a Jacobin deputy said: "We +have had but half the game yet; we must complete it, and not allow the +people to cool." Henriot offered to place the armed force at the +disposition of the club. The insurrectional committee openly took up its +quarters near the convention. The whole of the 1st of June was devoted to +the preparation of a great movement. The commune wrote to the sections: +"Citizens, remain under arms: the danger of the country renders this a +supreme law." In the evening, Marat, who was the chief author of the 2nd +of June, repaired to the Hôtel de Ville, ascended the clock-tower himself, +and rang the tocsin; he called upon the members of the council not to +separate till they had obtained a decree of accusation against the +traitors and the "statesmen." A few deputies assembled at the convention, +and the conspirators came to demand the decree against the proscribed +parties; but they were not yet sufficiently strong to enforce it from the +convention. + +The whole night was spent in making preparations; the tocsin rang, drums +beat to arms, the people gathered together. On Sunday morning, about eight +o'clock, Henriot presented himself to the general council, and declared to +his accomplices, in the name of the insurrectionary people, that they +would not lay down their arms until they had obtained the arrest of the +conspiring deputies. He then placed himself at the head of the vast crowd +assembled in the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, harangued them, and gave the +signal for their departure. It was nearly ten o'clock when the insurgents +reached the Place du Carrousel. Henriot posted round the château bands of +the most devoted men, and the convention was soon surrounded by eighty +thousand men, the greater part ignorant of what was required of them and +more disposed to defend than to attack the deputation. + +The majority of the proscribed members had not proceeded to the assembly. +A few, courageous to the last, had come to brave the storm for the last +time. As soon as the sitting commenced, the intrepid Lanjuinais ascended +the tribune. "I demand," said he, "to speak respecting the general call to +arms now beating throughout Paris." He was immediately interrupted by +cries of "Down! down! He wants civil war! He wants a counter-revolution! +He calumniates Paris! He insults the people." Despite the threats, the +insults, the clamours of the Mountain and the galleries, Lanjuinais +denounced the projects of the commune and of the malcontents; his courage +rose with the danger. "You accuse us," he said, "of calumniating Paris! +Paris is pure; Paris is good; Paris is oppressed by tyrants who thirst for +blood and dominion." These words were the signal for the most violent +tumult; several Mountain deputies rushed to the tribune to tear Lanjuinais +from it; but he, clinging firmly to it, exclaimed, in accents of the most +lofty courage, "I demand the dissolution of all the revolutionist +authorities in Paris. I demand that all they have done during the last +three days may be declared null. I demand that all who would arrogate to +themselves a new authority contrary to law, be placed without the law, and +that every citizen be at liberty to punish them." He had scarcely +concluded, when the insurgent petitioners came to demand his arrest, and +that of his colleagues. "Citizens," said they, "the people are weary of +seeing their happiness still postponed; they leave it once more in your +hands; save them, or we declare that they will save themselves." + +The Right moved the order of the day on the petition of the insurgents, +and the convention accordingly proceeded to the previous question. The +petitioners immediately withdrew in a menacing attitude; the strangers +quitted the galleries; cries to arms were shouted, and a great tumult was +heard without: "Save the people!" cried one of the Mountain. "Save your +colleagues, by decreeing their provisional arrest." "No, no!" replied the +Right, and even a portion of the Left. "We will all share their fate!" +exclaimed La Réveillère-Lépaux. The committee of public safety, called +upon to make a report, terrified at the magnitude of the danger, proposed, +as on the 31st of May, a measure apparently conciliatory, to satisfy the +insurgents, without entirely sacrificing the proscribed members. "The +committee," said Barrère, "appeal to the generosity and patriotism of the +accused members. It asks of them the suspension of their power, +representing to them that this alone can put an end to the divisions which +afflict the republic, can alone restore to it peace." A few among them +adopted the proposition. Isnard at once gave in his resignation; +Lanthénas, Dussaulx, and Fauchet followed his example; Lanjuinais would +not. He said: "I have hitherto, I believe, shown some courage; expect not +from me either suspension or resignation. When the ancients," he +continued, amidst violent interruption, "prepared a sacrifice, they +crowned the victim with flowers and chaplets, as they conducted it to the +altar; but they did not insult it." Barbaroux was as firm as Lanjuinais. +"I have sworn," he said, "to die at my post; I will keep my oath." The +conspirators of the Mountain themselves protested against the proposition +of the committee. Marat urged that those who make sacrifices should be +pure; and Billaud-Varennes demanded the trial of the Girondists, not their +suspension. + +While this was going on, Lacroix, a deputy of the Mountain, rushed into +the house, and to the tribune, and declared that he had been insulted at +the door, that he had been refused egress, and that the convention was no +longer free. Many of the Mountain expressed their indignation at Henriot +and his troops. Danton said it was necessary vigorously to avenge this +insult to the national majesty. Barrère proposed to the convention to +present themselves to the people. "Representatives," said he, "vindicate +your liberty; suspend your sitting; cause the bayonets that surround you +to be lowered." The whole convention arose, and set forth in procession, +preceded by its sergeants, and headed by the president, who was covered, +in token of his affliction. On arriving at a door on the Place du +Carrousel, they found there Henriot on horseback, sabre in hand. "What do +the people require?" said the president, Hérault de Séchelles; "the +convention is wholly engaged in promoting their happiness." "Hérault," +replied Henriot, "the people have not risen to hear phrases; they require +twenty-four traitors to be given up to them." "Give us all up!" cried +those who surrounded the president. Henriot then turned to his people, and +exclaimed: "Cannoneers, to your guns." Two pieces were directed upon the +convention, who, retiring to the gardens, sought an outlet at various +points, but found all the issues guarded. The soldiers were everywhere +under arms. Marat ran through the ranks, encouraging and exciting them. +"No weakness," said he; "do not quit your posts till they have given them +up." The convention then returned within the house, overwhelmed with a +sense of their powerlessness, convinced of the inutility of their efforts, +and entirely subdued. The arrest of the proscribed members was no longer +opposed. Marat, the true dictator of the assembly, imperiously decided the +fate of its members. "Dussaulx," said he, "is an old twaddler, incapable +of leading a party; Lathénas is a poor creature, unworthy of a thought; +Ducos is merely chargeable with a few absurd notions, and is not at all a +man to become a counter-revolutionary leader. I require that these be +struck out of the list, and their names replaced by that of Valazé." These +names were accordingly struck out, and that of Valazé substituted, and the +list thus altered was agreed to, scarcely one half of the assembly taking +part in the vote. + +These are the names of the illustrious men proscribed: the Girondists +Gensonné, Guadet, Brissot, Gorsas, Pétion, Vergniaud, Salles, Barbaroux, +Chambon, Buzot, Birotteau, Lidon, Rabaud, Lasource, Lanjuinais, +Grangeneuve, Lehardy, Lesage, Louvet, Valazé, Lebrun, minister of foreign +affairs, Clavières, minister of taxes; and the members of the Council of +Twelve, Kervelegan, Gardien, Rabaud Saint-Etienne, Boileau, Bertrand, +Vigée, Molleveau, Henri La Rivière, Gomaire, and Bergoing. The convention +placed them under arrest at their own houses, and under the protection of +the people. The order for keeping the assembly itself prisoners was at +once withdrawn, and the multitude dispersed, but from that moment the +convention ceased to be free. + +Thus fell the Gironde party, a party rendered illustrious by great talents +and great courage, a party which did honour to the young republic by its +horror of bloodshed, its hatred of crime and anarchy, its love of order, +justice, and liberty; a party unfitly placed between the middle class, +whose revolution it had combated, and the multitude, whose government it +rejected. Condemned to inaction, it could only render illustrious certain +defeat, by a courageous struggle and a glorious death. At this period, its +fate might readily be foreseen; it had been driven from post to post; from +the Jacobins by the invasion of the Mountain; from the commune by the +outbreak of Pétion; from the ministry by the retirement of Roland and his +colleagues; from the army by the defection of Dumouriez. The convention +alone remained to it, there it threw up its intrenchments, there it +fought, and there it fell. Its enemies employed against it, in turn, +insurrection and conspiracy. The conspiracies led to the creation of the +Commission of Twelve, which seemed to give a momentary advantage to the +Gironde, but which only excited its adversaries the more violently against +it. These aroused the people, and took from the Girondists, first, their +authority, by destroying the Twelve; then, their political existence, by +proscribing their leaders. + +The consequences of this disastrous event did not answer the expectations +of any one. The Dantonists thought that the dissensions of parties were at +an end: civil war broke out. The moderate members of the committee of +public safety thought that the convention would resume all its power: it +was utterly subdued. The commune thought that the 31st of May would secure +to it domination; domination fell to Robespierre, and to a few men devoted +to his fortune, or to the principle of extreme democracy. Lastly, there +was another party to be added to the parties defeated, and thenceforth +hostile; and as after the 10th of August the republic had been opposed to +the constitutionalists, after the 31st of May the Reign of Terror was +opposed to the moderate party of the republic. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE 2ND OF JUNE, 1793, TO APRIL, 1794 + + +It was to be presumed that the Girondists would not bow to their defeat, +and that the 31st of May would be the signal for the insurrection of the +departments against the Mountain and the commune of Paris. This was the +last trial left them to make, and they attempted it. But, in this decisive +measure, there was seen the same want of union which had caused their +defeat in the assembly. It is doubtful whether the Girondists would have +triumphed, had they been united, and especially whether their triumph +would have saved the revolution. How could they have done with just laws +what the Mountain effected by violent measures? How could they have +conquered foreign foes without fanaticism, restrained parties without the +aid of terror, fed the multitude without a _maximum_, and supplied the +armies without requisition. If the 31st of May had had a different result, +what happened at a much later period would probably have taken place +immediately, namely, a gradual abatement of the revolutionary movement, +increased attacks on the part of Europe, a general resumption of +hostilities by all parties, the days of Prairial, without power to drive +back the multitude; the days of Vendémiaire, without power to repel the +royalists; the invasion of the allies, and, according to the policy of the +times, the partition of France. The republic was not sufficiently powerful +to meet so many attacks as it did after the reaction of Thermidor. + +However this may be, the Girondists who ought to have remained quiet or +fought all together, did not do so, and, after the 2nd of June, all the +moderate men of the party remained under the decree of arrest: the others +escaped. Vergniaud, Gensonné, Ducos, Fonfrède, etc., were among the first; +Pétion, Barbaroux, Guadet, Louvet, Buzot, and Lanjuinais, among the +latter. They repaired to Evreux, in the department de l'Eure, where Buzot +had much influence, and thence to Caen, in Calvados. These made this town +the centre of the insurrection. Brittany soon joined them. The insurgents, +under the name of the _assembly of the departments assembled at Caen_, +formed an army, appointed general Wimpfen commander, arrested Romme and +Prieur de la Marne, who were members of the Mountain and commissaries of +the convention, and prepared to march on Paris. From there, a young, +beautiful, and courageous woman, Charlotte Corday, went to punish Marat, +the principal author of the 31st of May, and the 2nd of June. She hoped to +save the republic by sacrificing herself to its cause. But tyranny did not +rest with one man; it belonged to a party, and to the violent situation of +the republic. Charlotte Corday, after executing her generous but vain +design, died with unchanging calmness, modest courage, and the +satisfaction of having done well. [Footnote: The following are a few of +the replies of this heroic girl before the revolutionary tribunal:--"What +were your intentions in killing Marat?"--"To put an end to the troubles of +France."--"Is it long since you conceived this project?"--"Since the +proscription of the deputies of the people on the 31st of May."--"You +learned then by the papers that Marat was a friend of anarchy?"--"Yes, I +knew he was perverting France. I have killed," she added, raising her +voice, "a man to save a thousand; a villain, to save the innocent; a wild +beast, to give tranquility to my country. I was a republican before the +revolution, and I have never been without energy."] But Marat, after his +assassination, became a greater object of enthusiasm with the people than +he had been while living. He was invoked on all the public squares; his +bust was placed in all the popular societies, and the convention was +obliged to grant him the honours of the Panthéon. + +At the same time Lyons arose, Marseilles and Bordeaux took arms, and more +than sixty departments joined the insurrection. This attack soon led to a +general rising among all parties, and the royalists for the most part took +advantage of the movement which the Girondists had commenced. They sought, +especially, to direct the insurrection of Lyons, in order to make it the +centre of the movement in the south. This city was strongly attached to +the ancient order of things. Its manufactures of silver and gold and +silken embroidery, and its trade in articles of luxury, made it dependent +on the upper classes. It therefore declared at an early period against a +social change, which destroyed its former connexions, and ruined its +manufactures, by destroying the nobility and clergy. Lyons, accordingly, +in 1790, even under the constituent assembly, when the emigrant princes +were in that neighbourhood, at the court of Turin, had made attempts at a +rising. These attempts, directed by priests and nobles, had been +repressed, but the spirit remained the same. There, as elsewhere, after +the 10th of August, men had wished to bring about the revolution of the +multitude, and to establish its government. Châlier, the fanatical +imitator of Marat, was at the head of the Jacobins, the sans-culottes, and +the municipality of Lyons. His audacity increased after the massacres of +September and the 21st of January. Yet nothing had as yet been decided +between the lower republican class, and the middle royalist class, the one +having its seat of power in the municipality, and the other in the +sections. But the disputes became greater towards the end of May; they +fought, and the sections carried the day. The municipality was besieged, +and taken by assault. Châlier, who had fled, was apprehended and executed. +The sections, not as yet daring to throw off the yoke of the convention, +endeavoured to excuse themselves on the score of the necessity of arming +themselves, because the Jacobins and the members of the corporation had +forced them to do so. The convention, which could only save itself by +means of daring, losing everything if it yielded, would listen to nothing. +Meanwhile the insurrection of Calvados became known, and the people of +Lyons, thus encouraged, no longer feared to raise the standard of revolt. +They put their town in a state of defence; they raised fortifications, +formed an army of twenty thousand men, received emigrants among them, +entrusted the command of their forces to the royalist Précy and the +marquis de Virieux, and concerted their operations with the king of +Sardinia. + +The revolt of Lyons was so much the more to be feared by the convention, +as its central position gave it the support of the south, which was in +arms, while there was also a rising in the west. At Marseilles, the news +of the 31st of May had aroused the partisans of the Girondists: Rebecqui +repaired thither in haste. The sections were assembled; the members of the +revolutionary tribunal were outlawed; the two representatives, Baux and +Antiboul, were arrested, and an army of ten thousand men raised to advance +on Paris. These measures were the work of the royalists, who, there as +elsewhere, only waiting for an opportunity to revive their party, had at +first assumed a republican appearance, but now acted in their own name. +They had secured the sections; and the movement was no longer effected in +favour of the Girondists, but for the counter-revolutionists. Once in a +state of revolt, the party whose opinions are the most violent, and whose +aim is the clearest, supplants its allies. Rebecqui, perceiving this new +turn of the insurrection, threw himself in despair into the port of +Marseilles. The insurgents took the road to Lyons; their example was +rapidly imitated at Toulon, Nîmes, Montauban, and the principal towns in +the south. In Calvados, the insurrection had had the same royalist +character, since the marquis de Puisaye, at the head of some troops, had +introduced himself into the ranks of the Girondists. The towns of +Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest, and L'Orient, were favourable to the persons +proscribed on the 2nd of June, and a few openly joined them; but they were +of no great service, because they were restrained by the Jacobin party, or +by the necessity of fighting the royalists of the west. + +The latter, during this almost general rising of the departments, +continued to extend their enterprises. After their first victories, the +Vendéans seized on Bressuire, Argenton, and Thouars. Entirely masters of +their own country, they proposed getting possession of the frontiers, and +opening a way into revolutionary France, as well as communications with +England. On the 6th of June, the Vendéan army, composed of forty thousand +men, under Cathelineau, Lescure, Stofflet, and La Rochejaquelin, marched +on Saumur, which it took by storm. It then prepared to attack and capture +Nantes, to secure the possession of its own country, and become master of +the course of the Loire. Cathelineau, at the head of the Vendéan troops, +left a garrison in Saumur, took Angers, crossed the Loire, pretended to +advance upon Tours and Le Mans, and then rapidly threw himself upon +Nantes, which he attacked on the right bank, while Charette was to attack +it on the left. + +Everything seemed combined for the overthrow of the convention. Its armies +were beaten on the north and on the Pyrenees, while it was threatened by +the people of Lyons in the centre, those of Marseilles in the south, the +Girondists in one part of the west, the Vendéans in the other, and while +twenty thousand Piedmontese were invading France. The military reaction +which, after the brilliant campaigns of Argonne and Belgium, had taken +place, chiefly owing to the disagreement between Dumouriez and the +Jacobins, between the army and the government, had manifested itself in a +most disastrous manner since the defection of the commander-in-chief. +There was no longer unity of operation, enthusiasm in the troops, or +agreement between the convention, occupied with its quarrels, and the +discouraged generals. The remains of Dumouriez's army had assembled at the +camp at Famars, under the command of Dampierre; but they had been obliged +to retire, after a defeat, under the cannon of Bouchain. Dampierre was +killed. The frontier from Dunkirk to Givet was threatened by superior +forces. Custine was promptly called from the Moselle to the army of the +north, but his presence did not restore affairs. Valenciennes, the key to +France, was taken; Condé shared the same fate; the army, driven from +position to position, retired beyond the Scarpe, before Arras, the last +post between the Scarpe and Paris. Mayence, on the other side, sorely +pressed by the enemy and by famine, gave up all hope of being assisted by +the army of the Moselle, reduced to inaction; and despairing of being able +to hold out long, capitulated. Lastly, the English Government, seeing that +Paris and the departments were distressed by famine, after the 31st of May +and the 2nd of June, pronounced all the ports of France in a state of +blockade, and that all neutral ships attempting to bring a supply of +provisions would be confiscated. This measure, new to the annals of +history, and destined to starve an entire people, three months afterwards +originated the law of the _maximum_. The situation of the republic could +not be worse. + +The convention was, as it were, taken by surprise. It was disorganized, +because emerging from a struggle, and because the conquerors had not had +time to establish themselves. After the 2nd of June, before the danger +became so pressing both on the frontiers and in the departments, the +Mountain had sent commissioners in every direction, and immediately turned +its attention to the constitution, which had so long been expected, and +from which it entertained great hopes. The Girondists had wished to decree +it before the 21st of January, in order to save Louis XVI., by +substituting legal order for the revolutionary state of things; they +returned to the subject previous to the 31st of May, in order to prevent +their own ruin. But the Mountain, on two occasions, had diverted the +assembly from this discussion by two coups d'état, the trial of Louis +XVI., and the elimination of the Gironde. Masters of the field, they now +endeavoured to secure the republicans by decreeing the constitution. +Hérault de Séchelles was the legislator of the Mountain, as Condorcet had +been of the Gironde. In a few days, this new constitution was adopted in +the convention, and submitted to the approval of the primary assemblies. +It is easy to conceive its nature, with the ideas that then prevailed +respecting democratic government. The constituent assembly was considered +as aristocratical: the law it had established was regarded as a violation +of the rights of the people, because it imposed conditions for the +exercise of political rights; because it did not recognise the most +absolute equality; because it had deputies and magistrates appointed by +electors, and these electors by the people; because, in some cases, it put +limits to the national sovereignty, by excluding a portion of active +citizens from high public functions, and the proletarians from the +functions of acting citizens; finally, because, instead of fixing on +population as the only basis of political rights, it combined it, in all +its operations, with property. The constitutional law of 1793 established +the pure régime of the multitude: it not only recognised the people as the +source of all power, but also delegated the exercise of it to the people; +an unlimited sovereignty; extreme mobility in the magistracy; direct +elections, in which every one could vote; primary assemblies, that could +meet without convocation, at given times, to elect representatives and +control their acts; a national assembly, to be renewed annually, and +which, properly speaking, was only a committee of the primary assemblies; +such was this constitution. As it made the multitude govern, and as it +entirely disorganized authority, it was impracticable at all times; but +especially in a moment of general war. The Mountain, instead of extreme +democracy, needed a stern dictatorship. The constitution was suspended as +soon as made, and the revolutionary government strengthened and maintained +until peace was achieved. + +Both during the discussion of the constitution and its presentation to the +primary assemblies, the Mountain learned the danger which threatened them. +These daring men, having three or four parties to put down in the +interior, several kinds of civil war to terminate, the disasters of the +armies to repair, and all Europe to repel, were not alarmed at their +position. The representatives of the forty-four thousand municipalities +came to accept the constitution. Admitted to the bar of the assembly, +after making known the assent of the people, they required _the arrest of +all suspected persons, and a levy en masse of the people_. "Well," +exclaimed Danton, "let us respond to their wishes. The deputies of the +primary assemblies have just taken the initiative among us, in the way of +inspiring terror! I demand that the convention, which ought now to be +penetrated with a sense of its dignity, for it has just been invested with +the entire national power, I demand that it do now, by a decree, invest +the primary assemblies with the right of supplying the state with arms, +provisions, and ammunition; of making an appeal to the people, of exciting +the energy of citizens, and of raising four hundred thousand men. It is +with cannon-balls that we must declare the constitution to our foes! Now +is the time to take the last great oath, that we will destroy tyranny, or +perish!" This oath was immediately taken by all the deputies and citizens +present. A few days after, Barrère, in the name of the committee of public +safety, which was composed of revolutionary members, and which became the +centre of operations and the government of the assembly, proposed measures +still more general: "Liberty," said he, "has become the creditor of every +citizen; some owe her their industry; others their fortune; these their +counsel; those their arms; all owe her their blood. Accordingly, all the +French, of every age and of either sex, are summoned by their country to +defend liberty; all faculties, physical or moral; all means, political or +commercial; all metal, all the elements are her tributaries. Let each +maintain his post in the national and military movement about to take +place. The young men will fight; the married men will forge arms, +transport the baggage and artillery, and prepare provisions; the women +will make tents and clothes for the soldiers, and exercise their +hospitable care in the asylums of the wounded; children will make lint +from old linen; and the aged, resuming the mission they discharged among +the ancients, shall cause themselves to be carried to the public places, +where they shall excite the courage of the young warriors, and propagate +the doctrine of hatred to kings, and the unity of the republic. National +buildings shall be converted into barracks, public squares into workshops; +the ground of the cellars will serve for the preparation of saltpetre; all +saddle horses shall be placed in requisition for the cavalry; all draught +horses for the artillery; fowling-pieces, pistols, swords and pikes, +belonging to individuals, shall be employed in the service of the +interior. The republic being but a large city, in a state of necessity, +France must be converted into a vast camp." + +The measures proposed by Barrère were at once decreed. All Frenchmen, from +eighteen to five-and-twenty, took arms, the armies were recruited by +levies of men, and supported by levies of provisions. The republic had +very soon fourteen armies, and twelve hundred thousand soldiers. France, +while it became a camp and a workshop for the republicans, became at the +same time a prison for those who did not accept the republic. While +marching against avowed enemies, it was thought necessary to make sure of +secret foes, and the famous law, _des suspects_, was passed. All +foreigners were arrested, on the ground of their hostile machinations, and +the partisans of constitutional monarchy and a limited republic were +imprisoned, to be kept close, until the peace was effected. At the time, +this was so far only a reasonable measure of precaution. The bourgeoisie, +the mercantile people, and the middle classes, furnished prisoners after +the 31st of May, as the nobility and clergy had done after the 10th of +August. A revolutionary army of six thousand soldiers and a thousand +artillerymen was formed for the interior. Every indigent citizen was +allowed forty sous a day, to enable him to be present at the sectionary +meetings. Certificates of citizenship were delivered, in order to make +sure of the opinions of all who co-operated in the revolutionary movement. +The functionaries were placed under the surveillance of the clubs, a +revolutionary committee was formed in each section, and thus they prepared +to face the enemy on all sides, both abroad and at home. + +The insurgents in Calvados were easily suppressed; at the very first +skirmish at Vernon, the insurgent troops fled. Wimpfen endeavoured to +rally them in vain. The moderate class, those who had taken up the defence +of the Girondists, displayed little ardour or activity. When the +constitution was accepted by the other departments, it saw the opportunity +for admitting that it had been in error, when it thought it was taking +arms against a mere factious minority. This retractation was made at Caen, +which had been the headquarters of the revolt. The Mountain commissioners +did not sully this first victory with executions. General Carteaux, on the +other hand, marched at the head of some troops against the sectionary army +of the south; he defeated its force, pursued it to Marseilles, entered the +town after it, and Provence would have been brought into subjection like +Calvados, if the royalists, who had taken refuge at Toulon, after their +defeat, had not called in the English to their aid, and placed in their +hands this key to France. Admiral Hood entered the town in the name of +Louis XVII., whom he proclaimed king, disarmed the fleet, sent for eight +thousand Spaniards by sea, occupied the surrounding forts, and forced +Carteaux, who was advancing against Toulon, to fall back on Marseilles. + +Notwithstanding this check, the conventionalists succeeded in isolating +the insurrection, and this was a great point. The Mountain commissioners +had made their entry into the rebel capitals; Robert Lindet into Caen; +Tallien into Bordeaux; Barras and Fréron into Marseilles. Only two towns +remained to be taken--Toulon and Lyons. + +A simultaneous attack from the south, west, and centre was no longer +apprehended, and in the interior the enemy was only on the defensive. +Lyons was besieged by Kellermann, general of the army of the Alps; three +corps pressed the town on all sides. The veteran soldiers of the Alps, the +revolutionary battalions and the newly-levied troops, reinforced the +besiegers every day. The people of Lyons defended themselves with all the +courage of despair. At first, they relied on the assistance of the +insurgents of the south; but these having been repulsed by Carteaux, the +Lyonnais placed their last hope in the army of Piedmont, which attempted a +diversion in their favour, but was beaten by Kellermann. Pressed still +more energetically, they saw their first positions carried. Famine began +to be felt, and courage forsook them. The royalist leaders, convinced of +the inutility of longer resistance, left the town, and the republican army +entered the walls, where they awaited the orders of the convention. A few +months after, Toulon itself, defended by veteran troops and formidable +fortifications, fell into the power of the republicans. The battalions of +the army of Italy, reinforced by those which the taking of Lyons left +disposable, pressed the place closely. After repeated attacks and +prodigies of skill and valour, they made themselves masters of it, and the +capture of Toulon finished what that of Lyons had begun. + +Everywhere the convention was victorious. The Vendéans had failed in their +attempt upon Nantes, after having lost many men, and their general-in- +chief, Cathelineau. This attack put an end to the aggressive and +previously promising movement of the Vendéan insurrection. The royalists +repassed the Loire, abandoned Saumur, and resumed their former +cantonments. They were, however, still formidable; and the republicans, +who pursued them, were again beaten in La Vendée. General Biron, who had +succeeded general Berruyer, unsuccessfully continued the war with small +bodies of troops; his moderation and defective system of attack caused him +to be replaced by Canclaux and Rossignol, who were not more fortunate than +he. There were two leaders, two armies, and two centres of operation--the +one at Nantes, and the other at Saumur, placed under contrary influences. +General Canclaux could not agree with general Rossignol, nor the moderate +Mountain commissioner Philippeaux with Bourbotte, the commissioner of the +committee of public safety; and this attempt at invasion failed like the +preceding attempts, for want of concert in plan and action. The committee +of public safety soon remedied this, by appointing one sole general-in- +chief, Lechelle, and by introducing war on a large scale into La Vendée. +This new method, aided by the garrison of Mayence, consisting of seventeen +thousand veterans, who, relieved from operations against the allied +nations after the capitulation, were employed in the interior, entirely +changed the face of the war. The royalists underwent four consecutive +defeats, two at Châtillon, two at Cholet. Lescure, Bonchamps, and d'Elbée +were mortally wounded, and the insurgents, completely beaten in Upper +Vendée, and fearing that they should be exterminated if they took refuge +in Lower Vendée, determined to leave their country to the number of eighty +thousand persons. This emigration through Brittany, which they hoped to +arouse to insurrection, became fatal to them. Repulsed before Granville, +utterly routed at Mans, they were destroyed at Savenay, and barely a few +thousand men, the wreck of this vast emigration, returned to Vendée. These +disasters, irreparable for the royalist cause, the taking of the island of +Noirmoutiers from Charette, the dispersion of the troops of that leader, +the death of La Rochejaquelin, rendered the republicans masters of the +country. The committee of public safety, thinking, not without reason, +that its enemies were beaten but not subjugated, adopted a terrible system +of extermination to prevent them from rising again. General Thurreau +surrounded Vendée with sixteen entrenched camps; twelve moveable columns, +called the _infernal columns_, overran the country in every direction, +sword and fire in hand, scoured the woods, dispersed the assemblies, and +diffused terror throughout this unhappy country. + +The foreign armies had also been driven back from the frontiers they had +invaded. After having taken Valenciennes and Condé, blockaded Maubeuge and +Le Quesnoy, the enemy advanced on Cassel, Hondschoote, and Furnes, under +the command of the duke of York. The committee of public safety, +dissatisfied with Custine, who was further regarded with suspicion as a +Girondist, superseded him by general Houchard. The enemy, hitherto +successful, was defeated at Hondschoote, and compelled to retreat. The +military reaction began with the daring measures of the committee of +public safety. Houchard himself was dismissed. Jourdan took the command of +the army of the north, gained the important victory of Watignies over the +prince of Coburg, raised the siege of Maubeuge, and resumed the offensive +on that frontier. Similar successes took place on all the others. The +immortal campaign of 1793-1794 opened. What Jourdan had done with the army +of the north, Hoche and Pichegru did with the army of the Moselle, and +Kellermann with that of the Alps. The enemy was repulsed, and kept in +check on all sides. Then took place, after the 31st of May, that which had +followed the 10th of August. The want of union between the generals and +the leaders of the assembly was removed; the revolutionary movement, which +had slackened, increased; and victories recommenced. Armies have had their +crises, as well as parties, and these crises have brought about successes +or defeat, always by the same law. + +In 1792, at the beginning of the war, the generals were +constitutionalists, and the ministers Girondists. Rochambeau, Lafayette, +and Luckner, did not at all agree with Dumouriez, Servan, Clavière, and +Roland. There was, besides, little enthusiasm in the army; it was beaten. +After the 10th of August, the Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, +Kellermann, and Dillon, replaced the constitutionalist generals. There was +unity of views, confidence, and co-operation, between the army and the +government. The catastrophe of the 10th of August augmented this energy, +by increasing the necessity for victory; and the results were the plan of +the campaign of Argonne, the victories of Valmy and Jemappes, and the +invasion of Belgium. The struggle between the Mountain and the Gironde, +between Dumouriez and the Jacobins, again created discord between the army +and government, and destroyed the confidence of the troops, who +experienced immediate and numerous reverses. There was defection on the +part of Dumouriez, as there had been withdrawal on the part of Lafayette. +After the 31st of May, which overthrew the Gironde party, after the +committee of public safety had become established, and had replaced the +Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, Houchard, and Dillon, by the +Mountain generals, Jourdan, Hoche, Pichegru, and Moreau; after it had +restored the revolutionary movement by the daring measures we have +described, the campaign of Argonne and of Belgium was renewed in that of +1794, and the genius of Carnot equalled that of Dumouriez, if it did not +surpass it. + +During this war, the committee of public safety permitted a frightful +number of executions. Armies confine themselves to slaughter in battle; it +is not so with parties, who, under violent circumstances, fearing to see +the combat renewed after the victory, secure themselves from new attacks +by inexorable rigour. The usage of all governments being to make their own +preservation a matter of right, they regard those who attack them as +enemies so long as they fight, as conspirators when they are defeated; and +thus destroy them alike by means of war and of law. + +All these views at once guided the policy of the committee of public +safety, a policy of vengeance, of terror, and of self-preservation. This +was the maxim upon which it proceeded in reference to insurgent towns: +"The name of Lyons," said Barrère, "must no longer exist. You will call it +_Ville Affranchie_, and upon the ruins of that famous city there shall be +raised a monument to attest the crime and the punishment of the enemies of +liberty. Its history shall be told in these words: '_Lyons warred against +liberty; Lyons exists no more_.'" To realise this terrible anathema, the +committee sent to this unfortunate city Collot-d'Herbois, Fouché, and +Couthon, who slaughtered the inhabitants with grape shot and demolished +its buildings. The insurgents of Toulon underwent at the hands of the +representatives, Barras and Fréron, a nearly similar fate. At Caen, +Marseilles, and Bordeaux, the executions were less general and less +violent, because they were proportioned to the gravity of the +insurrection, which had not been undertaken in concert with foreign foes. + +In the interior, the dictatorial government struck at all the parties with +which it was at war, in the persons of their greatest members. The +condemnation of queen Marie-Antoinette was directed against Europe; that +of the twenty-two against the Girondists; of the wise Bailly against the +old constitutionalists; lastly, that of the duke of Orleans against +certain members of the Mountain who were supposed to have plotted his +elevation. The unfortunate widow of Louis XVI. was first sentenced to +death by this sanguinary revolutionary tribunal. The proscribed of the 2nd +of June soon followed her. She perished on the 16th of October, and the +Girondist deputies on the 31st. They were twenty-one in number: Brissot, +Vergniaud, Gensonné, Fonfrède, Ducos, Valazé, Lasource, Silléry, Gardien, +Carra, Duperret, Duprat, Fauchet, Beauvais, Duchâtel, Mainvielle, Lacaze, +Boileau, Lehardy, Antiboul, and Vigée. Seventy-three of their colleagues, +who had protested against their arrest, were also imprisoned, but the +committee did not venture to inflict death upon them. + +During the debates, these illustrious prisoners displayed uniform and +serene courage. Vergniaud raised his eloquent voice for a moment, but in +vain. Valazé stabbed himself with a poignard on hearing the sentence, and +Lasource said to the judges: "I die at a time when the people have lost +their senses; you will die when they recover them." They went to execution +displaying all the stoicism of the times, singing the _Marseillaise_, and +applying it to their own case: + + "Allons, enfants de la patrie, + Le jour de gloire est arrivé: + Contre nous de la tyrannie + Le couteau sanglant est levé," etc. + +Nearly all the other leaders of this party had a violent end. Salles, +Guadet, and Barbaroux, were discovered in the grottos of Saint-Emilion, +near Bordeaux, and died on the scaffold. Pétion and Buzot, after wandering +about some time, committed suicide; they were found, dead in a field, half +devoured by wolves. Rabaud-Saint-Etienne was betrayed by an old friend; +Madame Roland was also condemned to death, and displayed the courage of a +Roman matron. Her husband, on hearing of her death, left his place of +concealment, and killed himself on the high road. Condorcet, outlawed soon +after the 2nd of June, was taken while endeavouring to escape, and saved +himself from the executioner's knife only by poison. Louvet, Kervelegan, +Lanjuinais, Henri La Rivière, Lesage, La Réveillère-Lépeaux, were the only +leading Girondists who, in secure retreat, awaited the end of the furious +storm. + +The revolutionary government was formed; it was proclaimed by the +convention on the 10th of October. Before the 31st of May, power had been +nowhere, neither in the ministry, nor in the commune, nor in the +convention. It was natural that power should become concentrated in this +extreme situation of affairs, and at a moment when the need for unity and +promptitude of action was deeply felt. The assembly being the most central +and extensive power, the dictatorship would as naturally become placed in +its bosom, be exercised there by the dominant faction, and in that faction +by a few men. The committee of public safety of the convention created on +the 6th of April, in order, as the name indicates, to provide for the +defence of the revolution by extraordinary measures, was in itself a +complete framework of government. Formed during the divisions of the +Mountain and the Gironde, it was composed of neutral members of the +convention till the 31st of May; and at its first renewal, of members of +the extreme Mountain. Barrère remained in it; but Robespierre acceded, and +his party dominated in it by Saint-Just, Couthon, Collot-d'Herbois, and +Billaud-Varennes. He set aside some Dantonists who still remained in it, +such as Hérault de Séchelles and Robert Lindet, gained over Barrère, and +usurped the lead by assuming the direction of the public mind and of +police. His associates divided the various departments among themselves. +Saint-Just undertook the surveillance and denouncing of parties; Couthon, +the violent propositions which required to be softened in form; Billaud- +Varennes and Collot-d'Herbois directed the missions into the departments; +Carnot took the war department; Cambon, the exchequer; Prieur de la Côte- +d'Or, Prieur de la Marne, and several others, the various branches of +internal administration; and Barrère was the daily orator, the panegyrist +ever prepared, of the dictatorial committee. Below these, assisting in the +detail of the revolutionary administration, and of minor measures, was +placed the committee of general safety, composed in the same spirit as the +great committee, having, like it, twelve members, who were re-eligible +every three months, and always renewed in their office. + +The whole revolutionary power was lodged in the hands of these men. Saint- +Just, in proposing the establishment of the decemviral power until the +restoration of peace, did not conceal the motives nor the object of this +dictatorship. "You must no longer show any lenity to the enemies of the +new order of things," said he. "Liberty must triumph at any cost. In the +present circumstances of the republic, the constitution cannot be +established; it would guarantee impunity to attacks on our liberty, +because it would be deficient in the violence necessary to restrain them. +The present government is not sufficiently free to act. You are not near +enough to strike in every direction at the authors of these attacks; the +sword of the law must extend everywhere; your arm must be felt +everywhere." Thus was created that terrible power, which first destroyed +the enemies of the Mountain, then the Mountain and the Commune, and, +lastly, itself. The committee did everything in the name of the +convention, which it used as an instrument. It nominated and dismissed +generals, ministers, representatives, commissioners, judges, and juries. +It assailed factions; it took the initiative in all measures. Through its +commissioners, armies and generals were dependent upon it, and it ruled +the departments with sovereign sway. By means of the law touching +suspected persons, it disposed of men's liberties; by the revolutionary +tribunal, of men's lives; by levies and the _maximum_, of property; by +decrees of accusation in the terrified convention, of its own members. +Lastly, its dictatorship was supported by the multitude, who debated in +the clubs, ruled in the revolutionary committees: whose services it paid +by a daily stipend, and whom it fed with the _maximum_. The multitude +adhered to a system which inflamed its passions, exaggerated its +importance, assigned it the first place, and appeared to do everything +for it. + +The innovators, separated by war and by their laws from all states and +from all forms of government, determined to widen the separation. By an +unprecedented revolution they established an entirely new era; they +changed the divisions of the year, the names of the months and days; they +substituted a republican for the Christian calendar, the decade for the +week, and fixed the day of rest not on the sabbath, but on the tenth day. +The new era dated from the 22nd of September, 1792, the epoch of the +foundation of the republic. There were twelve equal months of thirty days, +which began on the 22nd of September, in the following order:-- +_Vendémiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire_, for the autumn; _Nivôse, Pluviôse, +Ventôse_, for the winter; _Germinal, Floréal, Prairial_, for the spring; +_Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor_, for the summer. Each month had three +décades, each décade ten days, and each day was named from its order in +the décade:--_Primidi, Duodi, Tridi, Quartidi, Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, +Octidi, Nonidi, Decadi_. The surplus five days were placed at the end of +the year; they received the name of _Sans-culottides_, and were +consecrated, the first, to the festival of genius; the second, to that of +labour; the third, to that of actions; the fourth, to that of rewards; the +fifth, to that of opinion. The constitution of 1793 led to the +establishment of the republican calendar, and the republican calendar to +the abolition of Christian worship. We shall soon see the commune and the +committee of public safety each proposing a religion of its own; the +commune, the worship of reason; the committee of public safety, the +worship of the Supreme Being. But we must first mention a new struggle +between the authors of the catastrophe of the 31st of May themselves. + +The Commune and the Mountain had effected this revolution against the +Gironde, and the committee alone had benefited by it. During the five +months from June to November, the committee, having taken all the measures +of defence, had naturally become the first power in the republic. The +actual struggle being, as it were, over, the commune sought to sway the +committee, and the Mountain to throw off its yoke. The most intense +manifestation of the revolution was found in the municipal faction. With +an aim opposed to that of the committee of public safety, it desired +instead of the conventional dictatorship, the most extreme local +democracy; and instead of religion, the consecration of materialism. +Political anarchy and religious atheism were the symbols of this party, +and the means by which it aimed at establishing its own rule. A revolution +is the effect of the different systems which have agitated the age which +has originated it. Thus, during the continuance of the crisis in France, +ultra-montane catholicism was represented by the nonjuring clergy; +Jansenism by the constitutionist clergy; philosophical deism by the +worship of the Supreme Being, instituted by the committee of public +safety; and the materialism of Holbach's school by the worship of Reason +and of Nature, decreed by the commune. It was the same with political +opinions, from the royalty of the _Ancien Régime_ to the unlimited +democracy of the municipal faction. The latter had lost, in Marat, its +principal support, its true leader, while the committee of public safety +still retained Robespierre. It had at its head men who enjoyed great +popularity with the lower classes; Chaumette, and his substitute Hébert, +were its political leaders; Ronsin, commandant of the revolutionary army, +its general; the atheist, Anacharsis Clootz, its apostle. In the sections +it relied on the revolutionary committees, in which there were many +obscure foreigners, supposed, and not without probability, to be agents of +England, sent to destroy the republic by driving it into anarchy and +excess. The club of the Cordeliers was composed entirely of its partisans. +The _Vieux Cordeliers_ of Danton, who had contributed so powerfully to the +10th of August, and who constituted the commune of that period, had +entered the government and the convention, and had been replaced in the +club by members whom they contemptuously designated the _patriotes de la +troisième réquisition_. + +Hébert's faction, which, in a work entitled _Père Duchêsne_, popularised +obscene language and low and cruel sentiments, and which added derision of +the victims to the executions of party, in a short time made terrible +progress. It compelled the bishop of Paris and his vicars to abjure +Christianity at the bar of the convention, and forced the convention to +decree, that _the worship of Reason should be substituted for the catholic +religion_. The churches were shut up or converted into temples of reason, +and fêtes were established in every town, which became scandalous scenes +of atheism. The committee of public safety grew alarmed at the power of +this ultra-revolutionary faction, and hastened to stop and to destroy it. +Robespierre soon attacked it in the assembly, (15th Frimaire, year II., +5th Dec., 1793). "Citizens, representatives of the people," said he, "the +kings in alliance against the republic are making war against us with +armies and intrigues; we will oppose their armies by braver ones; their +intrigues, by vigilance and the terror of national justice. Ever intent on +renewing their secret plots, in proportion as they are destroyed by the +hand of patriotism, ever skilful in directing the arms of liberty against +liberty itself, the emissaries of the enemies of France are now labouring +to overthrow the republic by republicanism, and to rekindle civil war by +philosophy." He classed the ultra-revolutionists of the commune with the +external enemies of the republic. "It is your part," said he to the +convention, "to prevent the follies and extravagancies which coincide with +the projects of foreign conspiracy. I require you to prohibit particular +authorities (the commune) from serving our enemies by rash measures, and +that no armed force be allowed to interfere in questions of religious +opinions." And the convention, which had applauded the abjurations at the +demand of the commune, decreed, on Robespierre's motion, that _all +violence and all measures opposed to the liberty of religion are +prohibited_. + +The committee of public safety was too strong not to triumph over the +commune; but, at the same time, it had to resist the moderate party of the +Mountain, which demanded the cessation of the revolutionary government and +the dictatorship of the committees. The revolutionary government had only +been created to restrain, the dictatorship to conquer; and as Danton and +his party no longer considered restraint and victory essential, they +sought to establish legal order, and the independence of the convention; +they wished to throw down the faction of the commune, to stop the +operation of the revolutionary tribunal, to empty the prisons now filled +with suspected persons, to reduce or destroy the powers of the committees. +This project in favour of clemency, humanity, and legal government, was +conceived by Danton, Philippeaux, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre-d'Eglantine, +Lacroix, general Westermann, and all the friends of Danton. Before all +things they wanted _that the republic should secure the field of battle_; +but after conquest, they wished to conciliate. + +This party, become moderate, had renounced power; it had withdrawn from +the government, or suffered itself to be excluded by Robespierre's party. +Moreover, since the 31st of May, zealous patriots had considered Danton's +conduct equivocal. He had acted mildly on that day, and had subsequently +disapproved the condemnation of the twenty-two. They began to reproach him +with his disorderly life, his venal passions, his change of party, and +untimely moderation. To avoid the storm, he had retired to his native +place, Arcis-sur-Aube, and there he seemed to have forgotten all in +retirement. During his absence, the Hébert faction made immense progress; +and the friends of Danton hastily summoned him to their aid. He returned +at the beginning of Frimaire (December). Philippeaux immediately denounced +the manner in which the Vendéan war had been carried on; general +Westermann, who had greatly distinguised himself in that war, and who had +just been dismissed by the committee of public safety, supported +Philippeaux, and Camille Desmoulins published the first numbers of his +_Vieux Cordelier_. This brilliant and fiery young man had followed all the +movements of the revolution, from the 14th of July to the 31st of May, +approving all its exaggerations and all its measures. His heart, however, +was gentle and tender, though his opinions were violent, and his humour +often bitter. He had praised the revolutionary régime because he believed +it indispensable for the establishment of the republic; he had co-operated +in the ruin of the Gironde, because he feared the dissensions of the +republic. For the republic he had sacrificed even his scruples and the +desires of his heart, even justice and humanity; he had given all to his +party, thinking that he gave it to the republic; but now he was able +neither to praise nor to keep silent; his energetic activity, which he had +employed for the republic, he now directed against those who were ruining +it by bloodshed. In his _Vieux Cordelier_ he spoke of liberty with the +depth of Machiavelli, and of men with the wit of Voltaire. But he soon +raised the fanatics and dictators against him, by calling the government +to sentiments of moderation, compassion, and justice. + +He drew a striking picture of present tyranny, under the name of a past +tyranny. He selected his examples from Tacitus. "At this period," said he, +"words became state crimes: there wanted but one step more to render mere +glances, sadness, pity, sighs--even silence itself criminal. It soon +became high-treason, or an anti-revolutionary crime, for Cremutius Cordus +to call Brutus and Cassius the last of the Romans; a counter-revolutionary +crime in a descendant of Cassius to possess a portrait of his ancestor; a +counter-revolutionary crime in Mamercus Scaurus to write a tragedy in +which there were lines capable of a double meaning; a counter- +revolutionary crime in Torquatus Silanus to be extravagant; a counter- +revolutionary crime in Pomponius, because a friend of Sejanus had sought +an asylum in one of his country houses; a counter-revolutionary crime to +bewail the misfortunes of the time, for this was accusing the government; +a counter-revolutionary crime for the consul Fusius Geminus to bewail the +sad death of his son. + +"If a man would escape death himself, it became necessary to rejoice at +the death of his friend or relative. Under Nero, many went to return +thanks to the gods for their relatives whom he had put to death. At least, +an assumed air of contentment was necessary; for even fear was sufficient +to render one guilty. Everything gave the tyrant umbrage. If a citizen was +popular, he was considered a rival to the prince, and capable of exciting +a civil war, and he was suspected. Did he, on the contrary, shun +popularity, and keep by his fireside; his retired mode of life drew +attention, and he was suspected. Was a man rich; it was feared the people +might be corrupted by his bounty, and he was suspected. Was he poor; it +became necessary to watch him closely, as none are so enterprising as +those who have nothing, and he was suspected. If his disposition chanced +to be sombre and melancholy, and his dress neglected, his distress was +supposed to be occasioned by the state of public affairs, and he was +suspected. If a citizen indulged in good living to the injury of his +digestion, he was said to do so because the prince lived ill, and he was +suspected. If virtuous and austere in his manners, he was thought to +censure the court, and he was suspected. Was he philosopher, orator, or +poet; it was unbecoming to have more celebrity than the government, and he +was suspected. Lastly, if any one had obtained a reputation in war, his +talent only served to make him dangerous; it became necessary to get rid +of the general, or to remove him speedily from the army; he was suspected. + +"The natural death of a celebrated man, or of even a public official, was +so rare, that historians handed it down to posterity as an event worthy to +be remembered in remote ages. The death of so many innocent and worthy +citizens seemed less a calamity than the insolence and disgraceful +opulence of their murderers and denouncers. Every day the sacred and +inviolable informer made his triumphant entry into the palace of the dead, +and received some rich heritage. All these denouncers assumed illustrious +names, and called themselves Cotta, Scipio, Regulus, Saevius, Severus. To +distinguish himself by a brilliant début, the marquis Serenus brought an +accusation of anti-revolutionary practices against his aged father, +already in exile, after which he proudly called himself Brutus. Such were +the accusers, such the judges; the tribunals, the protectors of life and +property, became slaughter-houses, in which theft and murder bore the +names of punishment and confiscation." + +Camille Desmoulins did not confine himself to attacking the revolutionary +and dictatorial regime; he required its abolition. He demanded the +establishment of a committee of mercy, as the only way of terminating the +revolution and pacifying parties. His journal produced a great effect upon +public opinion; it inspired some hope and courage: Have you read the +_Vieux Cordelier_? was asked on all sides. At the same time Fabre- +d'Eglantine, Lacroix, and Bourdon de l'Oise, excited the convention to +throw off the yoke of the committee; they sought to unite the Mountain and +the Right, in order to restore the freedom and power of the assembly. As +the committees were all powerful, they tried to ruin them by degrees, the +best course to follow. It was important to change public opinion, and to +encourage the assembly, in order to support themselves by a moral force +against revolutionary force, by the power of the convention against the +power of the committees. The Dantonist in the Mountain endeavoured to +detach Robespierre from the other Decemvirs; Billaud-Varennes, Collot- +d'Herbois and Saint-Just, alone appeared to them invincibly attached to +the Reign of Terror. Barrère adhered to it through weakness--Couthon from +his devotion to Robespierre. They hoped to gain over the latter to the +cause of moderation, through his friendship for Danton, his ideas of +order, his austere habits, his profession of public virtue, and his pride. +He had defended seventy-three imprisoned Girondist deputies against the +committees and the Jacobins; he had dared to attack Clootz and Hébert as +ultra-revolutionists; and he had induced the convention to decree the +existence of the Supreme Being. Robespierre was the most popularly +renowned man of that time; he was, in a measure, the moderator of the +republic and the dictator of opinion: by gaining him, they hoped to +overcome both the committees and the commune, without compromising the +cause of the revolution. + +Danton saw him on his return from Arcis-sur-Aube, and they seemed to +understand one another; attacked at the Jacobins, he was defended by him. +Robespierre himself read and corrected the _Vieux Cordelier_, and approved +of it. At the same time he professed some principles of moderation; but +then all those who exercised the revolutionary government, or who thought +it indispensable, became aroused. Billaud-Varennes and Saint-Just openly +maintained the policy of the committees. Desmoulins had said of the +latter: "He so esteems himself, that he carries his head on his shoulders +with as much respect as if it were the holy sacrament." "And I," replied +Saint-Just, "will make him carry his like another Saint Denis." Collot- +d'Herbois, who was on a mission, arrived while matters were in this state. +He protected the faction of the anarchists, who had been intimidated for a +moment, and who derived fresh audacity from his presence. The Jacobins +expelled Camille Desmoulins from their society, and Barrère attacked him +at the convention in the name of the government. Robespierre himself was +not spared; he was accused of _moderatism_, and murmurs began to circulate +against him. + +However, his credit being immense, as they could not attack or conquer +without him, he was sought on both sides. Taking advantage of this +superior position, he adopted neither party, and sought to put down the +leaders of each, one after the other. + +Under these circumstances, he wished to sacrifice the commune and the +anarchists; the committees wished to sacrifice the Mountain and the +Moderates. They came to an understanding: Robespierre gave up Danton, +Desmoulins, and their friends to the members of the committee; and the +members of the committee gave up Hébert, Clootz, Chaumette, Ronsin, and +their accomplices. By favouring the Moderates at first, he prepared the +ruin of the anarchists, and he attained two objects favourable to his +domination or to his pride--he overturned a formidable faction, and he got +rid of a revolutionary reputation, the rival of his own. + +Motives of public safety, it must be admitted, mingled with these +combinations of party. At this period of general fury against the +republic, and of victories not yet definitive on its part, the committees +did not think the moment for peace with Europe and the internal +dissentients had arrived; and they considered it impossible to carry on +the war without a dictatorship. They, moreover, regarded the Hébertists as +an obscene faction, which corrupted the people, and served the foreign foe +by anarchy; and the Dantonists as a party whose political moderation and +private immorality compromised and dishonoured the republic. The +government accordingly proposed to the assembly, through the medium of +Barrère, the continuation of the war, with additional activity in its +pursuit; while Robespierre, a few days afterwards, demanded the +continuance of the revolutionary government. In the Jacobins he had +already expressed himself opposed to the _Vieux Cordelier_, which he had +hitherto supported. He rejected legal government in the following terms:-- + +"Without," said he, "all the tyrants surround us; within, all the friends +of tyranny conspire against us; they will continue to conspire till crime +is left without hope. We must destroy the infernal and external enemies of +the republic or perish with it. Now, in such a situation, the first maxim +of your policy should be, to lead the people by reason, and the enemies of +the people by terror. If, during peace, virtue be the mainspring of a +popular government, its mainspring in the times of revolution is both +virtue and terror; virtue, without which terror becomes fatal, terror, +without which virtue is powerless. Subdue, then, the enemies of liberty by +terror; and, as the founders of the republic, you will act rightly. The +government of the revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny." + +In this speech he denounced the _moderates_ and the _ultra- +revolutionists_, as both of them desiring the downfall of the republic. +"They advance," said he, "under different banners and by different roads, +but they advance towards the same goal; that goal is the disorganization +of the popular government, the ruin of the convention, and the triumph of +tyranny. One of these two factions reduces us to weakness, the other +drives us to excesses." He prepared the public mind for their +proscription; and his speech, adopted without discussion, was sent to all +the popular societies, to all the authorities, and to all the armies. + +After this beginning of hostilities, Danton, who had not given up his +connexion with Robespierre, asked for an interview with him. It took place +at the residence of Robespierre himself. They were cold and bitter; Danton +complained violently, and Robespierre was reserved. "I know," said Danton, +"all the hatred the committee bear me; but I do not fear it." "You are +wrong," replied Robespierre; "it entertains no ill designs against you; +but you would do well to have an explanation." "An explanation?" rejoined +Danton, "an explanation? That requires good faith!" Seeing that +Robespierre looked grave at these words, he added: "No doubt it is +necessary to put down the royalists, but we ought only to strike blows +which will benefit the republic; we must not confound the innocent with +the guilty." "And who says," exclaimed Robespierre, sharply, "that an +innocent person has been put to death?" Danton turned to one of his +friends who had accompanied him, and said, with a bitter smile: "What do +you say to this? Not one innocent person has perished!" They then +separated, and all friendship ceased between them. + +A few days afterwards, Saint-Just ascended the tribune, and threatened +more openly than had yet been done all dissentients, moderates, or +anarchists. "Citizens," said he, "you wished for a republic; if you do not +at the same time desire all that constitutes it, you will overwhelm the +people in its ruins. What constitutes a republic is the destruction of all +that is opposed to it. We are guilty towards the republic because we pity +the prisoners; we are guilty towards the republic because we do not desire +virtue; we are guilty to the republic because we do not desire terror. +What is it you want, those of you who do not wish for virtue, that you may +be happy? (The Anarchists.) What is it you want, those of you who do not +wish to employ terror against the wicked? (The Moderates.) What is it you +want, those of you who haunt public places to be seen, and to have it said +of you: 'Do you see such a one pass?' (Danton.) You will perish, those of +you who seek fortune, who assume haggard looks, and affect the patriot +that the foreigner may buy you up, or the government give you a place; you +of the indulgent faction, who seek to save the guilty; you of the foreign +faction, who direct severity against the defenders of the people. Measures +are already taken to secure the guilty; they are hemmed in on all sides. +Let us return thanks to the genius of the French people, that liberty has +triumphed over one of the most dangerous attacks ever meditated against +it. The development of this vast plot, the panic it will create, and the +measures about to be proposed to you, will free the republic and the world +of all the conspirators." + +Saint-Just caused the government to be invested with the most extensive +powers against the conspirators of the commune. He had it decreed that +justice and probity were the order of the day. The anarchists were unable +to adopt any measure of defence; they veiled for a moment the Rights of +Man at the club of the Cordeliers, and they made an attempt at +insurrection, but without vigour or union. The people did not stir, and +the committee caused its commandant, Henriot, to seize the substitute +Hébert, Ronsin, the revolutionary general, Anacharsis Clootz, Monmoro the +orator of the human race, Vincent, etc. They were brought before the +revolutionary tribunal, as _the agents of foreign powers, and, as having +conspired to place a tyrant over the state_. That tyrant was to have been +Pache, under the title of _Grand Juge_. The anarchist leaders lost their +audacity as soon as they were arrested; they defended themselves, and, for +the most part, died, without any display of courage. The committee of +public safety disbanded the revolutionary army, diminished the power of +the sectionary committees, and obliged the commune to appear at the bar of +the convention, and give thanks for the arrest and punishment of the +conspirators, its accomplices. + +It was now time for Danton to defend himself; the proscription, after +striking the commune, threatened him. He was advised to be on his guard, +and to take immediate steps; but not having been able to overturn the +dictatorial power, by arousing public opinion and the assembly by the +means of the public journals, and his friends of the Mountain, on what +could he depend for support? The convention, indeed, was inclined to +favour him and his cause; but it was wholly subject to the revolutionary +power of the committee. Danton having to support him, neither the +government, nor the assembly, nor the commune, nor the clubs, awaited +proscription, without making any effort to avoid it. + +His friends implored him to defend himself. "I would rather," said he, "be +guillotined, than be a guillotiner; besides, my life is not worth the +trouble; and I am sick of the world." "The members of the committee seek +thy death." "Well," he exclaimed, impatiently, "should Billaud, should +Robespierre kill me, they will be execrated as tyrants; Robespierre's +house will be razed to the ground; salt will be strewn upon it; a gallows +will be erected on it, devoted to the vengeance of crime! But my friends +will say of me, that I was a good father, a good friend, a good citizen; +they will not forget me." "Thou mayst avert..." "I would rather be +guillotined than be a guillotiner." "Well, then, thou shouldst depart." +"Depart!" he repeated, curling his lip disdainfully, "depart! Can we carry +our country away on the sole of our shoe?" + +Danton's only resource now was to make trial of his so well known and +potent eloquence, to denounce Robespierre and the committee, and to arouse +the convention against their tyranny. He was earnestly entreated to do +this; but he knew too well how difficult a thing it is to overthrow an +established domination, he knew too well the complete subjection and +terror of the assembly, to rely on the efficacy of such means. He +accordingly waited, thinking, he who had dared so much, that his enemies +would shrink from proscribing him. + +On the 10th of Germinal, he was informed that his arrest was being +discussed in the committee of public safety, and he was again entreated to +save himself by flight. After a moment's reflection, he exclaimed, "They +dare not." During the night his house was surrounded, and he was taken to +the Luxembourg with Camille Desmoulins, Philippeaux, Lacroix, and +Westermann. On his arrival, he accosted with cordiality the prisoners who +crowded round him. "Gentlemen," said he, "I had hoped in a short time to +liberate you, but here I am come to join you, and I know not how the +matter may end." In about an hour he was placed in solitary confinement in +the cell in which Hébert had been imprisoned, and which Robespierre was so +soon to occupy. There, giving way to reflection and regret, he exclaimed: +"It was at this time I instituted the revolutionary tribunal. I implore +forgiveness from God and man for having done so; but I designed it not for +the scourge of humanity." + +His arrest gave rise to general excitement, to a sombre anxiety. The +following day, at the opening of the sittings in the assembly, men spoke +in whispers; they inquired with alarm, what was the pretext for this new +proceeding against the representatives of the people. "Citizens," at +length exclaimed Legendre, "four members of this assembly have been +arrested during the night. Danton is one, I know not the others. Citizens, +I declare that I believe Danton to be as pure as myself, yet he is in a +dungeon. They feared, no doubt, that his replies would overturn the +accusations brought against him: I move, therefore, that before you listen +to any report, you send for the prisoners, and hear them." This motion was +favourably received, and inspired the assembly with momentary courage: a +few members desired it might be put to the vote, but this state of things +did not last long. Robespierre ascended the tribune. "By the excitement, +such as for a long time has been unknown in this the assembly," said he, +"by the sensation the words of the speaker you have just heard have +produced, it is easy to see that a question of great interest is before +us; a question whether two or three individuals shall be preferred to the +country. We shall see to-day whether the convention can crush to atoms a +mock idol, long since decayed, or whether its fall shall overwhelm both +the convention and the French people." And a few words from him sufficed +to restore silence and subordination to the assembly, to restrain the +friends of Danton, and to make Legendre himself retract. Soon after, +Saint-Just entered the house, followed by other members of the committees. +He read a long report against the members under arrest, in which he +impugned their opinions, their political conduct, their private life, +their projects; making them appear, by improbable and subtle combinations, +accomplices in every conspiracy, and the servants of every party. The +assembly, after listening without a murmur, with a bewildered sanction +unanimously decreed, and with applause even, the impeachment of Danton and +his friends. Every one sought to gain time with tyranny, and gave up +others' heads to save his own. + +The accused were brought before the revolutionary tribunal; their attitude +was haughty, and full of courage. They displayed an audacity of speech, +and a contempt of their judges, wholly unusual: Danton replied to the +president Dumas, who asked him the customary questions as to his name, his +age, his residence: "I am Danton, tolerably well known in the revolution; +I am thirty-five years old. My residence will soon be nothing. My name +will live in the Panthéon of history." His disdainful or indignant +replies, the cold and measured answers of Lacroix, the austere dignity of +Philippeaux, the vigour of Desmoulins, were beginning to move the people. +But the accused were silenced, under the pretext that they were wanting in +respect to justice, and were immediately condemned without a hearing. "We +are immolated," cried Danton, "to the ambition of a few miserable +brigands, but they will not long enjoy the fruit of their criminal +victory. I draw Robespierre after me--Robespierre will follow me." They +were taken to the Conciergerie, and thence to the scaffold. + +They went to death with the intrepidity usual at that epoch. There were +many troops under arms, and their escort was numerous. The crowd, +generally loud in its applause, was silent. Camille Desmoulins, when in +the fatal cart, was still full of astonishment at his condemnation, which +he could not comprehend. "This, then," said he, "is the reward reserved +for the first apostle of liberty." Danton stood erect, and looked proudly +and calmly around. At the foot of the scaffold he betrayed a momentary +emotion. "Oh, my best beloved--my wife!" he cried, "I shall not see thee +again." Then suddenly interrupting himself: "No weakness, Danton!" Thus +perished the last defenders of humanity and moderation; the last who +sought to promote peace among the conquerors of the revolution and pity +for the conquered. For a long time after them no voice was raised against +the dictatorship of terror; and from one end of France to the other it +struck silent and redoubled blows. The Girondists had sought to prevent +this violent reign,--the Dantonists to stop it; all perished, and the +conquerors had the more victims to strike the more foes arose around them. +In so sanguinary a career, there is no stopping until the tyrant is +himself slain. The Decemvirs, after the definitive fall of the Girondists, +had made _terror_ the order of the day; after the fall of the Hébertists, +_justice_ and _probity_, because these were _impure men of faction_; after +the fall of the Dantonists, _terror_ and _all virtues_, because these +Dantonists were, according to their phraseology, _indulgents and +immorals_. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE DEATH OF DANTON, APRIL, 1794, TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR, +(27TH JULY, 1794) + + +During the four months following the fall of the Danton party, the +committees exercised their authority without opposition or restraint. +Death became the only means of governing, and the republic was given up to +daily and systematic executions. It was then were invented the alleged +conspiracies of the inmates of the prisons, crowded under the law _des +suspects_, or emptied by that of the 22nd Prairial, which might be called +the law _des condamnés;_ then the emissaries of the committee of public +safety entirely replaced in the departments those of the Mountain; and +Carrier, the protégé of Billaud, was seen in the west; Maigret, the +protégé of Couthon, in the south; and Joseph Lebon, the protégé of +Robespierre, in the north. The extermination _en masse_ of the enemies of +the democratic dictatorship, which had already been effected at Lyons and +Toulon by grape-shot, became still more horrible, by the noyades of +Nantes, and the scaffolds of Arras, Paris, and Orange. + +May this example teach men a truth, which for their good ought to be +generally known, that in a revolution all depends on a first refusal and a +first struggle. To effect a pacific innovation, it must not be contested; +otherwise war is declared and the revolution spreads, because the whole +nation is aroused to its defence. When society is thus shaken to its +foundations, it is the most daring who triumph, and instead of wise and +temperate reformers, we find only extreme and inflexible innovators. +Engendered by contest, they maintain themselves by it; with one hand they +fight to maintain their sway, with the other they establish their system +with a view to its consolidation; they massacre in the name of their +doctrines: virtue, humanity, the welfare of the people, all that is +holiest on earth, they use to sanction their executions, and to protect +their dictatorship. Until they become exhausted and fall, all perish +indiscriminately, both the enemies and the partisans of reform. The +tempest dashes a whole nation against the rock of revolution. Inquire what +became of the men of 1789 in 1794, and it will be found that they were all +alike swept away in this vast shipwreck. As soon as one party appeared on +the field of battle, it summoned all the others thither, and all like it +were in turn conquered and exterminated; constitutionalists, Girondists, +the Mountain, and the Decemvirs themselves. At each defeat, the effusion +of blood became greater, and the system of tyranny more violent. The +Decemvirs were the most cruel, because they were the last. + +The committee of public safety, being at once the object of the attacks of +Europe, and of the hatred of so many conquered parties, thought that any +abatement of violence would occasion its destruction; it wished at the +same time to subdue its foes, and to get rid of them. "The dead alone do +not return," said Barrère. "The more freely the social body perspires, the +more healthy it becomes," added Collot-d'Herbois. But the Decemvirs, not +suspecting their power to be ephemeral, aimed at founding a democracy, and +sought in institutions a security for its permanence in the time when they +should cease to employ executions. They possessed in the highest degree +the fanaticism of certain social theories, as the millenarians of the +English revolution, with whom they may be compared, had the fanaticism of +certain religious ideas. The one originated with the people, as the other +looked to God; these desired the most absolute political equality, as +those sought evangelical equality; these aspired to the reign of virtue, +as those to the reign of the saints. Human nature flies to extremes in all +things, and produces, in a religious epoch, democratic Christians--in a +philosophical epoch, political democrats. + +Robespierre and Saint-Just had produced the plan of that democracy, whose +principles they professed in all their speeches; they wished to change the +manners, mind, and customs of France, and to make it a republic after the +manner of the ancients; they sought to establish the dominion of the +people; to have magistrates free from pride; citizens free from vice; +fraternity of intercourse, simplicity of manners, austerity of character, +and the worship of virtue. The symbolical words of the sect may be found +in the speeches of all the reporters of the committee, and especially in +those of Robespierre and Saint-Just. _Liberty and equality_ for the +government of the republic; _indivisibility_ for its form; _public safety_ +for its defence and preservation; _virtue_ for its principle; _the Supreme +Being_ for its religion; as for the citizens, _fraternity_ for their daily +intercourse; _probity_ for their conduct; _good sense_ for their mental +qualities; _modesty_ for their public actions, which were to have for +object the welfare of the state, and not their own: such was the symbol of +this democracy. Fanaticism could not go further. The authors of this +system did not inquire into its practicability; they thought it just and +natural; and having power, they tried to establish it by violence. Not one +of these words but served to condemn a party or individuals. The royalists +and aristocrats were hunted down in the name of _liberty and equality_; +the Girondists in the name of _indivisibility_; Philippeaux, Camille +Desmoulins, and the moderate party, in the name of _public safety_; +Chaumette, Anacharsis Clootz, Gobet, Hébert, all the anarchical and +atheistical party, in the name of _virtue and the Supreme Being_; Chabot, +Bazire, Fabre-d'Eglantine, in the name of _probity_; Danton in the name of +_virtue and modesty_. In the eyes of fanatics, these _moral crimes_ +necessitated their destruction, as much as the conspiracies which they +were accused of. + +Robespierre was the patron of this sect, which had in the committee a more +zealous, disinterested, and fanatic partisan than himself, in the person +of Saint-Just, who was called the Apocalyptic. His features were bold but +regular, and marked by an expression determined, but melancholy. His eye +was steady and piercing; his hair black, straight, and long. His manners +cold, though his character was ardent; simple in his habits, austere and +sententious, he advanced without hesitation towards the completion of his +system. Though scarcely twenty-five years old, he was the boldest of the +Decemvirs, because his convictions were the deepest. Passionately devoted +to the republic, he was indefatigable in the committees, intrepid on his +missions to the armies, where he set an example of courage, sharing the +marches and dangers of the soldiers. His predilection for the multitude +did not make him pay court to their propensities; and far from adopting +their dress and language with Hébert, he wished to confer on them ease, +gravity, and dignity. But his policy made him more terrible than his +popular sentiments. He had much daring, coolness, readiness, and decision. +Rarely susceptible to pity, he reduced to form his measures for the public +safety, and put them into execution immediately. If he considered victory, +proscription, the dictatorship necessary, he at once demanded them. Unlike +Robespierre, he was completely a man of action. The latter, comprehending +all the use he might make of him, early gained him over in the convention. +Saint-Just, on his part, was drawn towards Robespierre by his reputation +for incorruptibility, his austere life, and the conformity of their ideas. + +The terrible effects of their association may be conceived when we +consider their popularity, the envious and tyrannical passions of the one, +and the inflexible character and systematic views of the other. Couthon +had joined them; he was personally devoted to Robespierre. Although he had +a mild look and a partially paralysed frame, he was a man of merciless +fanaticism. They formed, in the committee, a triumvirate which soon sought +to engross all power. This ambition alienated the other members of the +committee, and caused their own destruction. In the meantime, the +triumvirate imperiously governed the convention and the committee itself. +When it was necessary to intimidate the assembly, Saint-Just was intrusted +with the task; when they wished to take it by surprise, Couthon was +employed. If the assembly murmured or hesitated, Robespierre rose, and +restored silence and terror by a single word. + +During the first two months after the fall of the commune and the Danton +party, the Decemvirs, who were not yet divided, laboured to secure their +domination: their commissioners kept the departments in restraint, and the +armies of the republic were victorious on all the frontiers. The committee +took advantage of this moment of security and union to lay the foundation +of new manners and new institutions. It must never be forgotten, that in a +revolution men are moved by two tendencies, attachment to their ideas, and +a thirst for command. The members of the committee, at the beginning, +agreed in their democratic sentiments; at the end, they contended for +power. + +Billaud-Varennes presented the theory of popular government and the means +of rendering the army always subordinate to the nation. Robespierre +delivered a discourse on the moral sentiments and solemnities suited to a +republic: he dedicated festivals _to the Supreme Being, to Truth, Justice, +Modesty, Friendship, Frugality, Fidelity, Immortality, Misfortune, etc._, +in a word, to all the moral and republican virtues. In this way he +prepared the establishment of the new worship _of the Supreme Being_. +Barrère made a report on the extirpation of mendicity, and the assistance +the republic owed to indigent citizens. All these reports passed into +decrees, agreeably to the wishes of the democrats. Barrère, whose habitual +speeches in the convention were calculated to disguise his servitude from +himself, was one of the most supple instruments of the committee; he +belonged to the régime of terror, neither from cruelty nor from +fanaticism. His manners were gentle, his private life blameless, and he +possessed great moderation of mind. But he was timid; and after having +been a constitutional royalist before the 10th of August, a moderate +republican prior to the 31st of May, he became the panegyrist and the co- +operator of the decemviral tyranny. This shows that, in a revolution, no +one should become an actor without decision of character. Intellect alone +is not inflexible enough; it is too accommodating; it finds reasons for +everything, even for what terrifies and disgusts it; it never knows when +to stop, at a time when one ought always to be prepared to die, and to end +one's part or end one's opinions. + +Robespierre, who was considered the founder of this moral democracy, now +attained the highest degree of elevation and of power. He became the +object of the general flattery of his party; he was _the great man_ of the +republic. Men spoke of nothing but _of his virtue, of his genius, and of +his eloquence_. Two circumstances contributed to augment his importance +still further. On the 3rd Prairial, an obscure but intrepid man, named +l'Admiral, was determined to deliver France from Robespierre and Collot- +d'Herbois. He waited in vain for Robespierre all day, and at night he +resolved to kill Collot. He fired twice at him with pistols, but missed +him. The following day, a young girl, name Cécile Renaud, called at +Robespierre's house, and earnestly begged to speak with him. As he was +out, and as she still insisted upon being admitted, she was detained. She +carried a small parcel, and two knives were found on her person. "What +motive brought you to Robespierre's?" inquired her examiners. "I wanted to +speak to him." "On what business?" "That depended on how I might find +him." "Do you know citizen Robespierre?" "No, I sought to know him; I went +to his house to see what a tyrant was like." "What did you propose doing +with your two knives?" "Nothing, having no intention to injure any one." +"And your parcel?" "Contains a change of linen for my use in the place I +shall be sent to." "Where is that?" "To prison; and from thence to the +guillotine." The unfortunate girl was ultimately taken there, and her +family shared her fate. + +Robespierre received marks of the most intoxicating adulation. At the +Jacobins and in the convention his preservation was attributed to the +_good genius of the republic_, and to _the Supreme Being_, whose existence +he had decreed on the 18th Floréal. The celebration of the new religion +had been fixed for the 20th Prairial throughout France. On the 16th, +Robespierre was unanimously appointed president of the convention, in +order that he might officiate as the pontiff at the festival. At that +ceremony he appeared at the head of the assembly, his face beaming with +joy and confidence, an unusual expression with him. He advanced alone, +fifteen feet in advance of his colleagues, attired in a magnificent dress, +holding flowers and ears of corn in his hand, the object of general +attention. Expectation was universally raised on this occasion: the +enemies of Robespierre foreboded attempts at usurpation, the persecuted +looked forward to a milder régime. He disappointed every one. He harangued +the people in his capacity of high priest, and concluded his speech, in +which all expected to find a hope of happier prospects, with these +discouraging words:--"_People, let us to-day give ourselves up to the +transports of pure delight! To-morrow we will renew our struggle against +vices and against tyrants._" + +Two days after, on the 22nd Prairial, Couthon presented a new law to the +convention. The revolutionary tribunal had dutifully struck all those who +had been pointed out to it: royalists, constitutionalists, Girondists, +anarchists, and Mountain, had been all alike despatched to execution. But +it did not proceed expeditiously enough to satisfy the systematic +exterminators, who wished promptly, and at any cost, to get rid of all +their prisoners. It still observed some forms; these were suppressed. "All +tardiness," said Couthon, "is a crime, all indulgent formality a public +danger; there should be no longer delay in punishing the enemies of the +state than suffices to recognise them." Hitherto the prisoners had +counsel; they had them no longer:--_The law furnishes patriot jurymen for +the defence of calumniated patriots; it grants none to conspirators_. They +tried them, at first, individually; now they tried them _en masse_. There +had been some precision in the crimes, even when revolutionary; now _all +the enemies of the people_ were declared guilty, and all were pronounced +enemies of the people _who sought to destroy liberty by force or +stratagem_. The jury before had the law to guide their determinations, +they _now only had their conscience_. A single tribunal, Fouquier-Tinville +and a few jurymen, were not sufficient for the increase of victims the new +law threatened to bring before it; the tribunal was divided into four +sections, the number of judges and juries was increased, and the public +accuser had four substitutes appointed to assist him. Lastly, the deputies +of the people could not before be brought to trial without a decree of the +convention; but the law was now so drawn up that they could be tried on an +order from the committees. The law respecting suspected persons gave rise +to that of Prairial. + +As soon as Couthon had made his report, a murmur of astonishment and alarm +pervaded the assembly. "If this law passes," cried Ruamps, "all we have to +do is to blow our brains out. I demand an adjourment." This motion was +supported; but Robespierre ascended the tribunal. "For a long time," said +he, "the national assembly has been accustomed to discuss and decree at +the same time, because it has long been delivered from the thraldom of +faction. I move that without considering the question of adjournment, the +convention debate, till eight in the evening if necessary, on the proposed +law." The discussion was immediately begun, and in thirty minutes after +the second reading, the decree was carried. But the following day, a few +members, more afraid of the law than of the committee, returned to the +debate of the day before. The Mountain, friends of Danton, fearing, for +their own sakes, the new provisions, which left the representatives at the +mercy of the Decemvirs, proposed to the convention to provide for the +safety of its members. Bourdon de l'Oise was the first to speak on this +subject; he was supported. Merlin, by a skilful amendment, restored the +old safeguard of the conventionalists, and the assembly adopted Merlin's +measure. Gradually, objections were made to the decree; the courage of the +Mountain increased, and the discussion became very animated. Couthon +attacked the Mountain. "Let them know," replied Bourdon de l'Oise--"let +the members of the committee know that if they are patriots, we are +patriots too. Let them know that I shall not reply with bitterness to +their reproaches. I esteem Couthon, I esteem the committee; but I also +esteem the unshaken Mountain which has saved our liberty." Robespierre, +surprised at this unexpected resistance, hurried to the tribune. "The +convention," said he, "the Mountain, and the committee are the same thing! +Every representative of the people who sincerely loves liberty, every +representative of the people who is ready to die for his country, belongs +to the Mountain! We should insult our country, assassinate the people, did +we allow a few intriguing persons, more contemptible than others, because +they are more hypocritical, to draw off a portion of the Mountain, and +make themselves the leaders of a party." "If was never my intention," said +Bourdon, "to make myself leader of a party." "It would be the height of +opprobrium," continued Robespierre, "if a few of our colleagues, led away +by calumny respecting our intentions and the object of our labours...." "I +insist on your proving what you assert," rejoined Bourdon. "I have been +very plainly called a scoundrel." "I did not name Bourdon. Woe to the man +who names himself! Yes, the Mountain is pure, it is sublime; intriguers do +not belong to the Mountain!" "Name them!" "I will name them when it is +necessary." The threats and the imperious tone of Robespierre, the support +of the other Decemvirs, and the feeling of fear which went round caused +profound silence. The amendment of Merlin was revoked as insulting to the +committee of public safety, and the whole law was adopted. From that time +executions took place in batches; and fifty persons were sent to death +daily. This _Terror_ within terror lasted about two months. + +But the end of this system drew near. The sittings of Prairial were the +term of union for the member of the committees. From that time, silent +dissensions existed among them. They had advanced together, so long as +they had to contend together; but this ceased to be the case when they +found themselves alone in the arena, with habits of contest and the desire +for dominion. Moreover, their opinions were no longer entirely the same: +the democratic party were divided by the fall of the old commune; Billaud- +Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, and the principal members of the committee of +general safety, Vadier, Amar, Vouland, clung to this overthrown faction, +and preferred _the worship of Reason_ to that of _the Supreme Being_. They +were also jealous of the fame, and anxious at the power of Robespierre, +who, in his turn, was irritated at their secret disapprobation and the +obstacles they opposed to his will. At this period, the latter conceived +the design of putting down the most enterprising members of the Mountain, +Tallien, Bourdon, Legendre, Fréron, Rovère, etc., and his rivals of the +committee. + +Robespierre had a prodigious force at his disposal, the common people, who +considered the revolution as depending on him, supported him as the +representative of its doctrines and interests; the armed force of Paris, +commanded by Henriot, was at his command. He had entire sway over the +Jacobins, whom he admitted and ejected at pleasure; all important posts +were occupied by his creatures; he had formed the revolutionary tribunal +and the new committee himself, substituting Payan, the national agent, for +Chaumette, the attorney-general; and Fleuriot for Pache, in the office of +mayor. But what was his design in granting the most influential places to +new men, and in separating himself from the committees? Did he aspire to +the dictatorship? Did he only seek to establish his democracy _of virtue_ +by the ruin of the remaining _immoral_ members of the Mountain, and the +_factious_ of the committee? Each party had lost its leaders: the Gironde +had lost the _twenty-two_; the commune, Hébert, Chaumette, and Ronsin; the +Mountain, Danton, Chabot, Lacroix, and Camille Desmoulins. But while thus +proscribing the leaders, Robespierre had carefully protected the sects. He +had defended the _seventy-three prisoners_ against the denunciations of +the Jacobins and the hatred of the committees; he had placed himself at +the head of the new commune; he had no longer reason to fear opposition to +his projects, whatever they might be, except from a few of the Mountain +and the members of the conventional government. It was against this double +obstacle that he directed his efforts during the last moments of his +career. It is probable that he did not separate the republic from his +protectorate, and that he thought to establish both on the overthrow of +the other parties. + +The committees opposed Robespierre in their own way. They secretly strove +to bring about his fall by accusing him of tyranny; they caused the +establishment of his religion to be considered as the presage of his +usurpation; they recalled the haughty attitude he assumed on the 20th +Priarial, and the distance at which he kept even the national convention. +Among themselves, they called him _Pisistratus_, and this name already +passed from mouth to mouth. A circumstance, insignificant enough at any +other time, gave them an opportunity of attacking him indirectly. An old +woman, called _Catherine Théot_, played the prophetess in an obscure +habitation, surrounded by a few mystic sectaries: they styled her _the +Mother of God_, and she announced the immediate coming of a _Messiah_. +Among her followers there was on old associate of Robespierre in the +constituent assembly, the Chartreux Dom Gerle, who had a civic certificate +from Robespierre himself. When the committees discovered _the mysteries of +the Mother of God_, and her predictions, they believed or pretended to +believe, that Robespierre made use of her instrumentality to gain over the +fanatics, or to announce his elevation. They altered her name of _Théot_ +into that of _Théos_, signifying God; and they craftily insinuated that +Robespierre was the Messiah she announced. The aged Vadier, in the name of +the committee of general safety, was deputed to bring forward a motion +against this new sect. He was vain and subtle; he denounced those who were +initiated into these mysteries, turned the worship into derision, +implicated Robespierre in it without naming him, and had the fanatics sent +to prison. Robespierre wished to save them. The conduct of the committee +of general safety greatly irritated him, and in the Jacobin club he spoke +of the speech of Vadier with contempt and anger. He experienced fresh +opposition from the committee of public safety, which refused to proceed +against the persons he pointed out to them. From that time he ceased to +join his colleagues in the government, and was rarely present at the +sittings of the convention. But he attended the Jacobins regularly; and +from the tribune of that club he hoped to overthrow his enemies as he had +hitherto done. + +Naturally sad, suspicious and timid, he became more melancholy and +mistrustful than ever. He never went out without being accompanied by +several Jacobins armed with sticks, who were called his body-guard. He +soon commenced his denunciations in the popular assembly. "_All corrupt +men_," said he, "_must be expelled the convention._" This was designating +the friends of Danton. Robespierre had them watched with the most minute +anxiety. Every day spies followed all their motions, observing their +actions, haunts, and conversation. Robespierre not only attacked the +Dantonists at the Jacobins, he even arose against the committee itself, +and for that purpose he chose a day when Barrère presided in the popular +assembly. At the close of the sitting, the latter returned home +discouraged; "I am disgusted with men," said he to Villate. "What could be +his motive for attacking you?" inquired the other. "Robespierre is +insatiable," rejoined Barrère; "because we will not do all he wishes, he +must break with us. If he talked to us about Thuriot, Guffroi, Rovère +Lecointre, Panis, Cambon, Monestier, and the rest of the Dantonists, we +might agree with him; let him even require Tallien, Bourdon de l'Oise, +Legendre, Fréron, well; but Duval, Audoin, Leonard Bourdon, Vadier, +Vouland--it is impossible to consent." To give up members of the +committee of general safety, was to expose themselves; accordingly, while +fearing, they firmly awaited the attack. Robespierre was very formidable, +with respect to his power, his hatred, and his designs; it was for him to +begin the combat. + +But how could he set about it? For the first time he was the author of a +conspiracy; hitherto he had taken advantage of all popular movements. +Danton, the Cordeliers, and the faubourgs had made the insurrection of the +10th of August against the throne; Marat, the Mountain, and the commune +had made that of the 31st of May against the Gironde; Billaud, Saint-Just, +and the committees had effected the ruin of the commune, and weakened the +Mountain. Robespierre remained alone. Unable to procure assistance from +the government, since he had declared against the committees, he had +recourse to the populace and the Jacobins. The principal conspirators were +Saint-Just, and Couthon in the committee; Fleuriot the mayor, and Payan +the national agent in the commune; Dumas the president, and Coffinhal the +vice-president, in the revolutionary tribunal; Henriot, the commander of +the armed force, and the popular society. On the 15th Messidor, three +weeks after the law of Prairial, and twenty-four days before the 9th +Thermidor, the resolution was already taken; at that time, and under that +date, Henriot wrote to the mayor: "You shall be satisfied with me, +comrade, and with the way in which I shall proceed; trust me, men who love +their country, easily agree in directing all their steps to the benefit of +public affairs. I would have wished, and I do wish, that the _secret of +the operation_ rested with us two; the wicked should know nothing of it. +Health and brotherhood." + +Saint-Just was on a mission to the army of the north; Robespierre hastily +recalled him. While waiting his return, he prepared the public mind at the +Jacobins. In the sitting of the 3rd Thermidor, he complained of the +conduct of the committees, and of the _persecution of the patriots_, whom +he swore to defend. "There must no longer be traces of crime or faction," +said he, "in any place whatever. A few scoundrels disgrace the convention; +but it will not allow itself to be swayed by them." He then urged his +colleagues, the Jacobins, to prevent _their reflections_ to the national +assembly. This was the transaction of the 31st of May. On the 4th, he +received a deputation from the department of l'Aisne, who came to complain +to him of the operations of the government, to which, for a month past, he +had been a stranger. "The convention," said Robespierre, in his reply to +the deputation, "in the situation in which it now stands, gangrened by +corruption, and being wholly unable to recover itself, cannot save the +republic-both must perish. The proscription of patriots is the order of +the day. As for me I have one foot in the tomb; in a few days the other +will follow it. The rest is in the hands of Providence." He was then +slightly indisposed, and he purposely exaggerated his discouragement, his +fears, and the dangers of the republic, in order to inflame the patriots, +and again bind the fate of the revolution with his own. + +In the meantime. Saint-Just arrived from the army. He ascertained the +state of affairs from Robespierre. He presented himself to the committees, +the members of which received him coldly; every time he entered, they +ceased to deliberate. Saint-Just, who, from their silence, a few chance +words, and the expression of perplexity or hostility on their +countenances, saw there was no time to be lost, pressed Robespierre to +act. His Maxim was to strike at once, and resolutely. "Dare," said he, +"that is the secret of revolutions." But he wished to prevail on +Robespierre to take a measure, which was impossible, by urging him to +strike his foes, without apprising them. The force at his disposal was a +force of revolutionary opinion, and not an organized force. It was +necessary for him to seek the assistance of the convention or of the +commune, the legal authority of government, or the extraordinary authority +of insurrection. Such was the custom, and such must be all coups-d'état. +They could not even have recourse to insurrection, until after they had +received the refusal of the assembly, otherwise a pretext was wanting for +the rising. Robespierre was therefore obliged to commence the attack in +the convention itself. He hoped to obtain everything from it by his +ascendancy, or if, contrary to its custom, it resisted, he reckoned on the +people, urged by the commune, rising on the 9th Thermidor against the +proscribed of the Mountain, and the committee of public safety, as it had +risen on the 31st of May against the proscribed of the Gironde and the +Commission of Twelve. It is almost always by the past that man regulates +his conduct and his hopes. + +On the 8th Thermidor, he entered the convention at an early hour. He +ascended the tribunal and denounced the committee in a most skilful +speech. "I am come," said he, "to defend before you your authority +insulted, and liberty violated. I will also defend myself; you will not be +surprised at this; you do not resemble the tyrants you contend with. The +cries of outraged innocence do not importune your ears, and you know that +this cause is not foreign to your interests." After this opening, he +complained of those who had calumniated him; he attacked those who sought +the ruin of the republic, either by excesses or moderation; those who +persecuted pacific citizens, meaning the committees, and those who +persecuted true patriots, meaning the Mountain. He associated himself with +the intentions, past conduct, and spirit of the convention; he added that +its enemies were his: "What have I done to merit persecution, if it +entered not into the general system of their conspiracy against the +convention? Have you not observed that, to isolate you from the nation, +they have given out that you are dictators, reigning by means of terror, +and disavowed by the silent wishes of all Frenchmen? For myself, what +faction do I belong to? To yourselves. What is that faction that, from the +beginning of the revolution, has overthrown all factions, and got rid of +acknowledged traitors. It is you, it is the people, it is principles. That +is the faction to which I am devoted, and against which all crimes are +leagued. For at least six weeks, my inability to do good and to check evil +has obliged me absolutely to renounce my functions as a member of the +committee of public safety. Has patriotism been better protected? Have +factions been more timid? Or the country more happy? At all times my +influence has been confined to pleading the cause of my country before the +national representation, and at the tribunal of public opinion." After +having attempted to confound his cause with that of the convention, he +tried to excite it against the committees by dwelling on the idea of its +independence. "Representatives of the people," said he, "it is time to +resume the pride and elevation of character which befits you. You are not +made to be ruled, but to rule the depositaries of your confidence." + +While he thus endeavoured to tempt the assembly by the return of its power +and the end of its slavery, he addressed the moderate party, by reminding +them that they were indebted to him for the lives of the Seventy-Three, +and by holding forth hopes of returning order, justice, and clemency. He +spoke of changing the devouring and trickster system of finance, of +softening the revolutionary government, of guiding its influence, and +punishing its prevaricating agents. Lastly, he invoked the people, talked +of their necessities, and of their power. And when he had recalled all +that could act upon the interests, hopes, or fears of the convention, he +added: "We say, then, that there exists a conspiracy against public +liberty; that it owes its strength to a criminal coalition which intrigues +in the very heart of the convention; that this coalition has accomplices +in the committee of general safety; that the enemies of the republic have +opposed this committee to the committee of public safety, and have thus +constituted two governments; that members of the committee of public +safety are concerned in this plot; that the coalition thus formed seeks +the ruin both of patriots and of the country; What remedy is there for +this evil? Punish the traitors; compose anew the committee of general +safety; purify this committee, and make it subordinate to the committee of +public safety; purify the latter committee itself; constitute the unity of +the government under the supreme authority of the convention; crush every +faction under the weight of national authority, and establish on their +ruins the power of justice and liberty." + +Not a murmur, not a mark of applause welcomed this declaration of war. The +silence with which Robespierre was heard continued long after he had +ceased speaking. Anxious looks were exchanged in all parts of the doubting +assembly. At length Lecointre of Versailles arose and proposed that the +speech should be printed. This motion was the signal for agitation, +discussion, and resistance. Bourdon de l'Oise opposed the motion for +printing the speech, as a dangerous measure. He was applauded. But +Barrère, in his ambiguous manner, having maintained that all speeches +ought to be published, and Couthon having moved that it should be sent to +all the communes of the republic, the convention, intimidated by this +apparent concord of the two opposite factions, decreed both the printing +and circulation of the speech. + +The members of the two committees thus attacked, who had hitherto remained +silent, seeing the Mountain thwarted, and the majority undecided, thought +it time to speak. Vadier first opposed Robespierre's speech and +Robespierre himself. Cambon went further. "It is time," he cried, "to +speak the whole truth: one man paralyzed the resolution of the national +assembly; that man is Robespierre." "The mask must be torn off," added +Billaud-Varennes, "whatever face it may cover; I would rather my corpse +should serve an ambitious man for his throne, than by my silence to become +the accomplice of his crimes." Panis, Bentabole, Charlier, Thirion, Amar, +attacked him in turn. Fréron proposed to the convention to throw off the +fatal yoke of the committees. "The time is come," said he, "to revive +liberty of opinion; I move that the assembly revoke the decree which gives +the committee power to arrest the representatives of the people. Who can +speak freely while he fears an arrest?" Some applause was heard; but the +moment for the entire deliverance of the convention was not yet arrived. +It was necessary to contend with Robespierre from behind the committees, +in order subsequently to attack the committees more easily. Fréron's +motion was accordingly rejected. "The man who is prevented by fear from +delivering his opinion," said Billaud-Varennes, looking at him, "is not +worthy the title of a representative of the people." Attention was again +drawn to Robespierre. The decree ordering his speech to be printed was +recalled, and the convention submitted the speech to the examination of +the committees. Robespierre who had been surprised at this fiery +resistance, then said: "What! I had the courage to place before the +assembly truths which I think necessary to the safety of the country, and +you send my discourse for the examination of the members whom I accuse." +He retired, a little discouraged, but hoping to bring back the assembly to +his views, or rather, bring it into subjection with the aid of the +conspirators of the Jacobins and the commune. + +In the evening he repaired to the popular society. He was received with +enthusiasm. He read the speech which the assembly had just condemned, and +the Jacobins loaded him with applause. He then recounted to them the +attacks which had been directed against him, and to increase their +excitement he added: "If necessary, I am ready to drink the cup of +Socrates." "Robespierre," cried a deputy, "I will drink it with you." "The +enemies of Robespierre," cried numbers on all sides, "are the enemies of +the country; let them be named, and they shall cease to live." During the +whole night Robespierre prepared his partisans for the following day. It +was agreed that they should assemble at the commune and the Jacobins, in +order to be ready for every event, while he, accompanied by his friends, +repaired to the assembly. + +The committees had also spent the night in deliberation. Saint-Just had +appeared among them. His colleagues tried to disunite him from the +triumvirate; they deputed him to draw up a report on the events of the +preceding day, and submit it to them. But, instead of that, he drew up an +act of accusation, which he would not communicate to them, and said, as he +withdrew: "You have withered my heart; I am going to open it to the +convention." The committees placed all their hope in the courage of the +assembly and the union of parties. The Mountain had omitted nothing to +bring about this salutary agreement. They had addressed themselves to the +most influential members of the Right and of the Marais. They had +entreated Boissy d'Anglas and Durand de Maillane, who were at their head, +to join them against Robespierre. They hesitated at first: they were so +alarmed at his power, so full of resentment against the Mountain, that +they dismissed the Dantonists twice without listening to them. At last the +Dantonists returned to the charge a third time, and then the Right and the +Plain engaged to support them. There was thus a conspiracy on both sides. +All the parties of the assembly were united against Robespierre, all the +accomplices of the triumvirs were prepared to act against the convention. +In this state of affairs the sitting of the ninth Thermidor began. + +The members of the assembly repaired there earlier than usual. About half- +past eleven they gathered in the passages, encouraging each other. The +Bourdon de l'Oise, one of the Mountain, approached Durand de Maillane, a +moderate, pressed his hand, and said--"The people of the Right are +excellent men." Rovère and Tallien came up and mingled their +congratulations with those of Bourdon. At twelve they saw, from the door +of the hall, Saint-Just ascend the tribune. "_Now is the time_," said +Tallien, and they entered the hall. Robespierre occupied a seat in front +of the tribune, doubtless in order to intimidate his adversaries with his +looks. Saint-Just began: "I belong," he said, "to no faction; I will +oppose them all. The course of things has perhaps made this tribune the +Tarpeian rock for him who shall tell you that the members of the +government have quitted the path of prudence." Tallien then interrupted +Saint-Just, and exclaimed violently: "No good citizen can restrain his +tears at the wretched state of public affairs. We see nothing but +divisions. Yesterday a member of the government separated himself from it +to accuse it. To-day another does the same. Men still seek to attack each +other, to increase the woes of the country, to precipitate it into the +abyss. Let the veil be wholly torn asunder." "It must! it must!" resounded +on every side. + +Billaud-Varennes spoke from his seat--"Yesterday," said he, "the society +of Jacobins was filled with hired men, for no one had a card; yesterday +the design of assassinating the members of the national assembly was +developed in that society; yesterday I saw men uttering the most atrocious +insults against those who have never deviated from the revolution. I see +on the Mountain one of those men who threatened the republic; there he +is." "Arrest him! arrest him!" was the general cry. The serjeant seized +him, and took him to the committee of general safety. "The time is come +for speaking the truth," said Billaud. "The assembly would form a wrong +judgment of events and of the position in which it is placed, did it +conceal from itself that it is placed between two massacres. It will +perish, if feeble." "No! no! It will not perish!" exclaimed all the +members, rising from their seats. They swore to save the republic. The +spectators in the gallery applauded, and cried--"Vive la Convention +Rationale!" The impetuous Lebas attempted to speak in defence of the +triumvirs; he was not allowed to do so, and Billaud continued. He warned +the convention of its dangers, attacked Robespierre, pointed out his +accomplices, denounced his conduct and his plans of dictatorship. All eyes +were directed towards him. He faced them firmly for some time; but at +length, unable to contain himself, he rushed to the tribune. The cry of +"Down with the tyrant," instantly became general, and drowned his voice. + +"Just now," said Tallien, "I required that the veil should be torn +asunder. It gives me pleasure to see that it is wholly sundered. The +conspirators are unmasked; they will soon be destroyed, and liberty will +triumph. I was present yesterday at the sitting of the Jacobins; I +trembled for my country. I saw the army of this new Cromwell forming, and +I armed myself with a poignard to stab him to the heart, if the national +convention wanted courage to decree his impeachment." He drew out his +poignard, brandished it before the indignant assembly, and moved before +anything else, the arrest of Henriot, the permanent sitting of the +assembly; and both motions were carried, in the midst of cries of--"Vive +la république!" Billaud also moved the arrest of three of Robespierre's +most daring accomplices, Dumas, Boulanger, and Dufrèse. Barrère caused the +convention to be placed under the guard of the armed sections, and drew up +a proclamation to be addressed to the people. Every one proposed a measure +of precaution. Vadier diverted the assembly for a moment, from the danger +which threatened it, to the affair of Catherine Théos. "Let us not be +diverted from the true object of debate," said Tallien. "I will undertake +to bring you back to it," said Robespierre. "Let us turn our attention to +the tyrant," rejoined Tallien, attacking him more warmly than before. + +Robespierre, after attempting to speak several times, ascending and +descending the stairs of the tribune, while his voice was drowned by cries +of "Down with the tyrant!" and the bell which the president Thuriot +continued ringing, now made a last effort to be heard. "President of +assassins," he cried, "for the last time, will you let me speak?" But +Thuriot continued to ring his bell. Robespierre, after glancing at the +spectators in the public gallery, who remained motionless, turned towards +the Right. "Pure and virtuous men," said he, "I have recourse to you; give +me the hearing which these assassins refuse." No answer was returned; +profound silence prevailed. Then, wholly dejected, he returned to his +place, and sank on his seat exhausted by fatigue and rage. He foamed at +the mouth, and his utterance was choked. "Wretch!" said one of the +Mountain, "the blood of Danton chokes thee." His arrest was demanded and +supported on all sides. Young Robespierre now arose: "I am as guilty as my +brother," said he. "I share his virtues, and I will share his fate." "I +will not be involved in the opprobrium of this decree," added Lebas; "I +demand my arrest too." The assembly unanimously decreed the arrest of the +two Robespierres, Couthon, Lebas, and Saint-Just. The latter, after +standing for some time at the tribune with unchanged countenance, +descended with composure to his place. He had faced this protracted storm +without any show of agitation. The triumvirs were delivered to the +gendarmerie, who removed them amidst general applause. Robespierre +exclaimed, as he went out--"The republic is lost, the brigands triumph." +It was now half-past five, and the sitting was suspended till seven. + +During this stormy contest the accomplices of the triumvirs had assembled +at the Commune and the Jacobins. Fleuriot the mayor, Payan the national +agent, and Henriot the commandant, had been at the Hôtel de Ville since +noon. They had assembled the municipal officers by the sound of the drum, +hoping that Robespierre would be triumphant in the assembly, and that they +should not require the general council to decree the insurrection, or the +sections to sustain it. A few hours after, a serjeant of the convention +arrived to summon the mayor to the bar of the assembly to give a report of +the state of Paris. "Go, and tell your scoundrels," said Henriot, "that we +are discussing how to purge them. Do not forget to tell Robespierre to be +firm, and to fear nothing." About half-past four they learned of the +arrest of the triumvirs, and the decree against their accomplices. The +tocsin was immediately sounded, the barriers closed, the general council +assembled, and the sectionaries called together. The cannoneers were +ordered to bring their pieces to the commune, and the revolutionary +committees to take the oath of insurrection. A message was sent to the +Jacobins, who sat permanently. The municipal deputies were received with +the greatest enthusiasm. "The society watches over the country," they were +told. "It has sworn to die rather than live under crime." At the same time +they concerted together, and established rapid communications between +these two centres of the insurrection. Henriot, on his side, to arouse the +people, ran through the streets, pistol in hand, at the head of his staff, +crying "to arms!" haranguing the multitude, and instigating all he met to +repair to the commune to _save the country_. While on this errand, two +members of the convention perceived him in the Rue Saint Honoré. They +summoned, in the name of the law, a few gendarmes to execute the order for +his arrest; they obeyed, and Henriot was pinioned and conveyed to the +committee of general safety. + +Nothing, however, was decided as yet on either side. Each party made use +of its means of power; the convention of its decrees, the commune of the +insurrection; each party knew what would be the consequences of defeat, +and this rendered them both so active, so full of foresight and decision. +Success was long uncertain. From noon till five the convention had the +upper hand; it caused the arrest of the triumvirs, Payan the national +agent, and Henriot the commandant. It was already assembled, and the +commune had not yet collected its forces; but from six to eight the +insurgents regained their position, and the cause of the convention was +nearly lost. During this interval, the national representatives had +separated, and the commune had redoubled its efforts and audacity. + +Robespierre had been transferred to the Luxembourg, his brother to Saint- +Lazare, Saint-Just to the Écossais, Couthon to La Bourbe, Lebas to the +Conciergerie. The commune, after having ordered the gaolers not to receive +them, sent municipal officers with detachments to bring them away. +Robespierre was liberated first, and conducted in triumph to the Hôtel de +Ville. On arriving, he was received with the greatest enthusiasm; "Long +live Robespierre! Down with the traitors!" resounded on all sides. A +little before, Coffinhal had departed, at the head of two hundred +cannoneers, to release Henriot, who was detained at the committee of +general safety. It was now seven o'clock, and the convention had resumed +its sitting. Its guard, at the most, was a hundred men. Coffinhal arrived, +made his way through the outer courts, entered the committee chamber, and +delivered Henriot. The latter repaired to the Place du Carrousel, +harangued the cannoneers, and ordered them to point their pieces on the +convention. + +The assembly was just then discussing the danger to which it was exposed. +It had just heard of the alarming success of the conspirators, of the +insurrectional orders of the commune, the rescue of the triumvirs, their +presence at the Hôtel de Ville, the rage of the Jacobins, the successive +convocation of the revolutionary council and of the sections. It was +dreading a violent invasion every moment, when the terrified members of +the committees rushed in, fleeing from Coffinhal. They learned that the +committees were surrounded, and Henriot released. This news caused great +agitation. The next moment Amar entered precipitately, and announced that +the cannoneers, acted upon by Henriot, had turned their pieces upon the +convention. "Citizens," said the president, putting on his hat, in token +of distress, "the hour is come to die at our posts!" "Yes, yes! we will +die there!" exclaimed all the members. The people in the galleries rushed +out, crying, "To arms! Let us drive back the scoundrels!" And the assembly +courageously outlawed Henriot. + +Fortunately for the assembly, Henriot could not prevail upon the +cannoneers to fire. His influence was limited to inducing them to +accompany him, and he turned his steps to the Hôtel de Ville. The refusal +of the cannoneers decided the fate of the day. From that moment the +commune, which had been on the point of triumphing, saw its affairs +decline. Having failed in a surprise by main force, it was reduced to the +slow measures of the insurrection; the point of attack was changed, and +soon it was no longer the commune which besieged the Tuileries, but the +convention which marched upon the Hôtel de Ville. The assembly instantly +outlawed the conspiring deputies and the insurgent commune. It sent +commissioners to the sections, to secure their aid, named the +representative Barras commandant of the armed force, joining with him +Fréron, Rovère, Bourdon de l'Oise, Féraud, Leonard Bourdon, Legendre, all +men of decision: and made the committees the centre of operation. + +The sections, on the invitation of the commune, had assembled about nine +o'clock; the greater part of the citizens, in repairing thither, were +anxious, uncertain, and but vaguely informed of the quarrels between the +commune and the convention. The emissaries of the insurgents urged them to +join them and to march their battalions to the Hôtel de Ville. The +sections confined themselves to sending a deputation, but as soon as the +commissioners of the convention arrived among them, had communicated to +them the decrees and invitations of the assembly, and informed them that +there was a leader and a rallying point, they hesitated no longer. Their +battalions presented themselves in succession to the assembly; they swore +to defend it, and they passed in files through the hall, amid shouts of +enthusiasm and sincere applause. "The moments are precious," said Fréron; +"we must act; Barras is gone to take the orders of the committees; we will +march against the rebels; we will summon them in the name of the +convention to deliver up the traitors, and if they refuse, we will reduce +the building in which they are to ashes." "Go," said the president, "and +let not day appear before the heads of the conspirators have fallen." A +few battalions and some pieces of artillery were placed round the +assembly, to guard it from attack, and the sections then marched in two +columns against the commune. It was now nearly midnight. + +The conspirators were still assembled. Robespierre, after having been +received with cries of enthusiasm, promises of devotedness and victory, +had been admitted into the general council between Payan and Fleuriot. The +Place de Grève was filled with men, and glittered with bayonets, pikes, +and cannon. They only waited the arrival of the sections to proceed to +action. The presence of their deputies, and the sending of municipal +commissioners in their midst, had inspired reliance on their aid. Henriot +answered for everything. The conspirators looked for certain victory; they +appointed an executive commission, prepared addresses to the armies, and +drew up various lists. Half-past midnight, however, arrived, and no +section had yet appeared, no order had yet been given, the triumvirs were +still sitting, and the crowd on the Place de Grève became discouraged by +this tardiness and indecision. A report spread in whispers that the +sections had declared in favour of the convention, that the commune was +outlawed, and that the troops of the convention were advancing. The +eagerness of the armed multitude had already abated, when a few emissaries +of the assembly glided among them, and raised the cry, "Vive la +convention!" Several voices repeated it. They then read the proclamation +of outlawry against the commune; and after hearing it, the whole crowd +dispersed. The Place de Grève was deserted in a moment. Henriot came down +a few minutes after, sabre in hand, to excite their courage; but finding +no one: "What!" cried he; "is it possible? Those rascals of cannoneers, +who saved my life five hours ago, now forsake me." He went up again. At +that moment, the columns of the convention arrived, surrounded the Hôtel +de Ville, silently took possession of all its outlets, and then shouted, +"Vive la convention nationale!" + +The conspirators, finding they were lost, sought to escape the violence of +their enemies. A gendarme named Méda, who first entered the room where the +conspirators were assembled, fired a pistol at Robespierre and shattered +his jaw; Lebas wounded himself fatally; Robespierre the younger jumped +from a window on the third story, and survived his fall; Couthon hid +himself under a table; Saint-Just awaited his fate; Coffinhal, after +reproaching Henriot with cowardice, threw him from a window into a drain +and fled. Meantime, the conventionalists penetrated into the Hôtel de +Ville, traversed the desolate halls, seized the conspirators, and carried +them in triumph to the assembly. Bourdon entered the hall crying "Victory! +victory! the traitors are no more!" "The wretched Robespierre is there," +said the president; "they are bringing him on a litter. Doubtless you +would not have him brought in." "No! no!" they cried; "carry him to the +Place de la Révolution!" He was deposited for some time at the committee +of general safety before he was transferred to the Conciergerie; and here, +stretched on a table, his face disfigured and bloody, exposed to the +looks, the invectives, the curses of all, he beheld the various parties +exulting in his fall, and charging upon him all the crimes that had been +committed. He displayed much insensibility during his last moments. He was +taken to the Conciergerie, and afterwards appeared before the +revolutionary tribunal, which, after identifying him and his accomplices, +sent them to the scaffold. On the 10th Thermidor, about five in the +evening, he ascended the death cart, placed between Henriot and Couthon, +mutilated like himself. His head was enveloped in linen saturated with +blood; his face was livid, his eyes almost visionless. An immense crowd +thronged around the cart, manifesting the most boisterous and exulting +joy. They congratulated and embraced each other, loading him with +imprecations, and pressed near to view him more closely. The gendarmes +pointed him out with their sabres. As to him, he seemed to regard the +crowd with contemptuous pity; Saint-Just looked calmly at them; the rest, +in number twenty-two, were dejected. Robespierre ascended the scaffold +last; when his head fell, shouts of applause arose in the air, and lasted +for some minutes. + +With him ended the reign of terror, although he was not the most zealous +advocate of that system in his party. If he sought for supremacy, after +obtaining it, he would have employed moderation; and the reign of terror, +which ceased at his fall, would also have ceased with his triumph. I +regard his ruin to have been inevitable; he had no organized force; his +partisans, though numerous, were not enrolled; his instrument was the +force of opinion and of terror; accordingly, not being able to surprise +his foes by a strong hand, after the fashion of Cromwell, he sought to +intimidate them. Terror not succeeding, he tried insurrection. But as the +convention with the support of the committees had become courageous, so +the sections, relying on the courage of the convention, would naturally +declare against the insurgents. By attacking the government, he aroused +the assembly; by arousing the assembly, he aroused the people, and this +coalition necessarily ruined him. The convention on the 9th of Thermidor +was no longer, as on the 31st of May, divided, undecided, opposed to a +compact, numerous, and daring faction. All parties were united by defeat, +misfortune, and the proscription ever threatening them, and would +naturally cooperate in the event of a struggle. It did not, therefore, +depend on Robespierre himself to escape defeat; and it was not in his +power to secede from the committees. In the position to which he had +attained, one is consumed by one's passions, deceived by hopes and by +fortune, hitherto good; and when once the scaffolds have been erected, +justice and clemency are as impossible as peace, tranquillity, and the +dispensing of power when war is declared. One must then fall by the means +by which one has arisen; the man of faction must perish by the scaffold, +as conquerors by war. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). +EPOCH OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY + + +The 9th of Thermidor was the first day of the revolution in which those +fell who attacked. This indication alone manifested that the ascendant +revolutionary movement had reached its term. From that day the contrary +movement necessarily began. The general rising of all parties against one +man was calculated to put an end to the compression under which they +laboured. In Robespierre the committees subdued each other, and the +decemviral government lost the prestige of terror which had constituted +its strength. The committees liberated the convention, which gradually +liberated the entire republic. Yet they thought they had been working for +themselves, and for the prolongation of the revolutionary government, +while the greater part of those who had supported them had for their +object the overthrow of the dictatorship, the independence of the +assembly, and the establishment of legal order. From the day after the 9th +of Thermidor there were, therefore, two opposite parties among the +conquerors, that of the committees, and that of the Mountain, which was +called the Thermidorian party. + +The former was deprived of half its forces; besides the loss of its chief, +it no longer had the commune, whose insurgent members, to the number of +seventy-two, had been sent to the scaffold, and, which, after its double +defeat under Hébert and under Robespierre, was not again re-organized, and +remained without direct influence. But this party retained the direction +of affairs through the committees. All its members were attached to the +revolutionary system; some, such as Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, +Barrère, Vadier, Amar, saw it was their only safety; others, such as +Carnot, Cambon, the two Prieurs, de la Marne, and de la Côte-d'Or, etc., +feared the counter-revolution, and the punishment of their colleagues. In +the convention it reckoned all the commissioners hitherto sent on +missions, several of the Mountain who had signalized themselves on the 9th +Thermidor, and the remnant of Robespierre's party. Without, the Jacobins +were attached to it; and it still had the support of the faubourgs and of +the lower class. + +The Thermidorian party was composed of the greater number of the +conventionalists. All the centre of the assembly, and what remained of the +Right, joined the Mountain, who had abated their former exaggeration of +views. The coalition of the Moderates, Boissy d'Anglas, Sieyès, +Cambacérès, Chénier, Thibeaudeau, with the Dantonists, Tallien, Fréron, +Legendre, Barras, Bourdon de l'Oise, Rovère, Bentabole, Dumont, and the +two Merlins, entirely changed the character of the assembly. After the 9th +of Thermidor, the first step of this party was to secure its empire in the +convention. Soon it found its way into the government, and succeeded in +excluding the previous occupants. Sustained by public opinion, by the +assembly, by the committees, it advanced openly towards its object; it +proceeded against the principal decemvirs, and some of their agents. As +these had many partisans in Paris, it sought the aid of the young men +against the Jacobins, of the sections against the faubourgs. At the same +time, to strengthen it, it recalled to the assembly all the deputies whom +the committee of public safety had proscribed; first, the seventy-three +who had protested against the 31st of May, and then the surviving victims +of that day themselves. The Jacobins exhibited excitement: it closed their +club; the faubourgs raised an insurrection: it disarmed them. After +overthrowing the revolutionary government, it directed its attention to +the establishment of another, and to the introduction, under the +constitution of the year III., of a feasible, liberal, regular, and stable +order of things, in place of the extraordinary and provisional state in +which the convention had been from its commencement until then. But all +this was accomplished gradually. + +The two parties were not long before they began to differ, after their +common victory. The revolutionary tribunal was an especial object of +general horror. On the 11th Thermidor it was suspended; but Billaud- +Varennes, in the same sitting, had the decree of suspension rescinded. He +maintained that the accomplices of Robespierre alone were guilty, that the +majority of the judges and jurors being men of integrity, it was desirable +to retain them in their offices. Barrère presented a decree to that +effect: he urged that the triumvirs had done nothing for the revolutionary +government; that they had often even opposed its measures; that their only +care had been to place their creatures in it, and to give it a direction +favourable to their own projects; he insisted, in order to strengthen that +government, upon retaining the law _des suspects_ and the tribunal, with +its existing members, including Fouquier-Tinville. At this name a general +murmur rose in the assembly. Fréron, rendering himself the organ of the +general indignation, exclaimed: "I demand that at last the earth be +delivered from that monster, and that Fouquier be sent to hell, there to +wallow in the blood he has shed." His proposition was applauded, and +Fouquier's accusation decreed. Barrère, however, did not regard himself as +defeated; he still retained toward the convention the imperious language +which the old committee had made use of with success; this was at once +habit and calculation on his part; for he well knew that nothing is so +easily continued as that which has been successful. + +But the political tergiversations of Barrère, a man of noble birth, and +who was a royalist Feuillant before the 10th of August, did not +countenance his assuming this imperious and inflexible tone. "Who is this +president of the Feuillants," said Merlin de Thionville, "who assumes to +dictate to us the law?" The hall resounded with applause. Barrère became +confused, left the tribune, and this first check of the committees +indicated their decline in the convention. The revolutionary tribunal +continued to exist, but with other members and another organization. The +law of the 22nd Prairial was abolished, and there were now as much +deliberation and moderation, as many protecting forms in trials, as before +there had been precipitation and inhumanity. This tribunal was no longer +made use of against persons formerly suspected, who were still detained in +prison, though under milder treatment, and who, by degrees, were restored +to liberty on the plan proposed by Camille Desmoulins for his Committee of +Clemency. + +On the 13th of Thermidor the government itself became the subject of +discussion. The committee of public safety was deficient in many members; +Hérault de Séchelles had never been replaced; Jean-Bon-Saint-André and +Prieur de la Marne were on missions; Robespierre, Couthon, and Saint-Just +had perished on the scaffold. In the places of these were appointed +Tallien, Bréard, Echassériaux, Treilhard, Thuriot, and Laloi, whose +accession lessened still more the influence of the old members. At the +same time, were reorganized the two committees, so as to render them more +dependent on the assembly, and less so on one another. The committee of +public safety was charged with military and diplomatic operations; that of +general safety with internal administration. As it was desired, by +limiting the revolutionary power, to calm the fever which had excited the +multitude; and gradually to disperse them, the daily meetings of the +sections were reduced to one in every ten days; and the pay of forty sous +a day, lately given to every indigent citizen who attended them, was +discontinued. + +These measures being carried into effect, on the 11th of Fructidor, one +month after the death of Robespierre, Lecointre of Versailles denounced +Billaud, Collot, Barrère, of the committee of public safety; and Vadier, +Amar, and Vouland, of the committee of general safety. The evening before, +Tallien had vehemently assailed the reign of terror, and Lecointre was. +encouraged to his attack by the sensation which Tallien's speech had +produced. He brought twenty-three charges against the accused; he imputed +to them all the measures of cruelty or tyranny which they threw on the +triumvirs, and called them the successors of Robespierre. This +denunciation agitated the assembly, and more especially those who +supported the committees, or who wished that divisions might cease in the +republic. "If the crimes Lecointre reproaches us with were proved," said +Billaud-Varennes--"if they were as real as they are absurd and chimerical, +there is, doubtless, not one of us but would deserve to lose his head on +the scaffold. But I defy Lecointre to prove, by documents or any evidence +worthy of belief, any of the facts he has charged us with." He repelled +the charges brought against him by Lecointre; he reproached his enemies +with being corrupt and intriguing men, who wished to sacrifice him to the +memory of Danton, _an odious conspirator, the hope of all parricidal +factions_. "What seek these men," he continued--"what seek these men who +call us the successors of Robespierre? Citizens, know you what they seek? +To destroy liberty on the tomb of the tyrant." Lecointre's denunciation +was premature; almost all the convention pronounced it calumnious. The +accused and their friends gave way to outbursts of unrestrained and still +powerful indignation, for they were now attacked for the first time; the +accuser, scarcely supported by any one, was silenced. Billaud-Varennes and +his friends triumphed for the time. + +A few days after, the period for renewing a third of the committee +arrived. The following members were fixed on by lot to retire: Barrère, +Carnot, Robert Lindet, in the committee of public safety; Vadier, Vouland, +Moise Baile in the committee of general safety. They were replaced by +Thermidorians; and Collot-d'Herbois, as well as Billaud-Varennes, finding +themselves too weak, resigned. Another circumstance contributed still more +to the fall of their party, by exciting public opinion against it; this +was the publicity given to the crimes of Joseph Lebon and Carrier, two of +the proconsuls of the committee. They had been sent, the one to Arras and +to Cambrai, the frontier exposed to invasion; the other to Nantes, the +limit of the Vendéan war. They had signalized their mission by, beyond all +others, displaying a cruelty and a caprice of tyranny, which are, however, +generally found in those who are invested with supreme human power. Lebon, +young and of a weak constitution, was naturally mild. On a first mission, +he had been humane; but he was censured for this by the committee, and +sent to Arras, with orders to show himself _somewhat more revolutionary_. +Not to fall short of the inexorable policy of the committee, he gave way +to unheard of excesses; he mingled debauchery with extermination; he had +the guillotine always in his presence, and called it holy. He associated +with the executioner, and admitted him to his table. Carrier, having more +victims to strike, surpassed even Lebon; he was bilious, fanatical, and +naturally blood-thirsty. He had only awaited the opportunity to execute +enormities that the imagination even of Marat would not have dared to +conceive. Sent to the borders of an insurgent country, he condemned to +death the whole hostile population--priests, women, children, old men, and +girls. As the scaffold did not suffice for his cruelty, he substituted a +company of assassins, called Marat's company, for the revolutionary +tribune, and, for the guillotine, boats, with false bottoms, by means of +which he drowned his victims in the Loire. Cries of vengeance and justice +were raised against these enormities. After the 9th of Thermidor, Lebon +was attacked first, because he was more especially the agent of +Robespierre. Carrier, who was that of the committee of public safety, and +of whose conduct Robespierre had disapproved, was prosecuted subsequently. + +There were in the prisons of Paris ninety-four people of Nantes, sincerely +attached to the revolution, and who had defended their town with courage +during the attack made on it by the Vendéans. Carrier had sent them to +Paris as federalists. It had not been deemed safe to bring them before the +revolutionary tribunal until the ninth of Thermidor; they were then taken +there for the purpose of unmasking, by their trial, the crimes of Carrier. +They were tried purposely with prolonged solemnity; their trial lasted +nearly a month; there was time given for public opinion to declare itself; +and on their acquittal, there was a general demand for justice on the +revolutionary committee of Nantes, and on the proconsul Carrier. Legendre +renewed Lecointre's impeachment of Billaud, Barrère, Collot, and Vadier, +who were generously defended by Carnot, Prieur, and Cambon, their former +colleagues, who demanded to share their fate. Lecointre's motion was not +attended with any result; and, for the present, they only brought to trial +the members of the revolutionary committee of Nantes; but we may observe +the progress of the Thermidorian party. This time the members of the +committee were obliged to have recourse to defence, and the convention +simply passed to the order of the day, on the question of the denunciation +made by Legendre, without voting it calumnious, as they had done that of +Lecointre. + +The revolutionary democrats were, however, still very powerful in Paris: +if they had lost the commune, the tribunal, the convention, and the +committee, they yet retained the Jacobins and the faubourgs. It was in +these popular societies that their party concentrated, especially for the +purpose of defending themselves. Carrier attended them assiduously, and +invoked their assistance; Billaud-Varennes, and Collot-d'Herbois also +resorted to them; but these being somewhat less threatened were +circumspect. They were accordingly censured for their silence. "_The lion +sleeps_," replied Billaud-Varennes, "_but his waking will be terrible_." +This club had been expurgated after the 10th Thermidor, and it had +congratulated the convention in the name of the regenerated societies, on +the fall of Robespierre and of tyranny. About this time, as many of its +leaders were proceeded against, and many Jacobins were imprisoned in the +departments, it came in the name of the united societies "_to give +utterance to the cry of grief that resounded from every part of the +republic, and to the voice of oppressed patriots, plunged in the dungeons +which the aristocrats had just left_." + +The convention, far from yielding to the Jacobins, prohibited, for the +purpose of destroying their influence, all collective petitions, branch- +associations, correspondence, etc., between the parent society and its +off-sets, and in this way disorganized the famous confederation of the +clubs. The Jacobins, rejected from the convention, began to agitate Paris, +where they were still masters. Then the Thermidorians also began to +convoke their people, by appealing to the support of the sections. At the +same time Fréron called the young men at arms, in his journal _l'Orateur +du Peuple_, and placed himself at their head. This new and irregular +militia called itself _La jeunesse dorée de Fréron_. All those who +composed it belonged to the rich and the middle class; they had adopted a +particular costume, called _Costume à la victime_. Instead of the blouse +of the Jacobins, they wore a square open coat and very low shoes; the +hair, long at the sides, was turned up behind, with tresses called +_cadenettes_; they were armed with short sticks, leadened and formed like +bludgeons. Some of these young men and some of the sectionaries were +royalists; others followed the impulse of the moment, which was anti- +revolutionary. The latter acted without object or ambition, declaring in +favour of the strongest party, especially when the triumph of that party +promised to restore order, the want of which was generally felt. The other +contended under the Thermidorians against the old committees, as the +Thermidorians had contended under the old committees against Robespierre; +it waited for an opportunity of acting on its own account, which occurred +after the entire downfall of the revolutionary party. In the violent +situation of the two parties, actuated by fear and resentment, they +pursued each other ruthlessly and often came to blows in the streets to +the cry of "Vive la Montagne!" or "Vive la Convention!" The _jeunesse +dorée_ were powerful in the Palais Royal, where they were supported by the +shopkeepers; but the Jacobins were the strongest in the garden of the +Tuileries, which was near their club. + +These quarrels became more animated every day; and Paris was transformed +into a field of battle, where the fate of the parties was left to the +decision of arms. This state of war and disorder would necessarily have an +end; and since the parties had not the wisdom to come to an understanding, +one or the other must inevitably carry the day. The Thermidorians were the +growing party, and victory naturally fell to them. On the day following +that on which Billaud had spoken of the _waking of the lion_ in the +popular society, there was great agitation throughout Paris. It was wished +to take the Jacobin club by assault. Men shouted in the streets--"The +great Jacobin conspiracy! Outlaw the Jacobins!" At this period the +revolutionary committee of Nantes were being tried. In their defence they +pleaded that they had received from Carrier the sanguinary orders they had +executed; which led the convention to enter into an examination of his +conduct. Carrier was allowed to defend himself before the decree was +passed against him. He justified his cruelty by the cruelty of the +Vendéans, and the maddening; fury of civil war. "When I acted," he said, +"the air still seemed to resound with the civic songs of twenty thousand +martyrs, who had shouted 'Vive la république!' in the midst of tortures. +How could the voice of humanity, which had died in this terrible crisis, +be heard? What would my adversaries have done in my place? I saved the +republic at Nantes; my life has been devoted to my country, and I am ready +to die for it." Out of five hundred voters, four hundred and ninety-eight +were for the impeachment; the other two voted for it, but conditionally. + +The Jacobins finding their opponents were going from subordinate agents to +the representatives themselves, regarded themselves as lost. They +endeavoured to rouse the multitude, less to defend Carrier than for the +support of their party, which was threatened more and more. But they were +kept in check by the _jeunesse dorée_ and the sectionaries, who eventually +proceeded to the place of their sittings to dissolve the club. A sharp +conflict ensued. The besiegers broke the windows with stones, forced the +doors, and dispersed the Jacobins after some resistance on their part. The +latter complained to the convention of this violence. Rewbell, deputed to +make a report on the subject, was not favourable to them. "Where was +tyranny organized?" said he. "At the Jacobin club. Where had it its +supports and its satellites? At the Jacobin club. Who covered France with +mourning, threw families into despair, filled the republic with bastilles, +made the republican system so odious, that a slave laden with fetters +would have refused to live under it? The Jacobins. Who regret the terrible +reign we have lived under? The Jacobins. If you have not courage to decide +in a moment like this, the republic is at an end, because you have +Jacobins." The convention suspended them provisionally, in order to +expurgate and reorganize them, not daring to destroy them at once. The +Jacobins, setting the decree at defiance, assembled in arms at their usual +place of meeting; the Thermidorian troop who had already besieged them +there, came again to assail them. It surrounded the club with cries of +"Long live the convention! Down with the Jacobins!" The latter prepared +for defence; they left their seats, shouting, "Long live the republic!" +rushed to the doors, and attempted a sortie. At first they made a few +prisoners; but soon yielding to superior numbers, they submitted, and +traversed the ranks of the victors, who, after disarming them, covered +them with hisses, insults, and even blows. These illegal expeditions were +accompanied by all the excesses which attend party struggles. + +The next day commissioners of the convention came to close the club, and +put seals on its registers and papers, and from that moment the society of +the Jacobins ceased to exist. This popular body had powerfully served the +revolution, when, in order to repel Europe, it was necessary to place the +government in the multitude, and to give the republic all the energy of +defence; but now it only obstructed the progress of the new order of +things. + +The situation of affairs was changed; liberty was to succeed the +dictatorship, now that the salvation of the revolution had been effected, +and that it was necessary to revert to legal order, in order to preserve +it. An exorbitant and extraordinary power, like the confederation of the +clubs, would necessarily terminate with the defeat of the party which had +supported it, and that party itself expire with the circumstances which +had given it rise. + +Carrier, brought before the revolutionary tribunal, was tried without +interruption, and condemned with the majority of his accomplices. During +the trial, the seventy-three deputies, whose protest against the 31st of +May had excluded them from the assemblies, were reinstated. Merlin de +Douai moved their recall in the name of the committee of public safety; +his motion was received with applause, and the seventy-three resumed their +seats in the convention. The seventy-three, in their turn, tried to obtain +the return of the outlawed deputies; but they met with warm opposition. +The Thermidorians and the members of the new committees feared that such a +measure would be calling the revolution itself into question. They were +also afraid of introducing a new party into the convention, already +divided, and of recalling implacable enemies, who might cause, with regard +to themselves, a reaction similar to that which had taken place against +the old committees. Accordingly they vehemently opposed the motion, and +Merlin de Douai went so far as to say: "Do you want to throw open the +doors of the Temple?" The young son of Louis XVI. was confined there, and +the Girondists, on account of the results of the 31st of May, were +confounded with the Royalists; besides, the 31st of May still figured +among the revolutionary dates beside the 10th of August and the 14th of +July. The retrograde movement had yet some steps to take before it reached +that period. The republican counter-revolution had turned back from the +9th Thermidor, 1794, to the 3rd of October, 1793, the day on which the +seventy-three had been arrested, but not to the 2nd of June, 1793, when +the twenty-two were arrested. After overthrowing Robespierre, and the +committee, it had to attack Marat and the Mountain. In the almost +geometrical progression of popular movement, a few months were still +necessary to effect this. + +They went on to abolish the decemviral system. The decree against the +priests and nobles, who had formed two proscribed classes under the reign +of terror, was revoked; the _maximum_ was abolished, in order to restore +confidence by putting an end to commercial tyranny; the general and +earnest effort was to substitute the most elevated liberty for the +despotic pressure of the committee of public safety. This period was also +marked by the independence of the press, the restoration of religious +worship, and the return of the property confiscated from the federalists +during the reign of the committees. + +Here was a complete reaction against the revolutionary government; it soon +reached Marat and the Mountain. After the 9th of Thermidor, it had been +considered necessary to oppose a great revolutionary reputation to that of +Robespierre, and Marat had been selected for this purpose. To him were +decreed the honours of the Panthéon, which Robespierre, while in power, +had deferred granting him. He, in his turn, was now attacked. His bust was +in the convention, the theatres, on the public squares, and in the popular +assemblies. The _jeunesse dorée_ broke that in the Théâtre Feydeau. The +Mountain complained, but the convention decreed that no citizen could +obtain the honours of the Panthéon, nor his bust be placed in the +convention, until he had been dead ten years. The bust of Marat +disappeared from the hall of the convention, and as the excitement was +very great in the faubourgs, the sections, the usual support of the +assembly, defiled through it. There was, also, opposite the Invalides, an +elevated mound, a _Mountain_, surmounted by a colossal group, representing +Hercules crushing a hydra. The section of the Halle-au-blé demanded that +this should be removed. The left of the assembly murmured. "The giant," +said a member, "is an emblem of the people." "All I see in it is a +mountain," replied another, "and what is a Mountain but an eternal protest +against equality." These words were much applauded, and sufficed to carry +the petition and overthrow the monument of the victory and domination of a +party. + +Next were recalled the proscribed conventionalists; already, some time +since, their outlawry had been reversed. Isnard and Louvet wrote to the +assembly to be reinstated in their rights; they were met by the objection +as to the consequences of the 31st of May, and the insurrections of the +departments. "I will not," said Chénier, who spoke in their favour, "I +will not so insult the national convention as to bring before them the +phantom of federalism, which has been preposterously made the chief charge +against your colleagues. They fled, it will be said; they hid themselves. +This, then, is their crime! would that this, for the welfare of the +republic, had been the crime of all! Why were there not caverns deep +enough to preserve to the country the meditations of Condorcet, the +eloquence of Vergniaud? Why did not some hospitable land, on the 10th +Thermidor, give back to light that colony of energetic patriots and +virtuous republicans? But projects of vengeance are apprehended from these +men, soured by misfortune. Taught in the school of suffering, they have +learnt only to lament human errors. No, no, Condorcet, Rabaud-Saint- +Etienne, Vergniaud, Camille Desmoulins seek not holocausts of blood; their +manes are not to be appeased by hecatombs." The Left opposed Chénier's +motion. "You are about," cried Bentabole, "to rouse every passion; if you +attack the insurrection of the 31st of May, you attack the eighty thousand +men who concurred in it." "Let us take care," replied Sieyès, "not to +confound the work of tyranny with that of principles. When men, supported +by a subordinate authority, the rival of ours, succeeded in organizing the +greatest of crimes, on the fatal 31st of May, and 2nd of June, it was not +a work of patriotism, but an outrage of tyranny; from that time you have +seen the convention domineered over, the majority oppressed, the minority +dictating laws. The present session is divided into three distinct +periods; till the 31st of May, there was oppression of the convention by +the people; till the 9th Thermidor, oppression of the people by the +convention, itself the object of tyranny; and lastly, since the 9th of +Thermidor, justice, as regards the convention, has resumed its rights." He +demanded the recall of the proscribed members, as a pledge of union in the +assembly, and of security for the republic. Merlin de Douai immediately +proposed their return in the name of the committee of public safety; it +was granted, and after eighteen months' proscription, the twenty-two +conventionalists resumed their seats; among them were Isnard, Louvet, +Lanjuinais, Kervelegan, Henri La Rivière, La Réveillère-Lépaux, and +Lesage, all that remained of the brilliant but unfortunate Gironde. They +joined the moderate party, which was composed daily more and more of the +remains of different parties. For old enemies, forgetting their +resentments and their contest for domination, because they had now the +same interests and the same object, became allies. It was the commencement +of pacification between those who wished for a republic against the +royalists, and a practicable constitution, in opposition to the +revolutionists. At this period all measures against the federalists were +rescinded, and the Girondists assumed the lead of the republican counter- +revolution. + +The convention was, however, carried much too far by the partisans of +reaction; in its desire to repair all and to punish all, it fell into +excesses of justice. After the abolition of the decemviral régime, the +past should have been buried in oblivion, and the revolutionary abyss +closed after a few expiatory victims had been thrown into it. Security +alone brings about pacification; and pacification only admits of liberty. +By again entering upon a course characterized by passion, they only +effected a transference of tyranny, violence, and calamity. Hitherto the +bourgeoisie had been sacrificed to the multitude, to the consumers now it +was just the reverse. Stock-jobbing was substituted for the _maximum_, and +informers of the middle class altogether surpassed the popular informers. +All who had taken part in the dictatorial government were proceeded +against with the fiercest determination. The sections, the seat of the +middle class, required the disarming and punishment of the members of +their revolutionary committees, composed of sans-culottes. There was a +general hue and cry against the _terrorists_, who increased in number +daily. The departments denounced all the former proconsuls, thus rendering +desperate a numerous party, in reality no longer to be feared, since it +had lost all power, by thus threatening it with great and perpetual +reprisals. + +Dread of proscription, and several other reasons, disposed them for +revolt. The general want was terrible. Labour and its produce had been +diminished ever since the revolutionary period, during which the rich had +been imprisoned and the poor had governed; the suppression of the +_maximum_ had occasioned a violent crisis, which the traders and farmers +turned to account, by disastrous monopoly and jobbing. To increase the +difficulty, the assignats were falling into discredit, and their value +diminished daily. More than eight milliards worth of them had been issued. +The insecurity of this paper money, by reason of the revolutionary +confiscations, which had depreciated the national property, the want of +confidence on the part of the merchants, tradesmen, etc., in the stability +of the revolutionary government, which they considered merely provisional, +all this had combined to reduce the real value of the assignats to one- +fifteenth of their nominal value. They were received reluctantly, and +specie was hoarded up with all the greater care, in proportion to the +increasing demand for it, and the depreciation of paper money. The people, +in want of food, and without the means of buying it, even when they held +assignats, were in utter distress. They attributed this to the merchants, +the farmers, the landed and other proprietors, to the government, and +dwelt with regret upon the fact that before, under the committee of public +safety, they had enjoyed both power and food. The convention had indeed +appointed a committee of subsistence to supply Paris with provisions, but +this committee had great difficulty and expense in procuring from day to +day the supply of fifteen hundred sacks of flour necessary to support this +immense city; and the people, who waited in crowds for hours together +before the bakers' shops, for the pound of bad bread, distributed to each +inhabitant, were loud in their complaints, and violent in their murmurs. +They called Boissy d'Anglas, president of the committee of subsistence, +_Boissy-Famine_. Such was the state of the fanatical and exasperated +multitude, when its former leaders were brought to trial. + +On the 12th Ventôse, a short time after the return of the remaining +Girondists, the assembly had decreed the arrest of Billaud-Varennes, +Collot-d'Herbois, Barrère and Vadier. Their trial before the convention +was appointed to commence on the 3rd Germinal. On the 1st (20th of March, +1795), the Décade day, and that on which the sections assembled, their +partisans organized a riot to prevent their being brought to trial; the +outer sections of the faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau were +devoted to their cause. From these quarters they proceeded, half +petitioners, half insurgents, towards the convention, to demand bread, the +constitution of '93, and the liberation of the imprisoned patriots. They +met a few young men on their way, whom they threw into the basins of the +Tuileries. The news, however, soon spread that the convention was exposed +to danger, and that the Jacobins were about to liberate their leaders, and +the _jeunesse dorée_, followed by about five thousand citizens of the +inner sections, came, dispersed the men of the faubourgs, and acted as a +guard for the assembly. The latter, warned by this new danger, revived, on +the motion of Sieyès, the old martial law, under the name of _loi de +grande police_. + +This rising in favour of the accused having failed, they were brought +before the convention on the 3rd Germinal. Vadier alone was contumacious. +Their conduct was investigated with the greatest solemnity; they were +charged with having tyrannized over the people and oppressed the +convention. Though proofs were not wanting to support this charge, the +accused defended themselves with much address. They ascribed to +Robespierre the oppression of the assembly, and of themselves; they +endeavoured to palliate their own conduct by citing the measures taken by +the committee, and adopted by the convention, by urging the excitement of +the period, and the necessity of securing the defence and safety of the +republic. Their former colleagues appeared as witnesses in their favour, +and wished to make common cause with them. The _Crêtois_ (the name then +given to the remnant of the Mountain) also supported them warmly. Their +trial had lasted nine days, and each sitting had been occupied by the +prosecution and the defence. The sections of the faubourgs were greatly +excited. The mobs which had collected every day since the 1st Germinal, +increased twofold on the 12th, and a new rising took place, in order to +suspend the trial, which the first rising had failed to prevent. The +agitators, more numerous and bold on this occasion, forced their way +through the guard of the convention, and entered the hall, having written +with chalk on their hats the words, "Bread," "The constitution of '93," +"Liberty for the patriots." Many of the deputies of the _Crête_ declared +in their favour; the other members, astounded at the tumult and disorder +of this popular invasion, awaited the arrival of the inner sections for +their deliverance. All debating was at an end. The tocsin, which had been +removed from the commune after its defeat, and placed on the top of the +Tuileries, where the convention sat, sounded the alarm. The committee +ordered the drums to beat to arms. In a short time the citizens of the +nearest sections assembled, marched in arms to assist the convention, and +rescued it a second time. It sentenced the accused, whose cause was the +pretext for this rising, to transportation, and decreed the arrest of +seventeen members of the _Crête_ who had favoured the insurgents, and +might therefore be regarded as their accomplices. Among these were Cambon, +Ruamps, Leonard Bourdon, Thuriot, Chasle, Amar, and Lecointre, who, since +the recall of the Girondists, had returned to the Mountain. On the +following day they, and the persons sentenced to transportation, were +conveyed to the castle of Ham. + +The events of the 12th of Germinal decided nothing. The faubourgs had been +repulsed, but not conquered; and both power and confidence must be taken +from a party by a decisive defeat, before it is effectually destroyed. +After so many questions decided against the democratists, there still +remained one of the utmost importance--the constitution. On this depended +the ascendancy of the multitude or of the bourgeoisie. The supporters of +the revolutionary government then fell back on the democratic constitution +of '93, which presented to them the means of resuming the authority they +had lost. Their opponents, on the other hand, endeavoured to replace it by +a constitution which would secure all the advantage to them, by +concentrating the government a little more, and giving it to the middle +class. For a month, both parties were preparing for this last contest. The +constitution of 1793, having been sanctioned by the people, enjoyed a +great prestige. It was accordingly attacked with infinite precaution. At +first its assailants engaged to carry it into execution without +restriction; next they appointed a commission of eleven members to prepare +the _lois organiques_, which were to render it practicable; by and by, +they ventured to suggest objections to it on the ground that it +distributed power too loosely, and only recognised one assembly dependent +on the people, even in its measures of legislation. At last, a deputation +of the sectionaries went so far as to call the constitution of '93 a +decemviral constitution, dictated by terror. All its partisans, at once +indignant and filled with fears, organized an insurrection to maintain it. +This was another 31st of May, as terrible as the first, but which, not +having the support of an all-powerful commune, not being directed by a +general commandant, and not having a terrified convention and submissive +sections to deal with, had not the same result. + +The conspirators, warned by the failure of the risings of the 1st and 12th +Germinal, omitted nothing to make up for their want of direct object and +of organization. On the 1st Prairial (20th of May) in the name of the +people, insurgent for the purpose of obtaining bread and their rights, +they decreed the abolition of the revolutionary government, the +establishment of the democratic constitution of '93, the dismissal and +arrest of the members of the existing government, the liberation of the +patriots, the convocation of the primary assemblies on the 25th Prairial, +the convocation of the legislative assembly, destined to replace the +convention, on the 25th Messidor, and the suspension of all authority not +emanating from the people. They determined on forming a new municipality, +to serve as a common centre; to seize on the barriers, telegraph, cannon, +tocsins, drums, and not to rest till they had secured repose, happiness, +liberty, and means of subsistence for all the French nation. They invited +the artillery, gendarmes, horse and foot soldiers, to join the banners of +the people, and marched on the convention. + +Meantime, the latter was deliberating on the means of preventing the +insurrection. The daily assemblages occasioned by the distribution of +bread and the popular excitement, had concealed from it the preparations +for a great rising, and it had taken no steps to prevent it. The +committees came in all haste to apprise it of its danger; it immediately +declared its sitting permanent, voted Paris responsible for the safety of +the representatives of the republic, closed its doors, outlawed all the +leaders of the mob, summoned the citizens of the sections to arms, and +appointed as their leaders eight commissioners, among whom were Legendre, +Henri La Rivière, Kervelegan, etc. These deputies had scarcely gone, when +a loud noise was heard without. An outer door had been forced, and numbers +of women rushed into the galleries, crying, "Bread and the constitution of +'93!" The convention received them firmly. "Your cries," said the +president Vernier, "will not alter our position; they will not accelerate +by one moment the arrival of supplies. They will only serve to hinder it." +A fearful tumult drowned the voice of the president, and interrupted the +proceedings. The galleries were then cleared; but the insurgents of the +faubourgs soon reached the inner doors, and finding them closed, forced +them with hatchets and hammers, and then rushed in amidst the convention. + +The hall now became a field of battle. The veterans and gendarmes, to whom +the guard of the assembly was confided, cried, "To arms!" The deputy +Auguis, sword in hand, headed them, and succeeded in repelling the +assailants, and even made a few of them prisoners. But the insurgents, +more numerous, returned to the charge, and again rushed into the house. +The deputy Féraud entered precipitately, pursued by the insurgents, who +fired some shots in the house. They took aim at Boissy d'Anglas, who was +occupying the president's chair, in place of Vernier. Féraud ran to the +tribune, to shield him with his body; he was struck at with pikes and +sabres, and fell dangerously wounded. + +The insurgents dragged him into the lobby, and, mistaking him for Fréron, +cut off his head, and placed it on a pike. + +After this skirmish, they became masters of the hall. Most of the deputies +had taken flight. There only remained the members of the _Crête_ and +Boissy d'Anglas, who, calm, his hat on, heedless of threat and insult, +protested in the name of the convention against this popular violence. +They held out to him the bleeding head of Féraud; he bowed respectfully +before it. They tried to force him, by placing pikes at his breast, to put +the propositions of the insurgents to the vote; he steadily and +courageously refused. But the _Crêtois_, who approved of the insurrection, +took possession of the bureaux and of the tribune, and decreed, amidst the +applause of the multitude, all the articles contained in the manifesto of +the insurrection. The deputy Romme became their organ. They further +appointed an executive commission, composed of Bourbotte, Duroy, +Duquesnoy, Prieur de la Marne, and a general-in-chief of the armed force, +the deputy Soubrany. In this way they prepared for the return of their +domination. They decreed the recall of their imprisoned colleagues, the +dismissal of their enemies, a democratic constitution, the re- +establishment of the Jacobin club. But it was not enough for them to have +usurped the assembly for a short time; it was necessary to conquer the +sections, for it was only with these they could really contend there. + +The commissioners despatched to the sections had quickly gathered them +together. The battalions of the _Butte des Moulins, Lepelletier, des +Piques, de la Fontaine-Grenelle_, who were the nearest, soon occupied the +Carrousel and its principal avenues. The aspect of affairs then underwent +a change; Legendre, Kervelegan, and Auguis besieged the insurgents, in +their turn, at the head of the sectionaries. At first they experienced +some resistance. But with fixed bayonets they soon entered the hall, where +the conspirators were still deliberating, and Legendre cried out: "_In the +name of the law, I order armed citizens to withdraw_." They hesitated a +moment, but the arrival of the battalions, now entering at every door, +intimidated them, and they hastened from the hall in all the disorder of +flight. The assembly again became complete; the sections received a vote +of thanks, and the deliberations were resumed. All the measures adopted in +the interim were annulled, and fourteen representatives, to whom were +afterwards joined fourteen others, were arrested, for organizing the +insurrection, or approving it in their speeches. It was then midnight; at +five in the morning the prisoners were already six leagues from Paris. + +Despite this defeat, the faubourgs did not consider themselves beaten; and +the next day they advanced _en masse_ with their cannon against the +convention. The sections, on their side, marched for its defence. The two +parties were on the point of engaging; the cannons of the faubourg which +were mounted on the Place du Carrousel, were directed towards the château, +when the assembly sent commissioners to the insurgents. Negotiations were +begun. A deputy of the faubourgs, admitted to the convention, first +repeated the demand made the preceding day, adding: "We are resolved to +die at the post we now occupy, rather than abate our present demands. I +fear nothing! My name is Saint-Légier. Vive la République! Vive la +Convention! if it is attached to principles, as I believe it to be." The +deputy was favourably received, and they came to friendly terms with the +faubourgs, without, however, granting them anything positive. The latter +having no longer a general council of the commune to support their +resolutions, nor a commander like Henriot to keep them under arms, till +their propositions were decreed, went no further. They retired after +having received an assurance that the convention would assiduously attend +to the question of provisions, and would soon publish the organic laws of +the constitution of '93. That day showed that immense physical force and a +decided object are not the only things essential to secure success; +leaders and an authority to support and direct the insurrection are also +necessary. The convention was the only remaining legal power: the party +which it held in favour triumphed. + +Six democratic members of the Mountain, Goujon, Bourbotte, Romme, Duroy, +Duquesnoy, and Soubrany, were brought before a military commission. They +behaved firmly, like men fanatically devoted to their cause, and almost +all free from excesses. The Prairial movement was the only thing against +them; but that was sufficient in times of party strife, and they were +condemned to death. They all stabbed themselves with the same knife, which +was transferred from one to the other, exclaiming, "_Vive la République!_" +Romme, Goujon, and Duquesnoy were fortunate enough to wound themselves +fatally; the other three were conducted to the scaffold in a dying state, +but faced death with serene countenances. + +Meantime, the faubourgs, though repelled on the 1st, and diverted from +their object on the 2nd of Prairial, still had the means of rising. An +event of much less importance than the preceding riots occasioned their +final ruin. The murderer of Féraud was discovered, condemned, and on the +4th, the day of his execution, a mob succeeded in rescuing him. There was +a general outcry against this attempt; and the convention ordered the +faubourgs to be disarmed. They were encompassed by all the interior +sections. After attempting to resist, they yielded, giving up some of +their leaders, their arms, and artillery. The democratic party had lost +its chiefs, its clubs, and its authorities; it had nothing left but an +armed force, which rendered it still formidable, and institutions by means +of which it might yet regain everything. After the last check, the +inferior class was entirely excluded from the government of the state, the +revolutionary committees which formed its assemblies were destroyed; the +cannoneers forming its armed force were disarmed; the constitution of '93, +which was its code, was abolished; and here the rule of the multitude +terminated. + +From the 9th Thermidor to the 1st Prairial, the Mountain was treated as +the Girondist party had been treated from the 2nd of June to the 9th +Thermidor. Seventy-six of its members were sentenced to death or arrest. +In its turn, it underwent the destiny it had imposed on the other; for in +times when the passions are called into play, parties know not how to come +to terms, and seek only to conquer. Like the Girondists, they resorted to +insurrection, in order to regain the power which they had lost; and like +them, they fell. Vergniaud, Brissot, Guadet, etc., were tried by a +revolutionary tribunal; Bourbotte, Duroy, Soubrany, Romme, Goujon, +Duquesnoy, by a military commission. They all died with the same courage; +which shows that all parties are the same, and are guided by the same +maxims, or, if you please, by the same necessities. From that period, the +middle class resumed the management of the revolution without, and the +assembly was as united under the Girondists as it had been, after the 2nd +of June, under the Mountain. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE 1ST PRAIRIAL (20TH OF MAY, 1795) TO THE 4TH BRUMAIRE (26TH OF +OCTOBER), YEAR IV., THE CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION + + +The exterior prosperity of the revolution chiefly contributed to the fall +of the dictatorial government and of the Jacobin party. The increasing +victories of the republic to which they had very greatly contributed by +their vigorous measures, and by their enthusiasm, rendered their power +superfluous. The committee of public safety, by crushing with its strong +and formidable hand the interior of France, had developed resources, +organized armies, found generals and guided them to victories which +ultimately secured the triumph of the revolution in the face of Europe. A +prosperous position no longer required the same efforts; its mission was +accomplished, the peculiar province of such a dictatorship being to save a +country and a cause, and to perish by the very safety it has secured. +Internal events have prevented our rapidly describing the impulse which +the committee of public safety gave to the armies after the 31st of May, +and the results which it obtained from it. + +The levy en masse that took place in the summer of 1793, formed the troops +of the Mountain. The leaders of that party soon selected from the +secondary ranks generals belonging to the Mountain to replace the +Girondist generals. Those generals were Jourdan, Pichegru, Hoche, Moreau, +Westermann, Dugommier, Marceau, Joubert, Kléber, etc. Carnot, by his +admission to the committee of public safety, became minister of war and +commander-in-chief of all the republican armies. Instead of scattered +bodies, acting without concert upon isolated points, he proceeded with +strong masses, concentrated on one object. He commenced the practice of a +great plan of warfare, which he tried with decided success at Watignies, +in his capacity of commissioner of the convention. This important victory, +at which he assisted in person, drove the allied generals, Clairfait and +the prince of Coburg, behind the Sambre, and raised the siege of Maubeuge. +During the winter of 1793 and 1794 the two armies continued in presence of +each other without undertaking anything. + +At the opening of the campaign, they each conceived a plan of invasion. +The Austrian army advanced upon the towns on the Somme, Péronne, Saint- +Quentin, Arras, and threatened Paris, while the French army again +projected the conquest of Belgium. The plan of the committee of public +safety was combined in a very different way to the vague design of the +coalition. Pichegru, at the head of fifty thousand men of the army of the +north, entered Flanders, resting on the sea and the Scheldt. On his right, +Moreau advanced with twenty thousand men upon Menin and Courtrai. General +Souham, with thirty thousand men, remained under Lille, to sustain the +extreme right of the invading army against the Austrians; while Jourdan, +with the army of the Moselle, directed his course towards Charleroi by +Arlon and Dinan, to join the army of the north. + +The Austrians, attacked in Flanders, and threatened with a surprise in the +rear by Jourdan, soon abandoned their positions on the Somme. Clairfait +and the duke of York allowed themselves to be beaten at Courtrai and +Hooglède by the army of Pichegru; Coburg at Fleurus by that of Jourdan, +who had just taken Charleroi. The two victorious generals rapidly +completed the invasion of the Netherlands. The Anglo-Dutch army fell back +on Antwerp, and from thence upon Breda, and from Breda to Bois-le-Duc, +receiving continual checks. It crossed the Waal, and fell back upon +Holland. The Austrians endeavoured with the same want of success, to cover +Brussels and Maëstricht: they were pursued and beaten by the army of +Jourdan, which since its union had taken the name of the army of the +_Sambre et Meuse_, and which did not leave them behind the Roër, as +Dumouriez had done, but drove them beyond the Rhine. Jourdan made himself +master of Cologne and Bonn, and communicated by his left with the right of +the army of the Moselle, which had advanced into the country of +Luxembourg, and which, conjointly with him, occupied Coblentz. A general +and concerted movement of all the French armies had taken place, all of +them marching towards the Rhenish frontier. At the time of the defeats, +the lines of Weissenburg had been forced. The committee of public safety +employed in the army of the Rhine the expeditious measures peculiar to its +policy. The commissioners, Saint-Just and Lebas, gave the chief command to +Hoche, made terror and victory the order of the day; and generals +Brunswick and Wurmser were very soon driven from Haguenau on the lines of +the Lauter, and not being able even to maintain that position, passed the +Rhine at Philipsburg. Spire and Worms were retaken. The republican troops, +everywhere victorious, occupied Belgium, that part of Holland situated on +the left of the Meuse, and all the towns on the Rhine, except Mayence and +Mannheim, which were closely beset. + +The army of the Alps did not make much progress in this campaign. It tried +to invade Piedmont, but failed. On the Spanish frontier, the war had +commenced under ill auspices: the two armies of the eastern and western +Pyrenees, few in number and badly disciplined, were constantly beaten; one +had retired under Perpignan, the other under Bayonne. The committee of +public safety turned its attention and efforts but tardily on this point, +which was not the most dangerous for it. But as soon as it had introduced +its system, generals, and organization into the two armies, the appearance +of things changed. Dugommier, after repeated successes, drove the +Spaniards from the French territory, and entered the peninsula by +Catalonia. Moncey also invaded it by the valley of Bastan, the other +opening of the Pyrenees, and became master of San Sebastian and +Fontarabia. The coalition was everywhere conquered, and some of the +confederated powers began to repent of their over-confident adhesion. + +In the meantime, news of the revolution of the 9th Thermidor reached the +armies. They were entirely republican, and they feared that Robespierre's +fall would lead to that of the popular government; and they, accordingly, +received this intelligence with marked disapprobation; but, as the armies +were submissive to the civil authority, none of them rebelled. The +insurrections of the army only took place from the 14th of July to the +31st of May; because, being the refuge of the conquered parties, their +leaders had at every crisis the advantage of political precedence, and +contended with all the ardour of compromised factions. Under the committee +of public safety, on the contrary, the most renowned generals had no +political influence, and were subject to the terrible discipline of +parties. While occasionally thwarting the generals, the convention had no +difficulty in keeping the armies in obedience. + +A short time afterwards the movement of invasion was prolonged in Holland +and in the Spanish peninsula. The United Provinces were attacked in the +middle of winter, and on several sides, by Pichegru, who summoned the +Dutch patriots to liberty. The party opposed to the stadtholderate +seconded the victorious efforts of the French army, and the revolution and +conquest took place simultaneously at Leyden, Amsterdam, the Hague, and +Utrecht. The stadtholder took refuge in England, his authority was +abolished, and the assembly of the states-general proclaimed the +sovereignty of the people, and constituted the Dutch Republic, which +formed a close alliance with France, to which it ceded, by the treaty of +Paris, of the 16th of May, 1795, Dutch Flanders, Maëstricht, Venloo, and +their dependencies. The navigation of the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the +Meuse was left free to both nations. Holland, by its wealth, powerfully +contributed towards the continuance of the war against the coalition. This +important conquest at the same time deprived the English of a powerful +support, and compelled Prussia, threatened on the Rhine and by Holland, to +conclude, at Basle, with the French Republic, a peace, for which its +reverses and the affairs of Poland had long rendered it disposed. A peace +was also made at Basle, on the 10th of July, with Spain, alarmed by our +progress on its territory. Figuières and the fortress of Rosas had been +taken; and Perignon was advancing into Catalonia; while Moncey, after +becoming master of Villa Réal, Bilbao, and Vittoria, marched against the +Spaniards who had retired to the frontiers of Old Castile. The cabinet of +Madrid demanded peace. It recognised the French Republic, which restored +its conquests, and which received in exchange the portion of San Domingo +possessed by Spain. The two disciplined armies of the Pyrenees joined the +army of the Alps, which by this means soon overran Piedmont, and entered +Italy--Tuscany only having made peace with the republic on the 9th of +February, 1795. + +These partial pacifications and the reverses of the allied troops gave +another direction to the efforts of England and the emigrant party. The +time had arrived for making the interior of France the fulcrum of the +counter-revolutionary movement. In 1791, when unanimity existed in France, +the royalists placed all their hopes in foreign powers; now, dissensions +at home and the defeat of their allies in Europe left them no resource but +in conspiracies. Unsuccessful attempts, as we have seen, never make +vanquished parties despair: victory alone wearies and enervates, and +sooner or later restores the dominion of those who wait. + +The events of Prairial and the defeat of the Jacobin party, had decided +the counter-revolutionary movement. At this period, the reaction, hitherto +conducted by moderate republicans, became generally royalist. The +partisans of monarchy were still as divided as they had been from the +opening of the states-general to the 10th of August. In the interior, the +old constitutionalists, who had their sittings in the sections, and who +consisted of the wealthy middle classes, had not the same views of +monarchy with the absolute royalists. They still felt the rivalry and +opposition of interest, natural to the middle against the privileged +classes. The absolute royalists themselves did not agree; the party beaten +in the interior had little sympathy with that enrolled among the armies of +Europe; but besides the divisions between the emigrants and Vendéans, +dissensions had arisen among the emigrants from the date of their +departure from France. Meantime, all these royalists of different +opinions, not having yet to contend for the reward of victory, came to an +agreement to attack the convention in common. The emigrants and the +priests, who for some months past had returned in great numbers, took the +banner of the sections, quite certain, if they carried the day by means of +the middle class, to establish their own government; for they had a +leader, and a definite object, which the sectionaries had not. + +This reaction, of a new character, was restrained for some time in Paris, +where the convention, a strong and neutral power, wished to prevent the +violence and usurpation of both parties. While overthrowing the sway of +the Jacobins, it suppressed the vengeance of the royalists. Then it was +that the greater part of _la troupe dorée_ deserted its cause, that the +leaders of the sections prepared the bourgeoisie to oppose the assembly, +and that the confederation of the Journalists succeeded that of the +Jacobins. La Harpe, Richer-de-Sérizy, Poncelin, Tronçon-du-Coudray, +Marchéna, etc., became the organs of this new opinion, and were the +literary clubists. The active but irregular troops of this party assembled +at the Théâtre Feydeau. the Boulevard des Italiens, and the Palais Royal, +and began _the chase of the Jacobins_, while they sang the _Réveil du +Peuple_. The word of proscription, at that time, was Terrorist, in virtue +of which an _honest man_ might with good conscience attack a +revolutionist. The Terrorist class was extended at the will or the +passions of the new reactionaries, who wore their hair _à la victime_, and +who, no longer fearing to avow their intentions, for some time past had +adopted the Chouan uniform--a grey turned-back coat with a green or black +collar. + +But this reaction was much more ardent in the departments where there was +no authority to interpose in the prevention of bloodshed. Here there were +only two parties, that which had dominated and that which had suffered +under the Mountain. The intermediate class was alternately governed by the +royalists and by the democrats. The latter, foreseeing the terrible +reprisals to which they would be subject if they fell, held out as long as +they could; but their defeat at Paris led to their downfall in the +departments. Party executions then took place, similar to those of the +proconsuls of the committee of public safety. The south was, more +especially, a prey to wholesale massacres and acts of personal vengeance. +Societies, called _Compagnies de Jésus_ and _Compagnies du Soleil_, which +were of royalists origin, were organized, and executed terrible reprisals. +At Lyons, Aix, Tarascon, and Marseilles, they slew in the prisons those +who had taken part in the preceding régime. Nearly all the south had its +2nd of September. At Lyons, after the first revolutionary massacres, the +members of the _compagnie_ hunted out those who had not been taken; and +when they met one, without any other form than the exclamation, "There's a +Matavon," (the name given to them), they slew and threw him into the +Rhone. At Tarascon, they threw them from the top of the tower on a rock on +the bank of the Rhone. During this new reign of terror, and this general +defeat of the revolutionists, England and the emigrants attempted the +daring enterprise of Quiberon. + +The Vendéans were exhausted by their repeated defeats, but they were not +wholly reduced. Their losses, however, and the divisions between their +principal leaders, Charette and Stofflet, rendered them an extremely +feeble succour. Charette had even consented to treat with the republic, +and a sort of pacification had been concluded between him and the +convention at Jusnay. The marquis de Puisaye, an enterprising man, but +volatile and more capable of intrigue than of vigorous party conceptions, +intended to replace the almost expiring insurrection of La Vendée by that +of Brittany. Since the enterprise of Wimpfen, in which Puisaye had a +command, there already existed, in Calvados and Morbihan, bands of +Chouans, composed of the remains of parties, adventurers, men without +employment, and daring smugglers, who made expeditions, but were unable to +keep the field, like the Vendéans. Puisaye had recourse to England to +extend the _Chouanerie_, leading it to hope for a general rising in +Brittany, and from thence in the rest of France, if it would land the +nucleus of an army, with ammunition and guns. + +The ministry of Great Britain, deceived as to the coalition, desired +nothing better than to expose the republic to fresh perils, while it +sought to revive the courage of Europe. It confided in Puisaye, and in the +spring of 1795 prepared an expedition, in which the most energetic +emigrants took a share, nearly all the officers of the former navy, and +all who, weary of the part of exiles and of the distresses of a life of +wandering, wished to try their fortunes for the last time. + +The English fleet landed, on the peninsula of Quiberon, fifteen hundred +emigrants, six thousand republican prisoners who had embraced the cause of +the emigrants to return to France, sixty thousand muskets, and the full +equipment for an army of forty thousand men. Fifteen hundred Chouans +joined the army on its landing, but it was soon attacked by General Hoche. +His attack proved successful; the republican prisoners who were in the +ranks deserted, and it was defeated after a most energetic resistance. In +the mortal warfare between the emigrants and the republic, the vanquished, +being considered as _outlaws_, were mercilessly massacred. Their loss +inflicted a deep and incurable wound on the emigrant party. + +The hopes founded on the victories of Europe, on the progress of +insurrection and the attempt of the emigrants, being thus overthrown, +recourse was had to the discontented sections. It was hoped to make a +counter-revolution by means of the new constitution decreed by the +convention on the 22nd of August, 1795. This constitution was, indeed, the +work of the moderate republican party; but as it restored the ascendancy +of the middle class, the royalist leaders thought that by it they might +easily enter the legislative body and the government. + +This constitution was the best, the wisest, and most liberal, and the most +provident that had as yet been established or projected; it contained the +result of six years' revolutionary and legislative experience. At this +period, the convention felt the necessity of organizing power, and of +rendering the people settled, while the first assembly, from its position, +only felt the necessity of weakening royalty and agitating the nation. All +had been exhausted, from the throne to the people; existence now depended +on reconstructing and restoring order, at the same time keeping the nation +in great activity. The new constitution accomplished this. It differed but +little from that of 1791, with respect to the exercise of sovereignty; but +greatly in everything relative to government. It confided the legislative +power to two councils; that of the _Cinq-cents_ and that of the _Anciens_; +and the executive power to a directory of five members. It restored the +two degrees of elections destined to retard the popular movement, and to +lead to a more enlightened choice than immediate elections. The wise but +moderate qualifications with respect to property, required in the members +of the primary assemblies and the electoral assemblies, again conferred +political importance on the middle class, to which it became imperatively +necessary to recur after the dismissal of the multitude and the +abandonment of the constitution of '93. + +In order to prevent the despotism or the servility of a single assembly, +it was necessary to place somewhere a power to check or defend it. The +division of the legislative body into two councils, which had the same +origin, the same duration, and only differed in functions, attained the +twofold object of not alarming the people by an aristocratic institution, +and of contributing to the formation of a good government. The Council of +Five Hundred, whose members were required to be thirty years old, was +alone entrusted with the initiative and the discussion of laws. The +Council of Ancients, composed of two hundred and fifty members, who had +completed their fortieth year, was charged with adopting or rejecting +them. + +In order to avoid precipitation in legislative measures, and to prevent a +compulsory sanction from the Council of Ancients in a moment of popular +excitement, they could not come to a decision until after three readings, +at a distance of five days at least from each other. In _urgent cases_ +this formality was dispensed with; and the council had the right of +determining such urgency. This council acted sometimes as a legislative +power, when it did not thoroughly approve a measure, and made use of the +form "_Le Conseil des Anciens ne peut pas adopter_," and sometimes as a +conservative power, when it only considered a measure in its legal +bearing, and said "_La Constitution annule_." For the first time, partial +re-elections were adopted, and the renewing of half of the council every +two years was fixed, in order to avoid that rush of legislators who came +with an immoderate desire for innovation, and suddenly changed the spirit +of an assembly. + +The executive power was distinct from the councils, and no longer existed +in the committees. Monarchy was still too much feared to admit of a +president of the republic being named. They, therefore, confined +themselves to the creation of a directory of five members, nominated by +the council of ancients, at the recommendation of that of the Five +Hundred. The directors might be brought to trial by the councils, but +could not be dismissed by them. They were entrusted with a general and +independent power of execution, but it was wished also to prevent their +abusing it, and especially to guard against the danger of a long habit of +authority leading to usurpation. They had the management of the armed +force and of the finances; the nomination of functionaries, the conduct of +negotiations, but they could do nothing of themselves; they had ministers +and generals, for whose conduct they were responsible. Each member was +president for three months, holding the seals and affixing his signature. +Every year, one of the members was to go out. It will be seen by this +account that the functions of royalty as they were in 1791, were shared by +the council of ancients, who had the _veto_, and the directory, which held +the executive power. The directory had a guard, a national palace, the +Luxembourg, for a residence, and a kind of civil list. The council of the +ancients, destined to check the encroachments of the legislative power, +was invested with the means of restraining the usurpations of the +directory; it could change the residence of the councils and of the +government. + +The foresight of this constitution was infinite: it prevented popular +violence, the encroachments of power, and provided for all the perils +which the different crises of the revolution had displayed. If any +constitution could have become firmly established at that period, it was +the directorial constitution. It restored authority, granted liberty, and +offered the different parties an opportunity of peace, if each, sincerely +renouncing exclusive dominion, and satisfied with the common right, would +have taken its proper place in the state. But it did not last longer than +the others, because it could not establish legal order in spite of +parties. Each of them aspired to the government, in order to make its +system and its interests prevail, and instead of the reign of law, it was +still necessary to relapse into that of force, and of coups-d'état. When +parties do not wish to terminate a revolution--and those who do not +dominate never wish to terminate it--a constitution, however excellent it +may be, cannot accomplish it. + +The members of the Commission of Eleven, who, previously to the events of +Prairial, had no other mission than to prepare the organic laws of the +constitution of '93, and who, after those events, made the constitution of +the year III., were at the head of the conventional party. This party +neither belonged to the old Gironde nor to the old Mountain. Neutral up to +the 31st of May, subject till the 9th Thermidor, it had been in the +possession of power since that period, because the twofold defeat of the +Girondists and the Mountain had left it the strongest. The men of the +extreme sides, who had begun the fusion of parties, joined it. Merlin de +Douai represented the party of that mass which had yielded to +circumstances, Thibaudeau, the party that continued inactive, and Daunou, +the courageous party. The latter had declared himself opposed to all +coups-d'état, ever since the opening of the assembly, both the 21st of +January, and to the 31st of May, because he wished for the régime of the +convention, without party violence and measures. After the 9th Thermidor, +he blamed the fury displayed towards the chiefs of the revolutionary +government, whose victim he had been, as one of the _seventy-three_. He +had obtained great ascendancy, as men gradually approached towards a legal +system. His enlightened attachment to the revolution, his noble +independence, the solidity and extent of his ideas, and his imperturbable +fortitude, rendered him one of the most influential actors of this period. +He was the chief author of the constitution of the year III., and the +convention deputed him, with some others of its members, to undertake the +defence of the republic, during the crisis of Vendémiaire. + +The reaction gradually increased; it was indirectly favoured by the +members of the Right, who, since the opening of that assembly, had only +been incidentally republican. They were not prepared to repel the attacks +of the royalists with the same energy as that of the revolutionists. Among +this number were Boissy d'Anglas, Lanjuinais, Henri La Rivière, Saladin, +Aubry, etc.; they formed in the assembly the nucleus of the sectionary +party. Old and ardent members of the Mountain, such as Rovère, Bourdon de +l'Oise, etc., carried away by the counter-revolutionary movement, suffered +the reaction to be prolonged, doubtless in order to make their peace with +those whom they had so violently combated. + +But the conventional party, reassured with respect to the democrats, set +itself to prevent the triumph of the royalists. It felt that the safety of +the republic depended on the formation of the councils, and that the +councils being elected by the middle class, which was directed by +royalists, would be composed on counter-revolutionary principles. It was +important to entrust the guardianship of the régime they were about to +establish to those who had an interest in defending it. In order to avoid +the error of the constituent assembly, which had excluded itself from the +legislature that succeeded it, the convention decided by a decree, that +two-thirds of its members should be re-elected. By this means it secured +the majority of the councils and the nomination of the directory; it could +accompany its constitution into the state, and consolidate it without +violence. This re-election of two-thirds was not exactly legal, but it was +politic, and the only means of saving France from the rule of the +democrats or counter-revolutionists. The convention granted itself a +moderate dictatorship, by the decrees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor (22nd +and 30th of August, 1795), one of which established the re-election, and +the other fixed the manner of it. But these two exceptional decrees were +submitted to the ratification of the primary assemblies, at the same time +as the constitutional act. + +The royalist party was taken by surprise by the decrees of Fructidor. It +hoped to form part of the government by the councils, of the councils by +elections, and to effect a change of system when once in power. It +inveighed against the convention. The royalist committee of Paris, whose +agent was an obscure man, named Lemaître, the journalists, and the leaders +of the sections coalesced. They had no difficulty in securing the support +of public opinion, of which they were the only organs; they accused the +convention of perpetuating its power, and of assailing the sovereignty of +the people. The chief advocates of the two-thirds, Louvet, Daunou, and +Chénier, were not spared, and every preparation was made for a grand +movement. The Faubourg Saint Germain, lately almost deserted, gradually +filled; emigrants flocked in, and the conspirators, scarcely concealing +their plans, adopted the Chouan uniform. + +The convention, perceiving the storm increase, sought support in the army, +which, at that time, was the republican class, and a camp was formed at +Paris. The people had been disbanded, and the royalists had secured the +bourgeoisie. In the meantime, the primary assemblies met on the 20th +Fructidor, to deliberate on the constitutional act, and the decrees of the +two-thirds, which were to be accepted or rejected together. The +Lepelletier section (formerly Filles Saint Thomas) was the centre of all +the others. On a motion made by that section, it was decided that the +power of all constituent authority ceased in the presence of the assembled +people. The Lepelletier section, directed by Richer-Sérizy, La Harpe, +Lacretelle junior, Vaublanc, etc., turned its attention to the +organization of the insurrectional government, under the name of the +central committee. This committee was to replace in Vendémiaire, against +the convention, the committee of the 10th of August against the throne, +and of the 31st of May against the Girondists. The majority of the +sections adopted this measure, which was annulled by the convention, whose +decree was in its turn rejected by the majority of the sections. The +struggle now became open; and in Paris they separated the constitutional +act, which was adopted, from the decrees of re-election, which were +rejected. + +On the 1st Vendémiaire, the convention proclaimed the acceptance of the +decrees by the greater number of the primary assemblies of France. The +sections assembled again to nominate the electors who were to choose the +members of the legislature. On the 10th they determined that the electors +should assemble in the Théâtre Français (it was then on the other side of +the bridges); that they should be accompanied there by the armed force of +the sections, after having sworn to defend them till death. On the 11th, +accordingly, the electors assembled under the presidency of the duc de +Nivernois, and the guard of some detachments of chasseurs and grenadiers. + +The convention, apprised of the danger, sat permanently, stationed round +its place of sitting the troops of the camp of Sablons, and concentrated +its powers in a committee of five members, who were entrusted with all +measures of public safety. These members were Colombel, Barras, Daunou, +Letourneur, and Merlin de Douai. For some time the revolutionists had +ceased to be feared, and all had been liberated who had been imprisoned +for the events of Prairial. They enrolled, under the name of _Battalion of +Patriots of '89_, about fifteen or eighteen hundred of them, who had been +proceeded against, in the departments or in Paris, by the friends of the +reaction. In the evening of the 11th, the convention sent to dissolve the +assembly of electors by force, but they had already adjourned to the +following day. + +During the night of the 11th, the decree which dissolved the college of +electors, and which armed the battalion of patriots of '89, caused the +greatest agitation. Drums beat to arms; the Lepelletier section declaimed +against the despotism of the convention, against the return of the _Reign +of Terror_, and during the whole of the 12th prepared the other sections +for the contest. In the evening, the convention, scarcely less agitated, +decided on taking the initiative, by surrounding the conspiring section, +and terminating the crisis by disarming it. Menou, general of the +interior, and Laporte the representative, were entrusted with this +mission. The convent of the Filles Saint Thomas was the headquarters of +the sectionaries, before which they had seven or eight hundred men in +battle array. These were surrounded by superior forces, from the +Boulevards on each side, and the Rue Vivienne opposite. Instead of +disarming them, the leaders of the expedition began to parley. Both +parties agreed to withdraw; but the conventional troops had no sooner +retired than the sectionaries returned reinforced. This was a complete +victory for them, which being exaggerated in Paris, as such things always +are, increased their number, and gave them courage to attack the +convention the next day. + +About eleven at night the convention learned the issue of the expedition +and the dangerous effect which it had produced; it immediately dismissed +Menou, and gave the command of the armed force to Barras, the general in +command on the 9th Thermidor. Barras asked the committee of five to +appoint as his second in command, a young officer who had distinguished +himself at the siege of Toulon, but had been dismissed by Aubry of the +reaction party; a young man of talent and resolution, calculated to do +good service to the republic in a moment of peril. This young officer was +Bonaparte. He appeared before the committee, but there was nothing in his +appearance that announced his astonishing destiny. Not a man of party, +summoned for the first time to this great scene of action, his demeanour +exhibited a timidity and a want of assurance, which disappeared entirely +in the preparations for battle, and in the heat of action. He immediately +sent for the artillery of the camp of Sablons, and disposed them, with the +five thousand men of the conventional army, on all the points from which +the convention could be assailed. At noon on the 13th Vendémiaire, the +enclosure of the convention had the appearance of a fortified place, which +could only be taken by assault. The line of defence extended, on the left +side of the Tuileries along the river, from the Pont Neuf to the Pont +Louis XV.; on the right, in all the small streets opening on the Rue Saint +Honoré, from the Rues de Rohan, de l'Échelle and the Cul-de-sac Dauphin, +to the Place de la Révolution. In front, the Louvre, the Jardin de +l'Infante, and the Carrousel were planted with cannon; and behind, the +Pont Tournant and the Place de la Révolution formed a park of reserve. In +this position the convention awaited the insurgents. + +The latter soon encompassed it on several points. They had about forty +thousand men under arms, commanded by generals Danican, Duhoux, and the +ex-garde-du-corps Lafond. The thirty-two sections which formed the +majority, had supplied their military contingent. Of the other sixteen, +several sections of the faubourgs had their troops in the battalion of +'89. A few, those of the Quinze-vingts and Montreuil, sent assistance +during the action; others, though favourably disposed, as that of +Popincourt, could not do so; and lastly, others remained neutral, like +that of L'Indivisibilité. From two to three o'clock, general Carteaux, who +occupied the Pont Neuf with four hundred men and two four-pounders, was +surrounded by several columns of sectionaries, who obliged him to retire +on the Louvre. This advantage emboldened the insurgents, who were strong +on all points. General Danican summoned the convention to withdraw its +troops, and disarm the terrorists. The officer entrusted with the summons +was led into the assembly blindfold, and his message occasioned some +agitation, several members declaring in favour of conciliatory measures. +Boissy d'Anglas advised a conference with Danican; Gamon proposed a +proclamation in which they should call upon the citizens to retire, +promising then to disarm the battalion of '89. This address excited +violent murmurs. Chénier rushed to the tribune. "I am surprised," said he, +"that the demands of sections in a state of revolt should be discussed +here. Negotiation must not be heard of; there is only victory or death for +the national convention." Lanjuinais wished to support the address, by +dwelling on the danger and misery of civil war; but the convention would +not hear him, and on the motion of Fermond, passed to the order of the +day. The debates respecting measures of peace or war with the sections +were continued for some time, when, about half-past four several +discharges of musketry were heard, which put an end to all discussion. +Seven hundred guns were brought in, and the convention took arms as a body +of reserve. + +The conflict had now commenced in the Rue Saint Honoré, of which the +insurgents were masters. The first shots were fired from the Hôtel de +Noailles, and a murderous fire extended the whole length of this line. A +few moments after, on the other side, two columns of sectionaries, about +four thousand strong, commanded by the count de Maulevrier, advanced by +the quays, and attacked the Pont Royal. The action then became general, +but it could not last long; the place was too well defended to be taken by +assault. After an hour's fighting, the sectionaries were driven from Saint +Roch and Rue Saint Honoré, by the cannon of the convention and the +battalion of patriots. The column of the Pont Royal received three +discharges of artillery in front and on the side, from the bridge and the +quays, which put it entirely to flight. At seven o'clock the conventional +troops, victorious on all sides, took the offensive; by nine o'clock they +had dislodged the sectionaries from the Théâtre de la République and the +posts they still occupied in the neighbourhood of the Palais Royal. They +prepared to make barricades during the night, and several volleys were +fired in the Rue de la Loi (Richelieu), to prevent the works. The next +day, the 14th, the troops of the convention disarmed the Lepelletier +section, and compelled the others to return to order. + +The assembly, which had only fought in its own defence, displayed much +moderation. The 13th Vendémiaire was the 10th of August of the royalists +against the republic, except that the convention resisted the bourgeoisie +much better than the throne resisted the faubourgs. The position of France +contributed very much to this victory. Men now wished for a republic +without a revolutionary government, a moderate regime without a counter- +revolution. The convention, which was a mediatory power, pronounced alike +against the exclusive domination of the lower class, which it had thrown +off in Prairial, and the reactionary domination of the bourgeoisie, which +it repelled in Vendémiaire, seemed alone capable of satisfying this +twofold want, and of putting an end to the state of warfare between the +two parties, which was prolonged by their alternate entrance into the +government. This situation, as well as its own dangers, gave it courage to +resist, and secured its triumph. The sections could not take it by +surprise, and still less by assault. + +After the events of Vendémiaire, the convention occupied itself with +forming the councils and the directory. The third part, freely elected, +had been favourable to reaction. A few conventionalists, headed by +Tallien, proposed to annul the elections of this _third_, and wished to +suspend, for a longer time, the conventional government. Thibaudeau +exposed their design with much courage and eloquence. The whole +conventional party adopted his opinion. It rejected all superfluous +arbitrary sway, and showed itself impatient to leave the provisional state +it had been in for the last three years. The convention established itself +as a _national electoral assembly_, in order to complete the _two-thirds_ +from among its members. It then formed the councils; that of the +_Ancients_ of two hundred and fifty members, who according to the new law +had completed forty years; that of _The Five Hundred_ from among the +others. The councils met in the Tuileries. They then proceeded to form the +government. + +The attack of Vendémiaire was quite recent; and the republican party, +especially dreading the counter-revolution, agreed to choose the directors +only, from the conventionalists, and further from among those of them who +had voted for the death of the king. Some of the most influential members, +among whom was Daunou, opposed this view, which restricted the choice, and +continued to give the government a dictatorial and revolutionary +character; but it prevailed. The conventionalists thus elected were La +Réveillère-Lépaux, invested with general confidence on account of his +courageous conduct on the 31st of May, for his probity and his moderation; +Sieyès, the man who of all others enjoyed the greatest celebrity of the +day; Rewbell, possessed of great administrative activity; Letourneur, one +of the members of the commission of five during the last crisis; and +Barras, chosen for his two pieces of good fortune of Thermidor and +Vendémiaire. Sieyès, who had refused to take part in the legislative +commission _of the eleven_, also refused to enter upon the directory. It +is difficult to say whether this reluctance arose from calculation or an +insurmountable antipathy for Rewbell. He was replaced by Carnot, the only +member of the former committee whom they were disposed to favour, on +account of his political purity, and his great share in the victories of +the republic. Such was the first composition of the directory. On the 4th +Brumaire, the convention passed a law of amnesty, in order to enter on +legal government; changed the name of the Place de la Révolution into +Place de la Concorde, and declared its session closed. + +The convention lasted three years, from the 21st of September, 1792, to +October 26, 1795 (4th Brumaire, year IV.). It took several directions. +During the six first months of its existence it was drawn into the +struggle which arose between the legal party of the Gironde, and the +revolutionary party of the Mountain. The latter had the lead from the 31st +of May, 1793, to the 9th Thermidor, year II. (26th July, 1794). The +convention then obeyed the committee of public safety, which first +destroyed its old allies of the commune and of the Mountain, and +afterwards perished through its own divisions. From the 9th Thermidor to +the month of Brumaire, year IV., the convention conquered the +revolutionary and royalist parties, and sought to establish a moderate +republic in opposition to both. + +During this long and terrible period, the violence of the situation +changed the revolution into a war, and the assembly into a field of +battle. Each party wished to establish its sway by victory, and to secure +it by founding its system. The Girondist party made the attempt, and +perished; the Mountain made the attempt, and perished; the party of the +commune made the attempt, and perished; Robespierre's party made the +attempt, and perished. They could only conquer, they were unable to found +a system. The property of such a storm was to overthrow everything that +attempted to become settled. All was provisional; dominion, men, parties, +and systems, because the only thing real and possible was--war. A year was +necessary to enable the conventional party, on its return to power, to +restore the revolution to a legal position; and it could only accomplish +this by two victories--that of Prairial and that of Vendémiaire. But the +convention having then returned to the point whence it started, and having +discharged its true mission, which was to establish the republic after +having defended it, disappeared from the theatre of the world which it had +filled with surprise. A revolutionary power, it ceased as soon as legal +order recommenced. Three years of dictatorship had been lost to liberty +but not to the revolution. + + + + +THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THE DIRECTORY, ON THE 27TH OCTOBER, 1795, TO THE +COUP-D'ÉTAT OF THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, YEAR V. (3RD AUGUST, 1797) + + +The French revolution, which had destroyed the old government, and +thoroughly overturned the old society, had two wholly distinct objects; +that of a free constitution, and that of a more perfect state of +civilization. The six years we have just gone over were the search for +government by each of the classes which composed the French nation. The +privileged classes wished to establish their régime against the court and +the bourgeoisie, by preserving the social orders and the states-general; +the bourgeoisie sought to establish its régime against the privileged +classes and the multitude, by the constitution of 1791; and the multitude +wished to establish its régime against all the others, by the constitution +of 1793. Not one of these governments could become consolidated, because +they were all exclusive. But during their attempts, each class, in power +for a time, destroyed of the higher classes all that was intolerant or +calculated to oppose the progress of the new civilization. + +When the directory succeeded the convention, the struggle between the +classes was greatly weakened. The higher ranks of each formed a party +which still contended for the possession and for the form of government; +but the mass of the nation which had been so profoundly agitated from 1789 +to 1795, longed to become settled again, and to arrange itself according +to the new order of things. This period witnessed the end of the movement +for liberty, and the beginning of the movement towards civilization. The +revolution now took its second character, its character of order, +foundation, repose, after the agitation, the immense toil, and system of +complete demolition of its early years. + +This second period was remarkable, inasmuch as it seemed a kind of +abandonment of liberty. The different parties being no longer able to +possess it in an exclusive and durable manner, became discouraged, and +fell back from public into private life. This second period divided itself +into two epochs: it was liberal under the directory and at the +commencement of the Consulate, and military at the close of the Consulate +and under the empire. The revolution daily grew more materialized; after +having made a nation of sectaries, it made a nation of working men, and +then it made a nation of soldiers. + +Many illusions were already destroyed; men had passed through so many +different states, had lived so much in so few years, that all ideas were +confounded and all creeds shaken. The reign of the middle class and that +of the multitude had passed away like a rapid phantasmagoria. They were +far from that France of the 14th of July, with its deep conviction, its +high morality, its assembly exercising the all-powerful sway of liberty +and of reason, its popular magistracies, its citizen-guard, its +brilliant, peaceable, and animated exterior, wearing the impress of order +and independence. They were far from the more sombre and more tempestuous +France of the 10th of August, when a single class held the government and +society, and had introduced therein its language, manners, and costume, +the agitation of its fears, the fanaticism of its ideas, the distrust of +its position. Then private life entirely gave place to public life; the +republic presented, in turn, the aspect of an assembly and of a camp; the +rich were subject to the poor; the creed of democracy combined with the +gloomy and ragged administration of the people. At each of these periods +men had been strongly attached to some idea: first, to liberty and +constitutional monarchy; afterwards, to equality, fraternity, and the +republic. But at the beginning of the directory, there was belief in +nothing; in the great shipwreck of parties, all had been lost, both the +virtue of the bourgeoisie and the virtue of the people. + +Men arose from this furious turmoil weakened and wounded, and each, +remembering his political existence with terror, plunged wildly into the +pleasures and relations of private life which had so long been suspended. +Balls, banquets, debauchery, splendid carriages, became more fashionable +than ever; this was the reaction of the ancient régime. The reign of the +sans-culottes brought back the dominion of the rich; the clubs, the +return of the salons. For the rest, it was scarcely possible but that the +first symptom of the resumption of modern civilization should be thus +irregular. The directorial manners were the product of another society, +which had to appear again before the new state of society could regulate +its relations, and constitute its own manners. In this transition, luxury +would give rise to labour, stock-jobbing to commerce; salons bring parties +together who could not approximate except in private life; in a word, +civilization would again usher in liberty. + +The situation of the republic was discouraging at the installation of the +directory. There existed no element of order or administration. There was +no money in the public treasury; couriers were often delayed for want of +the small sum necessary to enable them to set out. In the interior, +anarchy and uneasiness were general; paper currency, in the last stage of +discredit, destroyed confidence and commerce; the dearth became +protracted, every one refusing to part with his commodities, for it +amounted to giving them away; the arsenals were exhausted or almost empty. +Without, the armies were destitute of baggage-wagons, horses, and +supplies; the soldiers were in want of clothes, and the generals were +often unable to liquidate their pay of eight francs a month in specie, an +indispensable supplement, small as it was, to their pay in assignats; and +lastly, the troops, discontented and undisciplined, on account of their +necessities, were again beaten, and on the defensive. + +Things were at this state of crisis after the fall of the committee of +public safety. This committee had foreseen the dearth, and prepared for +it, both in the army and in the interior, by the requisitions and the +_maximum_. No one had dared to exempt himself from this financial system, +which rendered the wealthy and commercial classes tributary to the +soldiers and the multitude, and at that time provisions had not been +withheld from the market. But since violence and confiscation had ceased, +the people, the convention, and the armies were at the mercy of the landed +proprietors and speculators, and terrible scarcity existed, a reaction +against the _maximum_. The system of the convention had consisted, in +political economy, in the consumption of an immense capital, represented +by the assignats. This assembly had been a rich government, which had +ruined itself in defending the revolution. Nearly half the French +territory, consisting of domains of the crown, ecclesiastical property, or +the estates of the emigrant nobility, had been sold, and the produce +applied to the support of the people, who did little labour, and to the +external defence of the republic by the armies. More than eight milliards +of assignats had been issued before the 9th Thermidor, and since that +period thirty thousand millions had been added to that sum, already so +enormous. Such a system could not be continued; it was necessary to begin +the work again, and return to real money. + +The men deputed to remedy this great disorganization were, for the most +part, of ordinary talent; but they set to work with zeal, courage, and +good sense. "When the directors," said M. Bailleul, [Footnote: _Examen +Critique des Considérations de Madame de Staël, sur la Révolution +Française_, by M. J. Ch. Bailleul, vol. ii., pp. 275, 281.] "entered the +Luxembourg, there was not an article of furniture. In a small room, at a +little broken table, one leg of which was half eaten away with age, on +which they placed some letter-paper and a calumet standish, which they had +fortunately brought from the committee of public safety, seated on four +straw-bottom chairs, opposite a few logs of dimly-burning wood, the whole +borrowed from Dupont, the porter; who would believe that it was in such a +condition that the members of the new government, after having +investigated all the difficulties, nay, all the horror of their position, +resolved that they would face all obstacles, and that they would either +perish or rescue France from the abyss into which she had fallen? On a +sheet of writing-paper they drew up the act by which they ventured to +declare themselves constituted; an act which they immediately despatched +to the legislative chambers." + +The directors then proceeded to divide their labours, taking as their +guide the grounds which had induced the constitutional party to select +them. Rewbell, possessed of great energy, a lawyer versed in government +and diplomacy, had assigned to him the departments of law, finance, and +foreign affairs. His skill and commanding character soon made him the +moving spirit of the directory in all civil matters. Barras had no special +knowledge; his mind was mediocre, his resources few, his habits indolent. +In an hour of danger, his resolution qualified him to execute sudden +measures, like those of Thermidor or Vendémiaire. But being, on ordinary +occasions, only adapted for the surveillance of parties, the intrigues of +which he was better acquainted with than any one else, the police +department was allotted to him. He was well suited for the task, being +supple and insinuating, without partiality for any political sect, and +having revolutionary connexions by his past life, while his birth gave him +access to the aristocracy. Barras took on himself the representation of +the directory, and established a sort of republican regency at the +Luxembourg. The pure and moderate La Réveillère, whose gentleness tempered +with courage, whose sincere attachment for the republic and legal +measures, had procured him a post in the directory, with the general +consent of the assembly and public opinion, had assigned to him the moral +department, embracing education, the arts, sciences, manufactures, etc. +Letourneur, an ex-artillery officer, member of the committee of public +safety at the latter period of the convention, had been appointed to the +war department. But when Carnot was chosen, on the refusal of Sieyès, he +assumed the direction of military operations, and left to his colleague +Letourneur the navy and the colonies. His high talents and resolute +character gave him the upper hand in the direction. Letourneur attached +himself to him, as La Réveillère to Rewbell, and Barras was between the +two. At this period, the directors turned their attention with the +greatest concord to the improvement and welfare of the state. + +The directors frankly followed the route traced out for them by the +constitution. After having established authority in the centre of the +republic, they organized it in the departments, and established, as well +as they could, a correspondence of design between local administrations +and their own. Placed between the two exclusive and dissatisfied parties +of Prairial and Vendémiaire, they endeavoured, by a decided line of +conduct, to subject them to an order of things, holding a place midway +between their extreme pretensions. They sought to revive the enthusiasm +and order of the first years of the revolution. "You, whom we summon to +share our labours," they wrote to their agents, "you who have, with us, to +promote the progress of the republican constitution, your first virtue, +your first feeling, should be that decided resolution, that patriotic +faith, which has also produced its enthusiasts and its miracles. All will +be achieved when, by your care, that sincere love of liberty which +sanctified the dawn of the revolution, again animates the heart of every +Frenchman. The banners of liberty floating on every house, and the +republican device written on every door, doubtless form an interesting +sight. Obtain more; hasten the day when the sacred name of the republic +shall be graven voluntarily on every heart." + +In a short time, the wise and firm proceedings of the new government +restored confidence, labour, and plenty. The circulation of provisions was +secured, and at the end of a month the directory was relieved from the +obligation to provide Paris with supplies, which it effected for itself. +The immense activity created by the revolution began to be directed +towards industry and agriculture. A part of the population quitted the +clubs and public places for workshops and fields; and then the benefit of +a revolution, which, having destroyed corporations, divided property, +abolished privileges, increased fourfold the means of civilization, and +was destined to produce prodigious good to France, began to be felt. The +directory encouraged this movement in the direction of labour by salutary +institutions. It re-established public exhibitions of the produce of +industry, and improved the system of education decreed under the +convention. The national institute, primary, central, and normal schools, +formed a complete system of republican institutions. La Réveillère, the +director intrusted with the moral department of the government, then +sought to establish, under the name of _Theophilanthropie_, the deistical +religion which the committee of public safety had vainly endeavoured to +establish by the _Fête à l'Etre Suprême_. He provided temples, hymns, +forms, and a kind of liturgy, for the new religion; but such a faith could +only be individual, could not long continue public. The +_theophilanthropists_, whose religion was opposed to the political +opinions and the unbelief of the revolutionists, were much ridiculed. +Thus, in the passage from public institutions to individual faith, all +that had been liberty became civilization, and what had been religion +became opinion. Deists remained, but _theophilanthropists_ were no longer +to be met with. + +The directory, pressed for money, and shackled by the disastrous state of +the finances, had recourse to measures somewhat extraordinary. It had sold +or pledged the most valuable articles of the Wardrobe, in order to meet +the greatest urgencies. National property was still left; but it sold +badly, and for assignats. The directory proposed a compulsory loan, which +was decreed by the councils. This was a relic of the revolutionary +measures with regard to the rich; but, having been irresolutely adopted, +and executed without due authority, it did not succeed. The directory then +endeavoured to revive paper money; it proposed the issue of _mandats +territoriaux_, which were to be substituted for the assignats then in +circulation, at the rate of thirty for one, and to take the place of +money. The councils decreed the issue of _mandats territoriaux_ to the +amount of two thousand four hundred millions. They had the advantage of +being exchangeable at once and upon presentation, for the national domains +which represented them. Their sale was very extensive, and in this way was +completed the revolutionary mission of the assignats, of which they were +the second period. They procured the directory a momentary resource; but +they also lost their credit, and led insensibly to bankruptcy, which was +the transition from paper to specie. + +The military situation of the republic was not a brilliant one; at the +close of the convention there had been an abatement of victories. The +equivocal position and weakness of the central authority, as much as the +scarcity, had relaxed the discipline of the troops. The generals, too, +disappointed that they had distinguished their command by so few +victories, and were not spurred on by an energetic government, became +inclined to insubordination. The convention had deputed Pichegru and +Jourdan, one at the head of the army of the Rhine, the other with that of +the Sambre-et-Meuse, to surround and capture Mayence, in order that they +might occupy the whole line of the Rhine. Pichegru made this project +completely fail; although possessing the entire confidence of the +republic, and enjoying the greatest military fame of the day, he formed +counter-revolutionary schemes with the prince of Condé; but they were +unable to agree. Pichegru urged the emigrant prince to enter France with +his troops, by Switzerland or the Rhine, promising to remain inactive, the +only thing in his power to do in favour of such an attempt. The prince +required as a preliminary, that Pichegru should hoist the white flag in +his army, which was, to a man, republican. This hesitation, no doubt, +injured the projects of the reactionists, who were preparing the +conspiracy of Vendémiaire. But Pichegru wishing, one way or the other, to +serve his new allies and to betray his country, allowed himself to be +defeated at Heidelberg, compromised the army of Jourdan, evacuated +Mannheim, raised the siege of Mayence with considerable loss, and exposed +that frontier to the enemy. + +The directory found the Rhine open towards Mayence, the war of La Vendée +rekindled; the coasts of France and Holland threatened with a descent from +England; lastly, the army of Italy destitute of everything, and merely +maintaining the defensive under Schérer and Kellermann. Carnot prepared a +new plan of campaign, which was to carry the armies of the republic to the +very heart of the hostile states. Bonaparte, appointed general of the +interior after the events of Vendémiaire, was placed at the head of the +army of Italy; Jourdan retained the command of the army of the Sambre-et- +Meuse, and Moreau had that of the army of the Rhine, in place of Pichegru. +The latter, whose treason was suspected by the directory, though not +proved, was offered the embassy to Sweden, which he refused, and retired +to Arbois, his native place. The three great armies, placed under the +orders of Bonaparte, Jourdan, and Moreau, were to attack the Austrian +monarchy by Italy and Germany, combine at the entrance of the Tyrol and +march upon Vienna, in echelon. The generals prepared to execute this vast +movement, the success of which would make the republic mistress of the +headquarters of the coalition on the continent. + +The directory gave to general Hoche the command of the coast, and deputed +him to conclude the Vendéan war. Hoche changed the system of warfare +adopted by his predecessors. La Vendée was disposed to submit. Its +previous victories had not led to the success of its cause; defeat and +ill-fortune had exposed it to plunder and conflagration. The insurgents, +irreparably injured by the disaster of Savenay, by the loss of their +principal leader, and their best soldiers, by the devastating system of +the infernal columns, now desired nothing more than to live on good terms +with the republic. The war now depended only on a few chiefs, upon +Charette, Stofflet, etc. Hoche saw that it was necessary to wean the +masses from these men by concessions, and then to crush them. He skilfully +separated the royalist cause from the cause of religion, and employed the +priests against the generals, by showing great indulgence to the catholic +religion. He had the country scoured by four powerful columns, took their +cattle from the inhabitants, and only restored them in return for their +arms. He left no repose to the armed party, defeated Charette in several +encounters, pursued him from one retreat to another, and at last made him +prisoner. Stofflet wished to raise the Vendéan standard again on his +territory; but it was given up to the republicans. These two chiefs, who +had witnessed the beginning of the insurrection, were present at its +close. They died courageously; Stofflet at Angers, Charette at Nantes, +after having displayed character and talents worthy of a larger theatre. +Hoche likewise tranquillized Brittany. Morbihan was occupied by numerous +bands of Chouans, who formed a formidable association, the principal +leader of which was George Cadoudal. Without entering on a campaign, they +were mastering the country. Hoche directed all his force and activity +against them, and before long had destroyed or exhausted them. Most of +their leaders quitted their arms, and took refuge in England. The +directory, on learning these fortunate pacifications, formally announced +to both councils, on the 28th Messidor (June, 1796), that this civil war +was definitively terminated. + +In this manner the winter of the year IV. passed away. But the directory +could hardly fail to be attacked by the two parties, whose sway was +prevented by its existence, the democrats and the royalists. The former +constituted an inflexible and enterprising sect. For them, the 9th +Thermidor was an era of pain and oppression: they desired to establish +absolute equality, in spite of the state of society, and democratic +liberty, in spite of civilization. This sect had been so vanquished as +effectually to prevent its return to power. On the 9th Thermidor it had +been driven from the government; on the 2nd Prairial, from society; and it +had lost both power and insurrections. But though disorganized and +proscribed, it was far from having disappeared. After the unfortunate +attempt of the royalists in Vendémiaire, it arose through their abasement. + +The democrats re-established their club at the Panthéon, which the +directory tolerated for some time. They had for their chief, "Gracchus" +Babeuf, who styled himself the "Tribune of the people." He was a daring +man, of an exalted imagination, an extraordinary fanaticism of democracy, +and with great influence over his party. In his journal, he prepared the +reign of general happiness. The society at the Panthéon daily became more +numerous, and more alarming to the directory who at first endeavoured to +restrain it. But the sittings were soon protracted to an advanced hour of +the night; the democrats repaired thither in arms, and proposed marching +against the directory and the councils. The directory determined to oppose +them openly. On the 8th Ventôse, year IV. (February, 1796), it closed the +society of the Panthéon, and on the 9th, by a message informed the +legislative body that it had done so. + +The democrats, deprived of their place of meeting, had recourse to another +plan. They seduced the police force, which was chiefly composed of deposed +revolutionists; and in concert with it, they were to destroy the +constitution of the year III. The directory, informed of this new +manoeuvre, disbanded the police force, causing it to be disarmed by other +troops on whom it could rely. The conspirators, taken by surprise a second +time, determined on a project of attack and insurrection: they formed an +insurrectionary committee of public safety, which communicated by +secondary agents with the lower orders of the twelve communes of Paris. +The members of this principal committee were Babeuf, the chief of the +conspiracy, ex-conventionalists, such as Vadier, Amar, Choudieu, Ricord, +the representative Drouet, the former generals of the decemviral +committee, Rossignol, Parrein, Fyon, Lami. Many cashiered officers, +patriots of the departments, and the old Jacobin mass, composed the army +of this faction. The chiefs often assembled in a place they called the +Temple of Reason; here they sang lamentations on the death of Robespierre, +and deplored the slavery of the people. They opened a negotiation with the +troops of the camp of Grenelle, admitted among them a captain of that +camp, named Grisel, whom they supposed their own, and concerted every +measure for the attack. + +Their plan was to establish common happiness; and for that purpose, to +make a distribution of property, and to cause the government of true, +pure, and absolute democrats to prevail; to create a convention composed +of sixty-eight members of the Mountain, the remnant of the numbers +proscribed since the reaction of Thermidor, and to join with these a +democrat for each department; lastly, to start from the different quarters +in which they had distributed themselves, and march at the same time +against the directory and against the councils. On the night of the +insurrection, they were to fix up two placards; one, containing the words, +"The Constitution of 1793! liberty! equality! common happiness!" the +other, containing the following declaration, "Those who usurp the +sovereignty, ought to be put to death by free men." All was ready; the +proclamations printed, the day appointed, when they were betrayed by +Grisel, as generally happens in conspiracies. + +On the 21st Floréal (May), the eve of the day fixed for the attack, the +conspirators were seized at their regular place of meeting. In Babeuf's +house were found a plan of the plot and all the documents connected with +it. The directory apprised the councils of it by a message, and announced +it to the people by proclamation. This strange attempt, savouring so +strongly of fanaticism, and which could only be a repetition of the +insurrection of Prairial, without its means and its hopes of success, +excited the greatest terror. The public mind was still terrified with the +recent domination of the Jacobins. + +Babeuf, like a daring conspirator, prisoner as he was, proposed terms of +peace to the directory:-- + +"Would you consider it beneath you, citizen directors," he wrote to them, +"to treat with me, as power with power? You have seen what vast confidence +centres in me; you have seen that my party may well balance equally in the +scale your own; you have seen its immense ramifications. I am convinced +you have trembled at the sight." He concluded by saying: "I see but one +wise mode of proceeding; declare there has been no serious conspiracy. +Five men, by showing themselves great and generous may now save the +country. I will answer for it, that the patriots will defend you with +their lives; the patriots do not hate you; they only hated your unpopular +measures. For my part, I will give you a guarantee as extensive as is my +perpetual franchise." The directors, instead of this reconciliation, +published Babeuf's letter, and sent the conspirators before the high court +of Vendôme. + +Their partisans made one more attempt. On the 13th Fructidor (August), +about eleven at night, they marched, to the number of six or seven +hundred, armed with sabres and pistols, against the directory, whom they +found defended by its guard. They then repaired to the camp of Grenelle, +which they hoped to gain over by means of a correspondence which they had +established with it. The troops had retired to rest when the conspirators +arrived. To the sentinel's cry of "_Qui vive?_" they replied: "_Vive la +république! Vive la constitution de '93!_" The sentinels gave the alarm +through the camp. The conspirators, relying on the assistance of a +battalion from Gard, which had been disbanded, advanced towards the tent +of Malo, the commander-in-chief, who gave orders to sound to arms, and +commanded his half-dressed dragoons to mount. The conspirators, surprised +at this reception, feebly defended themselves: they were cut down by the +dragoons or put to flight, leaving many dead and prisoners on the field of +battle. This ill-fated expedition was almost the last of the party: with +each defeat it lost its force, its chiefs, and acquired the secret +conviction that its reign was over. The Grenelle enterprise proved most +fatal to it; besides the numbers slain in the fight, many were condemned +to death by the military commissions, which were to it what the +revolutionary tribunals had been to its foes. The commission of the camp +of Grenelle, in five sittings, condemned one-and-thirty conspirators to +death, thirty to transportation, and twenty-five to imprisonment. + +Shortly afterwards the high court of Vendôme tried Babeuf and his +accomplices, among whom were Amar, Vadier, and Darthé, formerly secretary +to Joseph Lebon. They none of them belied themselves; they spoke as men +who feared neither to avow their object, nor to die for their cause. At +the beginning and the end of each sitting, they sang the _Marseillaise_. +This old song of victory, and their firm demeanour, struck the public mind +with astonishment, and seemed to render them still more formidable. Their +wives accompanied them to the trial, Babeuf, at the close of his defence, +turned to them, and said, "_they should accompany them even to Calvary, +because the cause of their punishment would not bring them to shame_." The +high court condemned Babeuf and Darthé to death: as they heard their +sentence they both stabbed themselves with a poignard. Babeuf was the last +leader of the old commune and the committee of public safety, which had +separated previous to Thermidor, and which afterwards united again. This +party decreased daily. Its dispersal and isolation more especially date +from this period. Under the reaction, it still formed a compact mass; +under Babeuf, it maintained the position of a formidable association. From +that time democrates existed, but the party was broken up. + +In the interim between the Grenelle enterprise and Babeuf's condemnation, +the royalists also formed their conspiracy. The projects of the democrats +produced a movement of opinion, contrary to that which had been manifested +after Vendémiaire, and the counter-revolutionists in their turn became +emboldened. The secret chiefs of this party hoped to find auxiliaries in +the troops of the camp of Grenelle, who had repelled the Babeuf faction. +This party, impatient and unskilful, unable to employ the whole of the +sectionaries, as in Vendémiaire, or the mass of the councils, as on the +18th Fructidor, made use of three men without either name or influence: +the abbé Brothier, the ex-counsellor of parliament, Lavilheurnois, and a +sort of adventurer, named Dunan. They applied at once, in all simplicity, +to Malo for the camp of Grenelle, in order by its means to restore the +ancient régime. Malo delivered them up to the directory, who transferred +them to the civil tribunals, not having been able, as he wished, to have +them tried by military commissioners. They were treated with much +consideration by judges of their party, elected under the influence of +Vendémiaire, and the sentence pronounced against them was only a short +imprisonment. At this period, a contest arose between all the authorities +appointed by the sections, and the directory supported by the army; each +taking its strength and judges wherever its party prevailed; the result +was, that the electoral power placing itself at the disposition of the +counter-revolution, the directory was compelled to introduce the army in +the state; which afterwards gave rise to serious inconvenience. + +The directory, triumphant over the two dissentient parties, also triumphed +over Europe. The new campaign opened under the most favourable auspices. +Bonaparte, on arriving at Nice, signalised his command by one of the most +daring of invasions. Hitherto his army had hovered idly on the side of the +Alps; it was destitute of everything, and scarcely amounted to thirty +thousand men; but it was well provided with courage and patriotism; and, +by their means, Bonaparte then commenced that world-astonishment by which +he carried all before him for twenty years. He broke up the cantonments, +and entered the valley of Savona, in order to march into Italy between the +Alps and the Apennines. There were before him ninety thousand troops of +the coalition, commanded in the centre by Argentau, by Colle on the left, +and Beaulieu on the right. This immense army was dispersed in a few days +by prodigies of genius and courage. Bonaparte overthrew the centre at +Montenotte, and entered Piedmont; at Millesimo he entirely separated the +Sardinian from the Austrian army. They hastened to defend Turin and Milan, +the capitals of their domination. Before pursuing the Austrians, the +republican general threw himself on the left, to cut off the Sardinian +army. The fate of Piedmont was decided at Mondovi, and the terrified court +of Turin hastened to submit. At Cherasco an armistice was concluded, which +was soon afterwards followed by a treaty of peace, signed at Paris, on the +18th of May, 1796, between the republic and the king of Sardinia, who +ceded Savoy and the counties of Nice and Tenda. The occupation of +Alessandria, which opened the Lombard country; the demolition of the +fortresses of Susa, and of Brunette, on the borders of France; the +abandonment of the territory of Nice, and of Savoy, and the rendering +available the other army of the Alps, under Kellermann, was the reward of +a fortnight's campaign, and six victories. + +War being over with Piedmont, Bonaparte marched against the Austrian army, +to which he left no repose. He passed the Po at Piacenza, and the Adda at +Lodi. The latter victory opened the gates of Milan, and secured him the +possession of Lombardy. General Beaulieu was driven into the defiles of +Tyrol by the republican army, which invested Mantua, and appeared on the +mountains of the empire. General Wurmser came to replace Beaulieu, and a +new army was sent to join the wrecks of the conquered one. Wurmser +advanced to relieve Mantua, and once more make Italy the field of battle; +but he was overpowered, like his predecessor, by Bonaparte, who, after +having raised the blockade of Mantua, in order to oppose this new enemy, +renewed it with increased vigour, and resumed his positions in Tyrol. The +plan of invasion was executed with much union and success. While the army +of Italy threatened Austria by Tyrol, the two armies of the Meuse and +Rhine entered Germany; Moreau, supported by Jourdan on his left, was ready +to join Bonaparte on his right. The two armies had passed the Rhine at +Neuwied and Strasburg, and had advanced on a front, drawn up in echelons +to the distance of sixty leagues, driving back the enemy, who, while +retreating before them, strove to impede their march and break their line. +They had almost attained the aim of their enterprise; Moreau had entered +Ulm and Augsburg, crossed the Leek, and his advanced guard was on the +extreme of the defiles of Tyrol, when Jourdan, from a misunderstanding, +passed beyond the line, was attacked by the archduke Charles, and +completely routed. Moreau, exposed on his left wing, was reduced to the +necessity of retracing his steps, and he then effected his memorable +retreat. The fault of Jourdan was a capital one: it prevented the success +of this vast plan of campaign, and gave respite to the Austrian +government. + +The cabinet of Vienna, which had lost Belgium in this war, and which felt +the importance of preserving Italy, defended it with the greatest +obstinacy. Wurmser, after a new defeat, was obliged to throw himself into +Mantua with the wreck of his army. General Alvinzy, at the head of fifty +thousand Hungarians, now came to try his fortune, but was not more +successful than Beaulieu or Wurmser. New victories were added to the +wonders already achieved by the army of Italy, and secured the conquest of +that country. Mantua capitulated; the republican troops, masters of Italy, +took the route to Vienna across the mountains. Bonaparte had before him +prince Charles, the last hope of Austria. He soon passed through the +defiles of Tyrol, and entered the plains of Germany. In the meantime, the +army of the Rhine under Moreau, and that of the Meuse under Hoche, +successfully resumed the plan of the preceding campaign; and the cabinet +of Vienna, in a state of alarm, concluded the truce of Leoben. It had +exhausted all its force, and tried all its generals, while the French +republic was in the full vigour of conquest. + +The army of Italy accomplished in Europe the work of the French +revolution. This wonderful campaign was owing to the union of a general of +genius, and an intelligent army. Bonaparte had for lieutenants generals +capable of commanding themselves, who knew how to take upon themselves the +responsibility of a movement of a battle, and an army of citizens all +possessing cultivated minds, deep feeling, strong emulation of all that is +great; passionately attached to a revolution which aggrandized their +country, preserved their independence under discipline, and which afforded +an opportunity to every soldier of becoming a general. There is nothing +which a leader of genius might not accomplish with such men. He must have +regretted, at this recollection of his earlier years, that he ever centred +in himself all liberty and intelligence, that he ever created mechanical +armies and generals only fit to obey. Bonaparte began the third epoch of +the war. The campaign of 1792 had been made on the old system, with +dispersed corps, acting separately without abandoning their fixed line. +The committee of public safety concentrated the corps, made them operate +no longer merely on what was before them, but at a distance; it hastened +their movement, and directed them towards a common end. Bonaparte did for +each battle what the committee had done for each campaign. He brought all +these corps on the determinate point, and destroyed several armies with a +single one by the rapidity of his measures. He disposed of whole masses of +troops at his pleasure, moved them here or there, brought them forward, or +kept them out of sight, had them wholly at his disposition, when, where, +and how he pleased, whether to occupy a position or to gain a battle. His +diplomacy was as masterly as his military science. + +All the Italian governments, except Venice and Genoa, had adhered to the +coalition, but the people were in favour of the French republic. Bonaparte +relied on the latter. He abolished Piedmont, which he could not conquer; +transformed the Milanese, hitherto dependent on Austria, into the +_Cisalpine Republic_; he weakened Tuscany and the petty princes of Parma +and Modena by contributions, without dispossessing them; the pope, who had +signed a truce on Bonaparte's first success against Beaulieu, and who did +not hesitate to infringe it on the arrival of Wurmser, bought peace by +yielding Romagna, Bologna, and Ferrara, which were joined to the Cisalpine +republic; lastly, the aristocracy of Venice and Genoa having favoured the +coalition, and raised an insurrection in the rear of the army, their +government was changed, and Bonaparte made it democratic, in order to +oppose the power of the people to that of the nobility. In this way the +revolution penetrated into Italy. + +Austria, by the preliminaries of Leoben, ceded Belgium to France, and +recognised the Lombard republic. All the allied powers had laid down their +arms, and even England asked to treat. France, peaceable and free at home, +had on her borders attained her natural limits, and was surrounded with +rising republics, such as Holland, Lombardy, and Liguria, which guarded +her sides and extended her system in Europe. The coalition was little +disposed to assail anew a revolution, all the governments of which were +victorious; that of anarchy after the 10th of August, of the dictatorship +after the 31st of May, and of legal authority under the directory; a +revolution, which, at every new hostility, advanced a step further upon +European territory. In 1792, it had only extended to Belgium; in 1794, it +had reached Holland and the Rhine; in 1796, had reached Italy, and entered +Germany. If it continued its progress, the coalition had reason to fear +that it would carry its conquests further. Everything seemed prepared for +general peace. + +But the situation of the directory was materially changed by the elections +of the year V. (May, 1797). These elections, by introducing, in a legal +way, the royalist party into the legislature and government, brought again +into question what the conflict of Vendémiaire had decided. Up to this +period, a good understanding had existed between the directory and the +councils. Composed of conventionalists, united by a common interest, and +the necessity of establishing the republic, after having been blown about +by the winds of all parties, they had manifested much good-will in their +intercourse, and much union in their measures. The councils had yielded to +the various demands of the directory; and, with the exception of a few +slight modifications, they had approved its projects concerning the +finance and the administration, its conduct with regard to the +conspiracies, the armies, and Europe. The anti-conventional minority had +formed an opposition in the councils; but this opposition, while waiting +the reinforcement of a new third, had but cautiously contended against the +policy of the directory. At its head were Barbé-Marbois, Pastoret, +Vaublanc, Dumas, Portalis, Siméon, Tronçon-Ducoudray, Dupont de Nemours, +most of them members of the Right in the legislative assembly, and some of +them avowed royalists. Their position soon became less equivocal and more +aggressive, by the addition of those members elected in the year V. + +The royalists formed a formidable and active confederation, having its +leaders, agents, budgets, and journals. They excluded republicans from the +elections, influenced the masses, who always follow the most energetic +party, and whose banner they momentarily assume. They would not even admit +patriots of the first epoch, and only elected decided counter- +revolutionists or equivocal constitutionalists. The republican party was +then placed in the government and in the army; the royalist party in the +electoral assemblies and the councils. + +On the 1st Prairial, year V. (20th May), the two councils opened their +sittings. From the beginning they manifested the spirit which actuated +them. Pichegru, whom the royalists transferred on to the new field of +battle of the counter-revolution, was enthusiastically elected president +of the council _des jeunes_. Barbé-Marbois had given him, with the same +eagerness, the presidentship of the elder council. The legislative body +proceeded to appoint a director to replace Letourneur, who, on the 30th +Floréal, had been fixed on by ballot as the retiring member. Their choice +fell on Barthélemy, the ambassador to Switzerland, whose moderate views +and attachment to peace suited the councils and Europe, but who was +scarcely adapted for the government of the republic, owing to his absence +from France during all the revolution. + +These first hostilities against the directory and the conventional party +were followed by more actual attacks. Its administration and policy were +now attacked without scruple. The directory had done all it had been able +to do by a legal government in a situation still revolutionary. It was +blamed for continuing the war and for the disorder of the financial +department. The legislative majority skilfully turned its attention to the +public wants; it supported the entire liberty of the press, which allowed +journalists to attack the directory, and to prepare the way for another +system; it supported peace because it would lead to the disarming of the +republic, and lastly, it supported economy. + +These demands were in one sense useful and national. France was weary, and +felt the need of all these things in order to complete its social +restoration; accordingly, the nation half adopted the views of the +royalists, but from entirely different motives. It saw with rather more +anxiety the measures adopted by the councils relative to priests and +emigrants. A pacification was desired; but the nation did not wish that +the conquered foes of the revolution should return triumphant. The +councils passed the laws with regard to them with great precipitation. +They justly abolished the sentence of transportation or imprisonment +against priests for matters of religion or incivism; but they wished to +restore the ancient prerogatives of their form of worship; to render +Catholicism, already re-established, outwardly manifest by the use of +bells, and to exempt priests from the oath of public functionaries. +Camille Jordan, a young Lyonnais deputy, full of eloquence and courage, +but professing unreasonable opinions, was the principal panegyrist of the +clergy in the younger council. The speech which he delivered on this +subject excited great surprise and violent opposition. The little +enthusiasm that remained was still entirely patriotic, and all were +astonished at witnessing the revival of another enthusiasm, that of +religion: the last century and the revolution had made men entirely +unaccustomed to it, and prevented them from understanding it. This was the +moment when the old party revived its creed, introduced its language, and +mingled them with the creed and language of the reform party, which had +hitherto prevailed alone. The result was, as is usual with all that is +unexpected, an unfavourable and ridiculous impression against Camille +Jordan, who was nicknamed _Jordan-Carillon, Jordan-les-Cloches_. The +attempt of the protectors of the clergy did not, however, succeed; and the +council of five hundred did not venture as yet to pass a decree for the +use of bells, or to make the priests independent. After some hesitation, +the moderate party joined the directorial party, and supported the civic +oath with cries of "Vive la République!" + +Meantime, hostilities continued against the directory, especially in the +council of five hundred, which was more zealous and impatient than that of +the ancients. All this greatly emboldened the royalist faction in the +interior. The counter-revolutionary reprisals against the _patriots_, and +those who had acquired national property, were renewed. Emigrant and +dissentient priests returned in crowds, and being unable to endure +anything savouring of the revolution, they did not conceal their projects +for its overthrow. The directorial authority, threatened in the centre, +and disowned in the departments, became wholly powerless. + +But the necessity of defence, the anxiety of all men who were devoted to +the directory, and especially to the revolution, gave courage and support +to the government. The aggressive progress of the councils brought their +attachment to the republic into suspicion; and the mass, which had at +first supported, now forsook them. The constitutionalists of 1791, and the +directorial party formed an alliance. The club of _Salm_, established +under the auspices of this alliance, was opposed to the club of _Clichy_, +which for a long time had been the rendezvous of the most influential +members of the councils. The directory, while it had recourse to opinion, +did not neglect its principal force--the support of the troops. It brought +near Paris several regiments of the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, commanded +by Hoche. The constitutional radius of six myriametres (twelve leagues), +which the troops could not legally pass, was violated: and the councils +denounced this violation to the directory, which feigned an ignorance, +wholly disbelieved, and made very weak excuses. + +The two parties were watching each other. One had its posts at the +directory, at the club of _Salm_, and in the army, the other, in the +councils, at _Clichy_, and in the _salons_ of the royalists. The mass were +spectators. Each of the two parties was disposed to act in a revolutionary +manner towards the other. An intermediate constitutional and conciliatory +party tried to prevent the struggle, and to bring about an union, which +was altogether impossible. Carnot was at its head: a few members of the +younger council, directed by Thibaudeau, and a tolerably large number of +the Ancients, seconded his projects of moderation. Carnot, who, at that +period, was the director of the constitution, with Barthélemy, who was the +director of the legislature, formed a minority in the government. Carnot, +very austere in his conduct and very obstinate in his views, could not +agree either with Barras or with the imperious Rewbell. To this opposition +of character was then added difference of system. Barras and Rewbell, +supported by La Réveillère, were not at all averse to a coup-d'état +against the councils, while Carnot wished strictly to follow the law. This +great citizen, at each epoch of the revolution, had perfectly seen the +mode of government which suited it, and his opinion immediately became a +fixed idea. Under the committee of public safety, the dictatorship was his +fixed system, and under the directory, legal government. Recognising no +difference of situation, he found himself placed in an equivocal position; +he wished for peace in a moment of war; and for law, in a moment of coups- +d'état. + +The councils, somewhat alarmed at the preparations of the directory, +seemed to make the dismissal of a few ministers, in whom they placed no +confidence, the price of reconciliation. These were, Merlin de Douai, the +minister of justice; Delacroix, minister of foreign affairs; and Ramel, +minister of finance. On the other hand they desired to retain Pétiet as +minister of war, Bénésech as minister of the interior, and Cochon de +Lapparent as minister of police. The legislative body, in default of +directorial power, wished to make sure of the ministry. Far from falling +in with this wish, which would have introduced the enemy into the +government, Rewbell, La Réveillère and Barras dismissed the ministers +protected by the councils, and retained the others. Bénésech was replaced +by François de Neufchâteau, Pétiet by Hoche, and soon afterwards by +Schérer; Cochon de Lapparent, by Lenoir-Laroche; and Lenoir-Laroche, who +had too little decision, by Sotin. Talleyrand, likewise, formed part of +this ministry. He had been struck off the list of emigrants, from the +close of the conventional session, as a revolutionist of 1791; and his +great sagacity, which always placed him with the party having the greatest +hope of victory, made him, at this period, a directorial republican. He +held the portfolio of Delacroix, and he contributed very much, by his +counsels and his daring, to the events of Fructidor. + +War now appeared more and more inevitable. The directory did not wish for +a reconciliation, which, at the best, would only have postponed its +downfall and that of the republic to the elections of the year VI. It +caused threatening addresses against the councils to be sent from the +armies. Bonaparte had watched with an anxious eye the events which were +preparing in Paris. Though intimate with Carnot, and corresponding +directly with him, he had sent Lavalette, his aid-de-camp, to furnish him +with an account of the divisions in the government, and the intrigues and +conspiracies with which it was beset. Bonaparte had promised the directory +the support of his army, in case of actual danger. He sent Augereau to +Paris with addresses from his troops. "Tremble, royalists!" said the +soldiers. "From the Adige to the Seine is but a step. Tremble! your +iniquities are numbered; and their recompense is at the end of our +bayonets."--"We have observed with indignation," said the staff, "the +intrigues of royalty threatening liberty. By the manes of the heroes slain +for our country, we have sworn implacable war against royalty and +royalists. Such are our sentiments; they are yours, and those of all +patriots. Let the royalists show themselves, and their days are numbered." +The councils protested, but in vain, against these deliberations of the +army. General Richepanse, who commanded the troops arrived from the army +of the Sambre-et-Meuse, stationed them at Versailles, Meudon, and +Vincennes. + +The councils had been assailants in Prairial, but as the success of their +cause might be put off to the year VI., when it might take place without +risk or combat, they kept on the defensive after Thermidor (July, 1797). +They, however, then made every preparation for the contest: they gave +orders that the _constitutional circles_ should be closed, with a view to +getting rid of the club of _Salm_; they also increased the powers of the +commission of inspectors of the hall, which became the government of the +legislative body, and of which the two royalist conspirators, Willot and +Pichegru, formed part. The guard of the councils, which was under the +control of the directory, was placed under the immediate orders of the +inspectors of the hall. At last, on the 17th Fructidor, the legislative +body thought of procuring the assistance of the militia of Vendémiaire, +and it decreed, on the motion of Pichegru, the formation of the national +guard. On the following day, the 18th, this measure was to be executed, +and the councils were by a decree to order the troops to remove to a +distance. They had reached a point that rendered a new victory necessary +to decide the great struggle of the revolution and the ancient system. The +impetuous general, Willot, wished them to take the initiative, to decree +the impeachment of the three directors, Barras, Rewbell, and La +Réveillère; to cause the other two to join the legislative body; if the +government refused to obey, to sound the tocsin, and march with the old +sectionaries against the directory; to place Pichegru at the head of this +_legal insurrection_, and to execute all these measures promptly, boldly, +and at mid-day. Pichegru is said to have hesitated; and the opinion of the +undecided prevailing, the tardy course of legal preparations was adopted. + +It was not, however, the same with the directory. Barras, Rewbell, and La +Réveillère determined instantly to attack Carnot, Barthélemy, and the +legislative majority. The morning of the 18th was fixed on for the +execution of this coup-d'état. During the night, the troops encamped in +the neighbourhood of Paris, entered the city under the command of +Augereau. It was the design of the directorial triumvirate to occupy the +Tuileries with troops before the assembling of the legislative body, in +order to avoid a violent expulsion; to convoke the councils in the +neighbourhood of the Luxembourg, after having arrested their principal +leaders, and by a legislative measure to accomplish a coup-d'état begun by +force. It was in agreement with the minority of the councils, and relied +on the approbation of the mass. The troops reached the Hôtel de Ville at +one in the morning, spread themselves over the quays, the bridges, and the +Champs Élysées, and before long, twelve thousand men and forty pieces of +cannon surrounded the Tuileries. At four o'clock the alarm-shot was fired, +and Augereau presented himself at the gate of the Pont-Tournant. + +The guard of the legislative body was under arms. The inspectors of the +hall, apprised the night before of the movement in preparation, had +repaired to the national palace (the Tuileries), to defend the entrance. +Ramel, commander of the legislative guard, was devoted to the councils, +and he had stationed his eight hundred grenadiers in the different avenues +of the garden, shut in by gates. But Pichegru, Willot, and Ramel, could +not resist the directory with this small and uncertain force. Augereau had +no need even to force the passage of the Pont-Tournant: as soon as he came +before the grenadiers, he cried out, "Are you republicans?" The latter +lowered their arms and replied, "Vive Augereau! Vive le directoire!" and +joined him. Augereau traversed the garden, entered the hall of the +councils, arrested Pichegru, Willot, Ramel, and all the inspectors of the +hall, and had them conveyed to the Temple. The members of the councils, +convoked in haste by the inspectors, repaired in crowds to their place of +sitting; but they were arrested or refused admittance by the armed force. +Augereau announced to them that the directory, urged by the necessity of +defending the republic from the conspirators among them, had assigned the +Odéon and the School of Medicine for the place of their sittings. The +greater part of the deputies present exclaimed against military violence +and the dictatorial usurpation, but they were obliged to yield. + +At six in the morning this expedition was terminated. The people of Paris, +on awaking, found the troops still under arms, and the walls placarded +with proclamations announcing the discovery of a formidable conspiracy. +The people were exhorted to observe order and confidence. The directory +had printed a letter of general Moreau, in which he announced in detail +the plots of his predecessor Pichegru with the emigrants, and another +letter from the prince de Condé to Imbert Colomès, a member of the +Ancients. The entire population remained quiet; they were mere spectators +of an event brought about without the interference of parties, and by the +assistance of the army only. They displayed neither approbation nor +regret. + +The directory felt the necessity of legalizing, and more especially of +terminating, this extraordinary act. As soon as the members of the five +hundred, and of the ancients, were assembled at the Odéon and the School +of Medicine in sufficient numbers to debate, they determined to sit +permanently. A message from the directory announced the motive which had +actuated all its measures. "Citizens, legislators," ran the message, "if +the directory had delayed another day, the republic would have been given +up to its enemies. The very place of your sittings was the rendezvous of +the conspirators: from thence they yesterday distributed their plans and +orders for the delivery of arms; from thence they corresponded last night +with their accomplices; lastly, from thence, or in the neighbourhood, they +again endeavoured to raise clandestine and seditious assemblies, which the +police at this moment are employed in dispersing. We should have +compromised the public welfare, and that of its faithful representatives, +had we suffered them to remain confounded with the foes of the country in +the den of conspiracy." + +The younger council appointed a commission, composed of Sieyès, Poulain- +Granpré, Villers, Chazal, and Boulay de la Meurthe, deputed to present a +law of _public safety_. The law was a measure of ostracism; only +transportation was substituted for the scaffold in this second +revolutionary and dictatorial period. + +The members of the five hundred sentenced to transportation were: Aubry, +J. J. Aimé, Bayard, Blain, Boissy d'Anglas, Borne, Bourdon de l'Oise, +Cadroy, Couchery, Delahaye, Delarue, Doumère, Dumolard, Duplantier, Gibert +Desmolières, Henri La Rivière, Imbert-Colomès, Camille Jordan, Jourdan +(des Bouches-du-Rhône) Gall, La Carrière, Lemarchand-Gomicourt, Lemérer, +Mersan, Madier, Maillard, Noailles, André, Mac-Cartin, Pavie, Pastoret, +Pichegru, Polissard, Praire-Montaud, Quatremère-Quincy, Saladin, Siméon, +Vauvilliers, Vienot-Vaublanc, Villaret-Joyeuse, Willot. In the council of +ancients: Barbé-Marbois, Dumas, Ferraud-Vaillant, Lafond-Ladebat, Laumont, +Muraire, Murinais, Paradis, Portalis, Rovère, Tronçon-Ducoudray. In the +directory: Carnot and Barthélemy. They also condemned the abbé Brottier, +Lavilleheurnois, Dunan, the ex-minister of police, Cochon, the ex-agent of +the police Dossonville, generals Miranda and Morgan; the journalist, +Suard; the ex-conventionalist, Mailhe; and the commandant, Ramel. A few of +the proscribed succeeded in evading the decree of exile; Carnot was among +the number. Most of them were transported to Cayenne; but a great many did +not leave the Isle of Ré. + +The directory greatly extended this act of ostracism. The authors of +thirty-five journals were included in the sentence of transportation. It +wished to strike at once all the avenues of the republic in the councils, +in the press, in the electoral assemblies, the departments, in a word, +wherever they had introduced themselves. The elections of forty-eight +departments were annulled, the laws in favour of priests and emigrants +were revoked, and soon afterwards the disappearance of all who had swayed +in the departments since the 9th Thermidor raised the spirits of the cast- +down republican party. The coup-d'état of Fructidor was not purely +central; like the victory of Vendémiaire; it ruined the royalist party, +which had only been repulsed by the preceding defeat. But, by again +replacing the legal government by the dictatorship, it rendered necessary +another revolution, which shall be recounted later. + +We may say, that on the 18th Fructidor of the year V. it was necessary +that the directory should triumph over the counterrevolution by decimating +the councils; or that the councils should triumph over the republic by +overthrowing the directory. The question thus stated, it remains to +inquire, 1st, if the directory could have conquered by any other means +than a coup-d'état; 2ndly, whether it misused its victory? + +The government had not the power of dissolving the councils. At the +termination of a revolution, whose object was to establish the extreme +right, they were unable to invest a secondary authority with the control +of the sovereignty of the people, and in certain cases to make the +legislature subordinate to the directory. This concession of an +experimental policy not existing, what means remained to the directory of +driving the enemy from the heart of the state? No longer able to defend +the revolution by virtue of the law, it had no resource but the +dictatorship; but in having recourse to that, it broke the conditions of +its existence; and while saving the revolution, it soon fell itself. + +As for its victory, it sullied it with violence, by endeavouring to make +it too complete. The sentence of transportation was extended to too many +victims; the petty passions of men mingled with the defence of the cause, +and the directory did not manifest that reluctance to arbitrary measures +which is the only justification of coups-d'état. To attain its object, it +should have exiled the leading conspirators only; but it rarely happens +that a party does not abuse the dictatorship; and that, possessing the +power, it believes not in the dangers of indulgence. The defeat of the +18th Fructidor was the fourth of the royalist party; two took place in +order to dispossess it of power, those of the 14th of July and 10th of +August; two to prevent its resuming it; those of the 13th Vendémiaire and +18th Fructidor. This repetition of powerless attempts and protracted +reverses did not a little contribute to the submission of this party under +the consulate and the empire. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +FROM THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, IN THE YEAR V. (4TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1797), TO THE +18TH BRUMAIRE, IN THE YEAR VIII. (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) + + +The chief result of the 18th Fructidor was a return, with slight +mitigation, to the revolutionary government. The two ancient privileged +classes were again excluded from society; the dissentient priests were +again banished. The Chouans, and former fugitives, who occupied the field +of battle in the departments, abandoned it to the old republicans: those +who had formed part of the military household of the Bourbons, the +superior officers of the crown, the members of the parliaments, commanders +of the order of the Holy Ghost and Saint Louis, the knights of Malta, all +those who had protested against the abolition of nobility, and who had +preserved its titles, were to quit the territory of the republic. The ci- +devant nobles, or those ennobled, could only enjoy the rights of citizens, +after a term of seven years, and after having gone through a sort of +apprenticeship as Frenchmen. This party, by desiring sway, restored the +dictatorship. + +At this period the directory attained its maximum of power; for some time +it had no enemies in arms. Delivered from all internal opposition, it +imposed the continental peace on Austria by the treaty of Campo-Formio, +and on the empire by the congress of Rastadt. The treaty of Campo-Formio +was more advantageous to the cabinet of Vienna than the preliminaries of +Leoben. Its Belgian and Lombard states were paid for by a part of the +Venetian states. This old republic was divided; France retained the Ionian +Isles, and gave the city of Venice and the provinces of Istria and +Dalmatia to Austria. In this the directory committed a great fault, and +was guilty of an attempt against liberty. In the fanaticism of a system, +we may desire to set a country free, but we should never give it away. By +arbitrarily distributing the territory of a small state, the directory set +the bad example of this traffic in nations since but too much followed. +Besides, Austrian dominion would, sooner or later, extend in Italy, +through this imprudent cession of Venice. + +The coalition of 1792 and 1793 was dissolved; England was the only +remaining belligerent power. The cabinet of London was not at all disposed +to cede to France, which it had attacked in the hope of weakening it, +Belgium, Luxembourg, the left bank of the Rhine, Porentruy, Nice, Savoy, +the protectorate of Genoa, Milan, and Holland. But finding it necessary to +appease the English opposition, and reorganize its means of attack, it +made propositions of peace; it sent Lord Malmesbury as plenipotentiary, +first to Paris, then to Lille. But the offers of Pitt not being sincere, +the directory did not allow itself to be deceived by his diplomatic +stratagems. The negotiations were twice broken off, and war continued +between the two powers. While England negotiated at Lille, she was +preparing at Saint Petersburg the triple alliance, or second coalition. + +The directory, on its side, without finances, without any party in the +interior, having no support but the army, and no eminence save that +derived from the continuation of its victories, was not in a condition to +consent to a general peace. It had increased the public discontent by the +establishment of certain taxes and the reduction of the debt to a +consolidated third, payable in specie only, which had ruined the +fundholders. It became necessary to maintain itself by war. The immense +body of soldiers could not be disbanded without danger. Besides, being +deprived of its power, and being placed at the mercy of Europe, the +directory had attempted a thing never done without creating a shock, +except in times of great tranquillity, of great ease, abundance, and +employment. The directory was driven by its position to the invasion of +Switzerland and the expedition into Egypt. + +Bonaparte had then returned to Paris. The conqueror of Italy and the +pacificator of the continent, was received with enthusiasm, constrained on +the part of the directory, but deeply felt by the people. Honours were +accorded him, never yet obtained by any general of the republic. A +patriotic altar was prepared in the Luxembourg, and he passed under an +arch of standards won in Italy, on his way to the triumphal ceremony in +his honour. He was harangued by Barras, president of the directory, who, +after congratulating him on his victories, invited him "to crown so noble +a life by a conquest which the great country owed to its insulted +dignity." This was the conquest of England. Everything seemed in +preparation for a descent, while the invasion of Egypt was really the +enterprise in view. + +Such an expedition suited both Bonaparte and the directory. The +independent conduct of that general in Italy, his ambition, which, from +time to time, burst through his studied simplicity, rendered his presence +dangerous. He, on his side, feared, by his inactivity, to compromise the +already high opinion entertained of his talents: for men always require +from those whom they make great, more than they are able to perform. Thus, +while the directory saw in the expedition to Egypt the means of keeping a +formidable general at a distance, and a prospect of attacking the English +by India, Bonaparte saw in it a gigantic conception, an employment suited +to his taste, and a new means of astonishing mankind. He sailed from +Toulon on the 30th Floréal, in the year VI. (19th May, 1798), with a fleet +of four hundred sail, and a portion of the army of Italy; he steered for +Malta; of which he made himself master, and from thence to Egypt. + +The directory, who violated the neutrality of the Ottoman Porte in order +to attack the English, had already violated that of Switzerland, in order +to expel the emigrants from its territory. French opinions had already +penetrated into Geneva and the Pays de Vaud; but the policy of the Swiss +confederation was counter-revolutionary, from the influence of the +aristocracy of Berne. They had driven from the cantons all the Swiss who +had shown themselves partisans of the French republic. Berne was the +headquarters of the emigrants, and it was there that all the plots against +the revolution were formed. The directory complained, but did not receive +satisfaction. The Vaudois, placed by old treaties under the protection of +France, invoked her help against the tyranny of Berne. This appeal of the +Vaudois, its own grievances, its desire to extend the directorial +republican system to Switzerland, much more than the temptation of seizing +the little amount of treasure in Berne, a reproach brought against it by +some, determined the directory. Some conferences took place, which led to +no result, and war began. The Swiss defended themselves with much courage +and obstinacy, and hoped to resuscitate the times of their ancestors, but +they succumbed. Geneva was united to France, and Switzerland exchanged its +ancient constitution for that of the year III. From that time two parties +existed in the confederation, one of which was for France and the +revolution, the other for the counter-revolution and Austria. Switzerland +ceased to be a common barrier, and became the high road of Europe. + +This revolution had been followed by that of Rome. General Duphot was +killed at Rome in a riot; and in punishment of this assassination, which +the pontifical government had not interfered to prevent, Rome was changed +into a republic. All this combined to complete the system of the +directory, and make it preponderant in Europe; it was now at the head of +the Helvetian, Batavian, Ligurian, Cisalpine, and Roman republics, all +constructed on the same model. But while the directory extended its +influence abroad, it was again menaced by internal parties. + +The elections of Floréal in the year VI. (May, 1798) were by no means +favourable to the directory; the returns were quite at variance with those +of the year V. Since the 18th Fructidor, the withdrawal of the counter- +revolutionists had restored all the influence of the exclusive republican +party, which had reestablished the clubs under the name of _Constitutional +Circles_. This party dominated in the electoral assemblies, which, most +unusually, had to nominate four hundred and thirty-seven deputies: two +hundred and ninety-eight for the council of five hundred; a hundred and +thirty-nine for that of the ancients. When the elections drew near, the +directory exclaimed loudly against the _anarchists_. But its proclamations +having been unable to prevent democratic returns, it decided upon +annulling them in virtue of a law, by which the councils, after the 18th +Fructidor, had granted it the _power of judging_ the operations of the +electoral assemblies. It invited the legislative body, by a message, to +appoint a commission of five members for that purpose. On the 22nd +Floréal, the elections were for the most part annulled. At this period the +directorial party struck a blow at the extreme republicans, as nine months +before it had aimed at the royalists. + +The directory wished to maintain the political balance, which had been the +characteristic of its first two years; but its position was much changed. +Since its last coup-d'état, it could no longer be an impartial government, +because it was no longer a constitutional government. With these +pretensions of isolation, it dissatisfied every one. Yet it lived on in +this way till the elections of the year VII. It displayed much activity, +but an activity of a narrow and shuffling nature. Merlin de Douai and +Treilhard, who had replaced Carnot and Barthélemy, were two political +lawyers. Rewbell had in the highest degree the courage, without having the +enlarged views of a statesman. Laréveillère was too much occupied with the +sect of the Theophilanthropists for a government leader. As to Barras, he +continued his dissipated life and his directorial regency; his palace was +the rendezvous of gamesters, women of gallantry, and stock-jobbers of +every kind. The administration of the directors betrayed their character, +but more especially their position; to the embarrassments of which was +added war with all Europe. + +While the republican plenipotentiaries were yet negotiating for peace with +the empire at Rastadt, the second coalition began the campaign. The treaty +of Campo-Formio had only been for Austria a suspension of arms. England +had no difficulty in gaining her to a new coalition; with the exception of +Spain and Prussia, most of the European powers formed part of it. The +subsidies of the British cabinet, and the attraction of the West, decided +Russia; the Porte and the states of Barbary acceded to it, because of the +invasion of Egypt; the empire, in order to recover the left bank of the +Rhine, and the petty princes of Italy, that they might destroy the new +republics. At Rastadt they were discussing the treaty relative to the +empire, the concession of the left bank of the Rhine, the navigation of +that river, and the demolition of some fortresses on the right bank, when +the Russians entered Germany, and the Austrian army began to move. The +French plenipotentiaries, taken by surprise, received orders to leave in +four and twenty hours; they obeyed immediately, and set out, after having +obtained safe conduct from the generals of the enemy. At a short distance +from Rastadt they were stopped by some Austrian hussars, who, having +satisfied themselves as to their names and titles, assassinated them: +Bonnier and Roberjot were killed, Jean de Bry was left for dead. This +unheard-of violation of the right of nations, this premeditated +assassination of three men invested with a sacred character, excited +general horror. The legislative body declared war, and declared it with +indignation against the governments on whom the guilt of this enormity +fell. + +Hostilities had already commenced in Italy and on the Rhine. The +directory, apprised of the march of the Russian troops, and suspecting the +intentions of Austria, caused the councils to pass a law for recruiting. +The military conscription placed two hundred thousand young men at the +disposal of the republic. This law, which was attended with incalculable +consequences, was the result of a more regular order of things. Levies _en +masse_ had been the revolutionary service of the country; the conscription +became the legal service. + +The most impatient of the powers, those which formed the advanced guard of +the coalition, had already commenced the attack. The king of Naples had +advanced on Rome, and the king of Sardinia had raised troops and +threatened the Ligurian republic. As they had not sufficient power to +sustain the shock of the French armies, they were easily conquered and +dispossessed. General Championnet entered Naples after a sanguinary +victory. The lazaroni defended the interior of the town for three days; +but they yielded, and the Parthenopian republic was proclaimed. General +Joubert occupied Turin; and the whole of Italy was in the hands of the +French, when the new campaign began. + +The coalition was superior to the republic in effective force and in +preparations. It attacked it by the three great openings of Italy, +Switzerland, and Holland. A strong Austrian army debouched in the duchy of +Mantua; it defeated Scherer twice on the Adige, and was soon joined by the +whimsical and hitherto victorious Suvorov. Moreau replaced Scherer, and, +like him, was beaten; he retreated towards Genoa, in order to keep the +barrier of the Apennines and to join the army of Naples, commanded by +Macdonald, which was overpowered at the Trebia. The Austro-Russians then +directed their chief forces upon Switzerland. A few Russian corps joined +the archduke Charles, who had defeated Jourdan on the Upper Rhine, and was +preparing to pass over the Helvetian barrier. At the same time the duke of +York disembarked in Holland with forty thousand Anglo-Russians. The small +republics which protected France were invaded, and a few more victories +would have enabled the confederates to penetrate even to the scene of the +revolution. + +In the midst of these military disasters and the discontent of parties, +the elections of Floréal in the year VII. (May, 1799) took place; they +were republican, like those of the preceding year. The directory was no +longer strong enough to contend with public misfortunes and the rancour of +parties. The retirement of Rewbell, who was replaced by Sieyès, caused it +to lose the only man able to face the storm, and brought into its bosom +the most avowed antagonist of this compromised and worn-out government. +The moderate party and the extreme republicans united in demanding from +the directory an account of the internal and external situation of the +republic. The councils sat permanently. Barras abandoned his colleagues. +The fury of the councils was directed solely against Treilhard, Merlin, +and La Réveillère, the last supports of the old directory. They deposed +Treilhard, because an interval of a year had not elapsed between his +legislative and his directorial functions, as the constitution required. +The ex-minister of justice, Gohier, was immediately chosen to replace him. + +The orators of the councils then warmly attacked Merlin and La Réveillère, +whom they could not dismiss from the directory. The threatened directors +sent a justificatory message to the councils, and proposed peace. On the +30th Prairial, the republican Bertrand (du Calvados) ascended the tribune, +and after examining the offers of the directors, exclaimed: "You have +proposed union; and I propose that you reflect if you yourselves can still +preserve your functions. If you love the republic you will not hesitate to +decide. You are incapable of doing good; you will never have the +confidence of your colleagues, that of the people, or that of the +representatives, without which you cannot cause the laws to be executed. I +know that, thanks to the constitution, there already exists in the +directory a majority which enjoys the confidence of the people, and that +of the national representation. Why do you hesitate to introduce unanimity +of desires and principles between the two first authorities of the +republic? You have not even the confidence of those vile flatterers, who +have dug your political tomb. Finish your career by an act of devotion, +which good republican hearts will be able to appreciate." + +Merlin and La Réveillère, deprived of the support of the government by the +retirement of Rewbell, the dismissal of Treilhard, and the desertion of +Barras, urged by the councils and by patriotic motives, yielded to +circumstances, and resigned the directorial authority. This victory, +gained by the republican and moderate parties combined, turned to the +profit of both. The former introduced general Moulins into the directory; +the latter, Roger Ducos. The 30th Prairial (18th June), which witnessed +the breaking up of the old government of the year III., was an act of +reprisal on the part of the councils against the directory for the 18th +Fructidor and the 22nd Floréal. At this period the two great powers of the +state had each in turn violated the constitution: the directory by +decimating the legislature; the legislature by expelling the directory. +This form of government, which every party complained of, could not have a +protracted existence. + +Sieyès, after the success of the 30th Prairial, laboured to destroy what +yet remained of the government of the year III., in order to establish the +legal system on another plan. He was whimsical and systematic; but he had +the faculty of judging surely of situations. He re-entered upon the scene +of the revolution of a singular epoch, with the intention of strengthening +it by a definitive constitution. After having co-operated in the principal +changes of 1789, by his motion of the 17 of June, which transformed the +states-general into a national assembly, and by his plan of internal +organization, which substituted departments for provinces, he had remained +passive and silent during the subsequent interval. He waited till the +period of public defence should again give place to institutions. +Appointed, under the directory, to the embassy at Berlin, the neutrality +of Prussia was attributed to his efforts. On his return, he accepted the +office of director, hitherto refused by him, because Rewbell was leaving +the government, and he thought that parties were sufficiently weary to +undertake a definitive pacification, and the establishment of liberty. +With this object, he placed his reliance on Roger-Ducos in the directory, +on the council of ancients in the legislature, and without, on the mass of +moderate men and the middle-class, who, after desiring laws, merely as a +novelty, now desired repose as a novelty. This party sought for a strong +and secure government, which should have no past, no enmities, and which +thenceforward might satisfy all opinions and interests. As all that had +been dene, from the 14th of July till the 9th Thermidor, by the people, in +connexion with a part of the government, had been done since the 13th +Vendémiaire by the soldiers, Sieyès was in want of a general. He cast his +eyes upon Joubert, who was put at the head of the army of Italy, in order +that he might gain by his victories, and by the deliverance of Italy, a +great political importance. + +The constitution of the year III. was, however, still supported by the two +directors, Gohier and Moulins, the council of five hundred, and without, +by the party of the _Manège_. The decided republicans had formed a club +that held its sittings in that hall where had sat the first of our +assemblies. The new club, formed from the remains of that of Salm, before +the 18th Fructidor; of that of the Panthéon, at the beginning of the +directory; and of the old society of the Jacobins, enthusiastically +professed republican principles, but not the democratic opinions of the +inferior class. Each of these parties also had a share in the ministry +which had been renewed at the same time as the directory. Cambacérès had +the department of justice; Quinette, the home department; Reinhard, who +had been temporarily placed in office during the ministerial interregnum +of Talleyrand, was minister of foreign affairs; Robert Lindet was minister +of finance, Bourdon (of Vatry) of the navy, Bernadotte of war, +Bourguignon, soon afterwards replaced by Fouché (of Nantes), of police. + +This time Barras remained neutral between the two divisions of the +legislature, of the directory and of the ministry. Seeing that matters +were coming to a more considerable change than that of the 30th Prairial, +he, an ex-noble, thought that the decline of the republic would lead to +the restoration of the Bourbons, and he treated with the Pretender Louis +XVIII. It seems that, in negotiating the restoration of the monarchy by +his agent, David Monnier, he was not forgetful of himself. Barras espoused +nothing from conviction, and always sided with the party which had the +greatest chance of victory. A democratic member of the Mountain on the +31st of May; a reactionary member of the Mountain on the 9th Thermidor; a +revolutionary director against the royalists on the 18th Fructidor; +extreme republican director against his old colleagues on the 30th +Prairial; he now became a royalist director against the government of the +year III. + +The faction disconcerted by the 18th Fructidor and the peace of the +Continent, had also gained courage. The military successes of the new +coalition, the law of compulsory loans and that of hostages, which had +compelled every emigrant family to give guarantees to government, had made +the royalists of the south and west again take up arms. They reappeared in +bands, which daily became more formidable, and revived the petty but +disastrous warfare of the Chouans. They awaited the arrival of the +Russians, and looked forward to the speedy restoration of the monarchy. +This was a moment of fresh competition with every party. Each aspired to +the inheritance of the dying constitution, as they had done at the close +of the convention. In France, people are warned by a kind of political +odour that a government is dying, and all parties rush to be in at the +death. + +Fortunately for the republic, the war changed its aspect on the two +principal frontiers of the Upper and Lower Rhine. The allies, after having +acquired Italy, wished to enter France by Switzerland and Holland; but +generals Masséna and Brune arrested their hitherto victorious progress. +Masséna advanced against Korsakov and Suvorov. During twelve days of great +combinations and consecutive victories, hastening in turns from Constance +to Zurich, he repelled the efforts of the Russians, forced them to +retreat, and disorganized the coalition. Brune also defeated the duke of +York in Holland, obliged him to re-embark, and to renounce his attempted +invasion. The army of Italy alone had been less fortunate. It had lost its +general, Joubert, killed at the battle of Novi, while leading a charge on +the Austro-Russians. But this frontier, which was at a distance from the +centre of action, despite the defeat of Novi, was not crossed, and +Championnet ably defended it. It was soon to be repassed by the republican +troops, who, after each resumption of arms, having been for a moment +beaten, soon regained their superiority and recommenced their victories. +Europe, by giving additional exercise to the military power, by its +repeated attacks, rendered it each time more triumphant. + +But at home nothing was changed. Divisions, discontent, and anxiety were +the same as before. The struggle between the moderate republicans and the +extreme republicans had become more determined. Sieyès pursued his +projects against the latter. In the Champ-de-Mars, on the 10th of August, +he assailed the Jacobins. Lucien Bonaparte, who had much influence in the +council of five hundred, from his character, his talents, and the military +importance of the conqueror of Italy and of Egypt, drew in that assembly a +fearful picture of the reign of terror, and said that France was +threatened with its return. About the same time, Sieyès caused Bernadotte +to be dismissed, and Fouché, in concert with him, closed the meetings of +the Manège. The multitude, to whom it is only necessary to present the +phantom of the past to inspire it with fear, sided with the moderate +party, dreading the return of the reign of terror; and the extreme +republicans failed in their endeavour to declare _la patrie en danger_, as +they had done at the close of the legislative assembly. But Sieyès, after +having lost Joubert, sought for a general who could enter into his +designs, and who would protect the republic, without becoming its +oppressor. Hoche had been dead more than a year. Moreau had given rise to +suspicion by his equivocal conduct to the directory before the 18th +Fructidor, and by the sudden denunciation of his old friend Pichegru, +whose treason he had kept secret for a whole year; Masséna was not a +political general; Bernadotte and Jourdan were devoted to the party of the +Manège; Sieyès was compelled to postpone his scheme for want of a suitable +agent. + +Bonaparte had learned in the east, from his brother Lucien and a few other +friends, the state of affairs in France, and the decline of the +directorial government. His expedition had been brilliant, but without +results. After having defeated the Mamelukes, and ruined their power in +Upper and Lower Egypt, he had advanced into Syria; but the failure of the +siege of Acre had compelled him to return to his first conquest. There, +after defeating an Ottoman army on the coast of Aboukir, so fatal to the +French fleet the preceding year, he decided on leaving that land of exile +and fame, in order to turn the new crisis in France to his own elevation. +He left general Kléber to command the army of the east, and crossed the +Mediterranean, then covered with English ships, in a frigate. He +disembarked at Fréjus, on the 7th Vendémiaire, year VIII. (9th October, +1799), nineteen days after the battle of Berghen, gained by Brune over the +Anglo-Russians under the duke of York, and fourteen days after that of +Zurich, gained by Masséna over the Austro-Russians under Korsakov and +Suvorov. He traversed France, from the shore of the Mediterranean to +Paris, in triumph. His expedition, almost fabulous, had struck the public +mind with surprise, and had still more increased the great renown he had +acquired by the conquest of Italy. These two enterprises had raised him +above all the other generals of the republic. The distance of the theatre +upon which he had fought enabled him to begin his career of independence +and authority. A victorious general, an acknowledged and obeyed +negotiator, a creator of republics, he had treated all interests with +skill, all creeds with moderation. Preparing afar off his ambitious +destiny, he had not made himself subservient to any system, and had +managed all parties so as to work his elevation with their assent. He had +entertained this idea of usurpation since his victories in Italy. On the +18th Fructidor, had the directory been conquered by the councils, he +purposed marching against the latter with his army and seizing the +protectorate of the republic. After the 18th Fructidor; finding the +directory too powerful, and the inactivity of the continent too dangerous +for him, he accepted the expedition to Egypt, that he might not fall, and +might not be forgotten. At the news of the disorganization of the +directory, on the 30th Prairial, he repaired with haste to the scene of +events. + +His arrival excited the enthusiasm of the moderate masses of the nation. +He received general congratulations, and every party contended for his +favour. Generals, directors, deputies, and even the republicans of the +Manège, waited on and tried to sound him. Fêtes and banquets were given in +his honour. His manners were grave, simple, cool, and observing; he had +already a tone of condescending familiarity and involuntary habits of +command. Notwithstanding his want of earnestness and openness, he had an +air of self-possession, and it was easy to read in him an after-thought of +conspiracy. Without uttering his design, he allowed it to be guessed; +because a thing must always be expected in order to be accomplished. He +could not seek supporters in the republicans of the Manège, as they +neither wished for a coup-d'état nor for a dictator; and Sieyès feared +that he was too ambitious to fall in with his constitutional views. Hence +Sieyès hesitated to open his mind to Bonaparte, but, urged by their mutual +friends, they at length met and concerted together. On the 15th Brumaire, +they determined on their plan of attack on the constitution of the year +III, Sieyès undertook to prepare the councils by the _commissions of +inspectors,_ who placed unlimited confidence in him. Bonaparte was to gain +the generals and the different corps of troops stationed in Paris, who +displayed much enthusiasm for him and much attachment to his person. They +agreed to convoke an extraordinary meeting of the moderate members of the +councils, to describe the public danger to the Ancients, and by urging the +ascendancy of Jacobinism to demand the removal of the legislative body to +Saint-Cloud, and the appointment of general Bonaparte to the command of +the armed force, as the only man able to save the country; and then, by +means of the new military power, to obtain the dismissal of the directory, +and the temporary dissolution of the legislative body. The enterprise was +fixed for the morning of the 18th Brumaire (9th November). + +During these three days, the secret was faithfully kept, Barras, Moulins, +and Gohier, who formed the majority of the directory, of which Gohier was +then president, might have frustrated the coup-d'état of the conspirators +by forestalling them, as on the 18th Fructidor. But they gave them credit +for hopes only, and not for any decided projects. On the morning of the +18th, the members of the ancients were convoked in an unusual way by the +_inspectors;_ they repaired to the Tuileries, and the debate was opened +about seven in the morning under the presidentship of Lemercier. Cornudet, +Lebrun, and Fargues, the three most influential conspirators in the +council, drew a most alarming picture of the state of public affairs; +protesting that the Jacobins were flocking in crowds to Paris from all the +departments; that they wished to re-establish the revolutionary +government, and that a reign of terror would once more desolate the +republic, if the council had not the courage and wisdom to prevent its +return. Another conspirator, Régnier de la Meurthe, required of the +ancients already moved, that in virtue of the right conferred on them by +the constitution, they should transfer the legislative body to Saint +Cloud, and depute Bonaparte, nominated by them to the command of the 17th +military division, to superintend the removal. Whether all the members of +the council were accomplices of this manoeuvre, or whether they were +terrified by so hasty convocation, and by speeches so alarming, they +instantly granted what the conspirators required. + +Bonaparte awaited with impatience the result of this deliberation, at his +house in the Rue Chantereine; he was surrounded by generals, by Lefèvre, +the commander of the guard of the directory, and by three regiments of +cavalry which he was about to review. The decree of the council of +ancients was passed about eight, and brought to him at half-past eight by +a state messenger. He received the congratulations of all around him; the +officers drew their swords as a sign of fidelity. He put himself at their +head, and they marched to the Tuileries; he appeared at the bar of the +ancients, took the oath of fidelity, and appointed as his lieutenant, +Lefèvre, chief of the directorial guard. + +This was, however, only a beginning of success. Bonaparte was at the head +of the armed force; but the executive power of the directory and the +legislative power of the councils still existed. In the struggle which +would infallibly ensue, it was not certain that the great and hitherto +victorious force of the revolution would not triumph. Sieyès and Roger +Ducos went from the Luxembourg to the legislative and military camp of the +Tuileries, and gave in their resignation. Barras, Moulins, and Gohier, +apprised on their side, but a little too late, of what was going on, +wished to employ their power and make themselves sure of their guard; but +the latter, having received from Bonaparte information of the decree of +the ancients, refused to obey them. Barras, discouraged, sent in his +resignation, and departed for his estate of Gros-Bois. The directory was, +in fact, dissolved; and there was one antagonist less in the struggle. The +five hundred and Bonaparte alone remained opposed. + +The decree of the council of ancients and the proclamations of Bonaparte +were placarded on the walls of Paris. The agitation which accompanies +extraordinary events prevailed in that great city. The republicans, and +not without reason, felt serious alarm for the fate of liberty. But when +they showed alarm respecting the intentions of Bonaparte, in whom they +beheld a Caesar, or a Cromwell, they were answered in the general's own +words: "_Bad parts, worn out parts, unworthy a man of sense, even if they +were not so of a good man. It would be sacrilege to attack representative +government in this age of intelligence and freedom. He would be but a fool +who, with lightness of heart, could wish to cause the loss of the stakes +of the republic against royalty after having supported them with some +glory and peril_." Yet the importance he gave himself in his proclamations +was ominous. He reproached the directory with the situation of France in a +most extraordinary way. "What have you done," said he, "with that France +which I left so flourishing in your hands? I left you peace, I find you at +war; I left you victories, I find nothing but reverses; I left you the +millions of Italy, I find nothing but plundering laws and misery. What +have you done with the hundred thousand Frenchmen whom I knew, my +companions in glory? They are dead! This state of things cannot last; in +less than three years it would lead us to despotism." This was the first +time for ten years that a man had ventured to refer everything to himself; +and to demand an account of the republic, as of his own property. It is a +painful surprise to see a new comer of the revolution introduce himself +thus into the inheritance, so laboriously acquired, of an entire people. + +On the 19th Brumaire the members of the councils repaired to Saint Cloud; +Sieyès and Roger Ducos accompanied Bonaparte to this new field of battle; +they went thither with the intention of supporting the designs of the +conspirators; Sieyès, who understood the tactics of revolution, wished to +make sure of events by provisionally arresting the leaders, and only +admitting the moderate party into the councils; but Bonaparte refused to +accede to this. He was no party man; having hitherto acted and conquered +with regiments only, he thought he could direct legislative councils like +an army, by the word of command. The gallery of Mars had been prepared for +the ancients, the Orangery for the five hundred. A considerable armed +force surrounded the seat of the legislature, as the multitude, on the 2nd +of June, had surrounded the convention. The republicans, assembled in +groups in the grounds, waited the opening of the sittings; they were +agitated with a generous indignation against the military brutalism that +threatened them, and communicated to each other their projects of +resistance. The young general, followed by a few grenadiers, passed +through the courts and apartments, and prematurely yielding to his +character, he said, like the twentieth king of a dynasty: "_I will have no +more factions: there must be an end to this; I absolutely will not have +any more of it_," About two o'clock in the afternoon, the councils +assembled in their respective halls, to the sound of instruments which +played the _Marseillaise_. + +As soon as the business of the sitting commenced, Emile Gaudin, one of the +conspirators, ascended the tribune of the five hundred. He proposed a vote +of thanks to the council of ancients for the measures it had taken, and to +request it to expound the means of saving the republic. This motion was +the signal for a violent tumult; cries arose against Gaudin from every +part of the hall. The republican deputies surrounded the tribune and the +bureau, at which Lucien Bonaparte presided. The conspirators Cabanis, +Boulay (de la Meurthe), Chazal, Gaudin, etc., turned pale on their seats. +After a long scene of agitation, during which no one could obtain a +hearing, calm was restored for a few moments, and Delbred proposed that +the oath made to the constitution of the year III. should be renewed. As +no one opposed this motion, which at such a juncture was of vital +importance, the oath was taken with an enthusiasm and unanimity which was +dangerous to the conspiracy. + +Bonaparte, learning what had passed in the five hundred, and in the +greatest danger of desertion and defeat, presented himself at the council +of ancients. All would have been lost for him, had the latter, in favour +of the conspiracy, been carried away by the enthusiasm of the younger +council. "Representatives of the people," said he, "you are in no ordinary +situation; you stand on a volcano. Yesterday, when you summoned me to +inform me of the decree for your removal, and charged me with its +execution, I was tranquil. I immediately assembled my comrades; we flew to +your aid! Well, now I am overwhelmed with calumnies! They talk of Caesar, +Cromwell, and military government! Had I wished to oppress the liberty of +my country, I should not have attended to the orders which you gave me; I +should not have had any occasion to receive this authority from your +hands. Representatives of the people! I swear to you that the country has +not a more zealous defender than I am; but its safety rests with you +alone! There is no longer a government; four of the directors have given +in their resignation; the fifth (Moulins) has been placed under +surveillance for his own security; the council of five hundred is divided; +nothing is left but the council of ancients. Let it adopt measures; let it +but speak; I am ready to execute. Let us save liberty! let us save +equality!" Linglet, a republican, then arose and said: "General, we +applaud what you say: swear with us to obey the constitution of the year +III., which alone can maintain the republic." All would have been lost for +him had this motion met with the same reception which it had found in the +five hundred. It surprised the council, and for a moment Bonaparte was +disconcerted. But he soon resumed: "The constitution of the year III. has +ceased to exist; you violated it on the 18th Fructidor; you violated it on +the 22nd Floréal; you violated it on the 30th Prairial. The constitution +is invoked by all factions, and violated by all; it cannot be a means of +safety for us, because it no longer obtains respect from any one; the +constitution being violated, we must have another compact, new +guarantees." The council applauded these reproaches of Bonaparte, and rose +in sign of approbation. + +Bonaparte, deceived by his easy success with the ancients, imagined that +his presence alone would suffice to appease the stormy council of the five +hundred. He hastened thither at the head of a few grenadiers, whom he left +at the door, but within the hall, and he advanced alone, hat in hand. At +the sight of the bayonets, the assembly arose with a sudden movement. The +legislators, conceiving his entrance to be a signal for military violence, +uttered all at once the cry of "Outlaw him! Down with the dictator!" +Several members rushed to meet him, and the republican, Bigonet, seizing +him by the arm, exclaimed, "Rash man! what are you doing? Retire; you are +violating the sanctuary of the laws." Bonaparte, pale and agitated, +receded, and was carried off by the grenadiers who had escorted him there. + +His disappearance did not put a stop to the agitation of the council. All +the members spoke at once, all proposed measures of public safety and +defence. Lucien Bonaparte was the object of general reproach; he attempted +to justify his brother, but with timidity. After a long struggle, he +succeeded in reaching the tribune, and urged the assembly to judge his +brother with less severity. He protested that he had no design against +their liberty; and recalled his services. But several voices immediately +exclaimed: "He has lost all their merit; down with the dictator! down with +the tyrants!" The tumult now became more violent than ever; and all +demanded the outlawry of general Bonaparte. "What," said Lucien, "do you +wish me to pronounce the outlawry of my brother?" "Yes! yes! outlawry! it +is the reward of tyrants!" In the midst of the confusion, a motion was +made and put to the vote that the council should sit permanently; that it +should instantly repair to its palace at Paris; that the troops assembled +at Saint Cloud should form a part of the guard of the legislative body; +that the command of them should be given to general Bernadotte. Lucien, +astounded by these propositions, and by the outlawry, which he thought had +been adopted with the rest, left the president's chair, and ascending the +tribune, said, in the greatest agitation: "Since I cannot be heard in this +assembly, I put off the symbols of the popular magistracy with a deep +sense of insulted dignity." And he took off his cap, robe, and scarf. + +Bonaparte, meantime, on leaving the council of the five hundred, had found +some difficulty in regaining his composure. Unaccustomed to scenes of +popular tumult, he had been greatly agitated. His officers came around +him; and Sieyès, having more revolutionary experience, besought him not to +lose time, and to employ force. General Lefèvre immediately gave an order +for carrying off Lucien from the council. A detachment entered the hall, +advanced to the chair which Lucien now occupied again, placed him in their +ranks, and returned with him to the troops. As soon as Lucien came out, he +mounted a horse by his brother's side, and although divested of his legal +character, harangued the troops as president. In concert with Bonaparte, +he invented the story, so often repeated since, that poignards had been +drawn on the general in the council of five hundred, and exclaimed: +"Citizen soldiers, the president of the council of five hundred declares +to you that the large majority of that council is at this moment kept in +fear by the daggers of a few representatives, who surround the tribune, +threaten their colleagues with death, and occasion the most terrible +deliberations. General, and you, soldiers and citizens, you will only +recognise as legislators of France those who follow me. As for those who +remain in the Orangery, let force expel them. Those brigands are no longer +representatives of the people, but representatives of the poignard." After +this violent appeal, addressed to the troops by a conspirator president, +who, as usual, calumniated those he wished to proscribe, Bonaparte spoke: +"Soldiers," said he, "I have led you to victory; may I rely on you?"-- +"Yes! yes! Vive le Général!"--"Soldiers, there were reasons for expecting +that the council of five hundred would save the country; on the contrary, +it is given up to intestine quarrels; agitators seek to excite it against +me. Soldiers, may I rely on you?" "Yes! yes! Vive Bonaparte." "Well, +then, I will bring them to their senses!" And he instantly gave orders to +the officers surrounding him to clear the hall of the five hundred. + +The council, after Lucien's departure, had been a prey to great anxiety +and indecision. A few members proposed that they should leave the place in +a body, and go to Paris to seek protection amidst the people. Others +wished the national representatives not to forsake their post, but to +brave the outrages of force. In the meantime, a troop of grenadiers +entered the hall by degrees, and the officer in command informed the +council that they should disperse. The deputy Prudhon reminded the officer +and his soldiers of the respect due to the representatives of the people; +general Jourdan also represented to them the enormity of such a measure. +For a moment the troops hesitated; but a reinforcement now arrived in +close column. General Leclerc exclaimed: "In the name of general +Bonaparte, the legislative body is dissolved; let all good citizens +retire. Grenadiers, forward!" Cries of indignation arose from every side; +but these were drowned by the drums. The grenadiers advanced slowly across +the whole width of the Orangery, and presenting bayonets. In this way they +drove the legislators before them, who continued shouting, "Vive la +république!" as they left the place. At half-past five, on the 19th +Brumaire of the year VIII. (10th November, 1799) there was no longer a +representation. + +Thus this violation of the law, this coup-d'état against liberty was +accomplished. Force began to sway. The 18th of Brumaire was the 31st of +May of the army against the representation, except that it was not +directed against a party, but against the popular power. But it is just to +distinguish the 18th Brumaire from its consequences. It might then be +supposed that the army was only an auxiliary of the revolution as it had +been on the 13th Vendémiaire and the 18th Fructidor, and that this +indispensable change would not turn to the advantage of a man--a single +man, who would soon change France into a regiment, and cause nothing to be +heard of in a world hitherto agitated by so great a moral commotion, save +the tread of his army, and the voice of his will. + + + + +THE CONSULATE + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +FROM THE 18TH BRUMAIRE (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) TO THE 2ND OF DECEMBER, +1804 + + +The 18th Brumaire had immense popularity. People did not perceive in this +event the elevation of a single man above the councils of the nation; they +did not see in it the end of the great movement of the 14th of July, which +had commenced the national existence. + +The 18th Brumaire assumed an aspect of hope and restoration. Although the +nation was much exhausted, and little capable of supporting a sovereignty +oppressive to it, and which had even become the object of its ridicule, +since the lower class had exercised it, yet it considered despotism so +improbable, that no one seemed to it to be in a condition to reduce it to +a state of subjection. All felt the need of being restored by a skilful +hand, and Bonaparte, as a great man and a victorious general, seemed +suited for the task. + +On this account almost every one, except the directorial republicans, +declared in favour of the events of that day. Violation of the laws and +coups-d'état had occurred so frequently during the revolution, that people +had become accustomed no longer to judge them by their legality, but by +their consequences. From the party of Sieyès down to the royalists of +1788, every one congratulated himself on the 18th Brumaire, and attributed +to himself the future political advantages of this change. The moderate +constitutionalists believed that definitive liberty would be established; +the royalists fed themselves with hope by inappropriately comparing this +epoch of our revolution with the epoch of 1660 in the English revolution, +with the hope that Bonaparte was assuming the part of Monk, and that he +would soon restore the monarchy of the Bourbons; the mass, possessing +little intelligence, and desirous of repose, relied on the return of order +under a powerful protector; the proscribed classes and ambitious men +expected from him their amnesty or elevation. During the three months +which followed the 18th Brumaire, approbation and expectation were +general. A provisional government had been appointed, composed of three +consuls, Bonaparte, Sieyès, and Roger Ducos, with two legislative +commissioners, entrusted to prepare the constitution and a definitive +order of things. + +The consuls and the two commissioners were installed on the 21st Brumaire. +This provisional government abolished the law respecting hostages and +compulsory loans; it permitted the return of the priests proscribed since +the 18th Fructidor; it released from prison and sent out of the republic +the emigrants who had been shipwrecked on the coast of Calais, and who for +four years were captives in France, and were exposed to the heavy +punishment of the emigrant army. All these measures were very favourably +received. But public opinion revolted at a proscription put in force +against the extreme republicans. Thirty-six of them were sentenced to +transportation to Guiana, and twenty-one were put under surveillance in +the department of Charante-Inférieure, merely by a decree of the consuls +on the report of Fouché, minister of police. The public viewed +unfavourably all who attacked the government; but at the same time it +exclaimed against an act so arbitrary and unjust. The consuls, +accordingly, recoiled before their own act; they first commuted +transportation into surveillance, and soon withdrew surveillance itself. + +It was not long before a rupture broke out between the authors of the 18th +Brumaire. During their provisional authority, it did not create much +noise, because it took place in the legislative commissions. The new +constitution was the cause of it. Sieyès and Bonaparte could not agree on +this subject: the former wished to institute France, the latter to govern +it as a master. + +The constitution of Sieyès, which was distorted in the consular +constitution of the year VIII., deserves to be known, were it only in the +light of a legislative curiosity. Sieyès distributed France into three +political divisions; the commune, the province or department, and the +State. Each had its own powers of administration and judicature, arranged +in hierarchical order: the first, the municipalities and _tribunaux de +paix_ and _de premiere instance;_ the second, the popular prefectures and +courts of appeal; the third, the central government and the court of +cassation. To fill the functions of the commune, the department, and the +State, there were three budgets of _notability_, the members of which were +only candidates nominated by the people. + +The executive power was vested in the _proclamateur-électeur_, a superior +functionary, perpetual, without responsibility, deputed to represent the +nation without, and to form the government in a deliberating state-council +and a responsible ministry. The _proclamateur-électeur_ selected from the +lists of candidates, judges, from the tribunals of peace to the court of +cassation; administrators, from the mayors to the ministers. But he was +incapable of governing himself; power was directed by the state council, +exercised by the ministry. + +The legislature departed from the form hitherto established; it ceased to +be a deliberative assembly to become a judicial court. Before it, the +council of state, in the name of the government, and the _tribunat_, in +the name of the people, pleaded their respective projects. Its sentence +was law. It would seem that the object of Sieyès was to put a stop to the +violent usurpations of party, and while placing the sovereignty in the +people, to give it limits in itself: this design appears from the +complicated works of his political machine. The primary assemblies, +composed of the tenth of the general population, nominated the local _list +of communal candidates_; electoral colleges, also nominated by them, +selected from the _communal list_ the superior list of provincial +candidates and from the _provincial list_, the list of national +candidates. In all which concerned the government, there was a reciprocal +control. The proclamateur-électeur selected his functionaries from among +the candidates nominated by the people: and the people could dismiss +functionaries, by not keeping them on the lists of candidates, which were +renewed, the first every two years, the second every five years, the third +every ten years. But the proclamateur-électeur did not interfere in the +nomination of tribunes and legislators, whose attributes were purely +popular. + +Yet, to place a counterpoise in the heart of this authority itself, Sieyès +separated the initiative and the discussion of the law, which was invested +in the tribunate from its adoption, which belonged to the legislative +assembly. But besides these different prerogatives, the legislative body +and the tribunate were not elected in the same manner. The tribunate was +composed by right of the first hundred members of the _national list_, +while the legislative body was chosen directly by the electoral colleges. +The tribunes, being necessarily more active, bustling, and popular, were +appointed for life, and by a protracted process, to prevent their arriving +in a moment of passion, with destructive and angry projects, as had +hitherto been the case in most of the assemblies. The same dangers not +existing in the other assembly, which had only to judge calmly and +disinterestedly of the law, its election was direct, and its authority +transient. + +Lastly, there existed, as the complement of all the other powers, a +conservatory body, incapable of ordering, incapable of acting, intended +solely to provide for the regular existence of the state. This body was +the constitutional jury, or conservatory senate; it was to be for the +political law what the court of cassation was to the civil law. The +tribunate, or the council of state, appealed to it when the sentence of +the legislative body was not conformable to the constitution. It had also +the faculty of calling into its own body any leader of the government who +was too ambitious, or a tribune who was too popular, by the "droit +d'absorption," and when senators, they were disqualified from filling any +other function. In this way it kept a double watch over the safety of the +whole republic, by maintaining the fundamental law, and protecting liberty +against the ambition of individuals. + +Whatever may be thought of this constitution, which seems too finely +complicated to be practicable, it must be granted that it is the +production of considerable strength of mind, and even great practical +information. Sieyès paid too little regard to the passions of men; he made +them too reasonable as human beings, and too obedient as machines. He +wished by skilful inventions to avoid the abuses of human constitutions, +and excluded death, that is to say, despotism, from whatever quarter it +might come. But I have very little faith in the efficacy of constitutions; +in such moments, I believe only in the strength of parties in their +domination, and, from time to time, in their reconciliation. But I must +also admit that, if ever a constitution was adapted to a period, it was +that of Sieyès for France in the year VIII. + +After an experience of ten years, which had only shown exclusive +dominations, after the violent transition from the constitutionalists of +1789 to the Girondists, from the Girondists to the Mountain, from the +Mountain to the reactionists, from the reactionists to the directory, from +the directory to the councils, from the councils to the military force, +there could be no repose or public life save in it. People were weary of +worn-out constitutions; that of Sieyès was new; exclusive men were no +longer wanted, and by elaborate voting it prevented the sudden accession +of counter-revolutionists, as at the beginning of the directory, or of +ardent democrats, as at the end of this government. It was a constitution +of moderate men, suited to terminate a revolution, and to settle a nation. +But precisely because it was a constitution of moderate men, precisely +because parties had no longer sufficient ardour to demand a law of +domination, for that very reason there would necessarily be found a man +stronger than the fallen parties and the moderate legislators, who would +refuse this law, or, accepting, abuse it, and this was what happened. + +Bonaparte took part in the deliberations of the constituent committee; +with his instinct of power, he seized upon everything in the ideas of +Sieyès which was calculated to serve his projects, and caused the rest to +be rejected. Sieyès intended for him the functions of grand elector, with +a revenue of six millions of francs, and a guard of three thousand men; +the palace of Versailles for a residence, and the entire external +representation of the republic. But the actual government was to be +invested in a consul for war and a consul for peace, functionaries +unthought of by Sieyès in the year III., but adopted by him in the year +VIII.; in order, no doubt, to suit the ideas of the times. This +insignificant magistracy was far from suiting Bonaparte. "How could you +suppose," said he, "that a man of any talent and honour could resign +himself to the part of fattening like a hog, on a few millions a year?" +From that moment it was not again mentioned; Roger Ducos, and the greater +part of the committee, declared in favour of Bonaparte; and Sieyès, who +hated discussion, was either unwilling or unable to defend his ideas. He +saw that laws, men, and France itself were at the mercy of the man whose +elevation he had promoted. + +On the 24th of December, 1799 (Nivôse, year VIII.), forty-five days after +the 18th Brumaire, was published the constitution of the year VIII.; it +was composed of the wrecks of that of Sieyès, now become a constitution of +servitude. The government was placed in the hands of the first consul, who +was supported by two others, having a deliberative voice. The senate, +primarily selected by the consuls, chose the members of the tribunal and +legislative body, from the list of the national candidates. The government +alone had the initiative in making the laws. Accordingly, there were no +more bodies of electors who appointed the candidates of different lists, +the tribunes and legislators; no more independent tribunes earnestly +pleading the cause of the people before the legislative assembly; no +legislative assembly arising directly from the bosom of the nation, and +accountable to it alone--in a word, no political nation. Instead of all +this, there existed an all-powerful consul, disposing of armies and of +power, a general and a dictator; a council of state destined to be the +advanced guard of usurpation; and lastly, a senate of eighty members, +whose only function was to nullify the people, and to choose tribunes +without authority, and legislators who should remain mute. Life passed +from the nation to the government. The constitution of Sieyès served as a +pretext for a bad order of things. It is worth notice that up to the year +VIII. all the constitutions had emanated from the _Contrat-social_, and +subsequently, down to 1814, from the constitution of Sieyès. + +The new government was immediately installed. Bonaparte was first consul, +and he united with him as second and third consuls, Cambacérès, a lawyer, +and formerly a member of the Plain in the convention, and Lebrun, formerly +a co-adjutor of the chancellor Maupeou. By their means, he hoped to +influence the revolutionists and moderate royalists. With the same object, +an ex-noble, Talleyrand, and a former member of the Mountain, Fouché, were +appointed to the posts of minister of foreign affairs, and minister of +police. Sieyès felt much repugnance at employing Fouché; but Bonaparte +wished it. "We are forming a new epoch," said he; "we must forget all the +ill of the past, and remember only the good." He cared very little under +what banner men had hitherto served, provided they now enlisted under his, +and summoned thither their old associates in royalism and in revolution. + +The two new consuls and the retiring consuls nominated sixty senators, +without waiting for the lists of eligibility; the senators appointed a +hundred tribunes and three hundred legislators; and the authors of the +18th Brumaire distributed among themselves the functions of the state, as +the booty of their victory. It is, however, just to say that the moderate +liberal party prevailed in this partition, and that, as long as it +preserved any influence, Bonaparte governed in a mild, advantageous, and +republican manner. The constitution of the year VIII., submitted to the +people for acceptance, was approved by three millions eleven thousand and +seven citizens. That of 1793 had obtained one million eight hundred and +one thousand nine hundred and eighteen suffrages; and that of the year +III. one million fifty-seven thousand three hundred and ninety. The new +law satisfied the moderate masses, who sought tranquillity, rather than +guarantees; while the code of '93 had only found partisans among the lower +class; and that of the year III. had been equally rejected by the +royalists and democrats. The constitution of 1791 alone had obtained +general approbation; and, without having been subjected to individual +acceptance, had been sworn to by all France. + +The first consul, in compliance with the wishes of the republic, made +offers of peace to England, which it refused. He naturally wished to +assume an appearance of moderation, and, previous to treating, to confer +on his government the lustre of new victories. The continuance of the war +was therefore decided on, and the consuls made a remarkable proclamation, +in which they appealed to sentiments new to the nation. Hitherto it had +been called to arms in defence of liberty; now they began to excite it in +the name of honour: "Frenchmen, you wish for peace. Your government +desires it with still more ardour: its foremost hopes, its constant +efforts, have been in favour of it. The English ministry rejects it; the +English ministry has betrayed the secret of its horrible policy. To rend +France, to destroy its navy and ports, to efface it from the map of +Europe, or reduce it to the rank of a secondary power, to keep the nations +of the continent at variance, in order to seize on the commerce of all, +and enrich itself by their spoils: these are the fearful successes for +which England scatters its gold, lavishes its promises, and multiplies its +intrigues. It is in your power to command peace; but, to command it, +money, the sword, and soldiers are necessary; let all, then, hasten to pay +the tribute they owe to their common defence. Let our young citizens +arise! No longer will they take arms for factions, or for the choice of +tyrants, but for the security of all they hold most dear; for the honour +of France, and for the sacred interests of humanity." + +Holland and Switzerland had been sheltered during the preceding campaign. +The first consul assembled all his force on the Rhine and the Alps. He +gave Moreau the command of the army of the Rhine, and he himself marched +into Italy. He set out on the 16th Floréal, year VIII. (6th of May, 1800) +for that brilliant campaign which lasted only forty days. It was important +that he should not be long absent from Paris at the beginning of his +power, and especially not to leave the war in a state of indecision. +Field-marshal Mélas had a hundred and thirty thousand men under arms; he +occupied all Italy. The republican army opposed to him only amounted to +forty thousand men. He left the field-marshal lieutenant Ott with thirty +thousand men before Genoa; and marched against the corps of general +Suchet. He entered Nice, prepared to pass the Var, and to enter Provence. +It was then that Bonaparte crossed the great Saint Bernard at the head of +an army of forty thousand men, descended into Italy in the rear of Mélas, +entered Milan on the 16th Prairial (2nd of June), and placed the Austrians +between Suchet and himself. Mélas, whose line of operation was broken, +quickly fell back upon Nice, and from thence on to Turin; he established +his headquarters at Alessandria, and decided on re-opening his +communications by a battle. On the 9th of June, the advance guard of the +republicans gained a glorious victory at Monte-Bello, the chief honour of +which belonged to general Lannes. But it was the plain of Marengo, on the +14th of June (25th Prairial) that decided the fate of Italy; the Austrians +were overwhelmed. Unable to force the passage of the Bormida by a victory, +they were placed without any opportunity of retreat between the army of +Suchet and that of the first consul. On the 15th, they obtained permission +to fall behind Mantua, on condition of restoring all the places of +Piedmont, Lombardy, and the Legations; and the victory of Marengo thus +secured possession of all Italy. + +Eighteen days after, Bonaparte returned to Paris. He was received with all +the evidence of admiration that such decided victories and prodigious +activity could excite; the enthusiasm was universal. There was a +spontaneous illumination, and the crowd hurried to the Tuileries to see +him. The hope of speedy peace redoubled the public joy. On the 25th +Messidor the first consul was present at the anniversary fête of the 14th +of July. When the officers presented him the standards taken from the +enemy, he said to them: "When you return to your camps, tell your soldiers +that the French people, on the 1st Vendemiaire, when we shall celebrate +the anniversary of the republic, will expect either the proclamation of +peace, or, if the enemy raise insuperable obstacles, further standards as +the result of new victories." Peace, however, was delayed for some time. + +In the interim between the victory of Marengo and the general +pacification, the first consul turned his attention chiefly to settling +the people, and to diminishing the number of malcontents, by employing the +displaced factions in the state. He was very conciliatory to those parties +who renounced their systems, and very lavish of favours to those chiefs +who renounced their parties. As it was a time of selfishness and +indifference, he had no difficulty in succeeding. The proscribed of the +18th Fructidor were already recalled, with the exception of a few royalist +conspirators, such as Pichegru, Willot, etc. Bonaparte soon even employed +those of the banished who, like Portalis, Siméon, Barbé-Marbois, had shown +themselves more anti-conventionalists than counter-revolutionists. He had +also gained over opponents of another description. The late leaders of La +Vendée, the famous Bernier, curé of Saint-Lo, who had assisted in the +whole insurrection, Châtillon, d'Autichamp and Suzannet had come to an +arrangement by the treaty of Mont-Luçon (17th January, 1800). He also +addressed himself to the leaders of the Breton bands, Georges Cadoudal, +Frotté, Laprévelaye, and Bourmont. The two last alone consented to submit. +Frotté was surprised and shot; and Cadoudal defeated at Grand Champ, by +General Brune, capitulated. The western war was thus definitively +terminated. + +But the _Chouans_ who had taken refuge in England, and whose only hope was +in the death of him who now concentrated the power of the revolution, +projected his assassination. A few of them disembarked on the coast of +France, and secretly repaired to Paris. As it was not easy to reach the +first consul, they decided on a conspiracy truly horrible. On the third +Nivôse, at eight in the evening, Bonaparte was to go to the Opera by the +Rue Saint-Nicaise. The conspirators placed a barrel of powder on a little +truck, which obstructed the carriage way, and one of them, named Saint +Regent, was to set fire to it as soon as he received a signal of the first +consul's approach. At the appointed time, Bonaparte left the Tuileries, +and crossed the Rue Nicaise. His coachman was skilful enough to drive +rapidly between the truck and the wall; but the match was already alight, +and the carriage had scarcely reached the end of the street when _the +infernal machine_ exploded, covered the quarter of Saint-Nicaise with +ruins, shaking the carriage, and breaking its windows. + +The police, taken by surprise, though directed by Fouché, attributed this +plot to the democrats, against whom the first consul had a much more +decided antipathy than against the _Chouans_. Many of them were +imprisoned, and a hundred and thirty were transported by a simple senatus- +consultus asked and obtained during the night. At length they discovered +the true authors of the conspiracy, some of whom were condemned to death. +On this occasion, the consul caused the creation of special military +tribunals. The constitutional party separated still further from him, and +began its energetic but useless opposition. Lanjuinais, Grégoire, who had +courageously resisted the extreme party in the convention, Garat, +Lambrechts, Lenoir-Laroche, Cabanis, etc., opposed, in the senate, the +illegal proscription of a hundred and thirty democrats; and the tribunes, +Isnard, Daunou, Chénier, Benjamin Constant, Bailleul, Chazal, etc., +opposed the special courts. But a glorious peace threw into the shade this +new encroachment of power. + +The Austrians, conquered at Marengo, and defeated in Germany by Moreau, +determined on laying down arms; On the 8th of January, 1801, the republic, +the cabinet of Vienna, and the empire, concluded the treaty of Lunéville. +Austria ratified all the conditions of the treaty of Campo-Formio, and +also ceded Tuscany to the young duke of Parma. The empire recognised the +independence of the Batavian, Helvetian, Ligurian, and Cisalpine +republics. The pacification soon became general, by the treaty of Florence +(18th of February 1801,) with the king of Naples, who ceded the isle of +Elba and the principality of Piombino, by the treaty of Madrid (29th of +September, 1801) with Portugal; by the treaty of Paris (8th of October, +1801) with the emperor of Russia; and, lastly, by the preliminaries (9th +of October, 1801) with the Ottoman Porte. The continent, by ceasing +hostilities, compelled England to a momentary peace. Pitt, Dundas, and +Lord Grenville, who had maintained these sanguinary struggles with France, +went out of office when their system ceased to be followed. The opposition +replaced them; and, on the 25th of March, 1802, the treaty of Amiens +completed the pacification of the world. England consented to all the +continental acquisitions of the French republic, recognised the existence +of the secondary republics, and restored our colonies. + +During the maritime war with England, the French navy had been almost +entirely ruined. Three hundred and forty ships had been taken or +destroyed, and the greater part of the colonies had fallen into the hands +of the English. San Domingo, the most important of them all, after +throwing off the yoke of the whites, had continued the American +revolution, which having commenced in the English colonies, was to end in +those of Spain, and change the colonies of the new world into independent +states. The blacks of San Domingo wished to maintain, with respect to the +mother country, the freedom which they had acquired from the colonists, +and to defend themselves against the English. They were led by a man of +colour, the famous Toussaint-L'Ouverture. France should have consented to +this revolution which had been very costly for humanity. The metropolitan +government could no longer be restored at San Domingo; and it became +necessary to obtain the only real advantages which Europe can now derive +from America, by strengthening the commercial ties with our old colony. +Instead of this prudent policy, Bonaparte attempted an expedition to +reduce the island to subjection. Forty thousand men embarked for this +disastrous enterprise. It was impossible for the blacks to resist such an +army at first; but after the first victories, it was attacked by the +climate, and new insurrections secured the independence of the colony. +France experienced the twofold loss of an army and of advantageous +commercial connexions. + +Bonaparte, whose principal object hitherto had been to promote the fusion +of parties, now turned all his attention to the internal prosperity of the +republic, and the organization of power. The old privileged classes of the +nobility and the clergy had returned into the state without forming +particular classes. Dissentient priests, on taking an oath of obedience, +might conduct their modes of worship and receive their pensions from +government. An act of pardon had been passed in favour of those accused of +emigration; there only remained a list of about a thousand names of those +who remained faithful to the family and the claims of the pretender. The +work of pacification was at an end. Bonaparte, knowing that the surest way +of commanding a nation is to promote its happiness, encouraged the +development of industry, and favoured external commerce, which had so long +been suspended. He united higher views with his political policy, and +connected his own glory with the prosperity of France; he travelled +through the departments, caused canals and harbours to be dug, bridges to +be built, roads to be repaired, monuments to be erected, and means of +communication to be multiplied. He especially strove to become the +protector and legislator of private interests. The civil, penal, and +commercial codes, which he formed, whether at this period, or at a later +period, completed, in this respect, the work of the revolution, and +regulated the internal existence of the nation, in a manner somewhat more +conformable to its real condition. Notwithstanding political despotism, +France, during the domination of Bonaparte, had a private legislation +superior to that of any European society; for with absolute government, +most of them still preserved the civil condition of the middle-ages. +General peace, universal toleration, the return of order, the restoration, +and the creation of an administrative system, soon changed the appearance +of the republic. Attention was turned to the construction of roads and +canals. Civilization became developed in an extraordinary manner; and the +consulate was, in this respect, the perfected period of the directory, +from its commencement to the 18th Fructidor. + +It was more especially after the peace Amiens that Bonaparte raised the +foundation of his future power. He himself says, in the Memoirs published +under his name, [Footnote: _Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire de France +sous Napoléon, écrits à Sainte Hélène_, vol. i. p. 248.] "The ideas of +Napoleon were fixed, but to realise them he required the assistance of +time and circumstances. The organization of the consulate had nothing in +contradiction with these; it accustomed the nation to unity, and that was +a first step. This step taken, Napoleon was indifferent to the forms and +denominations of the different constituted bodies. He was a stranger to +the revolution. It was his wisdom to advance from day to day, without +deviating from the fixed point, the polar star, which directed Napoleon +how to guide the revolution to the port whither he wished to conduct it." + +In the beginning of 1802, he was at one and the same time forming three +great projects, tending to the same end. He sought to organize religion +and to establish the clergy, which as yet had only a religious existence; +to create, by means of the Legation of Honour, a permanent military order +in the army; and to secure his own power, first for his life, and then to +render it hereditary. Bonaparte was installed at the Tuileries, where he +gradually resumed the customs and ceremonies of the old monarchy. He. +already thought of placing intermediate bodies between himself and the +people. For some time past he had opened a negotiation with Pope Pius +VII., on matters of religious worship. The famous concordat, which created +nine archbishoprics, forty-one bishoprics, with the institution of +chapters, which established the clergy in the state, and again placed it +under the external monarchy of the pope, was signed at Paris on the 16th +of July, 1801, and ratified at Rome on the 15th of August, 1801. + +Bonaparte, who had destroyed the liberty of the press, created exceptional +tribunals, and who had departed more and more from the principles of the +revolution, felt that before he went further it was necessary to break +entirely with the liberal party of the 18th Brumaire. In Ventôse, year X. +(March, 1802), the most energetic of the tribunes were dismissed by a +simple operation of the senate. The tribunate was reduced to eighty +members, and the legislative body underwent a similar purgation. About a +month after, the 15th Germinal (6th of April, 1802), Bonaparte, no longer +apprehensive of opposition, submitted the concordat to these assemblies, +whose obedience he had thus secured, for their acceptance. They adopted it +by a great majority. The Sunday and four great religious festivals were +re-established, and from that time the government ceased to observe the +system of decades. This was the first attempt at renouncing the republican +calendar. Bonaparte hoped to gain the sacerdotal party, always most +disposed to passive obedience, and thus deprive the royalist of the +clergy, and the coalition of the pope. + +The concordat was inaugurated with great pomp in the cathedral of Nôtre- +Dame. The senate, the legislative body, the tribunate, and the leading +functionaries were present at this new ceremony. The first consul repaired +thither in the carriages of the old court, with the etiquette and +attendants of the old monarchy; salvos of artillery announced this return +of privilege, and this essay at royalty. A pontifical mass was performed +by Caprara, the cardinal-legate, and the people were addressed by +proclamation in a language to which they had long been unaccustomed. +"Reason and the example of ages," ran the proclamation, "command us to +have recourse to the sovereign pontiff to effect unison of opinion and +reconciliation of hearts. The head of the church has weighed in his wisdom +and for the interest of the church, propositions dictated by the interest +of the state." + +In the evening there was an illumination, and a concert in the gardens of +the Tuileries. The soldiery reluctantly attended at the inauguration +ceremony, and expressed their dissatisfaction aloud. On returning to the +palace, Bonaparte questioned general Delmas on the subject. "_What did you +think of the ceremony? _" said he. "_A fine mummery_" was the reply. +"_Nothing was wanting but a million of men slain, in destroying what you +re-establish. _" + +A month after, on the 25th Floréal, year X. (15th of May, 1802), he +presented the project of a law respecting _the creation of a legion of +honour_. This legion was to be composed of fifteen cohorts, dignitaries +for life, disposed in hierarchical order, having a centre, an +organization, and revenues. The first consul was the chief of the legion. +Each cohort was composed of seven grand officers, twenty commanders, +thirty officers, and three hundred and fifty legionaries. Bonaparte's +object was to originate a new nobility. He thus appealed to the ill- +suppressed sentiment of inequality. While discussing this projected law in +the council of state, he did not scruple to announce his aristocratic +design. Berlier, counsellor of state, having disapproved an institution so +opposed to the spirit of the republic, said that: "Distinctions were the +playthings of a monarchy." "I defy you," replied the first consul, "to +show me a republic, ancient or modern, in which distinctions did not +exist; you call them toys; well, it is by toys that men are led. I would +not say as much to a tribune; but in a council of wise men and statesmen +we may speak plainly. I do not believe that the French love _liberty and +equality_. The French have not been changed by ten years of revolution; +they have but one sentiment--_honour_. That sentiment, then, must be +nourished; they must have distinctions. See how the people prostrate +themselves before the ribbons and stars of foreigners; they have been +surprised by them; and they do not fail to wear them. All has been +destroyed; the question is, how to restore all. There is a government, +there are authorities; but the rest of the nation, what is it? Grains of +sand. Among us we have the old privileged classes, organized in principles +and interests, and knowing well what they want. I can count our enemies. +But we, ourselves, are dispersed, without system, union, or contact. As +long as I am here, I will answer for the republic; but we must provide for +the future. Do you think the republic is definitively established? If so, +you are greatly deceived. It is in our power to make it so; but we have +not done it; and we shall not do it if we do not hurl some masses of +granite on the soil of France." [Footnote: This passage is extracted from +M. Thibaudeau's _Mémoires_ of the Consulate. There are in these +_Mémoires_, which are extremely curious, some political conversations of +Bonaparte, details concerning his internal government and the principal +sittings of the council of state, which throw much light upon this epoch.] +By these words Bonaparte announced a system of government opposed to that +which the revolution sought to establish, and which the change in society +demanded. + +Yet, notwithstanding the docility of the council of state, the purgation +undergone by the tribunal and the legislative body, these three bodies +vigorously opposed a law which revived inequality. In the council of +state, the legion of honour only had fourteen votes against ten; in the +tribunal, thirty-eight against fifty-six; in the legislative body, a +hundred and sixty-six against a hundred and ten. Public opinion manifested +a still greater repugnance for this new order of knighthood. Those first +invested seemed almost ashamed of it, and received it with a sort of +contempt. But Bonaparte pursued his counterrevolutionary course, without +troubling himself about a dissatisfaction no longer capable of resistance. + +He wished to confirm his power by the establishment of privilege, and to +confirm privilege by the duration of his power. On the motion of Chabot de +l'Allier, the tribunal resolved: "That the first consul, general +Bonaparte, should receive a signal mark of national gratitude." In +pursuance of this resolution, on the 6th of May, 1802, an organic senatus- +consultus appointed Bonaparte consul for an additional period of ten +years. + +But Bonaparte did not consider the prolongation of the consulate +sufficient; and two months after, on the 2nd of August, the senate, on the +decision of the tribunate and the legislative body, and with the consent +of the people, consulted by means of the public registers, passed the +following decree: + +"I. The French people nominate, and the senate proclaim Napoleon Bonaparte +first consul for life. + +"II. A statue of Peace, holding in one hand a laurel of victory, and in +the other, the decree of the senate, shall attest to posterity the +gratitude of the nation. + +"III. The senate will convey to the first consul the expression of the +confidence, love, and admiration of the French people." + +This revolution was complete by adapting to the consulship for life, by a +simple senatus-consultus, the constitution, already sufficiently despotic, +of the temporary consulship. "Senators," said Cornudet, on presenting the +new law, "we must for ever close the public path to the Gracchi. The +wishes of the citizens, with respect to the political laws they obey, are +expressed by the general prosperity; the guarantee of social rights +absolutely places the dogma of the exercise of the sovereignty of the +people in the senate, which is the bond of the nation. This is the only +social doctrine." The senate admitted this new social doctrine, took +possession of the sovereignty, and held it as a deposit till a favourable +moment arrived for transferring it to Bonaparte. + +The constitution of the 16th Thermidor, year X. (4th of August, 1802,) +excluded the people from the state. The public and administrative +functions became fixed, like those of the government. The first consul +could increase the number of electors who were elected for life. The +senate had the right of changing institutions, suspending the functions of +the jury, of placing the departments out of the constitution, of annulling +the sentences of the tribunals, of dissolving the legislative body, and +the tribunate. The council of state was reinforced; the tribunate, already +reduced by dismissals, was still sufficiently formidable to require to be +reduced to fifty members. + +Such, in the course of two years, was the terrible progress of privilege +and absolute power. Towards the close of 1802, everything was in the hands +of the consul for life, who had a class devoted to him in the clergy; a +military order in the legion of honour; an administrative body in the +council of state; a machinery for decrees in the legislative assembly; a +machinery for the constitution in the senate. Not daring, as yet, to +destroy the tribunate, in which assembly there arose, from time to time, a +few words of freedom and opposition, he deprived it of its most courageous +and eloquent members, that he might hear his will declared with docility +in all the assemblies of the nation. + +This interior policy of usurpation was extended beyond the country. On the +26th of August, Bonaparte united the island of Elba, and on the 11th of +September, 1802, Piedmont, to the French territory. On the 9th of October +he took possession of the states of Parma, left vacant by the death of the +duke; and lastly, on the 21st of October, he marched into Switzerland an +army of thirty thousand men, to support a federative act, which regulated +the constitution of each canton, and which had caused disturbances. He +thus furnished a pretext for a rupture with England, which had not +sincerely subscribed to the peace. The British cabinet had only felt the +necessity of a momentary suspension of hostilities; and, a short time +after the treaty of Amiens, it arranged a third coalition, as it had done +after the treaty of Campo-Formio, and at the time of the congress of +Rastadt. The interest and situation of England were alone of a nature to +bring about a rupture, which was hastened by the union of states effected +by Bonaparte, and the influence which he retained over the neighbouring +republics, called to complete independence by the recent treaties. +Bonaparte, on his part, eager for the glory gained on the field of battle, +wishing to aggrandize France by conquests, and to complete his own +elevation by victories, could not rest satisfied with repose; he had +rejected liberty, and war became a necessity. + +The two cabinets exchanged for some time very bitter diplomatic notes. At +length, Lord Whitworth, the English ambassador, left Paris on the 25th +Floréal, year XI. (13th of May, 1803). Peace was now definitively broken: +preparations for war were made on both sides. On the 26th of May, the +French troops entered the electorate of Hanover. The German empire, on the +point of expiring, raised no obstacle. The emigrant Chouan party, which +had taken no steps since the affair of the infernal machine and the +continental peace, were encouraged by this return of hostilities. The +opportunity seemed favourable, and it formed in London, with the assent of +the British cabinet, a conspiracy headed by Pichegru and Georges Cadoudal. +The conspirators disembarked secretly on the coast of France, and repaired +with the same secrecy to Paris. They communicated with general Moreau, who +had been induced by his wife to embrace the royalist party. Just as they +were about to execute their project, most of them were arrested by the +police, who had discovered the plot, and traced them. Georges Cadoudal was +executed, Pichegru was found strangled in prison, and Moreau was sentenced +to two years' imprisonment, commuted to exile. This conspiracy, discovered +in the middle of February, 1804, rendered the person of the first consul, +whose life had been thus threatened, still dearer to the masses of the +people; addresses of congratulation were presented by all the bodies of +the state, and all the departments of the republic. About this time he +sacrificed an illustrious victim. On the 15th of March, the duc d'Enghien +was carried off by a squadron of cavalry from the castle of Ettenheim, in +the grand-duchy of Baden, a few leagues from the Rhine. The first consul +believed, from the reports of the police, that this prince had directed +the recent conspiracy. The duc d'Engbien was conveyed hastily to +Vincennes, tried in a few hours by a military commission, and shot in the +trenches of the château. This crime was not an act of policy, or +usurpation; but a deed of violence and wrath. The royalists might have +thought on the 18th Brumaire that the first consul was studying the part +of general Monk; but for four years he had destroyed that hope. He had no +longer any necessity for breaking with them in so outrageous a manner, nor +for reassuring, as it has been suggested, the Jacobins, who no longer +existed. Those who remained devoted to the republic, dreaded at this time +despotism far more than a counter-revolution. There is every reason to +think that Bonaparte, who thought little of human life, or of the rights +of nations, having already formed the habit of an expeditious and hasty +policy, imagined the prince to be one of the conspirators, and sought, by +a terrible example, to put an end to conspiracies, the only peril that +threatened his power at that period. + +The war with Britain and the conspiracy of Georges Cadoudal and Pichegru, +were the stepping-stones by which Bonaparte ascended from the consulate to +the empire. On the 6th Germinal, year XII. (27th March, 1804), the senate, +on receiving intelligence of the plot, sent a deputation to the first +consul. The president, François de Neufchâteau, expressed himself in these +terms: "Citizen first consul, you are founding a new era, but you ought to +perpetuate it: splendour is nothing without duration. We do not doubt but +this great idea has had a share of your attention; for your creative +genius embraces all and forgets nothing. But do not delay: you are urged +on by the times, by events, by conspirators, and by ambitious men; and in +another direction, by the anxiety which agitates the French people. It is +in your power to enchain time, master events, disarm the ambitious, and +tranquillize the whole of France by giving it institutions which will +cement your edifice, and prolong for our children what you have done for +their fathers. Citizen first consul, be assured that the senate here +speaks to you in the name of all citizens." + +On the 5th Floréal, year XII. (25th of April, 1804), Bonaparte replied to +the senate from Saint-Cloud, as follows: "Your address has occupied my +thoughts incessantly; it has been the subject of my constant meditation. +You consider, that the supreme magistracy should be hereditary, in order +to protect the people from the plots of our enemies, and the agitation +which arises from rival ambitions. You also think that several of our +institutions ought to be perfected, to secure the permanent triumph of +equality and public liberty, and to offer the nation and government the +twofold guarantee which they require. The more I consider these great +objects, the more deeply do I feel that in such novel and important +circumstances, the councils of your wisdom and experience are necessary to +enable me to come to a conclusion. I invite you, then, to communicate to +me your ideas on the subject." The senate, in its turn, replied on the +14th Floréal (3rd of May): "The senate considers that the interests of the +French people will be greatly promoted by confiding the government of the +republic to _Napoleon Bonaparte_, as hereditary emperor." By this +preconcerted scene was ushered in the establishment of the empire. + +The tribune Curée opened the debate in the tribunate by a motion on the +subject. He dwelt on the same motives as the senators had done. His +proposition was carried with enthusiasm. Carnot alone had the courage to +oppose the empire: "I am far," said he, "from wishing to weaken the +praises bestowed on the first consul; but whatever services a citizen may +have done to his country, there are bounds which honour, as well as +reason, imposes on national gratitude. If this citizen has restored public +liberty, if he has secured the safety of his country, is it a reward to +offer him the sacrifice of that liberty; and would it not be destroying +his own work to make his country his private patrimony? When once the +proposition of holding the consulate for life was presented for the votes +of the people, it was easy to see that an after-thought existed. A crowd +of institutions evidently monarchical followed in succession; but now the +object of so many preliminary measures is disclosed in a positive manner; +we are called to declare our sentiments on a formal motion to restore the +monarchical system, and to confer imperial and hereditary dignity on the +first consul. + +"Has liberty, then, only been shown to man that he might never enjoy it? +No, I cannot consent to consider this good, so universally preferred to +all others, without which all others are as nothing, as a mere illusion. +My heart tells me that liberty is attainable; that its regime is easier +and more stable than any arbitrary government. I voted against the +consulate for life; I now vote against the restoration of the monarchy; as +I conceive my quality as tribune compels me to do." + +But he was the only one who thought thus; and his colleagues rivalled each +other in their opposition to the opinion of the only man who alone among +them remained free. In the speeches of that period, we may see the +prodigious change that had taken place in ideas and language. The +revolution had returned to the political principles of the ancient regime; +the same enthusiasm and fanaticism existed; but it was the enthusiasm of +flattery, the fanaticism of servitude. The French rushed into the empire +as they had rushed into the revolution; in the age of reason they referred +everything to the enfranchisement of nations; now they talked of nothing +but the greatness of a man, and of the age of Bonaparte; and they now +fought to make kings, as they had formerly fought to create republics. + +The tribunate, the legislative body, and the senate, voted the empire, +which was proclaimed at Saint-Cloud on the 28th Floréal, year XII. (18th +of May, 1804). On the same day, a senatus-consultum modified the +constitution, which was adapted to the new order of things. The empire +required its appendages; and French princes, high dignitaries, marshals, +chamberlains, and pages were given to it. All publicity was destroyed. The +liberty of the press had already been subjected to censorship; only one +tribune remained, and that became mute. The sittings of the tribunate were +secret, like those of the council of state; and from that day, for a space +of ten years, France was governed with closed doors. Joseph and Louis +Bonaparte were recognised as French princes. Bethier, Murat, Moncey, +Jourdan, Masséna, Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, +Ney, Davoust, Bessières, Kellermann, Lefèvre, Pérignon, Sérurier, were +named marshals of the empire. The departments sent up addresses, and the +clergy compared Napoleon to a new Moses, a new Mattathias, a new Cyrus. +They saw in his elevation "the finger of God," and said "that submission +was due to him as dominating over all; to his ministers as sent by him, +because such was the order of Providence." Pope Pius VII. came to Paris to +consecrate the new dynasty. The coronation took place on Sunday, the 2nd +of December, in the church of Notre-Dame. + +Preparations had been making for this ceremony for some time, and it was +regulated according to ancient customs. The emperor repaired to the +metropolitan church with the empress Josephine, in a coach surmounted by a +crown, drawn by eight white horses, and escorted by his guard. The pope, +cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and all the great bodies of the state +were awaiting him in the cathedral, which had been magnificently decorated +for this extraordinary ceremony. He was addressed in an oration at the +door; and then, clothed with the imperial mantle, the crown on his head, +and the sceptre in his hand, he ascended a throne placed at the end of the +church. The high almoner, a cardinal, and a bishop, came and conducted him +to the foot of the altar for consecration. The pope poured the three-fold +unction on his head and hands, and delivered the following prayer:--"O +Almighty God, who didst establish Hazael to govern Syria, and Jehu king of +Israel, by revealing unto them thy purpose by the mouth of the prophet +Elias; who didst also shed the holy unction of kings on the head of Saul +and of David, by the ministry of thy prophet Samuel, vouchsafe to pour, by +my hands, the treasures of thy grace and blessing on thy servant Napoleon, +who, notwithstanding our own unworthiness, we this day consecrate emperor +in thy name." + +The pope led him solemnly back to the throne; and after he had sworn on +the Testament the oath prescribed by the new constitution, the chief +herald-at-arms cried in a loud voice--"_The most glorious and most august +emperor of the French is crowned and enthroned! Long live the emperor! _" +The church instantly resounded with the cry, salvoes of artillery were +fired, and the pope intoned the Te Deum. For several days there was a +succession of fêtes; but these fêtes _by command_, these fêtes of absolute +power, did not breathe the frank, lively, popular, and unanimous joy of +the first federation of the 14th of July; and, exhausted as the people +were, they did not welcome the beginning of despotism as they had welcomed +that of liberty. + +The consulate was the last period of the existence of the republic. The +revolution was coming to man's estate. During the first period of the +consular government, Bonaparte had gained the proscribed classes by +recalling them, he found a people still agitated by every passion, and he +restored them to tranquillity by labour, and to prosperity by restoring +order. Finally he compelled Europe, conquered for the third time, to +acknowledge his elevation. Till the treaty of Amiens, he revived in the +republic victory, concord, and prosperity, without sacrificing liberty. He +might then, had he wished, have made himself the representative of that +great age, which sought for that noble system of human dignity the +consecration of far-extended equality, wise liberty, and more developed +civilization. The nation was in the hands of the great man or the despot; +it rested with him to preserve it free or to enslave it. He preferred the +realization of his selfish projects, and preferred himself to all +humanity. Brought up in tents, coming late into the revolution, he only +understood its material and interested side; he had no faith in the moral +wants which had given rise to it, nor in the creeds which had agitated it, +and which, sooner or later, would return and destroy him. He saw an +insurrection approaching its end, an exhausted people at his mercy, and a +crown on the ground within his reach. + + + + +THE EMPIRE + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE, 1804-1814 + + +After the establishment of the empire, power became more arbitrary, and +society reconstructed itself on an aristocratic principle. The great +movement of recomposition, which had commenced on the 9th Thermidor went +on increasing. The convention had abolished classes; the directory +defeated parties; the consulate gained over men; and the empire corrupted +them by distinctions and privileges. This second period was the opposite +of the first. Under the one, we saw the government of the committees +exercised by men elected every three months, without guards, honours, or +representation, living on a few francs a day, working eighteen hours +together on common wooden tables; under the other, the government of the +empire, with all its paraphernalia of administration, it chamberlains, +gentlemen, praetorian guard, hereditary rights, its immense civil list, +and dazzling ostentation. The national activity was exclusively directed +to labour and war. All material interests, all ambitious passions, were +hierarchically arranged under one leader, who, after having sacrificed +liberty by establishing absolute power, destroyed equality by introducing +nobility. + +The directory had erected all the surrounding states into republics; +Napoleon wished to constitute them on the model of the empire. He began +with Italy. The council of state of the Cisalpine republic determined on +restoring hereditary monarchy in favour of Napoleon. Its vice-president, +M. Melzi, came to Paris to communicate to him this decision. On the 26th +Ventôse, year XIII. (17th of March, 1805), he was received with great +solemnity at the Tuileries. Napoleon was on his throne, surrounded by his +court, and all the splendour of sovereign power, in the display of which +he delighted. M. Melzi offered him the crown, in the name of his fellow- +citizens. "Sire," said he, in conclusion, "deign to gratify the wishes of +the assembly over which I have the honour to preside. Interpreter of the +sentiments which animate every Italian heart, it brings you their sincere +homage. It will inform them with joy that by accepting, you have +strengthened the ties which attach you to the preservation, defence, and +prosperity of the Italian nation. Yes, sire, you wished the existence of +the Italian republic, and it existed. Desire the Italian monarchy to be +happy, and it will be so." + +The emperor went to take possession of this kingdom; and, on the 26th of +May, 1805, he received at Milan the iron crown of the Lombards. He +appointed his adopted son, prince Eugene de Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, +and repaired to Genoa, which also renounced its sovereignty. On the 4th of +June, 1805, its territory was united to the empire, and formed the three +departments of Genoa, Montenotte, and the Apennines. The small republic of +Lucca was included in this monarchical revolution. At the request of its +gonfalonier, it was given in appanage to the prince of Piombino and his +princess, a sister of Napoleon. The latter, after this royal progress, +recrossed the Alps, and returned to the capital of his empire; he soon +after departed for the camp at Boulogne, where a great maritime expedition +against England was preparing. + +This project of descent which the directory had entertained after the +peace of Campo-Formio, and the first consul, after the peace of Lunéville, +had been resumed with much ardour since the new rupture. At the +commencement of 1805, a flotilla of two thousand small vessels, manned by +sixteen thousand sailors, carrying an army of one hundred and sixty +thousand men, nine thousand horses, and a numerous artillery, had +assembled in the ports of Boulogne, Etaples, Wimereux, Ambleteuse. and +Calais. The emperor was hastening by his presence the execution of this +project, when he learned that England, to avoid the descent with which it +was threatened, had prevailed on Austria to come to a rupture with France, +and that all the forces of the Austrian monarchy were in motion. Ninety +thousand men, under the archduke Ferdinand and general Mack, had crossed +the Jura, seized on Munich, and driven out the elector of Bavaria, the +ally of France; thirty thousand, under the archduke John, occupied the +Tyrol, and the archduke Charles, with one hundred thousand men, was +advancing on the Adige. Two Russian armies were preparing to join the +Austrians. Pitt had made the greatest efforts to organize this third +coalition. The establishment of the kingdom of Italy, the annexation of +Genoa and Piedmont to France, the open influence of the emperor over +Holland and Switzerland, had again aroused Europe, which now dreaded the +ambition of Napoleon as much as it had formerly feared the principles of +the revolution. The treaty of alliance between the British ministry and +the Russian cabinet had been signed on the 11th of April, 1805, and +Austria had acceded to it on the 9th of August. + +Napoleon left Boulogne, returned hastily to Paris, repaired to the senate +on the 23rd of September, obtained a levy of eighty thousand men, and set +out the next day to begin the campaign. He passed the Rhine on the 1st of +October, and entered Bavaria on the 6th, with an army of a hundred and +sixty thousand men. Masséna held back Prince Charles in Italy, and the +emperor carried on the war in Germany at full speed. In a few days he +passed the Danube, entered Munich, gained the victory of Wertingen, and +forced general Mack to lay down his arms at Ulm. This capitulation +disorganized the Austrian army. Napoleon pursued the course of his +victories, entered Vienna on the 13th of November, and then marched into +Moravia to meet the Russians, round whom the defeated troops had rallied. + +On the 2nd of December, 1805, the anniversary of the coronation, the two +armies met in the plains of Austerlitz. The enemy amounted to ninety-five +thousand men, the French to eighty thousand. On both sides the artillery +was formidable. The battle began at sunrise; these enormous masses began +to move; the Russian infantry could not stand against the impetuosity of +our troops and the manoeuvres of their general. The enemy's left was first +cut off; the Russian imperial guard came up to re-establish the +communication, and was entirely overwhelmed. The centre experienced the +same fate, and at one o'clock in the afternoon the most decisive victory +had completed this wonderful campaign. The following day the emperor +congratulated the army in a proclamation on the field of battle itself: +"Soldiers," said he, "I am satisfied with you. You have adorned your +eagles with immortal glory. An army of a hundred thousand men, commanded +by the emperors of Russia and Austria, in less than four days has been cut +to pieces or dispersed; those who escaped your steel have been drowned in +the lakes. Forty flags, the standards of the Russian imperial guard, a +hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, twenty generals, more than thirty +thousand prisoners, are the result of this ever memorable day. This +infantry, so vaunted and so superior in numbers, could not resist your +shock, and henceforth you have no more rivals to fear. Thus, in two +months, this third coalition has been defeated and dissolved." A truce was +concluded with Austria; and the Russians, who might have been cut to +pieces, obtained permission to retire by fixed stages. + +The peace of Pressburg followed the victories of Ulm and Austerlitz; it +was signed on the 26th of December. The house of Austria, which had lost +its external possessions, Holland and the Milanese, was now assailed in +Germany itself. It gave up the provinces of Dalmatia and Albania to the +kingdom of Italy; the territory of the Tyrol, the town of Augsburg, the +principality of Eichstett, a part of the territory of Passau, and all its +possessions in Swabia, Brisgau, and Ortenau to the electorates of Bavaria +and Wurtemberg, which were transformed into kingdoms. The grand duchy of +Baden also profited by its spoils. The treaty of Pressburg completed the +humiliation of Austria, commenced by the treaty of Campo-Formio, and +continued by that of Lunéville. The emperor, on his return to Paris, +crowned with so much glory, became the object of such general and wild +admiration, that he was himself carried away by the public enthusiasm and +intoxicated at his fortune. The different bodies of the state contended +among themselves in obedience and flatteries. He received the title of +Great, and the senate passed a decree dedicating to him a triumphal +monument. + +Napoleon became more confirmed in the principle he had espoused. The +victory of Marengo and the peace of Lunéville had sanctioned the +consulate; the victory of Austerlitz and peace of Pressburg consecrated +the empire. The last vestiges of the revolution were abandoned. On the 1st +of January, 1806, the Gregorian calendar definitively replaced the +republican calendar, after an existence of fourteen years. The Panthéon +was again devoted to purposes of worship, and soon even the tribunate +ceased to exist. But the emperor aimed especially at extending his +dominion over the continent. Ferdinand, king of Naples, having, during the +last war, violated the treaty of peace with France, had his states +invaded; and Joseph Bonaparte on the 30th of March was declared king of +the Two Sicilies. Soon after (June 5th, 1806), Holland was converted into +a kingdom, and received as monarch Louis Bonaparte, another brother of the +emperor. None of the republics created by the convention, or the +directory, now existed. Napoleon, in nominating secondary kings, restored +the military hierarchical system, and the titles of the middle ages. He +erected Dalmatia, Istria, Friuli, Cadore, Belluno, Conegliano, Treviso, +Feltra, Bassano, Vicenza, Padua, and Rovigo into duchies, great fiefs of +the empire. Marshal Berthier was invested with the principality of +Neufchâtel, the minister Talleyrand with that of Benevento. Prince +Borghese and his wife with that of Guastalla, Murat with the grand-duchy +of Berg and Clèves. Napoleon, not venturing to destroy the Swiss republic, +styled himself its mediator, and completed the organization of his +military empire by placing under his dependence the ancient Germanic body. +On the 12th of July, 1806, fourteen princes of the south and west of +Germany united themselves into the confederation of the Rhine, and +recognized Napoleon as their protector. On the 1st of August, they +signified to the diet of Ratisbon their separation from the Germanic body. +The empire of Germany ceased to exist, and Francis II. abdicated the title +by proclamation. By a convention signed at Vienna, on the 15th of +December, Prussia exchanged the territories of Anspach, Clèves, and +Neufchâtel for the electorate of Hanover. Napoleon had all the west under +his power. Absolute master of France and Italy, as emperor and king, he +was also master of Spain, by the dependence of that court; of Naples and +Holland, by his two brothers; of Switzerland, by the act of mediation; and +in Germany he had at his disposal the kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, and +the confederation of the Rhine against Austria and Prussia. After the +peace of Amiens, by supporting liberty he might have made himself the +protector of France and the moderator of Europe; but having sought glory +in domination, and made conquest the object of his life, he condemned +himself to a long struggle, which would inevitably terminate in the +dependence of the continent or in his own downfall. + +This encroaching progress gave rise to the fourth coalition. Prussia, +neutral since the peace of Basle, had, in the last campaign, been on the +point of joining the Austro-Russian coalition. The rapidity of the +emperor's victories had alone restrained her; but now, alarmed at the +aggrandizement of the empire, and encouraged by the fine condition of her +troops, she leagued with Russia to drive the French from Germany. The +cabinet of Berlin required that the French troops should recross the +Rhine, or war would be the consequence. At the same time, it sought to +form in the north of Germany a league against the confederation of the +south. The emperor, who was in the plenitude of his prosperity and of +national enthusiasm, far from submitting to the _ultimatum_ of Prussia, +immediately marched against her. + +The campaign opened early in October. Napoleon, as usual, overwhelmed the +coalition by the promptitude of his marches and the vigour of his +measures. On the 14th of October, he destroyed at Jena the military +monarchy of Prussia, by a decisive victory; on the 16th, fourteen thousand +Prussians threw down their arms at Erfurth; on the 25th, the French army +entered Berlin, and the close of 1806 was employed in taking the Prussian +fortresses and marching into Poland against the Russian army. The campaign +in Poland was less rapid, but as brilliant as that of Prussia. Russia, for +the third time, measured its strength with France. Conquered at Zurich and +Austerlitz, it was also defeated at Eylau and Friedland. After these +memorable battles, the emperor Alexander entered into a negotiation, and +concluded at Tilsit, on the 21st of June, 1807, an armistice which was +followed by a definitive treaty on the 7th of July. + +The peace of Tilsit extended the French domination on the continent. +Prussia was reduced to half its extent. In the south of Germany, Napoleon +had instituted the two kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg against Austria; +further to the north, he created the two feudatory kingdoms of Saxony and +Westphalia against Prussia. That of Saxony, composed of the electorate of +that name, and Prussian Poland, called the grand-duchy of Warsaw, was +given to the king of Saxony; that of Westphalia comprehended the states of +Hesse-Cassel, Brunswick, Fulde, Paderborn, and the greatest part of +Hanover, and was given to Jerome Napoleon. The emperor Alexander, acceding +to all these arrangements, evacuated Moldavia and Wallachia. Russia, +however, though conquered, was the only power unencroached upon. Napoleon +followed more than ever in the footsteps of Charlemagne; at his +coronation, he had had the crown, sword, and sceptre, of the Frank king +carried before him. A pope had crossed the Alps to consecrate his dynasty, +and he modelled his states on the vast empire of that conqueror. The +revolution sought the establishment of ancient liberty; Napoleon restored +the military hierarchy of the middle ages. The former had made citizens, +the latter made vassals. The one had changed Europe into republics, the +other transformed it into fiefs. Great and powerful as he was, coming +immediately after a shock which had exhausted the world by its violence, +he was enabled to arrange it for a time according to his pleasure. The +_grand empire_ rose internally by its system of administration, which +replaced the government of assemblies; its special courts, its lyceums, in +which military education was substituted for the republican education of +the central schools; its hereditary nobility, which in 1808 completed the +establishment of inequality; its civil discipline, which rendered all +France like an army obedient to the word of command; and externally by its +secondary kingdoms, its confederate states, its great fiefs, and its +supreme chief. Napoleon, no longer meeting resistance anywhere, could +command from one end of the continent to the other. + +At this period all the emperor's attention was directed to England, the +only power that could secure itself from his attacks. Pitt had been dead a +year, but the British cabinet followed with much ardour and pertinacity +his plans with respect to France. After having vainly formed a third and a +fourth coalition, it did not lay down arms. It was a war to the death. +Great Britain had declared France in a state of blockade, and furnished +the emperor with the means of cutting off its continental intercourse by a +similar measure. The continental blockade, which began in 1807, was the +second period of Bonaparte's system. In order to attain universal and +uncontested supremacy, he made use of arms against the continent, and the +cessation of commerce against England. But in forbidding to the +continental states all communication with England, he was preparing new +difficulties for himself, and soon added to the animosity of opinion +excited by his despotism, and the hatred of states produced by his +conquering domination, the exasperation of private interests and +commercial suffering occasioned by the blockade. + +Yet all the powers seemed united in the same design. England was placed +under the ban of continental Europe, at the peace. Russia and Denmark in +the Northern Seas; France, Spain, and Holland, in the Mediterranean and +the ocean, were obliged to declare against it. This period was the height +of the imperial sway. Napoleon employed all his activity and all his +genius in creating maritime resources capable of counter-balancing the +forces of England, which had then eleven hundred ships of war of every +class. He caused ports to be constructed, coasts to be fortified, ships to +be built and prepared, everything for combating in a few years upon this +new battle-field. But before that moment arrived, he wished to secure the +Spanish peninsula, and to found his dynasty there, for the purpose of +introducing a firmer and more favourable policy. The expedition of +Portugal in 1807, and the invasion of Spain in 1808, began for him and for +Europe a new order of events. + +Portugal had for some time been a complete English colony. The emperor, in +concert with the Bourbons of Madrid, decided by the treaty of +Fontainebleau, of the 27th of October, 1807, that the house of Braganza +had ceased to reign. A French army, under the command of Junot, entered +Portugal. The prince-regent embarked for Brazil, and the French took +possession of Lisbon on the 30th of November, 1807. This invasion was only +an approach towards Spain. The royal family were in a state of the +greatest anarchy. The favourite, Godoy, was execrated by the people, and +Ferdinand, prince of the Asturias, conspired against the authority of his +father's favourite. Though the emperor had not much to fear from such a +government, he had taken alarm at a clumsy armament prepared by Godoy +during the Prussian war. No doubt, at this time he formed the project of +putting one of his brothers on the throne of Spain; he thought he could +easily overturn a divided family, an expiring monarchy, and obtain the +consent of a people whom he would restore to civilization. Under the +pretext of the maritime war and the blockade, his troops entered the +peninsula, occupied the coasts and principal places, and encamped near +Madrid. It was then suggested to the royal family to retire to Mexico, +after the example of the house of Braganza. But the people rose against +this departure; Godoy, the object of public hatred, was in great risk of +losing his life, and the prince of the Asturias was proclaimed king, under +the title of Ferdinand VII. The emperor took advantage of this court +revolution to bring about his own. The French entered Madrid, and he +himself proceeded to Bayonne, whither he summoned the Spanish princes. +Ferdinand restored the crown to his father, who in his turn resigned it in +favour of Napoleon; the latter had it decreed on his brother Joseph by a +supreme junta, by the council of Castille, and the municipality of Madrid. +Ferdinand was sent to the Château de Valençay, and Charles VI. fixed his +residence at Compiègne. Napoleon called his brother-in-law, Murat, grand- +duke of Berg, to the throne of Naples, in the place of Joseph. + +At this period began the first opposition to the domination of the emperor +and the continental system. The reaction manifested itself in three +countries hitherto allies of France, and it brought on the fifth +coalition. The court of Rome was dissatisfied; the peninsula was wounded +in its national pride by having imposed upon it a foreign king; in its +usages, by the suppression of convents, of the Inquisition, and of the +grandees; Holland suffered in its commerce from the blockade, and Austria +supported impatiently its losses and subordinate condition. England, +watching for an opportunity to revive the struggle on the continent, +excited the resistance of Rome, the peninsula, and the cabinet of Vienna. +The pope had been cold towards France since 1805; he had hoped that his +pontifical complaisance in reference to Napoleon's coronation would have +been recompensed by the restoration to the ecclesiastical domain of those +provinces which the directory had annexed to the Cisalpine republic. +Deceived in this expectation, he joined the European counter-revolutionary +opposition, and from 1807 to 1808 the Roman States became the rendezvous +of English emissaries. After some warm remonstrances, the emperor ordered +general Miollis to occupy Rome; the pope threatened him with +excommunication; and Napoleon seized on the legations of Ancona, Urbino, +Macerata, and Camerino, which became part of the Italian kingdom. The +legate left Paris on the 3rd of April, 1808, and the religious struggle +for temporal interests commenced with the head of the church, whom +Napoleon should either not have recognised, or not have despoiled. + +The war with the peninsula was still more serious. The Spaniards +recognised Ferdinand VII. as king, in a provincial junta, held at Seville, +on the 27th of May, 1808, and they took arms in all the provinces which +were not occupied by French troops. The Portuguese also rose at Oporto, on +the 16th of June. These two insurrections were at first attended with the +happiest results; in a short time they made rapid progress. General Dupont +laid down arms at Baylen in the province of Cordova, and this first +reverse of the French arms excited the liveliest hope and enthusiasm among +the Spaniards. Joseph Napoleon left Madrid, where Ferdinand VII. was +proclaimed; and about the same time, Junot, not having troops enough to +keep Portugal, consented, by the convention of Cintra, to evacuate it with +all the honours of war. The English general, Wellington, took possession +of this kingdom with twenty-five thousand men. While the pope was +declaring against Napoleon, while the Spanish insurgents were entering +Madrid, while the English were again setting foot on the continent, the +king of Sweden avowed himself an enemy of the European imperial league, +and Austria was making considerable armaments and preparing for a new +struggle. + +Fortunately for Napoleon, Russia remained faithful to the alliance and +engagements of Tilsit. The emperor Alexander had at that time a fit of +enthusiasm and affection for this powerful and extraordinary mortal. +Napoleon wishing to be sure of the north, before he conveyed all his +forces to the peninsula, had an interview with Alexander at Erfurt, on the +27th September, 1808. The two masters of the north and west guaranteed to +each other the repose and submission of Europe. Napoleon marched into +Spain, and Alexander undertook Sweden. The presence of the emperor soon +changed the fortune of the war in the peninsula. He brought with him +eighty thousand veteran soldiers, just come from Germany. Several +victories made him master of most of the Spanish provinces. He made his +entry into Madrid, and presented himself to the inhabitants of the +peninsula, not as a master, but as a liberator. "I have abolished," he +said to them, "the tribunal of the Inquisition, against which the age and +Europe protested. Priests should direct the conscience, but ought not to +exercise any external or corporal jurisdiction over the citizens. I have +suppressed feudal rights; and every one may set up inns, ovens, mills, +fisheries, and give free impulse to his industry. The selfishness, wealth, +and prosperity of a few did more injury to your agriculture than the heats +of the extreme summer. As there is but one God, one system of justice only +should exist in a state. All private tribunals were usurped and opposed to +the rights of the nation. I have suppressed them. The present generation +may change its opinion; too many passions have been brought into play; but +your grandchildren will bless me as your regenerator; they will rank among +their memorable days those in which I appeared among you, and from those +days will Spain date its prosperity." + +Such was indeed the part of Napoleon in the peninsula, which could only be +restored to a better state of things, and to liberty, by the revival of +civilization. The establishment of independence cannot be effected all at +once, any more than anything else; and when a country is ignorant, poor, +and backward, covered with convents, and governed by monks, its social +condition must be reconstructed before liberty can be thought of. +Napoleon, the oppressor of civilized nations, was a real regenerator for +the peninsula. But the two parties of civil liberty and religious +servitude, that of the cortes and that of the monks, though with far +different aims, came to an understanding for their common defence. The one +was at the head of the upper and the middle classes, the other of the +populace; and they vied with each other in exciting the Spaniards to +enthusiasm with the sentiments of independence or religious fanaticism. +The following is the catechism used by the priests: "Tell me, my child, +who you are? A Spaniard by the grace of God.--Who is the enemy of our +happiness? The emperor of the French.--How many natures has he? Two: human +and diabolical.--How many emperors of the French are there? One true one, +in three deceptive persons.--What are their names, Napoleon, Murat, and +Manuel Godoy.--Which of the three is the most wicked? They are all three +equally so.--Whence is Napoleon derived? From sin.--Murat? From Napoleon. +--And Godoy? The junction of the two.--What is the ruling spirit of the +first? Pride and despotism.--Of the second? Rapine and cruelty.--Of the +third? Cupidity, treason, and ignorance.--Who are the French? Former +Christians become heretics.--Is it a sin to kill a Frenchman? No, father; +heaven is gained by killing one of these dogs of heretics.--What +punishment does the Spaniard deserve who has failed in his duty? The death +and infamy of a traitor.--What will deliver us from our enemies? +Confidence in ourselves and in arms." + +Napoleon had engaged in a long and dangerous enterprise, in which his +whole system of war was at fault. Victory, here, did not consist in the +defeat of an army and the possession of a capital, but in the entire +occupation of the territory, and, what was still more difficult, the +submission of the public mind. Napoleon, however, was preparing to subdue +this people with his irresistible activity and inflexible determination, +when the fifth coalition called him again to Germany. + +Austria had turned to advantage his absence, and that of his troops. It +made a powerful effort, and raised five hundred and fifty thousand men, +comprising the Landwehr, and took the field in the spring of 1809. The +Tyrol rose, and king Jerome was driven from his capital by the +Westphalians; Italy wavered; and Prussia only waited till Napoleon met +with a reverse, to take arms; but the emperor was still at the height of +his power and prosperity. He hastened from Madrid in the beginning of +February, and directed the members of the confederation to keep their +contingents in readiness. On the 12th of April he left Paris, passed the +Rhine, plunged into Germany, gained the victories of Eckmühl and Essling, +occupied Vienna a second time on the 15th of May, and overthrew this new +coalition by the battle of Wagram, after a campaign of four months. While +he was pursuing the Austrian armies, the English landed on the island of +Walcheren, and appeared before Antwerp; but a levy of national guards +sufficed to frustrate the expedition of the Scheldt. The peace of Vienna, +of the 11th of October, 1809, deprived the house of Austria of several +more provinces, and compelled it again to adopt the continental system. + +This period was remarkable for the new character of the struggle. It began +the reaction of Europe against the empire, and announced the alliance of +dynasties, people, nations, the priesthood, and commerce. All whose +interests were injured made an attempt at resistance, which at first was +destined to fail. Napoleon, since the peace of Amiens, had entered on a +career that must necessarily terminate in the possession or hostility of +all Europe. Carried away by his character and position, he had created +against the people a system of administration of unparalleled benefit to +power; against Europe, a system of secondary monarchies and grand fiefs, +which facilitated his plans of conquest; and, lastly, against England, the +blockade which suspended its commerce, and that of the continent. Nothing +impeded him in the realization of those immense but insensate designs. +Portugal opened a communication with the English: he invaded it. The royal +family of Spain, by its quarrels and vacillations, compromised the +extremities of the empire: he compelled it to abdicate, that he might +reduce the peninsula to a bolder and less wavering policy. The pope kept +up relations with the enemy: his patrimony was diminished. He threatened +excommunication: the French entered Rome. He realized his threat by a +bull: he was dethroned as a temporal sovereign in 1809. Finally, after the +battle of Wagram, and the peace of Vienna, Holland became a depot for +English merchandise, on account of its commercial wants, and the emperor +dispossessed his brother Louis of that kingdom, which, on the 1st of July, +1810, became incorporated with the empire. He shrank from no invasion, +because he would not endure opposition or hesitation from any quarter. All +were compelled to submit, allies as well as enemies, the chief of the +church as well as kings, brothers as well as strangers; but, though +conquered this time, all who had joined this new league only waited an +opportunity to rise again. + +Meantime, after the peace of Vienna, Napoleon still added to the extent +and power of the empire. Sweden having undergone an internal revolution, +and the king, Gustavus Adolphus IV., having been forced to abdicate, +admitted the continental system. Bernadotte, prince of Ponte-Corvo, was +elected by the states-general hereditary prince of Sweden, and king +Charles XIII. adopted him for his son. The blockade was observed +throughout Europe; and the empire, augmented by the Roman States, the +Illyrian provinces, Valais, Holland, and the Hanse Towns, had a hundred +and thirty departments, and extended from Hamburg and Dantzic to Trieste +and Corfu. Napoleon, who seemed to follow a rash but inflexible policy, +deviated from his course about this time by a second marriage. He divorced +Josephine that he might give an heir to the empire, and married, on the +1st of April, 1810, Marie-Louise, arch-duchess of Austria. This was a +decided error. He quitted his position and his post as a parvenu and +revolutionary monarch, opposing in Europe the ancient courts as the +republic had opposed the ancient governments. He placed himself in a false +situation with respect to Austria, which he ought either to have crushed +after the victory of Wagram, or to have reinstated in its possessions +after his marriage with the arch-duchess. Solid alliances only repose on +real interests, and Napoleon could not remove from the cabinet of Vienna +the desire or power of renewing hostilities. This marriage also changed +the character of his empire, and separated it still further from popular +interests; he sought out old families to give lustre to his court, and did +all he could to amalgamate together the old and the new nobility as he +mingled old and new dynasties. Austerlitz had established the plebeian +empire; after Wagram was established the noble empire. The birth, on the +20th of March, 1811, of a son, who received the title of King of Rome, +seemed to consolidate the power of Napoleon by securing to him a +successor. + +The war in Spain was prosecuted with vigour during the years 1810 and +1811. The territory of the peninsula was defended inch by inch, and its +was necessary to take several towns by storm. Suchet, Soult, Mortier, Ney, +and Sebastiani made themselves masters of several provinces; and the +Spanish junta, unable to keep their post at Seville, retired to Cadiz, +which the French army began to blockade. The new expedition into Portugal +was less fortune. Masséna, who directed it, at first obliged Wellington to +retreat, and took Oporto and Olivença; but the English general having +entrenched himself in the strong position of Torres-Vedras, Masséna, +unable to force it, was compelled to evacuate the country. + +While the war was proceeding in the peninsula with advantage, but without +any decided success, a new campaign was preparing in the north. Russia +perceived the empire of Napoleon approaching its territories. Shut up in +its own limits, it remained without influence or acquisitions; suffering +from the blockade, without gaining any advantage by the war. This cabinet, +moreover, endured with impatience a supremacy to which it itself aspired, +and which it had pursued slowly but without interruption since the reign +of Peter the Great. About the close of 1810, it increased its armies, +renewed its commercial relations with Great Britain, and did not seem +indisposed to a rupture. The year 1811 was spent in negotiations which led +to nothing, and preparations for war were made on both sides. The emperor, +whose armies were before Cadiz, and who relied on the co-operation of the +West and North against Russia, made with ardour preparations for an +enterprise which was intended to reduce the only power as yet untouched, +and to carry his victorious eagles even to Moscow. He obtained the +assistance of Prussia and Austria, which engaged by the treaties of the +24th of February and the 14th of March, 1812, to furnish auxiliary bodies; +one of twenty, and the other of thirty thousand men. All the unemployed +forces of France were immediately on foot. A senatus-consultus divided the +national guard into three bodies for the home service, and appropriated a +hundred of the first line regiments (nearly a hundred thousand men) for +active military service. On the 9th of March, Napoleon left Paris on this +vast expedition. During several months he fixed his court at Dresden, +where the emperor of Austria, the king of Prussia, and all the sovereigns +of Germany, came to bow before his high fortune. On the 22nd of June, war +was declared against Russia. + +In this campaign, Napoleon was guided by the maxims he had always found +successful. He had terminated all the wars he had undertaken by the rapid +defeat of the enemy, the occupation of his capital, and concluded the +peace by parcelling out his territory. His project was to reduce Russia by +creating the kingdom of Poland, as he had reduced Austria by forming the +kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, after Austerlitz; and Prussia, by +organizing those of Saxony and Westphalia, after Jena. With this object, +he had stipulated with the Austrian cabinet by the treaty of the 14th of +March, to exchange Gallicia for the Illyrian provinces. The establishment +of the kingdom of Poland was proclaimed by the diet of Warsaw, but in an +incomplete manner, and Napoleon, who, according to his custom, wished to +finish all in one campaign, advanced at once into the heart of Russia, +instead of prudently organizing the Polish barrier against it. His army +amounted to about five hundred thousand men. He passed the Niemen on the +24th of June, took Vilna, and Vitepsk, defeated the Russians at Astrowno, +Polotsk, Mohilev, Smolensk, at the Moskva, and on the 14th of September, +made his entry into Moscow. + +The Russian cabinet relied for its defence not only upon its troops, but +on its vast territory and on its climate. As the conquered armies +retreated before ours, they burnt all the towns, devastated the provinces, +and thus prepared great difficulties for the foe in the event of reverses +or retreat. According to this plan of defence, Moscow was burnt by its +governor Rostopchin, as Smolensk, Dorigoboui, Viasma, Gjhat, Mojaisk, and +a great number of other towns and villages had already been. The emperor +ought to have seen that this war would not terminate as the others had +done; yet, conqueror of the foe, and master of his capital, he conceived +hopes of peace which the Russians skilfully encouraged. Winter was +approaching, and Napoleon prolonged his stay at Moscow for six weeks. He +delayed his movements on account of the deceptive negotiations of the +Russians, and did not decide on a retreat till the 19th of October. This +retreat was disastrous, and began the downfall of the empire. Napoleon +could not have been defeated by the hand of man, for what general could +have triumphed over this incomparable chief? what army could have +conquered the French army? But his reverses were to take place in the +remote limits of Europe; in the frozen regions which were to end his +conquering domination. He lost, with the close of this campaign, not by a +defeat, but by cold and famine, in the midst of Russian snows and +solitude, his old army, and the _prestige_ of his fortune. + +The retreat was effected with some order as far as the Berezina, where it +became one vast rout. After the passage of this river, Napoleon, who had +hitherto accompanied his army, started in a sledge for Paris, in great +haste, a conspiracy having broken out there during his absence. General +Mallet, with a few others, had conceived the design of overthrowing this +colossus of power. His enterprise was daring; and as it was grounded on a +false report of Napoleon's death, it was necessary to deceive too many for +success to be probable. Besides, the empire was still firmly established, +and it was not a plot, but a slow and general defection which could +destroy it. Mallet's plot failed, and its leaders were executed. The +emperor, on his return, found the nation astounded at so unusual a +disaster. But the different bodies of the state still manifested implicit +obedience. He reached Paris on the 18th of December, obtained a levy of +three hundred thousand men, inspired a spirit of sacrifice, re-equipped in +a short time, with his wonderful activity, a new army, and took the field +again on the 15th of April, 1813. + +But since the retreat of Moscow, Napoleon had entered on a new series of +events. It was in 1812 that the decline of the empire manifested itself. +The weariness of his domination became general. All those by whose consent +he had risen, took part against him. The priests had conspired in secret +since his rupture with the pope. Eight state prisons had been created in +an official manner against the dissentients of his party. The national +masses were as tired of conquest as they had formerly been of factions. +They had expected from him consideration for private interests, the +promotion of commerce; respect for men; and they were oppressed by +conscriptions, taxes, the blockade, provost courts, and duties which were +the inevitable consequences of this conquering system. He had no longer +for adversaries the few who remained faithful to the political object of +the revolution, and whom he styled _idéologues_, but all who, without +definite ideas, wished for the material advantages of better civilization. +Without, whole nations groaned beneath the military yoke, and the fallen +dynasties aspired to rise again. The whole world was ill at ease; and one +check served to bring about a general rising. "I triumphed," says Napoleon +himself, speaking of the preceding campaigns, "in the midst of constantly +reviving perils. I constantly required as much address as voice. Had I not +conquered at Austerlitz, all Prussia would have been upon me; had I not +triumphed at Jena, Austria and Spain would have attacked my rear; had I +not fought at Wagram, which action was not a decided victory, I had reason +to fear that Russia would forsake, Prussia rise against me, and the +English were before Antwerp." [Footnote: _Mémorial de Saint Hélène_, tome +ii. p. 221.] Such was his condition; the further he advanced in his +career, the greater need he had to conquer more and more decisively. +Accordingly, as soon as he was defeated, the kings he had subdued, the +kings he had made, the allies he had aggrandized, the states he had +incorporated with the empire, the senators who had so flattered him, and +even his comrades in arms, successively forsook him. The field of battle +extended to Moscow in 1812, drew back to Dresden in 1813, and to Paris in +1814: so rapid was the reverse of fortune. + +The cabinet of Berlin began the defections. On the 1st of March, 1813, it +joined Russia and England, which were forming the sixth coalition. Sweden +acceded to it soon after; yet the emperor, whom the confederate powers +thought prostrated by the last disaster, opened the campaign with new +victories. The battle of Lützen, won by conscripts, on the 2nd of May, the +occupation of Dresden, the victory of Bautzen, and the war carried to the +Elbe, astonished the coalition. Austria, which, since 1810, had been on a +footing of peace, was resuming arms, and already meditating a change of +alliance. She now offered to act as mediator between the emperor and the +confederates. Her mediation was accepted; an armistice was concluded at +Plesswitz, on the 4th of June, and a congress assembled at Prague to +negotiate peace. It was impossible to come to terms. Napoleon would not +consent to diminished grandeur; Europe would not consent to remain subject +to him. The confederate powers, joined by Austria, required that the +limits of the empire should be to the Rhine, the Alps, and the Meuse. The +negotiators separated without coming to an agreement. Austria joined the +coalition, and war, the only means of settling this great contest, was +resumed. + +The emperor had only two hundred and eighty thousand men against five +hundred and twenty thousand; he wished to force the enemy to retire behind +the Elbe, and to break up, as usual, this new coalition by the promptitude +and vigour of his blows. Victory seemed, at first, to second him. At +Dresden, he defeated the combined forces; but the defeats of his +lieutenants deranged his plans. Macdonald was conquered in Silesia; Ney, +near Berlin; Vandamme, at Kulm. Unable to obstruct the enemy, pouring on +him from all parts, Napoleon thought of retreating. The princes of the +confederation of the Rhine chose this moment to desert the cause of the +empire. A vast engagement having taken place at Leipzic between the two +armies, the Saxons and Wurtembergers passed over to the enemy on the field +of battle. This defection to the strength of the allied powers, who had +learned a more compact and skilful mode of warfare, obliged Napoleon to +retreat, after a struggle of three days. The army advanced with much +confusion towards the Rhine, where the Bavarians, who had also deserted, +attempted to prevent its passage. But it overwhelmed them at Hanau, and +re-entered the territory of the empire on the 30th of October, 1813. The +close of this campaign was as disastrous as that of the preceding one. +France was threatened in its own limits, as it had been in 1799; but the +enthusiasm of independence no longer existed, and the man who deprived it +of its rights found it, at this great crisis, incapable of sustaining him +or defending itself. The servitude of nations is, sooner or later, ever +avenged. + +Napoleon returned to Paris on the 9th of November, 1813. He obtained from +the senate a levy of three hundred thousand men, and made with great +ardour preparations for a new campaign. He convoked the legislative body +to associate it in the common defence; he communicated to it the documents +relative to the negotiations of Prague, and asked for another and last +effort in order to secure a glorious peace, the general wish of France. +But the legislative body, hitherto silently obedient, chose this period to +resist Napoleon. + +It shared the common exhaustion, and without desiring it, was under the +influence of the royalist party, which had been secretly agitating ever +since the decline of the empire had revived its hopes. A commission, +composed of MM. Lainé, Raynouard, Gallois, Flaugergues, Maine de Biran, +drew up a very hostile report, censuring the course adopted by the +government, and demanding that all conquests should be given up, and +liberty restored. This wish, so just at any other time, could then only +favour the invasion of the foe. Though the confederate powers seemed to +make the evacuation of Europe the condition of peace, they were disposed +to push victory to extremity. Napoleon, irritated by this unexpected and +harassing opposition, suddenly dismissed the legislative body. This +commencement of resistance announced internal defections. After passing +from Russia to Germany, they were about to extend from Germany and Italy +to France. But now, as before, all depended on the issue of the war, which +the winter had not interrupted. Napoleon placed all his hopes on it; and +started from Paris on the 25th of January, for this immortal campaign. + +The empire was invaded in all directions. The Austrians entered Italy; the +English, having made themselves masters of the peninsula during the last +two years, had passed the Bidassoa, under general Wellington, and appeared +on the Pyrenees. Three armies pressed on France to the east and north. The +great allied army, amounting to a hundred and fifty thousand men, under +Schwartzenberg, advanced by Switzerland; the army of Silesia, of a hundred +and thirty thousand, under Blücher, by Frankfort; and that of the north, +of a hundred thousand men, under Bernadotte, had seized on Holland and +entered Belgium. The enemies, in their turn, neglected the fortified +places, and, taking a lesson from the conqueror, advanced on the capital. +When Napoleon left Paris, the two armies of Schwartzenberg and Blücher +were on the point of effecting a junction in Champaigne. Deprived of the +support of the people, who were only lookers on, Napoleon was left alone +against the whole world with a handful of veterans and his genius, which +had lost nothing of its daring and vigour. At this moment, he stands out +nobly, no longer an oppressor; no longer a conqueror; defending, inch by +inch, with new victories, the soil of his country, and at the same time, +his empire and renown. + +He marched into Champaigne against the two great hostile armies. General +Maison was charged to intercept Bernadotte in Belgium; Augereau, the +Austrians, at Lyons; Soult, the English, on the Spanish frontier. Prince +Eugene was to defend Italy; and the empire, though penetrated in the very +centre, still stretched its vast arms into the depths of Germany by its +garrisons beyond the Rhine. Napoleon did not despair of driving these +swarms of foes from the territory of France by means of a powerful +military reaction, and again planting his standards in the countries of +the enemy. He placed himself skilfully between Blücher, who was descending +the Marne, and Schwartzenberg, who descended the Seine; he hastened from +one of these armies to the other, and defeated them alternately; Blücher +was overpowered at Champ-Aubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry, and +Vauchamps; and when his army was destroyed, Napoleon returned to the +Seine, defeated the Austrians at Montereau, and drove them before him. His +combinations were so strong, his activity so great, his measures so sure, +that he seemed on the point of entirely disorganizing these two formidable +armies, and with them annihilating the coalition. + +But if he conquered wherever he came, the foe triumphed wherever he was +not. The English had entered Bordeaux, where a party had declared for the +Bourbon family; the Austrians occupied Lyons; the Belgian army had joined +the remnant of that of Blücher, which re-appeared on Napoleon's rear. +Defection now entered his own family, and Murat had just followed, in +Italy, the example of Bernadotte, by joining the coalition. The grand +officers of the empire still served him, but languidly, and he only found +ardour and fidelity in his subaltern generals and indefatigable soldiers. +Napoleon had again marched on Blücher, who had escaped from him thrice: on +the left of the Marne, by a sudden frost, which hardened the muddy ways +amongst which the Prussians had involved themselves, and were in danger of +perishing; on the Aisne, through the defection of Soissons, which opened a +passage to them, at a moment when they had no other way of escape; and +Laon, by the fault of the duke of Ragusa, who prevented a decisive battle, +by suffering himself to be surprised by night. After so many fatalities, +which frustrated the surest plans, Napoleon, ill sustained by his +generals, surrounded by the coalition, conceived the bold design of +transporting himself to Saint-Dizier and closing on the enemy the egress +from France. This daring march so full of genius, startled for a moment +the confederate generals, from whom it cut off all retreat; but, excited +by secret encouragements, without being anxious for their rear, they +advanced on Paris. + +This great city, the only capital of Europe which had not been the theatre +of war, suddenly saw all the troops of Europe enter its plains, and was on +the point of undergoing the common humiliation. It was left to itself. The +empress, appointed regent a few months before, had just left it to repair +to Blois. Napoleon was at a distance. There was not that despair and that +movement of liberty which drive a people to resistance; war was no longer +made on nations, but on governments, and the emperor had centred all the +public interest in himself, and placed all his means of defence in +mechanical troops. The exhaustion was great; a feeling of pride, of very +just pride, alone made the approach of the stranger painful, and oppressed +every Frenchman's heart at seeing his native land trodden by armies so +long vanquished. But this sentiment was not sufficiently strong to raise +the masses of the population against the enemy; and the measures of the +royalist party, at the head of which the prince of Benevento placed +himself, called the allied troops to the capital. An action took place, +however, on the 30th of March, under the walls of Paris; but on the 31st, +the gates were opened to the confederate forces, who entered in pursuance +of a capitulation. The senate consummated the great imperial defection by +forsaking its old master; it was influenced by M. de Talleyrand, who for +some time had been out of favour with Napoleon. This voluntary actor in +every crisis of power had just declared against him. With no attachment to +party, of a profound political indifference, he foresaw from a distance +with wonderful sagacity the fall of a government; withdrew from it +opportunely; and when the precise moment for assailing it had arrived, +joined in the attack with all his talents, his influence, his name, and +his authority, which he had taken care to preserve. In favour of the +revolution, under the constituent assembly; of the directory, on the 18th +Fructidor; for the consulate, on the 18th Brumaire; for the empire, in +1804, he was for the restoration of the royal family, in 1814; he seemed +grand master of the ceremonies for the party in power, and for the last +thirty years it was he who had dismissed and installed the successive +governments. The senate, influenced by him, appointed a provisional +government, and declared Napoleon deposed from his throne, the hereditary +rights of his family abolished, the people and army freed from their oath +of fidelity. It proclaimed him _tyrant_ whose despotism it had facilitated +by its adulation. Meantime, Napoleon, urged by those about him to succour +the capital, had abandoned his march on Saint-Dizier, and hastened to +Paris at the head of fifty thousand men, in the hope of preventing the +entry of the enemy. On his arrival (1st of April), he heard of the +capitulation of the preceding day, and fell back on Fontainebleau, where +he learned the defection of the senate, and his deposition. Then finding +that all gave way around him in his ill fortune, the people, the senate, +generals and courtiers, he decided on abdicating in favour of his son. He +sent the duke of Vicenza, the prince of the Moskva, and the duke of +Tarento, as plenipotentiaries to the confederates; on their way, they were +to take with them the duke of Ragusa, who covered Fontainebleau with a +corps. + +Napoleon, with his fifty thousand men, and strong military position, could +yet oblige the coalition to admit the claim of his son. But the duke of +Ragusa forsook his post, treated with the enemy, and left Fontainebleau +exposed. Napoleon was then obliged to submit to the conditions of the +allied powers; their pretensions increased with their power. At Prague, +they ceded to him the empire, with the Alps and the Rhine for limits; +after the invasion of France, they offered him at Châtillon the +possessions of the old monarchy only; later, they refused to treat with +him except in favour of his son; but now, determined on destroying all +that remained of the revolution with respect to Europe, its conquest and +dynasty, they compelled Napoleon to abdicate absolutely. On the 11th of +April, 1814, he renounced for himself and children the thrones of France +and Italy, and received the little island of Elba in exchange for his vast +sovereignty, the limits of which had extended from Cadiz to the Baltic +Sea. On the 20th, after an affecting farewell to his old soldiers, he +departed for his new principality. + +Thus fell this man, who alone, for fourteen years, had filled the world. +His enterprising and organising genius, his power of life and will, his +love of glory, and the immense disposable force which the revolution +placed in his hands, have made him the most gigantic being of modern +times. That which would have rendered the destiny of another +extraordinary, scarcely counts in his. Rising from an obscure to the +highest rank; from a simple artillery officer becoming the chief of the +greatest of nations, he dared to conceive the idea of universal monarchy, +and for a moment realized it. After having obtained the empire by his +victories, he wished to subdue Europe by means of France, and reduce +England by means of Europe, and he established the military system against +the continent, the blockade against Great Britain. This design succeeded +for some years; from Lisbon to Moscow he subjected people and potentates +to his word of command as general, and to the vast sequestration which he +prescribed. But in this way he failed in discharging his restorative +mission of the 18th Brumaire. By exercising on his own account the power +he had received, by attacking the liberty of the people by despotic +institutions, the independence of states by war, he excited against +himself the opinions and interests of the human race; he provoked +universal hostility. The nation forsook him, and after having been long +victorious, after having planted his standard in every capital, after +having during ten years augmented his power, and gained a kingdom with +every battle, a single reverse combined the world against him, proving by +his fall how impossible in our days is despotism. + +Yet Napoleon, amidst all the disastrous results of his system, gave a +prodigious impulse to the continent; his armies carried with them the +ideas and customs of the more advanced civilization of France. European +societies were shaken on their old foundations; nations were mingled by +frequent intercourse; bridges thrown across boundary rivers; high roads +made over the Alps, Apennines, and Pyrenees, brought territories nearer to +each other; and Napoleon effected for the material condition of states +what the revolution had done for the minds of men. The blockade completed +the impulse of conquest; it improved continental industry, enabling it to +take the place of that of England, and replaced colonial commerce by the +produce of manufactures. Thus Napoleon, by agitating nations, contributed +to their civilization. His despotism rendered him counter-revolutionary +with respect to France; but his spirit of conquest made him a regenerator +with respect to Europe, of which many nations, in torpor till he came, +will live henceforth with the life he gave them. But in this Napoleon +obeyed the dictates of his nature. The child of war--war was his tendency, +his pleasure: domination his object; he wanted to master the world, and +circumstances placed it in his hand, in order that he might make use of +it. + +Napoleon has presented in France what Cromwell presented for a moment in +England; the government of the army, which always establishes itself when +a revolution is contended against; it then gradually changes, and from +being civil, as it was at first, becomes military. In Great Britain, +internal war not being complicated with foreign war, on account of the +geographical situation of the country, which isolated it from other +states, as soon as the enemies of reform were vanquished, the army passed +from the field of battle to the government. Its intervention being +premature, Cromwell, its general, found parties still in the fury of their +passions, in all the fanaticism of their opinions, and he directed against +them alone his military administration. The French revolution taking place +on the continent saw the nations disposed for liberty, and sovereigns +leagued from a fear of the liberation of their people. It had not only +internal enemies, but also foreign enemies to contend with; and while its +armies were repelling Europe, parties were overthrowing each other in the +assemblies. The military intervention came later; Napoleon, finding +factions defeated and opinions almost forsaken, obtained obedience easily +from the nation, and turned the military government against Europe. + +This difference of position materially influenced the conduct and +character of these two extraordinary men. Napoleon, disposing of immense +force and of uncontested power, gave himself up in security to the vast +designs and the part of a conqueror; while Cromwell, deprived of the +assent which a worn out people could give, and, incessantly attacked by +factions, was reduced to neutralise them one by the other, and keep +himself to the end the military dictator of parties. The one employed his +genius in undertaking; the other in resisting. Accordingly, the former had +the frankness and decision of power; the other, the craft and hypocrisy of +opposed ambition. This situation would destroy their sway. + +All dictatorships are transient; and however strong or great, it is +impossible for any one long to subject parties or long to retain kingdoms. +It is this that, sooner or later, would have led to the fall of Cromwell +(had he lived longer,) by internal conspiracies; and that brought on the +downfall of Napoleon, by the raising of Europe. Such is the fate of all +powers which, arising from liberty, do not continue to abide with her. In +1814, the empire had just been destroyed; the revolutionary parties had +ceased to exist since the 18th Brumaire. All the governments of this +political period had been exhausted. The senate recalled the old royal +family. Already unpopular on account of its past servility, it ruined- +itself in public opinion by publishing a constitution, tolerably liberal, +but which placed on the same footing the pensions of senators and the +guarantees of the nation. The Count d'Artois, who had been the first to +leave France, was the first to return, in the character of lieutenant- +general of the kingdom. He signed, on the 23rd of April, the convention of +Paris, which reduced the French territory to its limits of the 1st of +January, 1792, and by which Belgium, Savoy, Nice, and Geneva, and immense +military stores, ceased to belong to us. Louis XVIII. landed at Calais on +the 24th of April, and entered Paris with solemnity on the 3rd of May, +1814, after having, on the 2nd, made the Declaration of Saint Omer, which +fixed the principles of the representative government, and which was +followed on the 2nd of June by the promulgation of the charter. + +At this epoch, a new series of events begins. The year 1814 was the term +of the great movement of the preceding five and twenty years. The +revolution had been political, as directed against the absolute power of +the court and the privileged classes, and military, because Europe had +attacked it. The reaction which arose at that time only destroyed the +empire and brought about the coalition in Europe, and the representative +system in France; such was to be its first period. Later, it opposed the +revolution, and produced the holy alliance against the people, and the +government of a party against the charter. This retrograde movement +necessarily had its course and limits. France can only be ruled in a +durable manner by satisfying the twofold need which made it undertake the +revolution. It requires real political liberty in the government; and in +society, the material prosperity produced by the continually progressing +development of civilization. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the French Revolution from +1789 to 1814, by F. A. M. Miguet + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIST. FRENCH REVOLUTION, 1789-1814 *** + +***** This file should be named 9602-8.txt or 9602-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/6/0/9602/ + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, +and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814 + +Author: F. A. M. Miguet + +Posting Date: November 23, 2011 [EBook #9602] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 9, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIST. FRENCH REVOLUTION, 1789-1814 *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, +and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team + + + + + + + + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM 1789 TO 1814 + +BY + +F.A.M. MIGNET + + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Of the great incidents of History, none has attracted more attention or +proved more difficult of interpretation than the French Revolution. The +ultimate significance of other striking events and their place in the +development of mankind can be readily estimated. It is clear enough that +the barbarian invasions marked the death of the classical world, already +mortally wounded by the rise of Christianity. It is clear enough that the +Renaissance emancipated the human intellect from the trammels of a bastard +mediaevalism, that the Reformation consolidated the victory of the "new +learning" by including theology among the subjects of human debate. But +the French Revolution seems to defy complete analysis. Its complexity was +great, its contradictions numerous and astounding. A movement ostensibly +directed against despotism culminated in the establishment of a despotism +far more complete than that which had been overthrown. The apostles of +liberty proscribed whole classes of their fellow-citizens, drenching in +innocent blood the land which they claimed to deliver from oppression. The +apostles of equality established a tyranny of horror, labouring to +extirpate all who had committed the sin of being fortunate. The apostles +of fraternity carried fire and sword to the farthest confines of Europe, +demanding that a continent should submit to the arbitrary dictation of a +single people. And of the Revolution were born the most rigid of modern +codes of law, that spirit of militarism which to-day has caused a world to +mourn, that intolerance of intolerance which has armed anti-clerical +persecutions in all lands. Nor were the actors in the drama less varied +than the scenes enacted. The Revolution produced Mirabeau and Talleyrand, +Robespierre and Napoleon, Sieyes and Hebert. The marshals of the First +Empire, the doctrinaires of the Restoration, the journalists of the +Orleanist monarchy, all were alike the children of this generation of +storm and stress, of high idealism and gross brutality, of changing +fortunes and glory mingled with disaster. + +To describe the whole character of a movement so complex, so diverse in +its promises and fulfilment, so crowded with incident, so rich in action, +may well be declared impossible. No sooner has some proposition been +apparently established, than a new aspect of the period is suddenly +revealed, and all judgments have forthwith to be revised. That the +Revolution was a great event is certain; all else seems to be uncertain. +For some it is, as it was for Charles Fox, much the greatest of all events +and much the best. For some it is, as it was for Burke, the accursed +thing, the abomination of desolation. If its dark side alone be regarded, +it oppresses the very soul of man. A king, guilty of little more than +amiable weakness and legitimate or pious affection; a queen whose gravest +fault was but the frivolity of youth and beauty, was done to death. For +loyalty to her friends, Madame Roland died; for loving her husband, +Lucille Desmoulins perished. The agents of the Terror spared neither age +nor sex; neither the eminence of high attainment nor the insignificance of +dull mediocrity won mercy at their hands. The miserable Du Barri was +dragged from her obscure retreat to share the fate of a Malesherbes, a +Bailly, a Lavoisier. Robespierre was no more protected by his cold +incorruptibility, than was Barnave by his eloquence, Hebert by his +sensuality, Danton by his practical good sense. Nothing availed to save +from the all-devouring guillotine. Those who did survive seem almost to +have survived by chance, delivered by some caprice of fortune or by the +criminal levity of "les tricoteuses," vile women who degraded the very +dregs of their sex. + +For such atrocities no apology need be attempted, but their cause may be +explained, the factors which produced such popular fury may be understood. +As he stands on the terrace of Versailles or wanders through the vast +apartments of the chateau, the traveller sees in imagination the dramatic +panorama of the long-dead past. The courtyard is filled with half-demented +women, clamouring that the Father of his People should feed his starving +children. The Well-Beloved jests cynically as, amid torrents of rain, +Pompadour is borne to her grave. Maintenon, gloomily pious, urges with +sinister whispers the commission of a great crime, bidding the king save +his vice-laden soul. Montespan laughs happily in her brief days of +triumph. And dominating the scene is the imposing figure of the Grand +Monarque. Louis haunts his great creation; Louis in his prime, the admired +and feared of Europe, the incarnation of kingship; Louis surrounded by +his gay and brilliant court, all eager to echo his historic boast, to sink +in their master the last traces of their identity. + +Then a veil falls. But some can lift it, to behold a far different, a far +more stirring vision, and to such the deeper causes of the Terror are +revealed. For they behold a vast multitude, stained with care, haggard, +forlorn, striving, dying, toiling even to their death, that the passing +whim of a tyrant may be gratified. Louis commanded; Versailles arose, a +palace of rare delight for princes and nobles, for wits and courtly +prelates, for grave philosophers and ladies frail as fair. A palace and a +hell, a grim monument to regal egoism, created to minister to the inflated +vanity of a despot, an eternal warning to mankind that the abuse of +absolute power is an accursed thing. Every flower, in those wide gardens +has been watered with the tears of stricken souls; every stone in that +vast pile of buildings was cemented with human blood. None can estimate +the toll of anguish exacted that Versailles might be; none can tell all +its cost, since for human suffering there is no price. The weary toilers +went to their doom, unnoticed, unhonoured, their misery unregarded, their +pain ignored, And the king rejoiced in his glory, while his poets sang +paeans in his praise. + +But the day of reckoning came, and that day was the Terror. The heirs of +those who toiled made their account with the heirs of those who played. +The players died bravely, like the gallant gentlemen they were; their +courage is applauded, a world laments their fate. The misery, thus +avenged, is forgotten; all the long agony of centuries, all the sunless +hours, all the darkness of a land's despair. For that sadness was hidden; +it was but the exceeding bitter lot of the poor, devoid of that dramatic +interest which illumines one immortal hour of pain. Yet he who would +estimate aright the Terror, who would fully understand the Revolution, +must reflect not only upon the suffering of those who fell victims to an +outburst of insensate frenzy, but also upon the suffering by which that +frenzy was aroused. In a few months the French people took what recompense +they might for many decades of oppression. They exacted retribution for +the building of Versailles, of all the chateaux of Touraine; for all the +burdens laid upon them since that day when liberty was enchained and +France became the bond-slave of her monarchs. Louis XVI. paid for the +selfish glory of Louis XIV.; the nobles paid for the pleasures which their +forefathers had so carelessly enjoyed; the privileged classes for the +privileges which they had usurped and had so grievously misused. + +The payment fell heavily upon individuals; the innocent often suffered for +the guilty; a Liancourt died while a Polignac escaped. Many who wished +well to France, many who had laboured for her salvation, perished; virtue +received the just punishment of vice. But the Revolution has another side; +it was no mere nightmare of horrors piled on horrors. It is part of the +pathos of History that no good has been unattended by evil, that by +suffering alone is mankind redeemed, that through the valley of shadow +lies the path by which the race toils slowly towards the fulfilment of its +high destiny. And if the victims of the guillotine could have foreseen the +future, many might have died gladly. For by their death they brought the +new France to birth. The Revolution rises superior to the crimes and +follies of its authors; it has atoned to posterity for all the sorrow that +it caused, for all the wrong that was done in its name. If it killed +laughter, it also dried many tears. By it privilege was slain in France, +tyranny rendered more improbable, almost impossible. The canker of a +debased feudalism was swept away. Men were made equal before the law. +Those barriers by which the flow of economic life in France was checked +were broken down. All careers were thrown open to talent. The right of the +producer to a voice in the distribution of the product was recognised. +Above all, a new gospel of political liberty was expounded. The world, and +the princes of the world, learned that peoples do not exist for the +pleasure of some despot and the profit of his cringing satellites. In the +order of nature, nothing can be born save through suffering; in the order +of politics, this is no less true. From the sorrow of brief months has +grown the joy of long years; the Revolution slew that it might also make +alive. + +Herein, perhaps, may be found the secret of its complexity, of its seeming +contradictions. The authors of the Revolution pursued an ideal, an ideal +expressed in three words, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. That they might +win their quest, they had both to destroy and to construct. They had to +sweep away the past, and from the resultant chaos to construct a new +order. Alike in destruction and construction, they committed errors; they +fell far below their high ideals. The altruistic enthusiasts of the +National Assembly gave place to the practical politicians of the +Convention, the diplomatists of the Directory, the generals of the +Consulate. The Empire was far from realising that bright vision of a +regenerate nation which had dazzled the eyes of Frenchmen in the first +hours of the States-General. Liberty was sacrificed to efficiency; +equality to man's love for titles of honour; fraternity to desire of +glory. So it has been with all human effort. Man is imperfect, and his +imperfection mars his fairest achievements. Whatever great movement may be +considered, its ultimate attainment has fallen far short of its initial +promise. The authors of the Revolution were but men; they were no more +able than their fellows to discover and to hold fast to the true way of +happiness. They wavered between the two extremes of despotism and anarchy; +they declined from the path of grace. And their task remained unfulfilled. +Many of their dreams were far from attaining realisation; they inaugurated +no era of perfect bliss; they produced no Utopia. But their labour was not +in vain. Despite its disappointments, despite all its crimes and blunders, +the French Revolution was a great, a wonderful event. It did contribute to +the uplifting of humanity, and the world is the better for its occurrence. + +That he might indicate this truth, that he might do something to +counteract the distortion of the past, Mignet wrote his _Histoire de la +Revolution Francaise_. At the moment when he came from Aix to Paris, the +tide of reaction was rising steadily in France. Decazes had fallen; Louis +XVIII. was surrendering to the ultra-royalist cabal. Aided by such +fortuitous events as the murder of the Duc de Berri, and supported by an +artificial majority in the Chamber, Villele was endeavouring to bring back +the _ancien regime_. Compensation for the _emigres_ was already mooted; +ecclesiastical control of education suggested. Direct criticism of the +ministry was rendered difficult, and even dangerous, by the censorship of +the press. Above all, the champions of reaction relied upon a certain +misrepresentation of the recent history of their country. The memory of +the Terror was still vivid; it was sedulously kept alive. The people were +encouraged to dread revolutionary violence, to forget the abuses by which +that violence had been evoked and which it had swept away. To all +complaints of executive tyranny, to all demands for greater political +liberty, the reactionaries made one answer. They declared that through +willingness to hear such complaints Louis XVI. had lost his throne and +life; that through the granting of such demands, the way had been prepared +for the bloody despotism of Robespierre. And they pointed the apparent +moral, that concessions to superficially mild and legitimate requests +would speedily reanimate the forces of anarchy. They insisted that by +strong government and by the sternest repression of the disaffected alone +could France be protected from a renewal of that nightmare of horror, at +the thought of which she still shuddered. And hence those who would +prevent the further progress of reaction had first of all to induce their +fellow-countrymen to realise that the Revolution was no mere orgy of +murder. They had to deliver liberty from those calumnies by which its +curtailment was rendered possible and even popular. + +Understanding this, Mignet wrote. It would have been idle for him to have +denied that atrocities had been committed, nor had the day for a panegyric +on Danton, for a defence of Robespierre, yet dawned. Mignet did not +attempt the impossible. Rather by granting the case for his opponents he +sought to controvert them the more effectively. He laid down as his +fundamental thesis that the Revolution was inevitable. It was the outcome +of the past history of France; it pursued the course which it was bound to +pursue. Individuals and episodes in the drama are thus relatively +insignificant and unimportant. The crimes committed may be regretted; +their memory should not produce any condemnation of the movement as a +whole. To judge the Revolution by the Terror, or by the Consulate, would +be wrong and foolish; to declare it evil, because it did not proceed in a +gentle and orderly manner would be to outrage the historical sense. It is +wiser and more profitable to look below the surface, to search out those +deep lessons which may be learned. And Mignet closes his work by stating +one of these lessons, that which to him was, perhaps, the most vital: "On +ne peut regir desormais la France d'une maniere durable, qu'en +satisfaisant le double besoin qui lui a fait entreprendre la revolution. +Il lui faut, dans le gouvernement, une liberte politique reelle, et dans +la societe, le bien-etre materiel que produit le developpement sans cesse +perfectionne de la civilisation." + +It was not Mignet's object to present a complete account of the +Revolution, and while he records the more important events of the period, +he does not attempt to deal exhaustively with all its many sides. It is +accordingly possible to point out various omissions. He does not explain +the organisation of the "deputies on mission," he only glances at that of +the commune or of the Committee of Public Safety. His account of the +Consulate and of the Empire appears to be disproportionately brief. But +the complexity of the period, and the wealth of materials for its history, +render it impossible for any one man to discuss it in detail, and Mignet's +work gains rather than loses by its limitations. Those facts which +illustrate his fundamental thesis are duly recorded; the causes and +results of events are clearly indicated; the actions of individuals are +described in so far as they subserve the author's purpose. The whole book +is marked by a notable impartiality; it is only on rare occasions, as in +the case of Lafayette, that the circumstances in which it was written have +been permitted to colour the judgments passed. Nor is the value of the +work seriously reduced by the fact that modern research compels its +revision in certain particulars, since it is so clearly not intended to be +a final and detailed history of the period. It is a philosophical study of +a great epoch, and as such, however its point of view may be criticised, +it is illuminating and well worthy of preservation. It supplies a +thoughtful and inspiring commentary upon the French Revolution. + +L. CECIL JANE. +1915. + + +BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.--Francois Auguste Marie Mignet was born at Aix in +Provence in 1796. He was educated at Avignon and in his native town, at +first studying law. But, having gained some literary successes, he removed +to Paris in 1821 and devoted himself to writing. He became professor of +history at the _Athenee_, and after the Revolution of 1830 was made +director of the archives in the Foreign Office, a post which he held until +1848. He was then removed by Lamartine and died in retirement in 1854. His +_Histoire de la Revolution Francaise_ was first published in 1824; a +translation into English appeared in Bogue's European library in 1846 and +is here re-edited. Among Mignet's other works may be mentioned _Antoine +Perez et Philippe II._ and _Histoire de Marie Stuart_. As a journalist, he +wrote mainly on foreign policy for the _Courrier Francais_. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +Eloge de Charles VII., 1820; Les Institutions de Saint Louis, 1821; De la +feodalite, des institutions de Saint Louis et de l'influence de la +legislation de ce prince, 1822; Histoire de la revolution francaise, 1824 +(trans. 2 vols., London, 1826, Bonn's Libraries, 1846); La Germanie au +VIIIe et au IXe siecle, sa conversion au christianisme, et son +introduction dans la societe civilisee de l'Europe occidentale, 1834; +Essai sur la formation territoriale et politique de la France depuis la +fin de XIe siecle jusqu'a la fin du XVe, 1836; Notices et Memoires +historiques, 1843; Charles Quint, son abdication, son sejour, et sa mort +au monastere de Yuste, 1845; Antonio Perez et Philippe II., 1845 +(translated by C. Cocks, London, 1846; translated from second French +edition by W. F. Ainsworth, London, 1846); Histoire de Marie Stuart, 2 +vols., 1851 (translated by A. R. Scoble, 1851); Portraits et Notices, +historiques et litteraires, 2 vols., 1852; Eloges historiques, 1864; +Histoire de la rivalite de Francois I. et de Charles Quint, 1875; Nouveaux +eloges historiques, 1877. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +Character of the French revolution--Its results, its progress--Successive +forms of the monarchy--Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--State of men's minds, of +the finances, of the public power and the public wants at the accession of +Louis XVI.--His character--Maurepas, prime minister--His policy--Chooses +popular and reforming ministers--His object--Turgot, Malesherbes, Necker-- +Their plans--Opposed by the court and the privileged classes--Their +failure--Death of Maurepas--Influence of the Queen, Marie-Antoinette-- +Popular ministers are succeeded by court ministers--Calonne and his +system--Brienne, his character and attempts--Distressed state of the +finances--Opposition of the assembly of the notables, of the parliament, +and provinces--Dismissal of Brienne--Second administration of Necker-- +Convocation of the states-general--Immediate causes of the revolution. + +CHAPTER I + +FROM THE 5TH OF MAY, 1789, TO THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST + +Opening of the states-general--Opinion of the court, of the ministry, and +of the various bodies of the kingdom respecting the states--Verification +of powers--Question of vote by order or by poll--The order of the commons +forms itself into a national assembly--The court causes the Hall of the +states to be closed--Oath of the Tennis-court--The majority of the order +of the clergy unites itself with the commons--Royal sitting of the 23rd of +June--Its inutility--Project of the court--Events of the 12th, 13th, and +14th of July--Dismissal of Necker--Insurrection of Paris--Formation of +the national guard--Siege and taking of the Bastille--Consequences of the +14th of July--Decrees of the night of the 4th of August--Character of the +revolution which had just been brought about. + +CHAPTER II + +FROM THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST TO THE 5TH AND 6TH OF +OCTOBER, 1789 + +State of the constituent assembly--Party of the high clergy and nobility-- +Maury and Cazales--Party of the ministry and of the two chambers: Mounier, +Lally-Tollendal--Popular party: triumvirate of Barnave, Duport, and +Lameth--Its position--Influence of Sieyes--Mirabeau chief of the assembly +at that period--Opinion to be formed of the Orleans party--Constitutional +labours--Declaration of rights--Permanency and unity of the legislative +body--Royal sanction--External agitation caused by it--Project of the +court--Banquet of the gardes-du-corps--Insurrection of the 5th and 6th +October--The king comes to reside at Paris. + +CHAPTER III + +FROM THE 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789, TO THE DEATH OF MIRABEAU, +APRIL, 1791 + +Results of the events of October--Alteration of the provinces into +departments--Organization of the administrative and municipal authorities +according to the system of popular sovereignty and election--Finances; all +the means employed are insufficient--Property of the clergy declared +national--The sale of the property of the clergy leads to assignats--Civil +constitution of the clergy--Religious opposition of the bishops-- +Anniversary of the 14th of July--Abolition of titles--Confederation of the +Champ de Mars--New organization of the army--Opposition of the officers-- +Schism respecting the civil constitution of the clergy--Clubs--Death of +Mirabeau--During the whole of this period the separation of parties +becomes more decided. + +CHAPTER IV + +FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 30TH SEPTEMBER, THE END OF THE +CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY + +Political state of Europe before the French revolution--System of alliance +observed by different states--General coalition against the revolution-- +Motives of each power--Conference of Mantua, and circular of Pavia--Flight +to Varennes--Arrest of the king--His suspension--The republican party +separate, for the first time, from the party of the constitutional +monarchy--The latter re-establishes the king--Declaration of Pilnitz--The +king accepts the constitution--End of the constituent assembly--Opinion of +it. + + + +THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + +CHAPTER V + +FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792 + +Early relations between the legislative assembly and the king--State of +parties: the Feuillants rely on the middle classes, the Girondists on the +people--Emigration and the dissentient clergy; decree against them; the +king's veto--Declarations of war--Girondist ministry; Dumouriez, Roland-- +Declaration of war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia--Disasters of +our armies; decree for a camp of reserve for twenty thousand men at Paris; +decree of banishment against the nonjuring priests; veto of the king; fall +of the Girondist ministry--Petition of insurgents of the 20th of June to +secure the passing of the decrees and the recall of the ministers--Last +efforts of the constitutional party--Manifesto of the duke of Brunswick-- +Events of the 10th of August--Military insurrection of Lafayette against +the authors of the events of the 10th of August; it fails--Division of the +assembly and the new commune; Danton--Invasion of the Prussians-- +Massacres of the 2nd of September--Campaign of the Argonne--Causes of the +events under the legislative assembly. + + +THE NATIONAL CONVENTION + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1792, TO THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793 + +First measures of the Convention--Its composition--Rivalry of the Gironde +and of the Mountain--Strength and views of the two parties--Robespierre: +the Girondists accuse him of aspiring to the dictatorship--Marat--Fresh +accusation of Robespierre by Louvet; Robespierre's defence; the Convention +passes to the order of the day--The Mountain, victorious in this struggle, +demand the trial of Louis XVI.--Opinions of parties on this subject--The +Convention decides that Louis XVI. shall be tried, and by itself--Louis +XVI. at the Temple; his replies before the Convention; his defence; his +condemnation; courage and serenity of his last moments--What he was, and +what he was not, as a king. + +CHAPTER VII + +FROM THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793, TO THE 2ND OF JUNE + +Political and military situation of France--England, Holland, Spain, +Naples, and all the circles of the empire fall in with the coalition-- +Dumouriez, after having conquered Belgium, attempts an expedition into +Holland--He wishes to re-establish constitutional monarchy--Reverses of +our armies--Struggle between the Gironde and the Mountain--Conspiracy of +the 10th of March--Insurrection of La Vendee; its progress--Defection of +Dumouriez--The Gironde accused of being his accomplices--New conspiracies +against them--Establishment of the Commission of Twelve to frustrate the +conspirators--Insurrections of the 27th and 31st of May against the +Commission of Twelve; its suppression--Insurrection of the 2nd of June +against the two-and-twenty leading Girondists; their arrest--Total defeat +of that party. + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE 2ND OF JUNE, 1793, TO APRIL, 1794 + +Insurrection of the departments against the 31st of May--Protracted +reverses on the frontiers--Progress of the Vendeans--The _Montagnards_ +decree the constitution of 1793, and immediately suspend it to maintain +and strengthen the revolutionary government--_Levee en masse_; law against +suspected persons--Victories of the _Montagnards_ in the interior, and on +the frontiers--Death of the queen, of the twenty-two Girondists, etc.-- +Committee of public safety; its power; its members--Republican calendar-- +The conquerors of the 31st of May separate--The ultra-revolutionary +faction of the commune, or the Hebertists, abolish the catholic religion, +and establish the worship of Reason; its struggle with the committee of +public safety; its defeat--The moderate faction of the _Montagnards_, or +the Dantonists, wish to destroy the revolutionary dictatorship, and to +establish the legal government; their fall--The committee of public safety +remains alone, and triumphant. + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE DEATH OF DANTON, APRIL, 1794, TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR +(27TH JULY, 1794) + +Increase of terror; its cause--System of the democrats; Saint-Just-- +Robespierre's power--Festival of the Supreme Being--Couthon presents the +law of the 22nd Prairial, which reorganizes the revolutionary tribunal; +disturbances; debates; final obedience of the convention--The active +members of the committee have a division--Robespierre, Saint-Just, and +Couthon on one side; Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, Barrere, and the +members of the committee of general safety on the other--Conduct of +Robespierre--He absents himself from the committee, and rests on the +Jacobins and the commune--On the 8th of Thermidor he demands the renewal +of the committees; the motion is rejected--Sitting of the 9th Thermidor; +Saint-Just denounces the committees; is interrupted by Tallien; Billaud- +Varennes violently attacks Robespierre; general indignation of the +convention against the triumvirate; they are arrested--The commune rises +and liberates the prisoners--Peril and courage of the convention; it +outlaws the insurgents--The sections declare for the convention--Defeat +and execution of Robespierre. + +CHAPTER X + +FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). +EPOCH OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY + +The convention, after the fall of Robespierre; party of the committees; +Thermidorian party; their constitution and object--Decay of the democratic +party of the committees--Impeachment of Lebon and Carrier--State of Paris +--The Jacobins and the Faubourgs declare for the old committees; the +_jeunesse doree_, and the sections for the Thermidorians--Impeachment of +Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, Barrere, and Vadier--Movement of +Germinal--Transportation of the accused, and of a few of the Mountain, +their partisans--Insurrection of the 1st Prairial--Defeat of the +democratic party; disarming of the Faubourgs--The lower class is excluded +from the government, deprived of the constitution of '93, and loses its +material power. + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE 1ST PRAIRIAL (20TH OF MAY, 1795) TO THE 4TH BRUMAIRE +(26TH OF OCTOBER), YEAR IV., THE CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION + +Campaign of 1793 and 1794--Disposition of the armies on hearing the news +of the 9th Thermidor--Conquest of Holland; position on the Rhine--Peace of +Basel with Prussia--Peace with Spain--Descent upon Quiberon--The reaction +ceases to be conventional, and becomes royalist--Massacre of the +revolutionists, in the south--Directorial constitution of the year III.-- +Decrees of Fructidor, which require the re-election of two-thirds of the +convention--Irritation of the sectionary royalist party--It becomes +insurgent--The 13th of Vendemiaire--Appointment of the councils and of the +directory--Close of the convention; its duration and character. + + +THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY + +CHAPTER XII + +FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THE DIRECTORY, ON THE 27TH OCTOBER, 1795, TO THE +COUP-D'ETAT OF THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, YEAR V. (3RD AUGUST, 1797) + +Review of the revolution--Its second character of reorganization; +transition from public to private life--The five directors; their labours +for the interior--Pacification of La Vendee--Conspiracy of Babeuf; final +defeat of the democratic party--Plan of campaign against Austria; conquest +of Italy by general Bonaparte; treaty of Campo-Formio; the French republic +is acknowledged, with its acquisitions, and its connection with the Dutch, +Lombard, and Ligurian republics, which prolonged its system in Europe-- +Royalist elections in the year V.; they alter the position of the +republic--New contest between the counter-revolutionary party in the +councils, in the club of Clichy, in the salons, and the conventional +party, in the directory, the club of _Salm_, and the army--Coup d'etat of +the 18th Fructidor; the Vendemiaire party again defeated. + +CHAPTER XIII + +FROM THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, IN THE YEAR V. (4TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1797), TO THE +18TH BRUMAIRE, IN THE YEAR VIII. (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) + +By the 18th Fructidor the directory returns, with slight mitigation, to +the revolutionary government--General peace, except with England--Return +of Bonaparte to Paris--Expedition into Egypt--Democratic elections for the +year VI.--The directory annuls them on the 22nd Floreal--Second coalition; +Russia, Austria, and England attack the republic through Italy, +Switzerland, and Holland; general defeats--Democratic elections for the +year VII.; on the 30th Prairial the councils get the upper hand, and +disorganize the old directory--Two parties in the new directory, and in +the councils: the moderate republican party under Sieyes, Roger-Ducos, and +the ancients; the extreme republican party under Moulins, Golier, the Five +Hundred, and the Society of the Manege--Various projects--Victories of +Massena, in Switzerland; of Brune, in Holland--Bonaparte returns from +Egypt; comes to an understanding with Sieyes and his party--The 18th and +19th Brumaire--End of the directorial system. + + +THE CONSULATE + +CHAPTER XIV + +FROM THE 18TH BRUMAIRE (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) TO THE 2ND +OF DECEMBER, 1804 + +Hopes entertained by the various parties, after the 18th Brumaire-- +Provisional government--Constitution of Sieyes; distorted into the +consular constitution of the year VIII.--Formation of the government; +pacific designs of Bonaparte--Campaign of Italy; victory of Marengo-- +General peace: on the continent, by the treaty of Luneville with England; +by the treaty of Amiens--Fusion of parties; internal prosperity of France +--Ambitious system of the First Consul; re-establishes the clergy in the +state, by the Concordat of 1802; he creates a military order of +knighthood, by means of the Legion of Honour; he completes this order of +things by the consulate for life--Resumption of hostilities with England-- +Conspiracy of Georges and Pichegru--The war and royalist attempts form a +pretext for the erection of the empire--Napoleon Bonaparte appointed +hereditary emperor; is crowned by the pope on the 2nd of December, 1804, +in the church of Notre Dame--Successive abandonment of the revolution-- +Progress of absolute power during the four years of the consulate. + + +THE EMPIRE + +CHAPTER XV + +FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE, 1804-1814 + +Character of the empire--Change of the republics created by the directory +into kingdoms--Third coalition; capture of Vienna; victories of Ulm and +Austerlitz; peace of Pressburg; erection of the two kingdoms of Bavaria +and Wurtemberg against Austria--Confederation of the Rhine--Joseph +Napoleon appointed king of Naples; Louis Napoleon, king of Holland--Fourth +coalition; battle of Jena; capture of Berlin; victories of Eylau and +Friedland; peace of Tilsit; the Prussian monarchy is reduced by one half; +the kingdoms of Saxony and Westphalia are instituted against it; that of +Westphalia given to Jerome Napoleon--The grand empire rises with its +secondary kingdoms, its confederation of the Rhine, its Swiss mediation, +its great fiefs; it is modelled on that of Charlemagne--Blockade of the +continent--Napoleon employs the cessation of commerce to reduce England, +as he had employed arms to subdue the continent--Invasion of Spain and +Portugal; Joseph Napoleon appointed to the throne of Spain; Murat replaces +him on the throne of Naples--New order of events: national insurrection of +the peninsula; religious contest with the pope--Commercial opposition of +Holland--Fifth coalition--Victory of Wagram; peace of Vienna; marriage of +Napoleon with the archduchess Marie Louise--Failure of the attempt at +resistance; the pope is dethroned; Holland is again united to the empire, +and the war in Spain prosecuted with vigour--Russia renounces the +continental system; campaign of 1812; capture of Moscow; disastrous +retreat--Reaction against the power of Napoleon; campaign of 1813; general +defection--Coalition of all Europe; exhaustion of France; marvellous +campaign of 1814--The allied powers at Paris; abdication at Fontainbleau; +character of Napoleon; his part in the French revolution--Conclusion. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I am about to take a rapid review of the history of the French revolution, +which began the era of new societies in Europe, as the English revolution +had begun the era of new governments. This revolution not only modified +the political power, but it entirely changed the internal existence of the +nation. The forms of the society of the middle ages still remained. The +land was divided into hostile provinces, the population into rival +classes. The nobility had lost all their powers, but still retained all +their distinctions: the people had no rights, royalty no limits; France +was in an utter confusion of arbitrary administration, of class +legislation and special privileges to special bodies. For these abuses the +revolution substituted a system more conformable with justice, and better +suited to our times. It substituted law in the place of arbitrary will, +equality in that of privilege; delivered men from the distinctions of +classes, the land from the barriers of provinces, trade from the shackles +of corporations and fellowships, agriculture from feudal subjection and +the oppression of tithes, property from the impediment of entails, and +brought everything to the condition of one state, one system of law, one +people. + +In order to effect such mighty reformation as this, the revolution had +many obstacles to overcome, involving transient excesses with durable +benefits. The privileged sought to prevent it; Europe to subject it; and +thus forced into a struggle, it could not set bounds to its efforts, or +moderate its victory. Resistance from within brought about the sovereignty +of the multitude, and aggression from without, military domination. Yet +the end was attained, in spite of anarchy and in spite of despotism: the +old society was destroyed during the revolution, and the new one became +established under the empire. + +When a reform has become necessary, and the moment for accomplishing it +has arrived, nothing can prevent it, everything furthers it. Happy were it +for men, could they then come to an understanding; would the rich resign +their superfluity, and the poor content themselves with achieving what +they really needed, revolutions would then be quietly effected, and the +historian would have no excesses, no calamities to record; he would merely +have to display the transition of humanity to a wiser, freer, and happier +condition. But the annals of nations have not as yet presented any +instance of such prudent sacrifices; those who should have made them have +refused to do so; those who required them have forcibly compelled them; +and good has been brought about, like evil, by the medium and with all the +violence of usurpation. As yet there has been no sovereign but force. + +In reviewing the history of the important period extending from the +opening of the states-general to 1814, I propose to explain the various +crises of the revolution, while I describe their progress. It will thus be +seen through whose fault, after commencing under such happy auspices, it +so fearfully degenerated; in what way it changed France into a republic, +and how upon the ruins of the republic it raise the empire. These various +phases were almost inevitable, so irresistible was the power of the events +which produced them. It would perhaps be rash to affirm that by no +possibility could the face of things have been otherwise; but it is +certain that the revolution, taking its rise from such causes, and +employing and arousing such passions, naturally took that course, and +ended in that result. Before we enter upon its history, let us see what +led to the convocation of the states-general, which themselves brought on +all that followed. In retracing the preliminary causes of the revolution, +I hope to show that it was as impossible to avoid as to guide it. + +From its establishment the French monarchy had had no settled form, no +fixed and recognised public right. Under the first races the crown was +elective, the nation sovereign, and the king a mere military chief, +depending on the common voice for all decisions to be made, and all the +enterprises to be undertaken. The nation elected its chief, exercised the +legislative power in the Champs de Mars under the presidentship of the +king, and the judicial power in the courts under the direction of one of +his officers. Under the feudal regime, this royal democracy gave way to a +royal aristocracy. Absolute power ascended higher, the nobles stripped the +people of it, as the prince afterwards despoiled the nobles. At this +period the monarch had become hereditary; not as king, but as individually +possessor of a fief; the legislative authority belonged to the seigneurs, +in their vast territories or in the barons' parliaments; and the judicial +authority to the vassals in the manorial courts. In a word, power had +become more and more concentrated, and as it had passed from the many to +the few, it came at last from the few to be invested in one alone. During +centuries of continuous efforts, the kings of France were battering down +the feudal edifice, and at length they established themselves on its +ruins, having step by step usurped the fiefs, subdued the vassals, +suppressed the parliaments of barons, annulled or subjected the manorial +courts, assumed the legislative power, and effected that judicial +authority should be exercised in their name and on their behalf, in +parliaments of legists. + +The states-general, which they convoked on pressing occasions, for the +purpose of obtaining subsidies, and which were composed of the three +orders of the nation, the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate or +commons, had no regular existence. Originated while the royal prerogative +was in progress, they were at first controlled, and finally suppressed by +it. The strongest and most determined opposition the kings had to +encounter in their projects of aggrandizement, proceeded much less from +these assemblies, which they authorized or annulled at pleasure, than from +the nobles vindicating against them, first their sovereignty, and then +their political importance. From Philip Augustus to Louis XI. the object +of all their efforts was to preserve their own power; from Louis XI. to +Louis XIV. to become the ministers of that of royalty. The Fronde was the +last campaign of the aristocracy. Under Louis XIV. absolute monarchy +definitively established itself, and dominated without dispute. + +The government of France, from Louis XIV. to the revolution, was still +more arbitrary than despotic; for the monarchs had much more power than +they exercised. The barriers that opposed the encroachments of this +immense authority were exceedingly feeble. The crown disposed of persons +by _lettres de cachet_, of property by confiscation, of the public revenue +by imposts. Certain bodies, it is true, possessed means of defence, which +were termed privileges, but these privileges were rarely respected. The +parliament had that of ratifying or of refusing an impost, but the king +could compel its assent, by a _lit de justice_, and punish its members by +exile. The nobility were exempt from taxation; the clergy were entitled to +the privilege of taxing themselves, in the form of free gifts; some +provinces enjoyed the right of compounding the taxes, and others made the +assessment themselves. Such were the trifling liberties of France, and +even these all turned to the benefit of the privileged classes, and to the +detriment of the people. + +And this France, so enslaved, was moreover miserably organized; the +excesses of power were still less endurable than their unjust +distribution. The nation, divided into three orders, themselves subdivided +into several classes, was a prey to all the attacks of despotism, and all +the evils of inequality. The nobility were subdivided: into courtiers, +living on the favours of the prince, that is to say, on the labour of the +people, and whose aim was governorships of provinces, or elevated ranks in +the army; ennobled parvenus, who conducted the interior administration, +and whose object was to obtain comptrollerships, and to make the most of +their place while they held it, by jobbing of every description; legists +who administered justice, and were alone competent to perform its +functions; and landed proprietors who oppressed the country by the +exercise of those feudal rights which still survived. The clergy were +divided into two classes: the one destined for the bishoprics and abbeys, +and their rich revenues; the other for the apostolic function and its +poverty. The third estate, ground down by the court, humiliated by the +nobility, was itself divided into corporations, which, in their turn, +exercised upon each other the evil and the contempt they received from the +higher classes. It possessed scarcely a third part of the land, and this +was burdened with the feudal rents due to the lords of the manor, tithes +to the clergy, and taxes to the king. In compensation for all these +sacrifices it enjoyed no political right, had no share in the +administration, and was admitted to no public employment. + +Louis XIV. wore out the main-spring of absolute monarchy by too protracted +tension and too violent use. Fond of sway, rendered irritable by the +vexations of his youth, he quelled all resistance, forbad every kind of +opposition,--that of the aristocracy which manifested itself in revolt,-- +that of the parliaments displayed by remonstrance,--that of the +protestants, whose form was a liberty of conscience which the church +deemed heretical, and royalty factious. Louis XIV. subdued the nobles by +summoning them to his court, where favours and pleasures were the +compensation for their dependence. Parliament, till then the instrument of +the crown, attempted to become its counterbalance, and the prince +haughtily imposed upon it a silence and submission of sixty years' +duration. At length, the revocation of the edict of Nantes completed this +work of despotism. An arbitrary government not only will not endure +resistance, but it demands that its subjects shall approve and imitate it. +After having subjected the actions of men, it persecutes conscience; +needing to be ever in motion, it seeks victims when they do not fall in +its way. The immense power of Louis XIV. was exercised, internally, +against the heretics; externally, against all Europe. Oppression found +ambitious men to counsel it, dragoons to serve, and success to encourage +it; the wounds of France were hidden by laurels, her groans were drowned +in songs of victory. But at last the men of genius died, the victories +ceased, industry emigrated, money disappeared; and the fact became +evident, that the very successes of despotism exhaust its resources, and +consume its future ere that future has arrived. + +The death of Louis XIV. was the signal for a reaction; there was a sudden +transition from intolerance to incredulity, from the spirit of obedience +to that of discussion. Under the regency, the third estate acquired in +importance, by their increasing wealth and intelligence, all that the +nobility lost in consideration, and the clergy in influence. Under Louis +XV., the court prosecuted ruinous wars attended with little glory, and +engaged in a silent struggle with opinion, in an open one with the +parliament. Anarchy crept into its bosom, the government fell into the +hands of royal mistresses, power was completely on the decline, and the +opposition daily made fresh progress. + +The parliaments had undergone a change of position and of system. Royalty +had invested them with a power which they now turned against it. No sooner +had the ruin of the aristocracy been accomplished by the combined efforts +of the parliament and of royalty, than the conquerors quarrelled, +according to the common practice of allies after a victory. Royalty sought +to destroy an instrument that became dangerous when it ceased to be +useful, and the parliament sought to govern royalty. This struggle, +favourable to the monarch under Louis XIV., of mixed reverses and success +under Louis XV., only ceased with the revolution. The parliament, from its +very nature, was only called upon to serve as an instrument. The exercise +of its prerogative, and its ambition as a body, leading it to oppose +itself to the strong and support the weak, it served by turns the crown +against the aristocracy and the nation against the crown. It was this that +made it so popular under Louis XV. and Louis XVI., although it only +attacked the court from a spirit of rivalry. Opinion, without inquiring +into its motives, applauded not its ambition but its resistance, and +supported it because defended by it. Rendered daring by such +encouragement, it became formidable to authority. After annulling the will +of the most imperious and best-obeyed of monarchs; after protesting +against the Seven Years' War; after obtaining the control of financial +operations and the destruction of the Jesuits, its resistance became so +constant and energetic, that the court, meeting with it in every +direction, saw the necessity of either submitting to or subjecting it. It +accordingly carried into execution the plan of disorganization proposed by +the chancellor Maupeou. This daring man, who, to employ his own +expression, had offered _retirer la couronne du greffe_, replaced this +hostile parliament by one devoted to power, and subjected to a similar +operation the entire magistracy of France, who were following the example +of that of Paris. + +But the time had passed for coups d'etat. The current had set in against +arbitrary rule so decidedly that the king resorted to it with doubt and +hesitation, and even encountered the disapprobation of his court. A new +power had arisen--that of opinion; which, though not recognised, was not +the less influential, and whose decrees were beginning to assume sovereign +authority. The nation, hitherto a nonentity, gradually asserted its +rights, and without sharing power influenced it. Such is the course of all +rising powers; they watch over it from without, before they are admitted +into the government; then, from the right of control they pass to that of +co-operation. The epoch at which the third estate was to share the sway +had at last arrived. It had at former periods attempted to effect this, +but in vain, because its efforts were premature. It was then but just +emancipated, and possessed not that which establishes superiority, and +leads to the acquisition of power; for right is only obtained by might. +Accordingly, in insurrections as in the states-general, it had held but +the third rank; everything was done with its aid, but nothing for it. In +times of feudal tyranny, it had served the kings against the nobles; when +ministerial and fiscal despotism prevailed, it assisted the nobles against +the kings; but, in the first instance, it was nothing more than the +servant of the crown; in the second, than that of the aristocracy. The +struggle took place in a sphere, and on the part of interests, with which +it was reputed to have no connexion. When the nobles were definitively +beaten in the time of the Fronde, it laid down its arms; a clear proof how +secondary was the part it had played. + +At length, after a century of absolute submission, it reappeared in the +arena, but on its own account. The past cannot be recalled; and it was not +more possible for the nobles to rise from their defeat than it would now +be for absolute monarchy to regain its position. The court was to have +another antagonist, for it must always have one, power never being without +a candidate. The third estate, which increased daily in strength, wealth, +intelligence, and union, was destined to combat and to displace it. The +parliament did not constitute a class, but a body; and in this new +contest, while able to aid in the displacement of authority, it could not +secure it for itself. + +The court had favoured the progress of the third estate, and had +contributed to the development of one of its chief means of advancement, +its intelligence. The most absolute of monarchs aided the movement of +mind, and, without intending it, created public opinion. By encouraging +praise, he prepared the way for blame; for we cannot invite an examination +in our favour, without undergoing one afterwards to our prejudice. When +the songs of triumph, and gratulation, and adulation were exhausted, +accusation began, and the philosophers of the eighteenth century succeeded +to the litterateurs of the seventeenth. Everything became the object of +their researches and reflections; governments, religion, abuses, laws. +They proclaimed rights, laid bare men's wants, denounced injustice. A +strong and enlightened public opinion was formed, whose attacks the +government underwent without venturing to attempt its suppression. It even +converted those whom it attacked; courtiers submitted to its decisions +from fashion's sake, power from necessity, and the age of reform was +ushered in by the age of philosophy, as the latter had been by the age of +the fine arts. + +Such was the condition of France, when Louis XVI. ascended the throne on +the 11th of May, 1774. Finances, whose deficiencies neither the +restorative ministry of cardinal de Fleury, nor the bankrupt ministry of +the abbe Terray had been able to make good, authority disregarded, +intractable parliaments, an imperious public opinion; such were the +difficulties which the new reign inherited from its predecessors. Of all +princes, Louis XVI., by his tendencies and his virtues, was best suited to +his epoch. The people were weary of arbitrary rule, and he was disposed to +renounce its exercise; they were exasperated with the burdensome +dissoluteness of the court of Louis XV.; the morals of the new king were +pure and his wants few; they demanded reforms that had become +indispensable, and he appreciated the public want, and made it his glory +to satisfy it. But it was as difficult to effect good as to continue evil; +for it was necessary to have sufficient strength either to make the +privileged classes submit to reform, or the nation to abuses; and Louis +XVI. was neither a regenerator nor a despot. He was deficient in that +sovereign will which alone accomplishes great changes in states, and which +is as essential to monarchs who wish to limit their power as to those who +seek to aggrandize it. Louis XVI. possessed a sound mind, a good and +upright heart, but he was without energy of character and perseverance in +action. His projects of amelioration met with obstacles which he had not +foreseen, and which he knew not how to overcome. He accordingly fell +beneath his efforts to favour reform, as another would have fallen in his +attempt to prevent it. Up to the meeting of the states-general, his reign +was one long and fruitless endeavour at amelioration. + +In choosing, on his accession to the throne, Maurepas as prime minister, +Louis XVI. eminently contributed to the irresolute character of his reign. +Young, deeply sensible of his duties and of his own insufficiency, he had +recourse to the experience of an old man of seventy-three, who had lost +the favour of Louis XV. by his opposition to the mistresses of that +monarch. In him the king found not a statesman, but a mere courtier, whose +fatal influence extended over the whole course of his reign. Maurepas had +little heed to the welfare of France, or the glory of his master; his sole +care was to remain in favour. Residing in the palace at Versailles, in an +apartment communicating with that of the king, and presiding over the +council, he rendered the mind of Louis XVI. uncertain, his character +irresolute; he accustomed him to half-measures, to changes of system, to +all the inconsistencies of power, and especially to the necessity of doing +everything by others, and nothing of himself. Maurepas had the choice of +the ministers, and these cultivated his good graces as assiduously as he +the king's. Fearful of endangering his position, he kept out of the +ministry men of powerful connections, and appointed rising men, who +required his support for their own protection, and to effect their +reforms. He successively called Turgot, Malesherbes, and Necker to the +direction of affairs, each of whom undertook to effect ameliorations in +that department of the government which had been the immediate object of +his studies. + +Malesherbes, descended from a family in the law, inherited parliamentary +virtues, and not parliamentary prejudices. To an independent mind, he +united a noble heart. He wished to give to every man his rights; to the +accused, the power of being defended; to protestants, liberty of +conscience; to authors, the liberty of the press; to every Frenchman, +personal freedom; and he proposed the abolition of the torture, the re- +establishment of the edict of Nantes, and the suppression of _lettres de +cachet_ and of the censure. Turgot, of a vigorous and comprehensive mind, +and an extraordinary firmness and strength of character, attempted to +realize still more extensive projects. He joined Malesherbes, in order, +with his assistance, to complete the establishment of a system which was +to bring back unity to the government and equality to the country. This +virtuous citizen constantly occupied himself with the amelioration of the +condition of the people; he undertook, alone, what the revolution +accomplished at a later period,--the suppression of servitude and +privilege. He proposed to enfranchise the rural districts from statute +labour, provinces from their barriers, commerce from internal duties, +trade from its shackles, and lastly, to make the nobility and clergy +contribute to the taxes in the same proportion as the third estate. This +great minister, of whom Malesherbes said, "he has the head of Bacon and +the heart of l'Hopital," wished by means of provincial assemblies to +accustom the nation to public life, and prepare it for the restoration of +the states-general. He would have effected the revolution by ordinances, +had he been able to stand. But under the system of special privileges and +general servitude, all projects for the public good were impraticable. +Turgot dissatisfied the courtiers by his ameliorations, displeased the +parliament by the abolition of statute labour, wardenships, and internal +duties, and alarmed the old minister by the ascendancy which his virtue +gave him over Louis XVI. The prince forsook him, though at the same time +observing that Turgot and himself were the only persons who desired the +welfare of the people: so lamentable is the condition of kings! + +Turgot was succeeded in 1776 in the general control of the finances by +Clugny, formerly comptroller of Saint Domingo, who, six months after, was +himself succeeded by Necker. Necker was a foreigner, a protestant, a +banker, and greater as an administrator than as a statesman; he +accordingly conceived a plan for reforming France, less extensive than +that of Turgot, but which he executed with more moderation, and aided by +the times. Appointed minister in order to find money for the court, he +made use of the wants of the court to procure liberties for the people. He +re-established the finances by means of order, and made the provinces +contribute moderately to their administration. His views were wise and +just; they consisted in bringing the revenue to a level with the +expenditure, by reducing the latter; by employing taxation in ordinary +times, and loans when imperious circumstances rendered it necessary to tax +the future as well as the present; by causing the taxes to be assessed by +the provincial assemblies, and by instituting the publication of accounts, +in order to facilitate loans. This system was founded on the nature of +loans, which, needing credit, require publicity of administration; and on +that of taxation, which needing assent, requires also a share in the +administration. Whenever there is a deficit and the government makes +applications to meet it, if it address itself to lenders, it must produce +its balance-sheet; if it address itself to the tax-payers, it must give +them a share in its power. Thus loans led to the production of accounts, +and taxes to the states-general; the first placing authority under the +jurisdiction of opinion, and the second placing it under that of the +people. But Necker, though less impatient for reform than Turgot, although +he desired to redeem abuses which his predecessor wished to destroy, was +not more fortunate than he. His economy displeased the courtiers; the +measures of the provincial assemblies incurred the disapprobation of the +parliaments, which wished to monopolize opposition; and the prime minister +could not forgive him an appearance of credit. He was obliged to quit +power in 1781, a few months after the publication of the famous _Comptes +rendus_ of the finances, which suddenly initiated France in a knowledge of +state matters, and rendered absolute government for ever impossible. + +The death of Maurepas followed close upon the retirement of Necker. The +queen took his place with Louis XVI., and inherited all his influence over +him. This good but weak prince required to be directed. His wife, young, +beautiful, active, and ambitious, gained great ascendancy over him. Yet it +may be said that the daughter of Marie Therese resembled her mother too +much or too little. She combined frivolity with domination, and disposed +of power only to invest with it men who caused her own ruin and that of +the state. Maurepas, mistrusting court ministers, had always chosen +popular ministers; it is true he did not support them; but if good was not +brought about, at least evil did not increase. After his death, court +ministers succeeded the popular ministers, and by their faults rendered +the crisis inevitable, which others had endeavoured to prevent by their +reforms. This difference of choice is very remarkable; this it was which, +by the change of men, brought on the change in the system of +administration. The revolution dates from this epoch; the abandonment of +reforms and the return of disorders hastened its approach and augmented +its fury. + +Calonne was called from an intendancy to the general control of the +finances. Two successors had already been given to Necker, when +application was made to Calonne in 1783. Calonne was daring, brilliant and +eloquent; he had much readiness and a fertile mind. Either from error or +design he adopted a system of administration directly opposed to that of +his predecessor. Necker recommended economy, Calonne boasted of his lavish +expenditure. Necker fell through courtiers, Calonne sought to be upheld by +them. His sophisms were backed by his liberality; he convinced the queen +by _fetes_, the nobles by pensions; he gave a great circulation to the +finances, in order that the extent and facility of his operations might +excite confidence in the justness of his views; he even deceived the +capitalists, by first showing himself punctual in his payments. He +continued to raise loans after the peace, and he exhausted the credit +which Necker's wise conduct had procured to the government. Having come to +this point, having deprived himself of a resource, the very employment of +which he was unable to manage, in order to prolong his continuance in +power he was obliged to have recourse to taxation. But to whom could he +apply? The people could pay no longer, and the privileged classes would +not offer anything. Yet it was necessary to decide, and Calonne, hoping +more from something new, convoked an assembly of notables, which began its +sittings at Versailles on the 22nd of February, 1787. But a recourse to +others must prove the end of a system founded on prodigality. A minister +who had risen by giving, could not maintain himself by asking. + +The notables, chosen by the government from the higher classes, formed a +ministerial assembly, which had neither a proper existence nor a +commission. It was, indeed, to avoid parliaments and states-general, that +Calonne addressed himself to a more subordinate assembly, hoping to find +it more docile. But, composed of privileged persons, it was little +disposed to make sacrifices. It became still less so, when it saw the +abyss which a devouring administration had excavated. It learned with +terror, that the loans of a few years amounted to one thousand six hundred +and forty-six millions, and that there was an annual deficit in the +revenue of a hundred and forty millions. This disclosure was the signal +for Calonne's fall. He fell, and was succeeded by Brienne, archbishop of +Sens, his opponent in the assembly. Brienne thought the majority of the +notables was devoted to him, because it had united with him against +Calonne. But the privileged classes were not more disposed to make +sacrifices to Brienne than to his predecessor; they had seconded his +attacks, which were to their interest, and not his ambition, to which they +were indifferent. + +The archbishop of Sens, who is censured for a want of plan, was in no +position to form one. He was not allowed to continue the prodigality of +Calonne; and it was too late to return to the retrenchments of Necker. +Economy, which had been a means of safety at a former period, was no +longer so in this. Recourse must be had either to taxation, and that +parliament opposed; or loans, and credit was exhausted; or sacrifices on +the part of the privileged classes, who were unwilling to make them. +Brienne, to whom office had been the chief object of life, who with, the +difficulties of his position combined slenderness of means attempted +everything, and succeeded in nothing. His mind was active, but it wanted +strength; and his character rash without firmness. Daring, previous to +action, but weak afterwards, he ruined himself by his irresolution, want +of foresight, and constant variation of means. There remained only bad +measures to adopt, but he could not decide upon one, and follow that one; +this was his real error. + +The assembly of notables was but little submissive and very parsimonious. +After having sanctioned the establishment of provincial assemblies, a +regulation of the corn trade, the abolition of corvees, and a new stamp +tax, it broke up on the 25th of May, 1787. It spread throughout France +what it had discovered respecting the necessities of the throne, the +errors of the ministers, the dilapidation of the court, and the +irremediable miseries of the people. + +Brienne, deprived of this assistance, had recourse to taxation, as a +resource, the use of which had for some time been abandoned. He demanded +the enrolment of two edicts--that of the stamps and that of the +territorial subsidies. But parliament, which was then in the full vigour +of its existence and in all the ardour of its ambition, and to which the +financial embarrassment of the ministry offered a means of augmenting its +power, refused the enrolment. Banished to Troyes, it grew weary of exile, +and the minister recalled it on condition that the two edicts should be +accepted. But this was only a suspension of hostilities; the necessities +of the crown soon rendered the struggle more obstinate and violent. The +minister had to make fresh applications for money; his existence depended +on the issue of several successive loans to the amount of four hundred and +forty millions. It was necessary to obtain the enrolment of them. + +Brienne, expecting opposition from the parliament, procured the enrolment +of this edict by a _lit de justice_, and to conciliate the magistracy and +public opinion, the protestants were restored to their rights in the same +sitting, and Louis XVI. promised an annual publication of the state of +finances, and the convocation, of the states-general before the end of +five years. But these concessions were no longer sufficient: parliament +refused the enrolment, and rose against the ministerial tyranny. Some of +its members, among others the duke of Orleans, were banished. Parliament +protested, by a decree, against _lettres de cachet_, and required the +recall of its members. This decree was annulled by the king, and confirmed +by parliament. The warfare increased. + +The magistracy of Paris was supported by all the magistracy of France, and +encouraged by public opinion. It proclaimed the rights of the nation, and +its own incompetence in matters of taxation; and, become liberal from +interest, and rendered generous by oppression, it exclaimed against +arbitrary imprisonment, and demanded regularly convoked states-general. +After this act of courage, it decreed the irremovability of its members, +and the incompetence of any who might usurp their functions. This bold +manifesto was followed by the arrest of two members, d'Epremenil and +Goislard, by the reform of the body, and the establishment of a plenary +court. + +Brienne understood that the opposition of the parliament was systematic, +that it would be renewed on every fresh demand for subsidies, or on the +authorization of every loan. Exile was but a momentary remedy, which +suspended opposition, without destroying it. He then projected the +reduction of this body to judicial functions, and associated with himself +Lamoignon, keeper of the seals, for the execution of this project. +Lamoignon was skilled in coups d'etat. He had audacity, and combined with +Maupeou's energetic determination a greater degree of consideration and +probity. But he made a mistake as to the force of power, and what it was +possible to effect in his times. Maupeou had re-established parliament, +changing its members; Lamoignon wished to disorganize it. The first of +these means, if it had succeeded, would only have produced temporary +repose; the second must have produced a definitive one, since it aimed at +destroying the power, which the other only tried to displace; but +Maupeou's reform did not last, and that of Lamoignon could not be +effected. The execution of the latter was, however, tolerably well framed. +All the magistracy of France was exiled on the same day, in order that the +new judicial organization might take place. The keeper of the seals +deprived the parliament of Paris of its political attributes, to invest +with them a plenary court, ministerially composed, and reduced its +judicial competence in favour of bailiwicks, the jurisdiction of which he +extended. Public opinion was indignant; the Chatelet protested, the +provinces rose, and the plenary court could neither be formed nor act. +Disturbances broke out in Dauphine, Brittany, Provence, Flanders, +Languedoc, and Bearn; the ministry, instead of the regular opposition of +parliament, had to encounter one much more animated and factious. The +nobility, the third estate, the provincial states, and even the clergy, +took part in it. Brienne, pressed for money, had called together an +extraordinary assembly of the clergy, who immediately made an address to +the king, demanding the abolition of his plenary court, and the recall of +the states-general: they alone could thenceforth repair the disordered +state of the finances, secure the national debt, and terminate such +conflicts of authority. + +The archbishop of Sens, by his contest with the parliament, had postponed +the financial, by creating a political difficulty. The moment the latter +ceased, the former re-appeared, and made his retreat inevitable. Obtaining +neither taxes nor loans, unable to make use of the plenary court, and not +wishing to recall the parliaments, Brienne, as a last resource, promised +the convocation of the states-general. By this means he hastened his ruin. +He had been called to the financial department in order to remedy +embarrassments which he had augmented, and to procure money which he had +been unable to obtain. So far from it, he had exasperated the nation, +raised a rebellion in the various bodies of the state, compromised the +authority of the government, and rendered inevitable the states-general, +which, in the opinion of the court, was the worst means of raising money. +He succumbed on the 25th of August, 1788. The cause of his fall was a +suspension of the payment of the interest on the debt, which was the +commencement of bankruptcy. This minister has been the most blamed because +he came last. Inheriting the faults, the embarrassments of past times, he +had to struggle with the difficulties of his position with insufficient +means. He tried intrigue and oppression; he banished, suspended, +disorganized parliament; everything was an obstacle to him, nothing aided +him. After a long struggle, he sank under lassitude and weakness; I dare +not say from incapacity, for had he been far stronger and more skilful, +had he been a Richelieu or a Sully, he would still have fallen. It no +longer appertained to any one arbitrarily to raise money or to oppress the +people. It must be said in his excuse, that he had not created that +position from which he was not able to extricate himself; his only mistake +was his presumption in accepting it. He fell through the fault of Calonne, +as Calonne had availed himself of the confidence inspired by Necker for +the purposes of his lavish expenditure. The one had destroyed credit, and +the other, thinking to re-establish it by force, had destroyed authority. + +The states-general had become the only means of government, and the last +resource of the throne. They had been eagerly demanded by parliament and +the peers of the kingdom, on the 13th of July, 1787; by the states of +Dauphine in the assembly of Vizille; by the clergy in its assembly at +Paris. The provincial states had prepared the public mind for them; and +the notables were their precursors. The king after having, on the 18th of +December, 1787, promised their convocation in five years, on the 8th of +August, 1788, fixed the opening for the 1st of May, 1789. Necker was +recalled, parliament re-established, the plenary court abolished, the +bailiwicks destroyed, and the provinces satisfied; and the new minister +prepared everything for the election of deputies and the holding of the +states. + +At this epoch a great change took place in the opposition, which till then +had been unanimous. Under Brienne, the ministry had encountered opposition +from all the various bodies of the state, because it had sought to oppress +them. Under Necker, it met with resistance from the same bodies, which +desired power for themselves and oppression for the people. From being +despotic, it had become national, and it still had them all equally +against it. Parliament had maintained a struggle for authority, and not +for the public welfare; and the nobility had united with the third estate, +rather against the government than in favour of the people. Each of these +bodies had demanded the states-general: the parliament, in the hope of +ruling them as it had done in 1614; and the nobility, in the hope of +regaining its lost influence. Accordingly, the magistracy proposed as a +model for the states-general of 1789, the form of that of 1614, and public +opinion abandoned it; the nobility refused its consent to the double +representation of the third estate, and a division broke out between these +two orders. + +This double representation was required by the intellect of the age, the +necessity of reform, and by the importance which the third estate had +acquired. It had already been admitted in the provincial assemblies. +Brienne, before leaving the ministry, had made an appeal to the writers of +the day, in order to know what would be the most suitable method of +composing and holding the states-general. Among the works favourable to +the people, there appeared the celebrated pamphlet of Sieyes on the Third +Estate, and that of d'Entraigues on the States-general. + +Opinion became daily more decided, and Necker wishing, yet fearing, to +satisfy it, and desirous of conciliating all orders, of obtaining general +approbation, convoked a second assembly of notables on the 6th of +November, 1788, to deliberate on the composition of the states-general, +and the election of its members. He thought to induce it to accept the +double representation of the third estate, but it refused, and he was +obliged to decide, in spite of the notables, that which he ought to have +decided without them. Necker was not the man to avoid disputes by removing +all difficulties beforehand. He did not take the initiative as to the +representation of the third estate, any more than at a later period he +took it with regard to the question of voting by orders or by poll. When +the states-general were assembled, the solution of this second question, +on which depended the state of power and that of the people, was abandoned +to force. + +Be this as it may, Necker, having been unable to make the notables adopt +the double representation of the third estate, caused it to be adopted by +the council. The royal declaration of the 27th of November decreed that +the deputies in the states-general should amount to at least a thousand, +and that the deputies of the third estate should be equal in number to the +deputies of the nobility and clergy together. Necker moreover obtained the +admission of the cures into the order of the clergy, and of protestants +into that of the third estate. The district assemblies were convoked for +the elections; every one exerted himself to secure the nomination of +members of his own party, and to draw up manifestoes setting forth his +views. Parliament had but little influence in the elections, and the court +none at all. The nobility selected a few popular deputies, but mainly such +as were devoted to the interests of their order, and as much opposed to +the third estate as to the oligarchy of the great families of the court. +The clergy nominated bishops and abbes attached to privilege, and cures +favourable to the popular cause, which was their own; lastly, the third +estate selected men enlightened, firm, and unanimous in their wishes. The +deputation of the nobility was comprised of two hundred and forty-two +gentlemen, and twenty-eight members of the parliament; that of the clergy, +of forty-eight archbishops or bishops, thirty-five abbes or deans, and two +hundred and eight cures; and that of the communes, of two ecclesiastics, +twelve noblemen, eighteen magistrates of towns, two hundred county +members, two hundred and twelve barristers, sixteen physicians, and two +hundred and sixteen merchants and agriculturists. The opening of the +states-general was then fixed for the 5th of May, 1789. + +Thus was the revolution brought about. The court in vain tried to prevent, +as it afterwards endeavoured to annul it. Under the direction of Maurepas, +the king nominated popular ministers, and made attempts at reform; under +the influence of the queen, he nominated court ministers, and made +attempts at authority. Oppression met with as little success as reform. +After applying in vain to courtiers for retrenchments, to parliament for +levies, to capitalists for loans, he sought for new tax-payers, and made +an appeal to the privileged orders. He demanded of the notables, +consisting of the nobles and the clergy, a participation in the charges of +the state, which they refused. He then for the first time applied to all +France, and convoked the states-general. He treated with the various +bodies of the nation before treating with the nation itself; and it was +only on the refusal of the first, that he appealed from it to a power +whose intervention and support he dreaded. He preferred private +assemblies, which, being isolated, necessarily remained secondary, to a +general assembly, which representing all interests, must combine all +powers. Up to this great epoch every year saw the wants of the government +increasing, and resistance becoming more extensive. Opposition passed from +parliaments to the nobility, from the nobility to the clergy, and from +them all to the people. In proportion as each participated in power it +began its opposition, until all these private oppositions were fused in or +gave way before the national opposition. The states-general only decreed a +revolution which was already formed. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +FROM THE 5TH OF MAY, 1789, TO THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST + +The 5th of May, 1789, was fixed for the opening of the states-general. A +religious ceremony on the previous day prefaced their installation. The +king, his family, his ministers, the deputies of the three orders, went in +procession from the church of Notre-Dame to that of Saint Louis, to hear +the opening mass. Men did not without enthusiasm see the return of a +national ceremony of which France had for so long a period been deprived. +It had all the appearance of a festival. An enormous multitude flocked +from all parts to Versailles; the weather was splendid; they had been +lavish of the pomp of decoration. The excitement of the music, the kind +and satisfied expression of the king, the beauty and demeanour of the +queen, and, as much as anything, the general hope, exalted every one. But +the etiquette, costumes, and order of the ranks of the states in 1614, +were seen with regret. The clergy, in cassocks, large cloaks, and square +caps, or in violet robes and lawn sleeves, occupied the first place. Then +came the nobles, attired in black coats with waistcoats and facings of +cloth of gold, lace cravats, and hats with white plumes, turned up in the +fashion of Henry IV. The modest third estate came last, clothed in black, +with short cloaks, muslin cravats, and hats without feathers or loops. In +the church, the same distinction as to places existed between the three +orders. + +The royal session took place the following day in the Salle des Menus. +Galleries, arranged in the form of an amphitheatre, were filled with +spectators. The deputies were summoned and introduced according to the +order established in 1614. The clergy were conducted to the right, the +nobility to the left, and the commons in front of the throne at the end of +the hall. The deputations from Dauphine, from Crepi in Valois, to which +the duke of Orleans belonged, and from Provence, were received with loud +applause. Necker was also received on his entrance with general +enthusiasm. Public favour was testified towards all who had contributed to +the convocation of the states-general. When the deputies and ministers had +taken their places, the king appeared, followed by the queen, the princes, +and a brilliant suite. The hall resounded with applause on his arrival. +When he came in, Louis XVI. took his seat on the throne, and when he had +put on his hat, the three orders covered themselves at the same time. The +commons, contrary to the custom of the ancient states, imitated the +nobility and clergy, without hesitation: the time when the third order +should remain uncovered and speak kneeling was gone by. The king's speech +was then expected in profound silence. Men were eager to know the true +feeling of the government with regard to the states. Did it purpose +assimilating the new assembly to the ancient, or to grant it the part +which the necessities of the state and the importance of the occasion +assigned to it? + +"Gentlemen," said the king, with emotion, "the day I have so anxiously +expected has at length arrived, and I see around me the representatives of +the nation which I glory in governing. A long interval had elapsed since +the last session of the states-general, and although the convocation of +these assemblies seemed to have fallen into disuse, I did not hesitate to +restore a custom from which the kingdom might derive new force, and which +might open to the nation a new source of happiness." + +These words which promised much, were only followed by explanations as to +the debt and announcements of retrenchment in the expenditure. The king, +instead of wisely tracing out to the states the course they ought to +follow, urged the orders to union, expressed his want of money, his dread +of innovations, and complained of the uneasiness of the public mind, +without suggesting any means of satisfying it. He was nevertheless very +much applauded when he delivered at the close of his discourse the +following words, which fully described his intentions: "All that can be +expected from the dearest interest in the public welfare, all that can be +required of a sovereign, the first friend of his people; you may and ought +to hope from my sentiments. That a happy spirit of union may pervade this +assembly, gentlemen, and that this may be an ever memorable epoch for the +happiness and prosperity of the kingdom, is the wish of my heart, the most +ardent of my desires; it is, in a word, the reward which I expect for the +uprightness of my intentions, and my love of my subjects." + +Barentin, keeper of the seals, spoke next. His speech was an amplification +respecting the states-general, and the favours of the king. After a long +preamble, he at last touched upon the topics of the occasion. "His +Majesty," he said, "has not changed the ancient method of deliberation, by +granting a double representation in favour of the most numerous of the +three orders, that on which the burden of taxation chiefly falls. Although +the vote by poll, by producing but one result, seems to have the advantage +of best representing the general desire, the king wishes this new form +should be adopted only with the free consent of the states, and the +approval of his majesty. But whatever may be the opinion on this question, +whatever distinctions may be drawn between the different matters that will +become subjects of deliberation, there can be no doubt but that the most +entire harmony will unite the three orders on the subject of taxation." +The government was not opposed to the vote by poll in pecuniary matters, +it being more expeditious; but in political questions it declared itself +in favour of voting by order, as a more effectual check on innovations. In +this way it sought to arrive at its own end,--namely, subsidies, and not +to allow the nation to obtain its object, which was reform. The manner in +which the keeper of the seals determined the province of the states- +general, discovered more plainly the intentions of the court. He reduced +them, in a measure, to the inquiry into taxation, in order to vote it, and +to the discussion of a law respecting the press, for the purpose of fixing +its limits, and to the reform of civil and criminal legislation. He +proscribed all other changes, and concluded by saying: "All just demands +have been granted; the king has not noticed indiscreet murmurs; he has +condescended to overlook them with indulgence; he has even forgiven the +expression of those false and extravagant maxims, under favour of which +attempts have been made to substitute pernicious chimeras for the +unalterable principles of monarchy. You will with indignation, gentlemen, +repel the dangerous innovations which the enemies of the public good seek +to confound with the necessary and happy changes which this regeneration +ought to produce, and which form the first wish of his majesty." + +This speech displayed little knowledge of the wishes of the nation, or it +sought openly to combat them. The dissatisfied assembly looked to M. +Necker, from whom it expected different language. He was the popular +minister, had obtained the double representation, and it was hoped he +would approve of the vote by poll, the only way of enabling the third +estate to turn its numbers to account. But he spoke as comptroller-general +and as a man of caution. His speech, which lasted three hours, was a +lengthened budget; and when, after tiring the assembly, he touched on the +topic of interest, he spoke undecidedly, in order to avoid committing +himself either with the court or the people. + +The government ought to have better understood the importance of the +states-general. The restoration of this assembly alone announced a great +revolution. Looked for with hope by the nation, it reappeared at an epoch +when the ancient monarchy was sinking, and when it alone was capable of +reforming the state and providing for the necessities of royalty. The +difficulties of the time, the nature of their mission, the choice of their +members, everything announced that the states were not assembled as tax- +payers, but as legislators. The right of regenerating France had been +granted them by opinion, was devolved on them by public resolutions, and +they found in the enormity of the abuses and the public encouragement, +strength to undertake and accomplish this great task. + +It behoved the king to associate himself with their labours. In this way +he would have been able to restore his power, and ensure himself from the +excesses of a revolution, by himself assisting in bringing it about. If, +taking the lead in these changes, he had fixed the new order of things +with firmness, but with justice; if, realizing the wishes of France, he +had determined the rights of her citizens, the province of the states- +general and the limits of royalty; if, on his own part, he had renounced +arbitrary power, inequality on the part of the nobility, and privileges on +the part of the different bodies; in a word, if he had accomplished all +the reforms which were demanded by public opinion, and executed by the +constituent assembly, he would have prevented the fatal dissensions which +subsequently arose. It is rare to find a prince willing to share his +power, or sufficiently enlightened to yield what he will be reduced to +lose. Yet Louis XVI. would have done this, if he had been less influenced +by those around him, and had he followed the dictates of his own mind. But +the greatest anarchy pervaded the councils of the king. When the states- +general assembled, no measures had been taken, nothing had been decided +on, which might prevent dispute. Louis XVI. wavered between his ministry, +directed by Necker, and his court, directed by the queen and a few princes +of his family. + +Necker, satisfied with obtaining the representation of the third estate, +dreaded the indecision of the king and the discontent of the court. Not +appreciating sufficiently the importance of a crisis which he considered +more as a financial than a social one, he waited for the course of events +in order to act, and flattered himself with the hope of being able to +guide these events, without attempting to prepare the way for them. He +felt that the ancient organization of the states could no longer be +maintained; that the existence of three orders, each possessing the right +of refusal, was opposed to the execution of reform and the progress of +administration. He hoped, after a trial of this triple opposition, to +reduce the number of the orders, and bring about the adoption of the +English form of government, by uniting the clergy and nobility in one +chamber, and the third estate in another. He did not foresee that the +struggle once begun, his interposition would be in vain: that half +measures would suit neither party; that the weak through obstinacy, and +the strong through passion, would oppose this system of moderation. +Concessions satisfy only before a victory. + +The court, so far from wishing to organize the states-general, sought to +annul them. It preferred the casual resistance of the great bodies of the +nation, to sharing authority with a permanent assembly. The separation of +the orders favoured its views; it reckoned on fomenting their differences, +and thus preventing them from acting. The states-general had never +achieved any result, owing to the defect of their organization; the court +hoped that it would still be the same, since the two first orders were +less disposed to yield to the reforms solicited by the last. The clergy +wished to preserve its privileges and its opulence, and clearly foresaw +that the sacrifices to be made by it were more numerous than the +advantages to be acquired. The nobility, on its side, while it resumed a +political independence long since lost, was aware that it would have to +yield more to the people than it could obtain from royalty. It was almost +entirely in favour of the third estate, that the new revolution was about +to operate, and the first two orders were induced to unite with the court +against the third estate, as but lately they had coalesced with the third +estate against the court. Interest alone led to this change of party, and +they united with the monarch without affection, as they had defended the +people without regard to public good. + +No efforts were spared to keep the nobility and clergy in this +disposition. The deputies of these two orders were the objects of favours +and allurements. A committee, to which the most illustrious persons +belonged, was held at the countess de Polignac's; the principal deputies +were admitted to it. It was here that were gained De Epremenil and De +Entraigues, two of the warmest advocates of liberty in parliament, or +before the states-general, and who afterwards became its most decided +opponents. Here also the costume of the deputies of the different orders +was determined on, and attempts made to separate them, first by etiquette, +then by intrigue, and lastly, by force. The recollection of the ancient +states-general prevailed in the court; it thought it could regulate the +present by the past, restrain Paris by the army, the deputies of the third +estate by those of the nobility, rule the states by separating the orders, +and separate the orders by reviving ancient customs which exalted the +nobles and lowered the commons. Thus, after the first sitting, it was +supposed that all had been prevented by granting nothing. + +On the 6th of May, the day after the opening of the states, the nobility +and clergy repaired to their respective chambers, and constituted +themselves. The third estate being, on account of its double +representation, the most numerous order, had the Salle des Etats allotted +to it, and there awaited the two other orders; it considered its situation +as provisional, its members as presumptive deputies, and adopted a system +of inactivity till the other orders should unite with it. Then a memorable +struggle commenced, the issue of which was to decide whether the +revolution should be effected or stopped. The future fate of France +depended on the separation or reunion of the orders. This important +question arose on the subject of the verification of powers. The popular +deputies asserted very justly, that it ought to be made in common, since, +even if the union of the orders were refused, it was impossible to deny +the interest which each of them had in the examination of the powers of +the others; the privileged deputies argued, on the contrary, that since +the orders had a distinct existence, the verification ought to be made +respectively. They felt that one single co-operation would, for the +future, render all separation impossible. + +The commons acted with much circumspection, deliberation, and steadiness. +It was by a succession of efforts, not unattended with peril, by slow and +undecided success, and by struggles constantly renewed, that they attained +their object. The systematic inactivity they adopted from the commencement +was the surest and wisest course; there are occasions when the way to +victory is to know how to wait for it. The commons were unanimous, and +alone formed the numerical half of the states-general; the nobility had in +its bosom some popular dissentients; the majority of the clergy, composed +of several bishops, friends of peace, and of the numerous class of the +cures, the third estate of the church, entertained sentiments favourable +to the commons. Weariness was therefore to bring about a union; this was +what the third estate hoped, what the bishops feared, and what induced +them on the 13th of May to offer themselves as mediators. But this +mediation was of necessity without any result, as the nobility would not +admit voting by poll, nor the commons voting by order. Accordingly, the +conciliatory conferences, after being prolonged in vain till the 27th of +May, were broken up by the nobility, who declared in favour of separate +verification. + +The day after this hostile decision, the commons determined to declare +themselves the assembly of the nation, and invited the clergy to join them +_in the name of the God of peace and the common weal_. The court taking +alarm at this measure, interfered for the purpose of having the +conferences resumed. The first commissioners appointed for purposes of +reconciliation were charged with regulating the differences of the orders; +the ministry undertook to regulate the differences of the commissioners. +In this way, the states depended on a commission, and the commission had +the council of the prince for arbiter. But these new conferences had not a +more fortunate issue than the first. They lingered on without either of +the orders being willing to yield anything to the others, and the nobility +finally broke them up by confirming all its resolutions. + +Five weeks had already elapsed in useless parleys. The third estate, +perceiving the moment had arrived for it to constitute itself, and that +longer delay would indispose the nation towards it, and destroy the +confidence it had acquired by the refusal of the privileged classes to co- +operate with it, decided on acting, and displayed herein the same +moderation and firmness it had shown during its inactivity. Mirabeau +announced that a deputy of Paris had a motion to propose; and Sieyes, +physically of timid character, but of an enterprising mind, who had great +authority by his ideas, and was better suited than any one to propose a +measure, proved the impossibility of union, the urgency of verification, +the justice of demanding it in common, and caused it to be decreed by the +assembly that the nobility and clergy should be _invited_ to the Salle des +Etats in order to take part in the verification, which would take place, +_whether they were absent or present_. + +The measure for general verification was followed by another still more +energetic. The commons, after having terminated the verification on the +17th of June, on the motion of Sieyes, constituted themselves _the +National Assembly_. This bold step, by which the most numerous order and +the only one whose powers were legalized, declared itself the +representation of France and refused to recognise the other two till they +submitted to the verification, determined questions hitherto undecided, +and changed the assembly of the states into an assembly of the people. The +system of orders disappeared in political powers, and this was the first +step towards the abolition of classes in the private system. This +memorable decree of the 17th of June contained the germ of the night of +the 4th of August; but it was necessary to defend what they had dared to +decide, and there was reason to fear such a determination could not be +maintained. + +The first decree of _the National Assembly_ was an act of sovereignty. It +placed the privileged classes under its dependence, by proclaiming the +indivisibility of the legislative power. The court remained to be +restrained by means of taxation. The assembly declared the illegality of +previous imposts, voted them provisionally, as long as it continued to +sit, and their cessation on its dissolution; it restored the confidence of +capitalists by consolidating the public debt, and provided for the +necessities of the people, by appointing a committee of subsistence. + +Such firmness and foresight excited the enthusiasm of the nation. But +those who directed the court saw that the divisions thus excited between +the orders had failed in their object; and that it was necessary to resort +to other means to obtain it. They considered the royal authority alone +adequate to prescribe the continuance of the orders, which the opposition +of the nobles could no longer preserve. They took advantage of a journey +to Marly to remove Louis XVI. from the influences of the prudent and +pacific counsels of Necker, and to induce him to adopt hostile measures. +This prince, alike accessible to good and bad counsels, surrounded by a +court given up to party spirit, and entreated for the interests of his +crown and in the name of religion to stop the pernicious progress of the +commons, yielded at last, and promised everything. It was decided that he +should go in state to the assembly, annul its decrees, command the +separation of the orders as constitutive of the monarchy, and himself fix +the reforms to be effected by the states-general. From that moment the +privy council held the government, acting no longer secretly, but in the +most open manner. Barentin, the keeper of the seals, the count d'Artois, +the prince de Conde, and the prince de Conti conducted alone the projects +they had concerted. Necker lost all his influence; he had proposed to the +king a conciliatory plan, which might have succeeded before the struggle +attained this degree of animosity, but could do so no longer. He had +advised another royal sitting, in which the vote by poll in matters of +taxation was to be granted, and the vote by order to remain in matters of +private interest and privilege. This measure, which was unfavourable to +the commons, since it tended to maintain abuses by investing the nobility +and clergy with the right of opposing their abolition, would have been +followed by the establishment of two chambers for the next states-general. +Necker was fond of half measures, and wished to effect, by successive +concessions, a political change which should have been accomplished at +once. The moment was arrived to grant the nation all its rights, or to +leave it to take them. His project of a royal sitting, already +insufficient, was changed into a stroke of state policy by the new +council. The latter thought that the injunctions of the throne would +intimidate the assembly, and that France would be satisfied with promises +of reform. It seemed to be ignorant that the worst risk royalty can be +exposed to is that of disobedience. + +Strokes of state policy generally come unexpectedly, and surprise those +they are intended to influence. It was not so with this; its preparations +tended to prevent success. It was feared that the majority of the clergy +would recognise the assembly by uniting with it; and to prevent so decided +a step, instead of hastening the royal sitting, they closed the Salle des +Etats, in order to suspend the assembly till the day of the sitting. The +preparations rendered necessary by the presence of the king was the +pretext for this unskilful and improper measure. At that time Bailly +presided over the assembly. This virtuous citizen had obtained, without +seeking them, all the honours of dawning liberty. He was the first +president of the assembly, as he had been the first deputy of Paris, and +was to become its first mayor. Beloved by his own party, respected by his +adversaries, he combined with the mildest and most enlightened virtues, +the most courageous sense of duty. Apprised on the night of the 20th of +June, by the keeper of the seals, of the suspension of the sitting, he +remained faithful to the wishes of the assembly, and did not fear +disobeying the court. At an appointed hour on the following day, he +repaired to the Salle des Etats, and finding an armed force in possession, +he protested against this act of despotism. In the meantime the deputies +arrived, dissatisfaction increased, all seemed disposed to brave the +perils of a sitting. The most indignant proposed going to Marly, and +holding the assembly under the windows of the king; one named the Tennis- +court; this proposition was well received, and the deputies repaired +thither in procession. Bailly was at their head; the people followed them +with enthusiasm; even soldiers volunteered to escort them, and there, in a +bare hall, the deputies of the commons standing with upraised hands, and +hearts full of their sacred mission, swore, with only one exception, not +to separate till they had given France a constitution. + +This solemn oath, taken on the 20th of June, in the presence of the +nation, was followed on the 22nd by an important triumph. The assembly, +still deprived of their usual place of meeting, unable to make use of the +Tennis-court, the princes having hired it purposely that it might be +refused them, met in the church of Saint Louis. In this sitting, the +majority of the clergy joined them in the midst of patriotic transports. +Thus, the measures taken to intimidate the assembly, increased its +courage, and accelerated the union they were intended to prevent. By these +two failures the court prefaced the famous sitting of the 23rd of June. + +At length it took place. A numerous guard surrounded the hall of the +states-general, the door of which was opened to the deputies, but closed +to the public. The king came surrounded with the pomp of power; he was +received, contrary to the usual custom, in profound silence. His speech +completed the measure of discontent by the tone of authority with which he +dictated measures rejected by public opinion and by the assembly. The king +complained of a want of union, excited by the court itself; he censured +the conduct of the assembly, regarding it only as the order of the third +estate; he annulled its decrees, enjoined the continuance of the orders, +imposed reforms, and determined their limits; enjoined the states-general +to adopt them, and threatened to dissolve them and to provide alone for +the welfare of the kingdom, if he met with more opposition on their part. +After this scene of authority, so ill-suited to the occasion, and at +variance with his heart, Louis XVI. withdrew, having commanded the +deputies to disperse. The clergy and nobility obeyed. The deputies of the +people, motionless, silent, and indignant, remained seated. They continued +in that attitude some time, when Mirabeau suddenly breaking silence, said: +"Gentlemen, I admit that what you have just heard might be for the welfare +of the country, were it not that the presents of despotism are always +dangerous. What is this insulting dictatorship? The pomp of arms, the +violation of the national temple, are resorted to--to command you to be +happy! Who gives this command? Your mandatary. Who makes these imperious +laws for you? Your mandatary; he who should rather receive them from you, +gentlemen--from us, who are invested with a political and inviolable +priesthood; from us, in a word, to whom alone twenty-five millions of men +are looking for certain happiness, because it is to be consented to, and +given and received by all. But the liberty of your discussions is +enchained; a military force surrounds the assembly! Where are the enemies +of the nation? Is Catiline at our gates? I demand, investing yourselves +with your dignity, with your legislative power, you inclose yourselves +within the religion of your oath. It does not permit you to separate till +you have formed a constitution." + +The grand master of the ceremonies, finding the assembly did not break up, +came and reminded them of the king's order. + +"Go and tell your master," cried Mirabeau, "that we are here at the +command of the people, and nothing but the bayonet shall drive us hence." + +"You are to-day," added Sieyes, calmly, "what you were yesterday. Let us +deliberate." + +The assembly, full of resolution and dignity, began the debate +accordingly. On the motion of Camus, it was determined to persist in the +decrees already made; and upon that of Mirabeau the inviolability of the +members of the assembly was decreed. + +On that day the royal authority was lost. The initiative in law and moral +power passed from the monarch to the assembly. Those who, by their +counsels, had provoked this resistance, did not dare to punish it. Necker, +whose dismissal had been decided on that morning, was, in the evening, +entreated by the queen and Louis XVI. to remain in office. This minister +had disapproved of the royal sitting, and, by refusing to be present at +it, he again won the confidence of the assembly, which he had lost through +his hesitation. The season of disgrace was for him the season of +popularity. By this refusal he became the ally of the assembly, which +determined to support him. Every crisis requires a leader, whose name +becomes the standard of his party; while the assembly contended with the +court, that leader was Necker. + +At the first sitting, that part of the clergy which had united with the +assembly in the church of Saint Louis, again sat with it; a few days +after, forty-seven members of the nobility, among whom was the duke of +Orleans, joined them; and the court was itself compelled to invite the +nobility, and a minority of the clergy, to discontinue a dissent that +would henceforth be useless. On the 27th of June the deliberation became +general. The orders ceased to exist legally, and soon disappeared. The +distinct seats they had hitherto occupied in the common hall soon became +confounded; the futile pre-eminences of rank vanished before national +authority. + +The court, after having vainly endeavoured to prevent the formation of the +assembly, could now only unite with it, to direct its operations. With +prudence and candour it might still have repaired its errors and caused +its attacks to be forgotten. At certain moments, the initiative may be +taken in making sacrifices; at others, all that can be done is to make a +merit of accepting them. At the opening of the states-general, the king +might himself have made the constitution, now he was obliged to receive it +from the assembly; had he submitted to that position, he would infallibly +have improved it. But the advisers of Louis XVI., when they recovered from +the first surprise of defeat, resolved to have recourse to the use of the +bayonet, after they had failed in that of authority. They led the king to +suppose that the contempt of his orders, the safety of his throne, the +maintenance of the laws of the kingdom, and even the well-being of his +people depended on his reducing the assembly to submission; that the +latter, sitting at Versailles, close to Paris, two cities decidedly in its +favour, ought to be subdued by force, and removed to some other place or +dissolved; that it was urgent that this resolution should be adopted in +order to stop the progress of the assembly, and that in order to execute +it, it was necessary speedily to call together troops who might intimidate +the assembly and maintain order at Paris and Versailles. + +While these plots were hatching, the deputies of the nation began their +legislative labours, and prepared the anxiously expected constitution, +which they considered they ought no longer to delay. Addresses poured in +from Paris and the principal towns of the kingdom, congratulating them on +their wisdom, and encouraging them to continue their task of regenerating +France. The troops, meantime, arrived in great numbers; Versailles assumed +the aspect of a camp; the Salle des Etats was surrounded by guards, and +the citizens refused admission. Paris was also encompassed by various +bodies of the army, ready to besiege or blockade it, as the occasion might +require. These vast military preparations, trains of artillery arriving +from the frontiers, and the presence of foreign regiments, whose obedience +was unlimited, announced sinister projects. The populace were restless and +agitated; and the assembly desired to enlighten the throne with respect to +its projects, and solicit the removal of the troops. At Mirabeau's +suggestion, it presented on the 9th of July a firm but respectful address +to the king, which proved useless. Louis XVI. declared that he alone had +to judge the necessity of assembling or dismissing troops, and assured +them, that those assembled formed only a precautionary army to prevent +disturbances and protect the assembly. He moreover offered the assembly to +remove it to Noyon or Soissons, that is to say, to place it between two +armies and deprive it of the support of the people. + +Paris was in the greatest excitement; this vast city was unanimous in its +devotion to the assembly. The perils that threatened the representatives +of the nation, and itself, and the scarcity of food disposed it to +insurrection. Capitalists, from interest and the fear of bankruptcy; men +of enlightenment and all the middle classes, from patriotism; the people, +impelled by want, ascribing their sufferings to the privileged classes and +the court, desirous of agitation and change, all had warmly espoused the +cause of the revolution. It is difficult to conceive the movement which +disturbed the capital of France. It was arising from the repose and +silence of servitude; it was, as it were, astonished at the novelty of its +situation, and intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm. The press excited +the public mind, the newspapers published the debates of the assembly, and +enabled the public to be present, as it were, at its deliberations, and +the questions mooted in its bosom were discussed in the open air, in the +public squares. It was at the Palais Royal, more especially, that the +assembly of the capital was held. The garden was always filled by a crowd +that seemed permanent, though continually renewed. A table answered the +purpose of the _tribune_, the first citizen at hand became the orator; +there men expatiated on the dangers that threatened the country, and +excited each other to resistance. Already, on a motion made at the Palais +Royal, the prisons of the Abbaye had been broken open, and some grenadiers +of the French guards, who had been imprisoned for refusing to fire on the +people, released in triumph. This outbreak was attended by no +consequences; a deputation had already solicited, in behalf of the +delivered prisoners, the interest of the assembly, who had recommended +them to the clemency of the king. They had returned to prison, and had +received pardon. But this regiment, one of the most complete and bravest, +had become favourable to the popular cause. + +Such was the disposition of Paris when the court, having established +troops at Versailles, Sevres, the Champ de Mars, and Saint Denis, thought +itself able to execute its project. It commenced, on the 11th of July, by +the banishment of Necker, and the complete reconstruction of the ministry. +The marshal de Broglie, la Galissonniere, the duke de la Vauguyon, the +Baron de Breteuil, and the intendant Foulon, were appointed to replace +Puysegur, Montmorin, La Luzerne, Saint Priest, and Necker. The latter +received, while at dinner on the 11th of July, a note from the king +enjoining him to leave the country immediately. He finished dining very +calmly, without communicating the purport of the order he had received, +and then got into his carriage with Madame Necker, as if intending to +drive to Saint Omer, and took the road to Brussels. + +On the following day, Sunday, the 12th of July, about four in the +afternoon, Necker's disgrace and departure became known at Paris. This +measure was regarded as the execution of the plot, the preparations for +which had so long been observed. In a short time the city was in the +greatest confusion; crowds gathered together on every side; more than ten +thousand persons flocked to the Palais Royal all affected by this news, +ready for anything, but not knowing what measure to adopt. Camille +Desmoulins, a young man, more daring than the rest, one of the usual +orators of the crowd, mounted on a table, pistol in hand, exclaiming: +"Citizens, there is no time to lose; the dismissal of Necker is the knell +of a Saint Bartholomew for patriots! This very night all the Swiss and +German battalions will leave the Champ de Mars to massacre us all; one +resource is left; to take arms!" These words were received with violent +acclamations. He proposed that cockades should be worn for mutual +recognition and protection. "Shall they be green," he cried, "the colour +of hope; or red, the colour of the free order of Cincinnatus?" "Green! +green!" shouted the multitude. The speaker descended from the table, and +fastened the sprig of a tree in his hat. Every one imitated him. The +chestnut-trees of the palace were almost stripped of their leaves, and +the crowd went in tumult to the house of the sculptor Curtius. + +They take busts of Necker and the duke of Orleans, a report having also +gone abroad that the latter would be exiled, and covering them with crape, +carry them in triumph. This procession passes through the Rues Saint +Martin, Saint Denis, and Saint Honore, augmenting at every step. The crowd +obliges all they meet to take off their hats. Meeting the horse-patrol, +they take them as their escort. The procession advances in this way to the +Place Vendome, and there they carry the two busts twice round the statue +of Louis XIV. A detachment of the Royal-allemand comes up and attempts to +disperse the mob, but are put to flight by a shower of stones; and the +multitude, continuing its course, reaches the Place Louis XV. Here they +are assailed by the dragoons of the prince de Lambesc; after resisting a +few moments they are thrown into confusion; the bearer of one of the busts +and a soldier of one of the French guards are killed. The mob disperses, +part towards the quays, part fall back on the Boulevards, the rest hurry +to the Tuileries by the Pont Tournant. The prince de Lambesc, at the head +of his horsemen, with drawn sabre pursues them into the gardens, and +charges an unarmed multitude who were peaceably promenading and had +nothing to do with the procession. In this attack an old man is wounded by +a sabre cut; the mob defend themselves with the seats, and rush to the +terraces; indignation becomes general; the cry _To arms!_ soon resounds on +every side, at the Palais Royal and the Tuileries, in the city and in the +faubourgs. + +We have already said that the regiment of the French guard was favourably +disposed towards the people: it had accordingly been ordered to keep in +barracks. The prince de Lambesc, fearing that it might nevertheless take +an active part, ordered sixty dragoons to station themselves before its +depot, situated in the Chaussee-d'Antin. The soldiers of the guards, +already dissatisfied at being kept as prisoners, were greatly provoked at +the sight of these strangers, with whom they had had a skirmish a few days +before. They wished to fly to arms, and their officers using alternately +threats and entreaties, had much difficulty in restraining them. But they +would hear no more, when some of their men brought them intelligence of +the attack at the Tuileries, and the death of one of their comrades: they +seized their arms, broke open the gates, and drew up in battle array at +the entrance of the barracks, and cried out, "_Qui vive?_"--"Royal- +allemand."--"Are you for the third estate?" "We are for those who command +us." Then the French guards fired on them, killed two of their men, +wounded three, and put the rest to flight. They then advanced at quick +time and with fixed bayonets to the Place Louis XV. and took their stand +between the Tuileries and the Champs Elysees, the people and the troops, +and kept that post during the night. The soldiers of the Champ de Mars +were immediately ordered to advance. When they reached the Champs Elysees, +the French guards received them with discharges of musketry. They wished +to make them fight, but they refused: the Petits-Suisses were the first to +give this example, which the other regiments followed. The officers, in +despair, ordered a retreat; the troops retired as far as the Grille de +Chaillot, whence they soon withdrew into the Champ de Mars. The defection +of the French guard, and the manifest refusal even of the foreign troops +to march on the capital, caused the failure of the projects of the court. + +During the evening the people had repaired to the Hotel de Ville, and +requested that the tocsin might be sounded, the districts assembled, and +the citizens armed. Some electors assembled at the Hotel de Ville, and +took the authority into their own hands. They rendered great service to +their fellow-citizens and the cause of liberty by their courage, prudence, +and activity, during these days of insurrection; but in the first +confusion of the rising it was with difficulty they succeeded in making +themselves heard. The tumult was at its height; each only answered the +dictates of his own passions. Side by side with well-disposed citizens +were men of suspicious character, who only sought in insurrection +opportunities for pillage and disorder. Bands of labourers employed by +government in the public works, for the most part without home or +substance, burnt the barriers, infested the streets, plundered houses, and +obtained the name of brigands. The night of the 12th and 13th was spent in +tumult and alarm. + +The departure of Necker, which threw the capital into this state of +excitement, had no less effect at Versailles and in the assembly. It +caused the same astonishment and discontent. The deputies repaired early +in the morning to the Salle des Etats; they were gloomy, but their silence +arose from indignation rather than dejection. "At the opening of the +session," said a deputy, "several addresses of adherence to the decrees +were listened to in mournful silence by the assembly, more attentive to +their own thoughts than to the addresses read." Mounier began; he +exclaimed against the dismissal of ministers beloved by the nation, and +the choice of their successors. He proposed an address to the king +demanding their recall, showing him the dangers attendant on violent +measures, the misfortunes that would follow the employment of troops, and +telling him that the assembly solemnly opposed itself to an infamous +national bankruptcy. At these words, the feelings of the assembly, +hitherto restrained, broke out in clapping of hands, and cries of +approbation. Lally-Tollendal, a friend of Necker, then came forward with a +sorrowful air, and delivered a long and eloquent eulogium on the banished +minister. He was listened to with the greatest interest; his grief +responded to that of the public; the cause of Necker was now that of the +country. The nobility itself sided with the members of the third estate, +either considering the danger common, or dreading to incur the same blame +as the court if it did not disapprove its conduct, or perhaps it obeyed +the general impulse. + +A noble deputy, the count de Virieu, set the example, and said: "Assembled +for the constitution, let us make the constitution; let us tighten our +mutual bonds; let us renew, confirm, and consecrate the glorious decrees +of the 17th of June; let us join in the celebrated resolution made on the +20th of the same month. Let us all, yes, all, all the united orders, swear +to be faithful to those illustrious decrees which now can alone save the +kingdom." "_The constitution shall be made, or we will cease to be_," +added the duc de la Rochefoucauld. But this unanimity became still more +confirmed when the rising of Paris, the excesses which ensued the burning +of the barriers, the assembling of the electors at the Hotel de Ville, the +confusion of the capital, and the fact that citizens were ready to be +attacked by the soldiers or to slaughter each other, became known to the +assembly. Then one cry resounded through the hall: "Let the recollection +of our momentary divisions be effaced! Let us unite our efforts for the +salvation of the country!" A deputation was immediately sent to the king, +composed of eighty members, among whom were all the deputies of Paris. The +archbishop of Vienne, president of the assembly, was at its head. It was +to represent to the king the dangers that threatened the capital, the +necessity of sending away the troops, and entrusting the care of the city +to a militia of citizens; and if it obtained these demands from the king, +a deputation was to be sent to Paris with the consolatory intelligence. +But the members soon returned with an unsatisfactory answer. + +The assembly now saw that it must depend on itself, and that the projects +of the court were irrevocably fixed. Far from being discouraged, it only +became more firm, and immediately voted unanimously a decree proclaiming +the responsibility of the present ministers of the king, and of all his +counsellors, _of whatever rank they might be_; it further passed a vote of +regret for Necker and the other disgraced ministers; it resolved that it +would not cease to insist upon the dismissal of the troops and the +establishment of a militia of citizens; it placed the public debt under +the safeguard of French honour, and adhered to all its previous decrees. +After these measures, it adopted a last one, not less necessary; +apprehending that the Salle des Etats might, during the night, be occupied +by a military force for the purpose of dispersing the assembly, it +resolved to sit permanently till further orders. It decided that a portion +of the members should sit during the night, and another relieve them early +in the morning. To spare the venerable archbishop of Vienne the fatigue of +a permanent presidency, a vice-president was appointed to supply his place +on these extraordinary occasions. Lafayette was elected to preside over +the night sittings. It passed off without a debate; the deputies remaining +in their seats, observing silence, but apparently calm and serene. It was +by these measures, this expression of public regret, by these decrees, +this unanimous enthusiasm, this sustained good sense, this inflexible +conduct, that the assembly rose gradually to a level with its dangers and +its mission. + +On the 13th the insurrection took at Paris a more regular character. Early +in the morning the populace flocked to the Hotel de Ville; the tocsin was +sounded there and in all the churches; and drums were beat in the streets +to call the citizens together. The public places soon became thronged. +Troops were formed under the titles of volunteers of the Palais Royal, +volunteers of the Tuileries, of the Basoche, and of the Arquebuse. The +districts assembled, and each of them voted two hundred men for its +defence. Arms alone were wanting; and these were eagerly sought wherever +there was any hope of finding them. All that could be found at the gun- +smiths and sword-cutlers were taken, receipts being sent to the owners. +They applied for arms at the Hotel de Ville. The electors who were still +assembled, replied in vain that they had none; they insisted on having +them. The electors then sent the head of the city, M. de Flesselles, the +Prevot des marchands, who alone knew the military state of the capital, +and whose popular authority promised to be of great assistance in this +difficult conjuncture. He was received with loud applause by the +multitude: "_My friends_," said he, "_I am your father; you shall be +satisfied_." A permanent committee was formed at the Hotel de Ville, to +take measures for the general safety. + +About the same time it was announced that the Maison des Lazaristes, which +contained a large quantity of grain, had been despoiled; that the Garde- +Meuble had been forced open to obtain old arms, and that the gun-smiths' +shops had been plundered. The greatest excesses were apprehended from the +crowd; it was let loose, and it seemed difficult to master its fury. But +this was a moment of enthusiasm and disinterestedness. The mob itself +disarmed suspected characters; the corn found at the Lazaristes was taken +to the Halle; not a single house was plundered, and carriages and vehicles +filled with provisions, furniture and utensils, stopped at the gates of +the city, were taken to the Place de Greve, which became a vast depot. +Here the crowd increased every moment, shouting _Arms!_ It was now about +one o'clock. The provost of the merchants then announced the immediate +arrival of twelve thousand guns from the manufactory of Charleville, which +would soon be followed by thirty thousand more. + +This appeased the people for some time, and the committee was enabled to +pursue quietly its task of organizing a militia of citizens. In less than +four hours the plan was drawn up, discussed, adopted, printed, and +proclaimed. It was resolved that the Parisian guard should, till further +orders, be increased to forty-eight thousand men. All citizens were +invited to enrol their names; every district had its battalion; every +battalion its leaders; the command of this army of citizens was offered to +the duc d'Aumont, who required twenty-four hours to decide. In the +meantime the marquis de la Salle was appointed second in command. The +green cockade was then exchanged for a blue and red one, which were the +colours of the city. All this was the work of a few hours. The districts +gave their assent to the measures adopted by the permanent committee. The +clerks of the Chatelet, those of the Palais, medical students, soldiers of +the watch, and what was of still greater value, the French guards offered +their services to the assembly. Patrols began to be formed, and to +perambulate the streets. + +The people waited with impatience the realisation of the promise of the +provost of the merchants, but no guns arrived; evening approached, and +they feared during the night another attack from the troops. They thought +they were betrayed when they heard of an attempt to convey secretly from +Paris nearly fifty cwt. of powder, which had been intercepted by the +people at the barriers. But soon after some cases arrived, labelled +_Artillery_. At this sight, the commotion subsided; the cases were +escorted to the Hotel de Ville, it being supposed that they contained the +guns expected from Charleville. On opening them, they were found to +contain old linen and pieces of wood. A cry of treachery arose on every +side, mingled with murmurs and threats against the committee and the +provost of the merchants. The latter apologized, declaring he had been +deceived; and to gain time, or to get rid of the crowd, sent them to the +Chartreux, to seek for arms. Finding none there, the mob returned, enraged +and mistrustful. The committee then felt satisfied there was no other way +of arming Paris, and curing the suspicions of the people, than by forging +pikes; and accordingly gave orders that fifty thousand should be made +immediately. To avoid the excesses of the preceding night, the town was +illuminated, and patrols marched through it in every direction. + +The next day, the people that had been unable to obtain arms on the +preceding day, came early in the morning to solicit some from the +committee, blaming its refusal and failures of the day before. The +committee had sent for some in vain; none had arrived from Charleville, +none were to be found at the Chartreux, and the arsenal itself was empty. + +The mob, no longer satisfied with excuses, and more convinced than ever +that they were betrayed, hurried in a mass to the Hotel des Invalides, +which contained a considerable depot of arms. It displayed no fear of the +troops established in the Champ de Mars, broke into the Hotel, in spite of +the entreaties of the governor, M. de Sombreuil, found twenty-eight +thousand guns concealed in the cellars, seized them, took all the sabres, +swords, and cannon, and carried them off in triumph. The cannon were +placed at the entrance of the Faubourgs, at the palace of the Tuileries, +on the quays and on the bridges, for the defence of the capital against +the invasion of troops, which was expected every moment. + +Even during the same morning an alarm was given that the regiments +stationed at Saint Denis were on the march, and that the cannon of the +Bastille were pointed on the Rue Saint Antoine. The committee immediately +sent to ascertain the truth; appointed bands of citizens to defend that +side of the town, and sent a deputation to the governor of the Bastille, +soliciting him to withdraw his cannon and engage in no act of hostility. +This alarm, together with the dread which that fortress inspired, the +hatred felt for the abuses it shielded, the importance of possessing so +prominent a point, and of not leaving it in the power of the enemy in a +moment of insurrection, drew the attention of the populace in that +direction. From nine in the morning till two, the only rallying word +throughout Paris was "a la Bastille! a la Bastille!" The citizens hastened +thither in bands from all quarters, armed with guns, pikes, and sabres. +The crowd which already surrounded it was considerable; the sentinels of +the fortress were at their posts, and the drawbridges raised as in war. + +A deputy of the district of Saint Louis de la Culture, named Thuriot de la +Rosiere, then requested a parley with De Launay, the governor. When +admitted to his presence he summoned him to change the direction of the +cannon. The governor replied, that the cannon had always been placed on +the towers, and it was not in his power to remove them; yet, at the same +time, having heard of the alarm prevalent among the Parisians, he had had +them withdrawn a few paces, and taken out of the port-holes. With some +difficulty Thuriot obtained permission to enter the fortress further, and +examine if its condition was really as satisfactory for the town as the +governor represented it to be. As he advanced, he observed three pieces of +cannon pointed on the avenues leading to the open space before the +fortress, and ready to sweep those who might attempt to attack it. About +forty Swiss, and eighty Invalides, were under arms. Thuriot urged them, as +well as the staff of the place, in the name of honour and of their +country, not to act as the enemies of the people. Both officers and +soldiers swore they would not make use of their arms unless attacked. +Thuriot then ascended the towers, and perceived a crowd gathering in all +directions, and the inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint Antoine, who were +rising in a mass. The multitude without, not seeing him return, were +already demanding him with great clamour. To satisfy the people, he +appeared on the parapet of the fortress, and was received with loud +applause from the gardens of the arsenal. He then rejoined his party, and +having informed them of the result of his mission, proceeded to the +committee. + +But the impatient crowd now clamoured for the surrender of the Bastille. +From time to time the cry arose, "The Bastille! we will have the +Bastille!" At length, two men, more determined than the rest, darting from +the crowd, sprang on a guardhouse, and struck at the chains of the +drawbridge with heavy hatchets. The soldiers shouted to them to retire, +and threatened to fire; but they continued to strike, succeeded in +breaking the chains and lowering the bridge, and then rushed over it, +followed by the crowd. In this way they advanced to cut the chains of the +second bridge. The garrison now dispersed them with a discharge of +musketry. They returned, however, to the attack, and for several hours +their efforts were confined to the second bridge, the approach to which +was defended by a ceaseless fire from the fortress. The mob infuriated by +this obstinate resistance, tried to break in the gates with hatchets, and +to set fire to the guard-house. A murderous discharge of grapeshot +proceeded from the garrison, and many of the besiegers were killed and +wounded. They only became the more determined, and seconded by the daring +and determination of the two brave men, Elie and Hulin, who were at their +head, they continued the attack with fury. + +The committee of the Hotel de Ville were in a state of great anxiety. The +siege of the Bastille seemed to them a very rash enterprise. They ever and +anon received intelligence of the disasters that had taken place before +the fortress. They wavered between fear of the troops should they prove +victorious, and that of the multitude who clamoured for ammunition to +continue the siege. As they could not give what they did not possess, the +mob cried treachery. Two deputations had been sent by the committee for +the purpose of discontinuing hostilities, and inviting the governor to +confide the keeping of the place to the citizens; but in the midst of the +tumult, the cries, and the firing, they could not make themselves heard. A +third was sent, carrying a drum and banner, that it might be more easily +distinguished, but it experienced no better fortune: neither side would +listen to anything. The assembly at the Hotel de Ville, notwithstanding it +efforts and activity, still incurred the suspicions of the populace. The +provost of the merchants, especially, excited the greatest mistrust. "He +has already deceived us several times during the day," said one. "He +talks," said another, "of opening a trench; he only wants to gain time, to +make us lose ours." Then an old man cried: "Comrades, why do you listen to +traitors? Forward, follow me! In less than two hours the Bastille will be +taken!" + +The siege had lasted more than four hours when the French guards arrived +with cannon. Their arrival changed the appearance of the combat. The +garrison itself begged the governor to yield. The unfortunate De Launay, +dreading the fate that awaited him, wished to blow up the fortress, and +bury himself under its ruins and those of the faubourg. He went in despair +towards the powder magazine, with a lighted match. The garrison stopped +him, raised a white standard on the platform, and reversed the guns, in +token of peace. But the assailants still continued to fight and advance, +shouting, "Lower the bridges!" Through the battlements a Swiss officer +proposed to capitulate, with permission to retire from the building with +the honours of war. "No! no!" clamoured the crowd. The same officer +proposed to lay down arms, on the promise that their lives should be +spared. "Lower the bridge," rejoined the foremost of the assailants, "you +shall not be injured." The gates were opened and the bridge lowered, on +this assurance, and the crowd rushed into the Bastille. Those who led the +multitude wished to save from its vengeance the governor, Swiss soldiers, +and Invalides; but cries of "Give them up! give them up! they fired on +their fellow-citizens, they deserve to be hanged!" rose on every side. The +governor, a few Swiss soldiers and Invalides were torn from the protection +of those who sought to defend them, and put to death by the implacable +crowd. + +The permanent committee knew nothing of the issue of the combat. The hall +of the sittings was invaded by a furious multitude, who threatened the +provost of the merchants and electors. Flesselles began to be alarmed at +his position; he was pale and agitated. The object of the most violent +reproaches and threats, they obliged him to go from the hall of the +committee to the hall of the general assembly, where a great crowd of +citizens was assembled. "Let him come; let him follow us," resounded from +all sides. "This is too much!" rejoined Flesselles. "Let us go, since they +request it; let us go where I am expected." They had scarcely reached the +great hall, when the attention of the multitude was drawn off by shouts on +the Place de Greve. They heard the cries of "Victory! victory! liberty!" +It was the arrival of the conquerors of the Bastille which this announced. +They themselves soon entered the hall with the most noisy and the most +fearful pomp. The persons who had most distinguished themselves were +carried in triumph, crowned with laurels. They were escorted by more than +fifteen hundred men, with glaring eyes and dishevelled hair, with all +kinds of arms, pressing one upon another, and making the flooring yield +beneath their feet. One carried the keys and standard of the Bastille; +another, its regulations suspended to his bayonet; a third, with horrible +barbarity, raised in his bleeding hand the buckle of the governor's stock. +With this parade, the procession of the conquerors of the Bastille, +followed by an immense crowd that thronged the quays, entered the hall of +the Hotel de Ville to inform the committee of their triumph, and decide +the fate of the prisoners who survived. A few wished to leave it to the +committee, but others shouted: "No quarter for the prisoners! No quarter +for the men who fired on their fellow-citizens!" La Salle, the commandant, +the elector Moreau de Saint-Mery, and the brave Elie, succeeded in +appeasing the multitude, and obtained a general amnesty. + +It was now the turn of the unfortunate Flesselles. It is said that a +letter found on De Launay proved the treachery of which he was suspected. +"I am amusing the Parisians," he wrote, "with cockades and promises. Hold +out till the evening, and you shall be reinforced." The mob hurried to his +office. The more moderate demanded that he should be arrested and confined +in the Chatelet; but others opposed this, saying that he should be +conveyed to the Palais-Royal, and there tried. This decision gave general +satisfaction. "To the Palais-Royal! To the Palais-Royal!" resounded from +every side. "Well--be it so, gentlemen," replied Flesselles, with +composure, "let us go to the Palais-Royal." So saying, he descended the +steps, passed through the crowd, which opened to make way for him, and +which followed without offering him any violence. But at the corner of the +Quay Pelletier a stranger rushed forward, and killed him with a pistol- +shot. + +After these scenes of war, tumult, dispute, and vengeance, the Parisians, +fearing, from some intercepted letters, that an attack would be made +during the night, prepared to receive the enemy. The whole population +joined in the labour of fortifying the town; they formed barricades, +opened intrenchments, unpaved streets, forged pikes, and cast bullets. +Women carried stones to the tops of the houses to crush the soldiers as +they passed. The national guard were distributed in posts; Paris seemed +changed into an immense foundry and a vast camp, and the whole night was +spent under arms, expecting the conflict. + +While the insurrection assumed this violent, permanent, and serious +character at Paris, what was doing at Versailles? The court was preparing +to realize its designs against the capital and assembly. The night of the +14th was fixed upon for their execution. The baron de Breteuil, who was at +the head of the ministry, had promised to restore the royal authority in +three days. Marshal de Broglie, commander of the army collected around +Paris, had received unlimited powers of all kinds. On the 15th the +declaration of the 23rd of June was to be renewed, and the king, after +forcing the assembly to adopt it, was to dissolve it. Forty thousand +copies of this declaration were in readiness to be circulated throughout +the kingdom; and to meet the pressing necessities of the treasury more +than a hundred millions of paper money was created. The movement in Paris, +so far from thwarting the court, favoured its views. To the last moment it +looked upon it as a passing tumult that might easily be suppressed; it +believed neither in its perseverance nor in its success, and it did not +seem possible to it that a town of citizens could resist an army. + +The assembly was apprised of these projects. For two days it had sat +without interruption, in a state of great anxiety and alarm. It was +ignorant of the greater portion of what was passing in Paris. At one time +it was announced that the insurrection was general, and that all Paris was +marching on Versailles; then that the troops were advancing on the +capital. They fancied they heard cannon, and they placed their ears to the +ground to assure themselves. On the evening of the 14th it was announced +that the king intended to depart during the night, and that the assembly +would be left to the mercy of the foreign regiments. This last alarm was +not without foundation. A carriage and horses were kept in readiness, and +the body-guard remained booted for several days. Besides, at the Orangery, +incidents truly alarming took place; the troops were prepared and +stimulated for their expedition by distributions of wine and by +encouragements. Everything announced that a decisive moment had arrived. + +Despite the approaching and increasing danger, the assembly was unshaken, +and persisted in its first resolutions. Mirabeau, who had first required +the dismissal of the troops, now arranged another deputation. It was on +the point of setting out, when the viscount de Noailles, a deputy, just +arrived from Paris, informed the assembly of the progress of the +insurrection, the pillage of the Invalides, the arming of the people, and +the siege of the Bastille. Wimpfen, another deputy, to this account added +that of the personal dangers he had incurred, and assured them that the +fury of the populace was increasing with its peril. The assembly proposed +the establishment of couriers to bring them intelligence every half hour. + +M. M. Ganilh and Bancal-des-Issarts, despatched by the committee at the +Hotel de Ville as a deputation to the assembly, confirmed all they had +just heard. They informed them of the measures taken by the electors to +secure order and the defence of the capital; the disasters that had +happened before the Bastille; the inutility of the deputations sent to the +governor, and told them that the fire of the garrison had surrounded the +fortress with the slain. A cry of indignation arose in the assembly at +this intelligence, and a second deputation was instantly despatched to +communicate these distressing tidings to the king. The first returned with +an unsatisfactory answer; it was now ten at night. The king, on learning +these disastrous events, which seemed to presage others still greater, +appeared affected. Struggling against the part he had been induced to +adopt, he said to the deputies,--"You rend my heart more and more by the +dreadful news you bring of the misfortunes of Paris. It is impossible to +suppose that the orders given to the troops are the cause of these +disasters. You are acquainted with the answer I returned to the first +deputation; I have nothing to add to it." This answer consisted of a +promise that the troops of the Champ de Mars should be sent away from +Paris, and of an order given to general officers to assume the command of +the guard of citizens. Such measures were not sufficient to remedy the +dangerous situation in which men were placed; and it neither satisfied nor +gave confidence to the assembly. + +Shortly after this, the deputies d'Ormesson and Duport announced to the +assembly the taking of the Bastille, and the deaths of De Launay and +Flesselles. It was proposed to send a third deputation to the king, +imploring the removal of the troops. "No," said Clermont Tonnerre, "leave +them the night to consult in; kings must buy experience as well as other +men." In this way the assembly spent the night. On the following morning, +another deputation was appointed to represent to the king the misfortunes +that would follow a longer refusal. When on the point of starting, +Mirabeau stopped it: "Tell him," he exclaimed, "that the hordes of +strangers who invest us, received yesterday, visits, caresses, +exhortations, and presents from the princes, princesses, and favourites; +tell him that, during the night, these foreign satellites, gorged with +gold and wine, predicted in their impious songs the subjection of France, +and invoked the destruction of the national assembly; tell him, that in +his own palace, courtiers danced to the sound of that barbarous music, and +that such was the prelude to the massacre of Saint Bartholomew! Tell him +that the Henry of his ancestors, whom he wished to take as his model, +whose memory is honoured by all nations, sent provisions into a Paris in +revolt when besieging the city himself, while the savage advisers of Louis +send away the corn which trade brings into Paris loyal and starving." + +But at that moment the king entered the assembly. The duke de Liancourt, +taking advantage of the access his quality of master of the robes gave +him, had informed the king, during the night, of the desertion of the +French guard, and of the attack and taking of the Bastille. At this news, +of which his councillors had kept him in ignorance, the monarch exclaimed, +with surprise, "this is a revolt!" "No sire! it is a revolution." This +excellent citizen had represented to him the danger to which the projects +of the court exposed him; the fears and exasperations of the people, the +disaffection of the troops, and he determined upon presenting himself +before the assembly, to satisfy them as to his intentions. The news at +first excited transports of joy. Mirabeau represented to his colleagues, +that it was not fit to indulge in premature applause. "Let us wait," said +he, "till his majesty makes known the good intentions we are led to expect +from him. The blood of our brethren flows in Paris. Let a sad respect be +the first reception given to the king by the representatives of an +unfortunate people: the silence of the people is the lesson of kings." + +The assembly resumed the sombre demeanour which had never left it during +the three preceding days. The king entered without guards, and only +attended by his brothers. He was received, at first, in profound silence; +but when he told them he was _one with the nation_, and that, relying on +the love and fidelity of his subjects, he had ordered the troops to leave +Paris and Versailles; when he uttered the affecting words--_Eh bien, c'est +moi qui me fie a vous_, general applause ensued. The assembly arose +spontaneously, and conducted him back to the chateau. + +This intelligence diffused gladness in Versailles and Paris, where the +reassured people passed, by sudden transition, from animosity to +gratitude. Louis XVI. thus restored to himself, felt the importance of +appeasing the capital in person, of regaining the affection of the people, +and of thus conciliating the popular power. He announced to the assembly +that he would recall Necker, and repair to Paris the following day. The +assembly had already nominated a deputation of a hundred members, which +preceded the king to the capital. It was received with enthusiasm. Bailly +and Lafayette, who formed part of it, were appointed, the former mayor of +Paris, the latter commander-in-chief of the citizen guard. Bailly owed +this recompense to his long and difficult presidency of the assembly, and +Lafayette to his glorious and patriotic conduct. A friend of Washington, +and one of the principal authors of American independence, he had, on his +return to his country, first pronounced the name of the states-general, +had joined the assembly, with the minority of the nobility, and had since +proved himself one of the most zealous partisans of the revolution. + +On the 27th, the new magistrates went to receive the king at the head of +the municipality and the Parisian guard. "Sire," said Bailly, "I bring +your majesty the keys of your good town of Paris; they are the same which +were presented to Henry IV.; he had regained his people; now the people +have regained their king." From the Place Louis XV. to the Hotel de Ville, +the king passed through a double line of the national guard, placed in +ranks three or four deep, and armed with guns, pikes, lances, scythes, and +staves. Their countenances were still gloomy; and no cry was heard but the +oft-repeated shout of "Vive la Nation!" But when Louis XVI. had left his +carriage and received from Bailly's hands the tri-coloured cockade, and, +surrounded by the crowd without guards, had confidently entered the Hotel +de Ville, cries of "Vive le Roi!" burst forth on every side. The +reconciliation was complete; Louis XVI. received the strongest marks of +affection. After approving the choice of the people with respect to the +new magistrates, he returned to Versailles, where some anxiety was +entertained as to the success of his journey, on account of the preceding +troubles. The national assembly met him in the Avenue de Paris; it +accompanied him as far as the chateau, where the queen and her children +ran to his arms. + +The ministers opposed to the revolution, and all the authors of the +unsuccessful projects, retired from court. The count d'Artois and his two +sons, the prince de Conde, the prince de Conti, and the Polignac family, +accompanied by a numerous train, left France. They settled at Turin, where +the count d'Artois and the prince de Conde were soon joined by Calonne, +who became their agent. Thus began the first emigration. The emigrant +princes were not long in exciting civil war in the kingdom, and forming an +European coalition against France. + +Necker returned in triumph. This was the finest moment of his life; few +men have had such. The minister of the nation, disgraced for it, and +recalled for it, he was welcomed along the road from Bale to Paris, with +every expression of public gratitude and joy. His entry into Paris was a +day of festivity. But the day that raised his popularity to its height put +a term to it. The multitude, still enraged against all who had +participated in the project of the 14th of July, had put to death, with +relentless cruelty, Foulon, the intended minister, and his nephew, +Berthier. Indignant at these executions, fearing that others might fall +victims, and especially desirous of saving the baron de Besenval, +commander of the army of Paris, under marshal de Broglie, and detained +prisoner, Necker demanded a general amnesty and obtained it from the +assembly of electors. This step was very imprudent, in a moment of +enthusiasm and mistrust. Necker did not know the people; he was not aware +how easily they suspect their chiefs and destroy their idols. They thought +he wished to protect their enemies from the punishment they had incurred; +the districts assembled, the legality of an amnesty pronounced by an +unauthorised assembly was violently attacked, and the electors themselves +revoked it. No doubt, it was advisable to calm the rage of the people, and +recommend them to be merciful; but instead of demanding the liberation of +the accused, the application should have been for a tribunal which would +have removed them from the murderous jurisdiction of the multitude. In +certain cases that which appears most humane is not really so. Necker, +without gaining anything, excited the people against himself, and the +districts against the electors; from that time he began to contend against +the revolution, of which, because he had been for a moment its hero, he +hoped to become the master. But an individual is of slight importance +during a revolution which raises the masses; that vast movement either +drags him on with it, or tramples him under foot; he must either precede +or succumb. At no time is the subordination of men to circumstances more +clearly manifested: revolutions employ many leaders, and when they submit, +it is to one alone. + +The consequences of the 14th of July were immense. The movement of Paris +communicated itself to the provinces; the country population, imitating +that of the capital, organized itself in all directions into +municipalities for purposes of self-government; and into bodies of +national guards for self-defence. Authority and force became wholly +displaced; royalty had lost them by its defeat, the nation had acquired +them. The new magistrates were alone powerful, alone obeyed; their +predecessors were altogether mistrusted. In towns, the people rose against +them and against the privileged classes, whom they naturally supposed +enemies to the change that had been effected. In the country, the chateaux +were fired and the peasantry burned the title-deeds of their lords. In a +moment of victory it is difficult not to make an abuse of power. But to +appease the people it was necessary to destroy abuses, in order that, they +might not, while seeking to get rid of them, confound privilege with +property. Classes had disappeared, arbitrary power was destroyed; with +these, their old accessory, inequality, too, must be suppressed. Thus must +proceed the establishment of the new order of things, and these +preliminaries were the work of a single night. + +The assembly had addressed to the people proclamations calculated to +restore tranquillity. The Chatelet was constituted a court for trying the +conspirators of the 14th of July, and this also contributed to the +restoration of order by satisfying the multitude. An important measure +remained to be executed, the abolition of privileges. On the night of the +4th of August, the viscount de Noailles gave the signal for this. He +proposed the redemption of feudal rights, and the suppression of personal +servitude. With this motion began the sacrifice of all the privileged +classes; a rivalry of patriotism and public offerings arose among them. +The enthusiasm became general; in a few hours the cessation of all abuses +was decreed. The duke du Chatelet proposed the redemption of tithes and +their conversion into a pecuniary tax; the bishop of Chartres, the +abolition of the game-laws; the count de Virieu, that of the law +protecting doves and pigeons. The abolition of seigneurial courts, of the +purchase and sale of posts in the magistracy, of pecuniary immunities, of +favouritism in taxation, of surplice money, first-fruits, pluralities, and +unmerited pensions, were successively proposed and carried. After +sacrifices made by individuals, came those of bodies, of towns and +provinces. Companies and civic freedoms were abolished. The marquis des +Blacons, a deputy of Dauphine, in the name of his province, pronounced a +solemn renunciation of its privileges. The other provinces followed the +example of Dauphine, and the towns that of the provinces. A medal was +struck to commemorate the day; and the assembly decreed to Louis XVI. the +title of _Restorer of French Liberty_. + +That night, which an enemy of the revolution designated at the time, the +Saint Bartholomew of property, was only the Saint Bartholomew of abuses. +It swept away the rubbish of feudalism; it delivered persons from the +remains of servitude, properties from seigneurial liabilities; from the +ravages of game, and the exaction of tithes. By destroying the seigneurial +courts, that remnant of private power, it led to the principle of public +power; in putting an end to the purchasing posts in the magistracy, it +threw open the prospect of unbought justice. It was the transition from an +order of things in which everything belonged to individuals, to another in +which everything was to belong to the nation. That night changed the face +of the kingdom; it made all Frenchmen equal; all might now obtain public +employments; aspire to the idea of property of their own, of exercising +industry for their own benefit. That night was a revolution as important +as the insurrection of the 14th of July, of which it was the consequence. +It made the people masters of society, as the other had made them masters +of the government, and it enabled them to prepare the new, while +destroying the old constitution. + +The revolution had progressed rapidly, had obtained great results in a +very short time; it would have been less prompt, less complete, had it not +been attacked. Every refusal became for it the cause of a new success; it +foiled intrigue, resisted authority, triumphed over force; and at the +point of time we have reached, the whole edifice of absolute monarchy had +fallen to the ground, through the errors of its chiefs. The 17th of June +had witnessed the disappearance of the three orders, and the states- +general changed into the national assembly; with the 23rd of June +terminated the moral influence of royalty; with the 14th of July its +physical power; the assembly inherited the one, the people the other; +finally, the 4th of August completed this first revolution. The period we +have just gone over stands prominently out from the rest; in its brief +course force was displaced, and all the preliminary changes were +accomplished. The following period is that in which the new system is +discussed, becomes established, and in which the assembly, after having +been destructive, becomes constructive. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FROM THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST TO THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789 + + +The national assembly, composed of the elite of the nation, was full of +intelligence, pure intentions, and projects for the public good. It was +not, indeed, free from parties, or wholly unanimous; but the mass was not +dominated by any man or idea; and it was the mass which, upon a conviction +ever untrammelled and often entirely spontaneous, decided the +deliberations and bestowed popularity. The following were the divisions of +views and interests it contained within itself:-- + +The court had a party in the assembly, the privileged classes, who +remained for a long time silent, and took but a tardy share in the +debates. This party consisted of those who during the dispute as to the +orders had declared against union. The aristocratic classes, +notwithstanding their momentary agreement with the commons, had interests +altogether contrary to those of the national party; and, accordingly, the +nobility and higher clergy, who formed the Right of the assembly, were in +constant opposition to it, except on days of peculiar excitement. These +foes of the revolution, unable to prevent it by their sacrifices, or to +stop it by their adhesion, systematically contended against all its +reforms. Their leaders were two men who were not the first among them in +birth or rank, but who were superior to the rest in talents. Maury and +Cazales represented, as it were, the one the clergy, and the other the +nobility. + +These two orators of the privileged classes, according to the intentions +of their party, who put little faith in the duration of these changes, +rather protested than stood on the defensive; and in all their discussions +their aim was not to instruct the assembly, but to bring it into +disrepute. Each introduced into his part the particular turn of his mind +and character: Maury made long speeches, Cazales lively sallies. The first +preserved at the tribune his habits as a preacher and academician; he +spoke on legislative subjects without understanding them, never seizing +the right view of the subject, nor even that most advantageous to his +party; he gave proofs of audacity, erudition, skill, a brilliant and well- +sustained facility, but never displayed solidity of judgment, firm +conviction, or real eloquence. The abbe Maury spoke as soldiers fight. No +one could contradict oftener or more pertinaciously than he, or more +flippantly substitute quotations and sophisms for reasoning, or rhetorical +phrases for real bursts of feeling. He possessed much talent, but wanted +the faculty which gives it life and truth. Cazales was the opposite of +Maury: he had a just and ready mind; his eloquence was equally facile, but +more animated; there was candour in his outbursts, and he always gave the +best reasons. No rhetorician, he always took the true side of a question +that concerned his party, and left declamation to Maury. With the +clearness of his views, his ardent character, and the good use he made of +his talents, his only fault was that of his position; Maury, on the other +hand, added the errors of his mind to those which were inseparable from +the cause he espoused. + +Necker and the ministry had also a party; but it was less numerous than +the other, on account of its moderation. France was then divided into the +privileged classes opposed to the revolution, and the people who +strenuously desired it. As yet there was no place for a mediating party +between them. Necker had declared himself in favour of the English +constitution, and those who from ambition or conviction were of his views, +rallied round him. Among these was Mounier, a man of strong mind and +inflexible spirit, who considered that system as the type of +representative governments; Lally-Tollendal, as decided in his views as +the former, and more persuasive; Clermont-Tonnerre, the friend and ally of +Mounier and Lally; in a word, the minority of the nobility, and some of +the bishops, who hoped to become members of the upper chamber, should +Necker's views be adopted. + +The leaders of this party, afterwards called the monarchical party, wished +to affect a revolution by compromise, and to introduce into France a +representative government, ready formed, namely, that of England. At every +point, they besought the powerful to make a compromise with the weak. +Before the 14th of July they asked the court and privileged classes to +satisfy the commons; afterwards, they asked the commons to agree to an +arrangement with the court and the privileged classes. They thought that +each ought to preserve his influence in the state; that deposed parties +are discontented parties, and that a legal existence must be made for +them, or interminable struggles be expected on their part. But they did +not see how little their ideas were appropriate to a moment of exclusive +passions. The struggle was begun, the struggle destined to result in the +triumph of a system, and not in a compromise. It was a victory which had +made the three orders give place to a single assembly, and it was +difficult to break the unity of this assembly in order to arrive at a +government of two Chambers. The moderate party had not been able to obtain +this government from the court, nor were they to obtain it from the +nation: to the one it had appeared too popular; for the other, it was too +aristocratic. + +The rest of the assembly consisted of the national party. As yet there +were not observed in it men who, like Robespierre, Petion, Buzot, etc., +wished to begin a second revolution when the first was accomplished. At +this period the most extreme of this party were Duport, Barnave, and +Lameth, who formed a triumvirate, whose opinions were prepared by Duport, +sustained by Barnave, and managed by Alexander Lameth. There was something +remarkable and announcing the spirit of equality of the times, in this +intimate union of an advocate belonging to the middle classes, of a +counsellor belonging to the parliamentary class, and a colonel belonging +to the court, renouncing the interests of their order to unite in views of +the public good and popular happiness. This party at first took a more +advanced position than that which the revolution had attained. The 14th of +July had been the triumph of the middle class; the constituent assembly +was its legislature, the national guard its armed force, the mayoralty its +popular power. Mirabeau, Lafayette, Bailly, relied on this class; one was +its tribune, the other its general, and the third its magistrate. Duport, +Barnave, and Lameth's party were of the principles and sustained the +interests of that period of the revolution; but this party, composed of +young men of ardent patriotism, who entered on public affairs with +superior qualities, fine talents, and elevated positions, and who joined +to the love of liberty the ambition of playing a leading part, placed +itself from the first rather in advance of the revolution of July the +14th. Its fulcrum within the assembly was the members of the extreme left +without, in the clubs, in the nation, in the party of the people, who had +co-operated on the 14th of July, and who were unwilling that the +bourgeoisie alone should derive advantage from the victory. By putting +itself at the head of those who had no leaders, and who being a little out +of the government aspired to enter it, it did not cease to belong to this +first period of the revolution; only it formed a kind of democratic +opposition, even in the middle class itself, only differing from its +leaders on a few unimportant points, and voting with them on most +questions. It was, among these popular men, rather a patriotic emulation +than a party dissension. + +Duport, who was strong-minded, and who had acquired premature experience +of the management of political passions, in the struggles which parliament +had sustained against the ministry, and which he had chiefly directed, +knew well that a people reposes the moment it has gained its rights, and +that it begins to grow weak as soon as it reposes. To keep in vigour those +who governed in the assembly, in the mayoralty, in the militia; to prevent +public activity from slackening, and not to disband the people, whose aid +he might one day require, he conceived and executed the famous +confederation of the clubs. This institution, like everything that gives a +great impulse to a nation, caused a great deal of good, and a great deal +of harm. It impeded legal authority, when this of itself was sufficient; +but it also gave an immense energy to the revolution, when, attacked on +all sides, it could only save itself by the most violent efforts. For the +rest, the founders of this association had not calculated all its +consequences. They regarded it simply as a wheel destined to keep or put +in movement the public machine, without danger, when it tended to abate or +to cease its activity; they did not think they were working for the +advantage of the multitude. After the flight of Varennes, this party had +become too exacting and too formidable; they forsook it, and supported +themselves against it with the mass of the assembly and the middle class, +whose direction was left vacant by the death of Mirabeau. At this period, +it was important to them speedily to fix the constitutional revolution; +for to protract it would have been to bring on the republican revolution. + +The mass of the assembly, we have just mentioned, abounded in just, +experienced, and even superior minds. Its leaders were two men, strangers +to the third estate, and adopted by it. Without the abbe Sieyes, the +constituent assembly would probably have had less unity in its operation, +and without Mirabeau, less energy in its conduct. + +Sieyes was one of those men who create sects in an age of enthusiasm, and +who exercise the ascendancy of a powerful reason in an enlightened era. +Solitude and philosophical studies had matured him at an early age. His +views were new, strong, and extensive, but somewhat too systematic. +Society had especially been the subject of his examination; he had watched +its progress, investigated its springs. The nature of government appeared +to him less a question of right than a question of epoch. His vast +intellect ranged the society of our days in its divisions, relations, +powers, and movement. Sieyes, though of cold temperament, had the ardour +which the pursuit of truth inspires, and the passion which its discovery +gives; he was accordingly absolute in his views, disdaining those of +others, because he considered them incomplete, and because, in his +opinion, half truth was error. Contradiction irritated him; he was not +communicative. Desirous of making himself thoroughly known, he could not +do so with every one. His disciples imparted his systems to others, which +surrounded him with a sort of mystery, and rendered him the object of a +species of reverence. He had the authority which complete political +science procures, and the constitution might have emerged from his head +completely armed, like the Minerva of Jupiter, or the legislation of the +ancients, were it not that in our days every one sought to be engaged in +the task, or to criticise it. Yet, with the exception of some +modifications, his plans were generally adopted, and he had in the +committees more disciples than colleagues. + +Mirabeau obtained in the tribune the same ascendancy as Sieyes in the +committees. He was a man who only waited the occasion to become great. At +Rome, in the best days of the republic, he would have been a Gracchus; in +its decline, a Catiline; under the Fronde, a cardinal de Retz; and in the +decrepitude of a monarchy, when such a being could only find scope for his +immense faculties in agitation, he became remarkable for the vehemence of +his passions, and for their punishment, a life passed in committing +excesses, and suffering for them. This prodigious activity required +employment; the revolution provided it. Accustomed to the struggle against +despotism, irritated by the contempt of a nobility who were inferior to +him, and who excluded him from their body; clever, daring, eloquent, +Mirabeau felt that the revolution would be his work, and his life. He +exactly corresponded to the chief wants of his time. His thought, his +voice, his action, were those of a tribune. In perilous circumstances, his +was the earnestness which carries away an assembly; in difficult +discussions, the unanswerable sally which at once puts an end to them; +with a word he prostrated ambition, silenced enmities, disconcerted +rivalries. This powerful being, perfectly at his ease in the midst of +agitation, now giving himself up to the impetuosity, now to the +familiarities of conscious strength, exercised a sort of sovereignty in +the assembly. He soon obtained immense popularity, which he retained to +the last; and he whom, at his first entrance into the legislature, every +eye shunned, was, at his death, received into the Pantheon, amidst the +tears of the assembly; and of all France. Had it not been for the +revolution, Mirabeau would have failed in realizing his destiny, for it is +not enough to be great: one must live at the fitting period. + +The duke of Orleans, to whom a party has been given, had but little +influence in the assembly; he voted with the majority, not the majority +with him. The personal attachment of some of its members, his name, the +fears of the court, the popularity his opinions enjoyed, hopes rather than +conspiracies had increased his reputation as a factious character. He had +neither the qualities nor the defects of a conspirator; he may have aided +with his money and his name popular movements, which would have taken +place just the same without him, and which had another object than his +elevation. It is still a common error to attribute the greatest of +revolutions to some petty private manoeuvring, as if at such an epoch a +whole people could be used as the instrument of one man. + +The assembly had acquired the entire power; the corporations depended on +it; the national guards obeyed it. It was divided into committees to +facilitate its operations, and execute them. The royal power, though +existing of right, was in a measure suspended, since it was not obeyed, +and the assembly had to supply its action by its own. Thus, independently +of committees entrusted with the preparation of its measures, it had +appointed others to exercise a useful superintendence without. A committee +of supply occupied itself with provisions, an important object in a year +of scarcity; a committee of inquiry corresponded with the corporations and +provinces; a committee of researches received informations against the +conspirators of the 14th of July. But finance and the constitution, which +the past crises had adjourned, were the special subjects of attention. + +After having momentarily provided for the necessities of the treasury, the +assembly, although now become sovereign, consulted, by examining the +_cahiers_, the wishes of its constituents. It then proceeded to form its +institutions with a method, a liberal and extensive spirit of discussion, +which was to procure for France a constitution conformable with justice +and suited to its necessities. The United States of America, at the time +of its independence, had set forth in a declaration the rights of man, and +those of the citizen. This will ever be the first step. A people rising +from slavery feels the necessity of proclaiming its rights, even before it +forms its government. Those Frenchmen who had assisted at the American +revolution, and who co-operated in ours, proposed a similar declaration as +a preamble to our laws. This was agreeable to an assembly of legislators +and philosophers, restricted by no limits, since no institutions existed, +and directed by primitive and fundamental ideas of society, since it was +the pupil of the eighteenth century. Though this declaration only +contained general principles, and confined itself to setting forth in +maxims what the constitution was to put into laws, it was calculated to +elevate the mind, and impart to the citizens a consciousness of their +dignity and importance. At Lafayette's suggestion, the assembly had before +commenced this discussion; but the events at Paris, and the decrees of the +4th of August, had interrupted its labours; they were now resumed, and +concluded, by determining the principles which were to form the table of +the new law, and which were the assumption of right in the name of +humanity. + +These generalities being adopted, the assembly turned its attention to the +organization of the legislative power. This was one of its most important +objects; it was to fix the nature of its functions, and establish its +relations with the king. In this discussion the assembly had only to +decide the future condition of the legislative power. Invested as it was +with constituent authority, it was raised above its own decisions, and no +intermediate power could suspend or prevent its mission. But what should +be the form of the deliberative body in future sessions? Should it remain +indivisible, or be divided into two chambers? If the latter form should be +adopted, what should be the nature of the second chamber? Should it be +made an aristocratic assembly, or a moderative senate? And, whatever the +deliberative body might be, was it to be permanent or periodical, and +should the king share the legislative power with it? Such were the +difficulties that agitated the assembly and Paris during the month of +September. + +If we consider the position of the assembly and its ideas of sovereignty, +we shall easily understand the manner in which these questions were +decided. It regarded the king merely as the hereditary agent of the +nation, having neither the right to assemble its representatives nor that +of directing or suspending them. Accordingly, it refused to grant him the +initiative in making laws and dissolving the assembly. It considered that +the legislative body ought not to be dependent on the king. It moreover +feared that by granting the government too strong an influence over the +assembly, or by not keeping the latter always together, the prince might +profit by the intervals in which he would be left alone, to encroach on +the other powers, and perhaps even to destroy the new system. Therefore to +an authority in constant activity, they wished to oppose an always +existing assembly, and the permanence of the assembly was accordingly +declared. The debate respecting its indivisibility, or its division, was +very animated. Necker, Mounier, and Lally-Tollendal desired, in addition +to a representative chamber, a senate, to be composed of members to be +appointed by the king on the nomination of the people. They considered +this as the only means of moderating the power, and even of preventing the +tyranny of a single assembly. They had as partisans such members as +participated in their ideas, or who hoped to form part of the upper +chamber. The majority of the nobility did not wish for a house of peers, +but for an aristocratic assembly, whose members it should elect. They +could not agree; Mounier's party refusing to fall in with a project +calculated to revive the orders, and the aristocracy refusing to accept a +senate, which would confirm the ruin of the nobility. The greater portion +of the deputies of the clergy and of the commons were in favour of the +unity of the assembly. The popular party considered it illegal to appoint +legislators for life; it thought that the upper chamber would become the +instrument of the court and aristocracy, and would then be dangerous, or +become useless by uniting with the commons. Thus the nobility, from +dissatisfaction, and the national party, from a spirit of absolute +justice, alike rejected the upper chamber. + +This determination of the assembly has been the object of many reproaches. +The partisans of the peerage have attributed all the evils of the +revolution to the absence of that order; as if it had been possible for +anybody whatsoever to arrest its progress. It was not the constitution +which gave it the character it has had, but events arising from party +struggles. What would the upper chamber have done between the court and +the nation? If in favour of the first, it would have been unable to guide +or save it; if in favour of the second, it would not have strengthened it; +in either case, its suppression would have infallibly ensued. In such +times, progress is rapid, and all that seeks to check it is superfluous. +In England, the house of lords, although docile, was suspended during the +crisis. These various systems have each their epoch; revolutions are +achieved by one chamber, and end with two. + +The royal sanction gave rise to great debates in the assembly, and violent +clamours without. The question was as to the part of the king in the +making of laws; the deputies were nearly all agreed on one point. They +were determined, in admitting his right to sanction or refuse laws; but +some desired that this right should be unlimited, others that it should be +temporary. This, in reality, amounted to the same thing, for it was not +possible for the king to prolong his refusal indefinitely, and the veto, +though absolute, would only have been suspensive. But this faculty, +bestowed on a single man, of checking the will of the people, appeared +exorbitant, especially out of the assembly, where it was less understood. + +Paris had not yet recovered from the agitation of the 14th of July; the +popular government was but beginning, and the city experienced all its +liberty and disorder. The assembly of electors, who in difficult +circumstances had taken the place of a provisional corporation, had just +been replaced. A hundred and eighty members nominated by the districts, +constituted themselves legislators and representatives of the city. While +they were engaged on a plan of municipal organization, each desired to +command; for in France the love of liberty is almost the love of power. +The committees acted apart from the mayor; the assembly of representatives +arose against the committees, and the districts against the assembly of +representatives. Each of the sixty districts attributed to itself the +legislative power, and gave the executive power to its committees; they +all considered the members of the general assembly as their subordinates, +and themselves as invested with the right of annulling their decrees. This +idea of the sovereignty of the principal over the delegate made rapid +progress. Those who had no share in authority, formed assemblies, and then +gave themselves up to discussion; soldiers debated at the Oratoire, +journeymen tailors at the Colonnade, hairdressers in the Champs Elysees, +servants at the Louvre; but the most animated debates took place in the +Palais Royal. There were inquired into the questions that occupied the +national assembly, and its discussions criticised. The dearth of +provisions also brought crowds together, and these mobs were not the least +dangerous. + +Such was the state of Paris when the debate concerning the veto was begun. +The alarm which this right conferred on the king excited, was extreme. It +seemed as though the fate of liberty depended on the decision of this +question, and that the veto alone would bring back the ancient system. The +multitude, ignorant of the nature and limits of power, wished the +assembly, on which it relied, to do all, and the king, whom it mistrusted, +to do nothing. Every instrument left at the disposal of the court appeared +the means of a counter-revolution. The crowds at the Palais Royal grew +turbulent; threatening letters were sent to those members of the assembly, +who, like Mounier, had declared in favour of the absolute veto. They spoke +of dismissing them as faithless representatives, and of marching upon +Versailles. The Palais Royal sent a deputation to the assembly, and +required the commune to declare that the deputies were revocable, and to +make them at all times dependent on the electors. The commune remained +firm, rejected the demands of the Palais Royal, and took measures to +prevent the riotous assemblies. The national guard supported it; this body +was well disposed; Lafayette had acquired its confidence; it was becoming +organised, it wore a uniform, submitted to discipline after the example of +the French guard, and learned from its chief the love of order and respect +for the law. But the middle class that composed it had not yet taken +exclusive possession of the popular government. The multitude which was +enrolled on the 14th of July, was not as yet entirely disbanded. This +agitation from without rendered the debates upon the veto stormy; in this +way a very simple question acquired great importance, and the ministry, +perceiving how fatal the influence of an absolute decision might prove, +and seeing, also, that the _unlimited veto_ and the _suspensive veto_ were +one and the same thing, induced the king to be satisfied with the latter, +and give up the former. The assembly declared that the refusal of his +sanction could not be prolonged by the prince beyond two sessions; and +this decision satisfied every one. + +The court took advantage of the agitation in Paris to realise other +projects. For some time it had influenced the king's mind. At first, he +had refused to sanction the decrees of the 4th of August, although they +were constitutive, and consequently he could not avoid promulgating them. +After accepting them, on the remonstrances of the assembly, he renewed the +same difficulties relative to the declaration of rights. The object of the +court was to represent Louis XVI. as oppressed by the assembly, and +constrained to submit to measures which he was unwilling to accept; it +endured its situation with impatience and strove to regain its former +authority. Flight was the only means, and it was requisite to legitimate +it; nothing could be done in the presence of the assembly, and in the +neighbourhood of Paris. Royal authority had fallen on the 23rd of June, +military power on the 14th of July; there was no alternative but civil +war. As it was difficult to persuade the king to this course, they waited +till the last moment to induce him to flee; his hesitation caused the +failure of the plan. It was proposed to retire to Metz, to Bouille, in the +midst of his army; to call around the monarch the nobility, the troops who +continued faithful, the parliaments; to declare the assembly and Paris in +a state of rebellion; to invite them to obedience or to force them to it; +and if the ancient system could not be entirely re-established, at least +to confine themselves to the declaration of the 20th of June. On the other +hand, if the court had an interest in removing the king from Versailles, +that it might effect something, it was the interest of the partisans of +the revolution to bring him to Paris; the Orleans faction, if one existed, +had an interest in driving the king to flight, by intimidating him, in the +hope that the assembly would appoint its leader _lieutenant-general of the +kingdom_; and, lastly, the people, who were in want of bread, wished for +the king to reside at Paris, in the hope that his presence would diminish, +or put a stop to the dearth of provisions. All these causes existing, an +occasion was only wanting to bring about an insurrection; the court +furnished this occasion. On the pretext of protecting itself against the +movements in Paris, it summoned troops to Versailles, doubled the +household guards, and sent for the dragoons and the Flanders regiment. All +this preparation of troops gave rise to the liveliest fears; a report +spread of an anti-revolutionary measure, and the flight of the king, and +the dissolution of the assembly, were announced as at hand. Strange +uniforms, and yellow and black cockades, were to be seen at the +Luxembourg, the Palais Royal, and at the Champs Elysees; the foes of the +revolution displayed a degree of joy they had not manifested for some +time. The behaviour of the court confirmed these suspicions, and disclosed +the object of all these preparations. + +The officers of the Flanders regiment, received with anxiety in the town +of Versailles, were feted at the chateau, and even admitted to the queen's +card tables. Endeavours were made to secure their devotion, and a banquet +was given to them by the king's guards. The officers of the dragoons and +the chasseurs, who were at Versailles, those of the Swiss guards, of the +hundred Swiss, of the prevote, and the staff of the national guard were +invited. The theatre in the chateau, which was reserved for the most +solemn fetes of the court, and which, since the marriage of the second +brother of the king, had only been used for the emperor Joseph II., was +selected for the scene of the festival. The king's musicians were ordered +to attend this, the first fete which the guards had given. During the +banquet, toasts to the king and royal family were drunk with enthusiasm, +while the nation was omitted or rejected. At the second course, the +grenadiers of Flanders, the two bodies of Swiss, and the dragoons were +admitted to witness the spectacle, and share the sentiments which animated +the guests. The enthusiasm increased every moment. Suddenly the king was +announced; he entered attired in a hunting dress, the queen leaning on his +arm, and carrying the dauphin. Shouts of affection and devotion arose on +every side. The health of the royal family was drunk, with swords drawn; +and when Louis XVI. withdrew, the music played, "_O Richard! O mon roi! +l'univers t'abandonne_." The scene now assumed a very significant +character; the march of the Hullans, and the profusion of wine, deprived +the guests of all reserve. The charge was sounded; tottering guests +climbed the boxes, as if mounting to an assault; while cockades were +distributed; the tri-coloured cockade, it is said, was trampled on, and +the guests then spread through the galleries of the chateau, where the +ladies of the court loaded them with congratulations, and decorated them +with ribbons and cockades. + +Such was this famous banquet of the 1st of October, which the court was +imprudent enough to repeat on the third. One cannot help lamenting its +fatal want of foresight; it could neither submit to nor change its +destiny. This assembling of the troops, so far from preventing aggression +in Paris, provoked it; the banquet did not make the devotion of the +soldiers any more sure, while it augmented the ill disposition of the +people. To protect itself there was no necessity for so much ardour, nor +for flight was there needful so much preparation; but the court never took +the measure calculated to make its designs succeed, or else it only half +took it, and, in order to decide, it always waited until there was no +longer any time. + +The news of this banquet, and the appearance of black cockades, produced +the greatest sensation in Paris. From the 4th, suppressed rumours, +counter-revolutionary provocations, the dread of conspiracies, indignation +against the court, and increasing alarm at the dearth of provisions, all +announced an insurrection; the multitude already looked towards +Versailles. On the 5th, the insurrection broke out in a violent and +invincible manner; the entire want of flour was the signal. A young girl, +entering a guardhouse, seized a drum, and rushed through the streets +beating it, and crying, "Bread! Bread!" She was soon surrounded by a crowd +of women. This mob advanced towards the Hotel de Ville, increasing as it +went. It forced the guard that stood at the door, and penetrated into the +interior, clamouring for bread and arms; it broke open doors, seized +weapons, sounded the tocsin, and marched towards Versailles. The people +soon rose _en masse_, uttering the same demand, till the cry, "To +Versailles!" rose on every side. The women started first, headed by +Maillard, one of the volunteers of the Bastille. The populace, the +national guard, and the French guards requested to follow them. The +commander, Lafayette, opposed their departure a long time, but in vain; +neither his efforts nor his popularity could overcome the obstinacy of the +people. For seven hours he harangued and retained them. At length, +impatient at this delay, rejecting his advice, they prepared to set +forward without him; when, feeling that it was now his duty to conduct as +it had previously been to restrain them, he obtained his authorization +from the corporation, and gave the word for departure about seven in the +evening. + +The excitement at Versailles was less impetuous, but quite as real; the +national guard and the assembly were anxious and irritated. The double +banquet of the household troops, the approbation the queen had expressed, +_J'ai ete enchantee de la journee de Jeudi_--the king's refusal to accept +simply the Rights of Man, his concerted temporizings, and the want of +provisions, excited the alarm of the representatives of the people and +filled them with suspicion. Petion, having denounced the banquets of the +guards, was summoned by a royalist deputy to explain his denunciation, and +make known the guilty parties. "Let it be expressly declared," exclaimed +Mirabeau, "that whosoever is not king is a subject and responsible, and I +will speedily furnish proofs." These words, which pointed to the queen, +compelled the Right to be silent. This hostile discussion was preceded and +succeeded by debates equally animated, concerning the refusal of the +sanction, and the scarcity of provisions in Paris. At length, just as a +deputation was despatched to the king, to require his pure and simple +acceptance of the Rights of Man, and to adjure him to facilitate with all +his power the supplying Paris with provisions, the arrival of the women, +headed by Maillard, was announced. + +Their unexpected appearance, for they had intercepted all the couriers who +might have announced it, excited the terrors of the court. The troops of +Versailles flew to arms and surrounded the chateau, but the intentions of +the women were not hostile. Maillard, their leader, had recommended them +to appear as suppliants, and in that attitude they presented their +complaints successively to the assembly and to the king. Accordingly, the +first hours of this turbulent evening were sufficiently calm. Yet it was +impossible but that causes of hostility should arise between an excited +mob and the household troops, the objects of so much irritation. The +latter were stationed in the court of the chateau opposite the national +guard and the Flanders regiment. The space between was filled by women and +volunteers of the Bastille. In the midst of the confusion, necessarily +arising from such a juxtaposition, a scuffle arose; this was the signal +for disorder and conflict. An officer of the guards struck a Parisian +soldier with his sabre, and was in turn shot in the arm. The national +guards sided against the household troops; the conflict became warm, and +would have been sanguinary, but for the darkness, the bad weather, and the +orders given to the household troops first to cease firing and then to +retire. But as these were accused of being the aggressors, the fury of the +multitude continued for some time; their quarters were broken into, two of +them were wounded, and another saved with difficulty. + +During this tumult, the court was in consternation; the flight of the king +was suggested, and carriages prepared; a picket of the national guard saw +them at the gate of the Orangery, and, after closing the gate, compelled +them to go back; moreover, the king, either ignorant of the designs of the +court, or conceiving them impracticable, refused to escape. Fears were +mingled with his pacific intentions, when he hesitated to repel the +aggression or to take flight. Conquered, he apprehended the fate of +Charles I. of England; absent, he feared that the duke of Orleans would +obtain the lieutenancy of the kingdom. But, in the meantime, the rain, +fatigue, and the inaction of the household troops, lessened the fury of +the multitude, and Lafayette arrived at the head of the Parisian army. + +His presence restored security to the court, and the replies of the king +to the deputation from Paris, satisfied the multitude and the army. In a +short time, Lafayette's activity, the good sense and discipline of the +Parisian guard, restored order everywhere. Tranquillity returned. The +crowd of women and volunteers, overcome by fatigue, gradually dispersed, +and some of the national guard were entrusted with the defence of the +chateau, while others were lodged with their companions in arms at +Versailles. The royal family, reassured after the anxiety and fear of this +painful night, retired to rest about two o'clock in the morning. Towards +five, Lafayette, having visited the outposts which had been confided to +his care, and finding the watch well kept, the town calm, and the crowds +dispersed or sleeping, also took a few moments repose. + +About six, however, some men of the lower class, more enthusiastic than +the rest, and awake sooner than they, prowled round the chateau. Finding a +gate open, they informed their companions, and entered. Unfortunately, the +interior posts had been entrusted to the household guards, and refused to +the Parisian army. This fatal refusal caused all the misfortunes of the +night. The interior guard had not even been increased; the gates scarcely +visited, and the watch kept as negligently as on ordinary occasions. These +men, excited by all the passions that had brought them to Versailles, +perceiving one of the household troops at a window, began to insult him. +He fired, and wounded one of them. They then rushed on the household +troops who defended the chateau breast to breast, and sacrificed +themselves heroically. One of them had time to warn the queen, whom the +assailants particularly threatened; and half dressed, she ran for refuge +to the king. The tumult and danger were extreme in the chateau. + +Lafayette, apprised of the invasion of the royal residence, mounted his +horse, and rode hastily to the scene of danger. On the square he met some +of the household troops surrounded by an infuriated mob, who were on the +point of killing them. He threw himself among them, called some French +guards who were near, and having rescued the household troops, and +dispersed their assailants, he hurried to the chateau. He found it already +secured by the grenadiers of the French guard, who, at the first noise of +the tumult, had hastened and protected the household troops from the fury +of the Parisians. But the scene was not over; the crowd assembled again in +the marble court under the king's balcony, loudly called for him, and he +appeared. They required his departure for Paris; he promised to repair +thither with his family, and this promise was received with general +applause. The queen was resolved to accompany him; but the prejudice +against her was so strong that the journey was not without danger; it was +necessary to reconcile her with the multitude. Lafayette proposed to her +to accompany him to the balcony; after some hesitation, she consented. +They appeared on it together, and to communicate by a sign with the +tumultuous crowd, to conquer its animosity, and awaken its enthusiasm, +Lafayette respectfully kissed the queen's hand; the crowd responded with +acclamations. It now remained to make peace between them and the household +troops. Lafayette advanced with one of these, placed his own tricoloured +cockade on his hat, and embraced him before the people, who shouted +"_Vivent les gardes-du-corps!_" Thus terminated this scene; the royal +family set out for Paris, escorted by the army, and its guards mixed with +it. + +The insurrection of the 5th and 6th of October was an entirely popular +movement. We must not try to explain it by secret motives, nor attribute +it to concealed ambition; it was provoked by the imprudence of the court. +The banquet of the household troops, the reports of flight, the dread of +civil war, and the scarcity of provisions alone brought Paris upon +Versailles. If special instigators, which the most careful inquiries have +still left doubtful, contributed to produce this movement, they did not +change either its direction or its object. The result of this event was +the destruction of the ancient regime of the court; it deprived it of its +guard, it removed it from the royal residence at Versailles to the capital +of the revolution, and placed it under the surveillance of the people. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FROM THE 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789, TO THE DEATH OF MIRABEAU, APRIL, 1791 + + +The period which forms the subject of this chapter was less remarkable for +events than for the gradually decided separation of parties. In proportion +as changes were introduced into the state and the laws, those whose +interests or opinions they injured declared themselves against them. The +revolution had had as enemies, from the beginning of the states-general, +the court; from the union of orders and the abolition of privileges, the +nobility; from the establishment of a single assembly and the rejection of +the two chambers, the ministry and the partisans of the English form of +government. It had, moreover, against it since the departmental +organization, the provinces; since the decree respecting the property and +civil constitution of the clergy, the whole ecclesiastical body; since the +introduction of the new military laws, all the officers of the army. It +might seem that the assembly ought not to have effected so many changes at +once, so as to have avoided making so many enemies; but its general plans, +its necessities, and the very plots of its adversaries, required all these +innovations. + +After the 5th and 6th of October, the assembly emigrated as the court had +done after the 14th of July. Mounier and Lally-Tollendal deserted it, +despairing of liberty from the moment their views ceased to be followed. +Too absolute in their plans, they wanted the people, after having +delivered the assembly on the 14th of July, suddenly to cease acting, +which was displaying an entire ignorance of the impetus of revolutions. +When the people have once been made use of, it is difficult to disband +them, and the most prudent course is not to contest, but to regulate +intervention. Lally-Tollendal renounced his title of Frenchman, and +returned to England, the land of his ancestors. Mounier repaired to +Dauphine, his native province, which he endeavoured to excite to a revolt +against the assembly. It was inconsistent to complain of an insurrection, +and yet to provoke one, especially when it was to the profit of another +party, for his was too weak to maintain itself against the ancient regime +and the revolution. Notwithstanding his influence in Dauphine, whose +former movements he had directed, Mounier was unable to establish there a +centre of permanent resistance, but the assembly was thereby warned to +destroy the ancient provincial organisation, which might become the frame- +work of a civil war. + +After the 5th and 6th of October, the national representatives followed +the king to the capital, which their common presence had contributed +greatly to tranquillise. The people were satisfied with possessing the +king, the causes which had excited their ebullition had ceased. The duke +of Orleans, who, rightly or wrongly, was considered the contriver of the +insurrection, had just been sent away; he had accepted a mission to +England; Lafayette was resolved to maintain order; the national guard, +animated by a better spirit, acquired every day habits of discipline and +obedience; the corporation, getting over the confusion of its first +establishment, began to have authority. There remained but one cause of +disturbance--the scarcity of provisions. Notwithstanding the zeal and +foresight of the committee entrusted with the task of providing supplies, +daily assemblages of the people threatened the public tranquillity. The +people, so easily deceived when suffering, killed a baker called Francois, +who was unjustly accused as a monopolist. On the 21st of October a martial +law was proclaimed, authorizing the corporation to employ force to +disperse the mob, after having summoned the citizens to retire. Power was +vested in a class interested in maintaining order; the districts and the +national guard were obedient to the assembly. Submission to the law was +the prevailing passion of that epoch. The deputies on their side only +aspired at completing the constitution and effecting the re-organisation +of the state. They had the more reason for hastening their task, as the +enemies of the assembly made use of what remained of the ancient regime, +to occasion it embarrassment. Accordingly, it replied to each of their +endeavours by a decree, which, changing the ancient order of things, +deprived them of one of their means of attack. + +It began by dividing the kingdom more equally and regularly. The +provinces, which had witnessed with regret the loss of their privileges, +formed small states, the extent of which was too vast, and the +administration too independent. It was essential to reduce their size, +change their names, and subject them to the same government. On the 22nd +of December, the assembly adopted in this respect the project conceived by +Sieyes, and presented by Thouret in the name of the committee, which +occupied itself constantly on this subject for two months. + +France was divided into eighty-three departments, nearly equal in extent +and population; the departments were subdivided into districts and +cantons. Their administration received a uniform and hierarchical form. +The department had an administrative council composed of thirty-six +members, and an executive directory composed of five members: as the names +indicate, the functions of the one were to decide, and of the other to +act. The district was organised in the same way; although on a smaller +scale, it had a council and a directory, fewer in number, and subordinate +to the superior directory and council. The canton composed of five or six +parishes, was an electoral not an administrative division; the active +citizens, and to be considered such it was necessary to pay taxes +amounting to three days' earnings, united in the canton to nominate their +deputies and magistrates. Everything in the new plan was subject to +election, but this had several degrees. It appeared imprudent to confide +to the multitude the choice of its delegates, and illegal to exclude them +from it; this difficult question was avoided by the double election. The +active citizens of the canton named electors intrusted with nominating the +members of the national assembly, the administrators of the department, +those of the district, and the judges of tribunals; a criminal court was +established in each department, a civil court in each district, and a +police-court in each canton. + +Such was the institution of the department. It remained to regulate that +of the corporation: the administration of this was confided to a general +council and a municipality, composed of members whose numbers were +proportioned to the population of the towns. The municipal officers were +named immediately by the people, and could alone authorize the employment +of the armed force. The corporation formed the first step of the +association, the kingdom formed the last; the department was intermediate +between the corporation and the state, between universal interests and +purely local interests. + +The execution of this plan, which organized the sovereignty of the people, +which enabled all citizens to concur in the election of their magistrates, +and entrusted them with their own administration, and distributed them +into a machinery which, by permitting the whole state to move, preserved a +correspondence between its parts, and prevented their isolation, excited +the discontent of some provinces. The states of Languedoc and Brittany +protested against the new division of the kingdom, and on their side the +parliaments of Metz, Rouen, Bordeaux, and Toulouse rose against the +operations of the assembly which suppressed the Chambres de Vacations, +abolished the orders, and declared the commissions of the states +incompetent. The partisans of the ancient regime employed every means to +disturb its progress; the nobility excited the provinces, the parliaments +took resolutions, the clergy issued mandates, and writers took advantage +of the liberty of the press to attack the revolution. Its two principal +enemies were the nobles and the bishops. Parliament, having no root in the +nation, only formed a magistracy, whose attacks were prevented by +destroying the magistracy itself, whereas the nobility and the clergy had +means of action which survived the influence of the body. The misfortunes +of these two classes were caused by themselves. After harassing the +revolution in the assembly, they afterwards attacked it with open force-- +the clergy, by internal insurrections--the nobility, by arming Europe +against it. They had great expectations from anarchy, which, it is true, +caused France many evils, but which was far from rendering their own +position better. Let us now see how the hostilities of the clergy were +brought on; for this purpose we must go back a little. + +The revolution had commenced with the finances, and had not yet been able +to put an end to the embarrassments by which it was caused. More important +objects had occupied the attention of the assembly. Summoned, no longer to +defray the expenses of administration, but to constitute the state, it had +suspended its legislative discussions, from time to time, in order to +satisfy the more pressing necessities of the treasury. Necker had proposed +provisional means, which had been adopted in confidence, and almost +without discussion. Despite this zeal, he did not without displeasure see +the finances considered as subordinate to the constitution, and the +ministry to the assembly. A first loan of thirty millions (1,200,000l.), +voted the 9th of August, had not succeeded; a subsequent loan of eighty +millions (3,200,000l.), voted the 27th of the same month, had been +insufficient. Duties were reduced or abolished, and they yielded scarcely +anything, owing to the difficulty of collecting them. It became useless to +have recourse to public confidence, which refused its aid; and in +September, Necker had proposed, as the only means, an extraordinary +contribution of a fourth of the revenue, to be paid at once. Each citizen +was to fix his proportion himself, making use of that simple form of oath, +which well expressed these first days of honour and patriotism:--"_I +declare with truth._" + +Mirabeau now caused Necker to be invested with a complete financial +dictatorship. He spoke of the urgent wants of the state, of the labours of +the assembly which did not permit it to discuss the plan of the minister, +and which at the same time prevented its examining any other; of Necker's +skill, which ensured the success of his own measure; and urged the +assembly to leave with him the responsibility of its success, by +confidently adopting it. As some did not approve of the views of the +minister, and others suspected the intentions of Mirabeau with respect to +him, he closed his speech, one of the most eloquent he ever delivered, by +displaying bankruptcy impending, and exclaiming, "Vote this extraordinary +subsidy, and may it prove sufficient! Vote it; for if you have doubts +respecting the means, you have none respecting the want, and our inability +to supply it. Vote it, for the public circumstances will not bear delay, +and we shall be accountable for all postponement. Beware of asking for +time; misfortune never grants it. Gentlemen, on the occasion of a +ridiculous motion at the Palais Royal, an absurd incursion, which had +never had any importance, save in feeble imaginations, or the minds of men +of ill designs and bad faith, you once heard these words, '_Catiline is at +the gates of Rome, and yet they deliberate!_' And yet there were around us +neither Catiline, nor perils, nor factions, nor Rome. But now bankruptcy, +hideous bankruptcy, is there; it threatens to consume you, your +properties, your honour, and yet you deliberate!" Mirabeau had carried +away the assembly by his oratory; and the patriotic contribution was voted +with unanimous applause. + +But this resource had only afforded momentary relief. The finances of the +revolution depended on a more daring and more vast measure. It was +necessary not only to support the revolution, but to repair the immense +deficit which stopped its progress, and threatened its future destiny. One +way alone remained--to declare ecclesiastical property national, and to +sell it for the rescue of the state. Public interest prescribed this +course; and it could be done with justice, the clergy not being the +proprietors, but the simple administrators of this property, devoted to +religion, and not to the priests. The nation, therefore, by taking on +itself the expenses of the altar, and the support of its ministers might +procure and appropriate an important financial resource, and obtain a +great political result. + +It was important not to leave an independent body, and especially an +ancient body, any longer in the state; for in a time of revolution +everything ancient is hostile. The clergy, by its formidable hierarchy and +its opulence, a stranger to the new changes, would have remained as a +republic in the kingdom. Its form belonged to another system: when there +was no state, but only bodies, each order had provided for its own +regulation and existence. The clergy had its decretals, the nobility its +law of fiefs, the people its corporations; everything was independent, +because everything was private. But now that functions were becoming +public, it was necessary to make a magistracy of the priesthood as they +had made one of royalty; and, in order to make them dependent on the +state, it was essential they should be paid by it, and to resume from the +monarch his domains, from the clergy its property, by bestowing on each of +them suitable endowments. This great operation, which destroyed the +ancient ecclesiastical regime, was effected in the following manner: + +One of the most pressing necessities was the abolition of tithes. As these +were a tax paid by the rural population to the clergy, the sacrifice would +be for the advantage of those who were oppressed by them. Accordingly, +after declaring they were redeemable, on the night of the 4th of August, +they were suppressed on the 11th, without providing any equivalent. The +clergy opposed the measure at first, but afterwards had the good sense to +consent. The archbishop of Paris gave up tithes in the name of all his +brethren, and by this act of prudence he showed himself faithful to the +line of conduct adopted by the privileged classes on the night of the 4th +of August; but this was the extent of his sacrifices. + +A short time after, the debate respecting the possession of ecclesiastical +property began. Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, proposed to the clergy that +they should renounce it in favour of the nation, which would employ it in +defraying the expenses of worship, and liquidating its debt. He proved the +justice and propriety of this measure; and he showed the great advantages +which would accrue to the state. The property of the clergy amounted to +several thousand millions of francs. After paying its debts, providing for +the ecclesiastical services and that of hospitals, and the endowment of +its ministers, sufficient would still remain to extinguish the public +debt, whether permanent or annuities, and to reimburse the money paid for +judicial offices. The clergy rose against this proposition. The discussion +became very animated; and it was decided, in spite of their resistance, +that they were not proprietors, but simple depositaries of the wealth that +the piety of kings and of the faithful had devoted to religion, and that +the nation, on providing for the service of public worship, had a right to +recall such property. The decree which placed it at its disposal was +passed on the 2nd of December, 1789. + +From that moment the hatred of the clergy to the revolution broke out. At +the commencement of the states-general it had been less intractable than +the nobility, in order to preserve its riches; it now showed itself as +opposed as they to the new regime, of which it became the most tenacious +and furious foe. Yet, as the decree placed ecclesiastical property at the +disposal of the nation, without, as yet, displacing it, it did not break +out into opposition at once. The administration was still confided to it, +and it hoped that the possessions of the church might serve as a mortgage +for the debt, but would not be sold. + +It was, indeed, difficult to effect the sale, which, however, could not be +delayed, the treasury only subsisting on anticipations, and the exchequer, +which supplied it with bills, beginning to lose all credit on account of +the number it had issued. + +They obtained their end, and proceeded with the new financial organisation +in the following manner: The necessities of this and the following year +required a sale of this property to the amount of four hundred millions of +francs; to facilitate it, the corporation of Paris made considerable +subscriptions, and the municipalities of the kingdom followed the example +of Paris. They were to return to the treasury the equivalent of the +property they received from the state to sell to private individuals; but +they wanted money, and they could not deliver the amount since they had +not yet met with purchasers. What was to be done? They supplied municipal +notes intended to reimburse the public creditors, until they should +acquire the funds necessary for withdrawing the notes. Once arrived thus +far, they saw that, instead of municipal notes, it would be better to +create exchequer bills, which would have a compulsory circulation, and +answer the purpose of specie: this was simplifying the operation by +generalising it. In this way the assignats had their origin. + +This invention was of great utility to the revolution, and alone secured +the sale of ecclesiastical property. The assignats, which were a means of +payment for the state, became a pledge to the creditors. The latter by +receiving them were not obliged to accept payment in land for what they +had furnished in money. But sooner or later the assignats would fall into +the hands of men disposed to realise them, and then they were to be +destroyed at the same time that they ceased to be a pledge. In order that +they might fulfil their design, their forced circulation was required; to +render them safe, the quantity was limited to the value of the property +proposed for sale; and that they might not fall by too sudden a change, +they were made to bear interest. The assembly, from the moment of their +issue, wished to give them all the consistency of money. It was hoped that +specie concealed by distrust would immediately re-appear, and that the +assignats would enter into competition with it. Mortgage made them quite +as sure, and interest made them more profitable; but this interest, which +was attended with much inconvenience, disappeared after the first issue. +Such was the origin of the paper money issued under so much necessity, and +with so much prudence, which enabled the revolution to accomplish such +great things, and which was brought into discredit by causes that belonged +less to its nature than to the subsequent use made of it. + +When the clergy saw by a decree of the 29th of December the administration +of church property transferred to the municipalities, the sale they were +about to make of it to the value of four hundred millions of francs, and +the creation of a paper money calculated to facilitate this spoliation, +and render it definitive, it left nothing undone to secure the +intervention of God in the cause of its wealth. It made a last attempt: it +offered to realize in its own name the loan of four hundred millions of +francs, which was rejected, because otherwise, after having decided that +it was not the proprietor of church property, it would thus have again +been admitted to be so. It then sought every means of impeding the +operations of the municipalities. In the south, it raised catholics +against protestants; in the pulpit, it alarmed consciences; in the +confessional, it treated sales as sacrilegious, and in the tribune it +strove to render the sentiments of the assembly suspected. It excited as +much as possible religious questions for the purpose of compromising the +assembly, and confounding the cause of its own interest with that of +religion. The abuses and inutility of monastic vows were at this period +admitted by every one, even by the clergy. At their abolition on the 13th +of February, 1790, the bishop of Nancy proposed incidentally and +perfidiously that the catholic religion alone should have a public +worship. The assembly were indignant at the motives that suggested such a +proposition, and it was abandoned. But the same motion was again brought +forward in another sitting, and after stormy debates the assembly declared +that from respect to the Supreme Being and the catholic religion, the only +one supported at the expense of the state, it conceived it ought not to +decide upon the question submitted to it. + +Such was the disposition of the clergy, when, in the months of June and +July, 1790, the assembly turned its attention to its internal +organization. The clergy waited with impatience for this opportunity of +exciting a schism. This project, the adoption of which caused so much +evil, went to re-establish the church on its ancient basis, and to restore +the purity of its doctrine; it was not the work of philosophers, but of +austere Christians, who wished to support religion by the state, and to +make them concur mutually in promoting its happiness. The reduction of +bishoprics to the same number as the departments, the conformity of the +ecclesiastical circumscription with the civil circumscription, the +nomination of bishops by electors, who also chose deputies and +administrators, the suppression of chapters, and the substitution of +vicars for canons, were the chief features of this plan; there was nothing +in it that attacked the dogmas or worship of the church. For a long time +the bishops and other ecclesiastics had been nominated by the people; as +for diocesan limits, the operation was purely material, and in no respect +religious. It moreover generously provided for the support of the members +of the church, and if the high dignitaries saw their revenues reduced, the +cures, who formed the most numerous portion, had theirs augmented. + +But a pretext was wanting, and the civil constitution of the clergy was +eagerly seized upon. From the outset of the discussion, the archbishop of +Aix protested against the principles of the ecclesiastical committee. In +his opinion, the appointment or suspension of bishops by civil authority +was opposed to discipline; and when the decree was put to the vote, the +bishop of Clermont recapitulated the principles advanced by the archbishop +of Aix, and left the hall at the head of all the dissentient members. The +decree passed, but the clergy declared war against the revolution. From +that moment it leagued more closely with the dissentient nobility. Equally +reduced to the common condition, the two privileged classes employed all +their means to stop the progress of reform. + +The departments were scarcely formed when agents were sent by them to +assemble the electors, and try new nominations. They did not hope to +obtain a favourable choice, but aimed at fomenting divisions between the +assembly and the departments. This project was denounced from the tribune, +and failed as soon as it was made known. Its authors then went to work in +another way. The period allotted to the deputies of the states-general had +expired, their power having been limited to one year, according to the +desire of the districts. The aristocrats availed themselves of this +circumstance to require a fresh election of the assembly. Had they gained +this point, they would have acquired a great advantage, and with this view +they themselves appealed to the sovereignty of the people. "Without +doubt," replied Chapelier, "all sovereignty rests with the people; but +this principle has no application to the present case; it would be +destroying the constitution and liberty to renew the assembly before the +constitution is completed. This is, indeed, the hope of those who wish to +see liberty and the constitution perish, and to witness the return of the +distinction of orders, of prodigality in the public expenditure, and of +the abuses that spring from despotism." At this moment all eyes were +turned to the Right, and rested on the abbe Maury. "_Send those people to +the Chatelet,_" cried the latter, sharply; "_or if you do not know them, +do not speak of them._" "The constitution," continued Chapelier, "can only +be made by one assembly. Besides, the former electors no longer exist; the +bailiwicks are absorbed in the departments, the orders are no longer +separate. The clause respecting the limitation of power is consequently +without value; it will therefore be contrary to the constitution, if the +deputies do not retain their seats in this assembly; their oath commands +them to continue there, and public interest requires it." + +"You entangle us in sophisms," replied the abbe Maury; "how long have we +been a national convention? You talk of the oath we took on the 20th of +June, without considering that it cannot weaken that which we made to our +constituents. Besides, gentlemen, the constitution is completed; you have, +only now to declare that the king enjoys the plenitude of the executive +power. We are here for the sole purpose of securing to the French nation +the right of influencing its legislation, of establishing the principle +that taxation shall be consented to by the people, and of securing our +liberty. Yes, the constitution is made; and I will oppose every decree +calculated to limit the rights of the people over their representatives. +The founders of liberty ought to respect the liberty of the nation; the +nation is above us all, and we destroy our authority by limiting the +national authority." + +The abbe Maury's speech was received with loud applause from the Right. +Mirabeau immediately ascended the tribune. "It is asked," said he, "how +long the deputies of the people have been a national convention? I answer, +from the day when, finding the door of their session-house surrounded by +soldiers, they went and assembled where they could, and swore to perish +rather than betray or abandon the rights of the nation. Whatever our +powers were, that day their nature was changed; and whatever powers we may +have exercised, our efforts and labours have rendered them legitimate, and +the adhesion of the nation has sanctified them. You all remember the +saying of the great man of antiquity, who had neglected legal forms to +save his country. Summoned by a factious tribune to declare whether he had +observed the laws, he replied, 'I swear I have saved my country!' +Gentlemen," he exclaimed, turning to the deputies of the commons, "I swear +that you have saved France!" + +The assembly then rose by a spontaneous movement, and declared that the +session should not close till their task was accomplished. + +Anti-revolutionary efforts were increasing, at the same time, without the +assembly. Attempts were made to seduce or disorganize the army, but the +assembly took prudent measures in this respect. It gained the affections +of the troops by rendering promotion independent of the court, and of +titles of nobility. The count d'Artois and the prince de Conde, who had +retired to Turin after the 14th of July, corresponded with Lyons and the +south; but the emigrants not having yet the external influence they +afterwards acquired at Coblentz, and failing to meet with internal +support, all their efforts were vain. The attempts at insurrection, +originating with the clergy in Languedoc, had as little effect. They +brought on some transient disturbances, but did not effect a religious +war. Time is necessary to form a party; still more is required to induce +it to decide on serious hostilities. A more practicable design was that of +carrying off the king and conveying him to Peronne. The marquis de Favras, +with the support of _Monsieur_, the king's brother, was preparing to +execute it, when it was discovered. The Chatelet condemned to death this +intrepid adventurer, who had failed in his enterprise, through undertaking +it with too much display. The king's flight, after the events of October, +could only be effected furtively, as it subsequently happened at Varennes. + +The position of the court was equivocal and embarrassing. It encouraged +every anti-revolutionary enterprise and avowed none; it felt more than +ever its weakness and dependence on the assembly; and while desirous of +throwing off the yoke, feared to make the attempt because success appeared +difficult. Accordingly, it excited opposition without openly co-operating +in it; with some it dreamed of the restoration of the ancient regime, with +others it only aimed at modifying the revolution. Mirabeau had been +recently in treaty with it. After having been one of the chief authors of +reform, he sought to give it stability by enchaining faction. His object +was to convert the court to the revolution, not to give up the revolution +to the court. The support he offered was constitutional; he could not +offer any other; for his power depended on his popularity, and his +popularity on his principles. But he was wrong in suffering it to be +bought. Had not his immense necessities obliged him to accept money and +sell his counsels, he would not have been more blameable than the +unalterable Lafayette, the Lameths and the Girondins, who successively +negotiated with it. But none of them gained the confidence of the court; +it only had recourse to them in extremity. By their means it endeavoured +to suspend the revolution, while by the means of the aristocracy it tried +to destroy it. Of all the popular leaders, Mirabeau had perhaps the +greatest ascendancy over the court, because he was the most winning, and +had the strongest mind. + +The assembly worked unceasingly at the constitution, in the midst of these +intrigues and plots. It decreed the new judicial organization of France. +All the new magistracies were temporary. Under the absolute monarchy, all +powers emanated from the throne, and all functionaries were appointed by +the king; under the constitutional monarchy, all powers emanating from the +people, the functionaries were to be appointed by it. The throne alone was +transmissible; the other powers being the property neither of a man nor of +a family, were neither of life-tenure, nor hereditary. The legislation of +that period depended on one sole principle, the sovereignty of the nation. +The judicial functions had themselves that changeable character. Trial by +jury, a democratic institution formerly common to nearly all the +continent, but which in England alone had survived the encroachments of +feudalism and the throne, was introduced into criminal causes. For civil +causes special judges were nominated. Fixed courts were established, two +courts of appeal to prevent error, and a _cour de cassation_ intended to +secure the preservation of the protecting forms of the law. This +formidable power, when it proceeds from the throne, can only be +independent by being fixed; but it must be temporary when it proceeds from +the people; because, while depending on all, it depends upon no one. + +In another matter, quite as important, the right of making peace or war, +the assembly decided a new and delicate question, and this in a sure, +just, and prompt manner, after one of the most luminous and eloquent +discussions that ever distinguished its sittings. As peace and war +belonged more to action than to will, it confided, contrary to the usual +rule, the initiative to the king. He who was best able to judge of its +fitness was to propose the question, but it was left to the legislative +body to decide it. + +The popular torrent, after having burst forth against the ancient regime, +gradually subsided into its bed; new dykes restrained it on all sides. The +government of the revolution was rapidly becoming established. The +assembly had given to the new regime its monarch, its national +representation, its territorial division, its armed force, its municipal +and administrative power, its popular tribunals, its currency, its clergy; +it had made an arrangement with respect to its debt, and it had found +means to reconstruct property without injustice. + +The 14th of July approached: that day was regarded by the nation as the +anniversary of its deliverance, and preparations were made to celebrate it +with a solemnity calculated to elevate the souls of the citizens, and to +strengthen the common bonds of union. A confederation of the whole kingdom +was appointed to take place in the Champ de Mars; and there, in the open +air, the deputies sent by the eighty-three departments, the national +representatives, the Parisian guard, and the monarch, were to take the +oath to the constitution. By way of prelude to this patriotic fete, the +popular members of the nobility proposed the abolition of titles; and the +assembly witnessed another sitting similar to that of the 4th of August. +Titles, armorial bearings, liveries, and orders of knighthood, were +abolished on the 20th of June, and vanity, as power had previously done, +lost its privileges. + +This sitting established equality everywhere, and made things agree with +words, by destroying all the pompous paraphernalia of other times. +Formerly titles had designated functions; armorial bearings had +distinguished powerful families; liveries had been worn by whole armies of +vassals; orders of knighthood had defended the state against foreign foes, +Europe against Islamism; but now, nothing of this remained. Titles had +lost their truth and their fitness; nobility, after ceasing to be a +magistracy, had even ceased to be an ornament; and power, like glory, was +henceforth to spring from plebeian ranks. But whether the aristocracy set +more value on their titles than on their privileges, or whether they only +awaited a pretext for openly declaring themselves, this last measure, more +than any other, decided the emigration and its attacks. It was for the +nobility what the civil constitution had been for the clergy, an occasion, +rather than a cause of hostility. + +The 14th of July arrived, and the revolution witnessed few such glorious +days--the weather only did not correspond with this magnificent fete. The +deputies of all the departments were presented to the king, who received +them with much affability; and he, on his part, met also with the most +touching testimonies of love, but as a constitutional king. "Sire," said +the leader of the Breton deputation, kneeling on one knee, and presenting +his sword, "I place in your hands the faithful sword of the brave Bretons: +it shall only be reddened by the blood of your foes." Louis XVI. raised +and embraced him, and returned the sword. "It cannot be in better hands +than in those of my brave Bretons," he replied; "I have never doubted +their loyalty and affection; assure them that I am the father and brother, +the friend of all Frenchmen." "Sire," returned the deputy, "every +Frenchman loves, and will continue to love you, because you are a citizen- +king." + +The confederation was to take place in the Champ de Mars. The immense +preparations were scarcely completed in time; all Paris had been engaged +for several weeks in getting the arrangements ready by the 14th. At seven +in the morning, the procession of electors, of the representatives of the +corporation, of the presidents of districts, of the national assembly, of +the Parisian guard, of the deputies of the army, and of the federates of +the departments, set out in complete order from the site of the Bastille. +The presence of all these national corps, the floating banners, the +patriotic inscriptions, the varied costumes, the sounds of music, the joy +of the crowd, rendered the procession a most imposing one. It traversed +the city, and crossed the Seine, amidst a volley of artillery, over a +bridge of boats, which had been thrown across it the preceding day. It +entered the Champ de Mars under a triumphal arch, adorned with patriotic +inscriptions. Each body took the station assigned it in excellent order, +and amidst shouts of applause. + +The vast space of the Champ de Mars was inclosed by raised seats of turf, +occupied by four hundred thousand spectators. An antique altar was erected +in the middle; and around it, on a vast amphitheatre, were the king, his +family, the assembly, and the corporation. The federates of the +departments were ranged in order under their banners; the deputies of the +army and the national guards were in their ranks, and under their ensigns. +The bishop of Autun ascended the altar in pontifical robes; four hundred +priests in white copes, and decorated with flowing tricoloured sashes, +were posted at the four corners of the altar. Mass was celebrated amid the +sounds of military music; and then the bishop of Autun blessed the +oriflamme, and the eighty-three banners. + +A profound silence now reigned in the vast inclosure, and Lafayette, +appointed that day to the command in chief of all the national guards of +the kingdom, advanced first to take the civic oath. Borne on the arms of +grenadiers to the altar of the country, amidst the acclamations of the +people, he exclaimed with a loud voice, in his own name, and that of the +federates and troops: "We swear eternal fidelity to the nation, the law, +and the king; to maintain to the utmost of our power the constitution +decreed by the national assembly, and accepted by the king; and to remain +united with every Frenchman by the indissoluble ties of fraternity." +Forthwith the firing of cannon, prolonged cries of "Vive la nation!" "Vive +le roi!" and sounds of music, mingled in the air. The president of the +national assembly took the same oath, and all the deputies repeated it +with one voice. Then Louis XVI. rose and said: "I, king of the French, +swear to employ all the power delegated to me by the constitutional act of +the state, in maintaining the constitution decreed by the national +assembly and accepted by me." The queen, carried away by the enthusiasm of +the moment, rose, lifted up the dauphin in her arms, and showing him to +the people, exclaimed: "Behold my son, he unites with me in the same +sentiments." At that moment the banners were lowered, the acclamations of +the people were heard, and the subjects believed in the sincerity of the +monarch, the monarch in the affection of the subjects, and this happy day +closed with a hymn of thanksgiving. + +The fetes of the confederation were protracted for some days. +Illuminations, balls, and sports were given by the city of Paris to the +deputies of the departments. A ball took place on the spot where had +stood, a year before, the Bastille; gratings, fetters, ruins, were +observed here and there, and on the door was the inscription, "_Ici on +danse_," a striking contrast with the ancient destination of the spot. A +contemporary observes: "They danced indeed with joy and security on the +ground where so many tears had been shed; where courage, genius, and +innocence had so often groaned; where so often the cries of despair had +been stifled." A medal was struck to commemorate the confederation; and at +the termination of the fetes the deputies returned to their departments. + +The confederation only suspended the hostility of parties. Petty intrigues +were resumed in the assembly as well as out of doors. The duke of Orleans +had returned from his mission, or, more strictly speaking, from his exile. +The inquiry respecting the events of the 5th and 6th of October, of which +he and Mirabeau were accused as the authors, had been conducted by the +Chatelets inquiry, which had been suspended, was now resumed. By this +attack the court again displayed its want of foresight; for it ought to +have proved the accusation or not to have made it. The assembly having +decided on giving up the guilty parties, had it found any such, declared +there was no ground for proceeding; and Mirabeau, after an overwhelming +outburst against the whole affair, obliged the Right to be silent, and +thus arose triumphantly from an accusation which had been made expressly +to intimidate him. + +They attacked not only a few deputies but the assembly itself. The court +intrigued against it, but the Right drove this to exaggeration. "We like +its decrees," said the abbe Maury; "we want three or four more of them." +Hired libellists sold, at its very doors, papers calculated to deprive it +of the respect of the people; the ministers blamed and obstructed its +progress. Necker, still haunted by the recollection of his former +ascendancy, addressed to it memorials, in which he opposed its decrees and +gave it advice. This minister could not accustom himself to a secondary +part: he would not fall in with the abrupt plans of the assembly, so +entirely opposed to his ideas of gradual reform. At length, convinced or +weary of the inutility of his efforts, he left Paris, after resigning, on +the 4th of September, 1790, and obscurely traversed those provinces which +a year before he had gone through in triumph. In revolutions, men are +easily forgotten, for the nation sees many in its varied course. If we +would not find them ungrateful, we must not cease for an instant to serve +according to their own desire. + +On the other hand, the nobility which had found a new subject of +discontent in the abolition of titles, continued its anti-revolutionary +efforts. As it did not succeed in exciting the people, who, from their +position, found the recent changes very beneficial, it had recourse to +means which it considered more certain; it quitted the kingdom, with the +intention of returning thither with all Europe as its armed ally; but +while waiting till a system of emigration could be organised, while +waiting for the appearance of foreign foes to the revolution, it continued +to arouse enemies to it in the interior of the kingdom. The troops, as we +have before observed, had already for some time been tampered with in +various ways. The new military code was favourable to the soldiers; +promotion formerly granted to the nobility was now granted to seniority. +Most of the officers were attached to the ancient regime, nor did they +conceal the fact. Compelled to take what had become the common oath, the +oath of fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king, some left the army, +and increased the number of emigrants, while others endeavoured to win the +soldiers over to their party. + +General Bouille was of this number. After having long refused to take the +civic oath, he did so at last with this intention. He had a numerous body +of troops under his command near the northern frontier; he was clever, +resolute, attached to the king, opposed to the revolution, such as it had +then become, though the friend of reform; a circumstance that afterwards +brought him into suspicion at Coblentz. He kept his army isolated from the +citizens, that it might remain faithful, and that it might not be infected +with the spirit of insubordination which they communicated to the troops. +By skilful management, and the ascendancy of a great mind, he also +succeeded in retaining the confidence and attachment of his soldiers. It +was not thus elsewhere. The officers were the objects of a general +dislike; they were accused of diminishing the pay, and having no concern +for the great body of the troops. The prevailing opinions had also +something to do with this dissatisfaction. These combined causes led to +revolts among the men; that of Nancy, in August, 1790, produced great +alarm, and became almost the signal of a civil war. Three regiments, those +of Chateauvieux, Maitre-de-camp, and the King's own, rebelled against +their chiefs. Bouille was ordered to march against them; he did so at the +head of the garrison and national guard of Metz. After an animated +skirmish, he subdued them. The assembly congratulated him; but Paris, +which saw in Bouille a conspirator, was thrown into fresh agitation at +this intelligence. Crowds collected, and the impeachment of the ministers +who had given orders to Bouille to march upon Nancy was clamorously +demanded. Lafayette, however, succeeded in allaying this ebullition, +supported by the assembly, which, finding itself placed between a counter- +revolution and anarchy, opposed both with equal wisdom and courage. + +The aristocracy triumphed at the sight of the difficulties which perplexed +the assembly. They imagined that it would be compelled to be dependent on +the multitude, or deprive itself entirely of its support; and in either +case the return to the ancient regime appeared to them short and easy. The +clergy had its share in this work. The sale of church property, which it +took every means to impede, was effected at a higher price than that +fixed. The people, delivered from tithes and reassured as to the national +debt, were far from listening to the angry suggestions of the priests; +they accordingly made use of the civil constitution of the clergy to +excite a schism. We have seen that this decree of the assembly did not +affect either the discipline or the creed of the church. The king +sanctioned it on the 26th of December; but the bishops, who sought to +cover their interests with the mantle of religion, declared that it +encroached on the spiritual authority. The pope, consulted as to this +purely political measure, refused his assent to it, which the king +earnestly sought, and encouraged the opposition of the priests. The latter +decided that they would not concur in the establishment of the civil +constitution; that those of them who might be suppressed would protest +against this uncanonical act, that every bishopric created without the +concurrence of the pope should be null, and that the metropolitans should +refuse institution to bishops appointed according to civil forms. + +The assembly strengthened this league by attempting to frustrate it. If, +contrary to their real desire, it had left the dissentient priests to +themselves, they would not have found the elements of a religious war. But +the assembly decreed that the ecclesiastics should swear fidelity to the +nation, the law, and the king, and to maintain the civil constitution of +the clergy. Refusal to take this oath was to be attended by the +substitution of others in their bishoprics and cures. The assembly hoped +that the higher clergy from interest, and the lower clergy from ambition, +would adopt this measure. + +The bishops, on the contrary, thought that all the ecclesiastics would +follow their example, and that by refusing to swear, they would leave the +state without public worship, and the people without priests. The result +satisfied the expectations of neither party; the majority of the bishops +and cures of the assembly refused to take the oath, but a few bishops and +many cures took it. The dissentient incumbents were deprived, and the +electors nominated successors to them, who received canonical institution +from the bishops of Autun and Lida. But the deprived ecclesiastics refused +to abandon their functions, and declared their successors intruders, the +sacraments administred by them null, and all Christians who should venture +to recognise them excommunicated. They did not leave their dioceses; they +issued charges, and excited the people to disobey the laws; and thus an +affair of private interest became first a matter of religion and then a +matter of party. There were two bodies of clergy, one constitutional, the +other refractory; they had each its partisans, and treated each other as +rebels and heretics. According to passion or interest, religion became an +instrument or an obstacle; and while the priests made fanatics the +revolution made infidels. The people, not yet infected with this malady of +the upper classes, lost, especially in towns, the faith of their fathers, +from the imprudence of those who placed them between the revolution and +their religion. "The bishops," said the marquis de Ferrieres, who will not +be suspected, "refused to fall in with any arrangements, and by their +guilty intrigues closed every approach to reconciliation; sacrificing the +catholic religion to an insane obstinacy, and a discreditable attachment +to their wealth." + +Every party sought to gain the people; it was courted as sovereign. After +attempting to influence it by religion, another means was employed, that +of the clubs. At that period, clubs were private assemblies, in which the +measures of government, the business of the state, and the decrees of the +assembly were discussed; their deliberations had no authority, but they +exercised a certain influence. The first club owed its origin to the +Breton deputies, who already met together at Versailles to consider the +course of proceeding they should take. When the national representatives +were transferred from Versailles to Paris, the Breton deputies and those +of the assembly who were of their views held their sittings in the old +convent of the Jacobins, which subsequently gave its name to their +meetings. It did not at first cease to be a preparatory assembly, but as +all things increase in time, the Jacobin club did not confine itself to +the influencing the assembly; it sought also to influence the municipality +and the people, and received as associates members of the municipality and +common citizens. Its organization became more regular, its action more +powerful; its sittings were regularly reported in the papers; it created +branch clubs in the provinces, and raised by the side of legal power +another power which first counselled and then conducted it. + +The Jacobin club, as it lost its primitive character and became a popular +assembly, had been forsaken by part of its founders. The latter +established another society on the plan of the old one, under the name of +the club of '89. Sieyes, Chapelier, Lafayette, La Rochefoucauld directed +it, as Lameth and Barnave directed that of the Jacobins. Mirabeau belonged +to both, and by both was equally courted. These clubs, of which the one +prevailed in the assembly and the other amongst the people, were attached +to the new order of things, though in different degrees. The aristocracy +sought to attack the revolution with its own arms; it opened royalist +clubs to oppose the popular clubs. That first established under the name +of the _Club des Impartiaux_ could not last because it addressed itself to +no class opinion. Reappearing under the name of the _Club Monarchique_, it +included among its members all those whose views it represented. It sought +to render itself popular with the lower classes, and distributed bread; +but far from accepting its overtures, the people considered such +establishments as a counter-revolutionary movement. The people disturbed +their sittings, and obliged them several times to change their place of +meeting. At length, the municipal authority found itself obliged, in +January, 1791, to close this club, which had been the cause of several +riots. + +The distrust of the multitude was extreme; the departure of the king's +aunts, to which it attached an exaggerated importance, increased its +uneasiness, and led it to suppose another departure was preparing. These +suspicions were not unfounded, and they occasioned a kind of rising which +the anti-revolutionists sought to turn to account by carrying off the +king. This project failed, owing to the resolution and skill of Lafayette. +While the crowd went to Vincennes to demolish the dungeon which they said +communicated with the Tuileries, and would favour the flight of the king, +more than six hundred persons armed with swords and daggers entered the +Tuileries to compel the king to flee. Lafayette, who had repaired to +Vincennes to disperse the multitude, returned to quell the anti- +revolutionists of the chateau, after dissipating the mob of the popular +party, and by this second expedition he regained the confidence which his +first had lost him. + +The attempt rendered the escape of Louis XVI. more feared than ever. +Accordingly, a short time after, when he wished to go to Saint Cloud, he +was prevented by the crowd and even by his own guard, despite the efforts +of Lafayette, who endeavoured to make them respect the law, and the +liberty of the monarch. The assembly on its side, after having decreed the +inviolability of the prince, after having regulated his constitutional +guard, and assigned the regency to the nearest male heir to the crown, +declared that his flight from the kingdom would lead to his dethronement. +The increasing emigration, the open avowal of its objects, and the +threatening attitude of the European cabinets, all cherished the fear that +the king might adopt such a determination. + +Then, for the first time, the assembly sought to stop the progress of +emigration by a decree; but this decree was a difficult question. If they +punished those who left the kingdom, they violated the maxims of liberty, +rendered sacred by the declaration of rights; if they did not raise +obstacles to emigration, they endangered the safety of France, as the +nobles merely quitted it in order to invade it. In the assembly, setting +aside those who favoured emigration, some looked only at the right, others +only at the danger, and every one sided with or opposed the restrictive +law, according to his mode of viewing the subject. Those who desired the +law, wished it to be mild; but only one law could be practicable at such a +moment, and the assembly shrank from enacting it. This law, by the +arbitrary order of a committee of three members, was to pronounce a +sentence of civil death on the fugitive, and the confiscation of his +property. "The horror expressed on the reading of this project," cried +Mirabeau, "proves that this is a law worthy of being placed in the code of +Draco, and cannot find place among the decrees of the national assembly of +France. I proclaim that I shall consider myself released from every oath +of fidelity I have made towards those who may be infamous enough to +nominate a dictatorial commission. The popularity I covet, and which I +have the honour to enjoy, is not a feeble reed; I wish it to take root in +the soil, based on justice and liberty." The exterior position was not yet +sufficiently alarming for the adoption of such a measure of safety and +revolutionary defence. + +Mirabeau did not long enjoy the popularity which he imagined he was so +sure of. That was the last sitting he attended. A few days afterwards he +terminated a life worn out by passions and by toil. His death, which +happened on the 2nd of March, 1791, was considered a public calamity; all +Paris attended his funeral; there was a general mourning throughout +France, and his remains were deposited in the receptacle which had just +been consecrated _aux grands hommes_, in the name of _la patrie +reconnaissante_. No one succeeded him in power and popularity; and for a +long time, in difficult discussions, the eyes of the assembly would turn +towards the seat from whence they had been accustomed to hear the +commanding eloquence which terminated their debates. Mirabeau, after +having assisted the revolution with his daring in seasons of trial, and +with his powerful reasoning since its victory, died seasonably. He was +revolving vast designs; he wished to strengthen the throne, and +consolidate the revolution; two attempts extremely difficult at such a +time. It is to be feared that royalty, if he had made it independent, +would have put down the revolution; or, if he had failed, that the +revolution would have put down royalty. It is, perhaps, impossible to +convert an ancient power into a new order; perhaps a revolution must be +prolonged in order to become legitimate, and the throne, as it recovers, +acquire the novelty of the other institutions. + +From the 5th and 6th of October, 1789, to the month of April, 1791, the +national assembly completed the reorganization of France; the court gave +itself up to petty intrigues and projects of flight; the privileged +classes sought for new means of power, those which they formerly possessed +having been successively taken from them. They took advantage of all the +opportunities of disorder which circumstances furnished them with, to +attack the new regime and restore the old, by means of anarchy. At the +opening of the law courts the nobility caused the Chambres de vacations to +protest; when the provinces were abolished, it made the orders protest. As +soon as the departments were formed, it tried new elections; when the old +writs had expired, it sought the dissolution of the assembly; when the new +military code passed, it endeavoured to excite the defection of the +officers; lastly, all these means of opposition failing to effect the +success of its designs, it emigrated, to excite Europe against the +revolution. The clergy, on its side, discontented with the loss of its +possessions still more than with the ecclesiastical constitution, sought +to destroy the new order by insurrections, and to bring on insurrections +by a schism. Thus it was during this epoch that parties became gradually +disunited, and that the two classes hostile to the revolution prepared the +elements of civil and foreign war. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 3OTH SEPTEMBER. THE END OF THE CONSTITUENT +ASSEMBLY + + +The French revolution was to change the political state of Europe, to +terminate the strife of kings among themselves, and to commence that +between kings and people. This would have taken place much later had not +the kings themselves provoked it. They sought to suppress the revolution, +and they extended it; for by attacking it they were to render it +victorious. Europe had then arrived at the term of the political system +which swayed it. The political activity of the several states after being +internal under the feudal government, had become external under the +monarchical government. The first period terminated almost at the same +time among all the great nations of Europe. Then kings who had so long +been at war with their vassals, because they were in contact with them, +encountered each other on the boundaries of their kingdoms, and fought. As +no domination could become universal, neither that of Charles V. nor that +of Louis XIV., the weak always uniting against the strong, after several +vicissitudes of superiority and alliance, a sort of European equilibrium +was established. In order to appreciate ulterior events, I propose to +consider this equilibrium before the revolution. + +Austria, England, and France had been, from the peace of Westphalia to the +middle of the eighteenth century, the three great powers of Europe. +Interest had leagued the two first against the third. Austria had reason +to dread the influence of France in the Netherlands; England feared it on +the sea. Rivalry of power and commerce often set them at variance, and +they sought to weaken or plunder each other. Spain, since a prince of the +house of Bourbon had been on the throne, was the ally of France against +England. This, however, was a fallen power: confined to a corner of the +continent, oppressed by the system of Philip II., deprived by the Family +Compact of the only enemy that could keep it in action, by sea only had it +retained any of its ancient superiority. But France had other allies on +all sides of Austria: Sweden on the north; Poland and the Porte on the +east; in the south of Germany, Bavaria; Prussia on the west; and in Italy, +the kingdom of Naples. These powers, having reason to dread the +encroachments of Austria, were naturally the allies of her enemy. +Piedmont, placed between the two systems of alliance, sided, according to +circumstances and its interests, with either. Holland was united with +England or with France, as the party of the stadtholders or that of the +people prevailed in the republic. Switzerland was neutral. + +In the last half of the eighteenth century, two powers had risen in the +north, Russia and Prussia. The latter had been changed from a simple +electorate into an important kingdom, by Frederick-William, who had given +it a treasure and an army; and by his son Frederick the Great, who had +made use of these to extend his territory. Russia, long unconnected with +the other states, had been more especially introduced into the politics of +Europe by Peter I. and Catharine II. The accession of these two powers +considerably modified the ancient alliances. In concert with the cabinet +of Vienna, Russia and Prussia had executed the first partition of Poland +in 1772; and after the death of Frederick the Great, the empress Catharine +and the emperor Joseph united in 1785 to effect that of European Turkey. + +The cabinet of Versailles, weakened since the imprudent and unfortunate +Seven Years' War, had assisted at the partition of Poland without opposing +it, had raised no obstacle to the fall of the Ottoman empire, and even +allowed its ally, the republican party in Holland, to sink under the blows +of Prussia and England, without assisting it. The latter powers had in +1787 re-established by force the hereditary, stadtholderate of the United +Provinces. The only act which did honour to French policy, was the support +it had happily given to the emancipation of North America. The revolution +of 1789, while extending the moral influence of France, diminished still +more its diplomatic influence. + +England, under the government of young Pitt, was alarmed in 1788 at the +ambitious projects of Russia, and united with Holland and Prussia to put +an end to them. Hostilities were on the point of commencing when the +emperor Joseph died, in February, 1790, and was succeeded by Leopold, who +in July accepted the convention of Reichenbach. This convention, by the +mediation of England, Russia, and Holland, settled the terms of the peace +between Austria and Turkey, which was signed definitively, on the 4th of +August, 1791, at Sistova; it at the same time provided for the +pacification of the Netherlands. Urged by England and Prussia, Catharine +II. also made peace with the Porte at Jassy, on the 29th of December, +1791. These negotiations, and the treaties they gave rise to, terminated +the political struggles of the eighteenth century, and left the powers +free to turn their attention to the French Revolution. + +The princes of Europe, who had hitherto had no enemies but themselves, +viewed it in the light of a common foe. The ancient relations of war and +of alliance, already overlooked during the Seven Years' War, now ceased +entirely: Sweden united with Russia, and Prussia with Austria. There was +nothing now but the kings on one side, and people on the other, waiting +for the auxiliaries which its example, or the faults of princes might give +it. A general coalition was soon formed against the French revolution. +Austria engaged in it with the hope of aggrandizement, England to avenge +the American war, and to preserve itself from the spirit of the +revolution; Prussia to strengthen the threatened absolute power, and +profitably to engage its unemployed army; the German states to restore +feudal rights to some of their members who had been deprived of them, by +the abolition of the old regime in Alsace; the king of Sweden, who had +constituted himself the champion of arbitrary power, to re-establish it in +France, as he had just done in his own country; Russia, that it might +execute without trouble the partition of Poland, while the attention of +Europe was directed elsewhere; finally, all the sovereigns of the house of +Bourbon, from the interest of power and family attachments. The emigrants +encouraged them in these projects, and excited them to invasion. According +to them, France was without an army, or at least without leaders, +destitute of money, given up to disorder, weary of the assembly, disposed +to the ancient regime, and without either the means or the inclination to +defend itself. They flocked in crowds to take a share in the promised +short campaign, and formed into organized bodies under the prince de +Conde, at Worms, and the count d'Artois, at Coblentz. + +The count d'Artois especially hastened the determination of the cabinets. +The emperor Leopold was in Italy, and the count repaired to him, with +Calonne as minister, and the count Alphonse de Durfort, who had been his +mediator with the court of the Tuileries, and who had brought him the +king's authority to treat with Leopold. The conference took place at +Mantua, and the count de Durfort returned, and delivered to Louis XVI. in +the name of the emperor, a secret declaration, in which was announced to +him the speedy assistance of the coalition. Austria was to advance thirty- +five thousand men on the frontier of Flanders; the German states, fifteen +thousand on Alsace; the Swiss, fifteen thousand on the Lyonese frontier; +the king of Sardinia, fifteen thousand on that of Dauphine; Spain was to +augment its army in Catalonia to twenty thousand; Prussia was well +disposed in favour of the coalition, and the king of England was to take +part in it as elector of Hanover. All these troops were to move at the +same time, at the end of July; the house of Bourbon was then to make a +protest, and the powers were to publish a manifesto; until then, however, +it was essential to keep the design secret, to avoid all partial +insurrection, and to make no attempt at flight. Such was the result of the +conferences at Mantua on the 20th May, 1791. + +Louis XVI., either from a desire not to place himself entirely at the +mercy of foreign powers, or dreading the ascendency which the count +d'Artois, should he return at the head of the victorious emigrants, would +assume over the government he had established, preferred restoring the +government alone. In general Bouille he had a devoted and skilful +partisan, who at the same time condemned both emigration and the assembly, +and promised him refuge and support in his army. For some time past, a +secret correspondence had taken place between him and the king. Bouille +prepared everything to receive him. He established a camp at Montmedy, +under the pretext of a movement of hostile troops on the frontier; he +placed detachments on the route the king was to take, to serve him for +escort, and as a motive was necessary for these arrangements, he alleged +that of protecting the money despatched for the payment of the troops. + +The royal family on its side made every preparation for departure; very +few persons were informed of it, and no measures betrayed it. Louis XVI. +and the queen, on the contrary, pursued a line of conduct calculated to +silence suspicion; and on the night of the 20th of June, they issued at +the appointed hour from the chateau, one by one, in disguise. In this way +they eluded the vigilance of the guard, reached the Boulevard, where a +carriage awaited them, and took the road to Chalons and Montmedy. + +On the following day the news of this escape threw Paris into +consternation; indignation soon became the prevailing sentiment; crowds +assembled, and the tumult increased. Those who had not prevented the +flight were accused of favouring it. Neither Bailly nor Lafayette escaped +the general mistrust. This event was considered the precursor of the +invasion of France, the triumph of the emigrants; the return of the +ancient regime, and a long civil war. But the conduct of the assembly soon +restored the public mind to calmness and security. It took every measure +which so difficult a conjuncture required. It summoned the ministers and +authorities to its bar; calmed the people by a proclamation; used proper +precautions to secure public tranquillity; seized on the executive power, +commissioned Montmorin, the minister of foreign affairs, to inform the +European powers of its pacific intentions; sent commissioners to secure +the favour of the troops, and receive their oath, no longer made in the +name of the king, but in that of the assembly, and lastly, issued an order +through the departments for the arrest of any one attempting to leave the +kingdom. "Thus, in less than four hours," says the marquis de Ferrieres, +"the assembly was invested with every kind of power. The government went +on; public tranquillity did not experience the slightest shock; and Paris +and France learned from this experience, so fatal to royalty, that the +monarch is almost always a stranger to the government that exists in his +name." + +Meantime Louis XVI. and his family were drawing near the termination of +their journey. The success of the first days' journeys, the increasing +distance from Paris, rendered the king less reserved and more confident; +he had the imprudence to show himself, was recognised, and arrested at +Varennes on the 21st. The national guard were under arms instantly; the +officers of the detachments posted by Bouille sought in vain to rescue the +king; the dragoons and hussars feared or refused to support them. Bouille, +apprised of this fatal event, hastened himself at the head of a regiment +of cavalry. But it was too late; on reaching Varennes, he found that the +king had left it several hours before; his squadrons were tired, and +refused to advance. The national guard were on all sides under arms, and +after the failure of his enterprise, he had no alternative but to leave +the army and quit France. + +The assembly, on hearing of the king's arrest, sent to him, as +commissioners, three of its members, Petion, Latour-Maubourg, and Barnave. +They met the royal family at Epernay and returned with them. It was during +this journey, that Barnave, touched by the good sense of Louis XVI., the +fascinations of Marie Antoinette, and the fate of this fallen family, +conceived for it an earnest interest. From that day he gave it his +assiduous counsel and support. On reaching Paris the royal party passed +through an immense crowd, which expressed neither applause nor murmurs, +but observed a reproachful silence. + +The king was provisionally suspended: he had had a guard set over him, as +had the queen; and commissioners were appointed to question him. Agitation +pervaded all parties. Some desired to retain the king on the throne, +notwithstanding his flight; others maintained, that he had abdicated by +condemning, in a manifesto addressed to the French on his departure, both +the revolution, and the acts which had emanated from him during that +period, which he termed a time of captivity. + +The republican party now began to appear. Hitherto it had remained either +dependent or hidden, because it had been without any existence of its own, +or because it wanted a pretext for displaying itself. The struggle, which +lay at first between the assembly and the court, then between the +constitutionalists and the aristocrats, and latterly among the +constitutionalists themselves, was now about to commence between the +constitutionalists and the republicans. In times of revolution such is the +inevitable course of events. The partisans of the order newly established +then met and renounced differences of opinion which were detrimental to +their cause, even while the assembly was all powerful, but which had +become highly perilous, now that the emigration party threatened it on the +one hand, and the multitude on the other. Mirabeau was no more. The +Centre, on which this powerful man had relied, and which constituted the +least ambitious portion of the assembly, the most attached to principles, +might by joining the Lameths, re-establish Louis XVI. and constitutional +monarchy, and present a formidable opposition to the popular ebullition. + +This alliance took place; the Lameth party came to an understanding with +Andre and the principal members of the Centre, made overtures to the +court, and opened the club of the Feuillants in opposition to that of the +Jacobins. But the latter could not want leaders; under Mirabeau, they had +contended against Mounier; under the Lameths against Mirabeau; under +Petion and Robespierre, they contended against the Lameths. The party +which desired a second revolution had constantly supported the most +extreme actors in the revolution already accomplished, because this was +bringing within its reach the struggle and the victory. At this period, +from subordinate it had become independent; it no longer fought for others +and for opinions not its own, but for itself, and under its own banner. +The court, by its multiplied faults, its imprudent machinations, and, +lastly, by the flight of the monarch, had given it a sort of authority to +avow its object; and the Lameths, by forsaking it, had left it to its true +leaders. + +The Lameths, in their turn, underwent the reproaches of the multitude, +which saw only their alliance with the court, without examining its +conditions. But supported by all the constitutionalists, they were +strongest in the assembly; and they found it essential to establish the +king as soon as possible, in order to put a stop to a controversy which +threatened the new order, by authorizing the public party to demand the +abolition of the royal power while its suspension lasted. The +commissioners appointed to interrogate Louis XVI. dictated to him a +declaration, which they presented in his name to the assembly, and which +modified the injurious effect of his flight. The reporter declared, in the +name of the seven committees entrusted with the examination of this great +question, that there were no grounds for bringing Louis XVI. to trial, or +for pronouncing his dethronement. The discussion which followed this +report was long and animated; the efforts of the republican party, +notwithstanding their pertinacity, were unsuccessful. Most of their +orators spoke; they demanded deposition or a regency; that is to say, +popular government, or an approach towards it. Barnave, after meeting all +their arguments, finished his speech with these remarkable words: +"Regenerators of the empire, follow your course without deviation. You +have proved that you had courage to destroy the abuses of power; you have +proved that you possessed all that was requisite to substitute wise and +good institutions in their place; prove now that you have the wisdom to +protect and maintain these. The nation has just given a great evidence of +its strength and courage; it has displayed, solemnly and by a spontaneous +movement, all that it could oppose to the attacks which threatened it. +Continue the same precautions; let our boundaries, let our frontiers be +powerfully defended. But while we manifest our power, let us also prove +our moderation; let us present peace to the world, alarmed by the events +which take place amongst us; let us present an occasion for triumph to all +those who in foreign lands have taken an interest in our revolution. They +cry to us from all parts: you are powerful; be wise, be moderate, therein +will lie your highest glory. Thus will you prove that in various +circumstances you can employ various means, talents, and virtues." + +The assembly sided with Barnave. But to pacify the people, and to provide +for the future safety of France, it decreed that the king should be +considered as abdicating, _de facto_, if he retracted the oath he had +taken to the constitution; if he headed an army for the purpose of making +war upon the nation, or permitted any one to do so in his name; and that, +in such case, become a simple citizen, he would cease to be inviolable, +and might be responsible for acts committed subsequent to his abdication. + +On the day that this decree was adopted by the assembly, the leaders of +the republican party excited the multitude against it. But the hall in +which it sat was surrounded by the national guard, and it could not be +assailed or intimidated. The agitators unable to prevent the passing of +the decree, aroused the people against it. They drew up a petition, in +which they denied the competency of the assembly; appealed from it to the +sovereignty of the nation, treated Louis XVI. as deposed since his flight, +and demanded a substitute for him. This petition, drawn up by Brissot, +author of the _Patriote Francais_, and president of the _Comite des +Recherches_ of Paris, was carried, on the 17th of July, to the altar of +the country in the Champ de Mars: an immense crowd flocked to sign it. The +assembly, apprized of what was taking place, summoned the municipal +authorities to its bar, and directed them to preserve the public +tranquillity. Lafayette marched against the crowd, and in the first +instance succeeded in dispersing it without bloodshed. The municipal +officers took up their quarters in the Invalides; but the same day the +crowd returned in greater numbers, and with more determination. Danton and +Camille Desmoulins harangued them from the altar of the country. Two +Invalides, supposed to be spies, were massacred and their heads stuck on +pikes. The insurrection became alarming. Lafayette again repaired to the +Champ de Mars, at the head of twelve hundred of the national guard. Bailly +accompanied him, and had the red banner unfurled. The crowd was then +summoned to disperse in the name of the law; it refused to retire, and, +contemning authority, shouted, "Down with the red flag!" and assailed the +national guard with stones. Lafayette ordered his men to fire, but in the +air. The crowd was not intimidated with this, and resumed the attack; +compelled by the obstinacy of the insurgents, Lafayette then ordered +another discharge, a real and effective one. The terrified multitude fled, +leaving many dead on the field. The disturbances now ceased, order was +restored; but blood had flown, and the people never forgave Bailly or +Lafayette the cruel necessity to which the crowd had driven them. This was +a regular combat, in which the republican party, not as yet sufficiently +strong or established, was defeated by the constitutional monarchy party. +The attempt of the Champ de Mars was the prelude of the popular movements +which led to the 10th of August. + +While this was passing in the assembly and at Paris, the emigrants, whom +the flight of Louis XVI. had elated with hope, were thrown into +consternation at his arrest. _Monsieur_, who had fled at the same time as +his brother, and with better fortune, arrived alone at Brussels with the +powers and title of regent. The emigrants thenceforth relied only on the +assistance of Europe; the officers quitted their colours; two hundred and +ninety members of the assembly protested against its decrees; in order to +legitimatize invasion, Bouille wrote a threatening letter, in the +inconceivable hope of intimidating the assembly, and at the same time to +take upon himself the sole responsibility of the flight of Louis XVI.; +finally, the emperor, the king of Prussia, and the count d'Artois met at +Pilnitz, where they made the famous declaration of the 27th of August, +preparatory to the invasion of France, and which, far from improving the +condition of the king, would have imperilled him, had not the assembly, in +its wisdom, continued to follow out its new designs, regardless at once of +the clamours of the multitude at home, and the foreign powers. + +In the declaration of Pilnitz, the sovereigns considered the cause of +Louis XVI. as their own. They required that he should be free to go where +he pleased, that is to say, to repair to them that he should be restored +to his throne; that the assembly should be dissolved, and that the princes +of the empire having possessions in Alsace, should be reinstated in their +feudal rights In case of refusal, they threatened France with a war in +which all the powers who were guarantees for the French monarchy would +concur. This declaration, so far from discouraging, only served to +irritate the assembly and the people. Men asked only another, what right +the princes of Europe had to interfere in the government of France; by +what right they gave orders to great people, and imposed conditions upon +it; and since the sovereigns appealed to force, the people of France +prepared to resist them. The frontiers were put in a state of defence; the +hundred thousand men of the national guard were enrolled, and they awaited +in calm serenity the attack of the enemy, well convinced that the French +people, on their own soil and in a state of revolution, would be +invincible. + +Meantime, the assembly approached the close of its labours; civil +relations, public taxation, the nature of crimes, their prosecution, and +their punishment, had been by it as wisely regulated as were the public +and constitutional relations of the country. Equality had been introduced +into the laws of inheritance, into taxation, and into punishments; nothing +remained but to unite all the constitutional decrees into a body and +submit them to the king for his approval. The assembly was growing weary +of its labours and of its dissensions; the people itself, who in France +ever become tired of that which continues beyond a certain time, desired a +new national representation; the convocation of the electoral colleges was +therefore fixed for the 5th of August. Unfortunately, the members of the +present assembly could not form part of the succeeding one; this had been +decided before the flight to Varennes. In this important question, the +assembly had been drawn away by the rivalry of some, the disinterestedness +of others, the desire for anarchy on the part of the aristocrats, and of +domination on that of the republicans. Vainly did Duport exclaim: "While +every one is pestering us with new principles of all sorts, how is it +overlooked that stability is also a principle of government? Is France, +whose children are so ardent and changeable, to be exposed every two years +to a revolution in her laws and opinions?" This was the desire of the +privileged classes and the Jacobins, though with different views. In all +such matters, the constituent assembly was deceived or overruled; when the +ministry was in question, it decided, in opposition to Mirabeau, that no +deputy could hold office; on the subject of re-election, it decided, in +opposition to its own members, that it could not take place; in the same +spirit, it prohibited their accepting, for four years, any post offered +them by the prince. This mania of disinterestedness soon induced Lafayette +to divest himself of the command of the national guard, and Bailly to +resign the mayoralty. Thus this remarkable epoch entirely annihilated the +constituent body. + +The collection of the constitutional decrees into one body led to the idea +of revising them. But this idea of revision gave great dissatisfaction, +and was almost of no effect; it was not desirable to render the +constitution more aristocratic by after measures, lest the multitude +should require it to be made more popular. To limit the sovereignty of the +nation, and, at the same time, not to overlook it, the assembly declared +that France had a right to revise its constitution, but that it was +prudent not to exercise this right for thirty years. + +The act of the constitution was presented to the king by sixty deputies; +the suspension being taken off, Louis XVI. resumed the exercise of his +power; and the guard the law had given him was placed under his own +command. Thus restored to freedom, the constitution was submitted to him. +After examining it for several days, "I accept the constitution," he wrote +to the assembly; "I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all +attacks from abroad; and to cause its execution by all the means it places +at my disposal. I declare, that being informed of the attachment of the +great majority of the people to the constitution, I renounce my claim to +assist in the work, and that being responsible to the nation alone, no +other person, now that I have made this renunciation, has a right to +complain." + +This letter excited general approbation. Lafayette demanded and procured +an amnesty in favour of those who were under prosecution for favouring the +king's flight, or for proceedings against the revolution. Next day the +king came in person to accept the constitution in the assembly. The +populace attended him thither with acclamations; he was the object of the +enthusiasm of the deputies and spectators, and he regained that day the +confidence and affection of his subjects. The 29th of September was fixed +for the closing of the assembly; the king was present; his speech was +often interrupted by applause, and when he said, "For you, gentlemen, who +during a long and arduous career have displayed such indefatigable zeal, +there remains one duty to fulfil when you have returned to your homes over +the country: to explain to your fellow-citizens the true meaning of the +laws you have made for them; to counsel those who slight them; to clarify +and unite all opinions by the example you shall afford of your love of +order, and of submission to the laws." Cries of "Yes! yes!" were uttered +by all the deputies with one common voice. "I rely on your being the +interpreters of my sentiments to your fellow-citizens." "Yes! yes!" "Tell +them all that the king will always be their first and most faithful +friend; that he needs their love; that he can only be happy with them and +by their means; the hope of contributing to their happiness will sustain +my courage, as the satisfaction of having succeeded will be my sweetest +recompense" + +"It is a speech worthy of Henry IV.," said a voice, and the king left the +hall amidst the loudest testimonials of love. + +Then Thouret, in a loud voice, and addressing the people, exclaimed: "The +constituent assembly pronounces its mission accomplished, and that its +sittings now terminate." Thus closed this first and glorious assembly of +the nation. It was courageous, intelligent, just, and had but one passion +--a passion for law. It accomplished, in two years, by its efforts, and +with indefatigable perseverance, the greatest revolution ever witnessed by +one generation of men. Amidst its labours, it repressed despotism and +anarchy, by frustrating the conspiracies of the aristocracy and +maintaining the multitude in subordination. Its only fault was that it did +not confide the guidance of the revolution to those who were its authors; +it divested itself of power, like those legislators of antiquity who +exiled themselves from their country after giving it a constitution. A new +assembly did not apply itself to consolidating its work, and the +revolution, which ought to have been finished, was recommenced. + +The constitution of 1791 was based on principles adapted to the ideas and +situation of France. This constitution was the work of the middle class, +then the strongest; for, as is well known, the predominant force ever +takes possession of institutions. When it belongs to one man alone, it is +despotism; when to several, it is privilege; when to all, it is right; +this last state is the limit, as it is the origin, of society. France had +at length attained it, after passing through feudalism, which was the +aristocratic institution, and absolute power, which was the monarchical +institution. Equality was consecrated among the citizens, and delegation +recognised among the powers; such were to be, under the new system, the +condition of men, and the form of government. + +In this constitution the people was the source of all powers, but it +exercised none; it was entrusted only with election in the first instance, +and its magistrates were selected by men chosen from among the enlightened +portions of the community. The latter constituted the assembly, the law +courts, the public offices, the corporations, the militia, and thus +possessed all the force and all the power of the state. It alone was fit +to exercise them, because it alone had the intelligence necessary for the +conduct of government. The people was not yet sufficiently advanced to +participate in power, consequently, it was only by accident, and in the +most casual and evanescent manner, that power fell into its hands; but it +received civic education, and was disciplined to government in the primary +assemblies, according to the true aim of society, which is not to confer +its advantages as a patrimony on one particular class, but to make all +share in them, when all are capable of acquiring them. This was the +leading characteristic of the constitution of 1791; as each, by degrees, +became competent to enjoy the right, he was admitted to it; it extended +its limits with the extension of civilization, which every day calls a +greater number of men to the administration of the state. In this way it +had established true equality, whose real character is admissibility, as +that of inequality is exclusion. In rendering power transferable by +election, it made it a public magistracy; whilst privilege, in rendering +it hereditary by transmission, makes it private property. + +The constitution of 1791 established homogeneous powers which corresponded +among themselves, and thus reciprocally restrained each other; still, it +must be confessed, the royal authority was too subordinate to popular +power. It is never otherwise: sovereignty, from whatever source derived, +gives itself a feeble counterpoise when it limits itself. A constituent +assembly enfeebles royalty; a king who is a legislator limits the +prerogatives of an assembly. + +This constitution was, however, less democratic than that of the United +States, which had been practicable, despite the extent of the territory, +proving that it is not the form of institutions, but the assent which they +obtain, or the dissent which they excite, which permits or hinders their +establishment. In a new country, after a revolution of independence, as in +America, any constitution is possible; there is but one hostile party, +that of the metropolis, and when that is overcome, the struggle ceases, +because defeat leads to its expulsion. It is not so with social +revolutions among nations who have long been in existence. Changes attack +interests, interests form parties, parties enter into contest, and the +more victory spreads the greater grows opposition. This is what happened +in France. The work of the constituent assembly perished less from its +defects than from the attacks of faction. Placed between the aristocracy +and the multitude, it was attacked by the one and invaded by the other. +The latter would not have become sovereign, had not civil war and the +foreign coalition called for its intervention and aid. To defend the +country, it became necessary that it should govern it; then it effected +its revolution, as the middle class had effected its own. It had its 14th +of July in the 10th of August; its constituent assembly, the convention; +its government, which was the committee of public safety; yet, as we shall +see, without emigration there would have been no republic. + + + + +THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + + + + +CHAPTER V + +FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792 + + +The new assembly opened its session on the 1st October, 1791. It declared +itself immediately _the national legislative assembly_. From its first +appearance, it had occasion to display its attachment to the actual state +of things, and the respect it felt for the authors of French liberty. The +book of the constitution was solemnly presented to it by the archivist +Camus, accompanied by twelve of the oldest members of the national +representation. The assembly received the constitutional act standing and +uncovered, and on it took the oath, amidst the acclamations of the people +who occupied the tribunes, "_to live free or perish!_" A vote of thanks +was given by it to the members of the constituent assembly, and it then +prepared to commence its labours. + +But its first relations with the king had not the same character of union +and confidence. The court, doubtless hoping to regain under the +legislative, the superior position which it had lost under the constituent +assembly, did not employ sufficient management towards a susceptible and +anxious popular authority, which was then considered the first of the +state. The assembly sent a deputation of sixty of its members to the king +to announce its opening. The king did not receive them in person, and sent +word by the minister of justice that he could not give them audience till +noon on the following day. This unceremonious dismissal, and the indirect +communication between the national representatives and the prince, by +means of a minister, hurt the deputation excessively. Accordingly, when +the audience took place, Duchastel, who headed the deputation, said to him +laconically: "Sire, the national legislative assembly is sitting; we are +deputed to inform you of this." Louis XVI. replied still more drily: "I +cannot visit you before Friday." This conduct of the court towards the +assembly was impolitic, and little calculated to conciliate the affection +of the people. + +The assembly approved of the cold manner assumed by the deputation, and +soon indulged in an act of reprisal. The ceremony with which the king was +to be received among them was arranged according to preceding laws. A +fauteuil in the form of a throne was reserved for him; they used towards +him the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_, and the deputies, standing and +uncovered on his entrance, were to sit down, put on their hats, and rise +again, following with deference all the movements of the prince. Some +restless and exaggerated minds considered this condescension unworthy of a +sovereign assembly. The deputy Grangeneuve required that the words _sire_ +and _majesty_ should be replaced by the "more constitutional and finer" +title of _king of the French_. Couthon strongly enforced this motion, and +proposed that a simple fauteuil should be assigned to the king, exactly +like the president's. These motions excited some slight disapprobation on +the part of a few members, but the greater number received them eagerly. +"It gives me pleasure to suppose," said Guadet, "that the French people +will always venerate the simple fauteuil upon which sits the president of +the national representatives, much more than the gilded fauteuil where +sits the head of the executive power. I will say nothing, gentlemen, of +the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_. It astonishes me to find the national +assembly deliberating whether they shall be retained. The word _sire_ +signifies seigneur; it belonged to the feudal system, which has ceased to +exist. As for the term _majesty_, it should only be employed in speaking +of God and of the people." + +The previous question was demanded, but feebly; these motions were put to +the vote, and carried by a considerable majority. Yet, as this decree +appeared hostile, the constitutional opinion pronounced itself against it, +and censured this too excessive rigour in the application of principles. +On the following day those who had demanded the previous question moved +that the decisions of the day before should be abandoned. A report was +circulated, at the same time, that the king would not enter the assembly +if the decree were maintained; and the decree was revoked. These petty +skirmishes between two powers who had to fear usurpations, assumptions, +and more especially ill will between them, terminated here on this +occasion, and all recollection of them was effaced by the presence of +Louis XVI. in the legislative body, where he was received with the +greatest respect and the most lively enthusiasm. + +General pacification formed the chief topic of his speech. He pointed out +to the assembly the subjects that ought to attract its attention,-- +finance, civil law, commerce, trade, and the consolidation of the new +government; he promised to employ his influence to restore order and +discipline in the army, to put the kingdom in a state of defence, and to +diffuse ideas respecting the French revolution, calculated to re-establish +a good understanding in Europe. He added the following words, which were +received with much applause: "Gentlemen, in order that your important +labours, as well as your zeal, may produce all the good which may be +expected from them, a constant harmony and unchanging confidence should +reign between the legislative body and the king. The enemies of our peace +seek but too eagerly to disunite us, but let love of country cement our +union, and let public interest make us inseparable! Thus public power may +develop itself without obstacle; government will not be harassed by vain +fears; the possessions and faith of each will be equally protected, and no +pretext will remain for any one to live apart from a country where the +laws are in vigour, and where the rights of all are respected." +Unfortunately there were two classes, without the revolution, that would +not enter into composition with it, and whose efforts in Europe and the +interior of France were to prevent the realization of these wise and +pacific words. As soon as there are displaced parties in a state, a +struggle will result, and measures of hostility must be taken against +them. Accordingly, the internal troubles, fomented by non-juring priests, +the military assemblings of emigrants, and the preparations for the +coalition, soon drove the legislative assembly further than the +constitution allowed, and than it itself had proposed. + +The composition of this assembly was completely popular. The prevailing +ideas being in favour of the revolution, the court, nobility, and clergy +had exercised no influence over the elections. There were not in this +assembly, as in the preceding, partisans of absolute power and of +privilege. The two fractions of the Left who had separated towards the +close of the constituent assembly were again brought face to face; but no +longer in the same proportion of number and strength. The popular minority +of the previous assembly became the majority in this. The prohibition +against electing representatives already tried, the necessity of choosing +deputies from those most distinguished by their conduct and opinions, and +especially the active influence of the clubs, led to this result. Opinions +and parties soon became known. As in the constituent assembly there was a +Right, a Centre, a Left, but of a perfectly different character. + +The Right, composed of firm and absolute constitutionalists, composed the +Feuillant party. Its principal speakers were Dumas, Ramond, Vaublanc, +Beugnot, etc. It had some relations with the court, through Barnave, +Duport, and Alexander Lameth, who were its former leaders; but whose +counsels were rarely followed by Louis XVI., who gave himself up with more +confidence to the advice of those immediately around him. Out of doors, it +supported itself on the club of the Feuillants and upon the bourgeoisie. +The national guard, the army, the directory of the department, and in +general all the constituted authorities, were favourable to it. But this +party, which no longer prevailed in the assembly, soon lost a post quite +as essential, that of the municipality, which was occupied by its +adversaries of the Left. + +These formed the party called Girondist, and which in the revolution only +formed an intermediate party between the middle class and the multitude. +It had then no subversive project; but it was disposed to defend the +revolution in every way, and in this differed from the constitutionalists +who would only defend it with the law. At its head were the brilliant +orators of the Gironde, [Footnote: The name of the river Garonne, after +its confluence with the Dordogne.] who gave their name to the party, +Vergniaud, Guadet, Gensonne, and the Provencal Isnard, who had a style of +still more impassioned eloquence than theirs. Its chief leader was +Brissot, who, a member of the corporation of Paris during the last +session, had subsequently become a member of the assembly. The opinions of +Brissot, who advocated a complete reform; his great activity of mind, +which he developed at once in the journal the _Patriote_, in the tribune +of the assembly, and at the club of the Jacobins; his exact and extensive +knowledge of the position of foreign powers, gave him great ascendancy at +the moment of a struggle between parties, and of a war with Europe. +Condorcet possessed influence of another description; he owed this to his +profound ideas, to his superior reason, which almost procured him the +place of Sieyes in this second revolutionary generation. Petion, of a calm +and determined character, was the active man of this party. His tranquil +brow, his fluent elocution, his acquaintance with the people, soon +procured for him the municipal magistracy, which Bailly had discharged for +the middle class. + +The Left had in the assembly the nucleus of a party more extreme than +itself, and the members of which, such as Chabot, Bazire, Merlin, were to +the Girondists what Petion, Buzot, Robespierre, had been to the Left of +the constituent. This was the commencement of the democratic faction +which, without, served as auxiliary to the Gironde, and which managed the +clubs and the multitude. Robespierre in the society of the Jacobins, where +he established his sway after leaving the assembly; Danton, Camille +Desmoulins, and Fabre-d'Eglantine at the Cordeliers, where they had +founded a club of innovators more extreme than the Jacobins, composed of +men of the bourgeoisie; the brewer Santerre in the faubourgs, where the +popular power lay; were the true chiefs of this faction, which depended on +one whole class, and aspired at founding its own regime. + +The Centre of the legislative assembly was sincerely attached to the new +order of things. It had almost the same opinions, the same inclination for +moderation as the Centre of the constituent assembly; but its power was +very different: it was no longer at the head of a class established, and +by the aid of which it could master all the extreme parties. Public +dangers, making the want of exalted opinions and parties from without +again felt, completely annulled the Centre. It was soon won over to the +strongest side, the fate of all moderate parties, and the Left swayed it. + +The situation of the assembly was very difficult. Its predecessor had left +it parties which it evidently could not pacify. From the beginning of the +session it was obliged to turn its attention to these, and that in +opposing them. Emigration was making an alarming progress: the king's two +brothers, the prince de Conde and the duke de Bourbon, had protested +against Louis XVI. accepting the constitutional act, that is, against the +only means of accommodation; they had said that the king could not +alienate the rights of the ancient monarchy; and their protest, +circulating throughout France, had produced a great effect on their +partisans. Officers quitted the armies, the nobility their chateaux, whole +companies deserted to enlist on the frontiers. Distaffs were sent to those +who wavered; and those who did not emigrate were threatened with the loss +of the position when the nobility should return victorious. In the +Austrian Low Countries and the bordering electorates, there was formed +what was called _La France exterieure_. The counterrevolution was openly +preparing at Brussels, Worms, and Coblentz, under the protection and even +with the assistance of foreign courts. The ambassadors of the emigrants +were received, while those of the French government were dismissed, ill +received, or even thrown into prison, as in the case of M. Duveryer. +French merchants and travellers suspected of patriotism and attachment to +the revolution were scouted throughout Europe. Several powers had declared +themselves without disguise: of this number were Sweden, Russia, and +Spain; the latter at that time being governed by the marquis Florida- +Blanca, a man entirely devoted to the emigrant party. At the same time, +Prussia kept its army prepared for war: the lines of the Spanish and +Sardinian troops increased on our Alpine and Pyrenean frontiers, and +Gustavus was assembling a Swedish army. + +The dissentient ecclesiastics left nothing undone which might produce a +diversion in favour of the emigrants at home. "Priests, and especially +bishops," says the marquis de Ferrieres, "employed all the resources of +fanaticism to excite the people, in town and country, against the civil +constitution of the clergy." Bishops ordered the priests no longer to +perform divine service in the same church with the constitutional priests, +for fear the people might confound the two. "Independently," he adds, "of +circular letters written to the cures, instructions intended for the +people were circulated through the country. They said that the sacraments +could not be effectually administered by the constitutional priests, whom +they called _Intruders_, and that every one attending their ministrations +became by their presence guilty of a mortal sin; that those who were +married by Intruders, were not married; that they brought a curse upon +themselves and upon their children; that no one should have communication +with them, or with those separated from the church; that the municipal +officers who installed them, like them became apostates; that the moment +of their installation all bell-ringers and sextons ought to resign their +situations.... These fanatical addresses produced the effect which the +bishops expected. Religious disturbances broke out on all sides." + +Insurrection more especially broke out in Calvados, Gevaudan, and La +Vendee. These districts were ill-disposed towards the revolution, because +they contained few of the middle and intelligent classes, and because the +populace, up to that time, had been kept in a state of dependence on the +nobility and clergy. The Girondists, taking alarm, wished to adopt +rigorous measures against emigration and the dissentient priests, who +attacked the new order of things. Brissot proposed putting a stop to +emigration, by giving up the mild system hitherto observed towards it. He +divided the emigrants into three classes:--1st. The principal leaders, and +at their head the brothers of the king. 2ndly. Public functionaries who +forsook their posts and country, and sought to entice their colleagues. +3rdly. Private individuals, who, to preserve life, or from an aversion to +the revolution, or from other motives, left their native land, without +taking arms against it. He required that severe laws should be put in +force against the first two classes; but thought it would be good policy +to be indulgent towards the last. With respect to non-juring +ecclesiastics and agitators, some of the Girondists proposed to confine +themselves to a stricter surveillance; others thought there was only one +safe line of conduct to be pursued towards them: that the spirit of +sedition could only be quelled by banishing them from the country. "All +attempts at conciliation," said the impetuous Isnard, "will henceforth be +in vain. What, I ask, has been the consequence of these reiterated +pardons? The daring of your foes has increased with your indulgence; they +will only cease to injure you when deprived of the means of doing so. They +must be conquerors or conquered. On this point all must agree; the man who +will not see this great truth is, in my opinion, politically blind." + +The constitutionalists were opposed to all these measures; they did not +deny the danger, but they considered such laws arbitrary. They said, +before everything it was necessary to respect the constitution, and from +that time to confine themselves to precautionary measures; that it was +sufficient to keep on the defensive against the emigrants; and to wait, in +order to punish the dissentient priests, till they discovered actual +conspiracies on their part. They recommended that the law should not be +violated even towards enemies, for fear that once engaging in such a +course, it should be impossible to arrest that course, and so the +revolution be lost, like the ancient regime, through its injustice. But +the assembly, which deemed the safety of the state more important than the +strict observance of the law, which saw danger in hesitation, and which, +moreover, was influenced by passions which lead to expeditious measures, +was not stopped by these considerations. With common consent it again, on +the 30th of October, passed a decree relative to the eldest brother of the +king, Louis-Stanislaus-Xavier. This prince was required, in the terms of +the constitution, to return to France in two months, or at the expiration +of that period he would be considered to have forfeited his rights as +regent. But agreement ceased as to the decrees against emigrants and +priests. On the 9th of November the assembly resolved, that the French +gathered together beyond the frontiers were suspected of conspiracy +against their country; that if they remained assembled on the 1st of +January, 1792, they would be treated as conspirators, be punishable by +death, and that after condemnation to death for contumacy, the proceeds of +their estates were to be confiscated to the nation, always without +prejudice to the rights of their wives, children, and lawful creditors. On +the 29th of the same month it passed a similar decree respecting the +dissentient priests. They were obliged to take the civic oath, under pain +of being deprived of their pensions and suspected of revolt against the +law. If they still refused they were to be closely watched; and if any +religious disturbances took place in their parishes, they were to be taken +to the chief town of the department, and if found to have taken any part +in exciting disobedience, they were liable to imprisonment. + +The king sanctioned the first decree respecting his brother; he put his +veto on the other two. A short time before he had disavowed emigration by +public measures, and he had written to the emigrant princes recalling them +to the kingdom. He invited them to return in the name of the tranquillity +of France, and of the attachment and obedience they owed to him as their +brother and their king. "I shall," said he, in concluding the letter, +"always be grateful to you for saving me the necessity of acting in +opposition to you, through the invariable resolution I have made to +maintain what I have announced." These wise invitations had led to no +result: but Louis XVI., while he condemned the conduct of the emigrants, +would not give his consent to the measures taken against them. In refusing +his sanction he was supported by the friends of the constitution and the +directory of the department. This support was not without use to him, at a +time when, in the eyes of the people, he appeared to be an accomplice of +emigration, when he provoked the dissatisfaction of the Girondists, and +separated himself from the assembly. He should have united closely with +it, since he invoked the constitution against the emigrants in his +letters, and against the revolutionist, by the exercise of his +prerogative. His position could only become strong by sincerely falling in +with the first revolution, and making his own cause one with that of the +bourgeoisie. + +But the court was not so resigned; it still expected better times, and was +thus prevented from pursuing an invariable line of conduct, and induced to +seek grounds for hope in every quarter. Now and then disposed to favour +the intervention of foreign powers, it continued to correspond with +Europe; it intrigued with its ministers against the popular party, and +made use of the Feuillants against the Girondists, though with much +distrust. At this period its chief resource was in the petty schemes of +Bertrand de Moleville, who directed the council; who had established a +_French club_, the members of which he paid; who purchased the applause of +the tribunes of the assembly, hoping by this imitation of the revolution +to conquer the true revolution, his object being to deceive parties, and +annul the effects of the constitution by observing it literally. + +By this line of conduct the court had even the imprudence to weaken the +constitutionalists, whom it ought to have reinforced; at their expense it +favoured the election of Petion to the mayoralty. Through the +disinterestedness with which the preceding assembly had been seized, all +who had held popular posts under it successively gave them up. On the 18th +of October, Lafayette resigned the command of the national guard, and +Bailly had just retired from the mayoralty. The constitutional party +proposed that Lafayette should replace him in this first post of the +state, which, by permitting or restraining insurrections, delivered Paris +into the power of him who occupied it. Till then it had been in the hands +of the constitutionalists, who, by this means, had repressed the rising of +the Champ de Mars. They had lost the direction of the assembly, the +command of the national guard; they now lost the corporation. The court +gave to Petion, the Girondist candidate, all the votes at its disposal. +"M. de Lafayette," observed the queen to Bertrand de Moleville, "only +wishes to be mayor of Paris in order to become mayor of the palace. Petion +is a jacobin, a republican, but he is a fool, incapable of ever leading a +party." On the 4th of November, Petion was elected mayor by a majority of +6708 votes in a total of 10,632. + +The Girondists, in whose favour this nomination became decisive, did not +content themselves with the acquisition of the mayoralty. France could not +remain long in this dangerous and provisional state. The decrees which, +justly or otherwise, were to provide for the defence of the revolution, +and which had been rejected by the king, were not replaced by any +government measure; the ministry manifested either unwillingness or sheer +indifference. The Girondists, accordingly, accused Delessart, the minister +for foreign affairs, of compromising the honour and safety of the nation +by the tone of his negotiations with foreign powers, by his +procrastination, and want of skill. They also warmly attacked Duportail, +the war minister, and Bertrand de Moleville, minister of the marine, for +neglecting to put the coasts and frontiers in a state of defence. The +conduct of the Electors of Treves, Mayence, and the bishop of Spires, who +favoured the military preparations of the emigrants, more especially +excited the national indignation. The diplomatic committee proposed a +declaration to the king, that the nation would view with satisfaction a +requisition by him to the neighbouring princes to disperse the military +gatherings within three weeks, and his assembling the forces necessary to +make them respect international law. By this important measure, they also +wished to make Louis XVI. enter into a solemn engagement, and signify to +the diet of Ratisbon, as well as to the other courts of Europe, the firm +intentions of France. + +Isnard ascended the tribune to support this proposition. "Let us," said +he, "in this crisis, rise to the full elevation of our mission; let us +speak to the ministers, to the king, to all Europe, with the firmness that +becomes us. Let us tell our ministers, that hitherto the nation is not +well satisfied with the conduct of any of them; that henceforth they will +have no choice but between public gratitude and the vengeance of the laws; +and that by the word responsibility we understand death. Let us tell the +king that it is his interest to defend the constitution; that he only +reigns by the people and for the people; that the nation is his sovereign, +and that he is subject to the law. Let us tell Europe, that if the French +people once draw the sword, they will throw away the scabbard, and will +not raise it again till it may be crowned with the laurels of victory; +that if cabinets engage kings in a war against the people, we will engage +the people in a mortal warfare against kings. Let us tell them, that all +the fights the people shall fight at the order of despots"--here he was +interrupted by loud applause--"Do not applaud," he cried--"do not applaud; +respect my enthusiasm; it is that of liberty! Let us say to Europe, that +all the fights which the people shall fight at the command of despots, +resemble the blows that two friends, excited by a perfidious instigator, +inflict on each other in darkness. When light arrives, they throw down +their arms, embrace, and chastise their deceiver. So will it be if, when +foreign armies are contending with ours, the light of philosophy shine +upon them. The nations will embrace in the presence of dethroned tyrants-- +of the earth consoled, of Heaven satisfied." + +The assembly unanimously, and with transport, passed the proposed measure, +and, on the 29th of November, sent a message to the king. Vaublanc was the +leader of the deputation. "Sire," said he to Louis XVI., "the national +assembly had scarcely glanced at the state of the nation ere it saw that +the troubles which still agitate it arise from the criminal preparations +of French emigrants. Their audacity is encouraged by German princes, who +trample under foot the treaties between them and France, and affect to +forget that they are indebted to this empire for the treaty of Westphalia, +which secured their rights and their safety. These hostile preparations, +these threats of invasion, will require armaments absorbing immense sums, +which the nation would joyfully pay over to its creditors. It is for you, +sire, to make them desist; it is for you to address to foreign powers the +language befitting the king of the French. Tell them, that wherever +preparations are permitted to be made against France, there France +recognises only foes; that we will religiously observe our oath to make no +conquests; that we offer them the good neighbourship, the inviolable +friendship of a free and powerful people; that we will respect their laws, +their customs, and their constitutions; but that we will have our own +respected! Tell them, that if princes of Germany continue to favour +preparations directed against the French, the French will carry into their +territories, not indeed fire and sword, but liberty. It is for them to +calculate the consequences of this awakening of nations." + +Louis XVI. replied, that he would give the fullest consideration to the +message of the assembly; and in a few days he came in person to announce +his resolutions on the subject. They were conformable with the general +wish. The king said, amidst vehement applause, that he would cause it to +be declared to the elector of Treves and the other electors, that, unless +all gatherings and hostile preparations on the part of the French +emigrants in their states ceased before the 15th of January, he would +consider them as enemies. He added, that he would write to the emperor to +engage him, as chief of the empire, to interpose his authority for the +purpose of averting the calamities which the lengthened resistance of a +few members of the Germanic body would occasion. "If these declarations +are not heeded, then, gentlemen," said he, "it will only remain for me to +propose war--war, which a people who have solemnly renounced conquest, +never declares without necessity, but which a free and generous nation +will undertake and carry on when its honour and safety require it." + +The steps taken by the king with the princes of the empire were supported +by military preparations. On the 6th of December a new minister of war +replaced Duportail; Narbonne, taken from the Feuillants, young, active, +ambitious of distinguishing himself by the triumph of his party and the +defence of the revolution, repaired immediately to the frontiers. A +hundred and fifty thousand men were placed in requisition; for this object +the assembly voted an extraordinary supply of twenty millions of francs; +three armies were formed under the command of Rochambeau, Luckner, and +Lafayette; finally, a decree was passed impeaching _Monsieur_, the count +d'Artois, and the prince de Conde as conspirators against the general +safety of the state and of the constitution. Their property was +sequestrated, and the period previously fixed on for _Monsieur's_ return +to the kingdom having expired, he was deprived of his claim to the +regency. + +The elector of Treves engaged to disperse the gatherings, and not to allow +them in future. It was, however, but the shadow of a dispersion. Austria +ordered marshal Bender to defend the elector if he were attacked, and +ratified the conclusions of the diet of Ratisbon, which required the +restoration of the princes' possessions; refused to sanction any pecuniary +indemnity for the loss of their rights, and only left France the +alternative of restoring feudalism in Alsace, or war. These two measures +of the cabinet of Vienna were by no means pacific. Its troops advanced +towards the frontiers of France, and gave further proof that it would not +be safe to trust to its neutrality. It had fifty thousand men in the +Netherlands; six thousand posted in Breisgau; and thirty thousand men on +their way from Bohemia. This powerful army of observation might at any +moment be converted into an army of attack. + +The assembly felt that it was urgently necessary to bring the emperor to a +decision. It looked on the electors as merely his agents, and on the +emigrants as his instruments; for the prince von Kaunitz recognised as +legitimate "the league of sovereigns united for the safety and honour of +crowns." The Girondists, therefore, wished to anticipate this dangerous +adversary, in order not to give him time for more mature preparations. +They required from him, before the 10th of February, a definite and +precise explanation of his real intentions with regard to France. They at +the same time proceeded against those ministers on whom they could not +rely in the event of war. The incapacity of Delessart, and the intrigues +of Moleville especially, gave room for attack; Narbonne was alone spared. +They were aided by the divisions of the council, which was partly +aristocratic in Bertrand de Moleville, Delessart, etc., and partly +constitutional, in Narbonne, and Cahier de Gerville, minister of the +interior. Men so opposed in character and intentions could scarcely be +expected to agree; Bertrand de Moleville had warm contests with Narbonne, +who wished his colleagues to adopt a frank, decided line of conduct, and +to make the assembly the fulcrum of the throne. Narbonne succumbed in this +struggle, and his dismissal involved the disorganization of the ministry. +The Girondists threw the blame upon Bertrand de Moleville and Delessart; +the former had the address to exonerate himself; but the latter was +brought before the high court of Orleans. + +The king, intimidated by the assaults of the assembly upon the members of +his council, and more especially by the impeachment of Delessart, had no +resource but to select his new ministers from amongst the victorious +party. An alliance with the actual rulers of the revolution could alone +save liberty and the throne, by restoring concord between the assembly, +the supreme authority, and the municipality; and if this union had been +maintained, the Girondists would have effected with the court that which, +after the rupture itself, they considered they could only effect without +it. The members of the new ministry were:--minister of the marine, +Lacoste; of finance, Claviere; of justice, Duranton; of war, de Grave, +soon afterwards replaced by Servan; of foreign affairs, Dumouriez; of the +interior, Roland. The two latter were the most important and most +remarkable men in the cabinet. + +Dumouriez was forty-seven years of age when the revolution began; he had +lived till then immersed in intrigue, and he retained his old habits too +closely at an epoch when he should have employed small means only to aid +great ones, instead of supplying their place. The first part of his +political life was spent in seeking those by whom he might rise: the +second, those by whom he might maintain his position. A courtier up to +1789, a constitutionalist under the first assembly, a Girondist under the +second, a Jacobin under the republic, he was eminently a man of +circumstances. But he had all the resources of great men; an enterprising +character, indefatigable activity, a ready, sure, and extensive +perception, impetuosity of action, and an extraordinary confidence of +success; he was, moreover, open, easy, witty, daring; adapted alike for +arms and for factions, full of expedients, wonderfully ready, and, in +difficult positions, versed in the art of stooping to conquer. It is true +that his great qualities were weakened by defects; he was rash, flighty, +full of inconsistency of thought and action, owing to his continual thirst +for movement and machination. But his great defect was the total absence +of a political conviction. In times of revolution, nothing can be done for +liberty or power by him who is not decidedly of one party or another, and +when he is ambitious, unless he see further than the immediate objects of +that party, and have a stronger will than his colleagues. This it was made +Cromwell; this it was made Buonaparte; while Dumouriez, the employed of +all parties, thought he could get the better of them all by intriguing. He +wanted the passion of his time: that which completes a man, and alone +enables him to sway. + +Roland was the opposite of Dumouriez; his was a character which Liberty +found ready formed, as if moulded by herself. Roland had simple manners, +austere morals, tried opinions; enthusiastically attached to liberty, he +was capable of disinterestedly devoting to her cause his whole life, or of +perishing for her, without ostentation and without regret. A man worthy of +being born in a republic, but out of place in a revolution, and ill +adapted for the agitation and struggle of parties; his talents were not +superior, his temper somewhat uncompliant; he was unskilled in the +knowledge and management of men; and though laborious, well informed, and +active, he would have produced little effect but for his wife. All he +wanted she had for him; force, ability, elevation, foresight. Madame +Roland was the soul of the Gironde; it was at her house that those +brilliant and courageous men assembled to discuss the necessities and +dangers of their country; it was she who stimulated to action those whom +she saw were qualified for action, and who encouraged to the tribune those +whom she knew to be eloquent. + +The court named this ministry, which was appointed during the month of +March, _le Ministere Sans-Culotte_. The first time Roland appeared at the +chateau with strings in his shoes and a round hat, contrary to etiquette, +the master of the ceremonies refused to admit him. Obliged, however, to +give way, he said, despairingly, to Dumouriez, pointing to Roland: "_Ah, +sir--no buckles in his shoes_." "Ah, sir, all is lost," replied Dumouriez, +with an air of the most sympathising gravity. Such were the trifles which +still occupied the attention of the court. The first step of the new +ministry was war. The position of France was becoming more and more +dangerous; everything was to be feared from the enmity of Europe. Leopold +was dead, and this event was calculated to accelerate the decision of the +cabinet of Vienna. His young successor, Francis II., was likely to be less +pacific or less prudent than he. Moreover, Austria was assembling its +troops, forming camps, and appointing generals; it had violated the +territory of Bale, and placed a garrison in Porentruy, to secure for +itself the entry of the department of Doubs. There could be no doubt as to +its projects. The gatherings at Coblenz had recommenced to a greater +extent than before; the cabinet of Vienna had only temporarily dispersed +the emigrants assembled in the Belgian provinces, in order to prevent the +invasion of that country, at a time when it was not yet ready to repel +invasion; it had, however, merely sought to save appearances, and had +allowed a staff of general officers, in full uniform, and with the white +cockade, to remain at Brussels. Finally, the reply of the prince von +Kaunitz to the required explanations was by no means satisfactory. He even +refused to negotiate directly, and the baron von Cobenzl was commissioned +to reply, that Austria would not depart from the required conditions +already set forth. The re-establishment of the monarchy on the basis of +the royal sitting of the 23rd of June; the restitution of its property to +the clergy; of the territory of Alsace, with all their rights, to the +German princes; of Avignon and the Venaissin to the pope; such was the +_ultimatum_ of Austria. All accord was now impossible; peace could no +longer be maintained. France was threatened with the fate which Holland +had just experienced, and perhaps with that of Poland. The sole question +now was whether to wait for or to initiate war, whether to profit by the +enthusiasm of the people or to allow that enthusiasm to cool. The true +author of war is not he who declares it, but he who renders it necessary. + +On the 20th of April, Louis XVI. went to the assembly, attended by all his +ministers. "I come, gentlemen," said he, "to the national assembly for one +of the most important objects that can occupy the representatives of the +nation. My minister for foreign affairs will read to you the report drawn +up in our council, as to our political situation." Dumouriez then rose. He +set forth the grounds of complaint that France had against the house of +Austria; the object of the conferences of Mantua, Reichenbach and Pilnitz; +the coalition it had formed against the French revolution; its armaments +becoming more and more considerable; the open protection it afforded to +bodies of emigrants; the imperious tone and the undisguised +procrastination of its negotiations, lastly, the intolerable conditions of +its _ultimatum_; and, after a long series of considerations, founded on +the hostile conduct of the king of Hungary and Bohemia (Francis II. was +not yet elected emperor); on the urgent circumstances of the nation; on +its formally declared resolution to endure no insult, no encroachment on +its rights; on the honour and good faith of Louis XVI., the depositary of +the dignity and safety of France; he demanded war against Austria. Louis +XVI. then said, in a voice slightly tremulous: "You have heard, gentlemen, +the result of my negotiations with the court of Vienna. The conclusions of +the report are based upon the unanimous opinion of my council; I have +myself adopted them. They are conformable with the wishes often expressed +to me by the national assembly, and with the sentiments frequently +testified by bodies of citizens in different parts of the kingdom; all +prefer war, to witnessing the continuance of insult to the French people, +and danger threatening the national existence. It was my duty first to try +every means of maintaining peace. Having failed in these efforts, I now +come, according to the terms of the constitution, to propose to the +national assembly war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia." The king's +address was received with some applause, but the solemnity of the +circumstances, and the grandeur of the decision, filled every bosom with +silent and concentrated emotion. As soon as the king had withdrawn, the +assembly voted an extraordinary sitting for the evening. In that sitting +war was almost unanimously decided upon. Thus was undertaken, against the +chief of the confederate powers, that war which was protracted throughout +a quarter of a century, which victoriously established the revolution, and +which changed the whole face of Europe. + +All France received the announcement with joy. War gave a new movement to +the people already so much excited. Districts, municipalities, popular +societies, wrote addresses; men were enrolled, voluntary gifts offered, +pikes forged, and the nation seemed to rise up to await Europe, or to +attack it. But enthusiasm, which ensures victory in the end, does not at +first supply the place of organization. Accordingly, at the opening of the +campaign, the regular troops were all that could be relied upon until the +new levies were trained. This was the state of the forces. The vast +frontier, from Dunkirk to Huninguen, was divided into three great military +districts. On the left, from Dunkirk to Philippeville, the army of the +north, of about forty thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, was under +the orders of marshal de Rochambeau. Lafayette commanded the army of the +centre, composed of forty-five thousand foot, and seven thousand horse, +and occupying the district between Philippeville and the lines of +Weissemberg. Lastly, the army of the Rhine, consisting of thirty-five +thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, extending from the lines of +Weissemberg to Bale, was under the command of marshal Luckner. The +frontier of the Alps and Pyrenees was confided to general Montesquiou, +whose army was inconsiderable; but this part of France was not as yet in +danger. + +The marshal de Rochambeau was of opinion that it would be prudent to +remain on the defensive, and simply to guard the frontiers. Dumouriez, on +the contrary, wished to take the initiative in action, as they had done in +declaring war, so as to profit by the advantage of being first prepared. +He was very enterprising, and as, although minister of foreign affairs, he +directed the military operations, his plan was adopted. It consisted of a +rapid invasion of Belgium. This province had, in 1790, essayed to throw +off the Austrian yoke, but, after a brief victory, was subdued by superior +force. Dumouriez imagined that the Brabant patriots would favour the +attack of the French, as a means of freedom for themselves. With this +view, he combined a triple invasion. The two generals, Theobald Dillon, +and Biron, who commanded in Flanders under Rochambeau, received orders to +advance, the one with four thousand men from Lille upon Tournai--the +other, with ten thousand, from Valenciennes upon Mons. At the same time, +Lafayette, with a part of his army, quitted Metz, and advanced by forced +marches upon Namur, by Stenai, Sedan, Mezieres, and Givet. But this plan +implied in the soldiers a discipline which they had not of course as yet +acquired, and on the part of the chiefs a concert very difficult to +obtain; besides, the invading columns were not strong enough for such an +enterprise. Theobald Dillon had scarcely passed the frontier, when, on +meeting the first enemy on the 28th of April, a panic terror seized upon +the troops. The cry of _sauve qui peut_ ran through the ranks, and the +general was carried off, and massacred by his troops. Much the same thing +took place, under the same circumstances, in the corps of Biron, who was +obliged to retreat in disorder to his previous position. The sudden and +concurrent flight of these two columns must be attributed either to fear +of the enemy, on the part of troops who had never before stood fire, or to +a distrust of their leaders, or to traitors who sounded the alarm of +treachery. + +Lafayette, on arriving at Bouvines, after travelling fifty leagues of bad +roads in two or three days, learnt the disasters of Valenciennes and +Lille; he at once saw that the object of the invasion had failed; and he +justly thought that the best course would be to effect a retreat. +Rochambeau complained of the precipitate and incongruous nature of the +measures which had been in the most absolute manner prescribed to him. As +he did not choose to remain a passive machine, obliged to fill, at the +will of the ministers, a post which he himself ought to have the full +direction of, he resigned. From that moment the French army resumed the +defensive. The frontier was divided into two general commands only, the +one intrusted to Lafayette, extending from the sea to Longwy, and the +other, from the Moselle to the Jura, being confided to Luckner. Lafayette +placed his left under the command of Arthur Dillon, and with his right +reached to Luckner, who had Biron as his lieutenant on the Rhine. In this +position they awaited the allies. + +Meantime, the first checks increased the rupture between the Feuillants +and the Girondists. The generals ascribed them to the plans of Dumouriez, +the ministry attributed them to the manner in which its plans had been +executed by the generals, who, having been appointed by Narbonne, were of +the constitutional party. The Jacobins, on the other hand, accused the +anti-revolutionists of having occasioned the flight by the cry of _sauve +qui peut!_ Their joy, which they did not conceal, the declared hope of +soon seeing the confederates in Paris, the emigrants returned, and the +ancient regime restored, confirmed these suspicions. It was thought that +the court, which had increased the household troops from eighteen hundred +to six thousand men, and these carefully selected anti-revolutionists, +acted in concert with the coalition. The public denounced, under the name +of _comite Autrichien_, a secret committee, the very existence of which +could not be proved, and mistrust was at its height. + +The assembly at once took decided measures. It had entered upon the career +of war, and it was thenceforth condemned to regulate its conduct far more +with reference to the public safety than with regard to the mere justice +of the case. It resolved upon sitting permanently; it discharged the +household troops; on account of the increase of religious disturbances, it +passed a decree exiling refractory priests, so that it might not have at +the same time to combat a coalition and to appease revolts. To repair the +late defeats, and to have an army of reserve near the capital, it voted on +the 8th of June, and on the motion of the minister for war, Servan, the +formation of a camp outside Paris of twenty thousand men drawn from the +provinces. It also sought to excite the public mind by revolutionary +fetes, and began to enroll the multitude and arm them with pikes, +conceiving that no assistance could be superfluous in such a moment of +peril. + +All these measures were not carried without opposition from the +constitutionalists. They opposed the establishment of the camp of twenty +thousand men, which they regarded as the army of a party directed against +the national guard and the throne. The staff of the former protested, and +the recomposition of this body was immediately effected in accordance with +the views of the dominant party. Companies armed with pikes were +introduced into the new national guard. The constitutionalists were still +more dissatisfied with this measure, which introduced a lower class into +their ranks, and which seemed to them to aim at superseding the +bourgeoisie by the populace. Finally, they openly condemned the banishment +of the priests, which in their opinion was nothing less than proscription. + +Louis XVI. had for some time past manifested a coolness towards his +ministers, who on their part had been more exacting with him. They urged +him to admit about him priests who had taken the oath, in order to set an +example in favour of the constitutional religion, and to remove pretexts +for religious agitation; he steadily refused this, determined as he was to +make no further religious concession. These last decrees had put an end to +his concord with the Gironde; for several days he did not mention the +subject, much less make known his intentions respecting it. It was on this +occasion that Roland addressed to him his celebrated letter on his +constitutional duties, and entreated him to calm the public mind, and to +establish his authority, by becoming frankly the king of the revolution. +This letter still more highly irritated Louis XVI., already disposed to +break with the Girondists. He was supported in this by Dumouriez, who, +forsaking his party, had formed with Duranton and Lacoste, a division in +the ministry against Roland, Servan, and Claviere. But, able as well as +ambitious, Dumouriez advised Louis, while dismissing the ministers of whom +he had to complain, to sanction their decrees, in order to make himself +popular. He described that against the priests as a precaution in their +favour, exile probably removing them from a proscription still more fatal; +he undertook to prevent any revolutionary consequences from the camp of +twenty thousand men, by marching off each battalion to the army +immediately upon its arrival at the camp. On these conditions, Dumouriez +took upon himself the post of minister for war, and sustained the attacks +of his own party. The king dismissed his ministers on the 13th of June, +rejected the decrees on the 29th, and Dumouriez set out for the army, +after having rendered himself an object of suspicion. The assembly +declared that Roland, Servan, and Claviere carried with them the regrets +of the nation. + +The king selected his new ministers from among the Feuillants. Scipio +Chambonnas was appointed minister of foreign affairs; Terrier de Monceil, +of the interior; Beaulieu, of finance; Lajarre, of war; Lacoste and +Duranton remained provisionally ministers of justice and of the marine. +All these men were without reputation or credit, and their party itself +was approaching the term of its existence. The constitutional situation, +during which it was to sway, was changing more and more decidedly into a +revolutionary situation. How could a legal and moderate party maintain +itself between two extreme and belligerent parties, one of which was +advancing from without to destroy the revolution, while the other was +resolved to defend it at any cost? The Feuillants became superfluous in +such a conjuncture. The king, perceiving their weakness, now seemed to +place his reliance upon Europe alone, and sent Mallet-Dupan on a secret +mission to the coalition. + +Meantime, all those who had been outstripped by the popular tide, and who +belonged to the first period of the revolution, united to second this +slight retrograde movement. The monarchists, at whose head were Lally- +Tollendal and Malouet, two of the principal members of the Mounier and +Necker party; Feuillants, directed by the old triumvirate, Duport, Lameth, +and Barnave; lastly, Lafayette, who had immense reputation as a +constitutionalist, tried to put down the clubs, and to re-establish legal +order and the power of the king. The Jacobins made great exertions at this +period; their influence was becoming enormous; they were at the head of +the party of the populace. To oppose them, to check them, the old party of +the bourgeoisie was required; but this was disorganised, and its influence +grew daily weaker and weaker. In order to revive its courage and strength, +Lafayette, on the 16th of June, addressed from the camp at Maubeuge a +letter to the assembly, in which he denounced the Jacobin faction, +required the cessation of the clubs, the independence and confirmation of +the constitutional throne, and urged the assembly in his own name, in that +of his army, in that of all the friends of liberty, only to adopt such +measures for the public welfare as were sanctioned by law. This letter +gave rise to warm debates between the Right and Left in the assembly. +Though dictated only by pure and disinterested motives, it appeared, +coming as it did from a young general at the head of his army, a +proceeding _a la Cromwell_, and from that moment Lafayette's reputation, +hitherto respected by his opponents, became the object of attack. In fact, +considering it merely in a political point of view, this step was +imprudent. The Gironde, driven from the ministry, stopped in its measures +for the public good, needed no further goading; and, on the other hand, it +was quite undesirable that Lafayette, even for the benefit of his party, +should use his influence. + +The Gironde wished, for its own safety and that of the nation, to recover +power, without, however, departing from constitutional means. Its object +was not, as at a later period, to dethrone the king, but to bring him back +amongst them. For this purpose it had recourse to the imperious petitions +of the multitude. Since the declaration of war, petitioners had appeared +in arms at the bar of the national assembly, had offered their services in +defence of the country, and had obtained permission to march armed through +the house. This concession was blameable, neutralizing all the laws +against military gatherings; but both parties found themselves in an +extraordinary position, and each employed illegal means; the court having +recourse to Europe, and the Gironde to the people. The latter was in a +state of great agitation. The leaders of the Faubourgs, among whom were +the deputy Chabot, Santerre, Legendre, a butcher, Gonchon, the marquis de +Saint Hurugue, prepared them, during several days, for a revolutionary +outbreak, similar to the one which failed at the Champ de Mars. The 20th +of June was approaching, the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis-court. +Under the pretext of celebrating this memorable day by a civic fete, and +of planting a May-pole in honour of liberty, an assemblage of about eight +thousand men left the Faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau, on the +20th of June, and took their way to the assembly. + +Roederer, the recorder, brought the tidings to the assembly, but in the +meantime the mob had reached the doors of the hall. Their leaders asked +permission to present a petition, and to defile before the assembly. A +violent debate arose between the Right, who were unwilling to admit the +armed petitioners, and the Left, who, on the ground of custom, wished to +receive them, Vergniaud declared that the assembly would violate every +principle by admitting armed bands among them; but, considering actual +circumstances, he also declared that it was impossible to deny a request +in the present case, that had been granted in so many others. It was +difficult not to yield to the desires of an enthusiastic and vast +multitude, when seconded by a majority of the representatives. The crowd +already thronged the passages, when the assembly decided that the +petitioners should be admitted to the bar. The deputation was introduced. +The spokesman expressed himself in threatening language. He said that the +people were astir; that they were ready to make use of great means--the +means comprised in the declaration of rights, _resistance of oppression_; +that the dissentient members of the assembly, if there were any, _would +purge the world of liberty_, and would repair to Coblentz; then returning +to the true design of this insurrectional petition, he added: "The +executive power is not in union with you; we require no other proof of it +than the dismissal of the patriot ministers. It is thus, then, that the +happiness of a free nation shall depend on the caprice of a king! But +should this king have any other will than that of the law? The people will +have it so, and the life of the people is as valuable as that of crowned +despots. That life is the genealogical tree of the nation, and the feeble +reed must bend before this sturdy oak! We complain, gentlemen, of the +inactivity of our armies; we require of you to penetrate into the cause of +this; if it spring from the executive power, let that power be destroyed!" + +The assembly answered the petitioners that it would take their request +into consideration; it then urged them to respect the law and legal +authorities, and allowed them to defile before it. This procession, +amounting to thirty thousand persons, comprising women, children, national +guards, and men armed with pikes, among whom waved revolutionary banners +and symbols, sang, as they traversed the hall, the famous chorus, _Ca +ira_, and cried: "Vive la nation!" "Vivent les sans-culottes!" "A bas le +veto!" It was led by Santerre and the marquis de Saint Hurugue. On leaving +the assembly, it proceeded to the chateau, headed by the petitioners. + +The outer doors were opened at the king's command; the multitude rushed +into the interior. They ascended to the apartments, and while forcing the +doors with hatchets, the king ordered them to be opened, and appeared +before them, accompanied by a few persons. The mob stopped a moment before +him; but those who were outside, not being awed by the presence of the +king, continued to advance. Louis XVI. was prudently placed in the recess +of a window. He never displayed more courage than on this deplorable day. +Surrounded by national guards, who formed a barrier against the mob, +seated on a chair placed on a table, that he might breathe more freely and +be seen by the people, he preserved a calm and firm demeanour. In reply to +the cries that arose on all sides for the sanction of the decrees, he +said: "This is neither the mode nor the moment to obtain it of me." Having +the courage to refuse the essential object of the meeting, he thought he +ought not to reject a symbol, meaningless for him, but in the eyes of the +people, that of liberty; he placed on his head a red cap presented to him +on the top of a pike. The multitude were quite satisfied with this +condescension. A moment or two afterwards, they loaded him with applause, +as, almost suffocated with hunger and thirst, he drank off, without +hesitation, a glass of wine presented to him by a half-drunken workman. In +the meantime, Vergniaud, Isnard, and a few deputies of the Gironde, had +hastened thither to protect the king, to address the people, and put an +end to these indecent scenes. The assembly, which had just risen from a +sitting, met again in haste, terrified at this outbreak, and despatched +several successive deputations to Louis XVI. by way of protection. At +length, Petion, the mayor, himself arrived; he mounted a chair, harangued +the people, urged them to retire without tumult, and the people obeyed. +These singular insurgents, whose only aim was to obtain decrees and +ministers, retired without having exceeded their mission, but without +discharging it. + +The events of the 20th of June excited the friends of the constitution +against its authors. The violation of the royal residence, the insults +offered to Louis XVI., the illegality of a petition presented amidst the +violence of the multitude, and the display of arms, were subjects of +serious censure against the popular party. The latter saw itself reduced +for a moment to the defensive; besides being guilty of a riot, it had +undergone a complete check. The constitutionalists assumed the tone and +superiority of an offended and predominant party; but this lasted only a +short time, for they were not seconded by the court. The national guard +offered to Louis XVI. to remain assembled round his person; the duc de la +Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, who commanded at Rouen, wished to convey him to +his troops, who were devoted to his cause. Lafayette proposed to take him +to Compiegne, and place him at the head of his army; but Louis XVI. +declined all these offers. He conceived that the agitators would be +disgusted at the failure of their last attempt; and, as he hoped for +deliverance from the coalition of European powers, rendered more active by +the events of the 20th of June, he was unwilling to make use of the +constitutionalists, because he would have been obliged to treat with them. + +Lafayette, however, attempted to make a last effort in favour of legal +monarchy. After having provided for the command of his army, and collected +addresses protesting against the late events, he started for Paris, and on +the 28th of June he unexpectedly presented himself at the bar of the +assembly. He required in his name, as well as in that of his army, the +punishment of the insurrectionists of the 20th of June, and the +destruction of the Jacobin party. His proceeding excited various +sentiments in the assembly. The Right warmly applauded it, but the Left +protested against his conduct. Guadet proposed that an inquiry should be +made as to his culpability in leaving his army and coming to dictate laws +to the assembly. Some remains of respect prevented the latter from +following Guadet's advice; and after tumultuous debates, Lafayette was +admitted to the honours of the sitting, but this was all on the part of +the assembly. Lafayette then turned to the national guard, that had so +long been devoted to him, and hoped with its aid to close the clubs, +disperse the Jacobins, restore to Louis XVI. the authority which the law +gave him, and again establish the constitution. The revolutionists were +astounded, and dreaded everything from the daring and activity of this +adversary of the Champ de Mars. But the court, which feared the triumph of +the constitutionalists, caused Lafayette's projects to fail; he had +appointed a review, which it contrived to prevent by its influence over +the officers of the royalist battalions. The grenadiers and chasseurs, +picked companies still better disposed than the rest, were to assemble at +his residence and proceed against the clubs; scarcely thirty men came. +Having thus vainly attempted to rally in the cause of the constitution, +and the common defence, the court and the national guard, and finding +himself deserted by those he came to assist, Lafayette returned to his +army, after having lost what little influence and popularity remained to +him. This attempt was the last symptom of life in the constitutional +party. + +The assembly naturally returned to the situation of France, which had not +changed. The extraordinary commission of twelve presented, through +Pastoret, an unsatisfactory picture of the state and divisions of party. +Jean Debry, in the name of the same commission, proposed that the assembly +should secure the tranquillity of the people, now greatly disturbed, by +declaring that when the crisis became imminent, the assembly would declare +_the country is in danger_; and that it would then take measures for the +public safety. The debate opened upon this important subject. Vergniaud, +in a speech which deeply moved the assembly, drew a vivid picture of all +the perils to which the country was at that moment exposed. He said that +it was in the name of the king that the emigrants were assembled, that the +sovereigns of Europe had formed a coalition, that foreign armies were +marching on our frontiers, and that internal disturbances were taking +place. He accused him of checking the national zeal by his refusals, and +of giving France up to the coalition. He quoted the article of the +constitution by which it was declared that "if the king placed himself at +the head of an army and directed its force against the nation, or if he +did not formally oppose such an enterprise, undertaken in his name, he +should be considered as having abdicated the throne." Supposing, then, +that Louis XVI. voluntarily opposed the means of defending the country, in +that case, said he: "have we not a right to say to him: 'O king, who +thought, no doubt, with the tyrant Lysander, that truth was of no more +worth than falsehood, and that men were to be amused by oaths, as children +are diverted by toys; who only feigned obedience to the laws that you +might better preserve the power that enables you to defy them; and who +only feigned love for the constitution that it might not precipitate you +from the throne on which you felt bound to remain in order to destroy the +constitution, do you expect to deceive us by hypocritical protestations? +Do you think to deceive us as to our misfortunes by the art of your +excuses? Was it defending us to oppose to foreign soldiers forces whose +known inferiority admitted of no doubt as to their defeat? To set aside +projects for strengthening the interior? Was it defending us not to check +a general who was violating the constitution, while you repressed the +courage of those who sought to serve it? Did the constitution leave you +the choice of ministers for our happiness or our ruin? Did it place you at +the head of our army for our glory or our shame? Did it give you the right +of sanction, a civil list and so many prerogatives, constitutionally to +lose the empire and the constitution? No! no! man! whom the generosity of +the French could not affect, whom the love of despotism alone actuates, +you are now nothing to the constitution you have so unworthily violated, +and to the people you have so basely betrayed!'" + +The only resource of the Gironde, in its present situation, was the +abdication of the king; Vergniaud, it is true, as yet only expressed +himself ambiguously, but all the popular party attributed to Louis XVI. +projects which Vergniaud had only expressed in the form of suppositions. +In a few days, Brissot expressed himself more openly. "Our peril," said +he, "exceeds all that past ages have witnessed. The country is in danger, +not because we are in want of troops, not because those troops want +courage, or that our frontiers are badly fortified, and our resources +scanty. No, it is in danger, because its force is paralysed. And who has +paralysed it? A man--one man, the man whom the constitution has made its +chief, and whom perfidious advisers have made its foe. You are told to +fear the kings of Hungary and Prussia; I say, the chief force of these +kings is at the court, and it is there that we must first conquer them. +They tell you to strike the dissentient priests throughout the kingdom. I +tell you to strike at the Tuileries, that is, to fell all the priests with +a single blow; you are told to prosecute all factious and intriguing +conspirators; they will all disappear if you once knock loud enough at the +door of the cabinet of the Tuileries, for that cabinet is the point to +which all these threads tend, where every scheme is plotted, and whence +every impulse proceeds. The nation is the plaything of this cabinet. This +is the secret of our position, this is the source of the evil, and here +the remedy must be applied." + +In this way the Gironde prepared the assembly for the question of +deposition. But the great question concerning the danger of the country +was first terminated. The three united committees declared that it was +necessary to take measures for the public safety, and on the 5th July the +assembly pronounced the solemn declaration: _Citizens, the country is in +danger!_ All the civil authorities immediately established themselves _en +surveillance permanente_. All citizens able to bear arms, and having +already served in the national guard, were placed in active service; every +one was obliged to make known what arms and ammunition he possessed; pikes +were given to those who were unable to procure guns; battalions of +volunteers were enrolled on the public squares, in the midst of which +banners were placed, bearing the words--"Citizens, the country is in +danger!" and a camp was formed at Soissons. These measures of defence, now +become indispensable, raised the revolutionary enthusiasm to the highest +pitch. It was especially observable on the anniversary of the 14th of +July, when the sentiments of the multitude and the federates from the +departments were manifested without reserve. Petion was the object of the +people's idolatry, and had all the honours of the federation. A few days +before, he had been dismissed, on account of his conduct on the 20th of +June by the directory of the department and the council; but the assembly +had restored him to his functions, and the only cry on the day of the +federation was: "_Petion or death!_" A few battalions of the national +guard, such as that of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, still betrayed attachment +to the court; they became the object of popular resentment and mistrust. A +disturbance was excited in the Champs Elysees between the grenadiers of +the Filles-Saint-Thomas and the federates of Marseilles, in which some +grenadiers were wounded. Every day the crisis became more imminent; the +party in favour of war could no longer endure that of the constitution. +Attacks against Lafayette multiplied; he was censured in the journals, +denounced in the assembly. At length hostilities began. The club of the +Feuillants was closed; the grenadier and chasseur companies of the +national guard which formed the force of the bourgeoisie were disbanded; +the soldiers of the line, and a portion of the Swiss, were sent away from +Paris, and open preparations were made for the catastrophe of the 10th of +August. + +The progress of the Prussians and the famous manifesto of Brunswick +contributed to hasten this movement. Prussia had joined Austria and the +German princes against France. This coalition, to which the court of Turin +joined itself, was formidable, though it did not comprise all the powers +that were to have joined it at first. The death of Gustavus, appointed at +first commander of the invading army, detached Sweden; the substitution of +the count d'Aranda, a prudent and moderate man, for the minister Florida- +Blanca, prevented Spain from entering it; Russia and England secretly +approved the attacks of the European league, without as yet co-operating +with it. After the military operations already mentioned, they watched +each other rather than fought. During the interval, Lafayette had inspired +his army with good habits of discipline and devotedness; and Dumouriez, +stationed under Luckner at the camp of Maulde, had inured the troops +confided to him by petty engagements and daily successes. In this way they +had formed the nucleus of a good army; a desirable thing, as they required +organization and confidence to repel the approaching invasion of the +coalesced powers. + +The duke of Brunswick directed it. He had the chief command of the enemy's +army, composed of seventy thousand Prussians, and sixty-eight thousand +Austrians, Hessians, or emigrants. The plan of invasion was as follows:-- +The duke of Brunswick with the Prussians, was to pass the Rhine at +Coblentz, ascend the left bank of the Moselle, attack the French frontier +by its central and most accessible point, and advance on the capital by +way of Longwy, Verdun, and Chalons. The prince von Hohenlohe on his left, +was to advance in the direction of Metz and Thionville, with the Hessians +and a body of emigrants; while general Clairfayt, with the Austrians and +another body of emigrants, was to overthrow Lafayette, stationed before +Sedan and Mezieres, cross the Meuse, and march upon Paris by Rheims and +Soissons. Thus the centre and two wings were to make a concentrated +advance on the capital from the Moselle, the Rhine, and the Netherlands. +Other detachments stationed on the frontier of the Rhine and the extreme +northern frontier, were to attack our troops on these sides and facilitate +the central invasion. + +On the 26th of July, when the army began to move from Coblentz, the duke +of Brunswick published a manifesto in the name of the emperor and the king +of Prussia. He reproached _those who had usurped the reins of +administration in France_, with having disturbed order and overturned the +legitimate government; with having used daily-renewed violence against the +king and his family; with having arbitrarily suppressed the rights and +possessions of the German princes in Alsace and Lorraine; and, finally, +with having crowned the measure by declaring an unjust war against his +majesty the emperor, and attacking his provinces in the Netherlands. He +declared that the allied sovereigns were advancing to put an end to +anarchy in France, to arrest the attacks made on the altar and the throne; +to restore to the king the security and liberty he was deprived of, and to +place him in a condition to exercise his legitimate authority. He +consequently rendered the national guard and the authorities responsible +for all the disorders that should arise until the arrival of the troops of +the coalition. He summoned them to return to their ancient fidelity. He +said that the inhabitants of towns, _who dared to stand on the defensive_, +should instantly be punished as rebels, with the rigour of war, and their +houses demolished or burned; that if the city of Paris did not restore the +king to full liberty, and render him due respect, the princes of the +coalition would make the members of the national assembly, of the +department, of the district, the corporation, and the national guard, +personally responsible with their heads, to be tried by martial-law, and +without hope of pardon; and that if the chateau were attacked or insulted, +the princes would inflict an exemplary and never-to-be-forgotten +vengeance, by delivering Paris over to military execution, and total +subversion. He promised, on the other hand, if the inhabitants of Paris +would promptly obey the orders of the coalition, to secure for them the +mediation of the allied princes with Louis XVI. for the pardon of their +offences and errors. + +This fiery and impolitic manifesto, which disguised neither the designs of +the emigrants nor those of Europe, which treated a great nation with a +truly extraordinary tone of command and contempt, which openly announced +to it all the miseries of an invasion, and, moreover, vengeance and +despotism, excited a national insurrection. It more than anything else +hastened the fall of the throne, and prevented the success of the +coalition. There was but one wish, one cry of resistance, from one end of +France to the other; and whoever had not joined in it, would have been +looked on as guilty of impiety towards his country and the sacred cause of +its independence. The popular party, placed in the necessity of +conquering, saw no other way than that of annihilating the power of the +king, and in order to annihilate it, than that of dethroning him. But in +this party, every one wished to attain the end in his own way: the Gironde +by a decree of the assembly; the leaders of the multitude by an +insurrection. Danton, Robespierre, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre-d'Eglantine, +Marat, etc., were a displaced faction requiring a revolution that would +raise it from the midst of the people to the assembly and the corporation. +They were the true leaders of the new movement about to take place by the +means of the lower class of society against the middle class, to which the +Girondists belonged by their habits and position. A division arose from +that day between those who only wished to suppress the court in the +existing order of things, and those who wished to introduce the multitude. +The latter could not fall in with the tardiness of discussion. Agitated by +every revolutionary passion, they disposed themselves for an attack by +force of arms, the preparations for which were made openly, and a long +time beforehand. + +Their enterprise had been projected and suspended several times. On the +26th of July, an insurrection was to break out; but it was badly +contrived, and Petion prevented it. When the federates from Marseilles +arrived, on their way to the camp at Soissons, the faubourgs were to meet +them, and then repair, unexpectedly, to the chateau. This insurrection +also failed. Yet the arrival of the Marseillais encouraged the agitators +of the capital, and conferences were held at Charenton between them and +the federal leaders for the overthrow of the throne. The sections were +much agitated; that of Mauconseil was the first to declare itself in a +state of insurrection, and notified this to the assembly. The dethronement +was discussed in the clubs, and on the 3rd of August, the mayor Petion +came to solicit it of the legislative body, in the name of the commune and +of the sections. The petition was referred to the extraordinary commission +of twelve. On the 8th, the accusation of Lafayette was discussed. Some +remains of courage induced the majority to support him, and not without +danger. He was acquitted; but all who had voted for him were hissed, +pursued, and ill treated by the people at the breaking up of the sitting. + +The following day the excitement was extreme. The assembly learned by the +letters of a large number of deputies, that the day before on leaving the +house they had been ill used, and threatened with death, for voting the +acquittal of Lafayette. Vaublanc announced that a crowd had invested and +searched his house in pursuit of him. Girardin exclaimed: "Discussion is +impossible, without perfect liberty of opinion; I declare to my +constituents that I cannot deliberate if the legislative body does not +secure me liberty and safety." Vaublanc earnestly urged that the assembly +should take the strongest measures to secure respect to the law. He also +required that the federates, who were defended by the Girondists, should +be sent without delay to Soissons. During these debates the president +received a message from de Joly, minister of justice. He announced that +the mischief was at its height, and the people urged to every kind of +excess. He gave an account of those committed the evening before, not only +against the deputies, but against many other persons. "I have," said the +minister, "denounced these attacks in the criminal court; but law is +powerless; and I am impelled by honour and probity to inform you, that +without the promptest assistance of the legislative body, the government +can no longer be responsible." In the meantime, it was announced that the +section of the Quinze-vingts had declared that, if the dethronement were +not pronounced that very day, at midnight they would sound the tocsin, +would beat the generale and attack the chateau. This decision had been +transmitted to the forty-eight sections, and all had approved it, except +one. The assembly summoned the recorder of the department, who assured +them of his good-will, but his inability; and the mayor, who replied that, +at a time when the sections had resumed their sovereignty, he could only +exercise over the people the influence of persuasion. The assembly broke +up without adopting any measures. + +The insurgents fixed the attack on the chateau for the morning of the 10th +of August. On the 8th, the Marseillais had been transferred from their +barracks in the Rue Blanche to the Cordeliers, with their arms, cannon, +and standard. They had received five thousand ball cartridges, which had +been distributed to them by command of the commissioner of police. The +principal scene of the insurrection was the Faubourg Saint Antoine. In the +evening, after a very stormy sitting, the Jacobins repaired thither in +procession; the insurrection was then organized. It was decided to +dissolve the department; to dismiss Petion, in order to withdraw him from +the duties of his place, and all responsibility; and, finally, to replace +the general council of the present commune by an insurrectional +municipality. Agitators repaired at the same time to the sections of the +faubourgs and to the barracks of the federate Marseillais and Bretons. + +The court had been apprised of the danger for some time, and had placed +itself in a state of defence. At this juncture, it probably thought it was +not only able to resist, but also entirely to re-establish itself. The +interior of the chateau was occupied by Swiss, to the number of eight or +nine hundred, by officers of the disbanded guard, and by a troop of +gentlemen and royalists, who had offered their services, armed with +sabres, swords, and pistols. Mandat, the general-in-chief of the national +guard, had repaired to the chateau, with his staff, to defend it; he had +given orders to the battalions most attached to the constitution to take +arms. The ministers were also with the king; the recorder of the +department had gone thither in the evening at the command of the king, who +had also sent for Petion, to ascertain from him the state of Paris, and +obtain an authorization to repel force by force. + +At midnight, the tocsin sounded; the generale was beaten. The insurgents +assembled, and fell into their ranks; the members of the sections broke up +the municipality, and named a provisional council of the commune, which +proceeded to the Hotel de Ville to direct the insurrection. The battalions +of the national guard, on their side, took the route to the chateau, and +were stationed in the court, or at the principal posts, with the mounted +gendarmerie; artillerymen occupied the avenues of the Tuileries, with +their pieces; while the Swiss and volunteers guarded the apartments. The +defence was in the best condition. + +Some deputies, meanwhile, aroused by the tocsin, had hurried to the hall +of the legislative body, and had opened the sitting under the +presidentship of Vergniaud. Hearing that Petion was at the Tuileries, and +presuming he was detained there, and wanted to be released, they sent for +him to the bar of the assembly, to give an account of the state of Paris. +On receiving this order, he left the chateau; he appeared before the +assembly, where a deputation again inquired for him, also supposing him to +be a prisoner at the Tuileries. With this deputation he returned to the +Hotel de Ville, where he was placed under a guard of three hundred men by +the new commune. The latter, unwilling to allow any other authority on +this day of disorder than the insurrectional authorities, early in the +morning sent for the commandant Mandat, to know what arrangements were +made at the chateau. Mandat hesitated to obey; yet, as he did not know +that the municipality had been changed, and as his duty required him to +obey its orders, on a second call which he received from the commune, he +proceeded to the Hotel de Ville. On perceiving new faces as he entered, he +turned pale. He was accused of authorizing the troops to fire on the +people. He became agitated, and was ordered to the Abbaye, and the mob +murdered him as he was leaving, on the steps of the Hotel de Ville. The +commune immediately conferred the command of the national guard on +Santerre. + +The court was thus deprived of its most determined and influential +defender. The presence of Mandat, and the order he had received to employ +force in case of need, were necessary to induce the national guard to +fight. The sight of the nobles and royalists had lessened its zeal. Mandat +himself, previous to his departure, had urged the queen in vain to dismiss +this troop, which the constitutionalists considered as a troop of +aristocrats. + +About four in the morning the queen summoned Roederer, the recorder of the +department, who had passed the night at the Tuileries, and inquired what +was to be done under these circumstances? Roederer replied, that he +thought it necessary that the king and the royal family should proceed to +the national assembly. "You propose," said Dubouchage, "to take the king +to his foes." Roederer replied, that, two days before, four hundred +members of that assembly out of six hundred, had pronounced in favour of +Lafayette; and that he had only proposed this plan as the least dangerous. +The queen then said, in a very positive tone: "Sir, we have forces here: +it is at length time to know who is to prevail, the king and the +constitution, or faction?" "In that case, madam," rejoined Roederer, "let +us see what arrangements have been made for resistance." Laschenaye, who +commanded in the absence of Mandat, was sent for. He was asked if he had +taken measures to prevent the crowd from arriving at the chateau? If he +had guarded the Carrousel? He replied in the affirmative; and, addressing +the queen, he said, in a tone of anger: "I must not allow you to remain in +ignorance, madam, that the apartments are filled with people of all kinds, +who very much impede the service, and prevent free access to the king, a +circumstance which creates dissatisfaction among the national guard." +"This is out of season," replied the queen; "I will answer for those who +are here; they will advance first or last, in the ranks, as you please; +they are ready for all that is necessary; they are sure men." They +contented themselves with sending the two ministers, Joly and Champion to +the assembly to apprise it of the danger, and ask for its assistance and +for commissioners. [Footnote: _Chronique des Cinquante Jours_, par P. L. +Roederer, a writer of the most scrupulous accuracy.] + +Division already existed between the defenders of the chateau, when Louis +XVI. passed them in review at five o'clock in the morning. He first +visited the interior posts, and found them animated by the best +intentions. He was accompanied by some members of his family, and appeared +extremely sad. "I will not," he said, "separate my cause from that of good +citizens; we will save ourselves or perish together." He then descended +into the yard, accompanied by some general officers. As soon as he +arrived, they beat to arms. The cry of "Vive le roi!" was heard, and was +repeated by the national guard; but the artillerymen, and the battalion of +the Croix Rouge replied by the cry of "Vive la nation!" At the same +instant, new battalions, armed with guns and pikes, defiled before the +king, and took their places upon the terrace of the Seine, crying; "Vive +la nation!" "Vive Petion!" The king continued the review, not, however, +without feeling saddened by this omen. He was received with the strongest +evidences of devotion by the battalions of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, and +Petits-Peres, who occupied the terrace, extending the length of the +chateau. As he crossed the garden to visit the ports of the Pont Tournant, +the pike battalions pursued him with the cry of: "Down with the veto!" +"Down with the traitor!" and as he returned, they quitted their position, +placed themselves near the Pont Royal, and turned their cannon against the +chateau. Two other battalions stationed in the courts imitated them, and +established themselves on the Place du Carrousel in an attitude of attack. +On re-entering the chateau, the king was pale and dejected; and the queen +said, "All is lost! This kind of review has done more harm than good." + +While all this was passing at the Tuileries, the insurgents were advancing +in several columns; they had passed the night in assembling, and becoming +organized. In the morning, they had forced the arsenal, and distributed +the arms. The column of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, about fifteen thousand +strong, and that of the Faubourg Saint Marceau, amounting to five +thousand, began to march about six. The crowd increased as they advanced. +Artillerymen had been placed on the Pont Neuf by the directory of the +department, in order to prevent the union of the insurgents from the two +sides of the river. But Manuel, the town clerk, had ordered them to be +withdrawn, and the passage was accordingly free. The vanguard of the +Faubourgs, composed of Marseillais and Breton federates, had already +arrived by the Rue Saint Honore, stationed themselves in battle array on +the Carrousel, and turned their cannon against the chateau. De Joly and +Champion returned from the assembly, stating that the attendance was not +sufficient in number to debate; that it scarcely amounted to sixty or +eighty members, and that their proposition had not been heard. Then +Roederer, the recorder of the department, with the members of the +department, presented himself to the crowd, observing that so great a +multitude could not have access to the king, or to the national assembly, +and recommending them to nominate twenty deputies, and entrust them with +their requests. But they did not listen to him. He turned to the national +guard, reminded them of the article of the law, which enjoined them when +attacked, to repel force by force. A very small part of the national guard +seemed disposed to do so; and a discharge of cannon was the only reply of +the artillerymen. Roederer, seeing that the insurgents were everywhere +triumphant, that they were masters of the field, and that they disposed of +the multitude, and even of the troops, returned hastily to the chateau, at +the head of the executive directory. + +The king held a council with the queen and ministers. A municipal officer +had just given the alarm by announcing that the columns of the insurgents +were advancing upon the Tuileries. "Well, and what do they want?" asked +Joly, keeper of the seals. "Abdication," replied the officer. "To be +pronounced by the assembly," added the minister. "And what will follow +abdication?" inquired the queen. The municipal officer bowed in silence. +At this moment Roederer arrived, and increased the alarm of the court by +announcing that the danger was extreme; that the insurgents would not be +treated with, and that the national guard could not be depended upon. +"Sire," said he, urgently, "your majesty has not five minutes to lose: +your only safety is in the national assembly; it is the opinion of the +department that you ought to repair thither without delay. There are not +sufficient men in the court to defend the chateau; nor are we sure of +them. At the mention of defence, the artillerymen discharged their +cannon." The king replied, at first, that he had not observed many people +on the Carrousel; and the queen rejoined with vivacity, that the king had +forces to defend the chateau. But, at the renewed urgency of Roederer, the +king after looking at him attentively for a few minutes, turned to the +queen, and said, as he rose: "Let us go." "Monsieur Roederer," said Madame +Elizabeth, addressing the recorder, "you answer for the life of the king?" +"Yes, madame, with my own," he replied. "I will walk immediately before +him." + +Louis XVI. left his chamber with his family, ministers, and the members of +the department, and announced to the persons assembled for the defence of +the chateau that he was going to the national assembly. He placed himself +between two ranks of national guards, summoned to escort him, and crossed +the apartments and garden of the Tuileries. A deputation of the assembly, +apprised of his approach, came to meet him: "Sire," said the president of +this deputation, "the assembly, eager to provide for your safety, offers +you and your family an asylum in its bosom." The procession resumed its +march, and had some difficulty in crossing the terrace of the Tuileries, +which was crowded with an animated mob, breathing forth threats and +insults. The king and his family had great difficulty in reaching the hall +of the assembly, where they took the seats reserved for the ministers. +"Gentlemen," said the king, "I come here to avoid a great crime; I think I +cannot be safer than with you." "Sire," replied Vergniaud, who filled the +chair, "you may rely on the firmness of the national assembly. Its members +have sworn to die in maintaining the rights of the people, and the +constituted authorities." The king then took his seat next the president. +But Chabot reminded him that the assembly could not deliberate in the +presence of the king, and Louis XVI. retired with his family and ministers +into the reporter's box behind the president, whence all that took place +could be seen and heard. + +All motives for resistance ceased with the king's departure. The means of +defence had also been diminished by the departure of the national guards +who escorted the king. The gendarmerie left their posts, crying "Vive la +nation!" The national guard began to move in favour of the insurgents. But +the foes were confronted, and, although the cause was removed, the combat +nevertheless commenced. The column of the insurgents surrounded the +chateau. The Marseillais and Bretons who occupied the first rank had just +forced the Porte Royale on the Carrousel, and entered the court of the +chateau. They were led by an old subaltern, called Westermann, a friend of +Danton, and a very daring man. He ranged his force in battle array, and +approaching the artillerymen, induced them to join the Marseillais with +their pieces. The Swiss filled the windows of the chateau, and stood +motionless. The two bodies confronted each other for some time without +making an attack. A few of the assailants advanced amicably, and the Swiss +threw some cartridges from the windows in token of peace. They penetrated +as far as the vestibule, where they were met by other defenders of the +chateau. A barrier separated them. Here the combat began, but it is +unknown on which side it commenced. The Swiss discharged a murderous fire +on the assailants, who were dispersed. The Place du Carrousel was cleared. +But the Marseillais and Bretons soon returned with renewed force; the +Swiss were fired on by the cannon, and surrounded. They kept their posts +until they received orders from the king to cease firing. The exasperated +mob did not cease, however, to pursue them, and gave itself up to the most +sanguinary reprisals. It now became a massacre rather than a combat; and +the crowd perpetrated in the chateau all the excesses of victory. + +All this time the assembly was in the greatest alarm. The first cannonade +filled them with consternation. As the firing became more frequent, the +agitation increased. At one moment, the members considered themselves +lost. An officer entering the hall, hastily exclaimed: "To your places, +legislators; we are forced!" A few rose to go out. "No, no," cried others, +"this is our post." The spectators in the gallery exclaimed instantly, +"Vive l'assemblee nationale!" and the assembly replied, "Vive la nation!" +Shouts of victory were then heard without, and the fate of monarchy was +decided. + +The assembly instantly made a proclamation to restore tranquillity, and +implore the people to respect justice, their magistrates, the rights of +man, liberty, and equality. But the multitude and their chiefs had all the +power in their hands, and were determined to use it. The new municipality +came to assert its authority. It was preceded by three banners, inscribed +with the words, "Patrie, liberte, egalite." Its address was imperious, and +concluded by demanding the deposition of the king, and a national +convention. Deputations followed, and all expressed the same desire, or +rather issued the same command. + +The assembly felt itself compelled to yield; it would not, however, take +upon itself the deposition of the king. Vergniaud ascended the tribune, in +the name of the commission of twelve, and said: "I am about to propose to +you a very rigorous measure; I appeal to the affliction of your hearts to +judge how necessary it is to adopt it immediately." This measure consisted +of the convocation of a national assembly, the dismissal of the ministers, +and the suspension of the king. The assembly adopted it unanimously. The +Girondist ministers were recalled; the celebrated decrees were carried +into execution, about four thousand non-juring priests were exiled, and +commissioners were despatched to the armies to make sure of them. Louis +XVI., to whom the assembly had at first assigned the Luxembourg as a +residence, was transferred as a prisoner to the Temple, by the all- +powerful commune, under the pretext that it could not otherwise be +answerable for the safety of his person. Finally, the 23rd of September +was appointed for opening the extraordinary assembly, destined to decide +the fate of royalty. But royalty had already fallen on the 10th of August, +that day marked by the insurrection of the multitude against the middle +classes and the constitutional throne, as the 14th of July had seen the +insurrection of the middle class against the privileged class and the +absolute power of the crown. On the 10th of August began the dictatorial +and arbitrary epoch of the revolution. Circumstances becoming more and +more difficult to encounter, a vast warfare arose, requiring still greater +energy than ever, and that energy irregular, because popular, rendered the +domination of the lower class restless, cruel, and oppressive. The nature +of the question was then entirely changed; it was no longer a matter of +liberty, but of public safety; and the conventional period, from the end +of the constitution of 1791, to the time when the constitution of the year +III. established the directory, was only a long campaign of the revolution +against parties and against Europe. It was scarcely possible it should be +otherwise. "The revolutionary movement once established," says M. de +Maistre, in his _Considerations sur la France._ [Footnote: Lausanne, +1796.] "France and the monarchy could only be saved by Jacobinism. Our +grandchildren, who will care little for our sufferings, and will dance on +our graves, will laugh at our present ignorance; they will easily console +themselves for the excesses we have witnessed, and which will have +preserved the integrity of the finest of kingdoms." + +The departments adhered to the events of the 10th of August. The army, +which shortly afterwards came under the influence of the revolution, was +at yet of constitutional royalist principles; but as the troops were +subordinate to parties, they would easily submit to the dominant opinion. +The generals, second in rank, such as Dumouriez, Custines, Biron, +Kellermann, and Labourdonnaie, were disposed to adopt the last changes. +They had not yet declared for any particular party, looking to the +revolution as a means of advancement. It was not the same with the two +generals in chief. Luckner floated undecided between the insurrection of +the 10th of August, which he termed, "a little accident that had happened +to Paris and his friend, Lafayette." The latter, head of the +constitutional party, firmly adhering to his oaths, wished still to defend +the overturned throne, and a constitution which no longer existed. He +commanded about thirty thousand men, who were devoted to his person and +his cause. His head-quarters were near Sedan. In his project of resistance +in favour of the constitution, he concerted with the municipality of that +town, and the directory of the department of Ardennes, to establish a +civil centre round which all the departments might rally. The three +commissioners, Kersaint, Antonelle, and Peraldy, sent by the legislature +to his army, were arrested and imprisoned in the tower of Sedan. The +reason assigned for this measure was, that the assembly having been +intimidated, the members who had accepted such a mission were necessarily +but the leaders or instruments of the faction which had subjugated the +national assembly and the king. The troops and the civil authorities then +renewed their oath to the constitution, and Lafayette endeavoured to +enlarge the circle of the insurrection of the army against the popular +insurrection. + +General Lafayette at that moment thought, possibly, too much on the past, +on the law, and the common oath, and not enough on the really +extraordinary position in which France then was. He only saw the dearest +hopes of the friends of liberty destroyed, the usurpation of the state by +the multitude, and the anarchical reign of the Jacobins; he did not +perceive the fatality of a situation which rendered the triumph of the +latest comer in the revolution indispensable. It was scarcely possible +that the bourgeoisie, which had been strong enough to overthrow the old +system and the privileged classes, but which had reposed after that +victory, could resist the emigrants and all Europe. For this a new shock, +a new faith were necessary; there was need of a numerous, ardent, +inexhaustible class, as enthusiastic for the 10th of August, as the +bourgeoisie had been for the 14th of July. Lafayette could not associate +with this party; he had combated it, under the constituent assembly, at +the Champ de Mars, before and after the 20th of June. He could not +continue to play his former part, nor defend a cause just in itself, but +condemned by events, without compromising his country, and the results of +a revolution to which he was sincerely attached. His resistance, if +continued, would have given rise to a civil war between the people and the +army, at a time when it was not certain that the combination of all +parties would suffice against a foreign war. + +It was the 19th of August, and the army of invasion having left Coblentz +on the 30th of July, was ascending the Moselle, and advancing on that +frontier. In consideration of the common danger, the troops were disposed +to resume their obedience to the assembly; Luckner, who at first approved +of Lafayette's views, retracted, weeping and swearing, before the +municipality of Metz; and Lafayette himself saw the necessity of yielding +to a more powerful destiny. He left his army, taking upon himself all the +responsibility of the whole insurrection. He was accompanied by Bureau-de- +Pusy, Latour-Maubourg, Alexander Lameth, and some officers of his staff. +He proceeded through the enemy's posts towards Holland, intending to go to +the United States, his adopted country. But he was discovered and arrested +with his companions. In violation of the rights of nations, he was treated +as a prisoner of war, and confined first in the dungeons of Magdeburg, and +then by the Austrians at Olmuetz. The English parliament itself took steps +in his favour; but it was not until the treaty of Campo-Formio that +Bonaparte released him from prison. During four years of the hardest +captivity, subject to every description of privation, kept in ignorance of +the state of his country and of liberty, with no prospect before him but +that of perpetual and harsh imprisonment, he displayed the most heroic +courage. He might have obtained his liberty by making certain +retractations, but he preferred remaining buried in his dungeon to +abandoning in the least degree the sacred cause he had embraced. + +There have been in our day few lives more pure than Lafayette's; few +characters more beautiful; few men whose popularity has been more justly +won and longer maintained. After defending liberty in America at the side +of Washington, he desired to establish it in the same manner in France; +but this noble part was impossible in our revolution. When a people in the +pursuit of liberty has no internal dissension, and no foes but foreigners, +it may find a deliverer; may produce, in Switzerland a William Tell, in +the Netherlands a prince of Orange, in America a Washington; but when it +pursues it against its own countrymen and foreigners, at once amidst +factions and battles, it can only produce a Cromwell or a Bonaparte, who +become the dictators of revolutions when the struggle subsides and parties +are exhausted. Lafayette, an actor in the first epoch of the crisis, +enthusiastically declared for its results. He became the general of the +middle class, at the head of the national guard under the constituent +assembly, in the army under the legislative assembly. He had risen by it, +and he would end with it. It may be said of him, that if he committed some +faults of position, he had ever but one object, liberty, and that he +employed but one means, the law. The manner in which, when yet quite +young, he devoted himself to the deliverance of the two worlds, his +glorious conduct and his invariable firmness, will transmit his name with +honour to posterity, with whom a man cannot have two reputations, as in +the time of party, but his own alone. + +The authors of the events of the 10th of August became more and more +divided, having no common views as to the results which should arise from +that revolution. The more daring party, which had got hold of the commune +or municipality, wished by means of that commune to rule Paris; by means +of Paris, the national assembly; and by means of the assembly, France. +After having effected the transference of Louis XVI. to the Temple, it +threw down all the statues of the kings, and destroyed all the emblems of +the monarchy. The department exercised a right of superintendence over the +municipality; to be completely independent, it abrogated this right. The +law required certain conditions to constitute a citizen; it decreed the +cessation of these, in order that the multitude might be introduced into +the government of the state. At the same time, it demanded the +establishment of an extraordinary tribunal to try _the conspirators of the +10th of August_. As the assembly did not prove sufficiently docile, and +endeavoured by proclamations to recall the people to more just and +moderate sentiments, it received threatening messages from the Hotel de +Ville. "As a citizen," said a member of the commune, "as a magistrate of +the people, I come to announce to you that this evening, at midnight, the +tocsin will sound, the drum beat to arms. The people are weary of not +being avenged; tremble lest they administer justice themselves." "If, +before two or three hours pass, the foreman of the jury be not named," +said another, "and if the jury be not itself in a condition to act, great +calamities will befall Paris." To avert the threatened outbreaks, the +assembly was obliged to appoint an extraordinary criminal tribunal. This +tribunal condemned a few persons, but the commune having conceived the +most terrible projects, did not consider it sufficiently expeditious. + +At the head of the commune were Marat, Panis, Sergent, Duplain, Lenfent, +Lefort, Jourdeuil, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, Tallien, etc.; but +the chief leader of the party at that time was Danton. He, more than any +other person, had distinguished himself on the 10th of August. During the +whole of that night he had rushed about from the sections to the barracks +of the Marseillais and Bretons, and from these to the Faubourgs. A member +of the revolutionary commune, he had directed its operations, and had +afterwards been appointed minister of justice. + +Danton was a gigantic revolutionist; he deemed no means censurable so they +were useful, and, according to him, men could do whatever they dared +attempt. Danton, who has been termed the Mirabeau of the populace bore a +physical resemblance to that tribune of the higher classes; he had +irregular features, a powerful voice, impetuous gesticulation, a daring +eloquence, a lordly brow. Their vices, too, were the same; only Mirabeau's +were those of a patrician, Danton's those of a democrat; that which there +was of daring in the conceptions of Mirabeau, was to be found in Danton, +but in another way, because, in the revolution, he belonged to another +class and another epoch. Ardent, overwhelmed with debts and wants, of +dissolute habits, given up now to his passions, now to his party, he was +formidable while in the pursuit of an object, but became indifferent as +soon as he had obtained it. This powerful demagogue presented a mixture of +the most opposite vices and qualities. Though he had sold himself to the +court, he did not seem sordid; he was one of those who, so to speak, give +an air of freedom even to baseness. He was an absolute exterminator, +without being personally ferocious; inexorable towards masses, humane, +generous even towards individuals. [Footnote: At the time the commune was +arranging the massacre of the 2nd September, he saved all who applied to +him; he, of his own accord, released from prison Duport, Barnave, and Ch. +Lameth, his personal antagonists.] Revolution, in his opinion, was a game +at which the conqueror, if he required it, won the life of the conquered. +The welfare of his party was, in his eyes, superior to law and even to +humanity; this will explain his endeavours after the 10th of August, and +his return to moderation when he considered the republic established. + +At this period the Prussians, advancing on the plan of invasion described +above, passed the frontier, after a march of twenty days. The army of +Sedan was without a leader, and incapable of resisting a force so superior +in numbers and so much better organised. On the 20th of August, Longwy was +invested by the Prussians; on the 21st it was bombarded, and on the 24th +it capitulated. On the 30th the hostile army arrived before Verdun, +invested it, and began to bombard it. Verdun taken, the road to the +capital was open. The capture of Longwy, and the approach of so great a +danger, threw Paris into the utmost agitation and alarm. The executive +council, composed of the ministers, was summoned by the committee of +general defence, to deliberate on the best measures to be adopted in this +perilous conjuncture. Some proposed to wait for the enemy under the walls +of the capital, others to retire to Saumur. "You are not ignorant," said +Danton, when his turn to speak arrived, "that France is Paris; if you +abandon the capital to the foreigner, you surrender yourselves, and you +surrender France. It is in Paris that we must defend ourselves by every +possible means. I cannot sanction any plan tending to remove you from it. +The second project does not appear to me any better. It is impossible to +think of fighting under the walls of the capital. The 10th of August has +divided France into two parties, the one attached to royalty, the other +desiring a republic. The latter, the decided minority of which in the +state cannot be concealed, is the only one on which you can rely to fight; +the other will refuse to march; it will excite Paris in favour of the +foreigner, while your defenders, placed between two fires, will perish in +repelling him. Should they fall, which seems to me beyond a doubt, your +ruin and that of France are certain; if, contrary to all expectation, they +return victorious over the coalition, this victory will still be a defeat +for you; for it will have cost you thousands of brave men, while the +royalists, more numerous than you, will have lost nothing of their +strength and influence. It is my opinion, that to disconcert their +measures and stop the enemy, we must make the royalists fear." The +committee, at once understanding the meaning of these words, were thrown +into a state of consternation. "Yes, I tell you," resumed Danton, "we must +make them fear." As the committee rejected this proposition by a silence +full of alarm, Danton concerted with the commune. His aim was to put down +its enemies by terror, to involve the multitude more and more by making +them his accomplices, and to leave the revolution no other refuge than +victory. + +Domiciliary visits were made with great and gloomy ceremony; a large +number of persons whose condition, opinions, or conduct rendered them +objects of suspicion, were thrown into prison. These unfortunate persons +were taken especially from the two dissentient classes, the nobles and the +clergy, who were charged with conspiracy under the legislative assembly. +All citizens capable of bearing arms were enrolled in the Champ de Mars, +and departed on the first of September for the frontier. The generale was +beat, the tocsin sounded, cannon were fired, and Danton, presenting +himself to the assembly to report the measures taken to save the country, +exclaimed: "The cannon you hear are no alarm cannon, but the signal for +attacking the enemy! To conquer them, to prostrate them, what is +necessary? Daring, again daring, and still again and ever daring!" +Intelligence of the taking of Verdun arrived during the night of the 1st +of September. The commune availed themselves of this moment, when Paris, +filled with terror, thought it saw the enemy already at its gates, to +execute their fearful projects. The cannon were again fired, the tocsin +sounded, the barriers were closed, and the massacre began. + +During three days, the prisoners confined in the Carmes, the Abbaye, the +Conciergerie, the Force, etc., were slaughtered by a band of about three +hundred assassins, directed and paid by the commune. This body, with a +calm fanaticism, prostituting to murder the sacred forms of justice, now +judges, now executioners, seemed rather to be practising a calling than to +be exercising vengeance; they massacred without question, without remorse, +with the conviction of fanatics and the obedience of executioners. If some +peculiar circumstances seemed to move them, and to recall them to +sentiments of humanity, to justice, and to mercy, they yielded to the +impression for a moment, and then began anew. In this way a few persons +were saved; but they were very few. The assembly desired to prevent the +massacres, but were unable to do so. The ministry were as incapable as the +assembly; the terrible commune alone could order and do everything; +Petion, the mayor, had been cashiered; the soldiers placed in charge of +the prisoners feared to resist the murderers, and allowed them to take +their own course; the crowd seemed indifferent, or accomplices; the rest +of the citizens dared not even betray their consternation. We might be +astonished that so great a crime should, with such deliberation, have been +conceived, executed, and endured, did we not know what the fanaticism of +party will do, and what fear will suffer. But the chastisement of this +enormous crime fell at last upon the heads of its authors. The majority of +them perished in the storm they had themselves raised, and by the same +violent means that they had themselves employed. Men of party seldom +escape the fate they have made others undergo. + +The executive council, directed, as to military operations by general +Servan, advanced the newly-levied battalions towards the frontier. As a +man of judgment, he was desirous of placing a general at the threatened +point; but the choice was difficult. Among the generals who had declared +in favour of the late political events, Kellermann seemed only adapted for +a subordinate command, and the authorities had therefore merely placed him +in the room of the vacillative and incompetent Luckner. Custine was but +little skilled in his art; he was fit for any dashing _coup de main_, but +not for the conduct of a great army intrusted with the destiny of France. +The same military inferiority was chargeable upon Biron, Labourdonnaie, +and the rest, who were therefore left at their old stations, with the +corps under their command. Dumouriez alone remained, against whom the +Girondists still retained some rancour, and in whom they, moreover, +suspected the ambitious views, the tastes, and character of an adventurer, +while they rendered justice to his superior talents. However, as he was +the only general equal to so important a position, the executive council +gave him the command of the army of the Moselle. + +Dumouriez repaired in all haste from the camp at Maulde to that of Sedan. +He assembled a council of war, in which the general opinion was in favour +of retiring towards Chalons or Rheims, and covering themselves with the +Marne. Far from adopting this dangerous plan, which would have discouraged +the troops, given up Lorraine, Trois Eveches, and a part of Champagne, and +thrown open the road to Paris, Dumouriez conceived a project full of +genius. He saw that it was necessary, by a daring march, to advance on the +forest of Argonne, where he might infallibly stop the enemy. This forest +had four issues; that of the Chene-Populeux on the left; those of the +Croix-au-Bois and of Grandpre in the centre, and that of Les Islettes on +the right, which opened or closed the passage into France. The Prussians +were only six leagues from the forest, and Dumouriez had twelve to pass +over, and his design of occupying it to conceal, if he hoped for success. +He executed his project skilfully and boldly. General Dillon, advancing on +the Islettes, took possession of them with seven thousand men; he himself +reached Grandpre, and there established a camp of thirteen thousand men. +The Croix-au-Bois, and the Chene-Populeux were in like manner occupied and +defended by some troops. It was here that he wrote to the minister of war, +Servan:--"Verdun is taken; I await the Prussians. The camps of Grandpre +and Les Islettes are the Thermopylae of France; but I shall be more +fortunate than Leonidas." + +In this position, Dumouriez might have stopped the enemy, and himself have +securely awaited the succours which were on their road to him from every +part of France. The various battalions of volunteers repaired to the camps +in the interior, whence they were despatched to his army, as soon as they +were at all in a state of discipline. Beurnonville, who was on the Flemish +frontier, had received orders to advance with nine thousand men, and to be +at Rhetel, on Dumouriez's left, by the 13th of September. Duval was also +on the 7th to march with seven thousand men to the Chene-Populeux; and +Kellermann was advancing from Metz, on his right, with a reinforcement of +twenty-two thousand men. Time, therefore, was all that was necessary. + +The duke of Brunswick, after taking Verdun, passed the Meuse in three +columns. General Clairfait was operating on his right, and prince +Hohenlohe on his left. Renouncing all hope of driving Dumouriez from his +position by attacking him in front, he tried to turn him. Dumouriez had +been so imprudent as to place nearly his whole force at Grandpre and the +Islettes, and to put only a small corps at Chene-Populeux and Coix-au- +Bois--posts, it is true, of minor importance. The Prussians, accordingly, +seized upon these, and were on the point of turning him in his camp at +Grandpre, and of thus compelling him to lay down his arms. After this +grand blunder, which neutralized his first manoeuvres, he did not despair +of his situation. He broke up his camp secretly during the night of the +14th September, passed the Aisne, the approach to which might have been +closed to him, made a retreat as able as his advance on the Argonne had +been, and concentrated his forces in the camp at Sainte-Menehould. He had +already delayed the advance of the Prussians at Argonne. The season, as it +advanced, became bad. He had now only to maintain his post till the +arrival of Kellermann and Beurnonville, and the success of the campaign +would be certain. The troops had become disciplined and inured, and the +army amounted to about seventy thousand men, after the arrival of +Beurnonville and Kellermann, which took place on the 17th. + +The Prussian army had followed the movements of Dumouriez. On the 20th, it +attacked Kellermann at Valmy, in order to cut off from the French army the +retreat on Chalons. There was a brisk cannonade on both sides. The +Prussians advanced in columns towards the heights of Valmy, to carry them. +Kellermann also formed his infantry in columns, enjoined them not to fire, +but to await the approach of the enemy, and charge them with the bayonet. +He gave this command, with the cry of _Vive la nation!_ and this cry, +repeated from one end of the line to the other, startled the Prussians +still more than the firm attitude of our troops. The duke of Brunswick +made his somewhat shaken battalions fall back; the firing continued till +the evening; the enemy attempted a fresh attack, but were repulsed. The +day was ours; and the success of Valmy, almost insignificant in itself, +produced on our troops, and upon opinion in France, the effect of the most +complete victory. + +From the same epoch may be dated the discouragement and retreat of the +enemy. The Prussians had entered upon this campaign on the assurance of +the emigrants that it would be a mere military promenade. They were +without magazines or provisions; in the midst of a perfectly open country, +they encountered a resistance each day more energetic; the incessant rains +had broken up the roads; the soldiers marched knee-deep in mud, and, for +four days past, boiled corn had been their only food. Diseases, produced +by the chalky water, want of clothing, and damp, had made great ravages in +the army. The duke of Brunswick advised a retreat, contrary to the opinion +of the king of Prussia and the emigrants, who wished to risk a battle, and +get possession of Chalons. But as the fate of the Prussian monarchy +depended on its army, and the entire ruin of that army would be the +inevitable consequence of a defeat, the duke of Brunswick's opinion +prevailed. Negotiations were opened, and the Prussians, abating their +first demands, now only required the restoration of the king upon the +constitutional throne. But the convention had just assembled; the republic +had been proclaimed, and the executive council replied, "that the French +republic could listen to no proposition until the Prussian troops had +entirely evacuated the French territory." The Prussians, upon this, +commenced their retreat on the evening of the 30th of September. It was +slightly disturbed by Kellermann, whom Dumouriez sent in pursuit, while he +himself proceeded to Paris to enjoy his triumph, and concert measures for +the invasion of Belgium. The French troops re-entered Verdun and Longwy; +and the enemy, after having crossed the Ardennes and Luxembourg, repassed +the Rhine at Coblentz, towards the end of October. This campaign had been +marked by general success. In Flanders, the duke of Saxe-Teschen had been +compelled to raise the siege of Lille, after seven days of a bombardment, +contrary, both in its duration and in its useless barbarity, to all the +usages of war. On the Rhine, Custine had taken Treves, Spires, and +Mayence. In the Alps, general Montesquiou had invaded Savoy, and general +Anselme the territory of Nice. Our armies, victorious in all directions, +had everywhere assumed the offensive, and the revolution was saved. + +If we were to present the picture of a state emerging from a great crisis, +and were to say: "There were in this state an absolute government whose +authority has been restricted; two privileged classes which have lost +their supremacy; a vast population, already freed by the effect of +civilization and intelligence, but without political rights, and who have +been obliged, by reason of repeated refusals, to gain these for +themselves"; if we were to add: "The government, after opposing this +revolution, submitted to it, but the privileged classes constantly opposed +it,"--the following would probably be concluded from these data: + +"The government will be full of regret, the people will exhibit distrust, +and the privileged classes will attack the new order of things, each in +its own way. The nobility, unable to do so at home, from its weakness +there, will emigrate, in order to excite foreign powers, who will make +preparations for attack; the clergy, who would lose its means of action +abroad, will remain at home, where it will seek out foes to the +revolution. The people, threatened from without, in danger at home, +irritated against the emigrants who seek to arm foreign powers, against +foreign powers about to attack its independence, against the clergy, who +excite the country to insurrection, will treat as enemies clergy, +emigrants, and foreign powers. It will require first surveillance over, +then the banishment of the refractory priests; confiscation of the +property of the emigrants; war against allied Europe, in order to +forestall it. The first authors of the revolution will condemn such of +these measures as shall violate the law; the continuators of the +revolution will, on the contrary, regard them as the salvation of the +country; and discord will arise between those who prefer the constitution +to the state, and those who prefer the state to the constitution. The +monarch, induced by his interests as king, his affections and his +conscience, to reject such a course of policy, will pass for an accomplice +of the counter-revolution, because he will appear to protect it. The +revolutionists will then seek to gain over the king by intimidation, and +failing in this, will overthrow his authority." + +Such was the history of the legislative assembly. Internal disturbances +led to the decree against the priests; external menaces to that against +the emigrants; the coalition of foreign powers to war against Europe; the +first defeat of our armies, to the formation of the camp of twenty +thousand. The refusal of Louis XVI. to adopt most of these decrees, +rendered him an object of suspicion to the Girondists; the dissensions +between the latter and the constitutionalists, who desired some of them to +be legislators, as in time of peace, others, enemies, as in time of war, +disunited the partisans of the revolution. With the Girondists the +question of liberty was involved in victory, and victory in the decrees. +The 20th of June was an attempt to force their acceptance; but having +failed in its effect, they deemed that either the crown or the revolution +must be renounced, and they brought on the 10th of August. Thus, but for +emigration which induced the war, but for the schism which induced the +disturbances, the king would probably have agreed to the constitution, and +the revolutionists would not have dreamed of the republic. + + + + +THE NATIONAL CONVENTION + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1792, TO THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793 + + +The convention was constituted on the 20th of September, 1792, and +commenced its deliberations on the 21st. In its first sitting it abolished +royalty, and proclaimed the republic. On the 22nd, it appropriated the +revolution to itself, by declaring it would not date from _year IV. of +Liberty_; but from _year I. of the French Republic_. After these first +measures, voted by acclamation, with a sort of rivalry in democracy and +enthusiasm in the two parties, which had become divided at the close of +the legislative assembly, the convention, instead of commencing its +labours, gave itself up to intestine quarrels. The Girondists and the +Mountain, before they established the new revolution, desired to know to +which of them it was to belong, and the enormous dangers of their position +did not divert them from this contest. They had more than ever to fear the +efforts of Europe. Austria, Prussia, and some of the German princes having +attacked France before the 10th of August, there was every reason to +believe that the other sovereigns of Europe would declare against it after +the fall of the monarchy, the imprisonment of the king, and the massacres +of September. Within, the enemies of the revolution had increased. To the +partisans of the ancient regime, of the aristocracy and clergy, were now +to be added the friends of constitutional monarchy, with whom the fate of +Louis XVI. was an object of earnest solicitude, and those who imagined +liberty impossible without order, or under the empire of the multitude. +Amidst so many obstacles and adversaries, at a moment when their strictest +union was requisite, the Gironde and the Mountain attacked each other with +the fiercest animosity. It is true that these two parties were wholly +incompatible, and that their respective leaders could not combine, so +strong and varied were the grounds of separation in their rivalry for +power, and in their designs. + +Events had compelled the Girondists to become republicans. It would have +suited them far better to have remained constitutionalists. The integrity +of their purposes, their distaste for the multitude, their aversion for +violent measures, and especially the prudence which counselled them only +to attempt that which seemed possible--every circumstance made this +imperative upon them; but they had not been left free to remain what they +at first were. They had followed the bias which led them onward to the +republic, and they had gradually habituated themselves to this form of +government. They now desired it ardently and sincerely, but they felt how +difficult it would be to establish and consolidate it. They deemed it a +great and noble thing; but they felt that the men for it were wanting. The +multitude had neither the intelligence nor the virtue proper for this kind +of government. The revolution effected by the constituent assembly was +legitimate, still more because it was possible than because it was just; +it had its constitution and its citizens. But a new revolution, which +should call the lower classes to the conduct of the state, could not be +durable. It would injuriously affect too many interests, and have but +momentary defenders, the lower class being capable of sound action and +conduct in a crisis, but not for a permanency. Yet, in consenting to this +second revolution, it was this inferior class which must be looked to for +support. The Girondists did not adopt this course, and they found +themselves placed in a position altogether false; they lost the assistance +of the constitutionalists without procuring that of the democrats; they +had a hold upon neither extreme of society. Accordingly, they only formed +a half party, which was soon overthrown, because it had no root. The +Girondists, after the 10th of August, were, between the middle class and +the multitude, what the monarchists, or the Mounier and Necker party, had +been after the 24th of July, between the privileged classes and the +bourgeoisie. + +The Mountain, on the contrary, desired a republic of the people. The +leaders of this party, annoyed at the credit of the Girondists, sought to +overthrow and to supersede them. They were less intelligent, and less +eloquent, but abler, more decided, and in no degree scrupulous as to +means. The extremest democracy seemed to them the best of governments, and +what they termed the people, that is, the lowest populace, was the object +of their constant adulation, and most ardent solicitude. No party was more +dangerous; most consistently it laboured for those who fought its battle. + +Ever since the opening of the convention, the Girondists had occupied the +right benches, and the Mountain party the summit of the left, whence the +name by which they are designated. The Girondists were the strongest in +the assembly; the elections in the departments had generally been in their +favour. A great number of the deputies of the legislative assembly had +been re-elected, and as at that time connexion effected much, the members +who had been united with the deputation of the Gironde and the commune of +Paris before the 10th of August, returned with the same opinions. Others +came without any particular system or party, without enmities or +attachments: these formed what was then called the _Plaine_ or the +_Marais_. This party, taking no interest in the struggles between the +Gironde and the Mountain, voted with the side they considered the most +just, so long as they were allowed to be moderate; that is to say, so long +as they had no fears for themselves. + +The Mountain was composed of deputies of Paris, elected under the +influence of the commune of the 10th of August, and of some very decided +republicans from the provinces; it, from time to time, increased its ranks +with those who were rendered enthusiastic by circumstances, or who were +impelled by fear. But though inferior in the convention in point of +numbers, it was none the less very powerful, even at this period. It +swayed Paris; the commune was devoted to it, and the commune had managed +to constitute itself the supreme authority in the state. The Mountain had +sought to master the departments, by endeavouring to establish an identity +of views and conduct between the municipality of Paris and the provincial +municipalities; they had not, however, completely succeeded in this, and +the departments were for the most part favourable to their adversaries, +who cultivated their good will by means of pamphlets and journals sent by +the minister Roland, whose house the Mountain called a _bureau d'esprit +public_, and whose friends they called _intrigants_. But besides this +junction of the communes, which sooner or later would take place, they +were adopted by the Jacobins. This club, the most influential as well as +the most ancient and extensive, changed its views at every crisis without +changing its name; it was a framework ready for every dominating power, +excluding all dissentients. That at Paris was the metropolis of +Jacobinism, and governed the others almost imperiously. The Mountain had +made themselves masters of it; they had already driven the Girondists from +it, by denunciation and disgust, and replaced the members taken from the +bourgeoisie by sans-culottes. Nothing remained to the Girondists but the +ministry, who, thwarted by the commune, were powerless in Paris. The +Mountain, on the contrary, disposed of all the effective force of the +capital, of the public mind by the Jacobins, of the sections and faubourgs +by the sans-culottes, of the insurrectionists by the municipality. + +The first measure of parties after having decreed the republic, was to +contend with each other. The Girondists were indignant at the massacres of +September, and they beheld with horror on the benches of the convention +the men who had advised or ordered them. Above all others, two inspired +them with antipathy and disgust; Robespierre, whom they suspected of +aspiring to tyranny; and Marat, who from the commencement of the +revolution had in his writings constituted himself the apostle of murder. +They denounced Robespierre with more animosity than prudence; he was not +yet sufficiently formidable to incur the accusation of aspiring to the +dictatorship. His enemies by reproaching him with intentions then +improbable, and at all events incapable of proof, themselves augmented his +popularity and importance. + +Robespierre, who played so terrible a part in our revolution, was +beginning to take a prominent position. Hitherto, despite his efforts, he +had had superiors in his own party: under the constituent assembly, its +famous leaders; under the legislative, Brissot and Petion; on the 10th of +August, Danton. At these different periods he had declared himself against +those whose renown or popularity offended him. Only able to distinguish +himself among the celebrated personages of the first assembly by the +singularity of his opinions, he had shown himself an exaggerated reformer; +during the second, he became a constitutionalist, because his rivals were +innovators, and he had talked in favour of peace to the Jacobins, because +his rivals advocated war. From the 10th of August he essayed in that club +to ruin the Girondists, and to supplant Danton, always associating the +cause of his vanity with that of the multitude. This man, of ordinary +talents and vain character, owed it to his inferiority to rank with the +last, a great advantage in times of revolution; and his conceit drove him +to aspire to the first rank, to do all to reach it, to dare all to +maintain himself there. + +Robespierre had the qualifications for tyranny; a soul not great, it is +true, but not common; the advantage of one sole passion, the appearance of +patriotism, a deserved reputation for incorruptibility, an austere life, +and no aversion to the effusion of blood. He was a proof that amidst civil +troubles it is not mind but conduct that leads to political fortune, and +that persevering mediocrity is more powerful than wavering genius. It must +also be observed that Robespierre had the support of an immense and +fanatical sect, whose government he had solicited, and whose principles he +had defended since the close of the constituent assembly. This sect +derived its origin from the eighteenth century, certain opinions of which +it represented. In politics, its symbol was the absolute sovereignty of +the _Contrat social_ of J.J. Rousseau, and for creed, it held the deism of +_la Profession de foi du Vicaire Savoyard_; at a later period it succeeded +in realizing these for a moment in the constitution of '93, and the +worship of the Supreme Being. More fanaticism and system existed in the +different epochs of the revolution than is generally supposed. + +Whether the Girondists distinctly foresaw the dominion of Robespierre, or +whether they suffered themselves to be carried away by their indignation, +they accused him, with republicans, of the most serious of crimes. Paris +was agitated by the spirit of faction; the Girondists wished to pass a law +against those who excited disorders and violence, and at the same time to +give the convention an independent force derived from the eighty-three +departments. They appointed a commission to present a report on this +subject. The Mountain attacked this measure as injurious to Paris; the +Gironde defended it, by pointing out the project of a triumvirate formed +by the deputation of Paris. "I was born in Paris," said Osselin; "I am +deputy for that town. It is announced that a party is formed in the very +heart of it, desiring a dictatorship, triumvirs, tribunes, etc. I declare +that extreme ignorance or profound wickedness alone could have conceived +such a project. Let the member of the deputation of Paris who has +conceived such an idea be anathematized!" "Yes," exclaimed Rebecqui of +Marseilles, "yes, there exists in this assembly a party which aspires at +the dictatorship, and I will name the leader of this party; Robespierre. +That is the man whom I denounce." Barbaroux supported this denunciation by +his evidence; he was one of the chief authors of the 10th of August; he +was the leader of the Marseillais, and he possessed immense influence in +the south. He stated that about the 10th of August, the Marseillais were +much courted by the two parties who divided the capital; he was brought to +Robespierre's, and there he was told to ally himself to those citizens who +had acquired most popularity, and that Paris expressly named to him, +_Robespierre, as the virtuous man who was to be dictator of France_. +Barbaroux was a man of action. There were some members of the Right who +thought with him, that they ought to conquer their adversaries, in order +to avoid being conquered by them. They wished, making use of the +convention against the commune, to oppose the departments to Paris, and +while they remained weak, by no means to spare enemies, to whom they would +otherwise be granting time to become stronger. But the greater number +dreaded a rupture, and trembled at the idea of energetic measures. + +This accusation against Robespierre had no immediate consequences; but it +fell back on Marat, who had recommended a dictatorship, in his journal +"L'Ami du Peuple," and had extolled the massacres. When he ascended the +tribune to justify himself, the assembly shuddered. "_A bas! a bas_!" +resounded from all sides. Marat remained imperturbable. In a momentary +pause, he said: "I have a great number of personal enemies in this +assembly. (_Tous! tous!_) I beg of them to remember decorum; I exhort them +to abstain from all furious clamours and indecent threats against a man +who has served liberty and themselves more than they think. For once let +them learn to listen." And this man delivered in the midst of the +convention, astounded at his audacity and sangfroid, his views of the +proscriptions and of the dictatorship. For some time he had fled from +cellar to cellar to avoid public anger, and the warrants issued against +him. His sanguinary journal alone appeared; in it he demanded heads, and +prepared the multitude for the massacres of September. There is no folly +which may not enter a man's head, and what is worse, which may not be +realized for a moment. Marat was possessed by certain fixed ideas. The +revolution had enemies, and, in his opinion, it could not last unless +freed from them; from that moment he deemed nothing could be more simple +than to exterminate them, and appoint a dictator, whose functions should +be limited to proscribing; these two measures he proclaimed aloud, with a +cynical cruelty, having no more regard for propriety than for the lives of +men, and despising as weak minds all those who called his projects +atrocious, instead of considering them profound. The revolution had actors +really more sanguinary than he, but none exercised a more fatal influence +over his times. He depraved the morality of parties already sufficiently +corrupt; and he had the two leading ideas which the committee of public +safety subsequently realized by its commissioners or its government-- +extermination in mass, and the dictatorship. + +Marat's accusation was not attended with any results; he inspired more +disgust, but less hatred than Robespierre; some regarded him as a madman; +others considered these debates as the quarrels of parties, and not as an +object of interest for the republic. Moreover, it seemed dangerous to +attempt to purify the convention, or to dismiss one of its members, and it +was a difficult step to get over, even for parties. Danton did not +exonerate Marat. "I do not like him," said he; "I have had experience of +his temperament; it is volcanic, crabbed and unsociable. But why seek for +the language of a faction in what he writes? Has the general agitation any +other cause than that of the revolutionary movement itself?" Robespierre, +on his part, protested that he knew very little of Marat; that, previous +to the 10th of August, he had only had one conversation with him, after +which Marat, whose violent opinions he did not approve, had considered his +political views so narrow, that he had stated in his journal, _that he had +neither the higher views nor the daring of a statesman_. + +But he was the object of much greater indignation because he was more +dreaded. The first accusation of Rebecqui and Barbaroux had not succeeded. +A short time afterwards, the Minister Roland made a report on the state of +France and Paris; in it he denounced the massacres of September, the +encroachments of the commune, and the proceedings of the agitators. +"When," said he, "they render the wisest and most intrepid defenders of +liberty odious or suspected, when principles of revolt and slaughter are +boldly professed and applauded in the assemblies, and clamours arise +against the convention itself, I can no longer doubt that partisans of the +ancient regime, or false friends of the people, concealing their +extravagance or wickedness under a mask of patriotism, have conceived the +plan of an overthrow in which they hope to raise themselves on ruins and +corpses, and gratify their thirst for blood, gold, and atrocity." + +He cited, in proof of his report, a letter in which the vice-president of +the second section of the criminal tribunal informed him, that he and the +most distinguished Girondists were threatened; that, in the words of their +enemies, _another bleeding was wanted_; and that these men would hear of +no one but Robespierre. + +At these words the latter hastened to the tribune to justify himself. "No +one," he cried, "dare accuse me to my face!" "I dare!" exclaimed Louvet, +one of the most determined men of the Gironde. "Yes, Robespierre," he +continued, fixing his eye upon him; "I accuse you!" Robespierre, hitherto +full of assurance, became moved. He had once before, at the Jacobins, +measured his strength with this formidable adversary, whom he knew to be +witty, impetuous, and uncompromising. Louvet now spoke, and in a most +eloquent address spared neither acts nor names. He traced the course of +Robespierre to the Jacobins, to the commune, to the electoral assembly: +"calumniating the best patriots; lavishing the basest flatteries on a few +hundred citizens, at first designated as the people of Paris, afterwards +as the people absolutely, and then as the sovereign; repeating the eternal +enumeration of his own merits, perfections, and virtues; and never +failing, after he had dwelt on the strength, grandeur, and sovereignty of +the people, to protest that he was the people too." He then described him +concealing himself on the 10th of August, and afterwards swaying the +conspirators of the commune. Then he came to the massacres of September, +and exclaimed: "The revolution of the 10th of August belongs to all!" he +added, pointing out a few of the members of the Mountain in the commune, +"but that of the 2nd of September, that belongs to them--and to none but +them! Have they not glorified themselves by it? They themselves, with +brutal contempt, only designated us as the patriots of the 10th of August. +With ferocious pride they called themselves the patriots of the 2nd of +September! Ah, let them retain this distinction worthy of the courage +peculiar to them; let them retain it as our justification, and for their +lasting shame! These pretended friends of the people wish to cast on the +people of Paris the horrors that stained the first week of September. They +have basely slandered them. The people of Paris can fight; they cannot +murder! It is true, they were assembled all the day long before the +chateau of the Tuileries on the glorious 10th of August; it is false that +they were seen before the prisons on the horrible 2nd of September. How +many executioners were there within? Two hundred; probably not two +hundred. And without, how many spectators could be reckoned drawn thither +by truly incomprehensible curiosity? At most, twice the number. But, it is +asked, why, if the people did not assist in these murders, did they not +hinder them? Why? Because Petion's tutelary authority was fettered; +because Roland spoke in vain; because Danton, the minister of justice, did +not speak at all,... because the presidents of the forty-eight sections +waited for orders which the general in command did not give; because +municipal officers, wearing their scarfs, presided at these atrocious +executions. But the legislative assembly? The legislative assembly! +representatives of the people, you will avenge it! The powerless state +into which your predecessors were reduced is, in the midst of such crimes, +the greatest for which these ruffians, whom I denounce, must be punished." +Returning to Robespierre, Louvet pointed out his ambition, his efforts, +his extreme ascendancy over the people, and terminated his fiery philippic +by a series of facts, each one of which was preceded by this terrible +form: "_Robespierre, I accuse thee!_" + +Louvet descended from the tribune amidst applause, Robespierre mounted it +to justify himself; he was pale, and was received with murmurs. Either +from agitation or fear of prejudice, he asked for a week's delay. The time +arrived; he appeared less like one accused than as a triumpher; he +repelled with irony Louvet's reproaches, and entered into a long apology +for himself. It must be admitted that the facts were vague, and it +required little trouble to weaken or overturn them. Persons were placed in +the gallery to applaud him; even the convention itself, who regarded this +quarrel as the result of a private pique, and, as Barrere said, did not +fear _a man of a day, a petty leader of riots_, was disposed to close +these debates. Accordingly, when Robespierre observed, as he finished: +"For my part, I will draw no personal conclusions; I have given up the +easy advantage of replying to the calumnies of my adversaries by more +formidable denunciations; I wished to suppress the offensive part of my +justification. I renounce the just vengeance I have a right to pursue +against my calumniators; I ask for no other than the return of peace and +triumph of liberty!" he was applauded, and the convention passed to the +order of the day. Louvet in vain sought to reply; he was not allowed. +Barbaroux as vainly presented himself as accuser and Lanjuinais opposed +the motion for the order without obtaining the renewal of the discussion. +The Girondists themselves supported it: they committed one fault in +commencing the accusation, and another in not continuing it. The Mountain +carried the day, since they were not conquered, and Robespierre was +brought nearer the assumption of the part he had been so far removed from. +In times of revolution, men very soon become what they are supposed to be, +and the Mountain adopted him for their leader because the Girondists +pursued him as such. + +But what was much more important than personal attacks, were the +discussions respecting the means of government, and the management of +authorities and parties. The Girondists struck, not only against +individuals but against the commune. Not one of their measures succeeded; +they were badly proposed or badly sustained. They should have supported +the government, replaced the municipality, maintained their post among the +Jacobins and swayed them, gained over the multitude, or prevented its +acting; and they did nothing of all this. One among them, Buzot, proposed +giving the convention a guard of three thousand men, taken from the +departments. This measure, which would at least have made the assembly +independent, was not supported with sufficient vigour to be adopted. Thus +the Girondists attacked the Mountain without weakening them, the commune +without subduing it, the Faubourgs without suppressing them. They +irritated Paris by invoking the aid of the departments, without procuring +it; thus acting in opposition to the most common rules of prudence, for it +is always safer to do a thing than to threaten to do it. + +Their adversaries skilfully turned this circumstance to advantage. They +secretly circulated a report which could not but compromise the +Girondists; it was, that they wished to remove the republic to the south, +and give up the rest of the empire. Then commenced that reproach of +federalism, which afterwards became so fatal. The Girondists disdained it +because they did not see the consequences; but it necessarily gained +credit in proportion as they became weak and their enemies became daring. +What had given rise to the report was the project of defending themselves +behind the Loire, and removing the government to the south, if the north +should be invaded and Paris taken, and the predilection they manifested +for the provinces, and their indignation against the agitators of the +capital. Nothing is more easy than to change the appearance of a measure +by changing the period in which the measure was adopted, and discover in +the disapprobation expressed at the irregular acts of a city, an intention +to form the other cities of the state into a league against it. +Accordingly, the Girondists were pointed out to the multitude as +federalists. While they denounced the commune, and accused Robespierre and +Marat, the Mountain decreed _the unity and indivisibility of the +republic_. This was a way of attacking them and bringing them into +suspicion, although they themselves adhered so eagerly to these +propositions that they seemed to regret not having made them. + +But a circumstance, apparently unconnected with the disputes of these two +parties, served still better the cause of the Mountain. Already emboldened +by the unsuccessful attempts which had been directed against them, they +only waited for an opportunity to become assailants in their turn. The +convention was fatigued by these long discussions. Those members who were +not interested in them, and even those of the two parties who were not in +the first rank, felt the need of concord, and wished to see men occupy +themselves with the republic. There was an apparent truce, and the +attention of the assembly was directed for a moment to the new +constitution, which the Mountain caused it to abandon, in order to decide +on the fate of the fallen prince. The leaders of the extreme Left were +driven to this course by several motives: they did not want the +Girondists, and the moderate members of the Plain, who directed the +committee of the constitution, the former by Petion, Condorcet, Brissot, +Vergniaud, Gensonne, the others by Barrere, Sieyes, and Thomas Paine, to +organize the republic. They would have established the system of the +bourgeoisie, rendering it a little more democratic than that of 1791, +while they themselves aspired at constituting the people. But they could +only accomplish their end by power, and they could only obtain power by +protracting the revolutionary state in France. Besides the necessity of +preventing the establishment of legal order by a terrible coup d'etat, +such as the condemnation of Louis XVI., which would arouse all passions, +rally round them the violent parties, by proving them to be the inflexible +guardians of the republic, they hoped to expose the sentiments of the +Girondists, who did not conceal their desire to save Louis XVI., and thus +ruin them in the estimation of the multitude. There were, without a doubt, +in this conjuncture, a great number of the Mountain, who, on this +occasion, acted with the greatest sincerity and only as republicans, in +whose eyes Louis XVI. appeared guilty with respect to the revolution; and +a dethroned king was dangerous to a young democracy. But this party would +have been more clement, had it not had to ruin the Gironde at the same +time with Louis XVI. + +For some time past, the public mind had been prepared for his trial. The +Jacobin club resounded with invectives against him; the most injurious +reports were circulated against his character; his condemnation was +required for the firm establishment of liberty. The popular societies in +the departments addressed petitions to the convention with the same +object. The sections presented themselves at the bar of the assembly, and +they carried through it, on litters, the men wounded on the 10th of +August, who came to cry for vengeance on Louis Capet. They now only +designated Louis XVI. by this name of the ancient chief of his race, +thinking to substitute his title of king by his family name. + +Party motives and popular animosities combined against this unfortunate +prince. Those who, two months before, would have repelled the idea of +exposing him to any other punishment than that of dethronement, were +stupefied; so quickly does man lose in moments of crisis the right to +defend his opinions! The discovery of the iron chest especially increased +the fanaticism of the multitude, and the weakness of the king's defenders. +After the 10th of August, there were found in the offices of the civil +list documents which proved the secret correspondence of Louis XVI. with +the discontented princes, with the emigration, and with Europe. In a +report, drawn up at the command of the legislative assembly, he was +accused of intending to betray the state and overthrow the revolution. He +was accused of having written, on the 16th April, 1791, to the bishop of +Clermont, that if he regained his power he would restore the former +government and the clergy to the state in which they previously were; of +having afterwards proposed war, merely to hasten the approach of his +deliverers; of having been in correspondence with men who wrote to him-- +"War will compel all the powers to combine against the seditious and +abandoned men who tyrannize over France, in order that their punishment +may speedily serve as an example to all who shall be induced to trouble +the peace of empires. You may rely on a hundred and fifty thousand men, +Prussians, Austrians, and Imperialists, and on an army of twenty thousand +emigrants;" of having been on terms with his brothers, whom his public +measures had discountenanced: and, lastly, of having constantly opposed +the revolution. + +Fresh documents were soon brought forward in support of this accusation. +In the Tuileries, behind a panel in the wainscot, there was a hole wrought +in the wall, and closed by an iron door. This secret closet was pointed +out by the minister, Roland, and there were discovered proofs of all the +conspiracies and intrigues of the court against the revolution; projects +with the popular leaders to strengthen the constitutional power of the +king, to restore the ancient regime and the aristocrats; the manoeuvres of +Talon, the arrangements with Mirabeau, the proposition accepted by +Bouille, under the constituent assembly, and some new plots under the +legislative assembly. This discovery increased the exasperation against +Louis XVI. Mirabeau's bust was broken by the Jacobins, and the convention +covered the one which stood in the hall where it held its sittings. + +For some time there had been a question in the assembly as to the trial of +this prince, who, having been dethroned, could no longer be proceeded +against. There was no tribunal empowered to pronounce his sentence, no +punishment which could be inflicted on him: accordingly, they plunged into +false interpretations of the inviolability granted to Louis XVI., in order +to condemn him legally. The greatest error of parties, next to being +unjust, is the desire not to appear so. The committee of legislation, +commissioned to draw up a report on the question as to whether Louis XVI. +could be tried, and whether he could be tried by the convention, decided +in the affirmative. The deputy Mailhe opposed, in its name, the dogma of +inviolability; but as this dogma had influenced the preceding epoch of the +revolution, he contended that Louis XVI. was inviolable as king, but not +as an individual. He maintained that the nation, unable to give up its +guarantee respecting acts of power, had supplied the inviolability of the +monarch by the responsibility of his ministers; and that, when Louis XVI. +had acted as a simple individual, his responsibility devolving on no one, +he ceased to be inviolable. Thus Mailhe limited the constitutional +safeguard given to Louis XVI. to the acts of the king. He concluded that +Louis XVI. could be tried, the dethronement not being a punishment, but a +change of government; that he might be brought to trial, by virtue of the +penal code relative to traitors and conspirators; that he could be tried +by the convention, without observing the process of other tribunals, +because, the convention representing the people--the people including all +interests, and all interests constituting justice--it was impossible that +the national tribunal could violate justice, and that, consequently, it +was useless to subject it to forms. Such was the chain of sophistry, by +means of which the committee transformed the convention into a tribunal. +Robespierre's party showed itself much more consistent, dwelling only on +state reasons, and rejecting forms as deceptive. + +The discussion commenced on the 13th of November, six days after the +report of the committee. The partisans of inviolability, while they +considered Louis XVI. guilty, maintained that he could not be tried. The +principal of these was Morrison. He said, that inviolability was general; +that the constitution had anticipated more than secret hostility on the +part of Louis XVI., an open attack, and even in that case had only +pronounced his deposition; that in this respect the nation had pledged its +sovereignty; that the mission of the convention was to change the +government, not to judge Louis XVI.; that, restrained by the rules of +justice, it was so also by the usages of war, which only permitted an +enemy to be destroyed during the combat--after a victory, the law +vindicates him; that, moreover, the republic had no interest in condemning +Louis; that it ought to confine itself with respect to him, to measures of +general safety, detain him prisoner, or banish him from France. This was +the opinion of the Right of the convention. The Plain shared the opinion +of the committee; but the Mountain repelled, at the same time, the +inviolability and the trial of Louis XVI. + +"Citizens," said Saint-Just, "I engage to prove that the opinion of +Morrison, who maintains the king's inviolability, and that of the +committee which requires his trial as a citizen, are equally false; I +contend that we should judge the king as an enemy; that we have less to do +with trying than with opposing him: that having no place in the contract +which unites Frenchmen, the forms of the proceeding are not in civil law, +but in the law of the right of nations; thus, all delay or reserve in this +case are sheer acts of imprudence, and next to the imprudence which +postpones the moment that should give us laws, the most fatal will be that +which makes us temporize with the king." Reducing everything to +considerations of enmity and policy, Saint-Just added, "The very men who +are about to try Louis have a republic to establish: those who attach any +importance to the just chastisement of a king, will never found a +republic. Citizens, if the Roman people, after six hundred years of virtue +and of hatred towards kings; if Great Britain after the death of Cromwell, +saw kings restored in spite of its energy, what ought not good citizens, +friends of liberty, to fear among us, when they see the axe tremble in +your hands, and a people, from the first day of their freedom, respect the +memory of their chains?" + +This violent party, who wished to substitute a coup d'etat for a sentence, +to follow no law, no form, but to strike Louis XVI. like a conquered +prisoner, by making hostilities even survive victory, had but a very +feeble majority in the convention; but without, it was strongly supported +by the Jacobins and the commune. Notwithstanding the terror which it +already inspired, its murderous suggestions were repelled by the +convention; and the partisans of inviolability, in their turn, +courageously asserted reasons of public interest at the same time as rules +of justice and humanity. They maintained that the same men could not be +judges and legislators, the jury and the accusers. They desired also to +impart to the rising republic the lustre of great virtues, those of +generosity and forgiveness; they wished to follow the example of the +people of Rome, who acquired their freedom and retained it five hundred +years, because they proved themselves magnanimous; because they banished +the Tarquins instead of putting them to death. In a political view, they +showed the consequences of the king's condemnation, as it would affect the +anarchical party of the kingdom, rendering it still more insolent; and +with regard to Europe, whose still neutral powers it would induce to join +the coalition against the republic. + +But Robespierre, who during this long debate displayed a daring and +perseverance that presaged his power, appeared at the tribune to support +Saint-Just, to reproach the convention with involving in doubt what the +insurrection had decided, and with restoring, by sympathy and the +publicity of a defence, the fallen royalist party. "The assembly," said +Robespierre, "has involuntarily been led far away from the real question. +Here we have nothing to do with trial: Louis is not an accused man; you +are not judges, you are, and can only be, statesmen. You have no sentence +to pronounce for or against a man, but you are called on to adopt a +measure of public safety; to perform an act of national precaution. A +dethroned king is only fit for two purposes, to disturb the tranquillity +of the state, and shake its freedom, or to strengthen one or the other of +them. + +"Louis was king; the republic is founded; the famous question you are +discussing is decided in these few words. Louis cannot be tried; he is +already tried, he is condemned, or the republic is not absolved." He +required that the convention should declare Louis XVI. a traitor towards +the French, criminal towards humanity, and sentence him at once to death, +by virtue of the insurrection. + +The Mountain by these extreme propositions, by the popularity they +attained without, rendered condemnation in a measure inevitable. By +gaining an extraordinary advance on the other parties, it obliged them to +follow it, though at a distance. The majority of the convention, composed +in a large part of Girondists, who dared not pronounce Louis XVI. +inviolable, and of the Plain, decided, on Petion's proposition, against +the opinion of the fanatical Mountain and against that of the partisans of +inviolability, that Louis XVI. should be tried by the convention. Robert +Lindet then made, in the name of the commission of the twenty-one, his +report respecting Louis XVI. The arraignment, setting forth the offences +imputed to him, was drawn up, and the convention summoned the prisoner to +its bar. + +Louis had been confined in the Temple for four months. He was not at +liberty, as the assembly at first wished him to be in assigning him the +Luxembourg for a residence. The suspicious commune guarded him closely; +but, submissive to his destiny, prepared for everything, he manifested +neither impatience, regret, nor indignation. He had only one servant about +his person, Clery, who at the same time waited on his family. During the +first months of his imprisonment, he was not separated from his family; +and he still found solace in meeting them. He comforted and supported his +two companions in misfortune, his wife and sister; he acted as preceptor +to the young dauphin, and gave him the lessons of an unfortunate man, of a +captive king. He read a great deal, and often turned to the History of +England, by Hume; there he read of many dethroned kings, and one of them +condemned by the people. Man always seeks destinies similar to his own. +But the consolation he found in the sight of his family did not last long; +as soon as his trial was decided, he was separated from them. The commune +wished to prevent the prisoners from concerting their justification; the +surveillance it exercised over Louis XVI. became daily more minute and +severe. + +In this state of things, Santerre received the order to conduct Louis XVI. +to the bar of the convention. He repaired to the Temple, accompanied by +the mayor, who communicated his mission to the king, and inquired if he +was willing to descend. Louis hesitated a moment, then said: "This is +another violence. I must yield!" and he decided on appearing before the +convention; not objecting to it, as Charles I. had done with regard to his +judges. "Representatives," said Barrere, when his approach was announced, +"you are about to exercise the right of national justice. Let your +attitude be suited to your new functions;" and turning to the gallery, he +added, "Citizens, remember the terrible silence which accompanied Louis on +his return from Varennes; a silence which was the precursor of the trial +of kings by nations." Louis XVI. appeared firm as he entered the hall, and +he took a steady glance round the assembly. He was placed at the bar, and +the president said to him in a voice of emotion: "Louis, the French nation +accuses you. You are about to hear the charges of the indictment. Louis, +be seated." A seat had been prepared for him; he sat in it. During a long +examination, he displayed much calmness and presence of mind, he replied +to each question appropriately, often in an affecting and triumphant +manner. He repelled the reproaches addressed to him respecting his conduct +before the 14th of July, reminding them that his authority was not then +limited; before the journey to Varennes, by the decree of the constituent +assembly, which had been satisfied with his replies; and after the 10th of +August, by throwing all public acts on ministerial responsibility, and by +denying all the secret measures which were personally attributed to him. +This denial did not, however, in the eyes of the convention, overthrow +facts, proved for the most part by documents written or signed by the hand +of Louis XVI. himself; he made use of the natural right of every accused +person. Thus he did not admit the existence of the iron chest, and the +papers that were brought forward. Louis XVI. invoked a law of safety, +which the convention did not admit, and the convention sought to protect +itself from anti-revolutionary attempts, which Louis XVI. would not admit. + +When Louis had returned to the Temple, the convention considered the +request he had made for a defender. A few of the Mountain opposed the +request in vain. The convention determined to allow him the services of a +counsel. It was then that the venerable Malesherbes offered himself to the +convention to defend Louis XVI. "Twice," he wrote, "have I been summoned +to the council of him who was my master, at a time when that function was +the object of ambition to every man; I owe him the same service now, when +many consider it dangerous." His request was granted, Louis XVI. in his +abandonment, was touched by this proof of devotion. When Malesherbes +entered his room, he went towards him, pressed him in his arms, and said +with tears:--"Your sacrifice is the more generous, since you endanger your +own life without saving mine." Malesherbes and Tronchet toiled +uninterruptedly at his defence, and associated M. Deseze with them; they +sought to reanimate the courage of the king, but they found the king +little inclined to hope. "I am sure they will take my life; but no matter, +let us attend to my trial as if I were about to gain it. In truth, I shall +gain it, for I shall leave no stain on my memory." + +At length the day for the defence arrived; it was delivered by M. Deseze; +Louis was present. The profoundest silence pervaded the assembly and the +galleries. M. Deseze availed himself of every consideration of justice and +innocence in favour of the royal prisoner. He appealed to the +inviolability which had been granted him; he asserted that as king he +could not be tried; that as accusers, the representatives of the people +could not be his judges. In this he advanced nothing which had not already +been maintained by one party of the assembly. But he chiefly strove to +justify the conduct of Louis XVI. by ascribing to him intentions always +pure and irreproachable. He concluded with these last and solemn words:-- +"Listen, in anticipation, to what History will say to Fame; Louis +ascending the throne at twenty, presented an example of morals, justice, +and economy; he had no weakness, no corrupting passion: he was the +constant friend of the people. Did the people desire the abolition of an +oppressive tax? Louis abolished it: did the people desire the suppression +of slavery? Louis suppressed it: did the people solicit reforms? he made +them: did the people wish to change its laws? he consented to change them: +did the people desire that millions of Frenchmen should be restored to +their rights? he restored them: did the people wish for liberty? he gave +it them. Men cannot deny to Louis the glory of having anticipated the +people by his sacrifices; and it is he whom it is proposed to slay. +Citizens, I will not continue, I leave it to History; remember, she will +judge your sentence, and her judgment will be that of ages." But passion +proved deaf and incapable of foresight. + +The Girondists wished to save Louis XVI., but they feared the imputation +of royalism, which was already cast upon them by the Mountain. During the +whole transaction, their conduct was rather equivocal; they dared not +pronounce themselves in favour of or against the accused; and their +moderation ruined them without serving him. At that moment his cause, not +only that of his throne, but of his life, was their own. They were about +to determine, by an act of justice or by a coup d'etat, whether they +should return to the legal regime, or prolong the revolutionary regime. +The triumph of the Girondists or of the Mountain was involved in one or +the other of these solutions. The latter became exceedingly active. They +pretended that, while following forms, men were forgetful of republican +energy, and that the defence of Louis XVI. was a lecture on monarchy +addressed to the nation. The Jacobins powerfully seconded them, and +deputations came to the bar demanding the death of the king. + +Yet the Girondists, who had not dared to maintain the question of +inviolability, proposed a skilful way of saving Louis XVI. from death, by +appealing from the sentence of the convention to the people. The extreme +Right still protested against the erection of the assembly into a +tribunal; but the competence of the assembly having been previously +decided, all their efforts were turned in another direction. Salles +proposed that the king should be pronounced guilty, but that the +application of the punishment should be left to the primary assembly. +Buzot, fearing that the convention would incur the reproach of weakness, +thought that it ought to pronounce the sentence, and submit the judgment +it pronounced to the decision of the people. This advice was vigorously +opposed by the Mountain, and even by a great number of the more moderate +members of the convention, who saw, in the convocation of the primary +assemblies, the germ of civil war. + +The assembly had unanimously decided that Louis was guilty, when the +appeal to the people was put to the question. Two hundred and eighty-four +voices voted for, four hundred and twenty-four against it; ten declined +voting. Then came the terrible question as to the nature of the +punishment. Paris was in a state of the greatest excitement: deputies were +threatened at the very door of the assembly; fresh excesses on the part of +the populace were dreaded; the Jacobin clubs resounded with extravagant +invectives against Louis XVI., and the Right. The Mountain, till then the +weakest party in the convention, sought to obtain the majority by terror, +determined, if it did not succeed, none the less to sacrifice Louis XVI. +Finally, after four hours of nominal appeal, the president, Vergniaud, +said: "Citizens, I am about to proclaim the result of the scrutiny. When +justice has spoken, humanity should have its turn." There were seven +hundred and twenty-one voters. The actual majority was three hundred and +sixty-one. The death of the king was decided by a majority of twenty-six +votes. Opinions were very various: Girondists voted for his death, with a +reservation, it is true; most of the members of the Right voted for +imprisonment or exile; a few of the Mountain voted with the Girondists. As +soon as the result was known, the president said, in a tone of grief: "In +the name of the convention, I declare the punishment, to which it condemns +Louis Capet, to be death." Those who had undertaken the defence appeared +at the bar; they were deeply affected. They endeavoured to bring back the +assembly to sentiments of compassion, in consideration of the small +majority in favour of the sentence. But this subject had already been +discussed and decided. "Laws are only made by a simple majority," said one +of the Mountain. "Yes," replied a voice, "but laws may be revoked; you +cannot restore the life of a man." Malesherbes wished to speak, but could +not. Sobs prevented his utterance; he could only articulate a few +indistinct words of entreaty. His grief moved the assembly. The request +for a reprieve was received by the Girondists as a last resource; but this +also failed them, and the fatal sentence was pronounced. + +Louis expected it. When Malesherbes came in tears to announce the +sentence, he found him sitting in the dark, his elbows resting on a table, +his face hid in his hands, and in profound meditation. At the noise of his +entrance, Louis rose and said: "For two hours I have been trying to +discover if, during my reign, I have deserved the slightest reproach from +my subjects. Well, M. de Malesherbes, I swear to you, in the truth of my +heart, as a man about to appear before God, that I have constantly sought +the happiness of my people, and never indulged a wish opposed to it." +Malesherbes urged that a reprieve would not be rejected, but this Louis +did not expect. As he saw Malesherbes go out, Louis begged him not to +forsake him in his last moments; Malesherbes promised to return; but he +came several times, and was never able to gain access to him. Louis asked +for him frequently, and appeared distressed at not seeing him. He received +without emotion the formal announcement of his sentence from the minister +of justice. He asked three days to prepare to appear before God; and also +to be allowed the services of a priest, and permission to communicate +freely with his wife and children. Only the last two requests were +granted. + +The interview was a distressing scene to this desolate family; but the +moment of separation was far more so. Louis, on parting with his family, +promised to see them again the next day; but, on reaching his room, he +felt that the trial would be too much, and, pacing up and down violently, +he exclaimed, "I will not go!" This was his last struggle; the rest of his +time was spent in preparing for death. The night before the execution he +slept calmly. Clery awoke him, as he had been ordered, at five, and +received his last instructions. He then communicated, commissioned Clery +with his dying words, and all he was allowed to bequeath, a ring, a seal, +and some hair. The drums were already beating, and the dull sound of +travelling cannon, and of confused voices, might be heard. At length +Santerre arrived. "You are come for me," said Louis; "I ask one moment." +He deposited his will in the hands of the municipal officer, asked for his +hat, and said, in a firm tone: "Let us go." + +The carriage was an hour on its way from the Temple to the Place de la +Revolution. A double row of soldiers lined the road; more than forty +thousand men were under arms. Paris presented a gloomy aspect. The +citizens present at the execution manifested neither applause nor regret; +all were silent. On reaching the place of execution, Louis alighted from +the carriage. He ascended the scaffold with a firm step, knelt to receive +the benediction of the priest, who is recorded to have said, "Son of Saint +Louis, ascend to heaven!" With some repugnance he submitted to the binding +of his hands, and walked hastily to the left of the scaffold; "I die +innocent," said he; "I forgive my enemies; and you, unfortunate people..." +Here, at a signal, the drums and trumpets drowned his voice, and the three +executioners seized him. At ten minutes after ten he had ceased to live. + +Thus perished, at the age of thirty-nine, after a reign of sixteen years +and a half, spent in endeavouring to do good, the best but weakest of +monarchs. His ancestors bequeathed to him a revolution. He was better +calculated than any of them to prevent and terminate it; for he was +capable of becoming a reformer-king before it broke out, or of becoming a +constitutional king afterwards. He is, perhaps, the only prince who, +having no other passion, had not that of power, and who united the two +qualities which make good kings, fear of God and love of the people. He +perished, the victim of passions which he did not share; of those of the +persons about him, to which he was a stranger, and to those of the +multitude, which he had not excited. Few memories of kings are so +commendable. History will say of him, that, with a little more strength of +mind, he would have been an exemplary king. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +FROM THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793, TO THE 2ND OF JUNE + + +The death of Louis XVI. rendered the different parties irreconcilable, and +increased the external enemies of the revolution. The republicans had to +contend with all Europe, with several classes of malcontents, and with +themselves. But the Mountain, who then directed the popular movement, +imagined that they were too far involved not to push matters to extremity. +To terrify the enemies of the revolution, to excite the fanaticism of the +people by harangues, by the presence of danger, and by insurrections; to +refer everything to it, both the government and the safety of the +republic; to infuse into it the most ardent enthusiasm, in the name of +liberty, equality, and fraternity; to keep it in this violent state of +crisis for the purpose of making use of its passions and its power; such +was the plan of Danton and the Mountain, who had chosen him for their +leader. It was he who augmented the popular effervescence by the growing +dangers of the republic, and who, under the name of revolutionary +government, established the despotism of the multitude, instead of legal +liberty. Robespierre and Marat went even much further than he. They sought +to erect into a permanent government what Danton considered as merely +transitory. The latter was only a political chief, while the others were +true sectarians; the first, more ambitious, the second, more fanatical. + +The Mountain had, by the catastrophe of the 21st of January, gained a +great victory over the Girondists, whose politics were much more moral +than theirs, and who hoped to save the revolution, without staining it +with blood. But their humanity, their spirit of justice, proved of no +service, and even turned against them. They were accused of being the +enemies of the people, because they opposed their excesses; of being the +accomplices of the tyrant, because they had sought to save Louis XVI.; and +of betraying the republic, because they recommended moderation. It was +with these reproaches that the Mountain persecuted them with constant +animosity in the bosom of the convention, from the 21st of January till +the 31st of May and the 2nd of June. The Girondists were for a long time +supported by the Centre, which sided with the Right against murder and +anarchy, and with the Left for measures of public safety. This mass, +which, properly speaking, formed the spirit of the convention, displayed +some courage, and balanced the power of the Mountain and the Commune as +long as it possessed those intrepid and eloquent Girondists, who carried +with them to prison and to the scaffold all the generous resolutions of +the assembly. + +For a moment, union existed among the various parties of the assembly. +Lepelletier Saint Fargeau was stabbed by a retired member of the household +guard, named Paris, for having voted the death of Louis XVI. The members +of the convention, united by common danger, swore on his tomb to forget +their enmities; but they soon revived them. Some of the murderers of +September, whose punishment was desired by the more honourable +republicans, were proceeded against at Meaux. The Mountain, apprehensive +that their past conduct would be inquired into, and that their adversaries +would take advantage of a condemnation to attack them more openly +themselves, put a stop to these proceedings. This impunity further +emboldened the leaders of the multitude; and Marat, who at that period had +an incredible influence over the multitude, excited them to pillage the +dealers, whom he accused of monopolizing provisions. He wrote and spoke +violently, in his pamphlets and at the Jacobins, against the aristocracy +of the burghers, merchants, and _statesmen_ (as he designated the +Girondists), that is to say, against those who, in the assembly or the +nation at large, still opposed the reign of the Sans-culottes and the +Mountain. There was something frightful in the fanaticism and invincible +obstinacy of these sectaries. The name given by them to the Girondists +from the beginning of the convention, was that of Intrigants, on account +of the ministerial and rather stealthy means with which they opposed in +the departments the insolent and public conduct of the Jacobins. + +Accordingly, they denounced them regularly in the club. "At Rome, an +orator cried daily: 'Carthage must be destroyed!' well, let a Jacobin +mount this tribune every day, and say these single words, 'The intrigants +must be destroyed!' Who could withstand us? We oppose crime, and the +ephemeral power of riches; but we have truth, justice, poverty, and virtue +in our cause. With such arms, the Jacobins will soon have to say: 'We had +only to pass on, they were already extinct.'" Marat, who was much more +daring than Robespierre, whose hatred and projects still concealed +themselves under certain forms, was the patron of all denouncers and +lovers of anarchy. Several of the Mountain reproached him with +compromising their cause by his extreme counsels, and by unseasonable +excesses; but the entire Jacobin people supported him even against +Robespierre, who rarely obtained the advantage in his disputes with him. +The pillage recommended in February, in _L'Ami du Peuple_, with respect to +some dealers, "by way of example," took place, and Marat was denounced to +the convention, who decreed his accusation after a stormy sitting. But +this decree had no result, because the ordinary tribunals had no +authority. This double effort of force on one side, and weakness on the +other, took place in the month of February. More decisive events soon +brought the Girondists to ruin. + +Hitherto, the military position of France had been satisfactory. Dumouriez +had just crowned the brilliant campaign of Argonne by the conquest of +Belgium. After the retreat of the Prussians, he had repaired to Paris to +concert measures for the invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. Returning +to the army on the 20th of October, 1792, he began the attack on the 28th. +The plan attempted so inappropriately, with so little strength and +success, at the commencement of the war, was resumed and executed with +superior means. Dumouriez, at the head of the army of Belgium, forty +thousand strong, advanced from Valenciennes upon Mons, supported on the +right by the army of the Ardennes, amounting to about sixteen thousand +men, under general Valence, who marched from Givet upon Namur; and on his +left, by the army of the north, eighteen thousand strong, under general +Labourdonnaie, who advanced from Lille upon Tournai. The Austrian army, +posted before Mons, awaited battle in its intrenchments. Dumouriez +completely defeated it; and the victory of Jemappes opened Belgium to the +French, and again gave our arms the ascendancy in Europe. A victor on the +6th of November, Dumouriez entered Mons on the 7th, Brussels on the 14th, +and Liege on the 28th. Valence took Namur, Labourdonnaie Antwerp; and by +the middle of December, the invasion of the Netherlands was completely +achieved. The French army, masters of the Meuse and the Scheldt, went into +their winter quarters, after driving beyond the Roer the Austrians, whom +they might have pushed beyond the Lower Rhine. + +From this moment hostilities began between Dumouriez and the Jacobins. A +decree of the convention, dated the 15th of September, abrogated the +Belgian customs, and democratically organized that country. The Jacobins +sent agents to Belgium to propagate revolutionary principles, and +establish clubs on the model of the parent society; but the Flemings, who +had received us with enthusiasm, became cool at the heavy demands made +upon them, and at the general pillage and insupportable anarchy which the +Jacobins brought with them. All the party that had opposed the Austrian +army, and hoped to be free under the protection of France, found our rule +too severe, and regretted having sought our aid, or supported us. +Dumouriez, who had projects of independence for the Flemings, and of +ambition for himself, came to Paris to complain of this impolitic conduct +with regard to the conquered countries. He changed his hitherto equivocal +course; he had employed every means to keep on terms with the two +factions; he had ranged himself under the banner of neither, hoping to +make use of the Right through his friend Gensonne, and the Mountain +through Danton and Lacroix, whilst he awed both by his victories. But in +this second journey he tried to stop the Jacobins and save Louis XVI.; not +having been able to attain his end, he returned to the army to begin the +second campaign, very dissatisfied, and determined to make his new +victories the means of suspending the revolution and changing its +government. + +This time all the frontiers of France were to be attacked by the European +powers. The military successes of the revolution, and the catastrophe of +the 21st of January, had made most of the undecided or neutral governments +join the coalition. + +The court of St. James', on learning the death of Louis XVI., dismissed +the ambassador Chauvelin, whom it had refused to acknowledge since the +10th of August and the dethronement of the king. The convention, finding +England already leagued with the coalition, and consequently all its +promises of neutrality vain and elusive, on the 1st of February, 1793, +declared war against the king of Great Britain and the stadtholder of +Holland, who had been entirely guided by the English cabinet since 1788. +England had hitherto preserved the appearances of neutrality, but it took +advantage of this opportunity to appear on the scene of hostilities. For +some time disposed for a rupture, Pitt employed all his resources, and in +the space of six months concluded seven treaties of alliance, and six +treaties of subsidies. [Footnote: These treaties were as follows: the 4th +March, articles between Great Britain and Hanover; 25th March, treaty of +alliance at London between Russia and Great Britain; 10th April, treaty of +subsidies with the landgrave of Hesse Cassel; 25th April, treaty of +subsidies with Sardinia; 25th May, treaty of alliance at Madrid with +Spain; 12th July, treaty of alliance with Naples, the kingdom of the Two +Sicilies; 14th July, treaty of alliance at the camp before Mayence with +Prussia; 30th August, treaty of alliance at London with the emperor; 21st +September, treaty of subsidies with the margrave of Baden; 26th September, +treaty of alliance at London with Portugal. By these treaties England gave +considerable subsidies, more especially to Austria and Prussia.] England +thus became the soul of the coalition against France; her fleets were +ready to sail; the minister had obtained 3,200,000l. extraordinary, and +Pitt designed to profit by our revolution by securing the preponderance of +Great Britain, as Richelieu and Mazarin had taken advantage of the crisis +in England in 1640, to establish the French domination in Europe. The +court of St. James' was only influenced by motives of English interests; +it desired at any cost to effect the consolidation of the aristocratical +power at home, and the exclusive empire in the two Indies, and on the +seas. + +The court of St. James' then made the second levy of the coalition. Spain +had just undergone a ministerial change; the famous Godoy, duke of +Alcudia, afterwards Prince of the Peace, had been placed at the head of +the government by means of an intrigue of England and the emigrants. This +power came to a rupture with the republic, after having interceded in vain +for Louis XVI., and made its neutrality the price of the life of the king. +The German empire entirely adopted the war; Bavaria, Suabia, and the +elector palatine joined the hostile circles of the empire. Naples followed +the example of the Holy See; and the only neutral powers were Venice, +Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey. Russia was still engaged with +the second partition of Poland. + +The republic was threatened on all sides by the most warlike troops of +Europe. It would soon have to face forty-five thousand Austro-Sardinians +in the Alps; fifty thousand Spaniards on the Pyrenees; seventy thousand +Austrians or Imperialists, reinforced by thirty-eight thousand English and +Dutch troops, on the Lower Rhine and in Belgium; thirty-three thousand +four hundred Austrians between the Meuse and the Moselle; a hundred and +twelve thousand six hundred Prussians, Austrians and Imperialists on the +Middle and Upper Rhine. In order to confront so many enemies, the +convention decreed a levy of three hundred thousand men. This measure of +external defence was accompanied by a party measure for the interior. At +the moment the new battalions, about to quit Paris, presented themselves +to the assembly, the Mountain demanded the establishment of an +extraordinary tribunal to maintain the revolution at home, which the +battalions were going to defend on the frontiers. This tribunal, composed +of nine members, was to try without jury or appeal. The Girondists arose +with all their power against so arbitrary and formidable an institution, +but it was in vain; for they seemed to be favouring the enemies of the +republic by rejecting a tribunal intended to punish them. All they +obtained was the introduction of juries into it, the removal of some +violent men, and the power of annulling its acts, as long as they +maintained any influence. + +The principal efforts of the coalition were directed against the vast +frontier extending from the north sea to Huninguen. The prince of Coburg, +at the head of the Austrians, was to attack the French army on the Roer +and the Meuse, to enter Belgium; while the Prussians, on the other point, +should march against Custine, give him battle, surround Mayence, and after +taking it, renew the preceding invasion. These two armies of operation +were sustained in the intermediate position by considerable forces. +Dumouriez, engrossed by ambitious and reactionary designs, at a moment +when he ought only to have thought of the perils of France, proposed to +himself to re-establish the monarchy of 1791, in spite of the convention +and Europe. What Bouille could not do for an absolute, nor Lafayette for a +constitutional throne, Dumouriez, at a less propitious time, hoped alone +to carry through in the interest of a destroyed constitution and a +monarchy without a party. Instead of remaining neutral among factions, as +circumstances dictated to a general, and even to an ambitious man, +Dumouriez preferred a rupture, in order to sway them. He conceived a +design of forming a party out of France; of entering Holland by means of +the Dutch republicans opposed to the stadtholdership, and to English +influence; to deliver Belgium from the Jacobins; to unite these countries +in a single independent state, and secure for himself their political +protectorate after having acquired all the glory of a conqueror. To +intimidate parties, he was to gain over his troops, march on the capital, +dissolve the convention, put down popular meetings, re-establish the +constitution of 1791, and give a king to France. + +This project, impracticable amidst the great shock between the revolution +and Europe, appeared easy to the fiery and adventurous Dumouriez. Instead +of defending the line, threatened from Mayence to the Roer, he threw +himself on the left of the operations, and entered Holland at the head of +twenty thousand men. By a rapid march he was to reach the centre of the +United Provinces, attack the fortresses from behind, and be joined at +Nymegen by twenty-five thousand men under General Miranda, who would +probably have made himself master of Maestricht. An army of forty thousand +men was to observe the Austrians and protect his right. + +Dumouriez vigorously prosecuted his expedition into Holland; he took Breda +and Gertruydenberg, and prepared to pass the Biesbos, and capture +Dordrecht. But the army of the right experienced in the meantime the most +alarming reverses on the Lower Meuse. The Austrians assumed the offensive, +passed the Roer, beat Miazinski at Aix-la-Chapelle; made Miranda raise the +blockade of Maestricht, which he had uselessly bombarded; crossed the +Meuse, and at Liege put our army, which had fallen back between Tirlemont +and Louvain, wholly to the rout. Dumouriez received from the executive +council orders to leave Holland immediately, and to take the command of +the troops in Belgium; he was compelled to obey, and to renounce in part +his wildest but dearest hopes. + +The Jacobins, at the news of these reverses, became much more intractable; +unable to conceive a defeat without treachery, especially after the +brilliant and unexpected victories of the last campaign, they attributed +these military disasters to party combinations. They denounced the +Girondists, the ministers, and generals who, they supposed, had combined +to abandon the republic, and clamoured for their destruction. Rivalry +mingled with suspicion, and they desired as much to acquire an exclusive +domination, as to defend the threatened territory; they began with the +Girondists. As they had not yet accustomed the multitude to the idea of +the proscription of representatives, they at first had recourse to a plot +to get rid of them; they resolved to strike them in the convention, where +they would all be assembled, and the night of the 10th of March was fixed +on for the execution of the plot. The assembly sat permanently on account +of the public danger. It was decided on the preceding day at the Jacobins +and Cordeliers to shut the barriers, sound the tocsin, and march in two +bands on the convention and the ministers. They started at the appointed +hour, but several circumstances prevented the conspirators from +succeeding. The Girondists, apprised, did not attend the evening sitting; +the sections declared themselves opposed to the plot, and Beurnonville, +minister for war, advanced against them at the head of a battalion of +Brest federalists; these unexpected obstacles, together with the ceaseless +rain, obliged the conspirators to disperse. The next day Vergniaud +denounced the insurrectional committee who had projected these murders, +demanded that the executive council should be commissioned to make +inquiries respecting the conspiracy of the 10th of March, to examine the +registers of the clubs, and to arrest the members of the insurrectional +committee. "We go," said he, "from crimes to amnesties, from amnesties to +crimes. Numbers of citizens have begun to confound seditious insurrections +with the great insurrection of liberty; to look on the excitement of +robbers as the outburst of energetic minds, and robbery itself as a +measure of general security. We have witnessed the development of that +strange system of liberty, in which we are told: 'you are free; but think +with us, or we will denounce you to the vengeance of the people; you are +free, but bow down your head to the idol we worship, or we will denounce +you to the vengeance of the people; you are free, but join us in +persecuting the men whose probity and intelligence we dread, or we will +denounce you to the vengeance of the people.' Citizens, we have reason to +fear that the revolution, like Saturn, will devour successively all its +children, and only engender despotism and the calamities which accompany +it." These prophetic words produced some effect in the assembly; but the +measures proposed by Vergniaud led to nothing. + +The Jacobins were stopped for a moment by the failure of their first +enterprise against their adversaries; but the insurrection of La Vendee +gave them new courage. The Vendean war was an inevitable event in the +revolution. This country, bounded by the Loire and the sea, crossed by few +roads, sprinkled with villages, hamlets, and manorial residences, had +retained its ancient feudal state. In La Vendee there was no civilization +or intelligence, because there was no middle class; and there was no +middle class because there were no towns, or very few. At that time the +peasants had acquired no other ideas than those few communicated to them +by the priests, and had not separated their interests from those of the +nobility. These simple and sturdy men, devotedly attached to the old state +of things, did not understand a revolution, which was the result of a +faith and necessities entirely foreign to their situation. The nobles and +priests, being strong in these districts, had not emigrated; and the +ancient regime really existed there, because there were its doctrines and +its society. Sooner or later, a war between France and La Vendee, +countries so different, and which had nothing in common but language, was +inevitable. It was inevitable that the two fanaticisms of monarchy and of +popular sovereignty, of the priesthood and human reason, should raise +their banners against each other, and bring about the triumph of the old +or of the new civilization. + +Partial disturbances had taken place several times in La Vendee. In 1792 +the count de la Rouairie had prepared a general rising, which failed on +account of his arrest; but all yet remained ready for an insurrection, +when the decree for raising three hundred thousand men was put into +execution. This levy became the signal of revolt. The Vendeans beat the +gendarmerie at Saint Florent, and took for leaders, in different +directions, Cathelineau, a waggoner, Charette, a naval officer, and +Stofflet, a gamekeeper. Aided by arms and money from England, the +insurrection soon overspread the country; nine hundred communes flew to +arms at the sound of the tocsin; and then the noble leaders Bonchamps, +Lescure, La Rochejaquelin, d'Elbee, and Talmont, joined the others. The +troops of the line and the battalions of the national guard who advanced +against the insurgents were defeated. General Marce was beaten at Saint +Vincent by Stofflet; general Gauvilliers at Beaupreau, by d'Elbee and +Bonchamps; general Quetineau at Aubiers, by La Rochejaquelin; and general +Ligonnier at Cholet. The Vendeans, masters of Chatillon, Bressuire, and +Vihiers, considered it advisable to form some plan of organization before +they pushed their advantages further. They formed three corps, each from +ten to twelve thousand strong, according to the division of La Vendee, +under three commanders; the first, under Bonchamps, guarded the banks of +the Loire, and was called the _Armee d'Anjou_; the second, stationed in +the centre, formed the _Grande armee_ under d'Elbee; the third, in Lower +Vendee, was styled the _Armee du Marais_, under Charette. The insurgents +established a council to determine their operations, and elected +Cathelineau generalissimo. These arrangements, with this division of the +country, enabled them to enrol the insurgents, and to dismiss them to +their fields, or call them to arms. + +The intelligence of this formidable insurrection drove the convention to +adopt still more rigorous measures against priests and emigrants. It +outlawed all priests and nobles who took part in any gathering, and +disarmed all who had belonged to the privileged classes. The former +emigrants were banished for ever; they could not return, under penalty of +death; their property was confiscated. On the door of every house, the +names of all its inmates were to be inscribed; and the revolutionary +tribunal, which had been adjourned, began its terrible functions. + +At the same time, tidings of new military disasters arrived, one after the +other. Dumouriez, returned to the army of Belgium, concentrated all his +forces to resist the Austrian general, the prince of Coburg. His troops +were greatly discouraged, and in want of everything; he wrote to the +convention a threatening letter against the Jacobins, who denounced him. +After having again restored to his army a part of its former confidence by +some minor advantages, he ventured a general action at Neerwinden, and +lost it. Belgium was evacuated, and Dumouriez, placed between the +Austrians and Jacobins, beaten by the one and assailed by the other, had +recourse to the guilty project of defection, in order to realize his +former designs. He had conferences with Colonel Mack, and agreed with the +Austrians to march upon Paris for the purpose of re-establishing the +monarchy, leaving them on the frontiers, and having first given up to them +several fortresses as a guarantee. It is probable that Dumouriez wished to +place on the constitutional throne the young duc de Chartres, who had +distinguished himself throughout this campaign; while the prince of Coburg +hoped that if the counter-revolution reached that point, it would be +carried further and restore the son of Louis XVI. and the ancient +monarchy. A counter-revolution will not halt any more than a revolution; +when once begun, it must exhaust itself. The Jacobins were soon informed +of Dumouriez's arrangements; he took little precaution to conceal them; +whether he wished to try his troops, or to alarm his enemies, or whether +he merely followed his natural levity. To be more sure of his designs, the +Jacobin club sent to him a deputation, consisting of Proly, Pereira, and +Dubuisson, three of its members. Taken to Dumouriez's presence, they +received from him more admissions than they expected: "The convention," +said he, "is an assembly of seven hundred and thirty-five tyrants. While I +have four inches of iron I will not suffer it to reign and shed blood with +the revolutionary tribunal it has just created; as for the republic," he +added, "it is an idle word. I had faith in it for three days. Since +Jemappes, I have deplored all the successes I obtained in so bad a cause. +There is only one way to save the country--that is, to re-establish the +constitution of 1791, and a king." "Can you think of it, general?" said +Dubuisson; "the French view royalty with horror--the very name of Louis--" +"What does it signify whether the king be called Louis, Jacques, or +Philippe?" "And what are your means?" "My army--yes, my army will do it, +and from my camp, or the stronghold of some fortress, it will express its +desire for a king." "But your project endangers the safety of the +prisoners in the Temple." "Should the last of the Bourbons be killed, even +those of Coblentz, France shall still have a king, and if Paris were to +add this murder to those which have already dishonoured it, I would +instantly march upon it." After thus unguardedly disclosing his +intentions, Dumouriez proceeded to the execution of his impracticable +design. He was really in a very difficult position; the soldiers were very +much attached to him, but they were also devoted to their country. He was +to surrender some fortresses which he was not master of, and it was to be +supposed that the generals under his orders, either from fidelity to the +republic, or from ambition, would treat him as he had treated Lafayette. +His first attempt was not encouraging; after having established himself at +Saint Amand, he essayed to possess himself of Lille, Conde, and +Valenciennes; but failed in this enterprise. The failure made him +hesitate, and prevented his taking the initiative in the attack. + +It was not so with the convention; it acted with a promptitude, a +boldness, a firmness, and, above all, with a precision in attaining its +object, which rendered success certain. When we know what we want, and +desire it strongly and speedily, we nearly always attain our object. This +quality was wanting in Dumouriez, and the want impeded his audacity and +deterred his partisans. As soon as the convention was informed of his +projects, it summoned him to its bar. He refused to obey; without, +however, immediately raising the standard of revolt. The convention +instantly despatched four representatives: Camus, Quinette, Lamarque, +Bancal, and Beurnonville, the war minister, to bring him before it, or to +arrest him in the midst of his army. Dumouriez received the commissioners +at the head of his staff. They presented to him the decree of the +convention; he read it and returned it to them, saying that the state of +his army would not admit of his leaving it. He offered to resign, and +promised in a calmer season to demand judges himself, and to give an +account of his designs and of his conduct. The commissioners tried to +induce him to submit, quoting the example of the ancient Roman generals. +"We are always mistaken in our quotations," he replied; "and we disfigure +Roman history by taking as an excuse for our crimes the example of their +virtues. The Romans did not kill Tarquin; the Romans had a well ordered +republic and good laws; they had neither a Jacobin club nor a +revolutionary tribunal. We live in a time of anarchy. Tigers wish for my +head; I will not give it them." "Citizen general," said Camus then, "will +you obey the decree of the national convention, and repair to Paris?" "Not +at present." "Well, then, I declare that I suspend you; you are no longer +a general; I order your arrest." "This is too much," said Dumouriez; and +he had the commissioners arrested by German hussars, and delivered them as +hostages to the Austrians. After this act of revolt he could no longer +hesitate. Dumouriez made another attempt on Conde, but it succeeded no +better than the first. He tried to induce the army to join him, but was +forsaken by it. The soldiers were likely for a long time to prefer the +republic to their general; the attachment to the revolution was in all its +fervour, and the civil power in all its force. Dumouriez experienced, in +declaring himself against the convention, the fate which Lafayette +experienced when he declared himself against the legislative assembly, and +Bouille when he declared against the constituent assembly. At this period, +a general, combining the firmness of Bouille with the patriotism and +popularity of Lafayette, with the victories and resources of Dumouriez, +would have failed as they did. The revolution, with the movement imparted +to it, was necessarily stronger than parties, than generals, and than +Europe. Dumouriez went over to the Austrian camp with the duc de Chartres, +colonel Thouvenot, and two squadrons of Berchiny. The rest of his army +went to the camp at Famars, and joined the troops commanded by Dampierre. + +The convention, on learning the arrest of the commissioners, established +itself as a permanent assembly, declared Dumouriez a traitor to his +country, authorized any citizen to attack him, set a price on his head, +decreed the famous committee of public safety, and banished the duke of +Orleans and all the Bourbons from the republic. Although the Girondists +had assailed Dumouriez as warmly as the Mountain, they were accused of +being his accomplices, and this was a new cause of complaint added to the +rest. Their enemies became every day more powerful; and it was in moments +of public danger that they were especially dangerous. Hitherto, in the +struggle between the two parties, they had carried the day on every point. +They had stopped all inquiries into the massacres of September; they had +maintained the usurpation of the commune; they had obtained, first the +trial, then the death of Louis XVI.; through their means the plunderings +of February and the conspiracy of the 10th of March, had remained +unpunished; they had procured the erection of the revolutionary tribunal +despite the Girondists; they had driven Roland from the ministry, in +disgust; and they had just defeated Dumouriez. It only remained now to +deprive the Girondists of their last asylum--the assembly; this they set +about on the 10th of April, and accomplished on the 2nd of June. + +Robespierre attacked by name Brissot, Guadet, Vergniaud, Petion, and +Gensonne, in the convention; Marat denounced them in the popular +societies. As president of the Jacobins, he wrote an address to the +departments, in which he invoked the thunder of petitions and accusations +against the traitors and faithless delegates who had sought to save the +tyrant by an appeal to the public or his imprisonment. The Right and the +Plain of the convention felt that it was necessary to unite. Marat was +sent before the revolutionary tribunal. This news set the clubs in motion, +the people, and the commune. By way of reprisal, Pache, the mayor, came in +the name of the thirty-five sections and of the general council, to demand +the expulsion of the principal Girondists. Young Boyer Fonfrede required +to be included in the proscription of his colleagues, and the members of +the Right and the Plain rose, exclaiming, "All! all!" This petition, +though declared calumnious, was the first attack upon the convention from +without, and it prepared the public mind for the destruction of the +Gironde. + +The accusation of Marat was far from intimidating the Jacobins who +accompanied him to the revolutionary tribunal. Marat was acquitted, and +borne in triumph to the assembly. From that moment the approaches to the +hall were thronged with daring sans-culottes, and the partisans of the +Jacobins filled the galleries of the convention. The clubists and +Robespierre's _tricoteuses_ (knitters) constantly interrupted the speakers +of the Right, and disturbed the debate; while without, every opportunity +was sought to get rid of the Girondists. Henriot, commandant of the +section of sans-culottes, excited against them the battalions about to +march for La Vendee. Gaudet then saw that it was time for something more +than complaints and speeches; he ascended the tribune. "Citizens," said +he, "while virtuous men content themselves with bewailing the misfortunes +of the country, conspirators are active for its ruin. With Caesar they +say: 'Let them talk, we will act.' Well, then, do you act also. The evil +consists in the impunity of the conspirators of the 10th of March; the +evil is in anarchy; the evil is in the existence of the authorities of +Paris--authorities striving at once for gain and dominion. Citizens, there +is yet time; you may save the republic and your compromised glory. I +propose to abolish the Paris authorities, to replace within twenty-four +hours the municipality by the presidents of the sections, to assemble the +convention at Bourges with the least possible delay, and to transmit this +decree to the departments by extraordinary couriers." The Mountain was +surprised for a moment by Guadet's motion. Had his measures been at once +adopted, there would have been an end to the domination of the commune, +and to the projects of the conspirators; but it is also probable that the +agitation of parties would have brought on a civil war, that the +convention would have been dissolved by the assembly at Bourges, that all +centre of action would have been destroyed, and that the revolution would +not have been sufficiently strong to contend against internal struggles +and the attacks of Europe. This was what the moderate party in the +assembly feared. Dreading anarchy if the career of the commune was not +stopped, and counter-revolution if the multitude were too closely kept +down, its aim was to maintain the balance between the two extremes of the +convention. This party comprised the committees of general safety and of +public safety. It was directed by Barrere, who, like all men of upright +intentions but weak characters, advocated moderation so long as fear did +not make him an instrument of cruelty and tyranny. Instead of Guadet's +decisive measures, he proposed to nominate an extraordinary commission of +twelve members, deputed to inquire into the conduct of the municipality; +to seek out the authors of the plots against the national representatives, +and to secure their persons. This middle course was adopted; but it left +the commune in existence, and the commune was destined to triumph over the +convention. + +The Commission of Twelve threw the members of the commune into great alarm +by its inquiries. It discovered a new conspiracy, which was to be put into +execution on the 22nd of May, and arrested some of the conspirators, and +among others, Hebert, the deputy recorder, author of _Pere Duchesne_, who +was taken in the very bosom of the municipality. The commune, at first +astounded, began to take measures of defence. From that moment, not +conspiracy, but insurrection was the order of the day. The general +council, encouraged by the Mountain, surrounded itself with the agitators +of the capital; it circulated a report that the Twelve wished to purge the +convention, and to substitute a counter-revolutionary tribunal for that +which had acquitted Marat. The Jacobins, the Cordeliers, the sections sat +permanently. On the 26th of May, the agitation became perceptible; on the +27th; it was sufficiently decided to induce the commune to open the +attack. It accordingly appeared before the convention and demanded the +liberation of Hebert and the suppression of the Twelve; it was accompanied +by the deputies of the sections, who expressed the same desire, and the +hall was surrounded by a large mob. The section of the City even presumed +to require that the Twelve should be brought before the revolutionary +tribunal. Isnard, president of the assembly, replied in a solemn tone: +"Listen to what I am about to say. If ever by one of those insurrections, +of such frequent recurrence since the 10th of March, and of which the +magistrates have never apprised the assembly, a hostile hand be raised +against the national representatives, I declare to you in the name of all +France, Paris will be destroyed. Yes, universal France would rise to +avenge such a crime, and soon it would be matter of doubt on which side of +the Seine Paris had stood." This reply became the signal for great tumult. +"And I declare to you," exclaimed Danton, "that so much impudence begins +to be intolerable; we will resist you." Then turning to the Right, he +added: "No truce between the Mountain and the cowards who wished to save +the tyrant." + +The utmost confusion now reigned in the hall. The strangers' galleries +vociferated denunciations of the Right; the Mountain broke forth into +menaces; every moment deputations arrived without, and the convention was +surrounded by an immense multitude. A few sectionaries of the Mail and of +the Butte-des-Moulins, commanded by Raffet, drew up in the passages and +avenues to defend it. The Girondists withstood, as long as they could, the +deputations and the Mountain. Threatened within, besieged without, they +would have availed themselves of this violence to arouse the indignation +of the assembly. But the minister of the interior, Garat, deprived them of +this resource. Called upon to give an account of the state of Paris, he +declared that the convention had nothing to fear; and the opinion of +Garat, who was considered impartial, and whose conciliatory turn of mind +involved him in equivocal proceedings, emboldened the members of the +Mountain. Isnard was obliged to resign the chair, which was taken by +Herault de Sechelles, a sign of victory for the Mountain. The new +president replied to the petitioners, whom Isnard had hitherto kept in the +background. "The power of reason and the power of the people are the same +thing. You demand from us a magistrate and justice. The representatives of +the people will give you both." It was now very late; the Right was +discouraged, some of its members had left. The petitioners had moved from +the bar to the seats of the representatives, and there, mixed up with the +Mountain, with outcry and disorder, they voted, all together, for the +dismissal of the Twelve, and the liberation of the prisoners. It was at +half-past twelve, amidst the applause of the galleries and the people +outside, that this decree was passed. + +It would, perhaps, have been wise on the part of the Girondists, since +they were really not the strongest party, to have made no recurrence to +this matter. The movement of the preceding day would have had no other +result than the suppression of the Twelve, if other causes had not +prolonged it. But animosity had attained such a height, that it had become +necessary to bring the quarrel to an issue; since the two parties could +not endure each other, the only alternative was for them to fight; they +must needs go on from victory to defeat, and from defeat to victory, +growing more and more excited every day, until the stronger finally +triumphed over the weaker party. Next day, the Right regained its position +in the convention, and declared the decree of the preceding day illegally +passed, in tumult and under compulsion, and the commission was re- +established. "You yesterday," said Danton, "did a great act of justice; +but I declare to you, if the commission retains the tyrannical power it +has hitherto exercised; if the magistrates of the people are not restored +to their functions; if good citizens are again exposed to arbitrary +arrest; then, after having proved to you that we surpass our enemies in +prudence, in wisdom, we shall surpass them in audacity and revolutionary +vigour." Danton feared to commence the attack; he dreaded the triumph of +the Mountain as much as he did that of the Girondists: he accordingly +sought, by turns, to anticipate the 31st of May, and to moderate its +results. But he was reduced to join his own party during the conflict, and +to remain silent after the victory. + +The agitation, which had been a little allayed by the suppression of the +Twelve, became threatening at the news of their restoration. The benches +of the sections and popular societies resounded with invectives, with +cries of danger, with calls to insurrection. Hebert, having quitted his +prison, reappeared at the commune. A crown was placed on his brow, which +he transferred to the bust of Brutus, and then rushed to the Jacobins to +demand vengeance on the Twelve. Robespierre, Marat, Danton, Chaumette, and +Pache then combined in organising a new movement. The insurrection was +modelled on that of the 10th of August. The 29th of May was occupied in +preparing the public mind. On the 30th, members of the electoral college, +commissioners of the clubs, and deputies of sections assembled at the +Eveche, declared themselves in a state of insurrection, dissolved the +general council of the commune, and immediately reconstituted it, making +it take a new oath; Henriot received the title of commandant-general of +the armed force, and the sans-culottes were assigned forty sous a day +while under arms. These preparations made, early on the morning of the +31st the tocsin rang, the drums beat to arms, the troops were assembled, +and all marched towards the convention, which for some time past had held +its sittings at the Tuileries. + +The assembly had met at the sound of the tocsin. The minister of the +interior, the administrators of the department, and the mayor of Paris had +been summoned, in succession, to the bar. Garat had given an account of +the agitated state of Paris, but appeared to apprehend no dangerous +result. Lhuillier, in the name of the department, declared it was only a +_moral_ insurrection. Pache, the mayor, appeared last, and informed them, +with an hypocritical air, of the operations of the insurgents; he +pretended that he had employed every means to maintain order; assured them +that the guard of the convention had been doubled, and that he had +prohibited the firing of the alarm cannon; yet, at the same moment, the +cannon was heard in the distance. The surprise and excitement of the +assembly were extreme. Cambon exhorted the members to union, and called +upon the people in the strangers' gallery to be silent. "Under these +extraordinary circumstances," said he, "the only way of frustrating the +designs of the malcontents is to make the national convention respected." +"I demand," said Thuriot, "the immediate abolition of the Commission of +Twelve." "And I," cried Tallien, "that the sword of the law may strike the +conspirators who profane the very bosom of the convention." The +Girondists, on their part, required that the audacious Henriot should be +called to the bar, for having fired the alarm cannon without the +permission of the convention. "If a struggle take place," said Vergniaud, +"be the success what it may, it will be the ruin of the republic. Let +every member swear to die at his post." The entire assembly rose, +applauding the proposition. Danton rushed to the tribune: "Break up the +Commission of Twelve! you have heard the thunder of the cannon. If you are +politic legislators, far from blaming the outbreak of Paris, you will turn +it to the profit of the republic, by reforming your own errors, by +dismissing your commission.--I address those," he continued, on hearing +murmurs around him, "who possess some political talent, not dullards, who +can only act and speak in obedience to their passions.--Consider the +grandeur of your aim; it is to save the people from their foes, from the +aristocrats, to save them from their own blind fury. If a few men, really +dangerous, no matter to what party they belong, should then seek to +prolong a movement, become useless, by your act of justice, Paris itself +will hurl them back into their original insignificance. I calmly, simply, +and deliberately demand the suppression of the commission, on political +grounds." The commission was violently attacked on one side, feebly +defended on the other; Barrere and the committee of public safety, who +were its creators proposed its suppression, in order to restore peace, and +to save the assembly from being left to the mercy of the multitude. The +moderate portion of the Mountain were about to adopt this concession, when +the deputations arrived. The members of the department, those of the +municipality, and the commissaries of sections, being admitted to the bar, +demanded not merely the suppression of the Twelve, but also the punishment +of the moderate members, and of all the Girondist chiefs. + +The Tuileries was completely blockaded by the insurgents; and the presence +of their commissaries in the convention emboldened the extreme Mountain, +who were desirous of destroying the Girondist party. Robespierre, their +leader and orator, spoke: "Citizens, let us not lose this day in vain +clamours and unnecessary measures; this is, perhaps, the last day in which +patriotism will combat with tyranny. Let the faithful representatives of +the people combine to secure their happiness." He urged the convention to +follow the course pointed out by the petitioners, rather than that +proposed by the committee of public safety. He was thundering forth a +lengthened declamation against his adversaries, when Vergniaud interfered: +"Conclude this!"--"I am about to conclude, and against you! Against you, +who, after the revolution of the 10th of August, sought to bring to the +scaffold those who had effected it. Against you, who have never ceased in +a course which involved the destruction of Paris. Against you, who desired +to save the tyrant. Against you, who conspired with Dumouriez. Against +you, who fiercely persecuted the same patriots whose heads Dumouriez +demanded. Against you, whose criminal vengeance provoked those cries of +vengeance which you seek to make a crime in your victims. I conclude my +conclusion is--I propose a decree of accusation against all the +accomplices of Dumouriez, and against those who are indicated by the +petitioners." Notwithstanding the violence of this outbreak, Robespierre's +party were not victorious. The insurrection had only been directed against +the Twelve, and the committee of public safety, who proposed their +suppression prevailed over the commune. The assembly adopted the decree of +Barrere, which dissolved the Twelve, placed the public force in permanent +requisition, and, to satisfy the petitioners, directed the committee of +public safety to inquire into the conspiracies which they denounced. As +soon as the multitude surrounding the assembly was informed of these +measures, it received them with applause, and dispersed. + +But the conspirators were not disposed to rest content with this half +triumph: they had gone further on the 30th of May than on the 29th; and on +the 2nd of June they went further than on the 31st of May. The +insurrection, from being moral, as they termed it, became personal; that +is to say, it was no longer directed against a power, but against the +deputies; it passed from Danton and the Mountain, to Robespierre, Marat, +and the commune. On the evening of the 31st, a Jacobin deputy said: "We +have had but half the game yet; we must complete it, and not allow the +people to cool." Henriot offered to place the armed force at the +disposition of the club. The insurrectional committee openly took up its +quarters near the convention. The whole of the 1st of June was devoted to +the preparation of a great movement. The commune wrote to the sections: +"Citizens, remain under arms: the danger of the country renders this a +supreme law." In the evening, Marat, who was the chief author of the 2nd +of June, repaired to the Hotel de Ville, ascended the clock-tower himself, +and rang the tocsin; he called upon the members of the council not to +separate till they had obtained a decree of accusation against the +traitors and the "statesmen." A few deputies assembled at the convention, +and the conspirators came to demand the decree against the proscribed +parties; but they were not yet sufficiently strong to enforce it from the +convention. + +The whole night was spent in making preparations; the tocsin rang, drums +beat to arms, the people gathered together. On Sunday morning, about eight +o'clock, Henriot presented himself to the general council, and declared to +his accomplices, in the name of the insurrectionary people, that they +would not lay down their arms until they had obtained the arrest of the +conspiring deputies. He then placed himself at the head of the vast crowd +assembled in the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, harangued them, and gave the +signal for their departure. It was nearly ten o'clock when the insurgents +reached the Place du Carrousel. Henriot posted round the chateau bands of +the most devoted men, and the convention was soon surrounded by eighty +thousand men, the greater part ignorant of what was required of them and +more disposed to defend than to attack the deputation. + +The majority of the proscribed members had not proceeded to the assembly. +A few, courageous to the last, had come to brave the storm for the last +time. As soon as the sitting commenced, the intrepid Lanjuinais ascended +the tribune. "I demand," said he, "to speak respecting the general call to +arms now beating throughout Paris." He was immediately interrupted by +cries of "Down! down! He wants civil war! He wants a counter-revolution! +He calumniates Paris! He insults the people." Despite the threats, the +insults, the clamours of the Mountain and the galleries, Lanjuinais +denounced the projects of the commune and of the malcontents; his courage +rose with the danger. "You accuse us," he said, "of calumniating Paris! +Paris is pure; Paris is good; Paris is oppressed by tyrants who thirst for +blood and dominion." These words were the signal for the most violent +tumult; several Mountain deputies rushed to the tribune to tear Lanjuinais +from it; but he, clinging firmly to it, exclaimed, in accents of the most +lofty courage, "I demand the dissolution of all the revolutionist +authorities in Paris. I demand that all they have done during the last +three days may be declared null. I demand that all who would arrogate to +themselves a new authority contrary to law, be placed without the law, and +that every citizen be at liberty to punish them." He had scarcely +concluded, when the insurgent petitioners came to demand his arrest, and +that of his colleagues. "Citizens," said they, "the people are weary of +seeing their happiness still postponed; they leave it once more in your +hands; save them, or we declare that they will save themselves." + +The Right moved the order of the day on the petition of the insurgents, +and the convention accordingly proceeded to the previous question. The +petitioners immediately withdrew in a menacing attitude; the strangers +quitted the galleries; cries to arms were shouted, and a great tumult was +heard without: "Save the people!" cried one of the Mountain. "Save your +colleagues, by decreeing their provisional arrest." "No, no!" replied the +Right, and even a portion of the Left. "We will all share their fate!" +exclaimed La Reveillere-Lepaux. The committee of public safety, called +upon to make a report, terrified at the magnitude of the danger, proposed, +as on the 31st of May, a measure apparently conciliatory, to satisfy the +insurgents, without entirely sacrificing the proscribed members. "The +committee," said Barrere, "appeal to the generosity and patriotism of the +accused members. It asks of them the suspension of their power, +representing to them that this alone can put an end to the divisions which +afflict the republic, can alone restore to it peace." A few among them +adopted the proposition. Isnard at once gave in his resignation; +Lanthenas, Dussaulx, and Fauchet followed his example; Lanjuinais would +not. He said: "I have hitherto, I believe, shown some courage; expect not +from me either suspension or resignation. When the ancients," he +continued, amidst violent interruption, "prepared a sacrifice, they +crowned the victim with flowers and chaplets, as they conducted it to the +altar; but they did not insult it." Barbaroux was as firm as Lanjuinais. +"I have sworn," he said, "to die at my post; I will keep my oath." The +conspirators of the Mountain themselves protested against the proposition +of the committee. Marat urged that those who make sacrifices should be +pure; and Billaud-Varennes demanded the trial of the Girondists, not their +suspension. + +While this was going on, Lacroix, a deputy of the Mountain, rushed into +the house, and to the tribune, and declared that he had been insulted at +the door, that he had been refused egress, and that the convention was no +longer free. Many of the Mountain expressed their indignation at Henriot +and his troops. Danton said it was necessary vigorously to avenge this +insult to the national majesty. Barrere proposed to the convention to +present themselves to the people. "Representatives," said he, "vindicate +your liberty; suspend your sitting; cause the bayonets that surround you +to be lowered." The whole convention arose, and set forth in procession, +preceded by its sergeants, and headed by the president, who was covered, +in token of his affliction. On arriving at a door on the Place du +Carrousel, they found there Henriot on horseback, sabre in hand. "What do +the people require?" said the president, Herault de Sechelles; "the +convention is wholly engaged in promoting their happiness." "Herault," +replied Henriot, "the people have not risen to hear phrases; they require +twenty-four traitors to be given up to them." "Give us all up!" cried +those who surrounded the president. Henriot then turned to his people, and +exclaimed: "Cannoneers, to your guns." Two pieces were directed upon the +convention, who, retiring to the gardens, sought an outlet at various +points, but found all the issues guarded. The soldiers were everywhere +under arms. Marat ran through the ranks, encouraging and exciting them. +"No weakness," said he; "do not quit your posts till they have given them +up." The convention then returned within the house, overwhelmed with a +sense of their powerlessness, convinced of the inutility of their efforts, +and entirely subdued. The arrest of the proscribed members was no longer +opposed. Marat, the true dictator of the assembly, imperiously decided the +fate of its members. "Dussaulx," said he, "is an old twaddler, incapable +of leading a party; Lathenas is a poor creature, unworthy of a thought; +Ducos is merely chargeable with a few absurd notions, and is not at all a +man to become a counter-revolutionary leader. I require that these be +struck out of the list, and their names replaced by that of Valaze." These +names were accordingly struck out, and that of Valaze substituted, and the +list thus altered was agreed to, scarcely one half of the assembly taking +part in the vote. + +These are the names of the illustrious men proscribed: the Girondists +Gensonne, Guadet, Brissot, Gorsas, Petion, Vergniaud, Salles, Barbaroux, +Chambon, Buzot, Birotteau, Lidon, Rabaud, Lasource, Lanjuinais, +Grangeneuve, Lehardy, Lesage, Louvet, Valaze, Lebrun, minister of foreign +affairs, Clavieres, minister of taxes; and the members of the Council of +Twelve, Kervelegan, Gardien, Rabaud Saint-Etienne, Boileau, Bertrand, +Vigee, Molleveau, Henri La Riviere, Gomaire, and Bergoing. The convention +placed them under arrest at their own houses, and under the protection of +the people. The order for keeping the assembly itself prisoners was at +once withdrawn, and the multitude dispersed, but from that moment the +convention ceased to be free. + +Thus fell the Gironde party, a party rendered illustrious by great talents +and great courage, a party which did honour to the young republic by its +horror of bloodshed, its hatred of crime and anarchy, its love of order, +justice, and liberty; a party unfitly placed between the middle class, +whose revolution it had combated, and the multitude, whose government it +rejected. Condemned to inaction, it could only render illustrious certain +defeat, by a courageous struggle and a glorious death. At this period, its +fate might readily be foreseen; it had been driven from post to post; from +the Jacobins by the invasion of the Mountain; from the commune by the +outbreak of Petion; from the ministry by the retirement of Roland and his +colleagues; from the army by the defection of Dumouriez. The convention +alone remained to it, there it threw up its intrenchments, there it +fought, and there it fell. Its enemies employed against it, in turn, +insurrection and conspiracy. The conspiracies led to the creation of the +Commission of Twelve, which seemed to give a momentary advantage to the +Gironde, but which only excited its adversaries the more violently against +it. These aroused the people, and took from the Girondists, first, their +authority, by destroying the Twelve; then, their political existence, by +proscribing their leaders. + +The consequences of this disastrous event did not answer the expectations +of any one. The Dantonists thought that the dissensions of parties were at +an end: civil war broke out. The moderate members of the committee of +public safety thought that the convention would resume all its power: it +was utterly subdued. The commune thought that the 31st of May would secure +to it domination; domination fell to Robespierre, and to a few men devoted +to his fortune, or to the principle of extreme democracy. Lastly, there +was another party to be added to the parties defeated, and thenceforth +hostile; and as after the 10th of August the republic had been opposed to +the constitutionalists, after the 31st of May the Reign of Terror was +opposed to the moderate party of the republic. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE 2ND OF JUNE, 1793, TO APRIL, 1794 + + +It was to be presumed that the Girondists would not bow to their defeat, +and that the 31st of May would be the signal for the insurrection of the +departments against the Mountain and the commune of Paris. This was the +last trial left them to make, and they attempted it. But, in this decisive +measure, there was seen the same want of union which had caused their +defeat in the assembly. It is doubtful whether the Girondists would have +triumphed, had they been united, and especially whether their triumph +would have saved the revolution. How could they have done with just laws +what the Mountain effected by violent measures? How could they have +conquered foreign foes without fanaticism, restrained parties without the +aid of terror, fed the multitude without a _maximum_, and supplied the +armies without requisition. If the 31st of May had had a different result, +what happened at a much later period would probably have taken place +immediately, namely, a gradual abatement of the revolutionary movement, +increased attacks on the part of Europe, a general resumption of +hostilities by all parties, the days of Prairial, without power to drive +back the multitude; the days of Vendemiaire, without power to repel the +royalists; the invasion of the allies, and, according to the policy of the +times, the partition of France. The republic was not sufficiently powerful +to meet so many attacks as it did after the reaction of Thermidor. + +However this may be, the Girondists who ought to have remained quiet or +fought all together, did not do so, and, after the 2nd of June, all the +moderate men of the party remained under the decree of arrest: the others +escaped. Vergniaud, Gensonne, Ducos, Fonfrede, etc., were among the first; +Petion, Barbaroux, Guadet, Louvet, Buzot, and Lanjuinais, among the +latter. They repaired to Evreux, in the department de l'Eure, where Buzot +had much influence, and thence to Caen, in Calvados. These made this town +the centre of the insurrection. Brittany soon joined them. The insurgents, +under the name of the _assembly of the departments assembled at Caen_, +formed an army, appointed general Wimpfen commander, arrested Romme and +Prieur de la Marne, who were members of the Mountain and commissaries of +the convention, and prepared to march on Paris. From there, a young, +beautiful, and courageous woman, Charlotte Corday, went to punish Marat, +the principal author of the 31st of May, and the 2nd of June. She hoped to +save the republic by sacrificing herself to its cause. But tyranny did not +rest with one man; it belonged to a party, and to the violent situation of +the republic. Charlotte Corday, after executing her generous but vain +design, died with unchanging calmness, modest courage, and the +satisfaction of having done well. [Footnote: The following are a few of +the replies of this heroic girl before the revolutionary tribunal:--"What +were your intentions in killing Marat?"--"To put an end to the troubles of +France."--"Is it long since you conceived this project?"--"Since the +proscription of the deputies of the people on the 31st of May."--"You +learned then by the papers that Marat was a friend of anarchy?"--"Yes, I +knew he was perverting France. I have killed," she added, raising her +voice, "a man to save a thousand; a villain, to save the innocent; a wild +beast, to give tranquility to my country. I was a republican before the +revolution, and I have never been without energy."] But Marat, after his +assassination, became a greater object of enthusiasm with the people than +he had been while living. He was invoked on all the public squares; his +bust was placed in all the popular societies, and the convention was +obliged to grant him the honours of the Pantheon. + +At the same time Lyons arose, Marseilles and Bordeaux took arms, and more +than sixty departments joined the insurrection. This attack soon led to a +general rising among all parties, and the royalists for the most part took +advantage of the movement which the Girondists had commenced. They sought, +especially, to direct the insurrection of Lyons, in order to make it the +centre of the movement in the south. This city was strongly attached to +the ancient order of things. Its manufactures of silver and gold and +silken embroidery, and its trade in articles of luxury, made it dependent +on the upper classes. It therefore declared at an early period against a +social change, which destroyed its former connexions, and ruined its +manufactures, by destroying the nobility and clergy. Lyons, accordingly, +in 1790, even under the constituent assembly, when the emigrant princes +were in that neighbourhood, at the court of Turin, had made attempts at a +rising. These attempts, directed by priests and nobles, had been +repressed, but the spirit remained the same. There, as elsewhere, after +the 10th of August, men had wished to bring about the revolution of the +multitude, and to establish its government. Chalier, the fanatical +imitator of Marat, was at the head of the Jacobins, the sans-culottes, and +the municipality of Lyons. His audacity increased after the massacres of +September and the 21st of January. Yet nothing had as yet been decided +between the lower republican class, and the middle royalist class, the one +having its seat of power in the municipality, and the other in the +sections. But the disputes became greater towards the end of May; they +fought, and the sections carried the day. The municipality was besieged, +and taken by assault. Chalier, who had fled, was apprehended and executed. +The sections, not as yet daring to throw off the yoke of the convention, +endeavoured to excuse themselves on the score of the necessity of arming +themselves, because the Jacobins and the members of the corporation had +forced them to do so. The convention, which could only save itself by +means of daring, losing everything if it yielded, would listen to nothing. +Meanwhile the insurrection of Calvados became known, and the people of +Lyons, thus encouraged, no longer feared to raise the standard of revolt. +They put their town in a state of defence; they raised fortifications, +formed an army of twenty thousand men, received emigrants among them, +entrusted the command of their forces to the royalist Precy and the +marquis de Virieux, and concerted their operations with the king of +Sardinia. + +The revolt of Lyons was so much the more to be feared by the convention, +as its central position gave it the support of the south, which was in +arms, while there was also a rising in the west. At Marseilles, the news +of the 31st of May had aroused the partisans of the Girondists: Rebecqui +repaired thither in haste. The sections were assembled; the members of the +revolutionary tribunal were outlawed; the two representatives, Baux and +Antiboul, were arrested, and an army of ten thousand men raised to advance +on Paris. These measures were the work of the royalists, who, there as +elsewhere, only waiting for an opportunity to revive their party, had at +first assumed a republican appearance, but now acted in their own name. +They had secured the sections; and the movement was no longer effected in +favour of the Girondists, but for the counter-revolutionists. Once in a +state of revolt, the party whose opinions are the most violent, and whose +aim is the clearest, supplants its allies. Rebecqui, perceiving this new +turn of the insurrection, threw himself in despair into the port of +Marseilles. The insurgents took the road to Lyons; their example was +rapidly imitated at Toulon, Nimes, Montauban, and the principal towns in +the south. In Calvados, the insurrection had had the same royalist +character, since the marquis de Puisaye, at the head of some troops, had +introduced himself into the ranks of the Girondists. The towns of +Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest, and L'Orient, were favourable to the persons +proscribed on the 2nd of June, and a few openly joined them; but they were +of no great service, because they were restrained by the Jacobin party, or +by the necessity of fighting the royalists of the west. + +The latter, during this almost general rising of the departments, +continued to extend their enterprises. After their first victories, the +Vendeans seized on Bressuire, Argenton, and Thouars. Entirely masters of +their own country, they proposed getting possession of the frontiers, and +opening a way into revolutionary France, as well as communications with +England. On the 6th of June, the Vendean army, composed of forty thousand +men, under Cathelineau, Lescure, Stofflet, and La Rochejaquelin, marched +on Saumur, which it took by storm. It then prepared to attack and capture +Nantes, to secure the possession of its own country, and become master of +the course of the Loire. Cathelineau, at the head of the Vendean troops, +left a garrison in Saumur, took Angers, crossed the Loire, pretended to +advance upon Tours and Le Mans, and then rapidly threw himself upon +Nantes, which he attacked on the right bank, while Charette was to attack +it on the left. + +Everything seemed combined for the overthrow of the convention. Its armies +were beaten on the north and on the Pyrenees, while it was threatened by +the people of Lyons in the centre, those of Marseilles in the south, the +Girondists in one part of the west, the Vendeans in the other, and while +twenty thousand Piedmontese were invading France. The military reaction +which, after the brilliant campaigns of Argonne and Belgium, had taken +place, chiefly owing to the disagreement between Dumouriez and the +Jacobins, between the army and the government, had manifested itself in a +most disastrous manner since the defection of the commander-in-chief. +There was no longer unity of operation, enthusiasm in the troops, or +agreement between the convention, occupied with its quarrels, and the +discouraged generals. The remains of Dumouriez's army had assembled at the +camp at Famars, under the command of Dampierre; but they had been obliged +to retire, after a defeat, under the cannon of Bouchain. Dampierre was +killed. The frontier from Dunkirk to Givet was threatened by superior +forces. Custine was promptly called from the Moselle to the army of the +north, but his presence did not restore affairs. Valenciennes, the key to +France, was taken; Conde shared the same fate; the army, driven from +position to position, retired beyond the Scarpe, before Arras, the last +post between the Scarpe and Paris. Mayence, on the other side, sorely +pressed by the enemy and by famine, gave up all hope of being assisted by +the army of the Moselle, reduced to inaction; and despairing of being able +to hold out long, capitulated. Lastly, the English Government, seeing that +Paris and the departments were distressed by famine, after the 31st of May +and the 2nd of June, pronounced all the ports of France in a state of +blockade, and that all neutral ships attempting to bring a supply of +provisions would be confiscated. This measure, new to the annals of +history, and destined to starve an entire people, three months afterwards +originated the law of the _maximum_. The situation of the republic could +not be worse. + +The convention was, as it were, taken by surprise. It was disorganized, +because emerging from a struggle, and because the conquerors had not had +time to establish themselves. After the 2nd of June, before the danger +became so pressing both on the frontiers and in the departments, the +Mountain had sent commissioners in every direction, and immediately turned +its attention to the constitution, which had so long been expected, and +from which it entertained great hopes. The Girondists had wished to decree +it before the 21st of January, in order to save Louis XVI., by +substituting legal order for the revolutionary state of things; they +returned to the subject previous to the 31st of May, in order to prevent +their own ruin. But the Mountain, on two occasions, had diverted the +assembly from this discussion by two coups d'etat, the trial of Louis +XVI., and the elimination of the Gironde. Masters of the field, they now +endeavoured to secure the republicans by decreeing the constitution. +Herault de Sechelles was the legislator of the Mountain, as Condorcet had +been of the Gironde. In a few days, this new constitution was adopted in +the convention, and submitted to the approval of the primary assemblies. +It is easy to conceive its nature, with the ideas that then prevailed +respecting democratic government. The constituent assembly was considered +as aristocratical: the law it had established was regarded as a violation +of the rights of the people, because it imposed conditions for the +exercise of political rights; because it did not recognise the most +absolute equality; because it had deputies and magistrates appointed by +electors, and these electors by the people; because, in some cases, it put +limits to the national sovereignty, by excluding a portion of active +citizens from high public functions, and the proletarians from the +functions of acting citizens; finally, because, instead of fixing on +population as the only basis of political rights, it combined it, in all +its operations, with property. The constitutional law of 1793 established +the pure regime of the multitude: it not only recognised the people as the +source of all power, but also delegated the exercise of it to the people; +an unlimited sovereignty; extreme mobility in the magistracy; direct +elections, in which every one could vote; primary assemblies, that could +meet without convocation, at given times, to elect representatives and +control their acts; a national assembly, to be renewed annually, and +which, properly speaking, was only a committee of the primary assemblies; +such was this constitution. As it made the multitude govern, and as it +entirely disorganized authority, it was impracticable at all times; but +especially in a moment of general war. The Mountain, instead of extreme +democracy, needed a stern dictatorship. The constitution was suspended as +soon as made, and the revolutionary government strengthened and maintained +until peace was achieved. + +Both during the discussion of the constitution and its presentation to the +primary assemblies, the Mountain learned the danger which threatened them. +These daring men, having three or four parties to put down in the +interior, several kinds of civil war to terminate, the disasters of the +armies to repair, and all Europe to repel, were not alarmed at their +position. The representatives of the forty-four thousand municipalities +came to accept the constitution. Admitted to the bar of the assembly, +after making known the assent of the people, they required _the arrest of +all suspected persons, and a levy en masse of the people_. "Well," +exclaimed Danton, "let us respond to their wishes. The deputies of the +primary assemblies have just taken the initiative among us, in the way of +inspiring terror! I demand that the convention, which ought now to be +penetrated with a sense of its dignity, for it has just been invested with +the entire national power, I demand that it do now, by a decree, invest +the primary assemblies with the right of supplying the state with arms, +provisions, and ammunition; of making an appeal to the people, of exciting +the energy of citizens, and of raising four hundred thousand men. It is +with cannon-balls that we must declare the constitution to our foes! Now +is the time to take the last great oath, that we will destroy tyranny, or +perish!" This oath was immediately taken by all the deputies and citizens +present. A few days after, Barrere, in the name of the committee of public +safety, which was composed of revolutionary members, and which became the +centre of operations and the government of the assembly, proposed measures +still more general: "Liberty," said he, "has become the creditor of every +citizen; some owe her their industry; others their fortune; these their +counsel; those their arms; all owe her their blood. Accordingly, all the +French, of every age and of either sex, are summoned by their country to +defend liberty; all faculties, physical or moral; all means, political or +commercial; all metal, all the elements are her tributaries. Let each +maintain his post in the national and military movement about to take +place. The young men will fight; the married men will forge arms, +transport the baggage and artillery, and prepare provisions; the women +will make tents and clothes for the soldiers, and exercise their +hospitable care in the asylums of the wounded; children will make lint +from old linen; and the aged, resuming the mission they discharged among +the ancients, shall cause themselves to be carried to the public places, +where they shall excite the courage of the young warriors, and propagate +the doctrine of hatred to kings, and the unity of the republic. National +buildings shall be converted into barracks, public squares into workshops; +the ground of the cellars will serve for the preparation of saltpetre; all +saddle horses shall be placed in requisition for the cavalry; all draught +horses for the artillery; fowling-pieces, pistols, swords and pikes, +belonging to individuals, shall be employed in the service of the +interior. The republic being but a large city, in a state of necessity, +France must be converted into a vast camp." + +The measures proposed by Barrere were at once decreed. All Frenchmen, from +eighteen to five-and-twenty, took arms, the armies were recruited by +levies of men, and supported by levies of provisions. The republic had +very soon fourteen armies, and twelve hundred thousand soldiers. France, +while it became a camp and a workshop for the republicans, became at the +same time a prison for those who did not accept the republic. While +marching against avowed enemies, it was thought necessary to make sure of +secret foes, and the famous law, _des suspects_, was passed. All +foreigners were arrested, on the ground of their hostile machinations, and +the partisans of constitutional monarchy and a limited republic were +imprisoned, to be kept close, until the peace was effected. At the time, +this was so far only a reasonable measure of precaution. The bourgeoisie, +the mercantile people, and the middle classes, furnished prisoners after +the 31st of May, as the nobility and clergy had done after the 10th of +August. A revolutionary army of six thousand soldiers and a thousand +artillerymen was formed for the interior. Every indigent citizen was +allowed forty sous a day, to enable him to be present at the sectionary +meetings. Certificates of citizenship were delivered, in order to make +sure of the opinions of all who co-operated in the revolutionary movement. +The functionaries were placed under the surveillance of the clubs, a +revolutionary committee was formed in each section, and thus they prepared +to face the enemy on all sides, both abroad and at home. + +The insurgents in Calvados were easily suppressed; at the very first +skirmish at Vernon, the insurgent troops fled. Wimpfen endeavoured to +rally them in vain. The moderate class, those who had taken up the defence +of the Girondists, displayed little ardour or activity. When the +constitution was accepted by the other departments, it saw the opportunity +for admitting that it had been in error, when it thought it was taking +arms against a mere factious minority. This retractation was made at Caen, +which had been the headquarters of the revolt. The Mountain commissioners +did not sully this first victory with executions. General Carteaux, on the +other hand, marched at the head of some troops against the sectionary army +of the south; he defeated its force, pursued it to Marseilles, entered the +town after it, and Provence would have been brought into subjection like +Calvados, if the royalists, who had taken refuge at Toulon, after their +defeat, had not called in the English to their aid, and placed in their +hands this key to France. Admiral Hood entered the town in the name of +Louis XVII., whom he proclaimed king, disarmed the fleet, sent for eight +thousand Spaniards by sea, occupied the surrounding forts, and forced +Carteaux, who was advancing against Toulon, to fall back on Marseilles. + +Notwithstanding this check, the conventionalists succeeded in isolating +the insurrection, and this was a great point. The Mountain commissioners +had made their entry into the rebel capitals; Robert Lindet into Caen; +Tallien into Bordeaux; Barras and Freron into Marseilles. Only two towns +remained to be taken--Toulon and Lyons. + +A simultaneous attack from the south, west, and centre was no longer +apprehended, and in the interior the enemy was only on the defensive. +Lyons was besieged by Kellermann, general of the army of the Alps; three +corps pressed the town on all sides. The veteran soldiers of the Alps, the +revolutionary battalions and the newly-levied troops, reinforced the +besiegers every day. The people of Lyons defended themselves with all the +courage of despair. At first, they relied on the assistance of the +insurgents of the south; but these having been repulsed by Carteaux, the +Lyonnais placed their last hope in the army of Piedmont, which attempted a +diversion in their favour, but was beaten by Kellermann. Pressed still +more energetically, they saw their first positions carried. Famine began +to be felt, and courage forsook them. The royalist leaders, convinced of +the inutility of longer resistance, left the town, and the republican army +entered the walls, where they awaited the orders of the convention. A few +months after, Toulon itself, defended by veteran troops and formidable +fortifications, fell into the power of the republicans. The battalions of +the army of Italy, reinforced by those which the taking of Lyons left +disposable, pressed the place closely. After repeated attacks and +prodigies of skill and valour, they made themselves masters of it, and the +capture of Toulon finished what that of Lyons had begun. + +Everywhere the convention was victorious. The Vendeans had failed in their +attempt upon Nantes, after having lost many men, and their general-in- +chief, Cathelineau. This attack put an end to the aggressive and +previously promising movement of the Vendean insurrection. The royalists +repassed the Loire, abandoned Saumur, and resumed their former +cantonments. They were, however, still formidable; and the republicans, +who pursued them, were again beaten in La Vendee. General Biron, who had +succeeded general Berruyer, unsuccessfully continued the war with small +bodies of troops; his moderation and defective system of attack caused him +to be replaced by Canclaux and Rossignol, who were not more fortunate than +he. There were two leaders, two armies, and two centres of operation--the +one at Nantes, and the other at Saumur, placed under contrary influences. +General Canclaux could not agree with general Rossignol, nor the moderate +Mountain commissioner Philippeaux with Bourbotte, the commissioner of the +committee of public safety; and this attempt at invasion failed like the +preceding attempts, for want of concert in plan and action. The committee +of public safety soon remedied this, by appointing one sole general-in- +chief, Lechelle, and by introducing war on a large scale into La Vendee. +This new method, aided by the garrison of Mayence, consisting of seventeen +thousand veterans, who, relieved from operations against the allied +nations after the capitulation, were employed in the interior, entirely +changed the face of the war. The royalists underwent four consecutive +defeats, two at Chatillon, two at Cholet. Lescure, Bonchamps, and d'Elbee +were mortally wounded, and the insurgents, completely beaten in Upper +Vendee, and fearing that they should be exterminated if they took refuge +in Lower Vendee, determined to leave their country to the number of eighty +thousand persons. This emigration through Brittany, which they hoped to +arouse to insurrection, became fatal to them. Repulsed before Granville, +utterly routed at Mans, they were destroyed at Savenay, and barely a few +thousand men, the wreck of this vast emigration, returned to Vendee. These +disasters, irreparable for the royalist cause, the taking of the island of +Noirmoutiers from Charette, the dispersion of the troops of that leader, +the death of La Rochejaquelin, rendered the republicans masters of the +country. The committee of public safety, thinking, not without reason, +that its enemies were beaten but not subjugated, adopted a terrible system +of extermination to prevent them from rising again. General Thurreau +surrounded Vendee with sixteen entrenched camps; twelve moveable columns, +called the _infernal columns_, overran the country in every direction, +sword and fire in hand, scoured the woods, dispersed the assemblies, and +diffused terror throughout this unhappy country. + +The foreign armies had also been driven back from the frontiers they had +invaded. After having taken Valenciennes and Conde, blockaded Maubeuge and +Le Quesnoy, the enemy advanced on Cassel, Hondschoote, and Furnes, under +the command of the duke of York. The committee of public safety, +dissatisfied with Custine, who was further regarded with suspicion as a +Girondist, superseded him by general Houchard. The enemy, hitherto +successful, was defeated at Hondschoote, and compelled to retreat. The +military reaction began with the daring measures of the committee of +public safety. Houchard himself was dismissed. Jourdan took the command of +the army of the north, gained the important victory of Watignies over the +prince of Coburg, raised the siege of Maubeuge, and resumed the offensive +on that frontier. Similar successes took place on all the others. The +immortal campaign of 1793-1794 opened. What Jourdan had done with the army +of the north, Hoche and Pichegru did with the army of the Moselle, and +Kellermann with that of the Alps. The enemy was repulsed, and kept in +check on all sides. Then took place, after the 31st of May, that which had +followed the 10th of August. The want of union between the generals and +the leaders of the assembly was removed; the revolutionary movement, which +had slackened, increased; and victories recommenced. Armies have had their +crises, as well as parties, and these crises have brought about successes +or defeat, always by the same law. + +In 1792, at the beginning of the war, the generals were +constitutionalists, and the ministers Girondists. Rochambeau, Lafayette, +and Luckner, did not at all agree with Dumouriez, Servan, Claviere, and +Roland. There was, besides, little enthusiasm in the army; it was beaten. +After the 10th of August, the Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, +Kellermann, and Dillon, replaced the constitutionalist generals. There was +unity of views, confidence, and co-operation, between the army and the +government. The catastrophe of the 10th of August augmented this energy, +by increasing the necessity for victory; and the results were the plan of +the campaign of Argonne, the victories of Valmy and Jemappes, and the +invasion of Belgium. The struggle between the Mountain and the Gironde, +between Dumouriez and the Jacobins, again created discord between the army +and government, and destroyed the confidence of the troops, who +experienced immediate and numerous reverses. There was defection on the +part of Dumouriez, as there had been withdrawal on the part of Lafayette. +After the 31st of May, which overthrew the Gironde party, after the +committee of public safety had become established, and had replaced the +Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, Houchard, and Dillon, by the +Mountain generals, Jourdan, Hoche, Pichegru, and Moreau; after it had +restored the revolutionary movement by the daring measures we have +described, the campaign of Argonne and of Belgium was renewed in that of +1794, and the genius of Carnot equalled that of Dumouriez, if it did not +surpass it. + +During this war, the committee of public safety permitted a frightful +number of executions. Armies confine themselves to slaughter in battle; it +is not so with parties, who, under violent circumstances, fearing to see +the combat renewed after the victory, secure themselves from new attacks +by inexorable rigour. The usage of all governments being to make their own +preservation a matter of right, they regard those who attack them as +enemies so long as they fight, as conspirators when they are defeated; and +thus destroy them alike by means of war and of law. + +All these views at once guided the policy of the committee of public +safety, a policy of vengeance, of terror, and of self-preservation. This +was the maxim upon which it proceeded in reference to insurgent towns: +"The name of Lyons," said Barrere, "must no longer exist. You will call it +_Ville Affranchie_, and upon the ruins of that famous city there shall be +raised a monument to attest the crime and the punishment of the enemies of +liberty. Its history shall be told in these words: '_Lyons warred against +liberty; Lyons exists no more_.'" To realise this terrible anathema, the +committee sent to this unfortunate city Collot-d'Herbois, Fouche, and +Couthon, who slaughtered the inhabitants with grape shot and demolished +its buildings. The insurgents of Toulon underwent at the hands of the +representatives, Barras and Freron, a nearly similar fate. At Caen, +Marseilles, and Bordeaux, the executions were less general and less +violent, because they were proportioned to the gravity of the +insurrection, which had not been undertaken in concert with foreign foes. + +In the interior, the dictatorial government struck at all the parties with +which it was at war, in the persons of their greatest members. The +condemnation of queen Marie-Antoinette was directed against Europe; that +of the twenty-two against the Girondists; of the wise Bailly against the +old constitutionalists; lastly, that of the duke of Orleans against +certain members of the Mountain who were supposed to have plotted his +elevation. The unfortunate widow of Louis XVI. was first sentenced to +death by this sanguinary revolutionary tribunal. The proscribed of the 2nd +of June soon followed her. She perished on the 16th of October, and the +Girondist deputies on the 31st. They were twenty-one in number: Brissot, +Vergniaud, Gensonne, Fonfrede, Ducos, Valaze, Lasource, Sillery, Gardien, +Carra, Duperret, Duprat, Fauchet, Beauvais, Duchatel, Mainvielle, Lacaze, +Boileau, Lehardy, Antiboul, and Vigee. Seventy-three of their colleagues, +who had protested against their arrest, were also imprisoned, but the +committee did not venture to inflict death upon them. + +During the debates, these illustrious prisoners displayed uniform and +serene courage. Vergniaud raised his eloquent voice for a moment, but in +vain. Valaze stabbed himself with a poignard on hearing the sentence, and +Lasource said to the judges: "I die at a time when the people have lost +their senses; you will die when they recover them." They went to execution +displaying all the stoicism of the times, singing the _Marseillaise_, and +applying it to their own case: + + "Allons, enfants de la patrie, + Le jour de gloire est arrive: + Contre nous de la tyrannie + Le couteau sanglant est leve," etc. + +Nearly all the other leaders of this party had a violent end. Salles, +Guadet, and Barbaroux, were discovered in the grottos of Saint-Emilion, +near Bordeaux, and died on the scaffold. Petion and Buzot, after wandering +about some time, committed suicide; they were found, dead in a field, half +devoured by wolves. Rabaud-Saint-Etienne was betrayed by an old friend; +Madame Roland was also condemned to death, and displayed the courage of a +Roman matron. Her husband, on hearing of her death, left his place of +concealment, and killed himself on the high road. Condorcet, outlawed soon +after the 2nd of June, was taken while endeavouring to escape, and saved +himself from the executioner's knife only by poison. Louvet, Kervelegan, +Lanjuinais, Henri La Riviere, Lesage, La Reveillere-Lepeaux, were the only +leading Girondists who, in secure retreat, awaited the end of the furious +storm. + +The revolutionary government was formed; it was proclaimed by the +convention on the 10th of October. Before the 31st of May, power had been +nowhere, neither in the ministry, nor in the commune, nor in the +convention. It was natural that power should become concentrated in this +extreme situation of affairs, and at a moment when the need for unity and +promptitude of action was deeply felt. The assembly being the most central +and extensive power, the dictatorship would as naturally become placed in +its bosom, be exercised there by the dominant faction, and in that faction +by a few men. The committee of public safety of the convention created on +the 6th of April, in order, as the name indicates, to provide for the +defence of the revolution by extraordinary measures, was in itself a +complete framework of government. Formed during the divisions of the +Mountain and the Gironde, it was composed of neutral members of the +convention till the 31st of May; and at its first renewal, of members of +the extreme Mountain. Barrere remained in it; but Robespierre acceded, and +his party dominated in it by Saint-Just, Couthon, Collot-d'Herbois, and +Billaud-Varennes. He set aside some Dantonists who still remained in it, +such as Herault de Sechelles and Robert Lindet, gained over Barrere, and +usurped the lead by assuming the direction of the public mind and of +police. His associates divided the various departments among themselves. +Saint-Just undertook the surveillance and denouncing of parties; Couthon, +the violent propositions which required to be softened in form; Billaud- +Varennes and Collot-d'Herbois directed the missions into the departments; +Carnot took the war department; Cambon, the exchequer; Prieur de la Cote- +d'Or, Prieur de la Marne, and several others, the various branches of +internal administration; and Barrere was the daily orator, the panegyrist +ever prepared, of the dictatorial committee. Below these, assisting in the +detail of the revolutionary administration, and of minor measures, was +placed the committee of general safety, composed in the same spirit as the +great committee, having, like it, twelve members, who were re-eligible +every three months, and always renewed in their office. + +The whole revolutionary power was lodged in the hands of these men. Saint- +Just, in proposing the establishment of the decemviral power until the +restoration of peace, did not conceal the motives nor the object of this +dictatorship. "You must no longer show any lenity to the enemies of the +new order of things," said he. "Liberty must triumph at any cost. In the +present circumstances of the republic, the constitution cannot be +established; it would guarantee impunity to attacks on our liberty, +because it would be deficient in the violence necessary to restrain them. +The present government is not sufficiently free to act. You are not near +enough to strike in every direction at the authors of these attacks; the +sword of the law must extend everywhere; your arm must be felt +everywhere." Thus was created that terrible power, which first destroyed +the enemies of the Mountain, then the Mountain and the Commune, and, +lastly, itself. The committee did everything in the name of the +convention, which it used as an instrument. It nominated and dismissed +generals, ministers, representatives, commissioners, judges, and juries. +It assailed factions; it took the initiative in all measures. Through its +commissioners, armies and generals were dependent upon it, and it ruled +the departments with sovereign sway. By means of the law touching +suspected persons, it disposed of men's liberties; by the revolutionary +tribunal, of men's lives; by levies and the _maximum_, of property; by +decrees of accusation in the terrified convention, of its own members. +Lastly, its dictatorship was supported by the multitude, who debated in +the clubs, ruled in the revolutionary committees: whose services it paid +by a daily stipend, and whom it fed with the _maximum_. The multitude +adhered to a system which inflamed its passions, exaggerated its +importance, assigned it the first place, and appeared to do everything +for it. + +The innovators, separated by war and by their laws from all states and +from all forms of government, determined to widen the separation. By an +unprecedented revolution they established an entirely new era; they +changed the divisions of the year, the names of the months and days; they +substituted a republican for the Christian calendar, the decade for the +week, and fixed the day of rest not on the sabbath, but on the tenth day. +The new era dated from the 22nd of September, 1792, the epoch of the +foundation of the republic. There were twelve equal months of thirty days, +which began on the 22nd of September, in the following order:-- +_Vendemiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire_, for the autumn; _Nivose, Pluviose, +Ventose_, for the winter; _Germinal, Floreal, Prairial_, for the spring; +_Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor_, for the summer. Each month had three +decades, each decade ten days, and each day was named from its order in +the decade:--_Primidi, Duodi, Tridi, Quartidi, Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, +Octidi, Nonidi, Decadi_. The surplus five days were placed at the end of +the year; they received the name of _Sans-culottides_, and were +consecrated, the first, to the festival of genius; the second, to that of +labour; the third, to that of actions; the fourth, to that of rewards; the +fifth, to that of opinion. The constitution of 1793 led to the +establishment of the republican calendar, and the republican calendar to +the abolition of Christian worship. We shall soon see the commune and the +committee of public safety each proposing a religion of its own; the +commune, the worship of reason; the committee of public safety, the +worship of the Supreme Being. But we must first mention a new struggle +between the authors of the catastrophe of the 31st of May themselves. + +The Commune and the Mountain had effected this revolution against the +Gironde, and the committee alone had benefited by it. During the five +months from June to November, the committee, having taken all the measures +of defence, had naturally become the first power in the republic. The +actual struggle being, as it were, over, the commune sought to sway the +committee, and the Mountain to throw off its yoke. The most intense +manifestation of the revolution was found in the municipal faction. With +an aim opposed to that of the committee of public safety, it desired +instead of the conventional dictatorship, the most extreme local +democracy; and instead of religion, the consecration of materialism. +Political anarchy and religious atheism were the symbols of this party, +and the means by which it aimed at establishing its own rule. A revolution +is the effect of the different systems which have agitated the age which +has originated it. Thus, during the continuance of the crisis in France, +ultra-montane catholicism was represented by the nonjuring clergy; +Jansenism by the constitutionist clergy; philosophical deism by the +worship of the Supreme Being, instituted by the committee of public +safety; and the materialism of Holbach's school by the worship of Reason +and of Nature, decreed by the commune. It was the same with political +opinions, from the royalty of the _Ancien Regime_ to the unlimited +democracy of the municipal faction. The latter had lost, in Marat, its +principal support, its true leader, while the committee of public safety +still retained Robespierre. It had at its head men who enjoyed great +popularity with the lower classes; Chaumette, and his substitute Hebert, +were its political leaders; Ronsin, commandant of the revolutionary army, +its general; the atheist, Anacharsis Clootz, its apostle. In the sections +it relied on the revolutionary committees, in which there were many +obscure foreigners, supposed, and not without probability, to be agents of +England, sent to destroy the republic by driving it into anarchy and +excess. The club of the Cordeliers was composed entirely of its partisans. +The _Vieux Cordeliers_ of Danton, who had contributed so powerfully to the +10th of August, and who constituted the commune of that period, had +entered the government and the convention, and had been replaced in the +club by members whom they contemptuously designated the _patriotes de la +troisieme requisition_. + +Hebert's faction, which, in a work entitled _Pere Duchesne_, popularised +obscene language and low and cruel sentiments, and which added derision of +the victims to the executions of party, in a short time made terrible +progress. It compelled the bishop of Paris and his vicars to abjure +Christianity at the bar of the convention, and forced the convention to +decree, that _the worship of Reason should be substituted for the catholic +religion_. The churches were shut up or converted into temples of reason, +and fetes were established in every town, which became scandalous scenes +of atheism. The committee of public safety grew alarmed at the power of +this ultra-revolutionary faction, and hastened to stop and to destroy it. +Robespierre soon attacked it in the assembly, (15th Frimaire, year II., +5th Dec., 1793). "Citizens, representatives of the people," said he, "the +kings in alliance against the republic are making war against us with +armies and intrigues; we will oppose their armies by braver ones; their +intrigues, by vigilance and the terror of national justice. Ever intent on +renewing their secret plots, in proportion as they are destroyed by the +hand of patriotism, ever skilful in directing the arms of liberty against +liberty itself, the emissaries of the enemies of France are now labouring +to overthrow the republic by republicanism, and to rekindle civil war by +philosophy." He classed the ultra-revolutionists of the commune with the +external enemies of the republic. "It is your part," said he to the +convention, "to prevent the follies and extravagancies which coincide with +the projects of foreign conspiracy. I require you to prohibit particular +authorities (the commune) from serving our enemies by rash measures, and +that no armed force be allowed to interfere in questions of religious +opinions." And the convention, which had applauded the abjurations at the +demand of the commune, decreed, on Robespierre's motion, that _all +violence and all measures opposed to the liberty of religion are +prohibited_. + +The committee of public safety was too strong not to triumph over the +commune; but, at the same time, it had to resist the moderate party of the +Mountain, which demanded the cessation of the revolutionary government and +the dictatorship of the committees. The revolutionary government had only +been created to restrain, the dictatorship to conquer; and as Danton and +his party no longer considered restraint and victory essential, they +sought to establish legal order, and the independence of the convention; +they wished to throw down the faction of the commune, to stop the +operation of the revolutionary tribunal, to empty the prisons now filled +with suspected persons, to reduce or destroy the powers of the committees. +This project in favour of clemency, humanity, and legal government, was +conceived by Danton, Philippeaux, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre-d'Eglantine, +Lacroix, general Westermann, and all the friends of Danton. Before all +things they wanted _that the republic should secure the field of battle_; +but after conquest, they wished to conciliate. + +This party, become moderate, had renounced power; it had withdrawn from +the government, or suffered itself to be excluded by Robespierre's party. +Moreover, since the 31st of May, zealous patriots had considered Danton's +conduct equivocal. He had acted mildly on that day, and had subsequently +disapproved the condemnation of the twenty-two. They began to reproach him +with his disorderly life, his venal passions, his change of party, and +untimely moderation. To avoid the storm, he had retired to his native +place, Arcis-sur-Aube, and there he seemed to have forgotten all in +retirement. During his absence, the Hebert faction made immense progress; +and the friends of Danton hastily summoned him to their aid. He returned +at the beginning of Frimaire (December). Philippeaux immediately denounced +the manner in which the Vendean war had been carried on; general +Westermann, who had greatly distinguised himself in that war, and who had +just been dismissed by the committee of public safety, supported +Philippeaux, and Camille Desmoulins published the first numbers of his +_Vieux Cordelier_. This brilliant and fiery young man had followed all the +movements of the revolution, from the 14th of July to the 31st of May, +approving all its exaggerations and all its measures. His heart, however, +was gentle and tender, though his opinions were violent, and his humour +often bitter. He had praised the revolutionary regime because he believed +it indispensable for the establishment of the republic; he had co-operated +in the ruin of the Gironde, because he feared the dissensions of the +republic. For the republic he had sacrificed even his scruples and the +desires of his heart, even justice and humanity; he had given all to his +party, thinking that he gave it to the republic; but now he was able +neither to praise nor to keep silent; his energetic activity, which he had +employed for the republic, he now directed against those who were ruining +it by bloodshed. In his _Vieux Cordelier_ he spoke of liberty with the +depth of Machiavelli, and of men with the wit of Voltaire. But he soon +raised the fanatics and dictators against him, by calling the government +to sentiments of moderation, compassion, and justice. + +He drew a striking picture of present tyranny, under the name of a past +tyranny. He selected his examples from Tacitus. "At this period," said he, +"words became state crimes: there wanted but one step more to render mere +glances, sadness, pity, sighs--even silence itself criminal. It soon +became high-treason, or an anti-revolutionary crime, for Cremutius Cordus +to call Brutus and Cassius the last of the Romans; a counter-revolutionary +crime in a descendant of Cassius to possess a portrait of his ancestor; a +counter-revolutionary crime in Mamercus Scaurus to write a tragedy in +which there were lines capable of a double meaning; a counter- +revolutionary crime in Torquatus Silanus to be extravagant; a counter- +revolutionary crime in Pomponius, because a friend of Sejanus had sought +an asylum in one of his country houses; a counter-revolutionary crime to +bewail the misfortunes of the time, for this was accusing the government; +a counter-revolutionary crime for the consul Fusius Geminus to bewail the +sad death of his son. + +"If a man would escape death himself, it became necessary to rejoice at +the death of his friend or relative. Under Nero, many went to return +thanks to the gods for their relatives whom he had put to death. At least, +an assumed air of contentment was necessary; for even fear was sufficient +to render one guilty. Everything gave the tyrant umbrage. If a citizen was +popular, he was considered a rival to the prince, and capable of exciting +a civil war, and he was suspected. Did he, on the contrary, shun +popularity, and keep by his fireside; his retired mode of life drew +attention, and he was suspected. Was a man rich; it was feared the people +might be corrupted by his bounty, and he was suspected. Was he poor; it +became necessary to watch him closely, as none are so enterprising as +those who have nothing, and he was suspected. If his disposition chanced +to be sombre and melancholy, and his dress neglected, his distress was +supposed to be occasioned by the state of public affairs, and he was +suspected. If a citizen indulged in good living to the injury of his +digestion, he was said to do so because the prince lived ill, and he was +suspected. If virtuous and austere in his manners, he was thought to +censure the court, and he was suspected. Was he philosopher, orator, or +poet; it was unbecoming to have more celebrity than the government, and he +was suspected. Lastly, if any one had obtained a reputation in war, his +talent only served to make him dangerous; it became necessary to get rid +of the general, or to remove him speedily from the army; he was suspected. + +"The natural death of a celebrated man, or of even a public official, was +so rare, that historians handed it down to posterity as an event worthy to +be remembered in remote ages. The death of so many innocent and worthy +citizens seemed less a calamity than the insolence and disgraceful +opulence of their murderers and denouncers. Every day the sacred and +inviolable informer made his triumphant entry into the palace of the dead, +and received some rich heritage. All these denouncers assumed illustrious +names, and called themselves Cotta, Scipio, Regulus, Saevius, Severus. To +distinguish himself by a brilliant debut, the marquis Serenus brought an +accusation of anti-revolutionary practices against his aged father, +already in exile, after which he proudly called himself Brutus. Such were +the accusers, such the judges; the tribunals, the protectors of life and +property, became slaughter-houses, in which theft and murder bore the +names of punishment and confiscation." + +Camille Desmoulins did not confine himself to attacking the revolutionary +and dictatorial regime; he required its abolition. He demanded the +establishment of a committee of mercy, as the only way of terminating the +revolution and pacifying parties. His journal produced a great effect upon +public opinion; it inspired some hope and courage: Have you read the +_Vieux Cordelier_? was asked on all sides. At the same time Fabre- +d'Eglantine, Lacroix, and Bourdon de l'Oise, excited the convention to +throw off the yoke of the committee; they sought to unite the Mountain and +the Right, in order to restore the freedom and power of the assembly. As +the committees were all powerful, they tried to ruin them by degrees, the +best course to follow. It was important to change public opinion, and to +encourage the assembly, in order to support themselves by a moral force +against revolutionary force, by the power of the convention against the +power of the committees. The Dantonist in the Mountain endeavoured to +detach Robespierre from the other Decemvirs; Billaud-Varennes, Collot- +d'Herbois and Saint-Just, alone appeared to them invincibly attached to +the Reign of Terror. Barrere adhered to it through weakness--Couthon from +his devotion to Robespierre. They hoped to gain over the latter to the +cause of moderation, through his friendship for Danton, his ideas of +order, his austere habits, his profession of public virtue, and his pride. +He had defended seventy-three imprisoned Girondist deputies against the +committees and the Jacobins; he had dared to attack Clootz and Hebert as +ultra-revolutionists; and he had induced the convention to decree the +existence of the Supreme Being. Robespierre was the most popularly +renowned man of that time; he was, in a measure, the moderator of the +republic and the dictator of opinion: by gaining him, they hoped to +overcome both the committees and the commune, without compromising the +cause of the revolution. + +Danton saw him on his return from Arcis-sur-Aube, and they seemed to +understand one another; attacked at the Jacobins, he was defended by him. +Robespierre himself read and corrected the _Vieux Cordelier_, and approved +of it. At the same time he professed some principles of moderation; but +then all those who exercised the revolutionary government, or who thought +it indispensable, became aroused. Billaud-Varennes and Saint-Just openly +maintained the policy of the committees. Desmoulins had said of the +latter: "He so esteems himself, that he carries his head on his shoulders +with as much respect as if it were the holy sacrament." "And I," replied +Saint-Just, "will make him carry his like another Saint Denis." Collot- +d'Herbois, who was on a mission, arrived while matters were in this state. +He protected the faction of the anarchists, who had been intimidated for a +moment, and who derived fresh audacity from his presence. The Jacobins +expelled Camille Desmoulins from their society, and Barrere attacked him +at the convention in the name of the government. Robespierre himself was +not spared; he was accused of _moderatism_, and murmurs began to circulate +against him. + +However, his credit being immense, as they could not attack or conquer +without him, he was sought on both sides. Taking advantage of this +superior position, he adopted neither party, and sought to put down the +leaders of each, one after the other. + +Under these circumstances, he wished to sacrifice the commune and the +anarchists; the committees wished to sacrifice the Mountain and the +Moderates. They came to an understanding: Robespierre gave up Danton, +Desmoulins, and their friends to the members of the committee; and the +members of the committee gave up Hebert, Clootz, Chaumette, Ronsin, and +their accomplices. By favouring the Moderates at first, he prepared the +ruin of the anarchists, and he attained two objects favourable to his +domination or to his pride--he overturned a formidable faction, and he got +rid of a revolutionary reputation, the rival of his own. + +Motives of public safety, it must be admitted, mingled with these +combinations of party. At this period of general fury against the +republic, and of victories not yet definitive on its part, the committees +did not think the moment for peace with Europe and the internal +dissentients had arrived; and they considered it impossible to carry on +the war without a dictatorship. They, moreover, regarded the Hebertists as +an obscene faction, which corrupted the people, and served the foreign foe +by anarchy; and the Dantonists as a party whose political moderation and +private immorality compromised and dishonoured the republic. The +government accordingly proposed to the assembly, through the medium of +Barrere, the continuation of the war, with additional activity in its +pursuit; while Robespierre, a few days afterwards, demanded the +continuance of the revolutionary government. In the Jacobins he had +already expressed himself opposed to the _Vieux Cordelier_, which he had +hitherto supported. He rejected legal government in the following terms:-- + +"Without," said he, "all the tyrants surround us; within, all the friends +of tyranny conspire against us; they will continue to conspire till crime +is left without hope. We must destroy the infernal and external enemies of +the republic or perish with it. Now, in such a situation, the first maxim +of your policy should be, to lead the people by reason, and the enemies of +the people by terror. If, during peace, virtue be the mainspring of a +popular government, its mainspring in the times of revolution is both +virtue and terror; virtue, without which terror becomes fatal, terror, +without which virtue is powerless. Subdue, then, the enemies of liberty by +terror; and, as the founders of the republic, you will act rightly. The +government of the revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny." + +In this speech he denounced the _moderates_ and the _ultra- +revolutionists_, as both of them desiring the downfall of the republic. +"They advance," said he, "under different banners and by different roads, +but they advance towards the same goal; that goal is the disorganization +of the popular government, the ruin of the convention, and the triumph of +tyranny. One of these two factions reduces us to weakness, the other +drives us to excesses." He prepared the public mind for their +proscription; and his speech, adopted without discussion, was sent to all +the popular societies, to all the authorities, and to all the armies. + +After this beginning of hostilities, Danton, who had not given up his +connexion with Robespierre, asked for an interview with him. It took place +at the residence of Robespierre himself. They were cold and bitter; Danton +complained violently, and Robespierre was reserved. "I know," said Danton, +"all the hatred the committee bear me; but I do not fear it." "You are +wrong," replied Robespierre; "it entertains no ill designs against you; +but you would do well to have an explanation." "An explanation?" rejoined +Danton, "an explanation? That requires good faith!" Seeing that +Robespierre looked grave at these words, he added: "No doubt it is +necessary to put down the royalists, but we ought only to strike blows +which will benefit the republic; we must not confound the innocent with +the guilty." "And who says," exclaimed Robespierre, sharply, "that an +innocent person has been put to death?" Danton turned to one of his +friends who had accompanied him, and said, with a bitter smile: "What do +you say to this? Not one innocent person has perished!" They then +separated, and all friendship ceased between them. + +A few days afterwards, Saint-Just ascended the tribune, and threatened +more openly than had yet been done all dissentients, moderates, or +anarchists. "Citizens," said he, "you wished for a republic; if you do not +at the same time desire all that constitutes it, you will overwhelm the +people in its ruins. What constitutes a republic is the destruction of all +that is opposed to it. We are guilty towards the republic because we pity +the prisoners; we are guilty towards the republic because we do not desire +virtue; we are guilty to the republic because we do not desire terror. +What is it you want, those of you who do not wish for virtue, that you may +be happy? (The Anarchists.) What is it you want, those of you who do not +wish to employ terror against the wicked? (The Moderates.) What is it you +want, those of you who haunt public places to be seen, and to have it said +of you: 'Do you see such a one pass?' (Danton.) You will perish, those of +you who seek fortune, who assume haggard looks, and affect the patriot +that the foreigner may buy you up, or the government give you a place; you +of the indulgent faction, who seek to save the guilty; you of the foreign +faction, who direct severity against the defenders of the people. Measures +are already taken to secure the guilty; they are hemmed in on all sides. +Let us return thanks to the genius of the French people, that liberty has +triumphed over one of the most dangerous attacks ever meditated against +it. The development of this vast plot, the panic it will create, and the +measures about to be proposed to you, will free the republic and the world +of all the conspirators." + +Saint-Just caused the government to be invested with the most extensive +powers against the conspirators of the commune. He had it decreed that +justice and probity were the order of the day. The anarchists were unable +to adopt any measure of defence; they veiled for a moment the Rights of +Man at the club of the Cordeliers, and they made an attempt at +insurrection, but without vigour or union. The people did not stir, and +the committee caused its commandant, Henriot, to seize the substitute +Hebert, Ronsin, the revolutionary general, Anacharsis Clootz, Monmoro the +orator of the human race, Vincent, etc. They were brought before the +revolutionary tribunal, as _the agents of foreign powers, and, as having +conspired to place a tyrant over the state_. That tyrant was to have been +Pache, under the title of _Grand Juge_. The anarchist leaders lost their +audacity as soon as they were arrested; they defended themselves, and, for +the most part, died, without any display of courage. The committee of +public safety disbanded the revolutionary army, diminished the power of +the sectionary committees, and obliged the commune to appear at the bar of +the convention, and give thanks for the arrest and punishment of the +conspirators, its accomplices. + +It was now time for Danton to defend himself; the proscription, after +striking the commune, threatened him. He was advised to be on his guard, +and to take immediate steps; but not having been able to overturn the +dictatorial power, by arousing public opinion and the assembly by the +means of the public journals, and his friends of the Mountain, on what +could he depend for support? The convention, indeed, was inclined to +favour him and his cause; but it was wholly subject to the revolutionary +power of the committee. Danton having to support him, neither the +government, nor the assembly, nor the commune, nor the clubs, awaited +proscription, without making any effort to avoid it. + +His friends implored him to defend himself. "I would rather," said he, "be +guillotined, than be a guillotiner; besides, my life is not worth the +trouble; and I am sick of the world." "The members of the committee seek +thy death." "Well," he exclaimed, impatiently, "should Billaud, should +Robespierre kill me, they will be execrated as tyrants; Robespierre's +house will be razed to the ground; salt will be strewn upon it; a gallows +will be erected on it, devoted to the vengeance of crime! But my friends +will say of me, that I was a good father, a good friend, a good citizen; +they will not forget me." "Thou mayst avert..." "I would rather be +guillotined than be a guillotiner." "Well, then, thou shouldst depart." +"Depart!" he repeated, curling his lip disdainfully, "depart! Can we carry +our country away on the sole of our shoe?" + +Danton's only resource now was to make trial of his so well known and +potent eloquence, to denounce Robespierre and the committee, and to arouse +the convention against their tyranny. He was earnestly entreated to do +this; but he knew too well how difficult a thing it is to overthrow an +established domination, he knew too well the complete subjection and +terror of the assembly, to rely on the efficacy of such means. He +accordingly waited, thinking, he who had dared so much, that his enemies +would shrink from proscribing him. + +On the 10th of Germinal, he was informed that his arrest was being +discussed in the committee of public safety, and he was again entreated to +save himself by flight. After a moment's reflection, he exclaimed, "They +dare not." During the night his house was surrounded, and he was taken to +the Luxembourg with Camille Desmoulins, Philippeaux, Lacroix, and +Westermann. On his arrival, he accosted with cordiality the prisoners who +crowded round him. "Gentlemen," said he, "I had hoped in a short time to +liberate you, but here I am come to join you, and I know not how the +matter may end." In about an hour he was placed in solitary confinement in +the cell in which Hebert had been imprisoned, and which Robespierre was so +soon to occupy. There, giving way to reflection and regret, he exclaimed: +"It was at this time I instituted the revolutionary tribunal. I implore +forgiveness from God and man for having done so; but I designed it not for +the scourge of humanity." + +His arrest gave rise to general excitement, to a sombre anxiety. The +following day, at the opening of the sittings in the assembly, men spoke +in whispers; they inquired with alarm, what was the pretext for this new +proceeding against the representatives of the people. "Citizens," at +length exclaimed Legendre, "four members of this assembly have been +arrested during the night. Danton is one, I know not the others. Citizens, +I declare that I believe Danton to be as pure as myself, yet he is in a +dungeon. They feared, no doubt, that his replies would overturn the +accusations brought against him: I move, therefore, that before you listen +to any report, you send for the prisoners, and hear them." This motion was +favourably received, and inspired the assembly with momentary courage: a +few members desired it might be put to the vote, but this state of things +did not last long. Robespierre ascended the tribune. "By the excitement, +such as for a long time has been unknown in this the assembly," said he, +"by the sensation the words of the speaker you have just heard have +produced, it is easy to see that a question of great interest is before +us; a question whether two or three individuals shall be preferred to the +country. We shall see to-day whether the convention can crush to atoms a +mock idol, long since decayed, or whether its fall shall overwhelm both +the convention and the French people." And a few words from him sufficed +to restore silence and subordination to the assembly, to restrain the +friends of Danton, and to make Legendre himself retract. Soon after, +Saint-Just entered the house, followed by other members of the committees. +He read a long report against the members under arrest, in which he +impugned their opinions, their political conduct, their private life, +their projects; making them appear, by improbable and subtle combinations, +accomplices in every conspiracy, and the servants of every party. The +assembly, after listening without a murmur, with a bewildered sanction +unanimously decreed, and with applause even, the impeachment of Danton and +his friends. Every one sought to gain time with tyranny, and gave up +others' heads to save his own. + +The accused were brought before the revolutionary tribunal; their attitude +was haughty, and full of courage. They displayed an audacity of speech, +and a contempt of their judges, wholly unusual: Danton replied to the +president Dumas, who asked him the customary questions as to his name, his +age, his residence: "I am Danton, tolerably well known in the revolution; +I am thirty-five years old. My residence will soon be nothing. My name +will live in the Pantheon of history." His disdainful or indignant +replies, the cold and measured answers of Lacroix, the austere dignity of +Philippeaux, the vigour of Desmoulins, were beginning to move the people. +But the accused were silenced, under the pretext that they were wanting in +respect to justice, and were immediately condemned without a hearing. "We +are immolated," cried Danton, "to the ambition of a few miserable +brigands, but they will not long enjoy the fruit of their criminal +victory. I draw Robespierre after me--Robespierre will follow me." They +were taken to the Conciergerie, and thence to the scaffold. + +They went to death with the intrepidity usual at that epoch. There were +many troops under arms, and their escort was numerous. The crowd, +generally loud in its applause, was silent. Camille Desmoulins, when in +the fatal cart, was still full of astonishment at his condemnation, which +he could not comprehend. "This, then," said he, "is the reward reserved +for the first apostle of liberty." Danton stood erect, and looked proudly +and calmly around. At the foot of the scaffold he betrayed a momentary +emotion. "Oh, my best beloved--my wife!" he cried, "I shall not see thee +again." Then suddenly interrupting himself: "No weakness, Danton!" Thus +perished the last defenders of humanity and moderation; the last who +sought to promote peace among the conquerors of the revolution and pity +for the conquered. For a long time after them no voice was raised against +the dictatorship of terror; and from one end of France to the other it +struck silent and redoubled blows. The Girondists had sought to prevent +this violent reign,--the Dantonists to stop it; all perished, and the +conquerors had the more victims to strike the more foes arose around them. +In so sanguinary a career, there is no stopping until the tyrant is +himself slain. The Decemvirs, after the definitive fall of the Girondists, +had made _terror_ the order of the day; after the fall of the Hebertists, +_justice_ and _probity_, because these were _impure men of faction_; after +the fall of the Dantonists, _terror_ and _all virtues_, because these +Dantonists were, according to their phraseology, _indulgents and +immorals_. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE DEATH OF DANTON, APRIL, 1794, TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR, +(27TH JULY, 1794) + + +During the four months following the fall of the Danton party, the +committees exercised their authority without opposition or restraint. +Death became the only means of governing, and the republic was given up to +daily and systematic executions. It was then were invented the alleged +conspiracies of the inmates of the prisons, crowded under the law _des +suspects_, or emptied by that of the 22nd Prairial, which might be called +the law _des condamnes;_ then the emissaries of the committee of public +safety entirely replaced in the departments those of the Mountain; and +Carrier, the protege of Billaud, was seen in the west; Maigret, the +protege of Couthon, in the south; and Joseph Lebon, the protege of +Robespierre, in the north. The extermination _en masse_ of the enemies of +the democratic dictatorship, which had already been effected at Lyons and +Toulon by grape-shot, became still more horrible, by the noyades of +Nantes, and the scaffolds of Arras, Paris, and Orange. + +May this example teach men a truth, which for their good ought to be +generally known, that in a revolution all depends on a first refusal and a +first struggle. To effect a pacific innovation, it must not be contested; +otherwise war is declared and the revolution spreads, because the whole +nation is aroused to its defence. When society is thus shaken to its +foundations, it is the most daring who triumph, and instead of wise and +temperate reformers, we find only extreme and inflexible innovators. +Engendered by contest, they maintain themselves by it; with one hand they +fight to maintain their sway, with the other they establish their system +with a view to its consolidation; they massacre in the name of their +doctrines: virtue, humanity, the welfare of the people, all that is +holiest on earth, they use to sanction their executions, and to protect +their dictatorship. Until they become exhausted and fall, all perish +indiscriminately, both the enemies and the partisans of reform. The +tempest dashes a whole nation against the rock of revolution. Inquire what +became of the men of 1789 in 1794, and it will be found that they were all +alike swept away in this vast shipwreck. As soon as one party appeared on +the field of battle, it summoned all the others thither, and all like it +were in turn conquered and exterminated; constitutionalists, Girondists, +the Mountain, and the Decemvirs themselves. At each defeat, the effusion +of blood became greater, and the system of tyranny more violent. The +Decemvirs were the most cruel, because they were the last. + +The committee of public safety, being at once the object of the attacks of +Europe, and of the hatred of so many conquered parties, thought that any +abatement of violence would occasion its destruction; it wished at the +same time to subdue its foes, and to get rid of them. "The dead alone do +not return," said Barrere. "The more freely the social body perspires, the +more healthy it becomes," added Collot-d'Herbois. But the Decemvirs, not +suspecting their power to be ephemeral, aimed at founding a democracy, and +sought in institutions a security for its permanence in the time when they +should cease to employ executions. They possessed in the highest degree +the fanaticism of certain social theories, as the millenarians of the +English revolution, with whom they may be compared, had the fanaticism of +certain religious ideas. The one originated with the people, as the other +looked to God; these desired the most absolute political equality, as +those sought evangelical equality; these aspired to the reign of virtue, +as those to the reign of the saints. Human nature flies to extremes in all +things, and produces, in a religious epoch, democratic Christians--in a +philosophical epoch, political democrats. + +Robespierre and Saint-Just had produced the plan of that democracy, whose +principles they professed in all their speeches; they wished to change the +manners, mind, and customs of France, and to make it a republic after the +manner of the ancients; they sought to establish the dominion of the +people; to have magistrates free from pride; citizens free from vice; +fraternity of intercourse, simplicity of manners, austerity of character, +and the worship of virtue. The symbolical words of the sect may be found +in the speeches of all the reporters of the committee, and especially in +those of Robespierre and Saint-Just. _Liberty and equality_ for the +government of the republic; _indivisibility_ for its form; _public safety_ +for its defence and preservation; _virtue_ for its principle; _the Supreme +Being_ for its religion; as for the citizens, _fraternity_ for their daily +intercourse; _probity_ for their conduct; _good sense_ for their mental +qualities; _modesty_ for their public actions, which were to have for +object the welfare of the state, and not their own: such was the symbol of +this democracy. Fanaticism could not go further. The authors of this +system did not inquire into its practicability; they thought it just and +natural; and having power, they tried to establish it by violence. Not one +of these words but served to condemn a party or individuals. The royalists +and aristocrats were hunted down in the name of _liberty and equality_; +the Girondists in the name of _indivisibility_; Philippeaux, Camille +Desmoulins, and the moderate party, in the name of _public safety_; +Chaumette, Anacharsis Clootz, Gobet, Hebert, all the anarchical and +atheistical party, in the name of _virtue and the Supreme Being_; Chabot, +Bazire, Fabre-d'Eglantine, in the name of _probity_; Danton in the name of +_virtue and modesty_. In the eyes of fanatics, these _moral crimes_ +necessitated their destruction, as much as the conspiracies which they +were accused of. + +Robespierre was the patron of this sect, which had in the committee a more +zealous, disinterested, and fanatic partisan than himself, in the person +of Saint-Just, who was called the Apocalyptic. His features were bold but +regular, and marked by an expression determined, but melancholy. His eye +was steady and piercing; his hair black, straight, and long. His manners +cold, though his character was ardent; simple in his habits, austere and +sententious, he advanced without hesitation towards the completion of his +system. Though scarcely twenty-five years old, he was the boldest of the +Decemvirs, because his convictions were the deepest. Passionately devoted +to the republic, he was indefatigable in the committees, intrepid on his +missions to the armies, where he set an example of courage, sharing the +marches and dangers of the soldiers. His predilection for the multitude +did not make him pay court to their propensities; and far from adopting +their dress and language with Hebert, he wished to confer on them ease, +gravity, and dignity. But his policy made him more terrible than his +popular sentiments. He had much daring, coolness, readiness, and decision. +Rarely susceptible to pity, he reduced to form his measures for the public +safety, and put them into execution immediately. If he considered victory, +proscription, the dictatorship necessary, he at once demanded them. Unlike +Robespierre, he was completely a man of action. The latter, comprehending +all the use he might make of him, early gained him over in the convention. +Saint-Just, on his part, was drawn towards Robespierre by his reputation +for incorruptibility, his austere life, and the conformity of their ideas. + +The terrible effects of their association may be conceived when we +consider their popularity, the envious and tyrannical passions of the one, +and the inflexible character and systematic views of the other. Couthon +had joined them; he was personally devoted to Robespierre. Although he had +a mild look and a partially paralysed frame, he was a man of merciless +fanaticism. They formed, in the committee, a triumvirate which soon sought +to engross all power. This ambition alienated the other members of the +committee, and caused their own destruction. In the meantime, the +triumvirate imperiously governed the convention and the committee itself. +When it was necessary to intimidate the assembly, Saint-Just was intrusted +with the task; when they wished to take it by surprise, Couthon was +employed. If the assembly murmured or hesitated, Robespierre rose, and +restored silence and terror by a single word. + +During the first two months after the fall of the commune and the Danton +party, the Decemvirs, who were not yet divided, laboured to secure their +domination: their commissioners kept the departments in restraint, and the +armies of the republic were victorious on all the frontiers. The committee +took advantage of this moment of security and union to lay the foundation +of new manners and new institutions. It must never be forgotten, that in a +revolution men are moved by two tendencies, attachment to their ideas, and +a thirst for command. The members of the committee, at the beginning, +agreed in their democratic sentiments; at the end, they contended for +power. + +Billaud-Varennes presented the theory of popular government and the means +of rendering the army always subordinate to the nation. Robespierre +delivered a discourse on the moral sentiments and solemnities suited to a +republic: he dedicated festivals _to the Supreme Being, to Truth, Justice, +Modesty, Friendship, Frugality, Fidelity, Immortality, Misfortune, etc._, +in a word, to all the moral and republican virtues. In this way he +prepared the establishment of the new worship _of the Supreme Being_. +Barrere made a report on the extirpation of mendicity, and the assistance +the republic owed to indigent citizens. All these reports passed into +decrees, agreeably to the wishes of the democrats. Barrere, whose habitual +speeches in the convention were calculated to disguise his servitude from +himself, was one of the most supple instruments of the committee; he +belonged to the regime of terror, neither from cruelty nor from +fanaticism. His manners were gentle, his private life blameless, and he +possessed great moderation of mind. But he was timid; and after having +been a constitutional royalist before the 10th of August, a moderate +republican prior to the 31st of May, he became the panegyrist and the co- +operator of the decemviral tyranny. This shows that, in a revolution, no +one should become an actor without decision of character. Intellect alone +is not inflexible enough; it is too accommodating; it finds reasons for +everything, even for what terrifies and disgusts it; it never knows when +to stop, at a time when one ought always to be prepared to die, and to end +one's part or end one's opinions. + +Robespierre, who was considered the founder of this moral democracy, now +attained the highest degree of elevation and of power. He became the +object of the general flattery of his party; he was _the great man_ of the +republic. Men spoke of nothing but _of his virtue, of his genius, and of +his eloquence_. Two circumstances contributed to augment his importance +still further. On the 3rd Prairial, an obscure but intrepid man, named +l'Admiral, was determined to deliver France from Robespierre and Collot- +d'Herbois. He waited in vain for Robespierre all day, and at night he +resolved to kill Collot. He fired twice at him with pistols, but missed +him. The following day, a young girl, name Cecile Renaud, called at +Robespierre's house, and earnestly begged to speak with him. As he was +out, and as she still insisted upon being admitted, she was detained. She +carried a small parcel, and two knives were found on her person. "What +motive brought you to Robespierre's?" inquired her examiners. "I wanted to +speak to him." "On what business?" "That depended on how I might find +him." "Do you know citizen Robespierre?" "No, I sought to know him; I went +to his house to see what a tyrant was like." "What did you propose doing +with your two knives?" "Nothing, having no intention to injure any one." +"And your parcel?" "Contains a change of linen for my use in the place I +shall be sent to." "Where is that?" "To prison; and from thence to the +guillotine." The unfortunate girl was ultimately taken there, and her +family shared her fate. + +Robespierre received marks of the most intoxicating adulation. At the +Jacobins and in the convention his preservation was attributed to the +_good genius of the republic_, and to _the Supreme Being_, whose existence +he had decreed on the 18th Floreal. The celebration of the new religion +had been fixed for the 20th Prairial throughout France. On the 16th, +Robespierre was unanimously appointed president of the convention, in +order that he might officiate as the pontiff at the festival. At that +ceremony he appeared at the head of the assembly, his face beaming with +joy and confidence, an unusual expression with him. He advanced alone, +fifteen feet in advance of his colleagues, attired in a magnificent dress, +holding flowers and ears of corn in his hand, the object of general +attention. Expectation was universally raised on this occasion: the +enemies of Robespierre foreboded attempts at usurpation, the persecuted +looked forward to a milder regime. He disappointed every one. He harangued +the people in his capacity of high priest, and concluded his speech, in +which all expected to find a hope of happier prospects, with these +discouraging words:--"_People, let us to-day give ourselves up to the +transports of pure delight! To-morrow we will renew our struggle against +vices and against tyrants._" + +Two days after, on the 22nd Prairial, Couthon presented a new law to the +convention. The revolutionary tribunal had dutifully struck all those who +had been pointed out to it: royalists, constitutionalists, Girondists, +anarchists, and Mountain, had been all alike despatched to execution. But +it did not proceed expeditiously enough to satisfy the systematic +exterminators, who wished promptly, and at any cost, to get rid of all +their prisoners. It still observed some forms; these were suppressed. "All +tardiness," said Couthon, "is a crime, all indulgent formality a public +danger; there should be no longer delay in punishing the enemies of the +state than suffices to recognise them." Hitherto the prisoners had +counsel; they had them no longer:--_The law furnishes patriot jurymen for +the defence of calumniated patriots; it grants none to conspirators_. They +tried them, at first, individually; now they tried them _en masse_. There +had been some precision in the crimes, even when revolutionary; now _all +the enemies of the people_ were declared guilty, and all were pronounced +enemies of the people _who sought to destroy liberty by force or +stratagem_. The jury before had the law to guide their determinations, +they _now only had their conscience_. A single tribunal, Fouquier-Tinville +and a few jurymen, were not sufficient for the increase of victims the new +law threatened to bring before it; the tribunal was divided into four +sections, the number of judges and juries was increased, and the public +accuser had four substitutes appointed to assist him. Lastly, the deputies +of the people could not before be brought to trial without a decree of the +convention; but the law was now so drawn up that they could be tried on an +order from the committees. The law respecting suspected persons gave rise +to that of Prairial. + +As soon as Couthon had made his report, a murmur of astonishment and alarm +pervaded the assembly. "If this law passes," cried Ruamps, "all we have to +do is to blow our brains out. I demand an adjourment." This motion was +supported; but Robespierre ascended the tribunal. "For a long time," said +he, "the national assembly has been accustomed to discuss and decree at +the same time, because it has long been delivered from the thraldom of +faction. I move that without considering the question of adjournment, the +convention debate, till eight in the evening if necessary, on the proposed +law." The discussion was immediately begun, and in thirty minutes after +the second reading, the decree was carried. But the following day, a few +members, more afraid of the law than of the committee, returned to the +debate of the day before. The Mountain, friends of Danton, fearing, for +their own sakes, the new provisions, which left the representatives at the +mercy of the Decemvirs, proposed to the convention to provide for the +safety of its members. Bourdon de l'Oise was the first to speak on this +subject; he was supported. Merlin, by a skilful amendment, restored the +old safeguard of the conventionalists, and the assembly adopted Merlin's +measure. Gradually, objections were made to the decree; the courage of the +Mountain increased, and the discussion became very animated. Couthon +attacked the Mountain. "Let them know," replied Bourdon de l'Oise--"let +the members of the committee know that if they are patriots, we are +patriots too. Let them know that I shall not reply with bitterness to +their reproaches. I esteem Couthon, I esteem the committee; but I also +esteem the unshaken Mountain which has saved our liberty." Robespierre, +surprised at this unexpected resistance, hurried to the tribune. "The +convention," said he, "the Mountain, and the committee are the same thing! +Every representative of the people who sincerely loves liberty, every +representative of the people who is ready to die for his country, belongs +to the Mountain! We should insult our country, assassinate the people, did +we allow a few intriguing persons, more contemptible than others, because +they are more hypocritical, to draw off a portion of the Mountain, and +make themselves the leaders of a party." "If was never my intention," said +Bourdon, "to make myself leader of a party." "It would be the height of +opprobrium," continued Robespierre, "if a few of our colleagues, led away +by calumny respecting our intentions and the object of our labours...." "I +insist on your proving what you assert," rejoined Bourdon. "I have been +very plainly called a scoundrel." "I did not name Bourdon. Woe to the man +who names himself! Yes, the Mountain is pure, it is sublime; intriguers do +not belong to the Mountain!" "Name them!" "I will name them when it is +necessary." The threats and the imperious tone of Robespierre, the support +of the other Decemvirs, and the feeling of fear which went round caused +profound silence. The amendment of Merlin was revoked as insulting to the +committee of public safety, and the whole law was adopted. From that time +executions took place in batches; and fifty persons were sent to death +daily. This _Terror_ within terror lasted about two months. + +But the end of this system drew near. The sittings of Prairial were the +term of union for the member of the committees. From that time, silent +dissensions existed among them. They had advanced together, so long as +they had to contend together; but this ceased to be the case when they +found themselves alone in the arena, with habits of contest and the desire +for dominion. Moreover, their opinions were no longer entirely the same: +the democratic party were divided by the fall of the old commune; Billaud- +Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, and the principal members of the committee of +general safety, Vadier, Amar, Vouland, clung to this overthrown faction, +and preferred _the worship of Reason_ to that of _the Supreme Being_. They +were also jealous of the fame, and anxious at the power of Robespierre, +who, in his turn, was irritated at their secret disapprobation and the +obstacles they opposed to his will. At this period, the latter conceived +the design of putting down the most enterprising members of the Mountain, +Tallien, Bourdon, Legendre, Freron, Rovere, etc., and his rivals of the +committee. + +Robespierre had a prodigious force at his disposal, the common people, who +considered the revolution as depending on him, supported him as the +representative of its doctrines and interests; the armed force of Paris, +commanded by Henriot, was at his command. He had entire sway over the +Jacobins, whom he admitted and ejected at pleasure; all important posts +were occupied by his creatures; he had formed the revolutionary tribunal +and the new committee himself, substituting Payan, the national agent, for +Chaumette, the attorney-general; and Fleuriot for Pache, in the office of +mayor. But what was his design in granting the most influential places to +new men, and in separating himself from the committees? Did he aspire to +the dictatorship? Did he only seek to establish his democracy _of virtue_ +by the ruin of the remaining _immoral_ members of the Mountain, and the +_factious_ of the committee? Each party had lost its leaders: the Gironde +had lost the _twenty-two_; the commune, Hebert, Chaumette, and Ronsin; the +Mountain, Danton, Chabot, Lacroix, and Camille Desmoulins. But while thus +proscribing the leaders, Robespierre had carefully protected the sects. He +had defended the _seventy-three prisoners_ against the denunciations of +the Jacobins and the hatred of the committees; he had placed himself at +the head of the new commune; he had no longer reason to fear opposition to +his projects, whatever they might be, except from a few of the Mountain +and the members of the conventional government. It was against this double +obstacle that he directed his efforts during the last moments of his +career. It is probable that he did not separate the republic from his +protectorate, and that he thought to establish both on the overthrow of +the other parties. + +The committees opposed Robespierre in their own way. They secretly strove +to bring about his fall by accusing him of tyranny; they caused the +establishment of his religion to be considered as the presage of his +usurpation; they recalled the haughty attitude he assumed on the 20th +Priarial, and the distance at which he kept even the national convention. +Among themselves, they called him _Pisistratus_, and this name already +passed from mouth to mouth. A circumstance, insignificant enough at any +other time, gave them an opportunity of attacking him indirectly. An old +woman, called _Catherine Theot_, played the prophetess in an obscure +habitation, surrounded by a few mystic sectaries: they styled her _the +Mother of God_, and she announced the immediate coming of a _Messiah_. +Among her followers there was on old associate of Robespierre in the +constituent assembly, the Chartreux Dom Gerle, who had a civic certificate +from Robespierre himself. When the committees discovered _the mysteries of +the Mother of God_, and her predictions, they believed or pretended to +believe, that Robespierre made use of her instrumentality to gain over the +fanatics, or to announce his elevation. They altered her name of _Theot_ +into that of _Theos_, signifying God; and they craftily insinuated that +Robespierre was the Messiah she announced. The aged Vadier, in the name of +the committee of general safety, was deputed to bring forward a motion +against this new sect. He was vain and subtle; he denounced those who were +initiated into these mysteries, turned the worship into derision, +implicated Robespierre in it without naming him, and had the fanatics sent +to prison. Robespierre wished to save them. The conduct of the committee +of general safety greatly irritated him, and in the Jacobin club he spoke +of the speech of Vadier with contempt and anger. He experienced fresh +opposition from the committee of public safety, which refused to proceed +against the persons he pointed out to them. From that time he ceased to +join his colleagues in the government, and was rarely present at the +sittings of the convention. But he attended the Jacobins regularly; and +from the tribune of that club he hoped to overthrow his enemies as he had +hitherto done. + +Naturally sad, suspicious and timid, he became more melancholy and +mistrustful than ever. He never went out without being accompanied by +several Jacobins armed with sticks, who were called his body-guard. He +soon commenced his denunciations in the popular assembly. "_All corrupt +men_," said he, "_must be expelled the convention._" This was designating +the friends of Danton. Robespierre had them watched with the most minute +anxiety. Every day spies followed all their motions, observing their +actions, haunts, and conversation. Robespierre not only attacked the +Dantonists at the Jacobins, he even arose against the committee itself, +and for that purpose he chose a day when Barrere presided in the popular +assembly. At the close of the sitting, the latter returned home +discouraged; "I am disgusted with men," said he to Villate. "What could be +his motive for attacking you?" inquired the other. "Robespierre is +insatiable," rejoined Barrere; "because we will not do all he wishes, he +must break with us. If he talked to us about Thuriot, Guffroi, Rovere +Lecointre, Panis, Cambon, Monestier, and the rest of the Dantonists, we +might agree with him; let him even require Tallien, Bourdon de l'Oise, +Legendre, Freron, well; but Duval, Audoin, Leonard Bourdon, Vadier, +Vouland--it is impossible to consent." To give up members of the +committee of general safety, was to expose themselves; accordingly, while +fearing, they firmly awaited the attack. Robespierre was very formidable, +with respect to his power, his hatred, and his designs; it was for him to +begin the combat. + +But how could he set about it? For the first time he was the author of a +conspiracy; hitherto he had taken advantage of all popular movements. +Danton, the Cordeliers, and the faubourgs had made the insurrection of the +10th of August against the throne; Marat, the Mountain, and the commune +had made that of the 31st of May against the Gironde; Billaud, Saint-Just, +and the committees had effected the ruin of the commune, and weakened the +Mountain. Robespierre remained alone. Unable to procure assistance from +the government, since he had declared against the committees, he had +recourse to the populace and the Jacobins. The principal conspirators were +Saint-Just, and Couthon in the committee; Fleuriot the mayor, and Payan +the national agent in the commune; Dumas the president, and Coffinhal the +vice-president, in the revolutionary tribunal; Henriot, the commander of +the armed force, and the popular society. On the 15th Messidor, three +weeks after the law of Prairial, and twenty-four days before the 9th +Thermidor, the resolution was already taken; at that time, and under that +date, Henriot wrote to the mayor: "You shall be satisfied with me, +comrade, and with the way in which I shall proceed; trust me, men who love +their country, easily agree in directing all their steps to the benefit of +public affairs. I would have wished, and I do wish, that the _secret of +the operation_ rested with us two; the wicked should know nothing of it. +Health and brotherhood." + +Saint-Just was on a mission to the army of the north; Robespierre hastily +recalled him. While waiting his return, he prepared the public mind at the +Jacobins. In the sitting of the 3rd Thermidor, he complained of the +conduct of the committees, and of the _persecution of the patriots_, whom +he swore to defend. "There must no longer be traces of crime or faction," +said he, "in any place whatever. A few scoundrels disgrace the convention; +but it will not allow itself to be swayed by them." He then urged his +colleagues, the Jacobins, to prevent _their reflections_ to the national +assembly. This was the transaction of the 31st of May. On the 4th, he +received a deputation from the department of l'Aisne, who came to complain +to him of the operations of the government, to which, for a month past, he +had been a stranger. "The convention," said Robespierre, in his reply to +the deputation, "in the situation in which it now stands, gangrened by +corruption, and being wholly unable to recover itself, cannot save the +republic-both must perish. The proscription of patriots is the order of +the day. As for me I have one foot in the tomb; in a few days the other +will follow it. The rest is in the hands of Providence." He was then +slightly indisposed, and he purposely exaggerated his discouragement, his +fears, and the dangers of the republic, in order to inflame the patriots, +and again bind the fate of the revolution with his own. + +In the meantime. Saint-Just arrived from the army. He ascertained the +state of affairs from Robespierre. He presented himself to the committees, +the members of which received him coldly; every time he entered, they +ceased to deliberate. Saint-Just, who, from their silence, a few chance +words, and the expression of perplexity or hostility on their +countenances, saw there was no time to be lost, pressed Robespierre to +act. His Maxim was to strike at once, and resolutely. "Dare," said he, +"that is the secret of revolutions." But he wished to prevail on +Robespierre to take a measure, which was impossible, by urging him to +strike his foes, without apprising them. The force at his disposal was a +force of revolutionary opinion, and not an organized force. It was +necessary for him to seek the assistance of the convention or of the +commune, the legal authority of government, or the extraordinary authority +of insurrection. Such was the custom, and such must be all coups-d'etat. +They could not even have recourse to insurrection, until after they had +received the refusal of the assembly, otherwise a pretext was wanting for +the rising. Robespierre was therefore obliged to commence the attack in +the convention itself. He hoped to obtain everything from it by his +ascendancy, or if, contrary to its custom, it resisted, he reckoned on the +people, urged by the commune, rising on the 9th Thermidor against the +proscribed of the Mountain, and the committee of public safety, as it had +risen on the 31st of May against the proscribed of the Gironde and the +Commission of Twelve. It is almost always by the past that man regulates +his conduct and his hopes. + +On the 8th Thermidor, he entered the convention at an early hour. He +ascended the tribunal and denounced the committee in a most skilful +speech. "I am come," said he, "to defend before you your authority +insulted, and liberty violated. I will also defend myself; you will not be +surprised at this; you do not resemble the tyrants you contend with. The +cries of outraged innocence do not importune your ears, and you know that +this cause is not foreign to your interests." After this opening, he +complained of those who had calumniated him; he attacked those who sought +the ruin of the republic, either by excesses or moderation; those who +persecuted pacific citizens, meaning the committees, and those who +persecuted true patriots, meaning the Mountain. He associated himself with +the intentions, past conduct, and spirit of the convention; he added that +its enemies were his: "What have I done to merit persecution, if it +entered not into the general system of their conspiracy against the +convention? Have you not observed that, to isolate you from the nation, +they have given out that you are dictators, reigning by means of terror, +and disavowed by the silent wishes of all Frenchmen? For myself, what +faction do I belong to? To yourselves. What is that faction that, from the +beginning of the revolution, has overthrown all factions, and got rid of +acknowledged traitors. It is you, it is the people, it is principles. That +is the faction to which I am devoted, and against which all crimes are +leagued. For at least six weeks, my inability to do good and to check evil +has obliged me absolutely to renounce my functions as a member of the +committee of public safety. Has patriotism been better protected? Have +factions been more timid? Or the country more happy? At all times my +influence has been confined to pleading the cause of my country before the +national representation, and at the tribunal of public opinion." After +having attempted to confound his cause with that of the convention, he +tried to excite it against the committees by dwelling on the idea of its +independence. "Representatives of the people," said he, "it is time to +resume the pride and elevation of character which befits you. You are not +made to be ruled, but to rule the depositaries of your confidence." + +While he thus endeavoured to tempt the assembly by the return of its power +and the end of its slavery, he addressed the moderate party, by reminding +them that they were indebted to him for the lives of the Seventy-Three, +and by holding forth hopes of returning order, justice, and clemency. He +spoke of changing the devouring and trickster system of finance, of +softening the revolutionary government, of guiding its influence, and +punishing its prevaricating agents. Lastly, he invoked the people, talked +of their necessities, and of their power. And when he had recalled all +that could act upon the interests, hopes, or fears of the convention, he +added: "We say, then, that there exists a conspiracy against public +liberty; that it owes its strength to a criminal coalition which intrigues +in the very heart of the convention; that this coalition has accomplices +in the committee of general safety; that the enemies of the republic have +opposed this committee to the committee of public safety, and have thus +constituted two governments; that members of the committee of public +safety are concerned in this plot; that the coalition thus formed seeks +the ruin both of patriots and of the country; What remedy is there for +this evil? Punish the traitors; compose anew the committee of general +safety; purify this committee, and make it subordinate to the committee of +public safety; purify the latter committee itself; constitute the unity of +the government under the supreme authority of the convention; crush every +faction under the weight of national authority, and establish on their +ruins the power of justice and liberty." + +Not a murmur, not a mark of applause welcomed this declaration of war. The +silence with which Robespierre was heard continued long after he had +ceased speaking. Anxious looks were exchanged in all parts of the doubting +assembly. At length Lecointre of Versailles arose and proposed that the +speech should be printed. This motion was the signal for agitation, +discussion, and resistance. Bourdon de l'Oise opposed the motion for +printing the speech, as a dangerous measure. He was applauded. But +Barrere, in his ambiguous manner, having maintained that all speeches +ought to be published, and Couthon having moved that it should be sent to +all the communes of the republic, the convention, intimidated by this +apparent concord of the two opposite factions, decreed both the printing +and circulation of the speech. + +The members of the two committees thus attacked, who had hitherto remained +silent, seeing the Mountain thwarted, and the majority undecided, thought +it time to speak. Vadier first opposed Robespierre's speech and +Robespierre himself. Cambon went further. "It is time," he cried, "to +speak the whole truth: one man paralyzed the resolution of the national +assembly; that man is Robespierre." "The mask must be torn off," added +Billaud-Varennes, "whatever face it may cover; I would rather my corpse +should serve an ambitious man for his throne, than by my silence to become +the accomplice of his crimes." Panis, Bentabole, Charlier, Thirion, Amar, +attacked him in turn. Freron proposed to the convention to throw off the +fatal yoke of the committees. "The time is come," said he, "to revive +liberty of opinion; I move that the assembly revoke the decree which gives +the committee power to arrest the representatives of the people. Who can +speak freely while he fears an arrest?" Some applause was heard; but the +moment for the entire deliverance of the convention was not yet arrived. +It was necessary to contend with Robespierre from behind the committees, +in order subsequently to attack the committees more easily. Freron's +motion was accordingly rejected. "The man who is prevented by fear from +delivering his opinion," said Billaud-Varennes, looking at him, "is not +worthy the title of a representative of the people." Attention was again +drawn to Robespierre. The decree ordering his speech to be printed was +recalled, and the convention submitted the speech to the examination of +the committees. Robespierre who had been surprised at this fiery +resistance, then said: "What! I had the courage to place before the +assembly truths which I think necessary to the safety of the country, and +you send my discourse for the examination of the members whom I accuse." +He retired, a little discouraged, but hoping to bring back the assembly to +his views, or rather, bring it into subjection with the aid of the +conspirators of the Jacobins and the commune. + +In the evening he repaired to the popular society. He was received with +enthusiasm. He read the speech which the assembly had just condemned, and +the Jacobins loaded him with applause. He then recounted to them the +attacks which had been directed against him, and to increase their +excitement he added: "If necessary, I am ready to drink the cup of +Socrates." "Robespierre," cried a deputy, "I will drink it with you." "The +enemies of Robespierre," cried numbers on all sides, "are the enemies of +the country; let them be named, and they shall cease to live." During the +whole night Robespierre prepared his partisans for the following day. It +was agreed that they should assemble at the commune and the Jacobins, in +order to be ready for every event, while he, accompanied by his friends, +repaired to the assembly. + +The committees had also spent the night in deliberation. Saint-Just had +appeared among them. His colleagues tried to disunite him from the +triumvirate; they deputed him to draw up a report on the events of the +preceding day, and submit it to them. But, instead of that, he drew up an +act of accusation, which he would not communicate to them, and said, as he +withdrew: "You have withered my heart; I am going to open it to the +convention." The committees placed all their hope in the courage of the +assembly and the union of parties. The Mountain had omitted nothing to +bring about this salutary agreement. They had addressed themselves to the +most influential members of the Right and of the Marais. They had +entreated Boissy d'Anglas and Durand de Maillane, who were at their head, +to join them against Robespierre. They hesitated at first: they were so +alarmed at his power, so full of resentment against the Mountain, that +they dismissed the Dantonists twice without listening to them. At last the +Dantonists returned to the charge a third time, and then the Right and the +Plain engaged to support them. There was thus a conspiracy on both sides. +All the parties of the assembly were united against Robespierre, all the +accomplices of the triumvirs were prepared to act against the convention. +In this state of affairs the sitting of the ninth Thermidor began. + +The members of the assembly repaired there earlier than usual. About half- +past eleven they gathered in the passages, encouraging each other. The +Bourdon de l'Oise, one of the Mountain, approached Durand de Maillane, a +moderate, pressed his hand, and said--"The people of the Right are +excellent men." Rovere and Tallien came up and mingled their +congratulations with those of Bourdon. At twelve they saw, from the door +of the hall, Saint-Just ascend the tribune. "_Now is the time_," said +Tallien, and they entered the hall. Robespierre occupied a seat in front +of the tribune, doubtless in order to intimidate his adversaries with his +looks. Saint-Just began: "I belong," he said, "to no faction; I will +oppose them all. The course of things has perhaps made this tribune the +Tarpeian rock for him who shall tell you that the members of the +government have quitted the path of prudence." Tallien then interrupted +Saint-Just, and exclaimed violently: "No good citizen can restrain his +tears at the wretched state of public affairs. We see nothing but +divisions. Yesterday a member of the government separated himself from it +to accuse it. To-day another does the same. Men still seek to attack each +other, to increase the woes of the country, to precipitate it into the +abyss. Let the veil be wholly torn asunder." "It must! it must!" resounded +on every side. + +Billaud-Varennes spoke from his seat--"Yesterday," said he, "the society +of Jacobins was filled with hired men, for no one had a card; yesterday +the design of assassinating the members of the national assembly was +developed in that society; yesterday I saw men uttering the most atrocious +insults against those who have never deviated from the revolution. I see +on the Mountain one of those men who threatened the republic; there he +is." "Arrest him! arrest him!" was the general cry. The serjeant seized +him, and took him to the committee of general safety. "The time is come +for speaking the truth," said Billaud. "The assembly would form a wrong +judgment of events and of the position in which it is placed, did it +conceal from itself that it is placed between two massacres. It will +perish, if feeble." "No! no! It will not perish!" exclaimed all the +members, rising from their seats. They swore to save the republic. The +spectators in the gallery applauded, and cried--"Vive la Convention +Rationale!" The impetuous Lebas attempted to speak in defence of the +triumvirs; he was not allowed to do so, and Billaud continued. He warned +the convention of its dangers, attacked Robespierre, pointed out his +accomplices, denounced his conduct and his plans of dictatorship. All eyes +were directed towards him. He faced them firmly for some time; but at +length, unable to contain himself, he rushed to the tribune. The cry of +"Down with the tyrant," instantly became general, and drowned his voice. + +"Just now," said Tallien, "I required that the veil should be torn +asunder. It gives me pleasure to see that it is wholly sundered. The +conspirators are unmasked; they will soon be destroyed, and liberty will +triumph. I was present yesterday at the sitting of the Jacobins; I +trembled for my country. I saw the army of this new Cromwell forming, and +I armed myself with a poignard to stab him to the heart, if the national +convention wanted courage to decree his impeachment." He drew out his +poignard, brandished it before the indignant assembly, and moved before +anything else, the arrest of Henriot, the permanent sitting of the +assembly; and both motions were carried, in the midst of cries of--"Vive +la republique!" Billaud also moved the arrest of three of Robespierre's +most daring accomplices, Dumas, Boulanger, and Dufrese. Barrere caused the +convention to be placed under the guard of the armed sections, and drew up +a proclamation to be addressed to the people. Every one proposed a measure +of precaution. Vadier diverted the assembly for a moment, from the danger +which threatened it, to the affair of Catherine Theos. "Let us not be +diverted from the true object of debate," said Tallien. "I will undertake +to bring you back to it," said Robespierre. "Let us turn our attention to +the tyrant," rejoined Tallien, attacking him more warmly than before. + +Robespierre, after attempting to speak several times, ascending and +descending the stairs of the tribune, while his voice was drowned by cries +of "Down with the tyrant!" and the bell which the president Thuriot +continued ringing, now made a last effort to be heard. "President of +assassins," he cried, "for the last time, will you let me speak?" But +Thuriot continued to ring his bell. Robespierre, after glancing at the +spectators in the public gallery, who remained motionless, turned towards +the Right. "Pure and virtuous men," said he, "I have recourse to you; give +me the hearing which these assassins refuse." No answer was returned; +profound silence prevailed. Then, wholly dejected, he returned to his +place, and sank on his seat exhausted by fatigue and rage. He foamed at +the mouth, and his utterance was choked. "Wretch!" said one of the +Mountain, "the blood of Danton chokes thee." His arrest was demanded and +supported on all sides. Young Robespierre now arose: "I am as guilty as my +brother," said he. "I share his virtues, and I will share his fate." "I +will not be involved in the opprobrium of this decree," added Lebas; "I +demand my arrest too." The assembly unanimously decreed the arrest of the +two Robespierres, Couthon, Lebas, and Saint-Just. The latter, after +standing for some time at the tribune with unchanged countenance, +descended with composure to his place. He had faced this protracted storm +without any show of agitation. The triumvirs were delivered to the +gendarmerie, who removed them amidst general applause. Robespierre +exclaimed, as he went out--"The republic is lost, the brigands triumph." +It was now half-past five, and the sitting was suspended till seven. + +During this stormy contest the accomplices of the triumvirs had assembled +at the Commune and the Jacobins. Fleuriot the mayor, Payan the national +agent, and Henriot the commandant, had been at the Hotel de Ville since +noon. They had assembled the municipal officers by the sound of the drum, +hoping that Robespierre would be triumphant in the assembly, and that they +should not require the general council to decree the insurrection, or the +sections to sustain it. A few hours after, a serjeant of the convention +arrived to summon the mayor to the bar of the assembly to give a report of +the state of Paris. "Go, and tell your scoundrels," said Henriot, "that we +are discussing how to purge them. Do not forget to tell Robespierre to be +firm, and to fear nothing." About half-past four they learned of the +arrest of the triumvirs, and the decree against their accomplices. The +tocsin was immediately sounded, the barriers closed, the general council +assembled, and the sectionaries called together. The cannoneers were +ordered to bring their pieces to the commune, and the revolutionary +committees to take the oath of insurrection. A message was sent to the +Jacobins, who sat permanently. The municipal deputies were received with +the greatest enthusiasm. "The society watches over the country," they were +told. "It has sworn to die rather than live under crime." At the same time +they concerted together, and established rapid communications between +these two centres of the insurrection. Henriot, on his side, to arouse the +people, ran through the streets, pistol in hand, at the head of his staff, +crying "to arms!" haranguing the multitude, and instigating all he met to +repair to the commune to _save the country_. While on this errand, two +members of the convention perceived him in the Rue Saint Honore. They +summoned, in the name of the law, a few gendarmes to execute the order for +his arrest; they obeyed, and Henriot was pinioned and conveyed to the +committee of general safety. + +Nothing, however, was decided as yet on either side. Each party made use +of its means of power; the convention of its decrees, the commune of the +insurrection; each party knew what would be the consequences of defeat, +and this rendered them both so active, so full of foresight and decision. +Success was long uncertain. From noon till five the convention had the +upper hand; it caused the arrest of the triumvirs, Payan the national +agent, and Henriot the commandant. It was already assembled, and the +commune had not yet collected its forces; but from six to eight the +insurgents regained their position, and the cause of the convention was +nearly lost. During this interval, the national representatives had +separated, and the commune had redoubled its efforts and audacity. + +Robespierre had been transferred to the Luxembourg, his brother to Saint- +Lazare, Saint-Just to the Ecossais, Couthon to La Bourbe, Lebas to the +Conciergerie. The commune, after having ordered the gaolers not to receive +them, sent municipal officers with detachments to bring them away. +Robespierre was liberated first, and conducted in triumph to the Hotel de +Ville. On arriving, he was received with the greatest enthusiasm; "Long +live Robespierre! Down with the traitors!" resounded on all sides. A +little before, Coffinhal had departed, at the head of two hundred +cannoneers, to release Henriot, who was detained at the committee of +general safety. It was now seven o'clock, and the convention had resumed +its sitting. Its guard, at the most, was a hundred men. Coffinhal arrived, +made his way through the outer courts, entered the committee chamber, and +delivered Henriot. The latter repaired to the Place du Carrousel, +harangued the cannoneers, and ordered them to point their pieces on the +convention. + +The assembly was just then discussing the danger to which it was exposed. +It had just heard of the alarming success of the conspirators, of the +insurrectional orders of the commune, the rescue of the triumvirs, their +presence at the Hotel de Ville, the rage of the Jacobins, the successive +convocation of the revolutionary council and of the sections. It was +dreading a violent invasion every moment, when the terrified members of +the committees rushed in, fleeing from Coffinhal. They learned that the +committees were surrounded, and Henriot released. This news caused great +agitation. The next moment Amar entered precipitately, and announced that +the cannoneers, acted upon by Henriot, had turned their pieces upon the +convention. "Citizens," said the president, putting on his hat, in token +of distress, "the hour is come to die at our posts!" "Yes, yes! we will +die there!" exclaimed all the members. The people in the galleries rushed +out, crying, "To arms! Let us drive back the scoundrels!" And the assembly +courageously outlawed Henriot. + +Fortunately for the assembly, Henriot could not prevail upon the +cannoneers to fire. His influence was limited to inducing them to +accompany him, and he turned his steps to the Hotel de Ville. The refusal +of the cannoneers decided the fate of the day. From that moment the +commune, which had been on the point of triumphing, saw its affairs +decline. Having failed in a surprise by main force, it was reduced to the +slow measures of the insurrection; the point of attack was changed, and +soon it was no longer the commune which besieged the Tuileries, but the +convention which marched upon the Hotel de Ville. The assembly instantly +outlawed the conspiring deputies and the insurgent commune. It sent +commissioners to the sections, to secure their aid, named the +representative Barras commandant of the armed force, joining with him +Freron, Rovere, Bourdon de l'Oise, Feraud, Leonard Bourdon, Legendre, all +men of decision: and made the committees the centre of operation. + +The sections, on the invitation of the commune, had assembled about nine +o'clock; the greater part of the citizens, in repairing thither, were +anxious, uncertain, and but vaguely informed of the quarrels between the +commune and the convention. The emissaries of the insurgents urged them to +join them and to march their battalions to the Hotel de Ville. The +sections confined themselves to sending a deputation, but as soon as the +commissioners of the convention arrived among them, had communicated to +them the decrees and invitations of the assembly, and informed them that +there was a leader and a rallying point, they hesitated no longer. Their +battalions presented themselves in succession to the assembly; they swore +to defend it, and they passed in files through the hall, amid shouts of +enthusiasm and sincere applause. "The moments are precious," said Freron; +"we must act; Barras is gone to take the orders of the committees; we will +march against the rebels; we will summon them in the name of the +convention to deliver up the traitors, and if they refuse, we will reduce +the building in which they are to ashes." "Go," said the president, "and +let not day appear before the heads of the conspirators have fallen." A +few battalions and some pieces of artillery were placed round the +assembly, to guard it from attack, and the sections then marched in two +columns against the commune. It was now nearly midnight. + +The conspirators were still assembled. Robespierre, after having been +received with cries of enthusiasm, promises of devotedness and victory, +had been admitted into the general council between Payan and Fleuriot. The +Place de Greve was filled with men, and glittered with bayonets, pikes, +and cannon. They only waited the arrival of the sections to proceed to +action. The presence of their deputies, and the sending of municipal +commissioners in their midst, had inspired reliance on their aid. Henriot +answered for everything. The conspirators looked for certain victory; they +appointed an executive commission, prepared addresses to the armies, and +drew up various lists. Half-past midnight, however, arrived, and no +section had yet appeared, no order had yet been given, the triumvirs were +still sitting, and the crowd on the Place de Greve became discouraged by +this tardiness and indecision. A report spread in whispers that the +sections had declared in favour of the convention, that the commune was +outlawed, and that the troops of the convention were advancing. The +eagerness of the armed multitude had already abated, when a few emissaries +of the assembly glided among them, and raised the cry, "Vive la +convention!" Several voices repeated it. They then read the proclamation +of outlawry against the commune; and after hearing it, the whole crowd +dispersed. The Place de Greve was deserted in a moment. Henriot came down +a few minutes after, sabre in hand, to excite their courage; but finding +no one: "What!" cried he; "is it possible? Those rascals of cannoneers, +who saved my life five hours ago, now forsake me." He went up again. At +that moment, the columns of the convention arrived, surrounded the Hotel +de Ville, silently took possession of all its outlets, and then shouted, +"Vive la convention nationale!" + +The conspirators, finding they were lost, sought to escape the violence of +their enemies. A gendarme named Meda, who first entered the room where the +conspirators were assembled, fired a pistol at Robespierre and shattered +his jaw; Lebas wounded himself fatally; Robespierre the younger jumped +from a window on the third story, and survived his fall; Couthon hid +himself under a table; Saint-Just awaited his fate; Coffinhal, after +reproaching Henriot with cowardice, threw him from a window into a drain +and fled. Meantime, the conventionalists penetrated into the Hotel de +Ville, traversed the desolate halls, seized the conspirators, and carried +them in triumph to the assembly. Bourdon entered the hall crying "Victory! +victory! the traitors are no more!" "The wretched Robespierre is there," +said the president; "they are bringing him on a litter. Doubtless you +would not have him brought in." "No! no!" they cried; "carry him to the +Place de la Revolution!" He was deposited for some time at the committee +of general safety before he was transferred to the Conciergerie; and here, +stretched on a table, his face disfigured and bloody, exposed to the +looks, the invectives, the curses of all, he beheld the various parties +exulting in his fall, and charging upon him all the crimes that had been +committed. He displayed much insensibility during his last moments. He was +taken to the Conciergerie, and afterwards appeared before the +revolutionary tribunal, which, after identifying him and his accomplices, +sent them to the scaffold. On the 10th Thermidor, about five in the +evening, he ascended the death cart, placed between Henriot and Couthon, +mutilated like himself. His head was enveloped in linen saturated with +blood; his face was livid, his eyes almost visionless. An immense crowd +thronged around the cart, manifesting the most boisterous and exulting +joy. They congratulated and embraced each other, loading him with +imprecations, and pressed near to view him more closely. The gendarmes +pointed him out with their sabres. As to him, he seemed to regard the +crowd with contemptuous pity; Saint-Just looked calmly at them; the rest, +in number twenty-two, were dejected. Robespierre ascended the scaffold +last; when his head fell, shouts of applause arose in the air, and lasted +for some minutes. + +With him ended the reign of terror, although he was not the most zealous +advocate of that system in his party. If he sought for supremacy, after +obtaining it, he would have employed moderation; and the reign of terror, +which ceased at his fall, would also have ceased with his triumph. I +regard his ruin to have been inevitable; he had no organized force; his +partisans, though numerous, were not enrolled; his instrument was the +force of opinion and of terror; accordingly, not being able to surprise +his foes by a strong hand, after the fashion of Cromwell, he sought to +intimidate them. Terror not succeeding, he tried insurrection. But as the +convention with the support of the committees had become courageous, so +the sections, relying on the courage of the convention, would naturally +declare against the insurgents. By attacking the government, he aroused +the assembly; by arousing the assembly, he aroused the people, and this +coalition necessarily ruined him. The convention on the 9th of Thermidor +was no longer, as on the 31st of May, divided, undecided, opposed to a +compact, numerous, and daring faction. All parties were united by defeat, +misfortune, and the proscription ever threatening them, and would +naturally cooperate in the event of a struggle. It did not, therefore, +depend on Robespierre himself to escape defeat; and it was not in his +power to secede from the committees. In the position to which he had +attained, one is consumed by one's passions, deceived by hopes and by +fortune, hitherto good; and when once the scaffolds have been erected, +justice and clemency are as impossible as peace, tranquillity, and the +dispensing of power when war is declared. One must then fall by the means +by which one has arisen; the man of faction must perish by the scaffold, +as conquerors by war. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). +EPOCH OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY + + +The 9th of Thermidor was the first day of the revolution in which those +fell who attacked. This indication alone manifested that the ascendant +revolutionary movement had reached its term. From that day the contrary +movement necessarily began. The general rising of all parties against one +man was calculated to put an end to the compression under which they +laboured. In Robespierre the committees subdued each other, and the +decemviral government lost the prestige of terror which had constituted +its strength. The committees liberated the convention, which gradually +liberated the entire republic. Yet they thought they had been working for +themselves, and for the prolongation of the revolutionary government, +while the greater part of those who had supported them had for their +object the overthrow of the dictatorship, the independence of the +assembly, and the establishment of legal order. From the day after the 9th +of Thermidor there were, therefore, two opposite parties among the +conquerors, that of the committees, and that of the Mountain, which was +called the Thermidorian party. + +The former was deprived of half its forces; besides the loss of its chief, +it no longer had the commune, whose insurgent members, to the number of +seventy-two, had been sent to the scaffold, and, which, after its double +defeat under Hebert and under Robespierre, was not again re-organized, and +remained without direct influence. But this party retained the direction +of affairs through the committees. All its members were attached to the +revolutionary system; some, such as Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, +Barrere, Vadier, Amar, saw it was their only safety; others, such as +Carnot, Cambon, the two Prieurs, de la Marne, and de la Cote-d'Or, etc., +feared the counter-revolution, and the punishment of their colleagues. In +the convention it reckoned all the commissioners hitherto sent on +missions, several of the Mountain who had signalized themselves on the 9th +Thermidor, and the remnant of Robespierre's party. Without, the Jacobins +were attached to it; and it still had the support of the faubourgs and of +the lower class. + +The Thermidorian party was composed of the greater number of the +conventionalists. All the centre of the assembly, and what remained of the +Right, joined the Mountain, who had abated their former exaggeration of +views. The coalition of the Moderates, Boissy d'Anglas, Sieyes, +Cambaceres, Chenier, Thibeaudeau, with the Dantonists, Tallien, Freron, +Legendre, Barras, Bourdon de l'Oise, Rovere, Bentabole, Dumont, and the +two Merlins, entirely changed the character of the assembly. After the 9th +of Thermidor, the first step of this party was to secure its empire in the +convention. Soon it found its way into the government, and succeeded in +excluding the previous occupants. Sustained by public opinion, by the +assembly, by the committees, it advanced openly towards its object; it +proceeded against the principal decemvirs, and some of their agents. As +these had many partisans in Paris, it sought the aid of the young men +against the Jacobins, of the sections against the faubourgs. At the same +time, to strengthen it, it recalled to the assembly all the deputies whom +the committee of public safety had proscribed; first, the seventy-three +who had protested against the 31st of May, and then the surviving victims +of that day themselves. The Jacobins exhibited excitement: it closed their +club; the faubourgs raised an insurrection: it disarmed them. After +overthrowing the revolutionary government, it directed its attention to +the establishment of another, and to the introduction, under the +constitution of the year III., of a feasible, liberal, regular, and stable +order of things, in place of the extraordinary and provisional state in +which the convention had been from its commencement until then. But all +this was accomplished gradually. + +The two parties were not long before they began to differ, after their +common victory. The revolutionary tribunal was an especial object of +general horror. On the 11th Thermidor it was suspended; but Billaud- +Varennes, in the same sitting, had the decree of suspension rescinded. He +maintained that the accomplices of Robespierre alone were guilty, that the +majority of the judges and jurors being men of integrity, it was desirable +to retain them in their offices. Barrere presented a decree to that +effect: he urged that the triumvirs had done nothing for the revolutionary +government; that they had often even opposed its measures; that their only +care had been to place their creatures in it, and to give it a direction +favourable to their own projects; he insisted, in order to strengthen that +government, upon retaining the law _des suspects_ and the tribunal, with +its existing members, including Fouquier-Tinville. At this name a general +murmur rose in the assembly. Freron, rendering himself the organ of the +general indignation, exclaimed: "I demand that at last the earth be +delivered from that monster, and that Fouquier be sent to hell, there to +wallow in the blood he has shed." His proposition was applauded, and +Fouquier's accusation decreed. Barrere, however, did not regard himself as +defeated; he still retained toward the convention the imperious language +which the old committee had made use of with success; this was at once +habit and calculation on his part; for he well knew that nothing is so +easily continued as that which has been successful. + +But the political tergiversations of Barrere, a man of noble birth, and +who was a royalist Feuillant before the 10th of August, did not +countenance his assuming this imperious and inflexible tone. "Who is this +president of the Feuillants," said Merlin de Thionville, "who assumes to +dictate to us the law?" The hall resounded with applause. Barrere became +confused, left the tribune, and this first check of the committees +indicated their decline in the convention. The revolutionary tribunal +continued to exist, but with other members and another organization. The +law of the 22nd Prairial was abolished, and there were now as much +deliberation and moderation, as many protecting forms in trials, as before +there had been precipitation and inhumanity. This tribunal was no longer +made use of against persons formerly suspected, who were still detained in +prison, though under milder treatment, and who, by degrees, were restored +to liberty on the plan proposed by Camille Desmoulins for his Committee of +Clemency. + +On the 13th of Thermidor the government itself became the subject of +discussion. The committee of public safety was deficient in many members; +Herault de Sechelles had never been replaced; Jean-Bon-Saint-Andre and +Prieur de la Marne were on missions; Robespierre, Couthon, and Saint-Just +had perished on the scaffold. In the places of these were appointed +Tallien, Breard, Echasseriaux, Treilhard, Thuriot, and Laloi, whose +accession lessened still more the influence of the old members. At the +same time, were reorganized the two committees, so as to render them more +dependent on the assembly, and less so on one another. The committee of +public safety was charged with military and diplomatic operations; that of +general safety with internal administration. As it was desired, by +limiting the revolutionary power, to calm the fever which had excited the +multitude; and gradually to disperse them, the daily meetings of the +sections were reduced to one in every ten days; and the pay of forty sous +a day, lately given to every indigent citizen who attended them, was +discontinued. + +These measures being carried into effect, on the 11th of Fructidor, one +month after the death of Robespierre, Lecointre of Versailles denounced +Billaud, Collot, Barrere, of the committee of public safety; and Vadier, +Amar, and Vouland, of the committee of general safety. The evening before, +Tallien had vehemently assailed the reign of terror, and Lecointre was. +encouraged to his attack by the sensation which Tallien's speech had +produced. He brought twenty-three charges against the accused; he imputed +to them all the measures of cruelty or tyranny which they threw on the +triumvirs, and called them the successors of Robespierre. This +denunciation agitated the assembly, and more especially those who +supported the committees, or who wished that divisions might cease in the +republic. "If the crimes Lecointre reproaches us with were proved," said +Billaud-Varennes--"if they were as real as they are absurd and chimerical, +there is, doubtless, not one of us but would deserve to lose his head on +the scaffold. But I defy Lecointre to prove, by documents or any evidence +worthy of belief, any of the facts he has charged us with." He repelled +the charges brought against him by Lecointre; he reproached his enemies +with being corrupt and intriguing men, who wished to sacrifice him to the +memory of Danton, _an odious conspirator, the hope of all parricidal +factions_. "What seek these men," he continued--"what seek these men who +call us the successors of Robespierre? Citizens, know you what they seek? +To destroy liberty on the tomb of the tyrant." Lecointre's denunciation +was premature; almost all the convention pronounced it calumnious. The +accused and their friends gave way to outbursts of unrestrained and still +powerful indignation, for they were now attacked for the first time; the +accuser, scarcely supported by any one, was silenced. Billaud-Varennes and +his friends triumphed for the time. + +A few days after, the period for renewing a third of the committee +arrived. The following members were fixed on by lot to retire: Barrere, +Carnot, Robert Lindet, in the committee of public safety; Vadier, Vouland, +Moise Baile in the committee of general safety. They were replaced by +Thermidorians; and Collot-d'Herbois, as well as Billaud-Varennes, finding +themselves too weak, resigned. Another circumstance contributed still more +to the fall of their party, by exciting public opinion against it; this +was the publicity given to the crimes of Joseph Lebon and Carrier, two of +the proconsuls of the committee. They had been sent, the one to Arras and +to Cambrai, the frontier exposed to invasion; the other to Nantes, the +limit of the Vendean war. They had signalized their mission by, beyond all +others, displaying a cruelty and a caprice of tyranny, which are, however, +generally found in those who are invested with supreme human power. Lebon, +young and of a weak constitution, was naturally mild. On a first mission, +he had been humane; but he was censured for this by the committee, and +sent to Arras, with orders to show himself _somewhat more revolutionary_. +Not to fall short of the inexorable policy of the committee, he gave way +to unheard of excesses; he mingled debauchery with extermination; he had +the guillotine always in his presence, and called it holy. He associated +with the executioner, and admitted him to his table. Carrier, having more +victims to strike, surpassed even Lebon; he was bilious, fanatical, and +naturally blood-thirsty. He had only awaited the opportunity to execute +enormities that the imagination even of Marat would not have dared to +conceive. Sent to the borders of an insurgent country, he condemned to +death the whole hostile population--priests, women, children, old men, and +girls. As the scaffold did not suffice for his cruelty, he substituted a +company of assassins, called Marat's company, for the revolutionary +tribune, and, for the guillotine, boats, with false bottoms, by means of +which he drowned his victims in the Loire. Cries of vengeance and justice +were raised against these enormities. After the 9th of Thermidor, Lebon +was attacked first, because he was more especially the agent of +Robespierre. Carrier, who was that of the committee of public safety, and +of whose conduct Robespierre had disapproved, was prosecuted subsequently. + +There were in the prisons of Paris ninety-four people of Nantes, sincerely +attached to the revolution, and who had defended their town with courage +during the attack made on it by the Vendeans. Carrier had sent them to +Paris as federalists. It had not been deemed safe to bring them before the +revolutionary tribunal until the ninth of Thermidor; they were then taken +there for the purpose of unmasking, by their trial, the crimes of Carrier. +They were tried purposely with prolonged solemnity; their trial lasted +nearly a month; there was time given for public opinion to declare itself; +and on their acquittal, there was a general demand for justice on the +revolutionary committee of Nantes, and on the proconsul Carrier. Legendre +renewed Lecointre's impeachment of Billaud, Barrere, Collot, and Vadier, +who were generously defended by Carnot, Prieur, and Cambon, their former +colleagues, who demanded to share their fate. Lecointre's motion was not +attended with any result; and, for the present, they only brought to trial +the members of the revolutionary committee of Nantes; but we may observe +the progress of the Thermidorian party. This time the members of the +committee were obliged to have recourse to defence, and the convention +simply passed to the order of the day, on the question of the denunciation +made by Legendre, without voting it calumnious, as they had done that of +Lecointre. + +The revolutionary democrats were, however, still very powerful in Paris: +if they had lost the commune, the tribunal, the convention, and the +committee, they yet retained the Jacobins and the faubourgs. It was in +these popular societies that their party concentrated, especially for the +purpose of defending themselves. Carrier attended them assiduously, and +invoked their assistance; Billaud-Varennes, and Collot-d'Herbois also +resorted to them; but these being somewhat less threatened were +circumspect. They were accordingly censured for their silence. "_The lion +sleeps_," replied Billaud-Varennes, "_but his waking will be terrible_." +This club had been expurgated after the 10th Thermidor, and it had +congratulated the convention in the name of the regenerated societies, on +the fall of Robespierre and of tyranny. About this time, as many of its +leaders were proceeded against, and many Jacobins were imprisoned in the +departments, it came in the name of the united societies "_to give +utterance to the cry of grief that resounded from every part of the +republic, and to the voice of oppressed patriots, plunged in the dungeons +which the aristocrats had just left_." + +The convention, far from yielding to the Jacobins, prohibited, for the +purpose of destroying their influence, all collective petitions, branch- +associations, correspondence, etc., between the parent society and its +off-sets, and in this way disorganized the famous confederation of the +clubs. The Jacobins, rejected from the convention, began to agitate Paris, +where they were still masters. Then the Thermidorians also began to +convoke their people, by appealing to the support of the sections. At the +same time Freron called the young men at arms, in his journal _l'Orateur +du Peuple_, and placed himself at their head. This new and irregular +militia called itself _La jeunesse doree de Freron_. All those who +composed it belonged to the rich and the middle class; they had adopted a +particular costume, called _Costume a la victime_. Instead of the blouse +of the Jacobins, they wore a square open coat and very low shoes; the +hair, long at the sides, was turned up behind, with tresses called +_cadenettes_; they were armed with short sticks, leadened and formed like +bludgeons. Some of these young men and some of the sectionaries were +royalists; others followed the impulse of the moment, which was anti- +revolutionary. The latter acted without object or ambition, declaring in +favour of the strongest party, especially when the triumph of that party +promised to restore order, the want of which was generally felt. The other +contended under the Thermidorians against the old committees, as the +Thermidorians had contended under the old committees against Robespierre; +it waited for an opportunity of acting on its own account, which occurred +after the entire downfall of the revolutionary party. In the violent +situation of the two parties, actuated by fear and resentment, they +pursued each other ruthlessly and often came to blows in the streets to +the cry of "Vive la Montagne!" or "Vive la Convention!" The _jeunesse +doree_ were powerful in the Palais Royal, where they were supported by the +shopkeepers; but the Jacobins were the strongest in the garden of the +Tuileries, which was near their club. + +These quarrels became more animated every day; and Paris was transformed +into a field of battle, where the fate of the parties was left to the +decision of arms. This state of war and disorder would necessarily have an +end; and since the parties had not the wisdom to come to an understanding, +one or the other must inevitably carry the day. The Thermidorians were the +growing party, and victory naturally fell to them. On the day following +that on which Billaud had spoken of the _waking of the lion_ in the +popular society, there was great agitation throughout Paris. It was wished +to take the Jacobin club by assault. Men shouted in the streets--"The +great Jacobin conspiracy! Outlaw the Jacobins!" At this period the +revolutionary committee of Nantes were being tried. In their defence they +pleaded that they had received from Carrier the sanguinary orders they had +executed; which led the convention to enter into an examination of his +conduct. Carrier was allowed to defend himself before the decree was +passed against him. He justified his cruelty by the cruelty of the +Vendeans, and the maddening; fury of civil war. "When I acted," he said, +"the air still seemed to resound with the civic songs of twenty thousand +martyrs, who had shouted 'Vive la republique!' in the midst of tortures. +How could the voice of humanity, which had died in this terrible crisis, +be heard? What would my adversaries have done in my place? I saved the +republic at Nantes; my life has been devoted to my country, and I am ready +to die for it." Out of five hundred voters, four hundred and ninety-eight +were for the impeachment; the other two voted for it, but conditionally. + +The Jacobins finding their opponents were going from subordinate agents to +the representatives themselves, regarded themselves as lost. They +endeavoured to rouse the multitude, less to defend Carrier than for the +support of their party, which was threatened more and more. But they were +kept in check by the _jeunesse doree_ and the sectionaries, who eventually +proceeded to the place of their sittings to dissolve the club. A sharp +conflict ensued. The besiegers broke the windows with stones, forced the +doors, and dispersed the Jacobins after some resistance on their part. The +latter complained to the convention of this violence. Rewbell, deputed to +make a report on the subject, was not favourable to them. "Where was +tyranny organized?" said he. "At the Jacobin club. Where had it its +supports and its satellites? At the Jacobin club. Who covered France with +mourning, threw families into despair, filled the republic with bastilles, +made the republican system so odious, that a slave laden with fetters +would have refused to live under it? The Jacobins. Who regret the terrible +reign we have lived under? The Jacobins. If you have not courage to decide +in a moment like this, the republic is at an end, because you have +Jacobins." The convention suspended them provisionally, in order to +expurgate and reorganize them, not daring to destroy them at once. The +Jacobins, setting the decree at defiance, assembled in arms at their usual +place of meeting; the Thermidorian troop who had already besieged them +there, came again to assail them. It surrounded the club with cries of +"Long live the convention! Down with the Jacobins!" The latter prepared +for defence; they left their seats, shouting, "Long live the republic!" +rushed to the doors, and attempted a sortie. At first they made a few +prisoners; but soon yielding to superior numbers, they submitted, and +traversed the ranks of the victors, who, after disarming them, covered +them with hisses, insults, and even blows. These illegal expeditions were +accompanied by all the excesses which attend party struggles. + +The next day commissioners of the convention came to close the club, and +put seals on its registers and papers, and from that moment the society of +the Jacobins ceased to exist. This popular body had powerfully served the +revolution, when, in order to repel Europe, it was necessary to place the +government in the multitude, and to give the republic all the energy of +defence; but now it only obstructed the progress of the new order of +things. + +The situation of affairs was changed; liberty was to succeed the +dictatorship, now that the salvation of the revolution had been effected, +and that it was necessary to revert to legal order, in order to preserve +it. An exorbitant and extraordinary power, like the confederation of the +clubs, would necessarily terminate with the defeat of the party which had +supported it, and that party itself expire with the circumstances which +had given it rise. + +Carrier, brought before the revolutionary tribunal, was tried without +interruption, and condemned with the majority of his accomplices. During +the trial, the seventy-three deputies, whose protest against the 31st of +May had excluded them from the assemblies, were reinstated. Merlin de +Douai moved their recall in the name of the committee of public safety; +his motion was received with applause, and the seventy-three resumed their +seats in the convention. The seventy-three, in their turn, tried to obtain +the return of the outlawed deputies; but they met with warm opposition. +The Thermidorians and the members of the new committees feared that such a +measure would be calling the revolution itself into question. They were +also afraid of introducing a new party into the convention, already +divided, and of recalling implacable enemies, who might cause, with regard +to themselves, a reaction similar to that which had taken place against +the old committees. Accordingly they vehemently opposed the motion, and +Merlin de Douai went so far as to say: "Do you want to throw open the +doors of the Temple?" The young son of Louis XVI. was confined there, and +the Girondists, on account of the results of the 31st of May, were +confounded with the Royalists; besides, the 31st of May still figured +among the revolutionary dates beside the 10th of August and the 14th of +July. The retrograde movement had yet some steps to take before it reached +that period. The republican counter-revolution had turned back from the +9th Thermidor, 1794, to the 3rd of October, 1793, the day on which the +seventy-three had been arrested, but not to the 2nd of June, 1793, when +the twenty-two were arrested. After overthrowing Robespierre, and the +committee, it had to attack Marat and the Mountain. In the almost +geometrical progression of popular movement, a few months were still +necessary to effect this. + +They went on to abolish the decemviral system. The decree against the +priests and nobles, who had formed two proscribed classes under the reign +of terror, was revoked; the _maximum_ was abolished, in order to restore +confidence by putting an end to commercial tyranny; the general and +earnest effort was to substitute the most elevated liberty for the +despotic pressure of the committee of public safety. This period was also +marked by the independence of the press, the restoration of religious +worship, and the return of the property confiscated from the federalists +during the reign of the committees. + +Here was a complete reaction against the revolutionary government; it soon +reached Marat and the Mountain. After the 9th of Thermidor, it had been +considered necessary to oppose a great revolutionary reputation to that of +Robespierre, and Marat had been selected for this purpose. To him were +decreed the honours of the Pantheon, which Robespierre, while in power, +had deferred granting him. He, in his turn, was now attacked. His bust was +in the convention, the theatres, on the public squares, and in the popular +assemblies. The _jeunesse doree_ broke that in the Theatre Feydeau. The +Mountain complained, but the convention decreed that no citizen could +obtain the honours of the Pantheon, nor his bust be placed in the +convention, until he had been dead ten years. The bust of Marat +disappeared from the hall of the convention, and as the excitement was +very great in the faubourgs, the sections, the usual support of the +assembly, defiled through it. There was, also, opposite the Invalides, an +elevated mound, a _Mountain_, surmounted by a colossal group, representing +Hercules crushing a hydra. The section of the Halle-au-ble demanded that +this should be removed. The left of the assembly murmured. "The giant," +said a member, "is an emblem of the people." "All I see in it is a +mountain," replied another, "and what is a Mountain but an eternal protest +against equality." These words were much applauded, and sufficed to carry +the petition and overthrow the monument of the victory and domination of a +party. + +Next were recalled the proscribed conventionalists; already, some time +since, their outlawry had been reversed. Isnard and Louvet wrote to the +assembly to be reinstated in their rights; they were met by the objection +as to the consequences of the 31st of May, and the insurrections of the +departments. "I will not," said Chenier, who spoke in their favour, "I +will not so insult the national convention as to bring before them the +phantom of federalism, which has been preposterously made the chief charge +against your colleagues. They fled, it will be said; they hid themselves. +This, then, is their crime! would that this, for the welfare of the +republic, had been the crime of all! Why were there not caverns deep +enough to preserve to the country the meditations of Condorcet, the +eloquence of Vergniaud? Why did not some hospitable land, on the 10th +Thermidor, give back to light that colony of energetic patriots and +virtuous republicans? But projects of vengeance are apprehended from these +men, soured by misfortune. Taught in the school of suffering, they have +learnt only to lament human errors. No, no, Condorcet, Rabaud-Saint- +Etienne, Vergniaud, Camille Desmoulins seek not holocausts of blood; their +manes are not to be appeased by hecatombs." The Left opposed Chenier's +motion. "You are about," cried Bentabole, "to rouse every passion; if you +attack the insurrection of the 31st of May, you attack the eighty thousand +men who concurred in it." "Let us take care," replied Sieyes, "not to +confound the work of tyranny with that of principles. When men, supported +by a subordinate authority, the rival of ours, succeeded in organizing the +greatest of crimes, on the fatal 31st of May, and 2nd of June, it was not +a work of patriotism, but an outrage of tyranny; from that time you have +seen the convention domineered over, the majority oppressed, the minority +dictating laws. The present session is divided into three distinct +periods; till the 31st of May, there was oppression of the convention by +the people; till the 9th Thermidor, oppression of the people by the +convention, itself the object of tyranny; and lastly, since the 9th of +Thermidor, justice, as regards the convention, has resumed its rights." He +demanded the recall of the proscribed members, as a pledge of union in the +assembly, and of security for the republic. Merlin de Douai immediately +proposed their return in the name of the committee of public safety; it +was granted, and after eighteen months' proscription, the twenty-two +conventionalists resumed their seats; among them were Isnard, Louvet, +Lanjuinais, Kervelegan, Henri La Riviere, La Reveillere-Lepaux, and +Lesage, all that remained of the brilliant but unfortunate Gironde. They +joined the moderate party, which was composed daily more and more of the +remains of different parties. For old enemies, forgetting their +resentments and their contest for domination, because they had now the +same interests and the same object, became allies. It was the commencement +of pacification between those who wished for a republic against the +royalists, and a practicable constitution, in opposition to the +revolutionists. At this period all measures against the federalists were +rescinded, and the Girondists assumed the lead of the republican counter- +revolution. + +The convention was, however, carried much too far by the partisans of +reaction; in its desire to repair all and to punish all, it fell into +excesses of justice. After the abolition of the decemviral regime, the +past should have been buried in oblivion, and the revolutionary abyss +closed after a few expiatory victims had been thrown into it. Security +alone brings about pacification; and pacification only admits of liberty. +By again entering upon a course characterized by passion, they only +effected a transference of tyranny, violence, and calamity. Hitherto the +bourgeoisie had been sacrificed to the multitude, to the consumers now it +was just the reverse. Stock-jobbing was substituted for the _maximum_, and +informers of the middle class altogether surpassed the popular informers. +All who had taken part in the dictatorial government were proceeded +against with the fiercest determination. The sections, the seat of the +middle class, required the disarming and punishment of the members of +their revolutionary committees, composed of sans-culottes. There was a +general hue and cry against the _terrorists_, who increased in number +daily. The departments denounced all the former proconsuls, thus rendering +desperate a numerous party, in reality no longer to be feared, since it +had lost all power, by thus threatening it with great and perpetual +reprisals. + +Dread of proscription, and several other reasons, disposed them for +revolt. The general want was terrible. Labour and its produce had been +diminished ever since the revolutionary period, during which the rich had +been imprisoned and the poor had governed; the suppression of the +_maximum_ had occasioned a violent crisis, which the traders and farmers +turned to account, by disastrous monopoly and jobbing. To increase the +difficulty, the assignats were falling into discredit, and their value +diminished daily. More than eight milliards worth of them had been issued. +The insecurity of this paper money, by reason of the revolutionary +confiscations, which had depreciated the national property, the want of +confidence on the part of the merchants, tradesmen, etc., in the stability +of the revolutionary government, which they considered merely provisional, +all this had combined to reduce the real value of the assignats to one- +fifteenth of their nominal value. They were received reluctantly, and +specie was hoarded up with all the greater care, in proportion to the +increasing demand for it, and the depreciation of paper money. The people, +in want of food, and without the means of buying it, even when they held +assignats, were in utter distress. They attributed this to the merchants, +the farmers, the landed and other proprietors, to the government, and +dwelt with regret upon the fact that before, under the committee of public +safety, they had enjoyed both power and food. The convention had indeed +appointed a committee of subsistence to supply Paris with provisions, but +this committee had great difficulty and expense in procuring from day to +day the supply of fifteen hundred sacks of flour necessary to support this +immense city; and the people, who waited in crowds for hours together +before the bakers' shops, for the pound of bad bread, distributed to each +inhabitant, were loud in their complaints, and violent in their murmurs. +They called Boissy d'Anglas, president of the committee of subsistence, +_Boissy-Famine_. Such was the state of the fanatical and exasperated +multitude, when its former leaders were brought to trial. + +On the 12th Ventose, a short time after the return of the remaining +Girondists, the assembly had decreed the arrest of Billaud-Varennes, +Collot-d'Herbois, Barrere and Vadier. Their trial before the convention +was appointed to commence on the 3rd Germinal. On the 1st (20th of March, +1795), the Decade day, and that on which the sections assembled, their +partisans organized a riot to prevent their being brought to trial; the +outer sections of the faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau were +devoted to their cause. From these quarters they proceeded, half +petitioners, half insurgents, towards the convention, to demand bread, the +constitution of '93, and the liberation of the imprisoned patriots. They +met a few young men on their way, whom they threw into the basins of the +Tuileries. The news, however, soon spread that the convention was exposed +to danger, and that the Jacobins were about to liberate their leaders, and +the _jeunesse doree_, followed by about five thousand citizens of the +inner sections, came, dispersed the men of the faubourgs, and acted as a +guard for the assembly. The latter, warned by this new danger, revived, on +the motion of Sieyes, the old martial law, under the name of _loi de +grande police_. + +This rising in favour of the accused having failed, they were brought +before the convention on the 3rd Germinal. Vadier alone was contumacious. +Their conduct was investigated with the greatest solemnity; they were +charged with having tyrannized over the people and oppressed the +convention. Though proofs were not wanting to support this charge, the +accused defended themselves with much address. They ascribed to +Robespierre the oppression of the assembly, and of themselves; they +endeavoured to palliate their own conduct by citing the measures taken by +the committee, and adopted by the convention, by urging the excitement of +the period, and the necessity of securing the defence and safety of the +republic. Their former colleagues appeared as witnesses in their favour, +and wished to make common cause with them. The _Cretois_ (the name then +given to the remnant of the Mountain) also supported them warmly. Their +trial had lasted nine days, and each sitting had been occupied by the +prosecution and the defence. The sections of the faubourgs were greatly +excited. The mobs which had collected every day since the 1st Germinal, +increased twofold on the 12th, and a new rising took place, in order to +suspend the trial, which the first rising had failed to prevent. The +agitators, more numerous and bold on this occasion, forced their way +through the guard of the convention, and entered the hall, having written +with chalk on their hats the words, "Bread," "The constitution of '93," +"Liberty for the patriots." Many of the deputies of the _Crete_ declared +in their favour; the other members, astounded at the tumult and disorder +of this popular invasion, awaited the arrival of the inner sections for +their deliverance. All debating was at an end. The tocsin, which had been +removed from the commune after its defeat, and placed on the top of the +Tuileries, where the convention sat, sounded the alarm. The committee +ordered the drums to beat to arms. In a short time the citizens of the +nearest sections assembled, marched in arms to assist the convention, and +rescued it a second time. It sentenced the accused, whose cause was the +pretext for this rising, to transportation, and decreed the arrest of +seventeen members of the _Crete_ who had favoured the insurgents, and +might therefore be regarded as their accomplices. Among these were Cambon, +Ruamps, Leonard Bourdon, Thuriot, Chasle, Amar, and Lecointre, who, since +the recall of the Girondists, had returned to the Mountain. On the +following day they, and the persons sentenced to transportation, were +conveyed to the castle of Ham. + +The events of the 12th of Germinal decided nothing. The faubourgs had been +repulsed, but not conquered; and both power and confidence must be taken +from a party by a decisive defeat, before it is effectually destroyed. +After so many questions decided against the democratists, there still +remained one of the utmost importance--the constitution. On this depended +the ascendancy of the multitude or of the bourgeoisie. The supporters of +the revolutionary government then fell back on the democratic constitution +of '93, which presented to them the means of resuming the authority they +had lost. Their opponents, on the other hand, endeavoured to replace it by +a constitution which would secure all the advantage to them, by +concentrating the government a little more, and giving it to the middle +class. For a month, both parties were preparing for this last contest. The +constitution of 1793, having been sanctioned by the people, enjoyed a +great prestige. It was accordingly attacked with infinite precaution. At +first its assailants engaged to carry it into execution without +restriction; next they appointed a commission of eleven members to prepare +the _lois organiques_, which were to render it practicable; by and by, +they ventured to suggest objections to it on the ground that it +distributed power too loosely, and only recognised one assembly dependent +on the people, even in its measures of legislation. At last, a deputation +of the sectionaries went so far as to call the constitution of '93 a +decemviral constitution, dictated by terror. All its partisans, at once +indignant and filled with fears, organized an insurrection to maintain it. +This was another 31st of May, as terrible as the first, but which, not +having the support of an all-powerful commune, not being directed by a +general commandant, and not having a terrified convention and submissive +sections to deal with, had not the same result. + +The conspirators, warned by the failure of the risings of the 1st and 12th +Germinal, omitted nothing to make up for their want of direct object and +of organization. On the 1st Prairial (20th of May) in the name of the +people, insurgent for the purpose of obtaining bread and their rights, +they decreed the abolition of the revolutionary government, the +establishment of the democratic constitution of '93, the dismissal and +arrest of the members of the existing government, the liberation of the +patriots, the convocation of the primary assemblies on the 25th Prairial, +the convocation of the legislative assembly, destined to replace the +convention, on the 25th Messidor, and the suspension of all authority not +emanating from the people. They determined on forming a new municipality, +to serve as a common centre; to seize on the barriers, telegraph, cannon, +tocsins, drums, and not to rest till they had secured repose, happiness, +liberty, and means of subsistence for all the French nation. They invited +the artillery, gendarmes, horse and foot soldiers, to join the banners of +the people, and marched on the convention. + +Meantime, the latter was deliberating on the means of preventing the +insurrection. The daily assemblages occasioned by the distribution of +bread and the popular excitement, had concealed from it the preparations +for a great rising, and it had taken no steps to prevent it. The +committees came in all haste to apprise it of its danger; it immediately +declared its sitting permanent, voted Paris responsible for the safety of +the representatives of the republic, closed its doors, outlawed all the +leaders of the mob, summoned the citizens of the sections to arms, and +appointed as their leaders eight commissioners, among whom were Legendre, +Henri La Riviere, Kervelegan, etc. These deputies had scarcely gone, when +a loud noise was heard without. An outer door had been forced, and numbers +of women rushed into the galleries, crying, "Bread and the constitution of +'93!" The convention received them firmly. "Your cries," said the +president Vernier, "will not alter our position; they will not accelerate +by one moment the arrival of supplies. They will only serve to hinder it." +A fearful tumult drowned the voice of the president, and interrupted the +proceedings. The galleries were then cleared; but the insurgents of the +faubourgs soon reached the inner doors, and finding them closed, forced +them with hatchets and hammers, and then rushed in amidst the convention. + +The hall now became a field of battle. The veterans and gendarmes, to whom +the guard of the assembly was confided, cried, "To arms!" The deputy +Auguis, sword in hand, headed them, and succeeded in repelling the +assailants, and even made a few of them prisoners. But the insurgents, +more numerous, returned to the charge, and again rushed into the house. +The deputy Feraud entered precipitately, pursued by the insurgents, who +fired some shots in the house. They took aim at Boissy d'Anglas, who was +occupying the president's chair, in place of Vernier. Feraud ran to the +tribune, to shield him with his body; he was struck at with pikes and +sabres, and fell dangerously wounded. + +The insurgents dragged him into the lobby, and, mistaking him for Freron, +cut off his head, and placed it on a pike. + +After this skirmish, they became masters of the hall. Most of the deputies +had taken flight. There only remained the members of the _Crete_ and +Boissy d'Anglas, who, calm, his hat on, heedless of threat and insult, +protested in the name of the convention against this popular violence. +They held out to him the bleeding head of Feraud; he bowed respectfully +before it. They tried to force him, by placing pikes at his breast, to put +the propositions of the insurgents to the vote; he steadily and +courageously refused. But the _Cretois_, who approved of the insurrection, +took possession of the bureaux and of the tribune, and decreed, amidst the +applause of the multitude, all the articles contained in the manifesto of +the insurrection. The deputy Romme became their organ. They further +appointed an executive commission, composed of Bourbotte, Duroy, +Duquesnoy, Prieur de la Marne, and a general-in-chief of the armed force, +the deputy Soubrany. In this way they prepared for the return of their +domination. They decreed the recall of their imprisoned colleagues, the +dismissal of their enemies, a democratic constitution, the re- +establishment of the Jacobin club. But it was not enough for them to have +usurped the assembly for a short time; it was necessary to conquer the +sections, for it was only with these they could really contend there. + +The commissioners despatched to the sections had quickly gathered them +together. The battalions of the _Butte des Moulins, Lepelletier, des +Piques, de la Fontaine-Grenelle_, who were the nearest, soon occupied the +Carrousel and its principal avenues. The aspect of affairs then underwent +a change; Legendre, Kervelegan, and Auguis besieged the insurgents, in +their turn, at the head of the sectionaries. At first they experienced +some resistance. But with fixed bayonets they soon entered the hall, where +the conspirators were still deliberating, and Legendre cried out: "_In the +name of the law, I order armed citizens to withdraw_." They hesitated a +moment, but the arrival of the battalions, now entering at every door, +intimidated them, and they hastened from the hall in all the disorder of +flight. The assembly again became complete; the sections received a vote +of thanks, and the deliberations were resumed. All the measures adopted in +the interim were annulled, and fourteen representatives, to whom were +afterwards joined fourteen others, were arrested, for organizing the +insurrection, or approving it in their speeches. It was then midnight; at +five in the morning the prisoners were already six leagues from Paris. + +Despite this defeat, the faubourgs did not consider themselves beaten; and +the next day they advanced _en masse_ with their cannon against the +convention. The sections, on their side, marched for its defence. The two +parties were on the point of engaging; the cannons of the faubourg which +were mounted on the Place du Carrousel, were directed towards the chateau, +when the assembly sent commissioners to the insurgents. Negotiations were +begun. A deputy of the faubourgs, admitted to the convention, first +repeated the demand made the preceding day, adding: "We are resolved to +die at the post we now occupy, rather than abate our present demands. I +fear nothing! My name is Saint-Legier. Vive la Republique! Vive la +Convention! if it is attached to principles, as I believe it to be." The +deputy was favourably received, and they came to friendly terms with the +faubourgs, without, however, granting them anything positive. The latter +having no longer a general council of the commune to support their +resolutions, nor a commander like Henriot to keep them under arms, till +their propositions were decreed, went no further. They retired after +having received an assurance that the convention would assiduously attend +to the question of provisions, and would soon publish the organic laws of +the constitution of '93. That day showed that immense physical force and a +decided object are not the only things essential to secure success; +leaders and an authority to support and direct the insurrection are also +necessary. The convention was the only remaining legal power: the party +which it held in favour triumphed. + +Six democratic members of the Mountain, Goujon, Bourbotte, Romme, Duroy, +Duquesnoy, and Soubrany, were brought before a military commission. They +behaved firmly, like men fanatically devoted to their cause, and almost +all free from excesses. The Prairial movement was the only thing against +them; but that was sufficient in times of party strife, and they were +condemned to death. They all stabbed themselves with the same knife, which +was transferred from one to the other, exclaiming, "_Vive la Republique!_" +Romme, Goujon, and Duquesnoy were fortunate enough to wound themselves +fatally; the other three were conducted to the scaffold in a dying state, +but faced death with serene countenances. + +Meantime, the faubourgs, though repelled on the 1st, and diverted from +their object on the 2nd of Prairial, still had the means of rising. An +event of much less importance than the preceding riots occasioned their +final ruin. The murderer of Feraud was discovered, condemned, and on the +4th, the day of his execution, a mob succeeded in rescuing him. There was +a general outcry against this attempt; and the convention ordered the +faubourgs to be disarmed. They were encompassed by all the interior +sections. After attempting to resist, they yielded, giving up some of +their leaders, their arms, and artillery. The democratic party had lost +its chiefs, its clubs, and its authorities; it had nothing left but an +armed force, which rendered it still formidable, and institutions by means +of which it might yet regain everything. After the last check, the +inferior class was entirely excluded from the government of the state, the +revolutionary committees which formed its assemblies were destroyed; the +cannoneers forming its armed force were disarmed; the constitution of '93, +which was its code, was abolished; and here the rule of the multitude +terminated. + +From the 9th Thermidor to the 1st Prairial, the Mountain was treated as +the Girondist party had been treated from the 2nd of June to the 9th +Thermidor. Seventy-six of its members were sentenced to death or arrest. +In its turn, it underwent the destiny it had imposed on the other; for in +times when the passions are called into play, parties know not how to come +to terms, and seek only to conquer. Like the Girondists, they resorted to +insurrection, in order to regain the power which they had lost; and like +them, they fell. Vergniaud, Brissot, Guadet, etc., were tried by a +revolutionary tribunal; Bourbotte, Duroy, Soubrany, Romme, Goujon, +Duquesnoy, by a military commission. They all died with the same courage; +which shows that all parties are the same, and are guided by the same +maxims, or, if you please, by the same necessities. From that period, the +middle class resumed the management of the revolution without, and the +assembly was as united under the Girondists as it had been, after the 2nd +of June, under the Mountain. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE 1ST PRAIRIAL (20TH OF MAY, 1795) TO THE 4TH BRUMAIRE (26TH OF +OCTOBER), YEAR IV., THE CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION + + +The exterior prosperity of the revolution chiefly contributed to the fall +of the dictatorial government and of the Jacobin party. The increasing +victories of the republic to which they had very greatly contributed by +their vigorous measures, and by their enthusiasm, rendered their power +superfluous. The committee of public safety, by crushing with its strong +and formidable hand the interior of France, had developed resources, +organized armies, found generals and guided them to victories which +ultimately secured the triumph of the revolution in the face of Europe. A +prosperous position no longer required the same efforts; its mission was +accomplished, the peculiar province of such a dictatorship being to save a +country and a cause, and to perish by the very safety it has secured. +Internal events have prevented our rapidly describing the impulse which +the committee of public safety gave to the armies after the 31st of May, +and the results which it obtained from it. + +The levy en masse that took place in the summer of 1793, formed the troops +of the Mountain. The leaders of that party soon selected from the +secondary ranks generals belonging to the Mountain to replace the +Girondist generals. Those generals were Jourdan, Pichegru, Hoche, Moreau, +Westermann, Dugommier, Marceau, Joubert, Kleber, etc. Carnot, by his +admission to the committee of public safety, became minister of war and +commander-in-chief of all the republican armies. Instead of scattered +bodies, acting without concert upon isolated points, he proceeded with +strong masses, concentrated on one object. He commenced the practice of a +great plan of warfare, which he tried with decided success at Watignies, +in his capacity of commissioner of the convention. This important victory, +at which he assisted in person, drove the allied generals, Clairfait and +the prince of Coburg, behind the Sambre, and raised the siege of Maubeuge. +During the winter of 1793 and 1794 the two armies continued in presence of +each other without undertaking anything. + +At the opening of the campaign, they each conceived a plan of invasion. +The Austrian army advanced upon the towns on the Somme, Peronne, Saint- +Quentin, Arras, and threatened Paris, while the French army again +projected the conquest of Belgium. The plan of the committee of public +safety was combined in a very different way to the vague design of the +coalition. Pichegru, at the head of fifty thousand men of the army of the +north, entered Flanders, resting on the sea and the Scheldt. On his right, +Moreau advanced with twenty thousand men upon Menin and Courtrai. General +Souham, with thirty thousand men, remained under Lille, to sustain the +extreme right of the invading army against the Austrians; while Jourdan, +with the army of the Moselle, directed his course towards Charleroi by +Arlon and Dinan, to join the army of the north. + +The Austrians, attacked in Flanders, and threatened with a surprise in the +rear by Jourdan, soon abandoned their positions on the Somme. Clairfait +and the duke of York allowed themselves to be beaten at Courtrai and +Hooglede by the army of Pichegru; Coburg at Fleurus by that of Jourdan, +who had just taken Charleroi. The two victorious generals rapidly +completed the invasion of the Netherlands. The Anglo-Dutch army fell back +on Antwerp, and from thence upon Breda, and from Breda to Bois-le-Duc, +receiving continual checks. It crossed the Waal, and fell back upon +Holland. The Austrians endeavoured with the same want of success, to cover +Brussels and Maestricht: they were pursued and beaten by the army of +Jourdan, which since its union had taken the name of the army of the +_Sambre et Meuse_, and which did not leave them behind the Roer, as +Dumouriez had done, but drove them beyond the Rhine. Jourdan made himself +master of Cologne and Bonn, and communicated by his left with the right of +the army of the Moselle, which had advanced into the country of +Luxembourg, and which, conjointly with him, occupied Coblentz. A general +and concerted movement of all the French armies had taken place, all of +them marching towards the Rhenish frontier. At the time of the defeats, +the lines of Weissenburg had been forced. The committee of public safety +employed in the army of the Rhine the expeditious measures peculiar to its +policy. The commissioners, Saint-Just and Lebas, gave the chief command to +Hoche, made terror and victory the order of the day; and generals +Brunswick and Wurmser were very soon driven from Haguenau on the lines of +the Lauter, and not being able even to maintain that position, passed the +Rhine at Philipsburg. Spire and Worms were retaken. The republican troops, +everywhere victorious, occupied Belgium, that part of Holland situated on +the left of the Meuse, and all the towns on the Rhine, except Mayence and +Mannheim, which were closely beset. + +The army of the Alps did not make much progress in this campaign. It tried +to invade Piedmont, but failed. On the Spanish frontier, the war had +commenced under ill auspices: the two armies of the eastern and western +Pyrenees, few in number and badly disciplined, were constantly beaten; one +had retired under Perpignan, the other under Bayonne. The committee of +public safety turned its attention and efforts but tardily on this point, +which was not the most dangerous for it. But as soon as it had introduced +its system, generals, and organization into the two armies, the appearance +of things changed. Dugommier, after repeated successes, drove the +Spaniards from the French territory, and entered the peninsula by +Catalonia. Moncey also invaded it by the valley of Bastan, the other +opening of the Pyrenees, and became master of San Sebastian and +Fontarabia. The coalition was everywhere conquered, and some of the +confederated powers began to repent of their over-confident adhesion. + +In the meantime, news of the revolution of the 9th Thermidor reached the +armies. They were entirely republican, and they feared that Robespierre's +fall would lead to that of the popular government; and they, accordingly, +received this intelligence with marked disapprobation; but, as the armies +were submissive to the civil authority, none of them rebelled. The +insurrections of the army only took place from the 14th of July to the +31st of May; because, being the refuge of the conquered parties, their +leaders had at every crisis the advantage of political precedence, and +contended with all the ardour of compromised factions. Under the committee +of public safety, on the contrary, the most renowned generals had no +political influence, and were subject to the terrible discipline of +parties. While occasionally thwarting the generals, the convention had no +difficulty in keeping the armies in obedience. + +A short time afterwards the movement of invasion was prolonged in Holland +and in the Spanish peninsula. The United Provinces were attacked in the +middle of winter, and on several sides, by Pichegru, who summoned the +Dutch patriots to liberty. The party opposed to the stadtholderate +seconded the victorious efforts of the French army, and the revolution and +conquest took place simultaneously at Leyden, Amsterdam, the Hague, and +Utrecht. The stadtholder took refuge in England, his authority was +abolished, and the assembly of the states-general proclaimed the +sovereignty of the people, and constituted the Dutch Republic, which +formed a close alliance with France, to which it ceded, by the treaty of +Paris, of the 16th of May, 1795, Dutch Flanders, Maestricht, Venloo, and +their dependencies. The navigation of the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the +Meuse was left free to both nations. Holland, by its wealth, powerfully +contributed towards the continuance of the war against the coalition. This +important conquest at the same time deprived the English of a powerful +support, and compelled Prussia, threatened on the Rhine and by Holland, to +conclude, at Basle, with the French Republic, a peace, for which its +reverses and the affairs of Poland had long rendered it disposed. A peace +was also made at Basle, on the 10th of July, with Spain, alarmed by our +progress on its territory. Figuieres and the fortress of Rosas had been +taken; and Perignon was advancing into Catalonia; while Moncey, after +becoming master of Villa Real, Bilbao, and Vittoria, marched against the +Spaniards who had retired to the frontiers of Old Castile. The cabinet of +Madrid demanded peace. It recognised the French Republic, which restored +its conquests, and which received in exchange the portion of San Domingo +possessed by Spain. The two disciplined armies of the Pyrenees joined the +army of the Alps, which by this means soon overran Piedmont, and entered +Italy--Tuscany only having made peace with the republic on the 9th of +February, 1795. + +These partial pacifications and the reverses of the allied troops gave +another direction to the efforts of England and the emigrant party. The +time had arrived for making the interior of France the fulcrum of the +counter-revolutionary movement. In 1791, when unanimity existed in France, +the royalists placed all their hopes in foreign powers; now, dissensions +at home and the defeat of their allies in Europe left them no resource but +in conspiracies. Unsuccessful attempts, as we have seen, never make +vanquished parties despair: victory alone wearies and enervates, and +sooner or later restores the dominion of those who wait. + +The events of Prairial and the defeat of the Jacobin party, had decided +the counter-revolutionary movement. At this period, the reaction, hitherto +conducted by moderate republicans, became generally royalist. The +partisans of monarchy were still as divided as they had been from the +opening of the states-general to the 10th of August. In the interior, the +old constitutionalists, who had their sittings in the sections, and who +consisted of the wealthy middle classes, had not the same views of +monarchy with the absolute royalists. They still felt the rivalry and +opposition of interest, natural to the middle against the privileged +classes. The absolute royalists themselves did not agree; the party beaten +in the interior had little sympathy with that enrolled among the armies of +Europe; but besides the divisions between the emigrants and Vendeans, +dissensions had arisen among the emigrants from the date of their +departure from France. Meantime, all these royalists of different +opinions, not having yet to contend for the reward of victory, came to an +agreement to attack the convention in common. The emigrants and the +priests, who for some months past had returned in great numbers, took the +banner of the sections, quite certain, if they carried the day by means of +the middle class, to establish their own government; for they had a +leader, and a definite object, which the sectionaries had not. + +This reaction, of a new character, was restrained for some time in Paris, +where the convention, a strong and neutral power, wished to prevent the +violence and usurpation of both parties. While overthrowing the sway of +the Jacobins, it suppressed the vengeance of the royalists. Then it was +that the greater part of _la troupe doree_ deserted its cause, that the +leaders of the sections prepared the bourgeoisie to oppose the assembly, +and that the confederation of the Journalists succeeded that of the +Jacobins. La Harpe, Richer-de-Serizy, Poncelin, Troncon-du-Coudray, +Marchena, etc., became the organs of this new opinion, and were the +literary clubists. The active but irregular troops of this party assembled +at the Theatre Feydeau. the Boulevard des Italiens, and the Palais Royal, +and began _the chase of the Jacobins_, while they sang the _Reveil du +Peuple_. The word of proscription, at that time, was Terrorist, in virtue +of which an _honest man_ might with good conscience attack a +revolutionist. The Terrorist class was extended at the will or the +passions of the new reactionaries, who wore their hair _a la victime_, and +who, no longer fearing to avow their intentions, for some time past had +adopted the Chouan uniform--a grey turned-back coat with a green or black +collar. + +But this reaction was much more ardent in the departments where there was +no authority to interpose in the prevention of bloodshed. Here there were +only two parties, that which had dominated and that which had suffered +under the Mountain. The intermediate class was alternately governed by the +royalists and by the democrats. The latter, foreseeing the terrible +reprisals to which they would be subject if they fell, held out as long as +they could; but their defeat at Paris led to their downfall in the +departments. Party executions then took place, similar to those of the +proconsuls of the committee of public safety. The south was, more +especially, a prey to wholesale massacres and acts of personal vengeance. +Societies, called _Compagnies de Jesus_ and _Compagnies du Soleil_, which +were of royalists origin, were organized, and executed terrible reprisals. +At Lyons, Aix, Tarascon, and Marseilles, they slew in the prisons those +who had taken part in the preceding regime. Nearly all the south had its +2nd of September. At Lyons, after the first revolutionary massacres, the +members of the _compagnie_ hunted out those who had not been taken; and +when they met one, without any other form than the exclamation, "There's a +Matavon," (the name given to them), they slew and threw him into the +Rhone. At Tarascon, they threw them from the top of the tower on a rock on +the bank of the Rhone. During this new reign of terror, and this general +defeat of the revolutionists, England and the emigrants attempted the +daring enterprise of Quiberon. + +The Vendeans were exhausted by their repeated defeats, but they were not +wholly reduced. Their losses, however, and the divisions between their +principal leaders, Charette and Stofflet, rendered them an extremely +feeble succour. Charette had even consented to treat with the republic, +and a sort of pacification had been concluded between him and the +convention at Jusnay. The marquis de Puisaye, an enterprising man, but +volatile and more capable of intrigue than of vigorous party conceptions, +intended to replace the almost expiring insurrection of La Vendee by that +of Brittany. Since the enterprise of Wimpfen, in which Puisaye had a +command, there already existed, in Calvados and Morbihan, bands of +Chouans, composed of the remains of parties, adventurers, men without +employment, and daring smugglers, who made expeditions, but were unable to +keep the field, like the Vendeans. Puisaye had recourse to England to +extend the _Chouanerie_, leading it to hope for a general rising in +Brittany, and from thence in the rest of France, if it would land the +nucleus of an army, with ammunition and guns. + +The ministry of Great Britain, deceived as to the coalition, desired +nothing better than to expose the republic to fresh perils, while it +sought to revive the courage of Europe. It confided in Puisaye, and in the +spring of 1795 prepared an expedition, in which the most energetic +emigrants took a share, nearly all the officers of the former navy, and +all who, weary of the part of exiles and of the distresses of a life of +wandering, wished to try their fortunes for the last time. + +The English fleet landed, on the peninsula of Quiberon, fifteen hundred +emigrants, six thousand republican prisoners who had embraced the cause of +the emigrants to return to France, sixty thousand muskets, and the full +equipment for an army of forty thousand men. Fifteen hundred Chouans +joined the army on its landing, but it was soon attacked by General Hoche. +His attack proved successful; the republican prisoners who were in the +ranks deserted, and it was defeated after a most energetic resistance. In +the mortal warfare between the emigrants and the republic, the vanquished, +being considered as _outlaws_, were mercilessly massacred. Their loss +inflicted a deep and incurable wound on the emigrant party. + +The hopes founded on the victories of Europe, on the progress of +insurrection and the attempt of the emigrants, being thus overthrown, +recourse was had to the discontented sections. It was hoped to make a +counter-revolution by means of the new constitution decreed by the +convention on the 22nd of August, 1795. This constitution was, indeed, the +work of the moderate republican party; but as it restored the ascendancy +of the middle class, the royalist leaders thought that by it they might +easily enter the legislative body and the government. + +This constitution was the best, the wisest, and most liberal, and the most +provident that had as yet been established or projected; it contained the +result of six years' revolutionary and legislative experience. At this +period, the convention felt the necessity of organizing power, and of +rendering the people settled, while the first assembly, from its position, +only felt the necessity of weakening royalty and agitating the nation. All +had been exhausted, from the throne to the people; existence now depended +on reconstructing and restoring order, at the same time keeping the nation +in great activity. The new constitution accomplished this. It differed but +little from that of 1791, with respect to the exercise of sovereignty; but +greatly in everything relative to government. It confided the legislative +power to two councils; that of the _Cinq-cents_ and that of the _Anciens_; +and the executive power to a directory of five members. It restored the +two degrees of elections destined to retard the popular movement, and to +lead to a more enlightened choice than immediate elections. The wise but +moderate qualifications with respect to property, required in the members +of the primary assemblies and the electoral assemblies, again conferred +political importance on the middle class, to which it became imperatively +necessary to recur after the dismissal of the multitude and the +abandonment of the constitution of '93. + +In order to prevent the despotism or the servility of a single assembly, +it was necessary to place somewhere a power to check or defend it. The +division of the legislative body into two councils, which had the same +origin, the same duration, and only differed in functions, attained the +twofold object of not alarming the people by an aristocratic institution, +and of contributing to the formation of a good government. The Council of +Five Hundred, whose members were required to be thirty years old, was +alone entrusted with the initiative and the discussion of laws. The +Council of Ancients, composed of two hundred and fifty members, who had +completed their fortieth year, was charged with adopting or rejecting +them. + +In order to avoid precipitation in legislative measures, and to prevent a +compulsory sanction from the Council of Ancients in a moment of popular +excitement, they could not come to a decision until after three readings, +at a distance of five days at least from each other. In _urgent cases_ +this formality was dispensed with; and the council had the right of +determining such urgency. This council acted sometimes as a legislative +power, when it did not thoroughly approve a measure, and made use of the +form "_Le Conseil des Anciens ne peut pas adopter_," and sometimes as a +conservative power, when it only considered a measure in its legal +bearing, and said "_La Constitution annule_." For the first time, partial +re-elections were adopted, and the renewing of half of the council every +two years was fixed, in order to avoid that rush of legislators who came +with an immoderate desire for innovation, and suddenly changed the spirit +of an assembly. + +The executive power was distinct from the councils, and no longer existed +in the committees. Monarchy was still too much feared to admit of a +president of the republic being named. They, therefore, confined +themselves to the creation of a directory of five members, nominated by +the council of ancients, at the recommendation of that of the Five +Hundred. The directors might be brought to trial by the councils, but +could not be dismissed by them. They were entrusted with a general and +independent power of execution, but it was wished also to prevent their +abusing it, and especially to guard against the danger of a long habit of +authority leading to usurpation. They had the management of the armed +force and of the finances; the nomination of functionaries, the conduct of +negotiations, but they could do nothing of themselves; they had ministers +and generals, for whose conduct they were responsible. Each member was +president for three months, holding the seals and affixing his signature. +Every year, one of the members was to go out. It will be seen by this +account that the functions of royalty as they were in 1791, were shared by +the council of ancients, who had the _veto_, and the directory, which held +the executive power. The directory had a guard, a national palace, the +Luxembourg, for a residence, and a kind of civil list. The council of the +ancients, destined to check the encroachments of the legislative power, +was invested with the means of restraining the usurpations of the +directory; it could change the residence of the councils and of the +government. + +The foresight of this constitution was infinite: it prevented popular +violence, the encroachments of power, and provided for all the perils +which the different crises of the revolution had displayed. If any +constitution could have become firmly established at that period, it was +the directorial constitution. It restored authority, granted liberty, and +offered the different parties an opportunity of peace, if each, sincerely +renouncing exclusive dominion, and satisfied with the common right, would +have taken its proper place in the state. But it did not last longer than +the others, because it could not establish legal order in spite of +parties. Each of them aspired to the government, in order to make its +system and its interests prevail, and instead of the reign of law, it was +still necessary to relapse into that of force, and of coups-d'etat. When +parties do not wish to terminate a revolution--and those who do not +dominate never wish to terminate it--a constitution, however excellent it +may be, cannot accomplish it. + +The members of the Commission of Eleven, who, previously to the events of +Prairial, had no other mission than to prepare the organic laws of the +constitution of '93, and who, after those events, made the constitution of +the year III., were at the head of the conventional party. This party +neither belonged to the old Gironde nor to the old Mountain. Neutral up to +the 31st of May, subject till the 9th Thermidor, it had been in the +possession of power since that period, because the twofold defeat of the +Girondists and the Mountain had left it the strongest. The men of the +extreme sides, who had begun the fusion of parties, joined it. Merlin de +Douai represented the party of that mass which had yielded to +circumstances, Thibaudeau, the party that continued inactive, and Daunou, +the courageous party. The latter had declared himself opposed to all +coups-d'etat, ever since the opening of the assembly, both the 21st of +January, and to the 31st of May, because he wished for the regime of the +convention, without party violence and measures. After the 9th Thermidor, +he blamed the fury displayed towards the chiefs of the revolutionary +government, whose victim he had been, as one of the _seventy-three_. He +had obtained great ascendancy, as men gradually approached towards a legal +system. His enlightened attachment to the revolution, his noble +independence, the solidity and extent of his ideas, and his imperturbable +fortitude, rendered him one of the most influential actors of this period. +He was the chief author of the constitution of the year III., and the +convention deputed him, with some others of its members, to undertake the +defence of the republic, during the crisis of Vendemiaire. + +The reaction gradually increased; it was indirectly favoured by the +members of the Right, who, since the opening of that assembly, had only +been incidentally republican. They were not prepared to repel the attacks +of the royalists with the same energy as that of the revolutionists. Among +this number were Boissy d'Anglas, Lanjuinais, Henri La Riviere, Saladin, +Aubry, etc.; they formed in the assembly the nucleus of the sectionary +party. Old and ardent members of the Mountain, such as Rovere, Bourdon de +l'Oise, etc., carried away by the counter-revolutionary movement, suffered +the reaction to be prolonged, doubtless in order to make their peace with +those whom they had so violently combated. + +But the conventional party, reassured with respect to the democrats, set +itself to prevent the triumph of the royalists. It felt that the safety of +the republic depended on the formation of the councils, and that the +councils being elected by the middle class, which was directed by +royalists, would be composed on counter-revolutionary principles. It was +important to entrust the guardianship of the regime they were about to +establish to those who had an interest in defending it. In order to avoid +the error of the constituent assembly, which had excluded itself from the +legislature that succeeded it, the convention decided by a decree, that +two-thirds of its members should be re-elected. By this means it secured +the majority of the councils and the nomination of the directory; it could +accompany its constitution into the state, and consolidate it without +violence. This re-election of two-thirds was not exactly legal, but it was +politic, and the only means of saving France from the rule of the +democrats or counter-revolutionists. The convention granted itself a +moderate dictatorship, by the decrees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor (22nd +and 30th of August, 1795), one of which established the re-election, and +the other fixed the manner of it. But these two exceptional decrees were +submitted to the ratification of the primary assemblies, at the same time +as the constitutional act. + +The royalist party was taken by surprise by the decrees of Fructidor. It +hoped to form part of the government by the councils, of the councils by +elections, and to effect a change of system when once in power. It +inveighed against the convention. The royalist committee of Paris, whose +agent was an obscure man, named Lemaitre, the journalists, and the leaders +of the sections coalesced. They had no difficulty in securing the support +of public opinion, of which they were the only organs; they accused the +convention of perpetuating its power, and of assailing the sovereignty of +the people. The chief advocates of the two-thirds, Louvet, Daunou, and +Chenier, were not spared, and every preparation was made for a grand +movement. The Faubourg Saint Germain, lately almost deserted, gradually +filled; emigrants flocked in, and the conspirators, scarcely concealing +their plans, adopted the Chouan uniform. + +The convention, perceiving the storm increase, sought support in the army, +which, at that time, was the republican class, and a camp was formed at +Paris. The people had been disbanded, and the royalists had secured the +bourgeoisie. In the meantime, the primary assemblies met on the 20th +Fructidor, to deliberate on the constitutional act, and the decrees of the +two-thirds, which were to be accepted or rejected together. The +Lepelletier section (formerly Filles Saint Thomas) was the centre of all +the others. On a motion made by that section, it was decided that the +power of all constituent authority ceased in the presence of the assembled +people. The Lepelletier section, directed by Richer-Serizy, La Harpe, +Lacretelle junior, Vaublanc, etc., turned its attention to the +organization of the insurrectional government, under the name of the +central committee. This committee was to replace in Vendemiaire, against +the convention, the committee of the 10th of August against the throne, +and of the 31st of May against the Girondists. The majority of the +sections adopted this measure, which was annulled by the convention, whose +decree was in its turn rejected by the majority of the sections. The +struggle now became open; and in Paris they separated the constitutional +act, which was adopted, from the decrees of re-election, which were +rejected. + +On the 1st Vendemiaire, the convention proclaimed the acceptance of the +decrees by the greater number of the primary assemblies of France. The +sections assembled again to nominate the electors who were to choose the +members of the legislature. On the 10th they determined that the electors +should assemble in the Theatre Francais (it was then on the other side of +the bridges); that they should be accompanied there by the armed force of +the sections, after having sworn to defend them till death. On the 11th, +accordingly, the electors assembled under the presidency of the duc de +Nivernois, and the guard of some detachments of chasseurs and grenadiers. + +The convention, apprised of the danger, sat permanently, stationed round +its place of sitting the troops of the camp of Sablons, and concentrated +its powers in a committee of five members, who were entrusted with all +measures of public safety. These members were Colombel, Barras, Daunou, +Letourneur, and Merlin de Douai. For some time the revolutionists had +ceased to be feared, and all had been liberated who had been imprisoned +for the events of Prairial. They enrolled, under the name of _Battalion of +Patriots of '89_, about fifteen or eighteen hundred of them, who had been +proceeded against, in the departments or in Paris, by the friends of the +reaction. In the evening of the 11th, the convention sent to dissolve the +assembly of electors by force, but they had already adjourned to the +following day. + +During the night of the 11th, the decree which dissolved the college of +electors, and which armed the battalion of patriots of '89, caused the +greatest agitation. Drums beat to arms; the Lepelletier section declaimed +against the despotism of the convention, against the return of the _Reign +of Terror_, and during the whole of the 12th prepared the other sections +for the contest. In the evening, the convention, scarcely less agitated, +decided on taking the initiative, by surrounding the conspiring section, +and terminating the crisis by disarming it. Menou, general of the +interior, and Laporte the representative, were entrusted with this +mission. The convent of the Filles Saint Thomas was the headquarters of +the sectionaries, before which they had seven or eight hundred men in +battle array. These were surrounded by superior forces, from the +Boulevards on each side, and the Rue Vivienne opposite. Instead of +disarming them, the leaders of the expedition began to parley. Both +parties agreed to withdraw; but the conventional troops had no sooner +retired than the sectionaries returned reinforced. This was a complete +victory for them, which being exaggerated in Paris, as such things always +are, increased their number, and gave them courage to attack the +convention the next day. + +About eleven at night the convention learned the issue of the expedition +and the dangerous effect which it had produced; it immediately dismissed +Menou, and gave the command of the armed force to Barras, the general in +command on the 9th Thermidor. Barras asked the committee of five to +appoint as his second in command, a young officer who had distinguished +himself at the siege of Toulon, but had been dismissed by Aubry of the +reaction party; a young man of talent and resolution, calculated to do +good service to the republic in a moment of peril. This young officer was +Bonaparte. He appeared before the committee, but there was nothing in his +appearance that announced his astonishing destiny. Not a man of party, +summoned for the first time to this great scene of action, his demeanour +exhibited a timidity and a want of assurance, which disappeared entirely +in the preparations for battle, and in the heat of action. He immediately +sent for the artillery of the camp of Sablons, and disposed them, with the +five thousand men of the conventional army, on all the points from which +the convention could be assailed. At noon on the 13th Vendemiaire, the +enclosure of the convention had the appearance of a fortified place, which +could only be taken by assault. The line of defence extended, on the left +side of the Tuileries along the river, from the Pont Neuf to the Pont +Louis XV.; on the right, in all the small streets opening on the Rue Saint +Honore, from the Rues de Rohan, de l'Echelle and the Cul-de-sac Dauphin, +to the Place de la Revolution. In front, the Louvre, the Jardin de +l'Infante, and the Carrousel were planted with cannon; and behind, the +Pont Tournant and the Place de la Revolution formed a park of reserve. In +this position the convention awaited the insurgents. + +The latter soon encompassed it on several points. They had about forty +thousand men under arms, commanded by generals Danican, Duhoux, and the +ex-garde-du-corps Lafond. The thirty-two sections which formed the +majority, had supplied their military contingent. Of the other sixteen, +several sections of the faubourgs had their troops in the battalion of +'89. A few, those of the Quinze-vingts and Montreuil, sent assistance +during the action; others, though favourably disposed, as that of +Popincourt, could not do so; and lastly, others remained neutral, like +that of L'Indivisibilite. From two to three o'clock, general Carteaux, who +occupied the Pont Neuf with four hundred men and two four-pounders, was +surrounded by several columns of sectionaries, who obliged him to retire +on the Louvre. This advantage emboldened the insurgents, who were strong +on all points. General Danican summoned the convention to withdraw its +troops, and disarm the terrorists. The officer entrusted with the summons +was led into the assembly blindfold, and his message occasioned some +agitation, several members declaring in favour of conciliatory measures. +Boissy d'Anglas advised a conference with Danican; Gamon proposed a +proclamation in which they should call upon the citizens to retire, +promising then to disarm the battalion of '89. This address excited +violent murmurs. Chenier rushed to the tribune. "I am surprised," said he, +"that the demands of sections in a state of revolt should be discussed +here. Negotiation must not be heard of; there is only victory or death for +the national convention." Lanjuinais wished to support the address, by +dwelling on the danger and misery of civil war; but the convention would +not hear him, and on the motion of Fermond, passed to the order of the +day. The debates respecting measures of peace or war with the sections +were continued for some time, when, about half-past four several +discharges of musketry were heard, which put an end to all discussion. +Seven hundred guns were brought in, and the convention took arms as a body +of reserve. + +The conflict had now commenced in the Rue Saint Honore, of which the +insurgents were masters. The first shots were fired from the Hotel de +Noailles, and a murderous fire extended the whole length of this line. A +few moments after, on the other side, two columns of sectionaries, about +four thousand strong, commanded by the count de Maulevrier, advanced by +the quays, and attacked the Pont Royal. The action then became general, +but it could not last long; the place was too well defended to be taken by +assault. After an hour's fighting, the sectionaries were driven from Saint +Roch and Rue Saint Honore, by the cannon of the convention and the +battalion of patriots. The column of the Pont Royal received three +discharges of artillery in front and on the side, from the bridge and the +quays, which put it entirely to flight. At seven o'clock the conventional +troops, victorious on all sides, took the offensive; by nine o'clock they +had dislodged the sectionaries from the Theatre de la Republique and the +posts they still occupied in the neighbourhood of the Palais Royal. They +prepared to make barricades during the night, and several volleys were +fired in the Rue de la Loi (Richelieu), to prevent the works. The next +day, the 14th, the troops of the convention disarmed the Lepelletier +section, and compelled the others to return to order. + +The assembly, which had only fought in its own defence, displayed much +moderation. The 13th Vendemiaire was the 10th of August of the royalists +against the republic, except that the convention resisted the bourgeoisie +much better than the throne resisted the faubourgs. The position of France +contributed very much to this victory. Men now wished for a republic +without a revolutionary government, a moderate regime without a counter- +revolution. The convention, which was a mediatory power, pronounced alike +against the exclusive domination of the lower class, which it had thrown +off in Prairial, and the reactionary domination of the bourgeoisie, which +it repelled in Vendemiaire, seemed alone capable of satisfying this +twofold want, and of putting an end to the state of warfare between the +two parties, which was prolonged by their alternate entrance into the +government. This situation, as well as its own dangers, gave it courage to +resist, and secured its triumph. The sections could not take it by +surprise, and still less by assault. + +After the events of Vendemiaire, the convention occupied itself with +forming the councils and the directory. The third part, freely elected, +had been favourable to reaction. A few conventionalists, headed by +Tallien, proposed to annul the elections of this _third_, and wished to +suspend, for a longer time, the conventional government. Thibaudeau +exposed their design with much courage and eloquence. The whole +conventional party adopted his opinion. It rejected all superfluous +arbitrary sway, and showed itself impatient to leave the provisional state +it had been in for the last three years. The convention established itself +as a _national electoral assembly_, in order to complete the _two-thirds_ +from among its members. It then formed the councils; that of the +_Ancients_ of two hundred and fifty members, who according to the new law +had completed forty years; that of _The Five Hundred_ from among the +others. The councils met in the Tuileries. They then proceeded to form the +government. + +The attack of Vendemiaire was quite recent; and the republican party, +especially dreading the counter-revolution, agreed to choose the directors +only, from the conventionalists, and further from among those of them who +had voted for the death of the king. Some of the most influential members, +among whom was Daunou, opposed this view, which restricted the choice, and +continued to give the government a dictatorial and revolutionary +character; but it prevailed. The conventionalists thus elected were La +Reveillere-Lepaux, invested with general confidence on account of his +courageous conduct on the 31st of May, for his probity and his moderation; +Sieyes, the man who of all others enjoyed the greatest celebrity of the +day; Rewbell, possessed of great administrative activity; Letourneur, one +of the members of the commission of five during the last crisis; and +Barras, chosen for his two pieces of good fortune of Thermidor and +Vendemiaire. Sieyes, who had refused to take part in the legislative +commission _of the eleven_, also refused to enter upon the directory. It +is difficult to say whether this reluctance arose from calculation or an +insurmountable antipathy for Rewbell. He was replaced by Carnot, the only +member of the former committee whom they were disposed to favour, on +account of his political purity, and his great share in the victories of +the republic. Such was the first composition of the directory. On the 4th +Brumaire, the convention passed a law of amnesty, in order to enter on +legal government; changed the name of the Place de la Revolution into +Place de la Concorde, and declared its session closed. + +The convention lasted three years, from the 21st of September, 1792, to +October 26, 1795 (4th Brumaire, year IV.). It took several directions. +During the six first months of its existence it was drawn into the +struggle which arose between the legal party of the Gironde, and the +revolutionary party of the Mountain. The latter had the lead from the 31st +of May, 1793, to the 9th Thermidor, year II. (26th July, 1794). The +convention then obeyed the committee of public safety, which first +destroyed its old allies of the commune and of the Mountain, and +afterwards perished through its own divisions. From the 9th Thermidor to +the month of Brumaire, year IV., the convention conquered the +revolutionary and royalist parties, and sought to establish a moderate +republic in opposition to both. + +During this long and terrible period, the violence of the situation +changed the revolution into a war, and the assembly into a field of +battle. Each party wished to establish its sway by victory, and to secure +it by founding its system. The Girondist party made the attempt, and +perished; the Mountain made the attempt, and perished; the party of the +commune made the attempt, and perished; Robespierre's party made the +attempt, and perished. They could only conquer, they were unable to found +a system. The property of such a storm was to overthrow everything that +attempted to become settled. All was provisional; dominion, men, parties, +and systems, because the only thing real and possible was--war. A year was +necessary to enable the conventional party, on its return to power, to +restore the revolution to a legal position; and it could only accomplish +this by two victories--that of Prairial and that of Vendemiaire. But the +convention having then returned to the point whence it started, and having +discharged its true mission, which was to establish the republic after +having defended it, disappeared from the theatre of the world which it had +filled with surprise. A revolutionary power, it ceased as soon as legal +order recommenced. Three years of dictatorship had been lost to liberty +but not to the revolution. + + + + +THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THE DIRECTORY, ON THE 27TH OCTOBER, 1795, TO THE +COUP-D'ETAT OF THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, YEAR V. (3RD AUGUST, 1797) + + +The French revolution, which had destroyed the old government, and +thoroughly overturned the old society, had two wholly distinct objects; +that of a free constitution, and that of a more perfect state of +civilization. The six years we have just gone over were the search for +government by each of the classes which composed the French nation. The +privileged classes wished to establish their regime against the court and +the bourgeoisie, by preserving the social orders and the states-general; +the bourgeoisie sought to establish its regime against the privileged +classes and the multitude, by the constitution of 1791; and the multitude +wished to establish its regime against all the others, by the constitution +of 1793. Not one of these governments could become consolidated, because +they were all exclusive. But during their attempts, each class, in power +for a time, destroyed of the higher classes all that was intolerant or +calculated to oppose the progress of the new civilization. + +When the directory succeeded the convention, the struggle between the +classes was greatly weakened. The higher ranks of each formed a party +which still contended for the possession and for the form of government; +but the mass of the nation which had been so profoundly agitated from 1789 +to 1795, longed to become settled again, and to arrange itself according +to the new order of things. This period witnessed the end of the movement +for liberty, and the beginning of the movement towards civilization. The +revolution now took its second character, its character of order, +foundation, repose, after the agitation, the immense toil, and system of +complete demolition of its early years. + +This second period was remarkable, inasmuch as it seemed a kind of +abandonment of liberty. The different parties being no longer able to +possess it in an exclusive and durable manner, became discouraged, and +fell back from public into private life. This second period divided itself +into two epochs: it was liberal under the directory and at the +commencement of the Consulate, and military at the close of the Consulate +and under the empire. The revolution daily grew more materialized; after +having made a nation of sectaries, it made a nation of working men, and +then it made a nation of soldiers. + +Many illusions were already destroyed; men had passed through so many +different states, had lived so much in so few years, that all ideas were +confounded and all creeds shaken. The reign of the middle class and that +of the multitude had passed away like a rapid phantasmagoria. They were +far from that France of the 14th of July, with its deep conviction, its +high morality, its assembly exercising the all-powerful sway of liberty +and of reason, its popular magistracies, its citizen-guard, its +brilliant, peaceable, and animated exterior, wearing the impress of order +and independence. They were far from the more sombre and more tempestuous +France of the 10th of August, when a single class held the government and +society, and had introduced therein its language, manners, and costume, +the agitation of its fears, the fanaticism of its ideas, the distrust of +its position. Then private life entirely gave place to public life; the +republic presented, in turn, the aspect of an assembly and of a camp; the +rich were subject to the poor; the creed of democracy combined with the +gloomy and ragged administration of the people. At each of these periods +men had been strongly attached to some idea: first, to liberty and +constitutional monarchy; afterwards, to equality, fraternity, and the +republic. But at the beginning of the directory, there was belief in +nothing; in the great shipwreck of parties, all had been lost, both the +virtue of the bourgeoisie and the virtue of the people. + +Men arose from this furious turmoil weakened and wounded, and each, +remembering his political existence with terror, plunged wildly into the +pleasures and relations of private life which had so long been suspended. +Balls, banquets, debauchery, splendid carriages, became more fashionable +than ever; this was the reaction of the ancient regime. The reign of the +sans-culottes brought back the dominion of the rich; the clubs, the +return of the salons. For the rest, it was scarcely possible but that the +first symptom of the resumption of modern civilization should be thus +irregular. The directorial manners were the product of another society, +which had to appear again before the new state of society could regulate +its relations, and constitute its own manners. In this transition, luxury +would give rise to labour, stock-jobbing to commerce; salons bring parties +together who could not approximate except in private life; in a word, +civilization would again usher in liberty. + +The situation of the republic was discouraging at the installation of the +directory. There existed no element of order or administration. There was +no money in the public treasury; couriers were often delayed for want of +the small sum necessary to enable them to set out. In the interior, +anarchy and uneasiness were general; paper currency, in the last stage of +discredit, destroyed confidence and commerce; the dearth became +protracted, every one refusing to part with his commodities, for it +amounted to giving them away; the arsenals were exhausted or almost empty. +Without, the armies were destitute of baggage-wagons, horses, and +supplies; the soldiers were in want of clothes, and the generals were +often unable to liquidate their pay of eight francs a month in specie, an +indispensable supplement, small as it was, to their pay in assignats; and +lastly, the troops, discontented and undisciplined, on account of their +necessities, were again beaten, and on the defensive. + +Things were at this state of crisis after the fall of the committee of +public safety. This committee had foreseen the dearth, and prepared for +it, both in the army and in the interior, by the requisitions and the +_maximum_. No one had dared to exempt himself from this financial system, +which rendered the wealthy and commercial classes tributary to the +soldiers and the multitude, and at that time provisions had not been +withheld from the market. But since violence and confiscation had ceased, +the people, the convention, and the armies were at the mercy of the landed +proprietors and speculators, and terrible scarcity existed, a reaction +against the _maximum_. The system of the convention had consisted, in +political economy, in the consumption of an immense capital, represented +by the assignats. This assembly had been a rich government, which had +ruined itself in defending the revolution. Nearly half the French +territory, consisting of domains of the crown, ecclesiastical property, or +the estates of the emigrant nobility, had been sold, and the produce +applied to the support of the people, who did little labour, and to the +external defence of the republic by the armies. More than eight milliards +of assignats had been issued before the 9th Thermidor, and since that +period thirty thousand millions had been added to that sum, already so +enormous. Such a system could not be continued; it was necessary to begin +the work again, and return to real money. + +The men deputed to remedy this great disorganization were, for the most +part, of ordinary talent; but they set to work with zeal, courage, and +good sense. "When the directors," said M. Bailleul, [Footnote: _Examen +Critique des Considerations de Madame de Stael, sur la Revolution +Francaise_, by M. J. Ch. Bailleul, vol. ii., pp. 275, 281.] "entered the +Luxembourg, there was not an article of furniture. In a small room, at a +little broken table, one leg of which was half eaten away with age, on +which they placed some letter-paper and a calumet standish, which they had +fortunately brought from the committee of public safety, seated on four +straw-bottom chairs, opposite a few logs of dimly-burning wood, the whole +borrowed from Dupont, the porter; who would believe that it was in such a +condition that the members of the new government, after having +investigated all the difficulties, nay, all the horror of their position, +resolved that they would face all obstacles, and that they would either +perish or rescue France from the abyss into which she had fallen? On a +sheet of writing-paper they drew up the act by which they ventured to +declare themselves constituted; an act which they immediately despatched +to the legislative chambers." + +The directors then proceeded to divide their labours, taking as their +guide the grounds which had induced the constitutional party to select +them. Rewbell, possessed of great energy, a lawyer versed in government +and diplomacy, had assigned to him the departments of law, finance, and +foreign affairs. His skill and commanding character soon made him the +moving spirit of the directory in all civil matters. Barras had no special +knowledge; his mind was mediocre, his resources few, his habits indolent. +In an hour of danger, his resolution qualified him to execute sudden +measures, like those of Thermidor or Vendemiaire. But being, on ordinary +occasions, only adapted for the surveillance of parties, the intrigues of +which he was better acquainted with than any one else, the police +department was allotted to him. He was well suited for the task, being +supple and insinuating, without partiality for any political sect, and +having revolutionary connexions by his past life, while his birth gave him +access to the aristocracy. Barras took on himself the representation of +the directory, and established a sort of republican regency at the +Luxembourg. The pure and moderate La Reveillere, whose gentleness tempered +with courage, whose sincere attachment for the republic and legal +measures, had procured him a post in the directory, with the general +consent of the assembly and public opinion, had assigned to him the moral +department, embracing education, the arts, sciences, manufactures, etc. +Letourneur, an ex-artillery officer, member of the committee of public +safety at the latter period of the convention, had been appointed to the +war department. But when Carnot was chosen, on the refusal of Sieyes, he +assumed the direction of military operations, and left to his colleague +Letourneur the navy and the colonies. His high talents and resolute +character gave him the upper hand in the direction. Letourneur attached +himself to him, as La Reveillere to Rewbell, and Barras was between the +two. At this period, the directors turned their attention with the +greatest concord to the improvement and welfare of the state. + +The directors frankly followed the route traced out for them by the +constitution. After having established authority in the centre of the +republic, they organized it in the departments, and established, as well +as they could, a correspondence of design between local administrations +and their own. Placed between the two exclusive and dissatisfied parties +of Prairial and Vendemiaire, they endeavoured, by a decided line of +conduct, to subject them to an order of things, holding a place midway +between their extreme pretensions. They sought to revive the enthusiasm +and order of the first years of the revolution. "You, whom we summon to +share our labours," they wrote to their agents, "you who have, with us, to +promote the progress of the republican constitution, your first virtue, +your first feeling, should be that decided resolution, that patriotic +faith, which has also produced its enthusiasts and its miracles. All will +be achieved when, by your care, that sincere love of liberty which +sanctified the dawn of the revolution, again animates the heart of every +Frenchman. The banners of liberty floating on every house, and the +republican device written on every door, doubtless form an interesting +sight. Obtain more; hasten the day when the sacred name of the republic +shall be graven voluntarily on every heart." + +In a short time, the wise and firm proceedings of the new government +restored confidence, labour, and plenty. The circulation of provisions was +secured, and at the end of a month the directory was relieved from the +obligation to provide Paris with supplies, which it effected for itself. +The immense activity created by the revolution began to be directed +towards industry and agriculture. A part of the population quitted the +clubs and public places for workshops and fields; and then the benefit of +a revolution, which, having destroyed corporations, divided property, +abolished privileges, increased fourfold the means of civilization, and +was destined to produce prodigious good to France, began to be felt. The +directory encouraged this movement in the direction of labour by salutary +institutions. It re-established public exhibitions of the produce of +industry, and improved the system of education decreed under the +convention. The national institute, primary, central, and normal schools, +formed a complete system of republican institutions. La Reveillere, the +director intrusted with the moral department of the government, then +sought to establish, under the name of _Theophilanthropie_, the deistical +religion which the committee of public safety had vainly endeavoured to +establish by the _Fete a l'Etre Supreme_. He provided temples, hymns, +forms, and a kind of liturgy, for the new religion; but such a faith could +only be individual, could not long continue public. The +_theophilanthropists_, whose religion was opposed to the political +opinions and the unbelief of the revolutionists, were much ridiculed. +Thus, in the passage from public institutions to individual faith, all +that had been liberty became civilization, and what had been religion +became opinion. Deists remained, but _theophilanthropists_ were no longer +to be met with. + +The directory, pressed for money, and shackled by the disastrous state of +the finances, had recourse to measures somewhat extraordinary. It had sold +or pledged the most valuable articles of the Wardrobe, in order to meet +the greatest urgencies. National property was still left; but it sold +badly, and for assignats. The directory proposed a compulsory loan, which +was decreed by the councils. This was a relic of the revolutionary +measures with regard to the rich; but, having been irresolutely adopted, +and executed without due authority, it did not succeed. The directory then +endeavoured to revive paper money; it proposed the issue of _mandats +territoriaux_, which were to be substituted for the assignats then in +circulation, at the rate of thirty for one, and to take the place of +money. The councils decreed the issue of _mandats territoriaux_ to the +amount of two thousand four hundred millions. They had the advantage of +being exchangeable at once and upon presentation, for the national domains +which represented them. Their sale was very extensive, and in this way was +completed the revolutionary mission of the assignats, of which they were +the second period. They procured the directory a momentary resource; but +they also lost their credit, and led insensibly to bankruptcy, which was +the transition from paper to specie. + +The military situation of the republic was not a brilliant one; at the +close of the convention there had been an abatement of victories. The +equivocal position and weakness of the central authority, as much as the +scarcity, had relaxed the discipline of the troops. The generals, too, +disappointed that they had distinguished their command by so few +victories, and were not spurred on by an energetic government, became +inclined to insubordination. The convention had deputed Pichegru and +Jourdan, one at the head of the army of the Rhine, the other with that of +the Sambre-et-Meuse, to surround and capture Mayence, in order that they +might occupy the whole line of the Rhine. Pichegru made this project +completely fail; although possessing the entire confidence of the +republic, and enjoying the greatest military fame of the day, he formed +counter-revolutionary schemes with the prince of Conde; but they were +unable to agree. Pichegru urged the emigrant prince to enter France with +his troops, by Switzerland or the Rhine, promising to remain inactive, the +only thing in his power to do in favour of such an attempt. The prince +required as a preliminary, that Pichegru should hoist the white flag in +his army, which was, to a man, republican. This hesitation, no doubt, +injured the projects of the reactionists, who were preparing the +conspiracy of Vendemiaire. But Pichegru wishing, one way or the other, to +serve his new allies and to betray his country, allowed himself to be +defeated at Heidelberg, compromised the army of Jourdan, evacuated +Mannheim, raised the siege of Mayence with considerable loss, and exposed +that frontier to the enemy. + +The directory found the Rhine open towards Mayence, the war of La Vendee +rekindled; the coasts of France and Holland threatened with a descent from +England; lastly, the army of Italy destitute of everything, and merely +maintaining the defensive under Scherer and Kellermann. Carnot prepared a +new plan of campaign, which was to carry the armies of the republic to the +very heart of the hostile states. Bonaparte, appointed general of the +interior after the events of Vendemiaire, was placed at the head of the +army of Italy; Jourdan retained the command of the army of the Sambre-et- +Meuse, and Moreau had that of the army of the Rhine, in place of Pichegru. +The latter, whose treason was suspected by the directory, though not +proved, was offered the embassy to Sweden, which he refused, and retired +to Arbois, his native place. The three great armies, placed under the +orders of Bonaparte, Jourdan, and Moreau, were to attack the Austrian +monarchy by Italy and Germany, combine at the entrance of the Tyrol and +march upon Vienna, in echelon. The generals prepared to execute this vast +movement, the success of which would make the republic mistress of the +headquarters of the coalition on the continent. + +The directory gave to general Hoche the command of the coast, and deputed +him to conclude the Vendean war. Hoche changed the system of warfare +adopted by his predecessors. La Vendee was disposed to submit. Its +previous victories had not led to the success of its cause; defeat and +ill-fortune had exposed it to plunder and conflagration. The insurgents, +irreparably injured by the disaster of Savenay, by the loss of their +principal leader, and their best soldiers, by the devastating system of +the infernal columns, now desired nothing more than to live on good terms +with the republic. The war now depended only on a few chiefs, upon +Charette, Stofflet, etc. Hoche saw that it was necessary to wean the +masses from these men by concessions, and then to crush them. He skilfully +separated the royalist cause from the cause of religion, and employed the +priests against the generals, by showing great indulgence to the catholic +religion. He had the country scoured by four powerful columns, took their +cattle from the inhabitants, and only restored them in return for their +arms. He left no repose to the armed party, defeated Charette in several +encounters, pursued him from one retreat to another, and at last made him +prisoner. Stofflet wished to raise the Vendean standard again on his +territory; but it was given up to the republicans. These two chiefs, who +had witnessed the beginning of the insurrection, were present at its +close. They died courageously; Stofflet at Angers, Charette at Nantes, +after having displayed character and talents worthy of a larger theatre. +Hoche likewise tranquillized Brittany. Morbihan was occupied by numerous +bands of Chouans, who formed a formidable association, the principal +leader of which was George Cadoudal. Without entering on a campaign, they +were mastering the country. Hoche directed all his force and activity +against them, and before long had destroyed or exhausted them. Most of +their leaders quitted their arms, and took refuge in England. The +directory, on learning these fortunate pacifications, formally announced +to both councils, on the 28th Messidor (June, 1796), that this civil war +was definitively terminated. + +In this manner the winter of the year IV. passed away. But the directory +could hardly fail to be attacked by the two parties, whose sway was +prevented by its existence, the democrats and the royalists. The former +constituted an inflexible and enterprising sect. For them, the 9th +Thermidor was an era of pain and oppression: they desired to establish +absolute equality, in spite of the state of society, and democratic +liberty, in spite of civilization. This sect had been so vanquished as +effectually to prevent its return to power. On the 9th Thermidor it had +been driven from the government; on the 2nd Prairial, from society; and it +had lost both power and insurrections. But though disorganized and +proscribed, it was far from having disappeared. After the unfortunate +attempt of the royalists in Vendemiaire, it arose through their abasement. + +The democrats re-established their club at the Pantheon, which the +directory tolerated for some time. They had for their chief, "Gracchus" +Babeuf, who styled himself the "Tribune of the people." He was a daring +man, of an exalted imagination, an extraordinary fanaticism of democracy, +and with great influence over his party. In his journal, he prepared the +reign of general happiness. The society at the Pantheon daily became more +numerous, and more alarming to the directory who at first endeavoured to +restrain it. But the sittings were soon protracted to an advanced hour of +the night; the democrats repaired thither in arms, and proposed marching +against the directory and the councils. The directory determined to oppose +them openly. On the 8th Ventose, year IV. (February, 1796), it closed the +society of the Pantheon, and on the 9th, by a message informed the +legislative body that it had done so. + +The democrats, deprived of their place of meeting, had recourse to another +plan. They seduced the police force, which was chiefly composed of deposed +revolutionists; and in concert with it, they were to destroy the +constitution of the year III. The directory, informed of this new +manoeuvre, disbanded the police force, causing it to be disarmed by other +troops on whom it could rely. The conspirators, taken by surprise a second +time, determined on a project of attack and insurrection: they formed an +insurrectionary committee of public safety, which communicated by +secondary agents with the lower orders of the twelve communes of Paris. +The members of this principal committee were Babeuf, the chief of the +conspiracy, ex-conventionalists, such as Vadier, Amar, Choudieu, Ricord, +the representative Drouet, the former generals of the decemviral +committee, Rossignol, Parrein, Fyon, Lami. Many cashiered officers, +patriots of the departments, and the old Jacobin mass, composed the army +of this faction. The chiefs often assembled in a place they called the +Temple of Reason; here they sang lamentations on the death of Robespierre, +and deplored the slavery of the people. They opened a negotiation with the +troops of the camp of Grenelle, admitted among them a captain of that +camp, named Grisel, whom they supposed their own, and concerted every +measure for the attack. + +Their plan was to establish common happiness; and for that purpose, to +make a distribution of property, and to cause the government of true, +pure, and absolute democrats to prevail; to create a convention composed +of sixty-eight members of the Mountain, the remnant of the numbers +proscribed since the reaction of Thermidor, and to join with these a +democrat for each department; lastly, to start from the different quarters +in which they had distributed themselves, and march at the same time +against the directory and against the councils. On the night of the +insurrection, they were to fix up two placards; one, containing the words, +"The Constitution of 1793! liberty! equality! common happiness!" the +other, containing the following declaration, "Those who usurp the +sovereignty, ought to be put to death by free men." All was ready; the +proclamations printed, the day appointed, when they were betrayed by +Grisel, as generally happens in conspiracies. + +On the 21st Floreal (May), the eve of the day fixed for the attack, the +conspirators were seized at their regular place of meeting. In Babeuf's +house were found a plan of the plot and all the documents connected with +it. The directory apprised the councils of it by a message, and announced +it to the people by proclamation. This strange attempt, savouring so +strongly of fanaticism, and which could only be a repetition of the +insurrection of Prairial, without its means and its hopes of success, +excited the greatest terror. The public mind was still terrified with the +recent domination of the Jacobins. + +Babeuf, like a daring conspirator, prisoner as he was, proposed terms of +peace to the directory:-- + +"Would you consider it beneath you, citizen directors," he wrote to them, +"to treat with me, as power with power? You have seen what vast confidence +centres in me; you have seen that my party may well balance equally in the +scale your own; you have seen its immense ramifications. I am convinced +you have trembled at the sight." He concluded by saying: "I see but one +wise mode of proceeding; declare there has been no serious conspiracy. +Five men, by showing themselves great and generous may now save the +country. I will answer for it, that the patriots will defend you with +their lives; the patriots do not hate you; they only hated your unpopular +measures. For my part, I will give you a guarantee as extensive as is my +perpetual franchise." The directors, instead of this reconciliation, +published Babeuf's letter, and sent the conspirators before the high court +of Vendome. + +Their partisans made one more attempt. On the 13th Fructidor (August), +about eleven at night, they marched, to the number of six or seven +hundred, armed with sabres and pistols, against the directory, whom they +found defended by its guard. They then repaired to the camp of Grenelle, +which they hoped to gain over by means of a correspondence which they had +established with it. The troops had retired to rest when the conspirators +arrived. To the sentinel's cry of "_Qui vive?_" they replied: "_Vive la +republique! Vive la constitution de '93!_" The sentinels gave the alarm +through the camp. The conspirators, relying on the assistance of a +battalion from Gard, which had been disbanded, advanced towards the tent +of Malo, the commander-in-chief, who gave orders to sound to arms, and +commanded his half-dressed dragoons to mount. The conspirators, surprised +at this reception, feebly defended themselves: they were cut down by the +dragoons or put to flight, leaving many dead and prisoners on the field of +battle. This ill-fated expedition was almost the last of the party: with +each defeat it lost its force, its chiefs, and acquired the secret +conviction that its reign was over. The Grenelle enterprise proved most +fatal to it; besides the numbers slain in the fight, many were condemned +to death by the military commissions, which were to it what the +revolutionary tribunals had been to its foes. The commission of the camp +of Grenelle, in five sittings, condemned one-and-thirty conspirators to +death, thirty to transportation, and twenty-five to imprisonment. + +Shortly afterwards the high court of Vendome tried Babeuf and his +accomplices, among whom were Amar, Vadier, and Darthe, formerly secretary +to Joseph Lebon. They none of them belied themselves; they spoke as men +who feared neither to avow their object, nor to die for their cause. At +the beginning and the end of each sitting, they sang the _Marseillaise_. +This old song of victory, and their firm demeanour, struck the public mind +with astonishment, and seemed to render them still more formidable. Their +wives accompanied them to the trial, Babeuf, at the close of his defence, +turned to them, and said, "_they should accompany them even to Calvary, +because the cause of their punishment would not bring them to shame_." The +high court condemned Babeuf and Darthe to death: as they heard their +sentence they both stabbed themselves with a poignard. Babeuf was the last +leader of the old commune and the committee of public safety, which had +separated previous to Thermidor, and which afterwards united again. This +party decreased daily. Its dispersal and isolation more especially date +from this period. Under the reaction, it still formed a compact mass; +under Babeuf, it maintained the position of a formidable association. From +that time democrates existed, but the party was broken up. + +In the interim between the Grenelle enterprise and Babeuf's condemnation, +the royalists also formed their conspiracy. The projects of the democrats +produced a movement of opinion, contrary to that which had been manifested +after Vendemiaire, and the counter-revolutionists in their turn became +emboldened. The secret chiefs of this party hoped to find auxiliaries in +the troops of the camp of Grenelle, who had repelled the Babeuf faction. +This party, impatient and unskilful, unable to employ the whole of the +sectionaries, as in Vendemiaire, or the mass of the councils, as on the +18th Fructidor, made use of three men without either name or influence: +the abbe Brothier, the ex-counsellor of parliament, Lavilheurnois, and a +sort of adventurer, named Dunan. They applied at once, in all simplicity, +to Malo for the camp of Grenelle, in order by its means to restore the +ancient regime. Malo delivered them up to the directory, who transferred +them to the civil tribunals, not having been able, as he wished, to have +them tried by military commissioners. They were treated with much +consideration by judges of their party, elected under the influence of +Vendemiaire, and the sentence pronounced against them was only a short +imprisonment. At this period, a contest arose between all the authorities +appointed by the sections, and the directory supported by the army; each +taking its strength and judges wherever its party prevailed; the result +was, that the electoral power placing itself at the disposition of the +counter-revolution, the directory was compelled to introduce the army in +the state; which afterwards gave rise to serious inconvenience. + +The directory, triumphant over the two dissentient parties, also triumphed +over Europe. The new campaign opened under the most favourable auspices. +Bonaparte, on arriving at Nice, signalised his command by one of the most +daring of invasions. Hitherto his army had hovered idly on the side of the +Alps; it was destitute of everything, and scarcely amounted to thirty +thousand men; but it was well provided with courage and patriotism; and, +by their means, Bonaparte then commenced that world-astonishment by which +he carried all before him for twenty years. He broke up the cantonments, +and entered the valley of Savona, in order to march into Italy between the +Alps and the Apennines. There were before him ninety thousand troops of +the coalition, commanded in the centre by Argentau, by Colle on the left, +and Beaulieu on the right. This immense army was dispersed in a few days +by prodigies of genius and courage. Bonaparte overthrew the centre at +Montenotte, and entered Piedmont; at Millesimo he entirely separated the +Sardinian from the Austrian army. They hastened to defend Turin and Milan, +the capitals of their domination. Before pursuing the Austrians, the +republican general threw himself on the left, to cut off the Sardinian +army. The fate of Piedmont was decided at Mondovi, and the terrified court +of Turin hastened to submit. At Cherasco an armistice was concluded, which +was soon afterwards followed by a treaty of peace, signed at Paris, on the +18th of May, 1796, between the republic and the king of Sardinia, who +ceded Savoy and the counties of Nice and Tenda. The occupation of +Alessandria, which opened the Lombard country; the demolition of the +fortresses of Susa, and of Brunette, on the borders of France; the +abandonment of the territory of Nice, and of Savoy, and the rendering +available the other army of the Alps, under Kellermann, was the reward of +a fortnight's campaign, and six victories. + +War being over with Piedmont, Bonaparte marched against the Austrian army, +to which he left no repose. He passed the Po at Piacenza, and the Adda at +Lodi. The latter victory opened the gates of Milan, and secured him the +possession of Lombardy. General Beaulieu was driven into the defiles of +Tyrol by the republican army, which invested Mantua, and appeared on the +mountains of the empire. General Wurmser came to replace Beaulieu, and a +new army was sent to join the wrecks of the conquered one. Wurmser +advanced to relieve Mantua, and once more make Italy the field of battle; +but he was overpowered, like his predecessor, by Bonaparte, who, after +having raised the blockade of Mantua, in order to oppose this new enemy, +renewed it with increased vigour, and resumed his positions in Tyrol. The +plan of invasion was executed with much union and success. While the army +of Italy threatened Austria by Tyrol, the two armies of the Meuse and +Rhine entered Germany; Moreau, supported by Jourdan on his left, was ready +to join Bonaparte on his right. The two armies had passed the Rhine at +Neuwied and Strasburg, and had advanced on a front, drawn up in echelons +to the distance of sixty leagues, driving back the enemy, who, while +retreating before them, strove to impede their march and break their line. +They had almost attained the aim of their enterprise; Moreau had entered +Ulm and Augsburg, crossed the Leek, and his advanced guard was on the +extreme of the defiles of Tyrol, when Jourdan, from a misunderstanding, +passed beyond the line, was attacked by the archduke Charles, and +completely routed. Moreau, exposed on his left wing, was reduced to the +necessity of retracing his steps, and he then effected his memorable +retreat. The fault of Jourdan was a capital one: it prevented the success +of this vast plan of campaign, and gave respite to the Austrian +government. + +The cabinet of Vienna, which had lost Belgium in this war, and which felt +the importance of preserving Italy, defended it with the greatest +obstinacy. Wurmser, after a new defeat, was obliged to throw himself into +Mantua with the wreck of his army. General Alvinzy, at the head of fifty +thousand Hungarians, now came to try his fortune, but was not more +successful than Beaulieu or Wurmser. New victories were added to the +wonders already achieved by the army of Italy, and secured the conquest of +that country. Mantua capitulated; the republican troops, masters of Italy, +took the route to Vienna across the mountains. Bonaparte had before him +prince Charles, the last hope of Austria. He soon passed through the +defiles of Tyrol, and entered the plains of Germany. In the meantime, the +army of the Rhine under Moreau, and that of the Meuse under Hoche, +successfully resumed the plan of the preceding campaign; and the cabinet +of Vienna, in a state of alarm, concluded the truce of Leoben. It had +exhausted all its force, and tried all its generals, while the French +republic was in the full vigour of conquest. + +The army of Italy accomplished in Europe the work of the French +revolution. This wonderful campaign was owing to the union of a general of +genius, and an intelligent army. Bonaparte had for lieutenants generals +capable of commanding themselves, who knew how to take upon themselves the +responsibility of a movement of a battle, and an army of citizens all +possessing cultivated minds, deep feeling, strong emulation of all that is +great; passionately attached to a revolution which aggrandized their +country, preserved their independence under discipline, and which afforded +an opportunity to every soldier of becoming a general. There is nothing +which a leader of genius might not accomplish with such men. He must have +regretted, at this recollection of his earlier years, that he ever centred +in himself all liberty and intelligence, that he ever created mechanical +armies and generals only fit to obey. Bonaparte began the third epoch of +the war. The campaign of 1792 had been made on the old system, with +dispersed corps, acting separately without abandoning their fixed line. +The committee of public safety concentrated the corps, made them operate +no longer merely on what was before them, but at a distance; it hastened +their movement, and directed them towards a common end. Bonaparte did for +each battle what the committee had done for each campaign. He brought all +these corps on the determinate point, and destroyed several armies with a +single one by the rapidity of his measures. He disposed of whole masses of +troops at his pleasure, moved them here or there, brought them forward, or +kept them out of sight, had them wholly at his disposition, when, where, +and how he pleased, whether to occupy a position or to gain a battle. His +diplomacy was as masterly as his military science. + +All the Italian governments, except Venice and Genoa, had adhered to the +coalition, but the people were in favour of the French republic. Bonaparte +relied on the latter. He abolished Piedmont, which he could not conquer; +transformed the Milanese, hitherto dependent on Austria, into the +_Cisalpine Republic_; he weakened Tuscany and the petty princes of Parma +and Modena by contributions, without dispossessing them; the pope, who had +signed a truce on Bonaparte's first success against Beaulieu, and who did +not hesitate to infringe it on the arrival of Wurmser, bought peace by +yielding Romagna, Bologna, and Ferrara, which were joined to the Cisalpine +republic; lastly, the aristocracy of Venice and Genoa having favoured the +coalition, and raised an insurrection in the rear of the army, their +government was changed, and Bonaparte made it democratic, in order to +oppose the power of the people to that of the nobility. In this way the +revolution penetrated into Italy. + +Austria, by the preliminaries of Leoben, ceded Belgium to France, and +recognised the Lombard republic. All the allied powers had laid down their +arms, and even England asked to treat. France, peaceable and free at home, +had on her borders attained her natural limits, and was surrounded with +rising republics, such as Holland, Lombardy, and Liguria, which guarded +her sides and extended her system in Europe. The coalition was little +disposed to assail anew a revolution, all the governments of which were +victorious; that of anarchy after the 10th of August, of the dictatorship +after the 31st of May, and of legal authority under the directory; a +revolution, which, at every new hostility, advanced a step further upon +European territory. In 1792, it had only extended to Belgium; in 1794, it +had reached Holland and the Rhine; in 1796, had reached Italy, and entered +Germany. If it continued its progress, the coalition had reason to fear +that it would carry its conquests further. Everything seemed prepared for +general peace. + +But the situation of the directory was materially changed by the elections +of the year V. (May, 1797). These elections, by introducing, in a legal +way, the royalist party into the legislature and government, brought again +into question what the conflict of Vendemiaire had decided. Up to this +period, a good understanding had existed between the directory and the +councils. Composed of conventionalists, united by a common interest, and +the necessity of establishing the republic, after having been blown about +by the winds of all parties, they had manifested much good-will in their +intercourse, and much union in their measures. The councils had yielded to +the various demands of the directory; and, with the exception of a few +slight modifications, they had approved its projects concerning the +finance and the administration, its conduct with regard to the +conspiracies, the armies, and Europe. The anti-conventional minority had +formed an opposition in the councils; but this opposition, while waiting +the reinforcement of a new third, had but cautiously contended against the +policy of the directory. At its head were Barbe-Marbois, Pastoret, +Vaublanc, Dumas, Portalis, Simeon, Troncon-Ducoudray, Dupont de Nemours, +most of them members of the Right in the legislative assembly, and some of +them avowed royalists. Their position soon became less equivocal and more +aggressive, by the addition of those members elected in the year V. + +The royalists formed a formidable and active confederation, having its +leaders, agents, budgets, and journals. They excluded republicans from the +elections, influenced the masses, who always follow the most energetic +party, and whose banner they momentarily assume. They would not even admit +patriots of the first epoch, and only elected decided counter- +revolutionists or equivocal constitutionalists. The republican party was +then placed in the government and in the army; the royalist party in the +electoral assemblies and the councils. + +On the 1st Prairial, year V. (20th May), the two councils opened their +sittings. From the beginning they manifested the spirit which actuated +them. Pichegru, whom the royalists transferred on to the new field of +battle of the counter-revolution, was enthusiastically elected president +of the council _des jeunes_. Barbe-Marbois had given him, with the same +eagerness, the presidentship of the elder council. The legislative body +proceeded to appoint a director to replace Letourneur, who, on the 30th +Floreal, had been fixed on by ballot as the retiring member. Their choice +fell on Barthelemy, the ambassador to Switzerland, whose moderate views +and attachment to peace suited the councils and Europe, but who was +scarcely adapted for the government of the republic, owing to his absence +from France during all the revolution. + +These first hostilities against the directory and the conventional party +were followed by more actual attacks. Its administration and policy were +now attacked without scruple. The directory had done all it had been able +to do by a legal government in a situation still revolutionary. It was +blamed for continuing the war and for the disorder of the financial +department. The legislative majority skilfully turned its attention to the +public wants; it supported the entire liberty of the press, which allowed +journalists to attack the directory, and to prepare the way for another +system; it supported peace because it would lead to the disarming of the +republic, and lastly, it supported economy. + +These demands were in one sense useful and national. France was weary, and +felt the need of all these things in order to complete its social +restoration; accordingly, the nation half adopted the views of the +royalists, but from entirely different motives. It saw with rather more +anxiety the measures adopted by the councils relative to priests and +emigrants. A pacification was desired; but the nation did not wish that +the conquered foes of the revolution should return triumphant. The +councils passed the laws with regard to them with great precipitation. +They justly abolished the sentence of transportation or imprisonment +against priests for matters of religion or incivism; but they wished to +restore the ancient prerogatives of their form of worship; to render +Catholicism, already re-established, outwardly manifest by the use of +bells, and to exempt priests from the oath of public functionaries. +Camille Jordan, a young Lyonnais deputy, full of eloquence and courage, +but professing unreasonable opinions, was the principal panegyrist of the +clergy in the younger council. The speech which he delivered on this +subject excited great surprise and violent opposition. The little +enthusiasm that remained was still entirely patriotic, and all were +astonished at witnessing the revival of another enthusiasm, that of +religion: the last century and the revolution had made men entirely +unaccustomed to it, and prevented them from understanding it. This was the +moment when the old party revived its creed, introduced its language, and +mingled them with the creed and language of the reform party, which had +hitherto prevailed alone. The result was, as is usual with all that is +unexpected, an unfavourable and ridiculous impression against Camille +Jordan, who was nicknamed _Jordan-Carillon, Jordan-les-Cloches_. The +attempt of the protectors of the clergy did not, however, succeed; and the +council of five hundred did not venture as yet to pass a decree for the +use of bells, or to make the priests independent. After some hesitation, +the moderate party joined the directorial party, and supported the civic +oath with cries of "Vive la Republique!" + +Meantime, hostilities continued against the directory, especially in the +council of five hundred, which was more zealous and impatient than that of +the ancients. All this greatly emboldened the royalist faction in the +interior. The counter-revolutionary reprisals against the _patriots_, and +those who had acquired national property, were renewed. Emigrant and +dissentient priests returned in crowds, and being unable to endure +anything savouring of the revolution, they did not conceal their projects +for its overthrow. The directorial authority, threatened in the centre, +and disowned in the departments, became wholly powerless. + +But the necessity of defence, the anxiety of all men who were devoted to +the directory, and especially to the revolution, gave courage and support +to the government. The aggressive progress of the councils brought their +attachment to the republic into suspicion; and the mass, which had at +first supported, now forsook them. The constitutionalists of 1791, and the +directorial party formed an alliance. The club of _Salm_, established +under the auspices of this alliance, was opposed to the club of _Clichy_, +which for a long time had been the rendezvous of the most influential +members of the councils. The directory, while it had recourse to opinion, +did not neglect its principal force--the support of the troops. It brought +near Paris several regiments of the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, commanded +by Hoche. The constitutional radius of six myriametres (twelve leagues), +which the troops could not legally pass, was violated: and the councils +denounced this violation to the directory, which feigned an ignorance, +wholly disbelieved, and made very weak excuses. + +The two parties were watching each other. One had its posts at the +directory, at the club of _Salm_, and in the army, the other, in the +councils, at _Clichy_, and in the _salons_ of the royalists. The mass were +spectators. Each of the two parties was disposed to act in a revolutionary +manner towards the other. An intermediate constitutional and conciliatory +party tried to prevent the struggle, and to bring about an union, which +was altogether impossible. Carnot was at its head: a few members of the +younger council, directed by Thibaudeau, and a tolerably large number of +the Ancients, seconded his projects of moderation. Carnot, who, at that +period, was the director of the constitution, with Barthelemy, who was the +director of the legislature, formed a minority in the government. Carnot, +very austere in his conduct and very obstinate in his views, could not +agree either with Barras or with the imperious Rewbell. To this opposition +of character was then added difference of system. Barras and Rewbell, +supported by La Reveillere, were not at all averse to a coup-d'etat +against the councils, while Carnot wished strictly to follow the law. This +great citizen, at each epoch of the revolution, had perfectly seen the +mode of government which suited it, and his opinion immediately became a +fixed idea. Under the committee of public safety, the dictatorship was his +fixed system, and under the directory, legal government. Recognising no +difference of situation, he found himself placed in an equivocal position; +he wished for peace in a moment of war; and for law, in a moment of coups- +d'etat. + +The councils, somewhat alarmed at the preparations of the directory, +seemed to make the dismissal of a few ministers, in whom they placed no +confidence, the price of reconciliation. These were, Merlin de Douai, the +minister of justice; Delacroix, minister of foreign affairs; and Ramel, +minister of finance. On the other hand they desired to retain Petiet as +minister of war, Benesech as minister of the interior, and Cochon de +Lapparent as minister of police. The legislative body, in default of +directorial power, wished to make sure of the ministry. Far from falling +in with this wish, which would have introduced the enemy into the +government, Rewbell, La Reveillere and Barras dismissed the ministers +protected by the councils, and retained the others. Benesech was replaced +by Francois de Neufchateau, Petiet by Hoche, and soon afterwards by +Scherer; Cochon de Lapparent, by Lenoir-Laroche; and Lenoir-Laroche, who +had too little decision, by Sotin. Talleyrand, likewise, formed part of +this ministry. He had been struck off the list of emigrants, from the +close of the conventional session, as a revolutionist of 1791; and his +great sagacity, which always placed him with the party having the greatest +hope of victory, made him, at this period, a directorial republican. He +held the portfolio of Delacroix, and he contributed very much, by his +counsels and his daring, to the events of Fructidor. + +War now appeared more and more inevitable. The directory did not wish for +a reconciliation, which, at the best, would only have postponed its +downfall and that of the republic to the elections of the year VI. It +caused threatening addresses against the councils to be sent from the +armies. Bonaparte had watched with an anxious eye the events which were +preparing in Paris. Though intimate with Carnot, and corresponding +directly with him, he had sent Lavalette, his aid-de-camp, to furnish him +with an account of the divisions in the government, and the intrigues and +conspiracies with which it was beset. Bonaparte had promised the directory +the support of his army, in case of actual danger. He sent Augereau to +Paris with addresses from his troops. "Tremble, royalists!" said the +soldiers. "From the Adige to the Seine is but a step. Tremble! your +iniquities are numbered; and their recompense is at the end of our +bayonets."--"We have observed with indignation," said the staff, "the +intrigues of royalty threatening liberty. By the manes of the heroes slain +for our country, we have sworn implacable war against royalty and +royalists. Such are our sentiments; they are yours, and those of all +patriots. Let the royalists show themselves, and their days are numbered." +The councils protested, but in vain, against these deliberations of the +army. General Richepanse, who commanded the troops arrived from the army +of the Sambre-et-Meuse, stationed them at Versailles, Meudon, and +Vincennes. + +The councils had been assailants in Prairial, but as the success of their +cause might be put off to the year VI., when it might take place without +risk or combat, they kept on the defensive after Thermidor (July, 1797). +They, however, then made every preparation for the contest: they gave +orders that the _constitutional circles_ should be closed, with a view to +getting rid of the club of _Salm_; they also increased the powers of the +commission of inspectors of the hall, which became the government of the +legislative body, and of which the two royalist conspirators, Willot and +Pichegru, formed part. The guard of the councils, which was under the +control of the directory, was placed under the immediate orders of the +inspectors of the hall. At last, on the 17th Fructidor, the legislative +body thought of procuring the assistance of the militia of Vendemiaire, +and it decreed, on the motion of Pichegru, the formation of the national +guard. On the following day, the 18th, this measure was to be executed, +and the councils were by a decree to order the troops to remove to a +distance. They had reached a point that rendered a new victory necessary +to decide the great struggle of the revolution and the ancient system. The +impetuous general, Willot, wished them to take the initiative, to decree +the impeachment of the three directors, Barras, Rewbell, and La +Reveillere; to cause the other two to join the legislative body; if the +government refused to obey, to sound the tocsin, and march with the old +sectionaries against the directory; to place Pichegru at the head of this +_legal insurrection_, and to execute all these measures promptly, boldly, +and at mid-day. Pichegru is said to have hesitated; and the opinion of the +undecided prevailing, the tardy course of legal preparations was adopted. + +It was not, however, the same with the directory. Barras, Rewbell, and La +Reveillere determined instantly to attack Carnot, Barthelemy, and the +legislative majority. The morning of the 18th was fixed on for the +execution of this coup-d'etat. During the night, the troops encamped in +the neighbourhood of Paris, entered the city under the command of +Augereau. It was the design of the directorial triumvirate to occupy the +Tuileries with troops before the assembling of the legislative body, in +order to avoid a violent expulsion; to convoke the councils in the +neighbourhood of the Luxembourg, after having arrested their principal +leaders, and by a legislative measure to accomplish a coup-d'etat begun by +force. It was in agreement with the minority of the councils, and relied +on the approbation of the mass. The troops reached the Hotel de Ville at +one in the morning, spread themselves over the quays, the bridges, and the +Champs Elysees, and before long, twelve thousand men and forty pieces of +cannon surrounded the Tuileries. At four o'clock the alarm-shot was fired, +and Augereau presented himself at the gate of the Pont-Tournant. + +The guard of the legislative body was under arms. The inspectors of the +hall, apprised the night before of the movement in preparation, had +repaired to the national palace (the Tuileries), to defend the entrance. +Ramel, commander of the legislative guard, was devoted to the councils, +and he had stationed his eight hundred grenadiers in the different avenues +of the garden, shut in by gates. But Pichegru, Willot, and Ramel, could +not resist the directory with this small and uncertain force. Augereau had +no need even to force the passage of the Pont-Tournant: as soon as he came +before the grenadiers, he cried out, "Are you republicans?" The latter +lowered their arms and replied, "Vive Augereau! Vive le directoire!" and +joined him. Augereau traversed the garden, entered the hall of the +councils, arrested Pichegru, Willot, Ramel, and all the inspectors of the +hall, and had them conveyed to the Temple. The members of the councils, +convoked in haste by the inspectors, repaired in crowds to their place of +sitting; but they were arrested or refused admittance by the armed force. +Augereau announced to them that the directory, urged by the necessity of +defending the republic from the conspirators among them, had assigned the +Odeon and the School of Medicine for the place of their sittings. The +greater part of the deputies present exclaimed against military violence +and the dictatorial usurpation, but they were obliged to yield. + +At six in the morning this expedition was terminated. The people of Paris, +on awaking, found the troops still under arms, and the walls placarded +with proclamations announcing the discovery of a formidable conspiracy. +The people were exhorted to observe order and confidence. The directory +had printed a letter of general Moreau, in which he announced in detail +the plots of his predecessor Pichegru with the emigrants, and another +letter from the prince de Conde to Imbert Colomes, a member of the +Ancients. The entire population remained quiet; they were mere spectators +of an event brought about without the interference of parties, and by the +assistance of the army only. They displayed neither approbation nor +regret. + +The directory felt the necessity of legalizing, and more especially of +terminating, this extraordinary act. As soon as the members of the five +hundred, and of the ancients, were assembled at the Odeon and the School +of Medicine in sufficient numbers to debate, they determined to sit +permanently. A message from the directory announced the motive which had +actuated all its measures. "Citizens, legislators," ran the message, "if +the directory had delayed another day, the republic would have been given +up to its enemies. The very place of your sittings was the rendezvous of +the conspirators: from thence they yesterday distributed their plans and +orders for the delivery of arms; from thence they corresponded last night +with their accomplices; lastly, from thence, or in the neighbourhood, they +again endeavoured to raise clandestine and seditious assemblies, which the +police at this moment are employed in dispersing. We should have +compromised the public welfare, and that of its faithful representatives, +had we suffered them to remain confounded with the foes of the country in +the den of conspiracy." + +The younger council appointed a commission, composed of Sieyes, Poulain- +Granpre, Villers, Chazal, and Boulay de la Meurthe, deputed to present a +law of _public safety_. The law was a measure of ostracism; only +transportation was substituted for the scaffold in this second +revolutionary and dictatorial period. + +The members of the five hundred sentenced to transportation were: Aubry, +J. J. Aime, Bayard, Blain, Boissy d'Anglas, Borne, Bourdon de l'Oise, +Cadroy, Couchery, Delahaye, Delarue, Doumere, Dumolard, Duplantier, Gibert +Desmolieres, Henri La Riviere, Imbert-Colomes, Camille Jordan, Jourdan +(des Bouches-du-Rhone) Gall, La Carriere, Lemarchand-Gomicourt, Lemerer, +Mersan, Madier, Maillard, Noailles, Andre, Mac-Cartin, Pavie, Pastoret, +Pichegru, Polissard, Praire-Montaud, Quatremere-Quincy, Saladin, Simeon, +Vauvilliers, Vienot-Vaublanc, Villaret-Joyeuse, Willot. In the council of +ancients: Barbe-Marbois, Dumas, Ferraud-Vaillant, Lafond-Ladebat, Laumont, +Muraire, Murinais, Paradis, Portalis, Rovere, Troncon-Ducoudray. In the +directory: Carnot and Barthelemy. They also condemned the abbe Brottier, +Lavilleheurnois, Dunan, the ex-minister of police, Cochon, the ex-agent of +the police Dossonville, generals Miranda and Morgan; the journalist, +Suard; the ex-conventionalist, Mailhe; and the commandant, Ramel. A few of +the proscribed succeeded in evading the decree of exile; Carnot was among +the number. Most of them were transported to Cayenne; but a great many did +not leave the Isle of Re. + +The directory greatly extended this act of ostracism. The authors of +thirty-five journals were included in the sentence of transportation. It +wished to strike at once all the avenues of the republic in the councils, +in the press, in the electoral assemblies, the departments, in a word, +wherever they had introduced themselves. The elections of forty-eight +departments were annulled, the laws in favour of priests and emigrants +were revoked, and soon afterwards the disappearance of all who had swayed +in the departments since the 9th Thermidor raised the spirits of the cast- +down republican party. The coup-d'etat of Fructidor was not purely +central; like the victory of Vendemiaire; it ruined the royalist party, +which had only been repulsed by the preceding defeat. But, by again +replacing the legal government by the dictatorship, it rendered necessary +another revolution, which shall be recounted later. + +We may say, that on the 18th Fructidor of the year V. it was necessary +that the directory should triumph over the counterrevolution by decimating +the councils; or that the councils should triumph over the republic by +overthrowing the directory. The question thus stated, it remains to +inquire, 1st, if the directory could have conquered by any other means +than a coup-d'etat; 2ndly, whether it misused its victory? + +The government had not the power of dissolving the councils. At the +termination of a revolution, whose object was to establish the extreme +right, they were unable to invest a secondary authority with the control +of the sovereignty of the people, and in certain cases to make the +legislature subordinate to the directory. This concession of an +experimental policy not existing, what means remained to the directory of +driving the enemy from the heart of the state? No longer able to defend +the revolution by virtue of the law, it had no resource but the +dictatorship; but in having recourse to that, it broke the conditions of +its existence; and while saving the revolution, it soon fell itself. + +As for its victory, it sullied it with violence, by endeavouring to make +it too complete. The sentence of transportation was extended to too many +victims; the petty passions of men mingled with the defence of the cause, +and the directory did not manifest that reluctance to arbitrary measures +which is the only justification of coups-d'etat. To attain its object, it +should have exiled the leading conspirators only; but it rarely happens +that a party does not abuse the dictatorship; and that, possessing the +power, it believes not in the dangers of indulgence. The defeat of the +18th Fructidor was the fourth of the royalist party; two took place in +order to dispossess it of power, those of the 14th of July and 10th of +August; two to prevent its resuming it; those of the 13th Vendemiaire and +18th Fructidor. This repetition of powerless attempts and protracted +reverses did not a little contribute to the submission of this party under +the consulate and the empire. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +FROM THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, IN THE YEAR V. (4TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1797), TO THE +18TH BRUMAIRE, IN THE YEAR VIII. (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) + + +The chief result of the 18th Fructidor was a return, with slight +mitigation, to the revolutionary government. The two ancient privileged +classes were again excluded from society; the dissentient priests were +again banished. The Chouans, and former fugitives, who occupied the field +of battle in the departments, abandoned it to the old republicans: those +who had formed part of the military household of the Bourbons, the +superior officers of the crown, the members of the parliaments, commanders +of the order of the Holy Ghost and Saint Louis, the knights of Malta, all +those who had protested against the abolition of nobility, and who had +preserved its titles, were to quit the territory of the republic. The ci- +devant nobles, or those ennobled, could only enjoy the rights of citizens, +after a term of seven years, and after having gone through a sort of +apprenticeship as Frenchmen. This party, by desiring sway, restored the +dictatorship. + +At this period the directory attained its maximum of power; for some time +it had no enemies in arms. Delivered from all internal opposition, it +imposed the continental peace on Austria by the treaty of Campo-Formio, +and on the empire by the congress of Rastadt. The treaty of Campo-Formio +was more advantageous to the cabinet of Vienna than the preliminaries of +Leoben. Its Belgian and Lombard states were paid for by a part of the +Venetian states. This old republic was divided; France retained the Ionian +Isles, and gave the city of Venice and the provinces of Istria and +Dalmatia to Austria. In this the directory committed a great fault, and +was guilty of an attempt against liberty. In the fanaticism of a system, +we may desire to set a country free, but we should never give it away. By +arbitrarily distributing the territory of a small state, the directory set +the bad example of this traffic in nations since but too much followed. +Besides, Austrian dominion would, sooner or later, extend in Italy, +through this imprudent cession of Venice. + +The coalition of 1792 and 1793 was dissolved; England was the only +remaining belligerent power. The cabinet of London was not at all disposed +to cede to France, which it had attacked in the hope of weakening it, +Belgium, Luxembourg, the left bank of the Rhine, Porentruy, Nice, Savoy, +the protectorate of Genoa, Milan, and Holland. But finding it necessary to +appease the English opposition, and reorganize its means of attack, it +made propositions of peace; it sent Lord Malmesbury as plenipotentiary, +first to Paris, then to Lille. But the offers of Pitt not being sincere, +the directory did not allow itself to be deceived by his diplomatic +stratagems. The negotiations were twice broken off, and war continued +between the two powers. While England negotiated at Lille, she was +preparing at Saint Petersburg the triple alliance, or second coalition. + +The directory, on its side, without finances, without any party in the +interior, having no support but the army, and no eminence save that +derived from the continuation of its victories, was not in a condition to +consent to a general peace. It had increased the public discontent by the +establishment of certain taxes and the reduction of the debt to a +consolidated third, payable in specie only, which had ruined the +fundholders. It became necessary to maintain itself by war. The immense +body of soldiers could not be disbanded without danger. Besides, being +deprived of its power, and being placed at the mercy of Europe, the +directory had attempted a thing never done without creating a shock, +except in times of great tranquillity, of great ease, abundance, and +employment. The directory was driven by its position to the invasion of +Switzerland and the expedition into Egypt. + +Bonaparte had then returned to Paris. The conqueror of Italy and the +pacificator of the continent, was received with enthusiasm, constrained on +the part of the directory, but deeply felt by the people. Honours were +accorded him, never yet obtained by any general of the republic. A +patriotic altar was prepared in the Luxembourg, and he passed under an +arch of standards won in Italy, on his way to the triumphal ceremony in +his honour. He was harangued by Barras, president of the directory, who, +after congratulating him on his victories, invited him "to crown so noble +a life by a conquest which the great country owed to its insulted +dignity." This was the conquest of England. Everything seemed in +preparation for a descent, while the invasion of Egypt was really the +enterprise in view. + +Such an expedition suited both Bonaparte and the directory. The +independent conduct of that general in Italy, his ambition, which, from +time to time, burst through his studied simplicity, rendered his presence +dangerous. He, on his side, feared, by his inactivity, to compromise the +already high opinion entertained of his talents: for men always require +from those whom they make great, more than they are able to perform. Thus, +while the directory saw in the expedition to Egypt the means of keeping a +formidable general at a distance, and a prospect of attacking the English +by India, Bonaparte saw in it a gigantic conception, an employment suited +to his taste, and a new means of astonishing mankind. He sailed from +Toulon on the 30th Floreal, in the year VI. (19th May, 1798), with a fleet +of four hundred sail, and a portion of the army of Italy; he steered for +Malta; of which he made himself master, and from thence to Egypt. + +The directory, who violated the neutrality of the Ottoman Porte in order +to attack the English, had already violated that of Switzerland, in order +to expel the emigrants from its territory. French opinions had already +penetrated into Geneva and the Pays de Vaud; but the policy of the Swiss +confederation was counter-revolutionary, from the influence of the +aristocracy of Berne. They had driven from the cantons all the Swiss who +had shown themselves partisans of the French republic. Berne was the +headquarters of the emigrants, and it was there that all the plots against +the revolution were formed. The directory complained, but did not receive +satisfaction. The Vaudois, placed by old treaties under the protection of +France, invoked her help against the tyranny of Berne. This appeal of the +Vaudois, its own grievances, its desire to extend the directorial +republican system to Switzerland, much more than the temptation of seizing +the little amount of treasure in Berne, a reproach brought against it by +some, determined the directory. Some conferences took place, which led to +no result, and war began. The Swiss defended themselves with much courage +and obstinacy, and hoped to resuscitate the times of their ancestors, but +they succumbed. Geneva was united to France, and Switzerland exchanged its +ancient constitution for that of the year III. From that time two parties +existed in the confederation, one of which was for France and the +revolution, the other for the counter-revolution and Austria. Switzerland +ceased to be a common barrier, and became the high road of Europe. + +This revolution had been followed by that of Rome. General Duphot was +killed at Rome in a riot; and in punishment of this assassination, which +the pontifical government had not interfered to prevent, Rome was changed +into a republic. All this combined to complete the system of the +directory, and make it preponderant in Europe; it was now at the head of +the Helvetian, Batavian, Ligurian, Cisalpine, and Roman republics, all +constructed on the same model. But while the directory extended its +influence abroad, it was again menaced by internal parties. + +The elections of Floreal in the year VI. (May, 1798) were by no means +favourable to the directory; the returns were quite at variance with those +of the year V. Since the 18th Fructidor, the withdrawal of the counter- +revolutionists had restored all the influence of the exclusive republican +party, which had reestablished the clubs under the name of _Constitutional +Circles_. This party dominated in the electoral assemblies, which, most +unusually, had to nominate four hundred and thirty-seven deputies: two +hundred and ninety-eight for the council of five hundred; a hundred and +thirty-nine for that of the ancients. When the elections drew near, the +directory exclaimed loudly against the _anarchists_. But its proclamations +having been unable to prevent democratic returns, it decided upon +annulling them in virtue of a law, by which the councils, after the 18th +Fructidor, had granted it the _power of judging_ the operations of the +electoral assemblies. It invited the legislative body, by a message, to +appoint a commission of five members for that purpose. On the 22nd +Floreal, the elections were for the most part annulled. At this period the +directorial party struck a blow at the extreme republicans, as nine months +before it had aimed at the royalists. + +The directory wished to maintain the political balance, which had been the +characteristic of its first two years; but its position was much changed. +Since its last coup-d'etat, it could no longer be an impartial government, +because it was no longer a constitutional government. With these +pretensions of isolation, it dissatisfied every one. Yet it lived on in +this way till the elections of the year VII. It displayed much activity, +but an activity of a narrow and shuffling nature. Merlin de Douai and +Treilhard, who had replaced Carnot and Barthelemy, were two political +lawyers. Rewbell had in the highest degree the courage, without having the +enlarged views of a statesman. Lareveillere was too much occupied with the +sect of the Theophilanthropists for a government leader. As to Barras, he +continued his dissipated life and his directorial regency; his palace was +the rendezvous of gamesters, women of gallantry, and stock-jobbers of +every kind. The administration of the directors betrayed their character, +but more especially their position; to the embarrassments of which was +added war with all Europe. + +While the republican plenipotentiaries were yet negotiating for peace with +the empire at Rastadt, the second coalition began the campaign. The treaty +of Campo-Formio had only been for Austria a suspension of arms. England +had no difficulty in gaining her to a new coalition; with the exception of +Spain and Prussia, most of the European powers formed part of it. The +subsidies of the British cabinet, and the attraction of the West, decided +Russia; the Porte and the states of Barbary acceded to it, because of the +invasion of Egypt; the empire, in order to recover the left bank of the +Rhine, and the petty princes of Italy, that they might destroy the new +republics. At Rastadt they were discussing the treaty relative to the +empire, the concession of the left bank of the Rhine, the navigation of +that river, and the demolition of some fortresses on the right bank, when +the Russians entered Germany, and the Austrian army began to move. The +French plenipotentiaries, taken by surprise, received orders to leave in +four and twenty hours; they obeyed immediately, and set out, after having +obtained safe conduct from the generals of the enemy. At a short distance +from Rastadt they were stopped by some Austrian hussars, who, having +satisfied themselves as to their names and titles, assassinated them: +Bonnier and Roberjot were killed, Jean de Bry was left for dead. This +unheard-of violation of the right of nations, this premeditated +assassination of three men invested with a sacred character, excited +general horror. The legislative body declared war, and declared it with +indignation against the governments on whom the guilt of this enormity +fell. + +Hostilities had already commenced in Italy and on the Rhine. The +directory, apprised of the march of the Russian troops, and suspecting the +intentions of Austria, caused the councils to pass a law for recruiting. +The military conscription placed two hundred thousand young men at the +disposal of the republic. This law, which was attended with incalculable +consequences, was the result of a more regular order of things. Levies _en +masse_ had been the revolutionary service of the country; the conscription +became the legal service. + +The most impatient of the powers, those which formed the advanced guard of +the coalition, had already commenced the attack. The king of Naples had +advanced on Rome, and the king of Sardinia had raised troops and +threatened the Ligurian republic. As they had not sufficient power to +sustain the shock of the French armies, they were easily conquered and +dispossessed. General Championnet entered Naples after a sanguinary +victory. The lazaroni defended the interior of the town for three days; +but they yielded, and the Parthenopian republic was proclaimed. General +Joubert occupied Turin; and the whole of Italy was in the hands of the +French, when the new campaign began. + +The coalition was superior to the republic in effective force and in +preparations. It attacked it by the three great openings of Italy, +Switzerland, and Holland. A strong Austrian army debouched in the duchy of +Mantua; it defeated Scherer twice on the Adige, and was soon joined by the +whimsical and hitherto victorious Suvorov. Moreau replaced Scherer, and, +like him, was beaten; he retreated towards Genoa, in order to keep the +barrier of the Apennines and to join the army of Naples, commanded by +Macdonald, which was overpowered at the Trebia. The Austro-Russians then +directed their chief forces upon Switzerland. A few Russian corps joined +the archduke Charles, who had defeated Jourdan on the Upper Rhine, and was +preparing to pass over the Helvetian barrier. At the same time the duke of +York disembarked in Holland with forty thousand Anglo-Russians. The small +republics which protected France were invaded, and a few more victories +would have enabled the confederates to penetrate even to the scene of the +revolution. + +In the midst of these military disasters and the discontent of parties, +the elections of Floreal in the year VII. (May, 1799) took place; they +were republican, like those of the preceding year. The directory was no +longer strong enough to contend with public misfortunes and the rancour of +parties. The retirement of Rewbell, who was replaced by Sieyes, caused it +to lose the only man able to face the storm, and brought into its bosom +the most avowed antagonist of this compromised and worn-out government. +The moderate party and the extreme republicans united in demanding from +the directory an account of the internal and external situation of the +republic. The councils sat permanently. Barras abandoned his colleagues. +The fury of the councils was directed solely against Treilhard, Merlin, +and La Reveillere, the last supports of the old directory. They deposed +Treilhard, because an interval of a year had not elapsed between his +legislative and his directorial functions, as the constitution required. +The ex-minister of justice, Gohier, was immediately chosen to replace him. + +The orators of the councils then warmly attacked Merlin and La Reveillere, +whom they could not dismiss from the directory. The threatened directors +sent a justificatory message to the councils, and proposed peace. On the +30th Prairial, the republican Bertrand (du Calvados) ascended the tribune, +and after examining the offers of the directors, exclaimed: "You have +proposed union; and I propose that you reflect if you yourselves can still +preserve your functions. If you love the republic you will not hesitate to +decide. You are incapable of doing good; you will never have the +confidence of your colleagues, that of the people, or that of the +representatives, without which you cannot cause the laws to be executed. I +know that, thanks to the constitution, there already exists in the +directory a majority which enjoys the confidence of the people, and that +of the national representation. Why do you hesitate to introduce unanimity +of desires and principles between the two first authorities of the +republic? You have not even the confidence of those vile flatterers, who +have dug your political tomb. Finish your career by an act of devotion, +which good republican hearts will be able to appreciate." + +Merlin and La Reveillere, deprived of the support of the government by the +retirement of Rewbell, the dismissal of Treilhard, and the desertion of +Barras, urged by the councils and by patriotic motives, yielded to +circumstances, and resigned the directorial authority. This victory, +gained by the republican and moderate parties combined, turned to the +profit of both. The former introduced general Moulins into the directory; +the latter, Roger Ducos. The 30th Prairial (18th June), which witnessed +the breaking up of the old government of the year III., was an act of +reprisal on the part of the councils against the directory for the 18th +Fructidor and the 22nd Floreal. At this period the two great powers of the +state had each in turn violated the constitution: the directory by +decimating the legislature; the legislature by expelling the directory. +This form of government, which every party complained of, could not have a +protracted existence. + +Sieyes, after the success of the 30th Prairial, laboured to destroy what +yet remained of the government of the year III., in order to establish the +legal system on another plan. He was whimsical and systematic; but he had +the faculty of judging surely of situations. He re-entered upon the scene +of the revolution of a singular epoch, with the intention of strengthening +it by a definitive constitution. After having co-operated in the principal +changes of 1789, by his motion of the 17 of June, which transformed the +states-general into a national assembly, and by his plan of internal +organization, which substituted departments for provinces, he had remained +passive and silent during the subsequent interval. He waited till the +period of public defence should again give place to institutions. +Appointed, under the directory, to the embassy at Berlin, the neutrality +of Prussia was attributed to his efforts. On his return, he accepted the +office of director, hitherto refused by him, because Rewbell was leaving +the government, and he thought that parties were sufficiently weary to +undertake a definitive pacification, and the establishment of liberty. +With this object, he placed his reliance on Roger-Ducos in the directory, +on the council of ancients in the legislature, and without, on the mass of +moderate men and the middle-class, who, after desiring laws, merely as a +novelty, now desired repose as a novelty. This party sought for a strong +and secure government, which should have no past, no enmities, and which +thenceforward might satisfy all opinions and interests. As all that had +been dene, from the 14th of July till the 9th Thermidor, by the people, in +connexion with a part of the government, had been done since the 13th +Vendemiaire by the soldiers, Sieyes was in want of a general. He cast his +eyes upon Joubert, who was put at the head of the army of Italy, in order +that he might gain by his victories, and by the deliverance of Italy, a +great political importance. + +The constitution of the year III. was, however, still supported by the two +directors, Gohier and Moulins, the council of five hundred, and without, +by the party of the _Manege_. The decided republicans had formed a club +that held its sittings in that hall where had sat the first of our +assemblies. The new club, formed from the remains of that of Salm, before +the 18th Fructidor; of that of the Pantheon, at the beginning of the +directory; and of the old society of the Jacobins, enthusiastically +professed republican principles, but not the democratic opinions of the +inferior class. Each of these parties also had a share in the ministry +which had been renewed at the same time as the directory. Cambaceres had +the department of justice; Quinette, the home department; Reinhard, who +had been temporarily placed in office during the ministerial interregnum +of Talleyrand, was minister of foreign affairs; Robert Lindet was minister +of finance, Bourdon (of Vatry) of the navy, Bernadotte of war, +Bourguignon, soon afterwards replaced by Fouche (of Nantes), of police. + +This time Barras remained neutral between the two divisions of the +legislature, of the directory and of the ministry. Seeing that matters +were coming to a more considerable change than that of the 30th Prairial, +he, an ex-noble, thought that the decline of the republic would lead to +the restoration of the Bourbons, and he treated with the Pretender Louis +XVIII. It seems that, in negotiating the restoration of the monarchy by +his agent, David Monnier, he was not forgetful of himself. Barras espoused +nothing from conviction, and always sided with the party which had the +greatest chance of victory. A democratic member of the Mountain on the +31st of May; a reactionary member of the Mountain on the 9th Thermidor; a +revolutionary director against the royalists on the 18th Fructidor; +extreme republican director against his old colleagues on the 30th +Prairial; he now became a royalist director against the government of the +year III. + +The faction disconcerted by the 18th Fructidor and the peace of the +Continent, had also gained courage. The military successes of the new +coalition, the law of compulsory loans and that of hostages, which had +compelled every emigrant family to give guarantees to government, had made +the royalists of the south and west again take up arms. They reappeared in +bands, which daily became more formidable, and revived the petty but +disastrous warfare of the Chouans. They awaited the arrival of the +Russians, and looked forward to the speedy restoration of the monarchy. +This was a moment of fresh competition with every party. Each aspired to +the inheritance of the dying constitution, as they had done at the close +of the convention. In France, people are warned by a kind of political +odour that a government is dying, and all parties rush to be in at the +death. + +Fortunately for the republic, the war changed its aspect on the two +principal frontiers of the Upper and Lower Rhine. The allies, after having +acquired Italy, wished to enter France by Switzerland and Holland; but +generals Massena and Brune arrested their hitherto victorious progress. +Massena advanced against Korsakov and Suvorov. During twelve days of great +combinations and consecutive victories, hastening in turns from Constance +to Zurich, he repelled the efforts of the Russians, forced them to +retreat, and disorganized the coalition. Brune also defeated the duke of +York in Holland, obliged him to re-embark, and to renounce his attempted +invasion. The army of Italy alone had been less fortunate. It had lost its +general, Joubert, killed at the battle of Novi, while leading a charge on +the Austro-Russians. But this frontier, which was at a distance from the +centre of action, despite the defeat of Novi, was not crossed, and +Championnet ably defended it. It was soon to be repassed by the republican +troops, who, after each resumption of arms, having been for a moment +beaten, soon regained their superiority and recommenced their victories. +Europe, by giving additional exercise to the military power, by its +repeated attacks, rendered it each time more triumphant. + +But at home nothing was changed. Divisions, discontent, and anxiety were +the same as before. The struggle between the moderate republicans and the +extreme republicans had become more determined. Sieyes pursued his +projects against the latter. In the Champ-de-Mars, on the 10th of August, +he assailed the Jacobins. Lucien Bonaparte, who had much influence in the +council of five hundred, from his character, his talents, and the military +importance of the conqueror of Italy and of Egypt, drew in that assembly a +fearful picture of the reign of terror, and said that France was +threatened with its return. About the same time, Sieyes caused Bernadotte +to be dismissed, and Fouche, in concert with him, closed the meetings of +the Manege. The multitude, to whom it is only necessary to present the +phantom of the past to inspire it with fear, sided with the moderate +party, dreading the return of the reign of terror; and the extreme +republicans failed in their endeavour to declare _la patrie en danger_, as +they had done at the close of the legislative assembly. But Sieyes, after +having lost Joubert, sought for a general who could enter into his +designs, and who would protect the republic, without becoming its +oppressor. Hoche had been dead more than a year. Moreau had given rise to +suspicion by his equivocal conduct to the directory before the 18th +Fructidor, and by the sudden denunciation of his old friend Pichegru, +whose treason he had kept secret for a whole year; Massena was not a +political general; Bernadotte and Jourdan were devoted to the party of the +Manege; Sieyes was compelled to postpone his scheme for want of a suitable +agent. + +Bonaparte had learned in the east, from his brother Lucien and a few other +friends, the state of affairs in France, and the decline of the +directorial government. His expedition had been brilliant, but without +results. After having defeated the Mamelukes, and ruined their power in +Upper and Lower Egypt, he had advanced into Syria; but the failure of the +siege of Acre had compelled him to return to his first conquest. There, +after defeating an Ottoman army on the coast of Aboukir, so fatal to the +French fleet the preceding year, he decided on leaving that land of exile +and fame, in order to turn the new crisis in France to his own elevation. +He left general Kleber to command the army of the east, and crossed the +Mediterranean, then covered with English ships, in a frigate. He +disembarked at Frejus, on the 7th Vendemiaire, year VIII. (9th October, +1799), nineteen days after the battle of Berghen, gained by Brune over the +Anglo-Russians under the duke of York, and fourteen days after that of +Zurich, gained by Massena over the Austro-Russians under Korsakov and +Suvorov. He traversed France, from the shore of the Mediterranean to +Paris, in triumph. His expedition, almost fabulous, had struck the public +mind with surprise, and had still more increased the great renown he had +acquired by the conquest of Italy. These two enterprises had raised him +above all the other generals of the republic. The distance of the theatre +upon which he had fought enabled him to begin his career of independence +and authority. A victorious general, an acknowledged and obeyed +negotiator, a creator of republics, he had treated all interests with +skill, all creeds with moderation. Preparing afar off his ambitious +destiny, he had not made himself subservient to any system, and had +managed all parties so as to work his elevation with their assent. He had +entertained this idea of usurpation since his victories in Italy. On the +18th Fructidor, had the directory been conquered by the councils, he +purposed marching against the latter with his army and seizing the +protectorate of the republic. After the 18th Fructidor; finding the +directory too powerful, and the inactivity of the continent too dangerous +for him, he accepted the expedition to Egypt, that he might not fall, and +might not be forgotten. At the news of the disorganization of the +directory, on the 30th Prairial, he repaired with haste to the scene of +events. + +His arrival excited the enthusiasm of the moderate masses of the nation. +He received general congratulations, and every party contended for his +favour. Generals, directors, deputies, and even the republicans of the +Manege, waited on and tried to sound him. Fetes and banquets were given in +his honour. His manners were grave, simple, cool, and observing; he had +already a tone of condescending familiarity and involuntary habits of +command. Notwithstanding his want of earnestness and openness, he had an +air of self-possession, and it was easy to read in him an after-thought of +conspiracy. Without uttering his design, he allowed it to be guessed; +because a thing must always be expected in order to be accomplished. He +could not seek supporters in the republicans of the Manege, as they +neither wished for a coup-d'etat nor for a dictator; and Sieyes feared +that he was too ambitious to fall in with his constitutional views. Hence +Sieyes hesitated to open his mind to Bonaparte, but, urged by their mutual +friends, they at length met and concerted together. On the 15th Brumaire, +they determined on their plan of attack on the constitution of the year +III, Sieyes undertook to prepare the councils by the _commissions of +inspectors,_ who placed unlimited confidence in him. Bonaparte was to gain +the generals and the different corps of troops stationed in Paris, who +displayed much enthusiasm for him and much attachment to his person. They +agreed to convoke an extraordinary meeting of the moderate members of the +councils, to describe the public danger to the Ancients, and by urging the +ascendancy of Jacobinism to demand the removal of the legislative body to +Saint-Cloud, and the appointment of general Bonaparte to the command of +the armed force, as the only man able to save the country; and then, by +means of the new military power, to obtain the dismissal of the directory, +and the temporary dissolution of the legislative body. The enterprise was +fixed for the morning of the 18th Brumaire (9th November). + +During these three days, the secret was faithfully kept, Barras, Moulins, +and Gohier, who formed the majority of the directory, of which Gohier was +then president, might have frustrated the coup-d'etat of the conspirators +by forestalling them, as on the 18th Fructidor. But they gave them credit +for hopes only, and not for any decided projects. On the morning of the +18th, the members of the ancients were convoked in an unusual way by the +_inspectors;_ they repaired to the Tuileries, and the debate was opened +about seven in the morning under the presidentship of Lemercier. Cornudet, +Lebrun, and Fargues, the three most influential conspirators in the +council, drew a most alarming picture of the state of public affairs; +protesting that the Jacobins were flocking in crowds to Paris from all the +departments; that they wished to re-establish the revolutionary +government, and that a reign of terror would once more desolate the +republic, if the council had not the courage and wisdom to prevent its +return. Another conspirator, Regnier de la Meurthe, required of the +ancients already moved, that in virtue of the right conferred on them by +the constitution, they should transfer the legislative body to Saint +Cloud, and depute Bonaparte, nominated by them to the command of the 17th +military division, to superintend the removal. Whether all the members of +the council were accomplices of this manoeuvre, or whether they were +terrified by so hasty convocation, and by speeches so alarming, they +instantly granted what the conspirators required. + +Bonaparte awaited with impatience the result of this deliberation, at his +house in the Rue Chantereine; he was surrounded by generals, by Lefevre, +the commander of the guard of the directory, and by three regiments of +cavalry which he was about to review. The decree of the council of +ancients was passed about eight, and brought to him at half-past eight by +a state messenger. He received the congratulations of all around him; the +officers drew their swords as a sign of fidelity. He put himself at their +head, and they marched to the Tuileries; he appeared at the bar of the +ancients, took the oath of fidelity, and appointed as his lieutenant, +Lefevre, chief of the directorial guard. + +This was, however, only a beginning of success. Bonaparte was at the head +of the armed force; but the executive power of the directory and the +legislative power of the councils still existed. In the struggle which +would infallibly ensue, it was not certain that the great and hitherto +victorious force of the revolution would not triumph. Sieyes and Roger +Ducos went from the Luxembourg to the legislative and military camp of the +Tuileries, and gave in their resignation. Barras, Moulins, and Gohier, +apprised on their side, but a little too late, of what was going on, +wished to employ their power and make themselves sure of their guard; but +the latter, having received from Bonaparte information of the decree of +the ancients, refused to obey them. Barras, discouraged, sent in his +resignation, and departed for his estate of Gros-Bois. The directory was, +in fact, dissolved; and there was one antagonist less in the struggle. The +five hundred and Bonaparte alone remained opposed. + +The decree of the council of ancients and the proclamations of Bonaparte +were placarded on the walls of Paris. The agitation which accompanies +extraordinary events prevailed in that great city. The republicans, and +not without reason, felt serious alarm for the fate of liberty. But when +they showed alarm respecting the intentions of Bonaparte, in whom they +beheld a Caesar, or a Cromwell, they were answered in the general's own +words: "_Bad parts, worn out parts, unworthy a man of sense, even if they +were not so of a good man. It would be sacrilege to attack representative +government in this age of intelligence and freedom. He would be but a fool +who, with lightness of heart, could wish to cause the loss of the stakes +of the republic against royalty after having supported them with some +glory and peril_." Yet the importance he gave himself in his proclamations +was ominous. He reproached the directory with the situation of France in a +most extraordinary way. "What have you done," said he, "with that France +which I left so flourishing in your hands? I left you peace, I find you at +war; I left you victories, I find nothing but reverses; I left you the +millions of Italy, I find nothing but plundering laws and misery. What +have you done with the hundred thousand Frenchmen whom I knew, my +companions in glory? They are dead! This state of things cannot last; in +less than three years it would lead us to despotism." This was the first +time for ten years that a man had ventured to refer everything to himself; +and to demand an account of the republic, as of his own property. It is a +painful surprise to see a new comer of the revolution introduce himself +thus into the inheritance, so laboriously acquired, of an entire people. + +On the 19th Brumaire the members of the councils repaired to Saint Cloud; +Sieyes and Roger Ducos accompanied Bonaparte to this new field of battle; +they went thither with the intention of supporting the designs of the +conspirators; Sieyes, who understood the tactics of revolution, wished to +make sure of events by provisionally arresting the leaders, and only +admitting the moderate party into the councils; but Bonaparte refused to +accede to this. He was no party man; having hitherto acted and conquered +with regiments only, he thought he could direct legislative councils like +an army, by the word of command. The gallery of Mars had been prepared for +the ancients, the Orangery for the five hundred. A considerable armed +force surrounded the seat of the legislature, as the multitude, on the 2nd +of June, had surrounded the convention. The republicans, assembled in +groups in the grounds, waited the opening of the sittings; they were +agitated with a generous indignation against the military brutalism that +threatened them, and communicated to each other their projects of +resistance. The young general, followed by a few grenadiers, passed +through the courts and apartments, and prematurely yielding to his +character, he said, like the twentieth king of a dynasty: "_I will have no +more factions: there must be an end to this; I absolutely will not have +any more of it_," About two o'clock in the afternoon, the councils +assembled in their respective halls, to the sound of instruments which +played the _Marseillaise_. + +As soon as the business of the sitting commenced, Emile Gaudin, one of the +conspirators, ascended the tribune of the five hundred. He proposed a vote +of thanks to the council of ancients for the measures it had taken, and to +request it to expound the means of saving the republic. This motion was +the signal for a violent tumult; cries arose against Gaudin from every +part of the hall. The republican deputies surrounded the tribune and the +bureau, at which Lucien Bonaparte presided. The conspirators Cabanis, +Boulay (de la Meurthe), Chazal, Gaudin, etc., turned pale on their seats. +After a long scene of agitation, during which no one could obtain a +hearing, calm was restored for a few moments, and Delbred proposed that +the oath made to the constitution of the year III. should be renewed. As +no one opposed this motion, which at such a juncture was of vital +importance, the oath was taken with an enthusiasm and unanimity which was +dangerous to the conspiracy. + +Bonaparte, learning what had passed in the five hundred, and in the +greatest danger of desertion and defeat, presented himself at the council +of ancients. All would have been lost for him, had the latter, in favour +of the conspiracy, been carried away by the enthusiasm of the younger +council. "Representatives of the people," said he, "you are in no ordinary +situation; you stand on a volcano. Yesterday, when you summoned me to +inform me of the decree for your removal, and charged me with its +execution, I was tranquil. I immediately assembled my comrades; we flew to +your aid! Well, now I am overwhelmed with calumnies! They talk of Caesar, +Cromwell, and military government! Had I wished to oppress the liberty of +my country, I should not have attended to the orders which you gave me; I +should not have had any occasion to receive this authority from your +hands. Representatives of the people! I swear to you that the country has +not a more zealous defender than I am; but its safety rests with you +alone! There is no longer a government; four of the directors have given +in their resignation; the fifth (Moulins) has been placed under +surveillance for his own security; the council of five hundred is divided; +nothing is left but the council of ancients. Let it adopt measures; let it +but speak; I am ready to execute. Let us save liberty! let us save +equality!" Linglet, a republican, then arose and said: "General, we +applaud what you say: swear with us to obey the constitution of the year +III., which alone can maintain the republic." All would have been lost for +him had this motion met with the same reception which it had found in the +five hundred. It surprised the council, and for a moment Bonaparte was +disconcerted. But he soon resumed: "The constitution of the year III. has +ceased to exist; you violated it on the 18th Fructidor; you violated it on +the 22nd Floreal; you violated it on the 30th Prairial. The constitution +is invoked by all factions, and violated by all; it cannot be a means of +safety for us, because it no longer obtains respect from any one; the +constitution being violated, we must have another compact, new +guarantees." The council applauded these reproaches of Bonaparte, and rose +in sign of approbation. + +Bonaparte, deceived by his easy success with the ancients, imagined that +his presence alone would suffice to appease the stormy council of the five +hundred. He hastened thither at the head of a few grenadiers, whom he left +at the door, but within the hall, and he advanced alone, hat in hand. At +the sight of the bayonets, the assembly arose with a sudden movement. The +legislators, conceiving his entrance to be a signal for military violence, +uttered all at once the cry of "Outlaw him! Down with the dictator!" +Several members rushed to meet him, and the republican, Bigonet, seizing +him by the arm, exclaimed, "Rash man! what are you doing? Retire; you are +violating the sanctuary of the laws." Bonaparte, pale and agitated, +receded, and was carried off by the grenadiers who had escorted him there. + +His disappearance did not put a stop to the agitation of the council. All +the members spoke at once, all proposed measures of public safety and +defence. Lucien Bonaparte was the object of general reproach; he attempted +to justify his brother, but with timidity. After a long struggle, he +succeeded in reaching the tribune, and urged the assembly to judge his +brother with less severity. He protested that he had no design against +their liberty; and recalled his services. But several voices immediately +exclaimed: "He has lost all their merit; down with the dictator! down with +the tyrants!" The tumult now became more violent than ever; and all +demanded the outlawry of general Bonaparte. "What," said Lucien, "do you +wish me to pronounce the outlawry of my brother?" "Yes! yes! outlawry! it +is the reward of tyrants!" In the midst of the confusion, a motion was +made and put to the vote that the council should sit permanently; that it +should instantly repair to its palace at Paris; that the troops assembled +at Saint Cloud should form a part of the guard of the legislative body; +that the command of them should be given to general Bernadotte. Lucien, +astounded by these propositions, and by the outlawry, which he thought had +been adopted with the rest, left the president's chair, and ascending the +tribune, said, in the greatest agitation: "Since I cannot be heard in this +assembly, I put off the symbols of the popular magistracy with a deep +sense of insulted dignity." And he took off his cap, robe, and scarf. + +Bonaparte, meantime, on leaving the council of the five hundred, had found +some difficulty in regaining his composure. Unaccustomed to scenes of +popular tumult, he had been greatly agitated. His officers came around +him; and Sieyes, having more revolutionary experience, besought him not to +lose time, and to employ force. General Lefevre immediately gave an order +for carrying off Lucien from the council. A detachment entered the hall, +advanced to the chair which Lucien now occupied again, placed him in their +ranks, and returned with him to the troops. As soon as Lucien came out, he +mounted a horse by his brother's side, and although divested of his legal +character, harangued the troops as president. In concert with Bonaparte, +he invented the story, so often repeated since, that poignards had been +drawn on the general in the council of five hundred, and exclaimed: +"Citizen soldiers, the president of the council of five hundred declares +to you that the large majority of that council is at this moment kept in +fear by the daggers of a few representatives, who surround the tribune, +threaten their colleagues with death, and occasion the most terrible +deliberations. General, and you, soldiers and citizens, you will only +recognise as legislators of France those who follow me. As for those who +remain in the Orangery, let force expel them. Those brigands are no longer +representatives of the people, but representatives of the poignard." After +this violent appeal, addressed to the troops by a conspirator president, +who, as usual, calumniated those he wished to proscribe, Bonaparte spoke: +"Soldiers," said he, "I have led you to victory; may I rely on you?"-- +"Yes! yes! Vive le General!"--"Soldiers, there were reasons for expecting +that the council of five hundred would save the country; on the contrary, +it is given up to intestine quarrels; agitators seek to excite it against +me. Soldiers, may I rely on you?" "Yes! yes! Vive Bonaparte." "Well, +then, I will bring them to their senses!" And he instantly gave orders to +the officers surrounding him to clear the hall of the five hundred. + +The council, after Lucien's departure, had been a prey to great anxiety +and indecision. A few members proposed that they should leave the place in +a body, and go to Paris to seek protection amidst the people. Others +wished the national representatives not to forsake their post, but to +brave the outrages of force. In the meantime, a troop of grenadiers +entered the hall by degrees, and the officer in command informed the +council that they should disperse. The deputy Prudhon reminded the officer +and his soldiers of the respect due to the representatives of the people; +general Jourdan also represented to them the enormity of such a measure. +For a moment the troops hesitated; but a reinforcement now arrived in +close column. General Leclerc exclaimed: "In the name of general +Bonaparte, the legislative body is dissolved; let all good citizens +retire. Grenadiers, forward!" Cries of indignation arose from every side; +but these were drowned by the drums. The grenadiers advanced slowly across +the whole width of the Orangery, and presenting bayonets. In this way they +drove the legislators before them, who continued shouting, "Vive la +republique!" as they left the place. At half-past five, on the 19th +Brumaire of the year VIII. (10th November, 1799) there was no longer a +representation. + +Thus this violation of the law, this coup-d'etat against liberty was +accomplished. Force began to sway. The 18th of Brumaire was the 31st of +May of the army against the representation, except that it was not +directed against a party, but against the popular power. But it is just to +distinguish the 18th Brumaire from its consequences. It might then be +supposed that the army was only an auxiliary of the revolution as it had +been on the 13th Vendemiaire and the 18th Fructidor, and that this +indispensable change would not turn to the advantage of a man--a single +man, who would soon change France into a regiment, and cause nothing to be +heard of in a world hitherto agitated by so great a moral commotion, save +the tread of his army, and the voice of his will. + + + + +THE CONSULATE + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +FROM THE 18TH BRUMAIRE (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) TO THE 2ND OF DECEMBER, +1804 + + +The 18th Brumaire had immense popularity. People did not perceive in this +event the elevation of a single man above the councils of the nation; they +did not see in it the end of the great movement of the 14th of July, which +had commenced the national existence. + +The 18th Brumaire assumed an aspect of hope and restoration. Although the +nation was much exhausted, and little capable of supporting a sovereignty +oppressive to it, and which had even become the object of its ridicule, +since the lower class had exercised it, yet it considered despotism so +improbable, that no one seemed to it to be in a condition to reduce it to +a state of subjection. All felt the need of being restored by a skilful +hand, and Bonaparte, as a great man and a victorious general, seemed +suited for the task. + +On this account almost every one, except the directorial republicans, +declared in favour of the events of that day. Violation of the laws and +coups-d'etat had occurred so frequently during the revolution, that people +had become accustomed no longer to judge them by their legality, but by +their consequences. From the party of Sieyes down to the royalists of +1788, every one congratulated himself on the 18th Brumaire, and attributed +to himself the future political advantages of this change. The moderate +constitutionalists believed that definitive liberty would be established; +the royalists fed themselves with hope by inappropriately comparing this +epoch of our revolution with the epoch of 1660 in the English revolution, +with the hope that Bonaparte was assuming the part of Monk, and that he +would soon restore the monarchy of the Bourbons; the mass, possessing +little intelligence, and desirous of repose, relied on the return of order +under a powerful protector; the proscribed classes and ambitious men +expected from him their amnesty or elevation. During the three months +which followed the 18th Brumaire, approbation and expectation were +general. A provisional government had been appointed, composed of three +consuls, Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Roger Ducos, with two legislative +commissioners, entrusted to prepare the constitution and a definitive +order of things. + +The consuls and the two commissioners were installed on the 21st Brumaire. +This provisional government abolished the law respecting hostages and +compulsory loans; it permitted the return of the priests proscribed since +the 18th Fructidor; it released from prison and sent out of the republic +the emigrants who had been shipwrecked on the coast of Calais, and who for +four years were captives in France, and were exposed to the heavy +punishment of the emigrant army. All these measures were very favourably +received. But public opinion revolted at a proscription put in force +against the extreme republicans. Thirty-six of them were sentenced to +transportation to Guiana, and twenty-one were put under surveillance in +the department of Charante-Inferieure, merely by a decree of the consuls +on the report of Fouche, minister of police. The public viewed +unfavourably all who attacked the government; but at the same time it +exclaimed against an act so arbitrary and unjust. The consuls, +accordingly, recoiled before their own act; they first commuted +transportation into surveillance, and soon withdrew surveillance itself. + +It was not long before a rupture broke out between the authors of the 18th +Brumaire. During their provisional authority, it did not create much +noise, because it took place in the legislative commissions. The new +constitution was the cause of it. Sieyes and Bonaparte could not agree on +this subject: the former wished to institute France, the latter to govern +it as a master. + +The constitution of Sieyes, which was distorted in the consular +constitution of the year VIII., deserves to be known, were it only in the +light of a legislative curiosity. Sieyes distributed France into three +political divisions; the commune, the province or department, and the +State. Each had its own powers of administration and judicature, arranged +in hierarchical order: the first, the municipalities and _tribunaux de +paix_ and _de premiere instance;_ the second, the popular prefectures and +courts of appeal; the third, the central government and the court of +cassation. To fill the functions of the commune, the department, and the +State, there were three budgets of _notability_, the members of which were +only candidates nominated by the people. + +The executive power was vested in the _proclamateur-electeur_, a superior +functionary, perpetual, without responsibility, deputed to represent the +nation without, and to form the government in a deliberating state-council +and a responsible ministry. The _proclamateur-electeur_ selected from the +lists of candidates, judges, from the tribunals of peace to the court of +cassation; administrators, from the mayors to the ministers. But he was +incapable of governing himself; power was directed by the state council, +exercised by the ministry. + +The legislature departed from the form hitherto established; it ceased to +be a deliberative assembly to become a judicial court. Before it, the +council of state, in the name of the government, and the _tribunat_, in +the name of the people, pleaded their respective projects. Its sentence +was law. It would seem that the object of Sieyes was to put a stop to the +violent usurpations of party, and while placing the sovereignty in the +people, to give it limits in itself: this design appears from the +complicated works of his political machine. The primary assemblies, +composed of the tenth of the general population, nominated the local _list +of communal candidates_; electoral colleges, also nominated by them, +selected from the _communal list_ the superior list of provincial +candidates and from the _provincial list_, the list of national +candidates. In all which concerned the government, there was a reciprocal +control. The proclamateur-electeur selected his functionaries from among +the candidates nominated by the people: and the people could dismiss +functionaries, by not keeping them on the lists of candidates, which were +renewed, the first every two years, the second every five years, the third +every ten years. But the proclamateur-electeur did not interfere in the +nomination of tribunes and legislators, whose attributes were purely +popular. + +Yet, to place a counterpoise in the heart of this authority itself, Sieyes +separated the initiative and the discussion of the law, which was invested +in the tribunate from its adoption, which belonged to the legislative +assembly. But besides these different prerogatives, the legislative body +and the tribunate were not elected in the same manner. The tribunate was +composed by right of the first hundred members of the _national list_, +while the legislative body was chosen directly by the electoral colleges. +The tribunes, being necessarily more active, bustling, and popular, were +appointed for life, and by a protracted process, to prevent their arriving +in a moment of passion, with destructive and angry projects, as had +hitherto been the case in most of the assemblies. The same dangers not +existing in the other assembly, which had only to judge calmly and +disinterestedly of the law, its election was direct, and its authority +transient. + +Lastly, there existed, as the complement of all the other powers, a +conservatory body, incapable of ordering, incapable of acting, intended +solely to provide for the regular existence of the state. This body was +the constitutional jury, or conservatory senate; it was to be for the +political law what the court of cassation was to the civil law. The +tribunate, or the council of state, appealed to it when the sentence of +the legislative body was not conformable to the constitution. It had also +the faculty of calling into its own body any leader of the government who +was too ambitious, or a tribune who was too popular, by the "droit +d'absorption," and when senators, they were disqualified from filling any +other function. In this way it kept a double watch over the safety of the +whole republic, by maintaining the fundamental law, and protecting liberty +against the ambition of individuals. + +Whatever may be thought of this constitution, which seems too finely +complicated to be practicable, it must be granted that it is the +production of considerable strength of mind, and even great practical +information. Sieyes paid too little regard to the passions of men; he made +them too reasonable as human beings, and too obedient as machines. He +wished by skilful inventions to avoid the abuses of human constitutions, +and excluded death, that is to say, despotism, from whatever quarter it +might come. But I have very little faith in the efficacy of constitutions; +in such moments, I believe only in the strength of parties in their +domination, and, from time to time, in their reconciliation. But I must +also admit that, if ever a constitution was adapted to a period, it was +that of Sieyes for France in the year VIII. + +After an experience of ten years, which had only shown exclusive +dominations, after the violent transition from the constitutionalists of +1789 to the Girondists, from the Girondists to the Mountain, from the +Mountain to the reactionists, from the reactionists to the directory, from +the directory to the councils, from the councils to the military force, +there could be no repose or public life save in it. People were weary of +worn-out constitutions; that of Sieyes was new; exclusive men were no +longer wanted, and by elaborate voting it prevented the sudden accession +of counter-revolutionists, as at the beginning of the directory, or of +ardent democrats, as at the end of this government. It was a constitution +of moderate men, suited to terminate a revolution, and to settle a nation. +But precisely because it was a constitution of moderate men, precisely +because parties had no longer sufficient ardour to demand a law of +domination, for that very reason there would necessarily be found a man +stronger than the fallen parties and the moderate legislators, who would +refuse this law, or, accepting, abuse it, and this was what happened. + +Bonaparte took part in the deliberations of the constituent committee; +with his instinct of power, he seized upon everything in the ideas of +Sieyes which was calculated to serve his projects, and caused the rest to +be rejected. Sieyes intended for him the functions of grand elector, with +a revenue of six millions of francs, and a guard of three thousand men; +the palace of Versailles for a residence, and the entire external +representation of the republic. But the actual government was to be +invested in a consul for war and a consul for peace, functionaries +unthought of by Sieyes in the year III., but adopted by him in the year +VIII.; in order, no doubt, to suit the ideas of the times. This +insignificant magistracy was far from suiting Bonaparte. "How could you +suppose," said he, "that a man of any talent and honour could resign +himself to the part of fattening like a hog, on a few millions a year?" +From that moment it was not again mentioned; Roger Ducos, and the greater +part of the committee, declared in favour of Bonaparte; and Sieyes, who +hated discussion, was either unwilling or unable to defend his ideas. He +saw that laws, men, and France itself were at the mercy of the man whose +elevation he had promoted. + +On the 24th of December, 1799 (Nivose, year VIII.), forty-five days after +the 18th Brumaire, was published the constitution of the year VIII.; it +was composed of the wrecks of that of Sieyes, now become a constitution of +servitude. The government was placed in the hands of the first consul, who +was supported by two others, having a deliberative voice. The senate, +primarily selected by the consuls, chose the members of the tribunal and +legislative body, from the list of the national candidates. The government +alone had the initiative in making the laws. Accordingly, there were no +more bodies of electors who appointed the candidates of different lists, +the tribunes and legislators; no more independent tribunes earnestly +pleading the cause of the people before the legislative assembly; no +legislative assembly arising directly from the bosom of the nation, and +accountable to it alone--in a word, no political nation. Instead of all +this, there existed an all-powerful consul, disposing of armies and of +power, a general and a dictator; a council of state destined to be the +advanced guard of usurpation; and lastly, a senate of eighty members, +whose only function was to nullify the people, and to choose tribunes +without authority, and legislators who should remain mute. Life passed +from the nation to the government. The constitution of Sieyes served as a +pretext for a bad order of things. It is worth notice that up to the year +VIII. all the constitutions had emanated from the _Contrat-social_, and +subsequently, down to 1814, from the constitution of Sieyes. + +The new government was immediately installed. Bonaparte was first consul, +and he united with him as second and third consuls, Cambaceres, a lawyer, +and formerly a member of the Plain in the convention, and Lebrun, formerly +a co-adjutor of the chancellor Maupeou. By their means, he hoped to +influence the revolutionists and moderate royalists. With the same object, +an ex-noble, Talleyrand, and a former member of the Mountain, Fouche, were +appointed to the posts of minister of foreign affairs, and minister of +police. Sieyes felt much repugnance at employing Fouche; but Bonaparte +wished it. "We are forming a new epoch," said he; "we must forget all the +ill of the past, and remember only the good." He cared very little under +what banner men had hitherto served, provided they now enlisted under his, +and summoned thither their old associates in royalism and in revolution. + +The two new consuls and the retiring consuls nominated sixty senators, +without waiting for the lists of eligibility; the senators appointed a +hundred tribunes and three hundred legislators; and the authors of the +18th Brumaire distributed among themselves the functions of the state, as +the booty of their victory. It is, however, just to say that the moderate +liberal party prevailed in this partition, and that, as long as it +preserved any influence, Bonaparte governed in a mild, advantageous, and +republican manner. The constitution of the year VIII., submitted to the +people for acceptance, was approved by three millions eleven thousand and +seven citizens. That of 1793 had obtained one million eight hundred and +one thousand nine hundred and eighteen suffrages; and that of the year +III. one million fifty-seven thousand three hundred and ninety. The new +law satisfied the moderate masses, who sought tranquillity, rather than +guarantees; while the code of '93 had only found partisans among the lower +class; and that of the year III. had been equally rejected by the +royalists and democrats. The constitution of 1791 alone had obtained +general approbation; and, without having been subjected to individual +acceptance, had been sworn to by all France. + +The first consul, in compliance with the wishes of the republic, made +offers of peace to England, which it refused. He naturally wished to +assume an appearance of moderation, and, previous to treating, to confer +on his government the lustre of new victories. The continuance of the war +was therefore decided on, and the consuls made a remarkable proclamation, +in which they appealed to sentiments new to the nation. Hitherto it had +been called to arms in defence of liberty; now they began to excite it in +the name of honour: "Frenchmen, you wish for peace. Your government +desires it with still more ardour: its foremost hopes, its constant +efforts, have been in favour of it. The English ministry rejects it; the +English ministry has betrayed the secret of its horrible policy. To rend +France, to destroy its navy and ports, to efface it from the map of +Europe, or reduce it to the rank of a secondary power, to keep the nations +of the continent at variance, in order to seize on the commerce of all, +and enrich itself by their spoils: these are the fearful successes for +which England scatters its gold, lavishes its promises, and multiplies its +intrigues. It is in your power to command peace; but, to command it, +money, the sword, and soldiers are necessary; let all, then, hasten to pay +the tribute they owe to their common defence. Let our young citizens +arise! No longer will they take arms for factions, or for the choice of +tyrants, but for the security of all they hold most dear; for the honour +of France, and for the sacred interests of humanity." + +Holland and Switzerland had been sheltered during the preceding campaign. +The first consul assembled all his force on the Rhine and the Alps. He +gave Moreau the command of the army of the Rhine, and he himself marched +into Italy. He set out on the 16th Floreal, year VIII. (6th of May, 1800) +for that brilliant campaign which lasted only forty days. It was important +that he should not be long absent from Paris at the beginning of his +power, and especially not to leave the war in a state of indecision. +Field-marshal Melas had a hundred and thirty thousand men under arms; he +occupied all Italy. The republican army opposed to him only amounted to +forty thousand men. He left the field-marshal lieutenant Ott with thirty +thousand men before Genoa; and marched against the corps of general +Suchet. He entered Nice, prepared to pass the Var, and to enter Provence. +It was then that Bonaparte crossed the great Saint Bernard at the head of +an army of forty thousand men, descended into Italy in the rear of Melas, +entered Milan on the 16th Prairial (2nd of June), and placed the Austrians +between Suchet and himself. Melas, whose line of operation was broken, +quickly fell back upon Nice, and from thence on to Turin; he established +his headquarters at Alessandria, and decided on re-opening his +communications by a battle. On the 9th of June, the advance guard of the +republicans gained a glorious victory at Monte-Bello, the chief honour of +which belonged to general Lannes. But it was the plain of Marengo, on the +14th of June (25th Prairial) that decided the fate of Italy; the Austrians +were overwhelmed. Unable to force the passage of the Bormida by a victory, +they were placed without any opportunity of retreat between the army of +Suchet and that of the first consul. On the 15th, they obtained permission +to fall behind Mantua, on condition of restoring all the places of +Piedmont, Lombardy, and the Legations; and the victory of Marengo thus +secured possession of all Italy. + +Eighteen days after, Bonaparte returned to Paris. He was received with all +the evidence of admiration that such decided victories and prodigious +activity could excite; the enthusiasm was universal. There was a +spontaneous illumination, and the crowd hurried to the Tuileries to see +him. The hope of speedy peace redoubled the public joy. On the 25th +Messidor the first consul was present at the anniversary fete of the 14th +of July. When the officers presented him the standards taken from the +enemy, he said to them: "When you return to your camps, tell your soldiers +that the French people, on the 1st Vendemiaire, when we shall celebrate +the anniversary of the republic, will expect either the proclamation of +peace, or, if the enemy raise insuperable obstacles, further standards as +the result of new victories." Peace, however, was delayed for some time. + +In the interim between the victory of Marengo and the general +pacification, the first consul turned his attention chiefly to settling +the people, and to diminishing the number of malcontents, by employing the +displaced factions in the state. He was very conciliatory to those parties +who renounced their systems, and very lavish of favours to those chiefs +who renounced their parties. As it was a time of selfishness and +indifference, he had no difficulty in succeeding. The proscribed of the +18th Fructidor were already recalled, with the exception of a few royalist +conspirators, such as Pichegru, Willot, etc. Bonaparte soon even employed +those of the banished who, like Portalis, Simeon, Barbe-Marbois, had shown +themselves more anti-conventionalists than counter-revolutionists. He had +also gained over opponents of another description. The late leaders of La +Vendee, the famous Bernier, cure of Saint-Lo, who had assisted in the +whole insurrection, Chatillon, d'Autichamp and Suzannet had come to an +arrangement by the treaty of Mont-Lucon (17th January, 1800). He also +addressed himself to the leaders of the Breton bands, Georges Cadoudal, +Frotte, Laprevelaye, and Bourmont. The two last alone consented to submit. +Frotte was surprised and shot; and Cadoudal defeated at Grand Champ, by +General Brune, capitulated. The western war was thus definitively +terminated. + +But the _Chouans_ who had taken refuge in England, and whose only hope was +in the death of him who now concentrated the power of the revolution, +projected his assassination. A few of them disembarked on the coast of +France, and secretly repaired to Paris. As it was not easy to reach the +first consul, they decided on a conspiracy truly horrible. On the third +Nivose, at eight in the evening, Bonaparte was to go to the Opera by the +Rue Saint-Nicaise. The conspirators placed a barrel of powder on a little +truck, which obstructed the carriage way, and one of them, named Saint +Regent, was to set fire to it as soon as he received a signal of the first +consul's approach. At the appointed time, Bonaparte left the Tuileries, +and crossed the Rue Nicaise. His coachman was skilful enough to drive +rapidly between the truck and the wall; but the match was already alight, +and the carriage had scarcely reached the end of the street when _the +infernal machine_ exploded, covered the quarter of Saint-Nicaise with +ruins, shaking the carriage, and breaking its windows. + +The police, taken by surprise, though directed by Fouche, attributed this +plot to the democrats, against whom the first consul had a much more +decided antipathy than against the _Chouans_. Many of them were +imprisoned, and a hundred and thirty were transported by a simple senatus- +consultus asked and obtained during the night. At length they discovered +the true authors of the conspiracy, some of whom were condemned to death. +On this occasion, the consul caused the creation of special military +tribunals. The constitutional party separated still further from him, and +began its energetic but useless opposition. Lanjuinais, Gregoire, who had +courageously resisted the extreme party in the convention, Garat, +Lambrechts, Lenoir-Laroche, Cabanis, etc., opposed, in the senate, the +illegal proscription of a hundred and thirty democrats; and the tribunes, +Isnard, Daunou, Chenier, Benjamin Constant, Bailleul, Chazal, etc., +opposed the special courts. But a glorious peace threw into the shade this +new encroachment of power. + +The Austrians, conquered at Marengo, and defeated in Germany by Moreau, +determined on laying down arms; On the 8th of January, 1801, the republic, +the cabinet of Vienna, and the empire, concluded the treaty of Luneville. +Austria ratified all the conditions of the treaty of Campo-Formio, and +also ceded Tuscany to the young duke of Parma. The empire recognised the +independence of the Batavian, Helvetian, Ligurian, and Cisalpine +republics. The pacification soon became general, by the treaty of Florence +(18th of February 1801,) with the king of Naples, who ceded the isle of +Elba and the principality of Piombino, by the treaty of Madrid (29th of +September, 1801) with Portugal; by the treaty of Paris (8th of October, +1801) with the emperor of Russia; and, lastly, by the preliminaries (9th +of October, 1801) with the Ottoman Porte. The continent, by ceasing +hostilities, compelled England to a momentary peace. Pitt, Dundas, and +Lord Grenville, who had maintained these sanguinary struggles with France, +went out of office when their system ceased to be followed. The opposition +replaced them; and, on the 25th of March, 1802, the treaty of Amiens +completed the pacification of the world. England consented to all the +continental acquisitions of the French republic, recognised the existence +of the secondary republics, and restored our colonies. + +During the maritime war with England, the French navy had been almost +entirely ruined. Three hundred and forty ships had been taken or +destroyed, and the greater part of the colonies had fallen into the hands +of the English. San Domingo, the most important of them all, after +throwing off the yoke of the whites, had continued the American +revolution, which having commenced in the English colonies, was to end in +those of Spain, and change the colonies of the new world into independent +states. The blacks of San Domingo wished to maintain, with respect to the +mother country, the freedom which they had acquired from the colonists, +and to defend themselves against the English. They were led by a man of +colour, the famous Toussaint-L'Ouverture. France should have consented to +this revolution which had been very costly for humanity. The metropolitan +government could no longer be restored at San Domingo; and it became +necessary to obtain the only real advantages which Europe can now derive +from America, by strengthening the commercial ties with our old colony. +Instead of this prudent policy, Bonaparte attempted an expedition to +reduce the island to subjection. Forty thousand men embarked for this +disastrous enterprise. It was impossible for the blacks to resist such an +army at first; but after the first victories, it was attacked by the +climate, and new insurrections secured the independence of the colony. +France experienced the twofold loss of an army and of advantageous +commercial connexions. + +Bonaparte, whose principal object hitherto had been to promote the fusion +of parties, now turned all his attention to the internal prosperity of the +republic, and the organization of power. The old privileged classes of the +nobility and the clergy had returned into the state without forming +particular classes. Dissentient priests, on taking an oath of obedience, +might conduct their modes of worship and receive their pensions from +government. An act of pardon had been passed in favour of those accused of +emigration; there only remained a list of about a thousand names of those +who remained faithful to the family and the claims of the pretender. The +work of pacification was at an end. Bonaparte, knowing that the surest way +of commanding a nation is to promote its happiness, encouraged the +development of industry, and favoured external commerce, which had so long +been suspended. He united higher views with his political policy, and +connected his own glory with the prosperity of France; he travelled +through the departments, caused canals and harbours to be dug, bridges to +be built, roads to be repaired, monuments to be erected, and means of +communication to be multiplied. He especially strove to become the +protector and legislator of private interests. The civil, penal, and +commercial codes, which he formed, whether at this period, or at a later +period, completed, in this respect, the work of the revolution, and +regulated the internal existence of the nation, in a manner somewhat more +conformable to its real condition. Notwithstanding political despotism, +France, during the domination of Bonaparte, had a private legislation +superior to that of any European society; for with absolute government, +most of them still preserved the civil condition of the middle-ages. +General peace, universal toleration, the return of order, the restoration, +and the creation of an administrative system, soon changed the appearance +of the republic. Attention was turned to the construction of roads and +canals. Civilization became developed in an extraordinary manner; and the +consulate was, in this respect, the perfected period of the directory, +from its commencement to the 18th Fructidor. + +It was more especially after the peace Amiens that Bonaparte raised the +foundation of his future power. He himself says, in the Memoirs published +under his name, [Footnote: _Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire de France +sous Napoleon, ecrits a Sainte Helene_, vol. i. p. 248.] "The ideas of +Napoleon were fixed, but to realise them he required the assistance of +time and circumstances. The organization of the consulate had nothing in +contradiction with these; it accustomed the nation to unity, and that was +a first step. This step taken, Napoleon was indifferent to the forms and +denominations of the different constituted bodies. He was a stranger to +the revolution. It was his wisdom to advance from day to day, without +deviating from the fixed point, the polar star, which directed Napoleon +how to guide the revolution to the port whither he wished to conduct it." + +In the beginning of 1802, he was at one and the same time forming three +great projects, tending to the same end. He sought to organize religion +and to establish the clergy, which as yet had only a religious existence; +to create, by means of the Legation of Honour, a permanent military order +in the army; and to secure his own power, first for his life, and then to +render it hereditary. Bonaparte was installed at the Tuileries, where he +gradually resumed the customs and ceremonies of the old monarchy. He. +already thought of placing intermediate bodies between himself and the +people. For some time past he had opened a negotiation with Pope Pius +VII., on matters of religious worship. The famous concordat, which created +nine archbishoprics, forty-one bishoprics, with the institution of +chapters, which established the clergy in the state, and again placed it +under the external monarchy of the pope, was signed at Paris on the 16th +of July, 1801, and ratified at Rome on the 15th of August, 1801. + +Bonaparte, who had destroyed the liberty of the press, created exceptional +tribunals, and who had departed more and more from the principles of the +revolution, felt that before he went further it was necessary to break +entirely with the liberal party of the 18th Brumaire. In Ventose, year X. +(March, 1802), the most energetic of the tribunes were dismissed by a +simple operation of the senate. The tribunate was reduced to eighty +members, and the legislative body underwent a similar purgation. About a +month after, the 15th Germinal (6th of April, 1802), Bonaparte, no longer +apprehensive of opposition, submitted the concordat to these assemblies, +whose obedience he had thus secured, for their acceptance. They adopted it +by a great majority. The Sunday and four great religious festivals were +re-established, and from that time the government ceased to observe the +system of decades. This was the first attempt at renouncing the republican +calendar. Bonaparte hoped to gain the sacerdotal party, always most +disposed to passive obedience, and thus deprive the royalist of the +clergy, and the coalition of the pope. + +The concordat was inaugurated with great pomp in the cathedral of Notre- +Dame. The senate, the legislative body, the tribunate, and the leading +functionaries were present at this new ceremony. The first consul repaired +thither in the carriages of the old court, with the etiquette and +attendants of the old monarchy; salvos of artillery announced this return +of privilege, and this essay at royalty. A pontifical mass was performed +by Caprara, the cardinal-legate, and the people were addressed by +proclamation in a language to which they had long been unaccustomed. +"Reason and the example of ages," ran the proclamation, "command us to +have recourse to the sovereign pontiff to effect unison of opinion and +reconciliation of hearts. The head of the church has weighed in his wisdom +and for the interest of the church, propositions dictated by the interest +of the state." + +In the evening there was an illumination, and a concert in the gardens of +the Tuileries. The soldiery reluctantly attended at the inauguration +ceremony, and expressed their dissatisfaction aloud. On returning to the +palace, Bonaparte questioned general Delmas on the subject. "_What did you +think of the ceremony? _" said he. "_A fine mummery_" was the reply. +"_Nothing was wanting but a million of men slain, in destroying what you +re-establish. _" + +A month after, on the 25th Floreal, year X. (15th of May, 1802), he +presented the project of a law respecting _the creation of a legion of +honour_. This legion was to be composed of fifteen cohorts, dignitaries +for life, disposed in hierarchical order, having a centre, an +organization, and revenues. The first consul was the chief of the legion. +Each cohort was composed of seven grand officers, twenty commanders, +thirty officers, and three hundred and fifty legionaries. Bonaparte's +object was to originate a new nobility. He thus appealed to the ill- +suppressed sentiment of inequality. While discussing this projected law in +the council of state, he did not scruple to announce his aristocratic +design. Berlier, counsellor of state, having disapproved an institution so +opposed to the spirit of the republic, said that: "Distinctions were the +playthings of a monarchy." "I defy you," replied the first consul, "to +show me a republic, ancient or modern, in which distinctions did not +exist; you call them toys; well, it is by toys that men are led. I would +not say as much to a tribune; but in a council of wise men and statesmen +we may speak plainly. I do not believe that the French love _liberty and +equality_. The French have not been changed by ten years of revolution; +they have but one sentiment--_honour_. That sentiment, then, must be +nourished; they must have distinctions. See how the people prostrate +themselves before the ribbons and stars of foreigners; they have been +surprised by them; and they do not fail to wear them. All has been +destroyed; the question is, how to restore all. There is a government, +there are authorities; but the rest of the nation, what is it? Grains of +sand. Among us we have the old privileged classes, organized in principles +and interests, and knowing well what they want. I can count our enemies. +But we, ourselves, are dispersed, without system, union, or contact. As +long as I am here, I will answer for the republic; but we must provide for +the future. Do you think the republic is definitively established? If so, +you are greatly deceived. It is in our power to make it so; but we have +not done it; and we shall not do it if we do not hurl some masses of +granite on the soil of France." [Footnote: This passage is extracted from +M. Thibaudeau's _Memoires_ of the Consulate. There are in these +_Memoires_, which are extremely curious, some political conversations of +Bonaparte, details concerning his internal government and the principal +sittings of the council of state, which throw much light upon this epoch.] +By these words Bonaparte announced a system of government opposed to that +which the revolution sought to establish, and which the change in society +demanded. + +Yet, notwithstanding the docility of the council of state, the purgation +undergone by the tribunal and the legislative body, these three bodies +vigorously opposed a law which revived inequality. In the council of +state, the legion of honour only had fourteen votes against ten; in the +tribunal, thirty-eight against fifty-six; in the legislative body, a +hundred and sixty-six against a hundred and ten. Public opinion manifested +a still greater repugnance for this new order of knighthood. Those first +invested seemed almost ashamed of it, and received it with a sort of +contempt. But Bonaparte pursued his counterrevolutionary course, without +troubling himself about a dissatisfaction no longer capable of resistance. + +He wished to confirm his power by the establishment of privilege, and to +confirm privilege by the duration of his power. On the motion of Chabot de +l'Allier, the tribunal resolved: "That the first consul, general +Bonaparte, should receive a signal mark of national gratitude." In +pursuance of this resolution, on the 6th of May, 1802, an organic senatus- +consultus appointed Bonaparte consul for an additional period of ten +years. + +But Bonaparte did not consider the prolongation of the consulate +sufficient; and two months after, on the 2nd of August, the senate, on the +decision of the tribunate and the legislative body, and with the consent +of the people, consulted by means of the public registers, passed the +following decree: + +"I. The French people nominate, and the senate proclaim Napoleon Bonaparte +first consul for life. + +"II. A statue of Peace, holding in one hand a laurel of victory, and in +the other, the decree of the senate, shall attest to posterity the +gratitude of the nation. + +"III. The senate will convey to the first consul the expression of the +confidence, love, and admiration of the French people." + +This revolution was complete by adapting to the consulship for life, by a +simple senatus-consultus, the constitution, already sufficiently despotic, +of the temporary consulship. "Senators," said Cornudet, on presenting the +new law, "we must for ever close the public path to the Gracchi. The +wishes of the citizens, with respect to the political laws they obey, are +expressed by the general prosperity; the guarantee of social rights +absolutely places the dogma of the exercise of the sovereignty of the +people in the senate, which is the bond of the nation. This is the only +social doctrine." The senate admitted this new social doctrine, took +possession of the sovereignty, and held it as a deposit till a favourable +moment arrived for transferring it to Bonaparte. + +The constitution of the 16th Thermidor, year X. (4th of August, 1802,) +excluded the people from the state. The public and administrative +functions became fixed, like those of the government. The first consul +could increase the number of electors who were elected for life. The +senate had the right of changing institutions, suspending the functions of +the jury, of placing the departments out of the constitution, of annulling +the sentences of the tribunals, of dissolving the legislative body, and +the tribunate. The council of state was reinforced; the tribunate, already +reduced by dismissals, was still sufficiently formidable to require to be +reduced to fifty members. + +Such, in the course of two years, was the terrible progress of privilege +and absolute power. Towards the close of 1802, everything was in the hands +of the consul for life, who had a class devoted to him in the clergy; a +military order in the legion of honour; an administrative body in the +council of state; a machinery for decrees in the legislative assembly; a +machinery for the constitution in the senate. Not daring, as yet, to +destroy the tribunate, in which assembly there arose, from time to time, a +few words of freedom and opposition, he deprived it of its most courageous +and eloquent members, that he might hear his will declared with docility +in all the assemblies of the nation. + +This interior policy of usurpation was extended beyond the country. On the +26th of August, Bonaparte united the island of Elba, and on the 11th of +September, 1802, Piedmont, to the French territory. On the 9th of October +he took possession of the states of Parma, left vacant by the death of the +duke; and lastly, on the 21st of October, he marched into Switzerland an +army of thirty thousand men, to support a federative act, which regulated +the constitution of each canton, and which had caused disturbances. He +thus furnished a pretext for a rupture with England, which had not +sincerely subscribed to the peace. The British cabinet had only felt the +necessity of a momentary suspension of hostilities; and, a short time +after the treaty of Amiens, it arranged a third coalition, as it had done +after the treaty of Campo-Formio, and at the time of the congress of +Rastadt. The interest and situation of England were alone of a nature to +bring about a rupture, which was hastened by the union of states effected +by Bonaparte, and the influence which he retained over the neighbouring +republics, called to complete independence by the recent treaties. +Bonaparte, on his part, eager for the glory gained on the field of battle, +wishing to aggrandize France by conquests, and to complete his own +elevation by victories, could not rest satisfied with repose; he had +rejected liberty, and war became a necessity. + +The two cabinets exchanged for some time very bitter diplomatic notes. At +length, Lord Whitworth, the English ambassador, left Paris on the 25th +Floreal, year XI. (13th of May, 1803). Peace was now definitively broken: +preparations for war were made on both sides. On the 26th of May, the +French troops entered the electorate of Hanover. The German empire, on the +point of expiring, raised no obstacle. The emigrant Chouan party, which +had taken no steps since the affair of the infernal machine and the +continental peace, were encouraged by this return of hostilities. The +opportunity seemed favourable, and it formed in London, with the assent of +the British cabinet, a conspiracy headed by Pichegru and Georges Cadoudal. +The conspirators disembarked secretly on the coast of France, and repaired +with the same secrecy to Paris. They communicated with general Moreau, who +had been induced by his wife to embrace the royalist party. Just as they +were about to execute their project, most of them were arrested by the +police, who had discovered the plot, and traced them. Georges Cadoudal was +executed, Pichegru was found strangled in prison, and Moreau was sentenced +to two years' imprisonment, commuted to exile. This conspiracy, discovered +in the middle of February, 1804, rendered the person of the first consul, +whose life had been thus threatened, still dearer to the masses of the +people; addresses of congratulation were presented by all the bodies of +the state, and all the departments of the republic. About this time he +sacrificed an illustrious victim. On the 15th of March, the duc d'Enghien +was carried off by a squadron of cavalry from the castle of Ettenheim, in +the grand-duchy of Baden, a few leagues from the Rhine. The first consul +believed, from the reports of the police, that this prince had directed +the recent conspiracy. The duc d'Engbien was conveyed hastily to +Vincennes, tried in a few hours by a military commission, and shot in the +trenches of the chateau. This crime was not an act of policy, or +usurpation; but a deed of violence and wrath. The royalists might have +thought on the 18th Brumaire that the first consul was studying the part +of general Monk; but for four years he had destroyed that hope. He had no +longer any necessity for breaking with them in so outrageous a manner, nor +for reassuring, as it has been suggested, the Jacobins, who no longer +existed. Those who remained devoted to the republic, dreaded at this time +despotism far more than a counter-revolution. There is every reason to +think that Bonaparte, who thought little of human life, or of the rights +of nations, having already formed the habit of an expeditious and hasty +policy, imagined the prince to be one of the conspirators, and sought, by +a terrible example, to put an end to conspiracies, the only peril that +threatened his power at that period. + +The war with Britain and the conspiracy of Georges Cadoudal and Pichegru, +were the stepping-stones by which Bonaparte ascended from the consulate to +the empire. On the 6th Germinal, year XII. (27th March, 1804), the senate, +on receiving intelligence of the plot, sent a deputation to the first +consul. The president, Francois de Neufchateau, expressed himself in these +terms: "Citizen first consul, you are founding a new era, but you ought to +perpetuate it: splendour is nothing without duration. We do not doubt but +this great idea has had a share of your attention; for your creative +genius embraces all and forgets nothing. But do not delay: you are urged +on by the times, by events, by conspirators, and by ambitious men; and in +another direction, by the anxiety which agitates the French people. It is +in your power to enchain time, master events, disarm the ambitious, and +tranquillize the whole of France by giving it institutions which will +cement your edifice, and prolong for our children what you have done for +their fathers. Citizen first consul, be assured that the senate here +speaks to you in the name of all citizens." + +On the 5th Floreal, year XII. (25th of April, 1804), Bonaparte replied to +the senate from Saint-Cloud, as follows: "Your address has occupied my +thoughts incessantly; it has been the subject of my constant meditation. +You consider, that the supreme magistracy should be hereditary, in order +to protect the people from the plots of our enemies, and the agitation +which arises from rival ambitions. You also think that several of our +institutions ought to be perfected, to secure the permanent triumph of +equality and public liberty, and to offer the nation and government the +twofold guarantee which they require. The more I consider these great +objects, the more deeply do I feel that in such novel and important +circumstances, the councils of your wisdom and experience are necessary to +enable me to come to a conclusion. I invite you, then, to communicate to +me your ideas on the subject." The senate, in its turn, replied on the +14th Floreal (3rd of May): "The senate considers that the interests of the +French people will be greatly promoted by confiding the government of the +republic to _Napoleon Bonaparte_, as hereditary emperor." By this +preconcerted scene was ushered in the establishment of the empire. + +The tribune Curee opened the debate in the tribunate by a motion on the +subject. He dwelt on the same motives as the senators had done. His +proposition was carried with enthusiasm. Carnot alone had the courage to +oppose the empire: "I am far," said he, "from wishing to weaken the +praises bestowed on the first consul; but whatever services a citizen may +have done to his country, there are bounds which honour, as well as +reason, imposes on national gratitude. If this citizen has restored public +liberty, if he has secured the safety of his country, is it a reward to +offer him the sacrifice of that liberty; and would it not be destroying +his own work to make his country his private patrimony? When once the +proposition of holding the consulate for life was presented for the votes +of the people, it was easy to see that an after-thought existed. A crowd +of institutions evidently monarchical followed in succession; but now the +object of so many preliminary measures is disclosed in a positive manner; +we are called to declare our sentiments on a formal motion to restore the +monarchical system, and to confer imperial and hereditary dignity on the +first consul. + +"Has liberty, then, only been shown to man that he might never enjoy it? +No, I cannot consent to consider this good, so universally preferred to +all others, without which all others are as nothing, as a mere illusion. +My heart tells me that liberty is attainable; that its regime is easier +and more stable than any arbitrary government. I voted against the +consulate for life; I now vote against the restoration of the monarchy; as +I conceive my quality as tribune compels me to do." + +But he was the only one who thought thus; and his colleagues rivalled each +other in their opposition to the opinion of the only man who alone among +them remained free. In the speeches of that period, we may see the +prodigious change that had taken place in ideas and language. The +revolution had returned to the political principles of the ancient regime; +the same enthusiasm and fanaticism existed; but it was the enthusiasm of +flattery, the fanaticism of servitude. The French rushed into the empire +as they had rushed into the revolution; in the age of reason they referred +everything to the enfranchisement of nations; now they talked of nothing +but the greatness of a man, and of the age of Bonaparte; and they now +fought to make kings, as they had formerly fought to create republics. + +The tribunate, the legislative body, and the senate, voted the empire, +which was proclaimed at Saint-Cloud on the 28th Floreal, year XII. (18th +of May, 1804). On the same day, a senatus-consultum modified the +constitution, which was adapted to the new order of things. The empire +required its appendages; and French princes, high dignitaries, marshals, +chamberlains, and pages were given to it. All publicity was destroyed. The +liberty of the press had already been subjected to censorship; only one +tribune remained, and that became mute. The sittings of the tribunate were +secret, like those of the council of state; and from that day, for a space +of ten years, France was governed with closed doors. Joseph and Louis +Bonaparte were recognised as French princes. Bethier, Murat, Moncey, +Jourdan, Massena, Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, +Ney, Davoust, Bessieres, Kellermann, Lefevre, Perignon, Serurier, were +named marshals of the empire. The departments sent up addresses, and the +clergy compared Napoleon to a new Moses, a new Mattathias, a new Cyrus. +They saw in his elevation "the finger of God," and said "that submission +was due to him as dominating over all; to his ministers as sent by him, +because such was the order of Providence." Pope Pius VII. came to Paris to +consecrate the new dynasty. The coronation took place on Sunday, the 2nd +of December, in the church of Notre-Dame. + +Preparations had been making for this ceremony for some time, and it was +regulated according to ancient customs. The emperor repaired to the +metropolitan church with the empress Josephine, in a coach surmounted by a +crown, drawn by eight white horses, and escorted by his guard. The pope, +cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and all the great bodies of the state +were awaiting him in the cathedral, which had been magnificently decorated +for this extraordinary ceremony. He was addressed in an oration at the +door; and then, clothed with the imperial mantle, the crown on his head, +and the sceptre in his hand, he ascended a throne placed at the end of the +church. The high almoner, a cardinal, and a bishop, came and conducted him +to the foot of the altar for consecration. The pope poured the three-fold +unction on his head and hands, and delivered the following prayer:--"O +Almighty God, who didst establish Hazael to govern Syria, and Jehu king of +Israel, by revealing unto them thy purpose by the mouth of the prophet +Elias; who didst also shed the holy unction of kings on the head of Saul +and of David, by the ministry of thy prophet Samuel, vouchsafe to pour, by +my hands, the treasures of thy grace and blessing on thy servant Napoleon, +who, notwithstanding our own unworthiness, we this day consecrate emperor +in thy name." + +The pope led him solemnly back to the throne; and after he had sworn on +the Testament the oath prescribed by the new constitution, the chief +herald-at-arms cried in a loud voice--"_The most glorious and most august +emperor of the French is crowned and enthroned! Long live the emperor! _" +The church instantly resounded with the cry, salvoes of artillery were +fired, and the pope intoned the Te Deum. For several days there was a +succession of fetes; but these fetes _by command_, these fetes of absolute +power, did not breathe the frank, lively, popular, and unanimous joy of +the first federation of the 14th of July; and, exhausted as the people +were, they did not welcome the beginning of despotism as they had welcomed +that of liberty. + +The consulate was the last period of the existence of the republic. The +revolution was coming to man's estate. During the first period of the +consular government, Bonaparte had gained the proscribed classes by +recalling them, he found a people still agitated by every passion, and he +restored them to tranquillity by labour, and to prosperity by restoring +order. Finally he compelled Europe, conquered for the third time, to +acknowledge his elevation. Till the treaty of Amiens, he revived in the +republic victory, concord, and prosperity, without sacrificing liberty. He +might then, had he wished, have made himself the representative of that +great age, which sought for that noble system of human dignity the +consecration of far-extended equality, wise liberty, and more developed +civilization. The nation was in the hands of the great man or the despot; +it rested with him to preserve it free or to enslave it. He preferred the +realization of his selfish projects, and preferred himself to all +humanity. Brought up in tents, coming late into the revolution, he only +understood its material and interested side; he had no faith in the moral +wants which had given rise to it, nor in the creeds which had agitated it, +and which, sooner or later, would return and destroy him. He saw an +insurrection approaching its end, an exhausted people at his mercy, and a +crown on the ground within his reach. + + + + +THE EMPIRE + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE, 1804-1814 + + +After the establishment of the empire, power became more arbitrary, and +society reconstructed itself on an aristocratic principle. The great +movement of recomposition, which had commenced on the 9th Thermidor went +on increasing. The convention had abolished classes; the directory +defeated parties; the consulate gained over men; and the empire corrupted +them by distinctions and privileges. This second period was the opposite +of the first. Under the one, we saw the government of the committees +exercised by men elected every three months, without guards, honours, or +representation, living on a few francs a day, working eighteen hours +together on common wooden tables; under the other, the government of the +empire, with all its paraphernalia of administration, it chamberlains, +gentlemen, praetorian guard, hereditary rights, its immense civil list, +and dazzling ostentation. The national activity was exclusively directed +to labour and war. All material interests, all ambitious passions, were +hierarchically arranged under one leader, who, after having sacrificed +liberty by establishing absolute power, destroyed equality by introducing +nobility. + +The directory had erected all the surrounding states into republics; +Napoleon wished to constitute them on the model of the empire. He began +with Italy. The council of state of the Cisalpine republic determined on +restoring hereditary monarchy in favour of Napoleon. Its vice-president, +M. Melzi, came to Paris to communicate to him this decision. On the 26th +Ventose, year XIII. (17th of March, 1805), he was received with great +solemnity at the Tuileries. Napoleon was on his throne, surrounded by his +court, and all the splendour of sovereign power, in the display of which +he delighted. M. Melzi offered him the crown, in the name of his fellow- +citizens. "Sire," said he, in conclusion, "deign to gratify the wishes of +the assembly over which I have the honour to preside. Interpreter of the +sentiments which animate every Italian heart, it brings you their sincere +homage. It will inform them with joy that by accepting, you have +strengthened the ties which attach you to the preservation, defence, and +prosperity of the Italian nation. Yes, sire, you wished the existence of +the Italian republic, and it existed. Desire the Italian monarchy to be +happy, and it will be so." + +The emperor went to take possession of this kingdom; and, on the 26th of +May, 1805, he received at Milan the iron crown of the Lombards. He +appointed his adopted son, prince Eugene de Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, +and repaired to Genoa, which also renounced its sovereignty. On the 4th of +June, 1805, its territory was united to the empire, and formed the three +departments of Genoa, Montenotte, and the Apennines. The small republic of +Lucca was included in this monarchical revolution. At the request of its +gonfalonier, it was given in appanage to the prince of Piombino and his +princess, a sister of Napoleon. The latter, after this royal progress, +recrossed the Alps, and returned to the capital of his empire; he soon +after departed for the camp at Boulogne, where a great maritime expedition +against England was preparing. + +This project of descent which the directory had entertained after the +peace of Campo-Formio, and the first consul, after the peace of Luneville, +had been resumed with much ardour since the new rupture. At the +commencement of 1805, a flotilla of two thousand small vessels, manned by +sixteen thousand sailors, carrying an army of one hundred and sixty +thousand men, nine thousand horses, and a numerous artillery, had +assembled in the ports of Boulogne, Etaples, Wimereux, Ambleteuse. and +Calais. The emperor was hastening by his presence the execution of this +project, when he learned that England, to avoid the descent with which it +was threatened, had prevailed on Austria to come to a rupture with France, +and that all the forces of the Austrian monarchy were in motion. Ninety +thousand men, under the archduke Ferdinand and general Mack, had crossed +the Jura, seized on Munich, and driven out the elector of Bavaria, the +ally of France; thirty thousand, under the archduke John, occupied the +Tyrol, and the archduke Charles, with one hundred thousand men, was +advancing on the Adige. Two Russian armies were preparing to join the +Austrians. Pitt had made the greatest efforts to organize this third +coalition. The establishment of the kingdom of Italy, the annexation of +Genoa and Piedmont to France, the open influence of the emperor over +Holland and Switzerland, had again aroused Europe, which now dreaded the +ambition of Napoleon as much as it had formerly feared the principles of +the revolution. The treaty of alliance between the British ministry and +the Russian cabinet had been signed on the 11th of April, 1805, and +Austria had acceded to it on the 9th of August. + +Napoleon left Boulogne, returned hastily to Paris, repaired to the senate +on the 23rd of September, obtained a levy of eighty thousand men, and set +out the next day to begin the campaign. He passed the Rhine on the 1st of +October, and entered Bavaria on the 6th, with an army of a hundred and +sixty thousand men. Massena held back Prince Charles in Italy, and the +emperor carried on the war in Germany at full speed. In a few days he +passed the Danube, entered Munich, gained the victory of Wertingen, and +forced general Mack to lay down his arms at Ulm. This capitulation +disorganized the Austrian army. Napoleon pursued the course of his +victories, entered Vienna on the 13th of November, and then marched into +Moravia to meet the Russians, round whom the defeated troops had rallied. + +On the 2nd of December, 1805, the anniversary of the coronation, the two +armies met in the plains of Austerlitz. The enemy amounted to ninety-five +thousand men, the French to eighty thousand. On both sides the artillery +was formidable. The battle began at sunrise; these enormous masses began +to move; the Russian infantry could not stand against the impetuosity of +our troops and the manoeuvres of their general. The enemy's left was first +cut off; the Russian imperial guard came up to re-establish the +communication, and was entirely overwhelmed. The centre experienced the +same fate, and at one o'clock in the afternoon the most decisive victory +had completed this wonderful campaign. The following day the emperor +congratulated the army in a proclamation on the field of battle itself: +"Soldiers," said he, "I am satisfied with you. You have adorned your +eagles with immortal glory. An army of a hundred thousand men, commanded +by the emperors of Russia and Austria, in less than four days has been cut +to pieces or dispersed; those who escaped your steel have been drowned in +the lakes. Forty flags, the standards of the Russian imperial guard, a +hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, twenty generals, more than thirty +thousand prisoners, are the result of this ever memorable day. This +infantry, so vaunted and so superior in numbers, could not resist your +shock, and henceforth you have no more rivals to fear. Thus, in two +months, this third coalition has been defeated and dissolved." A truce was +concluded with Austria; and the Russians, who might have been cut to +pieces, obtained permission to retire by fixed stages. + +The peace of Pressburg followed the victories of Ulm and Austerlitz; it +was signed on the 26th of December. The house of Austria, which had lost +its external possessions, Holland and the Milanese, was now assailed in +Germany itself. It gave up the provinces of Dalmatia and Albania to the +kingdom of Italy; the territory of the Tyrol, the town of Augsburg, the +principality of Eichstett, a part of the territory of Passau, and all its +possessions in Swabia, Brisgau, and Ortenau to the electorates of Bavaria +and Wurtemberg, which were transformed into kingdoms. The grand duchy of +Baden also profited by its spoils. The treaty of Pressburg completed the +humiliation of Austria, commenced by the treaty of Campo-Formio, and +continued by that of Luneville. The emperor, on his return to Paris, +crowned with so much glory, became the object of such general and wild +admiration, that he was himself carried away by the public enthusiasm and +intoxicated at his fortune. The different bodies of the state contended +among themselves in obedience and flatteries. He received the title of +Great, and the senate passed a decree dedicating to him a triumphal +monument. + +Napoleon became more confirmed in the principle he had espoused. The +victory of Marengo and the peace of Luneville had sanctioned the +consulate; the victory of Austerlitz and peace of Pressburg consecrated +the empire. The last vestiges of the revolution were abandoned. On the 1st +of January, 1806, the Gregorian calendar definitively replaced the +republican calendar, after an existence of fourteen years. The Pantheon +was again devoted to purposes of worship, and soon even the tribunate +ceased to exist. But the emperor aimed especially at extending his +dominion over the continent. Ferdinand, king of Naples, having, during the +last war, violated the treaty of peace with France, had his states +invaded; and Joseph Bonaparte on the 30th of March was declared king of +the Two Sicilies. Soon after (June 5th, 1806), Holland was converted into +a kingdom, and received as monarch Louis Bonaparte, another brother of the +emperor. None of the republics created by the convention, or the +directory, now existed. Napoleon, in nominating secondary kings, restored +the military hierarchical system, and the titles of the middle ages. He +erected Dalmatia, Istria, Friuli, Cadore, Belluno, Conegliano, Treviso, +Feltra, Bassano, Vicenza, Padua, and Rovigo into duchies, great fiefs of +the empire. Marshal Berthier was invested with the principality of +Neufchatel, the minister Talleyrand with that of Benevento. Prince +Borghese and his wife with that of Guastalla, Murat with the grand-duchy +of Berg and Cleves. Napoleon, not venturing to destroy the Swiss republic, +styled himself its mediator, and completed the organization of his +military empire by placing under his dependence the ancient Germanic body. +On the 12th of July, 1806, fourteen princes of the south and west of +Germany united themselves into the confederation of the Rhine, and +recognized Napoleon as their protector. On the 1st of August, they +signified to the diet of Ratisbon their separation from the Germanic body. +The empire of Germany ceased to exist, and Francis II. abdicated the title +by proclamation. By a convention signed at Vienna, on the 15th of +December, Prussia exchanged the territories of Anspach, Cleves, and +Neufchatel for the electorate of Hanover. Napoleon had all the west under +his power. Absolute master of France and Italy, as emperor and king, he +was also master of Spain, by the dependence of that court; of Naples and +Holland, by his two brothers; of Switzerland, by the act of mediation; and +in Germany he had at his disposal the kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, and +the confederation of the Rhine against Austria and Prussia. After the +peace of Amiens, by supporting liberty he might have made himself the +protector of France and the moderator of Europe; but having sought glory +in domination, and made conquest the object of his life, he condemned +himself to a long struggle, which would inevitably terminate in the +dependence of the continent or in his own downfall. + +This encroaching progress gave rise to the fourth coalition. Prussia, +neutral since the peace of Basle, had, in the last campaign, been on the +point of joining the Austro-Russian coalition. The rapidity of the +emperor's victories had alone restrained her; but now, alarmed at the +aggrandizement of the empire, and encouraged by the fine condition of her +troops, she leagued with Russia to drive the French from Germany. The +cabinet of Berlin required that the French troops should recross the +Rhine, or war would be the consequence. At the same time, it sought to +form in the north of Germany a league against the confederation of the +south. The emperor, who was in the plenitude of his prosperity and of +national enthusiasm, far from submitting to the _ultimatum_ of Prussia, +immediately marched against her. + +The campaign opened early in October. Napoleon, as usual, overwhelmed the +coalition by the promptitude of his marches and the vigour of his +measures. On the 14th of October, he destroyed at Jena the military +monarchy of Prussia, by a decisive victory; on the 16th, fourteen thousand +Prussians threw down their arms at Erfurth; on the 25th, the French army +entered Berlin, and the close of 1806 was employed in taking the Prussian +fortresses and marching into Poland against the Russian army. The campaign +in Poland was less rapid, but as brilliant as that of Prussia. Russia, for +the third time, measured its strength with France. Conquered at Zurich and +Austerlitz, it was also defeated at Eylau and Friedland. After these +memorable battles, the emperor Alexander entered into a negotiation, and +concluded at Tilsit, on the 21st of June, 1807, an armistice which was +followed by a definitive treaty on the 7th of July. + +The peace of Tilsit extended the French domination on the continent. +Prussia was reduced to half its extent. In the south of Germany, Napoleon +had instituted the two kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg against Austria; +further to the north, he created the two feudatory kingdoms of Saxony and +Westphalia against Prussia. That of Saxony, composed of the electorate of +that name, and Prussian Poland, called the grand-duchy of Warsaw, was +given to the king of Saxony; that of Westphalia comprehended the states of +Hesse-Cassel, Brunswick, Fulde, Paderborn, and the greatest part of +Hanover, and was given to Jerome Napoleon. The emperor Alexander, acceding +to all these arrangements, evacuated Moldavia and Wallachia. Russia, +however, though conquered, was the only power unencroached upon. Napoleon +followed more than ever in the footsteps of Charlemagne; at his +coronation, he had had the crown, sword, and sceptre, of the Frank king +carried before him. A pope had crossed the Alps to consecrate his dynasty, +and he modelled his states on the vast empire of that conqueror. The +revolution sought the establishment of ancient liberty; Napoleon restored +the military hierarchy of the middle ages. The former had made citizens, +the latter made vassals. The one had changed Europe into republics, the +other transformed it into fiefs. Great and powerful as he was, coming +immediately after a shock which had exhausted the world by its violence, +he was enabled to arrange it for a time according to his pleasure. The +_grand empire_ rose internally by its system of administration, which +replaced the government of assemblies; its special courts, its lyceums, in +which military education was substituted for the republican education of +the central schools; its hereditary nobility, which in 1808 completed the +establishment of inequality; its civil discipline, which rendered all +France like an army obedient to the word of command; and externally by its +secondary kingdoms, its confederate states, its great fiefs, and its +supreme chief. Napoleon, no longer meeting resistance anywhere, could +command from one end of the continent to the other. + +At this period all the emperor's attention was directed to England, the +only power that could secure itself from his attacks. Pitt had been dead a +year, but the British cabinet followed with much ardour and pertinacity +his plans with respect to France. After having vainly formed a third and a +fourth coalition, it did not lay down arms. It was a war to the death. +Great Britain had declared France in a state of blockade, and furnished +the emperor with the means of cutting off its continental intercourse by a +similar measure. The continental blockade, which began in 1807, was the +second period of Bonaparte's system. In order to attain universal and +uncontested supremacy, he made use of arms against the continent, and the +cessation of commerce against England. But in forbidding to the +continental states all communication with England, he was preparing new +difficulties for himself, and soon added to the animosity of opinion +excited by his despotism, and the hatred of states produced by his +conquering domination, the exasperation of private interests and +commercial suffering occasioned by the blockade. + +Yet all the powers seemed united in the same design. England was placed +under the ban of continental Europe, at the peace. Russia and Denmark in +the Northern Seas; France, Spain, and Holland, in the Mediterranean and +the ocean, were obliged to declare against it. This period was the height +of the imperial sway. Napoleon employed all his activity and all his +genius in creating maritime resources capable of counter-balancing the +forces of England, which had then eleven hundred ships of war of every +class. He caused ports to be constructed, coasts to be fortified, ships to +be built and prepared, everything for combating in a few years upon this +new battle-field. But before that moment arrived, he wished to secure the +Spanish peninsula, and to found his dynasty there, for the purpose of +introducing a firmer and more favourable policy. The expedition of +Portugal in 1807, and the invasion of Spain in 1808, began for him and for +Europe a new order of events. + +Portugal had for some time been a complete English colony. The emperor, in +concert with the Bourbons of Madrid, decided by the treaty of +Fontainebleau, of the 27th of October, 1807, that the house of Braganza +had ceased to reign. A French army, under the command of Junot, entered +Portugal. The prince-regent embarked for Brazil, and the French took +possession of Lisbon on the 30th of November, 1807. This invasion was only +an approach towards Spain. The royal family were in a state of the +greatest anarchy. The favourite, Godoy, was execrated by the people, and +Ferdinand, prince of the Asturias, conspired against the authority of his +father's favourite. Though the emperor had not much to fear from such a +government, he had taken alarm at a clumsy armament prepared by Godoy +during the Prussian war. No doubt, at this time he formed the project of +putting one of his brothers on the throne of Spain; he thought he could +easily overturn a divided family, an expiring monarchy, and obtain the +consent of a people whom he would restore to civilization. Under the +pretext of the maritime war and the blockade, his troops entered the +peninsula, occupied the coasts and principal places, and encamped near +Madrid. It was then suggested to the royal family to retire to Mexico, +after the example of the house of Braganza. But the people rose against +this departure; Godoy, the object of public hatred, was in great risk of +losing his life, and the prince of the Asturias was proclaimed king, under +the title of Ferdinand VII. The emperor took advantage of this court +revolution to bring about his own. The French entered Madrid, and he +himself proceeded to Bayonne, whither he summoned the Spanish princes. +Ferdinand restored the crown to his father, who in his turn resigned it in +favour of Napoleon; the latter had it decreed on his brother Joseph by a +supreme junta, by the council of Castille, and the municipality of Madrid. +Ferdinand was sent to the Chateau de Valencay, and Charles VI. fixed his +residence at Compiegne. Napoleon called his brother-in-law, Murat, grand- +duke of Berg, to the throne of Naples, in the place of Joseph. + +At this period began the first opposition to the domination of the emperor +and the continental system. The reaction manifested itself in three +countries hitherto allies of France, and it brought on the fifth +coalition. The court of Rome was dissatisfied; the peninsula was wounded +in its national pride by having imposed upon it a foreign king; in its +usages, by the suppression of convents, of the Inquisition, and of the +grandees; Holland suffered in its commerce from the blockade, and Austria +supported impatiently its losses and subordinate condition. England, +watching for an opportunity to revive the struggle on the continent, +excited the resistance of Rome, the peninsula, and the cabinet of Vienna. +The pope had been cold towards France since 1805; he had hoped that his +pontifical complaisance in reference to Napoleon's coronation would have +been recompensed by the restoration to the ecclesiastical domain of those +provinces which the directory had annexed to the Cisalpine republic. +Deceived in this expectation, he joined the European counter-revolutionary +opposition, and from 1807 to 1808 the Roman States became the rendezvous +of English emissaries. After some warm remonstrances, the emperor ordered +general Miollis to occupy Rome; the pope threatened him with +excommunication; and Napoleon seized on the legations of Ancona, Urbino, +Macerata, and Camerino, which became part of the Italian kingdom. The +legate left Paris on the 3rd of April, 1808, and the religious struggle +for temporal interests commenced with the head of the church, whom +Napoleon should either not have recognised, or not have despoiled. + +The war with the peninsula was still more serious. The Spaniards +recognised Ferdinand VII. as king, in a provincial junta, held at Seville, +on the 27th of May, 1808, and they took arms in all the provinces which +were not occupied by French troops. The Portuguese also rose at Oporto, on +the 16th of June. These two insurrections were at first attended with the +happiest results; in a short time they made rapid progress. General Dupont +laid down arms at Baylen in the province of Cordova, and this first +reverse of the French arms excited the liveliest hope and enthusiasm among +the Spaniards. Joseph Napoleon left Madrid, where Ferdinand VII. was +proclaimed; and about the same time, Junot, not having troops enough to +keep Portugal, consented, by the convention of Cintra, to evacuate it with +all the honours of war. The English general, Wellington, took possession +of this kingdom with twenty-five thousand men. While the pope was +declaring against Napoleon, while the Spanish insurgents were entering +Madrid, while the English were again setting foot on the continent, the +king of Sweden avowed himself an enemy of the European imperial league, +and Austria was making considerable armaments and preparing for a new +struggle. + +Fortunately for Napoleon, Russia remained faithful to the alliance and +engagements of Tilsit. The emperor Alexander had at that time a fit of +enthusiasm and affection for this powerful and extraordinary mortal. +Napoleon wishing to be sure of the north, before he conveyed all his +forces to the peninsula, had an interview with Alexander at Erfurt, on the +27th September, 1808. The two masters of the north and west guaranteed to +each other the repose and submission of Europe. Napoleon marched into +Spain, and Alexander undertook Sweden. The presence of the emperor soon +changed the fortune of the war in the peninsula. He brought with him +eighty thousand veteran soldiers, just come from Germany. Several +victories made him master of most of the Spanish provinces. He made his +entry into Madrid, and presented himself to the inhabitants of the +peninsula, not as a master, but as a liberator. "I have abolished," he +said to them, "the tribunal of the Inquisition, against which the age and +Europe protested. Priests should direct the conscience, but ought not to +exercise any external or corporal jurisdiction over the citizens. I have +suppressed feudal rights; and every one may set up inns, ovens, mills, +fisheries, and give free impulse to his industry. The selfishness, wealth, +and prosperity of a few did more injury to your agriculture than the heats +of the extreme summer. As there is but one God, one system of justice only +should exist in a state. All private tribunals were usurped and opposed to +the rights of the nation. I have suppressed them. The present generation +may change its opinion; too many passions have been brought into play; but +your grandchildren will bless me as your regenerator; they will rank among +their memorable days those in which I appeared among you, and from those +days will Spain date its prosperity." + +Such was indeed the part of Napoleon in the peninsula, which could only be +restored to a better state of things, and to liberty, by the revival of +civilization. The establishment of independence cannot be effected all at +once, any more than anything else; and when a country is ignorant, poor, +and backward, covered with convents, and governed by monks, its social +condition must be reconstructed before liberty can be thought of. +Napoleon, the oppressor of civilized nations, was a real regenerator for +the peninsula. But the two parties of civil liberty and religious +servitude, that of the cortes and that of the monks, though with far +different aims, came to an understanding for their common defence. The one +was at the head of the upper and the middle classes, the other of the +populace; and they vied with each other in exciting the Spaniards to +enthusiasm with the sentiments of independence or religious fanaticism. +The following is the catechism used by the priests: "Tell me, my child, +who you are? A Spaniard by the grace of God.--Who is the enemy of our +happiness? The emperor of the French.--How many natures has he? Two: human +and diabolical.--How many emperors of the French are there? One true one, +in three deceptive persons.--What are their names, Napoleon, Murat, and +Manuel Godoy.--Which of the three is the most wicked? They are all three +equally so.--Whence is Napoleon derived? From sin.--Murat? From Napoleon. +--And Godoy? The junction of the two.--What is the ruling spirit of the +first? Pride and despotism.--Of the second? Rapine and cruelty.--Of the +third? Cupidity, treason, and ignorance.--Who are the French? Former +Christians become heretics.--Is it a sin to kill a Frenchman? No, father; +heaven is gained by killing one of these dogs of heretics.--What +punishment does the Spaniard deserve who has failed in his duty? The death +and infamy of a traitor.--What will deliver us from our enemies? +Confidence in ourselves and in arms." + +Napoleon had engaged in a long and dangerous enterprise, in which his +whole system of war was at fault. Victory, here, did not consist in the +defeat of an army and the possession of a capital, but in the entire +occupation of the territory, and, what was still more difficult, the +submission of the public mind. Napoleon, however, was preparing to subdue +this people with his irresistible activity and inflexible determination, +when the fifth coalition called him again to Germany. + +Austria had turned to advantage his absence, and that of his troops. It +made a powerful effort, and raised five hundred and fifty thousand men, +comprising the Landwehr, and took the field in the spring of 1809. The +Tyrol rose, and king Jerome was driven from his capital by the +Westphalians; Italy wavered; and Prussia only waited till Napoleon met +with a reverse, to take arms; but the emperor was still at the height of +his power and prosperity. He hastened from Madrid in the beginning of +February, and directed the members of the confederation to keep their +contingents in readiness. On the 12th of April he left Paris, passed the +Rhine, plunged into Germany, gained the victories of Eckmuehl and Essling, +occupied Vienna a second time on the 15th of May, and overthrew this new +coalition by the battle of Wagram, after a campaign of four months. While +he was pursuing the Austrian armies, the English landed on the island of +Walcheren, and appeared before Antwerp; but a levy of national guards +sufficed to frustrate the expedition of the Scheldt. The peace of Vienna, +of the 11th of October, 1809, deprived the house of Austria of several +more provinces, and compelled it again to adopt the continental system. + +This period was remarkable for the new character of the struggle. It began +the reaction of Europe against the empire, and announced the alliance of +dynasties, people, nations, the priesthood, and commerce. All whose +interests were injured made an attempt at resistance, which at first was +destined to fail. Napoleon, since the peace of Amiens, had entered on a +career that must necessarily terminate in the possession or hostility of +all Europe. Carried away by his character and position, he had created +against the people a system of administration of unparalleled benefit to +power; against Europe, a system of secondary monarchies and grand fiefs, +which facilitated his plans of conquest; and, lastly, against England, the +blockade which suspended its commerce, and that of the continent. Nothing +impeded him in the realization of those immense but insensate designs. +Portugal opened a communication with the English: he invaded it. The royal +family of Spain, by its quarrels and vacillations, compromised the +extremities of the empire: he compelled it to abdicate, that he might +reduce the peninsula to a bolder and less wavering policy. The pope kept +up relations with the enemy: his patrimony was diminished. He threatened +excommunication: the French entered Rome. He realized his threat by a +bull: he was dethroned as a temporal sovereign in 1809. Finally, after the +battle of Wagram, and the peace of Vienna, Holland became a depot for +English merchandise, on account of its commercial wants, and the emperor +dispossessed his brother Louis of that kingdom, which, on the 1st of July, +1810, became incorporated with the empire. He shrank from no invasion, +because he would not endure opposition or hesitation from any quarter. All +were compelled to submit, allies as well as enemies, the chief of the +church as well as kings, brothers as well as strangers; but, though +conquered this time, all who had joined this new league only waited an +opportunity to rise again. + +Meantime, after the peace of Vienna, Napoleon still added to the extent +and power of the empire. Sweden having undergone an internal revolution, +and the king, Gustavus Adolphus IV., having been forced to abdicate, +admitted the continental system. Bernadotte, prince of Ponte-Corvo, was +elected by the states-general hereditary prince of Sweden, and king +Charles XIII. adopted him for his son. The blockade was observed +throughout Europe; and the empire, augmented by the Roman States, the +Illyrian provinces, Valais, Holland, and the Hanse Towns, had a hundred +and thirty departments, and extended from Hamburg and Dantzic to Trieste +and Corfu. Napoleon, who seemed to follow a rash but inflexible policy, +deviated from his course about this time by a second marriage. He divorced +Josephine that he might give an heir to the empire, and married, on the +1st of April, 1810, Marie-Louise, arch-duchess of Austria. This was a +decided error. He quitted his position and his post as a parvenu and +revolutionary monarch, opposing in Europe the ancient courts as the +republic had opposed the ancient governments. He placed himself in a false +situation with respect to Austria, which he ought either to have crushed +after the victory of Wagram, or to have reinstated in its possessions +after his marriage with the arch-duchess. Solid alliances only repose on +real interests, and Napoleon could not remove from the cabinet of Vienna +the desire or power of renewing hostilities. This marriage also changed +the character of his empire, and separated it still further from popular +interests; he sought out old families to give lustre to his court, and did +all he could to amalgamate together the old and the new nobility as he +mingled old and new dynasties. Austerlitz had established the plebeian +empire; after Wagram was established the noble empire. The birth, on the +20th of March, 1811, of a son, who received the title of King of Rome, +seemed to consolidate the power of Napoleon by securing to him a +successor. + +The war in Spain was prosecuted with vigour during the years 1810 and +1811. The territory of the peninsula was defended inch by inch, and its +was necessary to take several towns by storm. Suchet, Soult, Mortier, Ney, +and Sebastiani made themselves masters of several provinces; and the +Spanish junta, unable to keep their post at Seville, retired to Cadiz, +which the French army began to blockade. The new expedition into Portugal +was less fortune. Massena, who directed it, at first obliged Wellington to +retreat, and took Oporto and Olivenca; but the English general having +entrenched himself in the strong position of Torres-Vedras, Massena, +unable to force it, was compelled to evacuate the country. + +While the war was proceeding in the peninsula with advantage, but without +any decided success, a new campaign was preparing in the north. Russia +perceived the empire of Napoleon approaching its territories. Shut up in +its own limits, it remained without influence or acquisitions; suffering +from the blockade, without gaining any advantage by the war. This cabinet, +moreover, endured with impatience a supremacy to which it itself aspired, +and which it had pursued slowly but without interruption since the reign +of Peter the Great. About the close of 1810, it increased its armies, +renewed its commercial relations with Great Britain, and did not seem +indisposed to a rupture. The year 1811 was spent in negotiations which led +to nothing, and preparations for war were made on both sides. The emperor, +whose armies were before Cadiz, and who relied on the co-operation of the +West and North against Russia, made with ardour preparations for an +enterprise which was intended to reduce the only power as yet untouched, +and to carry his victorious eagles even to Moscow. He obtained the +assistance of Prussia and Austria, which engaged by the treaties of the +24th of February and the 14th of March, 1812, to furnish auxiliary bodies; +one of twenty, and the other of thirty thousand men. All the unemployed +forces of France were immediately on foot. A senatus-consultus divided the +national guard into three bodies for the home service, and appropriated a +hundred of the first line regiments (nearly a hundred thousand men) for +active military service. On the 9th of March, Napoleon left Paris on this +vast expedition. During several months he fixed his court at Dresden, +where the emperor of Austria, the king of Prussia, and all the sovereigns +of Germany, came to bow before his high fortune. On the 22nd of June, war +was declared against Russia. + +In this campaign, Napoleon was guided by the maxims he had always found +successful. He had terminated all the wars he had undertaken by the rapid +defeat of the enemy, the occupation of his capital, and concluded the +peace by parcelling out his territory. His project was to reduce Russia by +creating the kingdom of Poland, as he had reduced Austria by forming the +kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, after Austerlitz; and Prussia, by +organizing those of Saxony and Westphalia, after Jena. With this object, +he had stipulated with the Austrian cabinet by the treaty of the 14th of +March, to exchange Gallicia for the Illyrian provinces. The establishment +of the kingdom of Poland was proclaimed by the diet of Warsaw, but in an +incomplete manner, and Napoleon, who, according to his custom, wished to +finish all in one campaign, advanced at once into the heart of Russia, +instead of prudently organizing the Polish barrier against it. His army +amounted to about five hundred thousand men. He passed the Niemen on the +24th of June, took Vilna, and Vitepsk, defeated the Russians at Astrowno, +Polotsk, Mohilev, Smolensk, at the Moskva, and on the 14th of September, +made his entry into Moscow. + +The Russian cabinet relied for its defence not only upon its troops, but +on its vast territory and on its climate. As the conquered armies +retreated before ours, they burnt all the towns, devastated the provinces, +and thus prepared great difficulties for the foe in the event of reverses +or retreat. According to this plan of defence, Moscow was burnt by its +governor Rostopchin, as Smolensk, Dorigoboui, Viasma, Gjhat, Mojaisk, and +a great number of other towns and villages had already been. The emperor +ought to have seen that this war would not terminate as the others had +done; yet, conqueror of the foe, and master of his capital, he conceived +hopes of peace which the Russians skilfully encouraged. Winter was +approaching, and Napoleon prolonged his stay at Moscow for six weeks. He +delayed his movements on account of the deceptive negotiations of the +Russians, and did not decide on a retreat till the 19th of October. This +retreat was disastrous, and began the downfall of the empire. Napoleon +could not have been defeated by the hand of man, for what general could +have triumphed over this incomparable chief? what army could have +conquered the French army? But his reverses were to take place in the +remote limits of Europe; in the frozen regions which were to end his +conquering domination. He lost, with the close of this campaign, not by a +defeat, but by cold and famine, in the midst of Russian snows and +solitude, his old army, and the _prestige_ of his fortune. + +The retreat was effected with some order as far as the Berezina, where it +became one vast rout. After the passage of this river, Napoleon, who had +hitherto accompanied his army, started in a sledge for Paris, in great +haste, a conspiracy having broken out there during his absence. General +Mallet, with a few others, had conceived the design of overthrowing this +colossus of power. His enterprise was daring; and as it was grounded on a +false report of Napoleon's death, it was necessary to deceive too many for +success to be probable. Besides, the empire was still firmly established, +and it was not a plot, but a slow and general defection which could +destroy it. Mallet's plot failed, and its leaders were executed. The +emperor, on his return, found the nation astounded at so unusual a +disaster. But the different bodies of the state still manifested implicit +obedience. He reached Paris on the 18th of December, obtained a levy of +three hundred thousand men, inspired a spirit of sacrifice, re-equipped in +a short time, with his wonderful activity, a new army, and took the field +again on the 15th of April, 1813. + +But since the retreat of Moscow, Napoleon had entered on a new series of +events. It was in 1812 that the decline of the empire manifested itself. +The weariness of his domination became general. All those by whose consent +he had risen, took part against him. The priests had conspired in secret +since his rupture with the pope. Eight state prisons had been created in +an official manner against the dissentients of his party. The national +masses were as tired of conquest as they had formerly been of factions. +They had expected from him consideration for private interests, the +promotion of commerce; respect for men; and they were oppressed by +conscriptions, taxes, the blockade, provost courts, and duties which were +the inevitable consequences of this conquering system. He had no longer +for adversaries the few who remained faithful to the political object of +the revolution, and whom he styled _ideologues_, but all who, without +definite ideas, wished for the material advantages of better civilization. +Without, whole nations groaned beneath the military yoke, and the fallen +dynasties aspired to rise again. The whole world was ill at ease; and one +check served to bring about a general rising. "I triumphed," says Napoleon +himself, speaking of the preceding campaigns, "in the midst of constantly +reviving perils. I constantly required as much address as voice. Had I not +conquered at Austerlitz, all Prussia would have been upon me; had I not +triumphed at Jena, Austria and Spain would have attacked my rear; had I +not fought at Wagram, which action was not a decided victory, I had reason +to fear that Russia would forsake, Prussia rise against me, and the +English were before Antwerp." [Footnote: _Memorial de Saint Helene_, tome +ii. p. 221.] Such was his condition; the further he advanced in his +career, the greater need he had to conquer more and more decisively. +Accordingly, as soon as he was defeated, the kings he had subdued, the +kings he had made, the allies he had aggrandized, the states he had +incorporated with the empire, the senators who had so flattered him, and +even his comrades in arms, successively forsook him. The field of battle +extended to Moscow in 1812, drew back to Dresden in 1813, and to Paris in +1814: so rapid was the reverse of fortune. + +The cabinet of Berlin began the defections. On the 1st of March, 1813, it +joined Russia and England, which were forming the sixth coalition. Sweden +acceded to it soon after; yet the emperor, whom the confederate powers +thought prostrated by the last disaster, opened the campaign with new +victories. The battle of Luetzen, won by conscripts, on the 2nd of May, the +occupation of Dresden, the victory of Bautzen, and the war carried to the +Elbe, astonished the coalition. Austria, which, since 1810, had been on a +footing of peace, was resuming arms, and already meditating a change of +alliance. She now offered to act as mediator between the emperor and the +confederates. Her mediation was accepted; an armistice was concluded at +Plesswitz, on the 4th of June, and a congress assembled at Prague to +negotiate peace. It was impossible to come to terms. Napoleon would not +consent to diminished grandeur; Europe would not consent to remain subject +to him. The confederate powers, joined by Austria, required that the +limits of the empire should be to the Rhine, the Alps, and the Meuse. The +negotiators separated without coming to an agreement. Austria joined the +coalition, and war, the only means of settling this great contest, was +resumed. + +The emperor had only two hundred and eighty thousand men against five +hundred and twenty thousand; he wished to force the enemy to retire behind +the Elbe, and to break up, as usual, this new coalition by the promptitude +and vigour of his blows. Victory seemed, at first, to second him. At +Dresden, he defeated the combined forces; but the defeats of his +lieutenants deranged his plans. Macdonald was conquered in Silesia; Ney, +near Berlin; Vandamme, at Kulm. Unable to obstruct the enemy, pouring on +him from all parts, Napoleon thought of retreating. The princes of the +confederation of the Rhine chose this moment to desert the cause of the +empire. A vast engagement having taken place at Leipzic between the two +armies, the Saxons and Wurtembergers passed over to the enemy on the field +of battle. This defection to the strength of the allied powers, who had +learned a more compact and skilful mode of warfare, obliged Napoleon to +retreat, after a struggle of three days. The army advanced with much +confusion towards the Rhine, where the Bavarians, who had also deserted, +attempted to prevent its passage. But it overwhelmed them at Hanau, and +re-entered the territory of the empire on the 30th of October, 1813. The +close of this campaign was as disastrous as that of the preceding one. +France was threatened in its own limits, as it had been in 1799; but the +enthusiasm of independence no longer existed, and the man who deprived it +of its rights found it, at this great crisis, incapable of sustaining him +or defending itself. The servitude of nations is, sooner or later, ever +avenged. + +Napoleon returned to Paris on the 9th of November, 1813. He obtained from +the senate a levy of three hundred thousand men, and made with great +ardour preparations for a new campaign. He convoked the legislative body +to associate it in the common defence; he communicated to it the documents +relative to the negotiations of Prague, and asked for another and last +effort in order to secure a glorious peace, the general wish of France. +But the legislative body, hitherto silently obedient, chose this period to +resist Napoleon. + +It shared the common exhaustion, and without desiring it, was under the +influence of the royalist party, which had been secretly agitating ever +since the decline of the empire had revived its hopes. A commission, +composed of MM. Laine, Raynouard, Gallois, Flaugergues, Maine de Biran, +drew up a very hostile report, censuring the course adopted by the +government, and demanding that all conquests should be given up, and +liberty restored. This wish, so just at any other time, could then only +favour the invasion of the foe. Though the confederate powers seemed to +make the evacuation of Europe the condition of peace, they were disposed +to push victory to extremity. Napoleon, irritated by this unexpected and +harassing opposition, suddenly dismissed the legislative body. This +commencement of resistance announced internal defections. After passing +from Russia to Germany, they were about to extend from Germany and Italy +to France. But now, as before, all depended on the issue of the war, which +the winter had not interrupted. Napoleon placed all his hopes on it; and +started from Paris on the 25th of January, for this immortal campaign. + +The empire was invaded in all directions. The Austrians entered Italy; the +English, having made themselves masters of the peninsula during the last +two years, had passed the Bidassoa, under general Wellington, and appeared +on the Pyrenees. Three armies pressed on France to the east and north. The +great allied army, amounting to a hundred and fifty thousand men, under +Schwartzenberg, advanced by Switzerland; the army of Silesia, of a hundred +and thirty thousand, under Bluecher, by Frankfort; and that of the north, +of a hundred thousand men, under Bernadotte, had seized on Holland and +entered Belgium. The enemies, in their turn, neglected the fortified +places, and, taking a lesson from the conqueror, advanced on the capital. +When Napoleon left Paris, the two armies of Schwartzenberg and Bluecher +were on the point of effecting a junction in Champaigne. Deprived of the +support of the people, who were only lookers on, Napoleon was left alone +against the whole world with a handful of veterans and his genius, which +had lost nothing of its daring and vigour. At this moment, he stands out +nobly, no longer an oppressor; no longer a conqueror; defending, inch by +inch, with new victories, the soil of his country, and at the same time, +his empire and renown. + +He marched into Champaigne against the two great hostile armies. General +Maison was charged to intercept Bernadotte in Belgium; Augereau, the +Austrians, at Lyons; Soult, the English, on the Spanish frontier. Prince +Eugene was to defend Italy; and the empire, though penetrated in the very +centre, still stretched its vast arms into the depths of Germany by its +garrisons beyond the Rhine. Napoleon did not despair of driving these +swarms of foes from the territory of France by means of a powerful +military reaction, and again planting his standards in the countries of +the enemy. He placed himself skilfully between Bluecher, who was descending +the Marne, and Schwartzenberg, who descended the Seine; he hastened from +one of these armies to the other, and defeated them alternately; Bluecher +was overpowered at Champ-Aubert, Montmirail, Chateau-Thierry, and +Vauchamps; and when his army was destroyed, Napoleon returned to the +Seine, defeated the Austrians at Montereau, and drove them before him. His +combinations were so strong, his activity so great, his measures so sure, +that he seemed on the point of entirely disorganizing these two formidable +armies, and with them annihilating the coalition. + +But if he conquered wherever he came, the foe triumphed wherever he was +not. The English had entered Bordeaux, where a party had declared for the +Bourbon family; the Austrians occupied Lyons; the Belgian army had joined +the remnant of that of Bluecher, which re-appeared on Napoleon's rear. +Defection now entered his own family, and Murat had just followed, in +Italy, the example of Bernadotte, by joining the coalition. The grand +officers of the empire still served him, but languidly, and he only found +ardour and fidelity in his subaltern generals and indefatigable soldiers. +Napoleon had again marched on Bluecher, who had escaped from him thrice: on +the left of the Marne, by a sudden frost, which hardened the muddy ways +amongst which the Prussians had involved themselves, and were in danger of +perishing; on the Aisne, through the defection of Soissons, which opened a +passage to them, at a moment when they had no other way of escape; and +Laon, by the fault of the duke of Ragusa, who prevented a decisive battle, +by suffering himself to be surprised by night. After so many fatalities, +which frustrated the surest plans, Napoleon, ill sustained by his +generals, surrounded by the coalition, conceived the bold design of +transporting himself to Saint-Dizier and closing on the enemy the egress +from France. This daring march so full of genius, startled for a moment +the confederate generals, from whom it cut off all retreat; but, excited +by secret encouragements, without being anxious for their rear, they +advanced on Paris. + +This great city, the only capital of Europe which had not been the theatre +of war, suddenly saw all the troops of Europe enter its plains, and was on +the point of undergoing the common humiliation. It was left to itself. The +empress, appointed regent a few months before, had just left it to repair +to Blois. Napoleon was at a distance. There was not that despair and that +movement of liberty which drive a people to resistance; war was no longer +made on nations, but on governments, and the emperor had centred all the +public interest in himself, and placed all his means of defence in +mechanical troops. The exhaustion was great; a feeling of pride, of very +just pride, alone made the approach of the stranger painful, and oppressed +every Frenchman's heart at seeing his native land trodden by armies so +long vanquished. But this sentiment was not sufficiently strong to raise +the masses of the population against the enemy; and the measures of the +royalist party, at the head of which the prince of Benevento placed +himself, called the allied troops to the capital. An action took place, +however, on the 30th of March, under the walls of Paris; but on the 31st, +the gates were opened to the confederate forces, who entered in pursuance +of a capitulation. The senate consummated the great imperial defection by +forsaking its old master; it was influenced by M. de Talleyrand, who for +some time had been out of favour with Napoleon. This voluntary actor in +every crisis of power had just declared against him. With no attachment to +party, of a profound political indifference, he foresaw from a distance +with wonderful sagacity the fall of a government; withdrew from it +opportunely; and when the precise moment for assailing it had arrived, +joined in the attack with all his talents, his influence, his name, and +his authority, which he had taken care to preserve. In favour of the +revolution, under the constituent assembly; of the directory, on the 18th +Fructidor; for the consulate, on the 18th Brumaire; for the empire, in +1804, he was for the restoration of the royal family, in 1814; he seemed +grand master of the ceremonies for the party in power, and for the last +thirty years it was he who had dismissed and installed the successive +governments. The senate, influenced by him, appointed a provisional +government, and declared Napoleon deposed from his throne, the hereditary +rights of his family abolished, the people and army freed from their oath +of fidelity. It proclaimed him _tyrant_ whose despotism it had facilitated +by its adulation. Meantime, Napoleon, urged by those about him to succour +the capital, had abandoned his march on Saint-Dizier, and hastened to +Paris at the head of fifty thousand men, in the hope of preventing the +entry of the enemy. On his arrival (1st of April), he heard of the +capitulation of the preceding day, and fell back on Fontainebleau, where +he learned the defection of the senate, and his deposition. Then finding +that all gave way around him in his ill fortune, the people, the senate, +generals and courtiers, he decided on abdicating in favour of his son. He +sent the duke of Vicenza, the prince of the Moskva, and the duke of +Tarento, as plenipotentiaries to the confederates; on their way, they were +to take with them the duke of Ragusa, who covered Fontainebleau with a +corps. + +Napoleon, with his fifty thousand men, and strong military position, could +yet oblige the coalition to admit the claim of his son. But the duke of +Ragusa forsook his post, treated with the enemy, and left Fontainebleau +exposed. Napoleon was then obliged to submit to the conditions of the +allied powers; their pretensions increased with their power. At Prague, +they ceded to him the empire, with the Alps and the Rhine for limits; +after the invasion of France, they offered him at Chatillon the +possessions of the old monarchy only; later, they refused to treat with +him except in favour of his son; but now, determined on destroying all +that remained of the revolution with respect to Europe, its conquest and +dynasty, they compelled Napoleon to abdicate absolutely. On the 11th of +April, 1814, he renounced for himself and children the thrones of France +and Italy, and received the little island of Elba in exchange for his vast +sovereignty, the limits of which had extended from Cadiz to the Baltic +Sea. On the 20th, after an affecting farewell to his old soldiers, he +departed for his new principality. + +Thus fell this man, who alone, for fourteen years, had filled the world. +His enterprising and organising genius, his power of life and will, his +love of glory, and the immense disposable force which the revolution +placed in his hands, have made him the most gigantic being of modern +times. That which would have rendered the destiny of another +extraordinary, scarcely counts in his. Rising from an obscure to the +highest rank; from a simple artillery officer becoming the chief of the +greatest of nations, he dared to conceive the idea of universal monarchy, +and for a moment realized it. After having obtained the empire by his +victories, he wished to subdue Europe by means of France, and reduce +England by means of Europe, and he established the military system against +the continent, the blockade against Great Britain. This design succeeded +for some years; from Lisbon to Moscow he subjected people and potentates +to his word of command as general, and to the vast sequestration which he +prescribed. But in this way he failed in discharging his restorative +mission of the 18th Brumaire. By exercising on his own account the power +he had received, by attacking the liberty of the people by despotic +institutions, the independence of states by war, he excited against +himself the opinions and interests of the human race; he provoked +universal hostility. The nation forsook him, and after having been long +victorious, after having planted his standard in every capital, after +having during ten years augmented his power, and gained a kingdom with +every battle, a single reverse combined the world against him, proving by +his fall how impossible in our days is despotism. + +Yet Napoleon, amidst all the disastrous results of his system, gave a +prodigious impulse to the continent; his armies carried with them the +ideas and customs of the more advanced civilization of France. European +societies were shaken on their old foundations; nations were mingled by +frequent intercourse; bridges thrown across boundary rivers; high roads +made over the Alps, Apennines, and Pyrenees, brought territories nearer to +each other; and Napoleon effected for the material condition of states +what the revolution had done for the minds of men. The blockade completed +the impulse of conquest; it improved continental industry, enabling it to +take the place of that of England, and replaced colonial commerce by the +produce of manufactures. Thus Napoleon, by agitating nations, contributed +to their civilization. His despotism rendered him counter-revolutionary +with respect to France; but his spirit of conquest made him a regenerator +with respect to Europe, of which many nations, in torpor till he came, +will live henceforth with the life he gave them. But in this Napoleon +obeyed the dictates of his nature. The child of war--war was his tendency, +his pleasure: domination his object; he wanted to master the world, and +circumstances placed it in his hand, in order that he might make use of +it. + +Napoleon has presented in France what Cromwell presented for a moment in +England; the government of the army, which always establishes itself when +a revolution is contended against; it then gradually changes, and from +being civil, as it was at first, becomes military. In Great Britain, +internal war not being complicated with foreign war, on account of the +geographical situation of the country, which isolated it from other +states, as soon as the enemies of reform were vanquished, the army passed +from the field of battle to the government. Its intervention being +premature, Cromwell, its general, found parties still in the fury of their +passions, in all the fanaticism of their opinions, and he directed against +them alone his military administration. The French revolution taking place +on the continent saw the nations disposed for liberty, and sovereigns +leagued from a fear of the liberation of their people. It had not only +internal enemies, but also foreign enemies to contend with; and while its +armies were repelling Europe, parties were overthrowing each other in the +assemblies. The military intervention came later; Napoleon, finding +factions defeated and opinions almost forsaken, obtained obedience easily +from the nation, and turned the military government against Europe. + +This difference of position materially influenced the conduct and +character of these two extraordinary men. Napoleon, disposing of immense +force and of uncontested power, gave himself up in security to the vast +designs and the part of a conqueror; while Cromwell, deprived of the +assent which a worn out people could give, and, incessantly attacked by +factions, was reduced to neutralise them one by the other, and keep +himself to the end the military dictator of parties. The one employed his +genius in undertaking; the other in resisting. Accordingly, the former had +the frankness and decision of power; the other, the craft and hypocrisy of +opposed ambition. This situation would destroy their sway. + +All dictatorships are transient; and however strong or great, it is +impossible for any one long to subject parties or long to retain kingdoms. +It is this that, sooner or later, would have led to the fall of Cromwell +(had he lived longer,) by internal conspiracies; and that brought on the +downfall of Napoleon, by the raising of Europe. Such is the fate of all +powers which, arising from liberty, do not continue to abide with her. In +1814, the empire had just been destroyed; the revolutionary parties had +ceased to exist since the 18th Brumaire. All the governments of this +political period had been exhausted. The senate recalled the old royal +family. Already unpopular on account of its past servility, it ruined- +itself in public opinion by publishing a constitution, tolerably liberal, +but which placed on the same footing the pensions of senators and the +guarantees of the nation. The Count d'Artois, who had been the first to +leave France, was the first to return, in the character of lieutenant- +general of the kingdom. He signed, on the 23rd of April, the convention of +Paris, which reduced the French territory to its limits of the 1st of +January, 1792, and by which Belgium, Savoy, Nice, and Geneva, and immense +military stores, ceased to belong to us. Louis XVIII. landed at Calais on +the 24th of April, and entered Paris with solemnity on the 3rd of May, +1814, after having, on the 2nd, made the Declaration of Saint Omer, which +fixed the principles of the representative government, and which was +followed on the 2nd of June by the promulgation of the charter. + +At this epoch, a new series of events begins. The year 1814 was the term +of the great movement of the preceding five and twenty years. The +revolution had been political, as directed against the absolute power of +the court and the privileged classes, and military, because Europe had +attacked it. The reaction which arose at that time only destroyed the +empire and brought about the coalition in Europe, and the representative +system in France; such was to be its first period. Later, it opposed the +revolution, and produced the holy alliance against the people, and the +government of a party against the charter. This retrograde movement +necessarily had its course and limits. France can only be ruled in a +durable manner by satisfying the twofold need which made it undertake the +revolution. It requires real political liberty in the government; and in +society, the material prosperity produced by the continually progressing +development of civilization. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the French Revolution from +1789 to 1814, by F. A. M. Miguet + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIST. 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Mignet + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9602] +[This file was first posted on October 9, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM 1789 TO 1814 *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Anne Soulard, Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, and the +Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM 1789 TO 1814 + +BY + +F.A.M. MIGNET + + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Of the great incidents of History, none has attracted more attention or +proved more difficult of interpretation than the French Revolution. The +ultimate significance of other striking events and their place in the +development of mankind can be readily estimated. It is clear enough that +the barbarian invasions marked the death of the classical world, already +mortally wounded by the rise of Christianity. It is clear enough that the +Renaissance emancipated the human intellect from the trammels of a bastard +mediaevalism, that the Reformation consolidated the victory of the "new +learning" by including theology among the subjects of human debate. But +the French Revolution seems to defy complete analysis. Its complexity was +great, its contradictions numerous and astounding. A movement ostensibly +directed against despotism culminated in the establishment of a despotism +far more complete than that which had been overthrown. The apostles of +liberty proscribed whole classes of their fellow-citizens, drenching in +innocent blood the land which they claimed to deliver from oppression. The +apostles of equality established a tyranny of horror, labouring to +extirpate all who had committed the sin of being fortunate. The apostles +of fraternity carried fire and sword to the farthest confines of Europe, +demanding that a continent should submit to the arbitrary dictation of a +single people. And of the Revolution were born the most rigid of modern +codes of law, that spirit of militarism which to-day has caused a world to +mourn, that intolerance of intolerance which has armed anti-clerical +persecutions in all lands. Nor were the actors in the drama less varied +than the scenes enacted. The Revolution produced Mirabeau and Talleyrand, +Robespierre and Napoleon, Sieyes and Hebert. The marshals of the First +Empire, the doctrinaires of the Restoration, the journalists of the +Orleanist monarchy, all were alike the children of this generation of +storm and stress, of high idealism and gross brutality, of changing +fortunes and glory mingled with disaster. + +To describe the whole character of a movement so complex, so diverse in +its promises and fulfilment, so crowded with incident, so rich in action, +may well be declared impossible. No sooner has some proposition been +apparently established, than a new aspect of the period is suddenly +revealed, and all judgments have forthwith to be revised. That the +Revolution was a great event is certain; all else seems to be uncertain. +For some it is, as it was for Charles Fox, much the greatest of all events +and much the best. For some it is, as it was for Burke, the accursed +thing, the abomination of desolation. If its dark side alone be regarded, +it oppresses the very soul of man. A king, guilty of little more than +amiable weakness and legitimate or pious affection; a queen whose gravest +fault was but the frivolity of youth and beauty, was done to death. For +loyalty to her friends, Madame Roland died; for loving her husband, +Lucille Desmoulins perished. The agents of the Terror spared neither age +nor sex; neither the eminence of high attainment nor the insignificance of +dull mediocrity won mercy at their hands. The miserable Du Barri was +dragged from her obscure retreat to share the fate of a Malesherbes, a +Bailly, a Lavoisier. Robespierre was no more protected by his cold +incorruptibility, than was Barnave by his eloquence, Hebert by his +sensuality, Danton by his practical good sense. Nothing availed to save +from the all-devouring guillotine. Those who did survive seem almost to +have survived by chance, delivered by some caprice of fortune or by the +criminal levity of "les tricoteuses," vile women who degraded the very +dregs of their sex. + +For such atrocities no apology need be attempted, but their cause may be +explained, the factors which produced such popular fury may be understood. +As he stands on the terrace of Versailles or wanders through the vast +apartments of the chateau, the traveller sees in imagination the dramatic +panorama of the long-dead past. The courtyard is filled with half-demented +women, clamouring that the Father of his People should feed his starving +children. The Well-Beloved jests cynically as, amid torrents of rain, +Pompadour is borne to her grave. Maintenon, gloomily pious, urges with +sinister whispers the commission of a great crime, bidding the king save +his vice-laden soul. Montespan laughs happily in her brief days of +triumph. And dominating the scene is the imposing figure of the Grand +Monarque. Louis haunts his great creation; Louis in his prime, the admired +and feared of Europe, the incarnation of kingship; Louis surrounded by +his gay and brilliant court, all eager to echo his historic boast, to sink +in their master the last traces of their identity. + +Then a veil falls. But some can lift it, to behold a far different, a far +more stirring vision, and to such the deeper causes of the Terror are +revealed. For they behold a vast multitude, stained with care, haggard, +forlorn, striving, dying, toiling even to their death, that the passing +whim of a tyrant may be gratified. Louis commanded; Versailles arose, a +palace of rare delight for princes and nobles, for wits and courtly +prelates, for grave philosophers and ladies frail as fair. A palace and a +hell, a grim monument to regal egoism, created to minister to the inflated +vanity of a despot, an eternal warning to mankind that the abuse of +absolute power is an accursed thing. Every flower, in those wide gardens +has been watered with the tears of stricken souls; every stone in that +vast pile of buildings was cemented with human blood. None can estimate +the toll of anguish exacted that Versailles might be; none can tell all +its cost, since for human suffering there is no price. The weary toilers +went to their doom, unnoticed, unhonoured, their misery unregarded, their +pain ignored, And the king rejoiced in his glory, while his poets sang +paeans in his praise. + +But the day of reckoning came, and that day was the Terror. The heirs of +those who toiled made their account with the heirs of those who played. +The players died bravely, like the gallant gentlemen they were; their +courage is applauded, a world laments their fate. The misery, thus +avenged, is forgotten; all the long agony of centuries, all the sunless +hours, all the darkness of a land's despair. For that sadness was hidden; +it was but the exceeding bitter lot of the poor, devoid of that dramatic +interest which illumines one immortal hour of pain. Yet he who would +estimate aright the Terror, who would fully understand the Revolution, +must reflect not only upon the suffering of those who fell victims to an +outburst of insensate frenzy, but also upon the suffering by which that +frenzy was aroused. In a few months the French people took what recompense +they might for many decades of oppression. They exacted retribution for +the building of Versailles, of all the chateaux of Touraine; for all the +burdens laid upon them since that day when liberty was enchained and +France became the bond-slave of her monarchs. Louis XVI. paid for the +selfish glory of Louis XIV.; the nobles paid for the pleasures which their +forefathers had so carelessly enjoyed; the privileged classes for the +privileges which they had usurped and had so grievously misused. + +The payment fell heavily upon individuals; the innocent often suffered for +the guilty; a Liancourt died while a Polignac escaped. Many who wished +well to France, many who had laboured for her salvation, perished; virtue +received the just punishment of vice. But the Revolution has another side; +it was no mere nightmare of horrors piled on horrors. It is part of the +pathos of History that no good has been unattended by evil, that by +suffering alone is mankind redeemed, that through the valley of shadow +lies the path by which the race toils slowly towards the fulfilment of its +high destiny. And if the victims of the guillotine could have foreseen the +future, many might have died gladly. For by their death they brought the +new France to birth. The Revolution rises superior to the crimes and +follies of its authors; it has atoned to posterity for all the sorrow that +it caused, for all the wrong that was done in its name. If it killed +laughter, it also dried many tears. By it privilege was slain in France, +tyranny rendered more improbable, almost impossible. The canker of a +debased feudalism was swept away. Men were made equal before the law. +Those barriers by which the flow of economic life in France was checked +were broken down. All careers were thrown open to talent. The right of the +producer to a voice in the distribution of the product was recognised. +Above all, a new gospel of political liberty was expounded. The world, and +the princes of the world, learned that peoples do not exist for the +pleasure of some despot and the profit of his cringing satellites. In the +order of nature, nothing can be born save through suffering; in the order +of politics, this is no less true. From the sorrow of brief months has +grown the joy of long years; the Revolution slew that it might also make +alive. + +Herein, perhaps, may be found the secret of its complexity, of its seeming +contradictions. The authors of the Revolution pursued an ideal, an ideal +expressed in three words, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. That they might +win their quest, they had both to destroy and to construct. They had to +sweep away the past, and from the resultant chaos to construct a new +order. Alike in destruction and construction, they committed errors; they +fell far below their high ideals. The altruistic enthusiasts of the +National Assembly gave place to the practical politicians of the +Convention, the diplomatists of the Directory, the generals of the +Consulate. The Empire was far from realising that bright vision of a +regenerate nation which had dazzled the eyes of Frenchmen in the first +hours of the States-General. Liberty was sacrificed to efficiency; +equality to man's love for titles of honour; fraternity to desire of +glory. So it has been with all human effort. Man is imperfect, and his +imperfection mars his fairest achievements. Whatever great movement may be +considered, its ultimate attainment has fallen far short of its initial +promise. The authors of the Revolution were but men; they were no more +able than their fellows to discover and to hold fast to the true way of +happiness. They wavered between the two extremes of despotism and anarchy; +they declined from the path of grace. And their task remained unfulfilled. +Many of their dreams were far from attaining realisation; they inaugurated +no era of perfect bliss; they produced no Utopia. But their labour was not +in vain. Despite its disappointments, despite all its crimes and blunders, +the French Revolution was a great, a wonderful event. It did contribute to +the uplifting of humanity, and the world is the better for its occurrence. + +That he might indicate this truth, that he might do something to +counteract the distortion of the past, Mignet wrote his _Histoire de la +Revolution Francaise_. At the moment when he came from Aix to Paris, the +tide of reaction was rising steadily in France. Decazes had fallen; Louis +XVIII. was surrendering to the ultra-royalist cabal. Aided by such +fortuitous events as the murder of the Duc de Berri, and supported by an +artificial majority in the Chamber, Villele was endeavouring to bring back +the _ancien regime_. Compensation for the _emigres_ was already mooted; +ecclesiastical control of education suggested. Direct criticism of the +ministry was rendered difficult, and even dangerous, by the censorship of +the press. Above all, the champions of reaction relied upon a certain +misrepresentation of the recent history of their country. The memory of +the Terror was still vivid; it was sedulously kept alive. The people were +encouraged to dread revolutionary violence, to forget the abuses by which +that violence had been evoked and which it had swept away. To all +complaints of executive tyranny, to all demands for greater political +liberty, the reactionaries made one answer. They declared that through +willingness to hear such complaints Louis XVI. had lost his throne and +life; that through the granting of such demands, the way had been prepared +for the bloody despotism of Robespierre. And they pointed the apparent +moral, that concessions to superficially mild and legitimate requests +would speedily reanimate the forces of anarchy. They insisted that by +strong government and by the sternest repression of the disaffected alone +could France be protected from a renewal of that nightmare of horror, at +the thought of which she still shuddered. And hence those who would +prevent the further progress of reaction had first of all to induce their +fellow-countrymen to realise that the Revolution was no mere orgy of +murder. They had to deliver liberty from those calumnies by which its +curtailment was rendered possible and even popular. + +Understanding this, Mignet wrote. It would have been idle for him to have +denied that atrocities had been committed, nor had the day for a panegyric +on Danton, for a defence of Robespierre, yet dawned. Mignet did not +attempt the impossible. Rather by granting the case for his opponents he +sought to controvert them the more effectively. He laid down as his +fundamental thesis that the Revolution was inevitable. It was the outcome +of the past history of France; it pursued the course which it was bound to +pursue. Individuals and episodes in the drama are thus relatively +insignificant and unimportant. The crimes committed may be regretted; +their memory should not produce any condemnation of the movement as a +whole. To judge the Revolution by the Terror, or by the Consulate, would +be wrong and foolish; to declare it evil, because it did not proceed in a +gentle and orderly manner would be to outrage the historical sense. It is +wiser and more profitable to look below the surface, to search out those +deep lessons which may be learned. And Mignet closes his work by stating +one of these lessons, that which to him was, perhaps, the most vital: "On +ne peut regir desormais la France d'une maniere durable, qu'en +satisfaisant le double besoin qui lui a fait entreprendre la revolution. +Il lui faut, dans le gouvernement, une liberte politique reelle, et dans +la societe, le bien-etre materiel que produit le developpement sans cesse +perfectionne de la civilisation." + +It was not Mignet's object to present a complete account of the +Revolution, and while he records the more important events of the period, +he does not attempt to deal exhaustively with all its many sides. It is +accordingly possible to point out various omissions. He does not explain +the organisation of the "deputies on mission," he only glances at that of +the commune or of the Committee of Public Safety. His account of the +Consulate and of the Empire appears to be disproportionately brief. But +the complexity of the period, and the wealth of materials for its history, +render it impossible for any one man to discuss it in detail, and Mignet's +work gains rather than loses by its limitations. Those facts which +illustrate his fundamental thesis are duly recorded; the causes and +results of events are clearly indicated; the actions of individuals are +described in so far as they subserve the author's purpose. The whole book +is marked by a notable impartiality; it is only on rare occasions, as in +the case of Lafayette, that the circumstances in which it was written have +been permitted to colour the judgments passed. Nor is the value of the +work seriously reduced by the fact that modern research compels its +revision in certain particulars, since it is so clearly not intended to be +a final and detailed history of the period. It is a philosophical study of +a great epoch, and as such, however its point of view may be criticised, +it is illuminating and well worthy of preservation. It supplies a +thoughtful and inspiring commentary upon the French Revolution. + +L. CECIL JANE. +1915. + + +BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.--Francois Auguste Marie Mignet was born at Aix in +Provence in 1796. He was educated at Avignon and in his native town, at +first studying law. But, having gained some literary successes, he removed +to Paris in 1821 and devoted himself to writing. He became professor of +history at the _Athenee_, and after the Revolution of 1830 was made +director of the archives in the Foreign Office, a post which he held until +1848. He was then removed by Lamartine and died in retirement in 1854. His +_Histoire de la Revolution Francaise_ was first published in 1824; a +translation into English appeared in Bogue's European library in 1846 and +is here re-edited. Among Mignet's other works may be mentioned _Antoine +Perez et Philippe II._ and _Histoire de Marie Stuart_. As a journalist, he +wrote mainly on foreign policy for the _Courrier Francais_. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +Eloge de Charles VII., 1820; Les Institutions de Saint Louis, 1821; De la +feodalite, des institutions de Saint Louis et de l'influence de la +legislation de ce prince, 1822; Histoire de la revolution francaise, 1824 +(trans. 2 vols., London, 1826, Bonn's Libraries, 1846); La Germanie au +VIIIe et au IXe siecle, sa conversion au christianisme, et son +introduction dans la societe civilisee de l'Europe occidentale, 1834; +Essai sur la formation territoriale et politique de la France depuis la +fin de XIe siecle jusqu'a la fin du XVe, 1836; Notices et Memoires +historiques, 1843; Charles Quint, son abdication, son sejour, et sa mort +au monastere de Yuste, 1845; Antonio Perez et Philippe II., 1845 +(translated by C. Cocks, London, 1846; translated from second French +edition by W. F. Ainsworth, London, 1846); Histoire de Marie Stuart, 2 +vols., 1851 (translated by A. R. Scoble, 1851); Portraits et Notices, +historiques et litteraires, 2 vols., 1852; Eloges historiques, 1864; +Histoire de la rivalite de Francois I. et de Charles Quint, 1875; Nouveaux +eloges historiques, 1877. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +Character of the French revolution--Its results, its progress--Successive +forms of the monarchy--Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--State of men's minds, of +the finances, of the public power and the public wants at the accession of +Louis XVI.--His character--Maurepas, prime minister--His policy--Chooses +popular and reforming ministers--His object--Turgot, Malesherbes, Necker-- +Their plans--Opposed by the court and the privileged classes--Their +failure--Death of Maurepas--Influence of the Queen, Marie-Antoinette-- +Popular ministers are succeeded by court ministers--Calonne and his +system--Brienne, his character and attempts--Distressed state of the +finances--Opposition of the assembly of the notables, of the parliament, +and provinces--Dismissal of Brienne--Second administration of Necker-- +Convocation of the states-general--Immediate causes of the revolution. + +CHAPTER I + +FROM THE 5TH OF MAY, 1789, TO THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST + +Opening of the states-general--Opinion of the court, of the ministry, and +of the various bodies of the kingdom respecting the states--Verification +of powers--Question of vote by order or by poll--The order of the commons +forms itself into a national assembly--The court causes the Hall of the +states to be closed--Oath of the Tennis-court--The majority of the order +of the clergy unites itself with the commons--Royal sitting of the 23rd of +June--Its inutility--Project of the court--Events of the 12th, 13th, and +14th of July--Dismissal of Necker--Insurrection of Paris--Formation of +the national guard--Siege and taking of the Bastille--Consequences of the +14th of July--Decrees of the night of the 4th of August--Character of the +revolution which had just been brought about. + +CHAPTER II + +FROM THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST TO THE 5TH AND 6TH OF +OCTOBER, 1789 + +State of the constituent assembly--Party of the high clergy and nobility-- +Maury and Cazales--Party of the ministry and of the two chambers: Mounier, +Lally-Tollendal--Popular party: triumvirate of Barnave, Duport, and +Lameth--Its position--Influence of Sieyes--Mirabeau chief of the assembly +at that period--Opinion to be formed of the Orleans party--Constitutional +labours--Declaration of rights--Permanency and unity of the legislative +body--Royal sanction--External agitation caused by it--Project of the +court--Banquet of the gardes-du-corps--Insurrection of the 5th and 6th +October--The king comes to reside at Paris. + +CHAPTER III + +FROM THE 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789, TO THE DEATH OF MIRABEAU, +APRIL, 1791 + +Results of the events of October--Alteration of the provinces into +departments--Organization of the administrative and municipal authorities +according to the system of popular sovereignty and election--Finances; all +the means employed are insufficient--Property of the clergy declared +national--The sale of the property of the clergy leads to assignats--Civil +constitution of the clergy--Religious opposition of the bishops-- +Anniversary of the 14th of July--Abolition of titles--Confederation of the +Champ de Mars--New organization of the army--Opposition of the officers-- +Schism respecting the civil constitution of the clergy--Clubs--Death of +Mirabeau--During the whole of this period the separation of parties +becomes more decided. + +CHAPTER IV + +FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 30TH SEPTEMBER, THE END OF THE +CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY + +Political state of Europe before the French revolution--System of alliance +observed by different states--General coalition against the revolution-- +Motives of each power--Conference of Mantua, and circular of Pavia--Flight +to Varennes--Arrest of the king--His suspension--The republican party +separate, for the first time, from the party of the constitutional +monarchy--The latter re-establishes the king--Declaration of Pilnitz--The +king accepts the constitution--End of the constituent assembly--Opinion of +it. + + + +THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + +CHAPTER V + +FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792 + +Early relations between the legislative assembly and the king--State of +parties: the Feuillants rely on the middle classes, the Girondists on the +people--Emigration and the dissentient clergy; decree against them; the +king's veto--Declarations of war--Girondist ministry; Dumouriez, Roland-- +Declaration of war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia--Disasters of +our armies; decree for a camp of reserve for twenty thousand men at Paris; +decree of banishment against the nonjuring priests; veto of the king; fall +of the Girondist ministry--Petition of insurgents of the 20th of June to +secure the passing of the decrees and the recall of the ministers--Last +efforts of the constitutional party--Manifesto of the duke of Brunswick-- +Events of the 10th of August--Military insurrection of Lafayette against +the authors of the events of the 10th of August; it fails--Division of the +assembly and the new commune; Danton--Invasion of the Prussians-- +Massacres of the 2nd of September--Campaign of the Argonne--Causes of the +events under the legislative assembly. + + +THE NATIONAL CONVENTION + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1792, TO THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793 + +First measures of the Convention--Its composition--Rivalry of the Gironde +and of the Mountain--Strength and views of the two parties--Robespierre: +the Girondists accuse him of aspiring to the dictatorship--Marat--Fresh +accusation of Robespierre by Louvet; Robespierre's defence; the Convention +passes to the order of the day--The Mountain, victorious in this struggle, +demand the trial of Louis XVI.--Opinions of parties on this subject--The +Convention decides that Louis XVI. shall be tried, and by itself--Louis +XVI. at the Temple; his replies before the Convention; his defence; his +condemnation; courage and serenity of his last moments--What he was, and +what he was not, as a king. + +CHAPTER VII + +FROM THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793, TO THE 2ND OF JUNE + +Political and military situation of France--England, Holland, Spain, +Naples, and all the circles of the empire fall in with the coalition-- +Dumouriez, after having conquered Belgium, attempts an expedition into +Holland--He wishes to re-establish constitutional monarchy--Reverses of +our armies--Struggle between the Gironde and the Mountain--Conspiracy of +the 10th of March--Insurrection of La Vendee; its progress--Defection of +Dumouriez--The Gironde accused of being his accomplices--New conspiracies +against them--Establishment of the Commission of Twelve to frustrate the +conspirators--Insurrections of the 27th and 31st of May against the +Commission of Twelve; its suppression--Insurrection of the 2nd of June +against the two-and-twenty leading Girondists; their arrest--Total defeat +of that party. + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE 2ND OF JUNE, 1793, TO APRIL, 1794 + +Insurrection of the departments against the 31st of May--Protracted +reverses on the frontiers--Progress of the Vendeans--The _Montagnards_ +decree the constitution of 1793, and immediately suspend it to maintain +and strengthen the revolutionary government--_Levee en masse_; law against +suspected persons--Victories of the _Montagnards_ in the interior, and on +the frontiers--Death of the queen, of the twenty-two Girondists, etc.-- +Committee of public safety; its power; its members--Republican calendar-- +The conquerors of the 31st of May separate--The ultra-revolutionary +faction of the commune, or the Hebertists, abolish the catholic religion, +and establish the worship of Reason; its struggle with the committee of +public safety; its defeat--The moderate faction of the _Montagnards_, or +the Dantonists, wish to destroy the revolutionary dictatorship, and to +establish the legal government; their fall--The committee of public safety +remains alone, and triumphant. + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE DEATH OF DANTON, APRIL, 1794, TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR +(27TH JULY, 1794) + +Increase of terror; its cause--System of the democrats; Saint-Just-- +Robespierre's power--Festival of the Supreme Being--Couthon presents the +law of the 22nd Prairial, which reorganizes the revolutionary tribunal; +disturbances; debates; final obedience of the convention--The active +members of the committee have a division--Robespierre, Saint-Just, and +Couthon on one side; Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, Barrere, and the +members of the committee of general safety on the other--Conduct of +Robespierre--He absents himself from the committee, and rests on the +Jacobins and the commune--On the 8th of Thermidor he demands the renewal +of the committees; the motion is rejected--Sitting of the 9th Thermidor; +Saint-Just denounces the committees; is interrupted by Tallien; Billaud- +Varennes violently attacks Robespierre; general indignation of the +convention against the triumvirate; they are arrested--The commune rises +and liberates the prisoners--Peril and courage of the convention; it +outlaws the insurgents--The sections declare for the convention--Defeat +and execution of Robespierre. + +CHAPTER X + +FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). +EPOCH OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY + +The convention, after the fall of Robespierre; party of the committees; +Thermidorian party; their constitution and object--Decay of the democratic +party of the committees--Impeachment of Lebon and Carrier--State of Paris +--The Jacobins and the Faubourgs declare for the old committees; the +_jeunesse doree_, and the sections for the Thermidorians--Impeachment of +Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, Barrere, and Vadier--Movement of +Germinal--Transportation of the accused, and of a few of the Mountain, +their partisans--Insurrection of the 1st Prairial--Defeat of the +democratic party; disarming of the Faubourgs--The lower class is excluded +from the government, deprived of the constitution of '93, and loses its +material power. + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE 1ST PRAIRIAL (20TH OF MAY, 1795) TO THE 4TH BRUMAIRE +(26TH OF OCTOBER), YEAR IV., THE CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION + +Campaign of 1793 and 1794--Disposition of the armies on hearing the news +of the 9th Thermidor--Conquest of Holland; position on the Rhine--Peace of +Basel with Prussia--Peace with Spain--Descent upon Quiberon--The reaction +ceases to be conventional, and becomes royalist--Massacre of the +revolutionists, in the south--Directorial constitution of the year III.-- +Decrees of Fructidor, which require the re-election of two-thirds of the +convention--Irritation of the sectionary royalist party--It becomes +insurgent--The 13th of Vendemiaire--Appointment of the councils and of the +directory--Close of the convention; its duration and character. + + +THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY + +CHAPTER XII + +FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THE DIRECTORY, ON THE 27TH OCTOBER, 1795, TO THE +COUP-D'ETAT OF THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, YEAR V. (3RD AUGUST, 1797) + +Review of the revolution--Its second character of reorganization; +transition from public to private life--The five directors; their labours +for the interior--Pacification of La Vendee--Conspiracy of Babeuf; final +defeat of the democratic party--Plan of campaign against Austria; conquest +of Italy by general Bonaparte; treaty of Campo-Formio; the French republic +is acknowledged, with its acquisitions, and its connection with the Dutch, +Lombard, and Ligurian republics, which prolonged its system in Europe-- +Royalist elections in the year V.; they alter the position of the +republic--New contest between the counter-revolutionary party in the +councils, in the club of Clichy, in the salons, and the conventional +party, in the directory, the club of _Salm_, and the army--Coup d'etat of +the 18th Fructidor; the Vendemiaire party again defeated. + +CHAPTER XIII + +FROM THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, IN THE YEAR V. (4TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1797), TO THE +18TH BRUMAIRE, IN THE YEAR VIII. (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) + +By the 18th Fructidor the directory returns, with slight mitigation, to +the revolutionary government--General peace, except with England--Return +of Bonaparte to Paris--Expedition into Egypt--Democratic elections for the +year VI.--The directory annuls them on the 22nd Floreal--Second coalition; +Russia, Austria, and England attack the republic through Italy, +Switzerland, and Holland; general defeats--Democratic elections for the +year VII.; on the 30th Prairial the councils get the upper hand, and +disorganize the old directory--Two parties in the new directory, and in +the councils: the moderate republican party under Sieyes, Roger-Ducos, and +the ancients; the extreme republican party under Moulins, Golier, the Five +Hundred, and the Society of the Manege--Various projects--Victories of +Massena, in Switzerland; of Brune, in Holland--Bonaparte returns from +Egypt; comes to an understanding with Sieyes and his party--The 18th and +19th Brumaire--End of the directorial system. + + +THE CONSULATE + +CHAPTER XIV + +FROM THE 18TH BRUMAIRE (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) TO THE 2ND +OF DECEMBER, 1804 + +Hopes entertained by the various parties, after the 18th Brumaire-- +Provisional government--Constitution of Sieyes; distorted into the +consular constitution of the year VIII.--Formation of the government; +pacific designs of Bonaparte--Campaign of Italy; victory of Marengo-- +General peace: on the continent, by the treaty of Luneville with England; +by the treaty of Amiens--Fusion of parties; internal prosperity of France +--Ambitious system of the First Consul; re-establishes the clergy in the +state, by the Concordat of 1802; he creates a military order of +knighthood, by means of the Legion of Honour; he completes this order of +things by the consulate for life--Resumption of hostilities with England-- +Conspiracy of Georges and Pichegru--The war and royalist attempts form a +pretext for the erection of the empire--Napoleon Bonaparte appointed +hereditary emperor; is crowned by the pope on the 2nd of December, 1804, +in the church of Notre Dame--Successive abandonment of the revolution-- +Progress of absolute power during the four years of the consulate. + + +THE EMPIRE + +CHAPTER XV + +FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE, 1804-1814 + +Character of the empire--Change of the republics created by the directory +into kingdoms--Third coalition; capture of Vienna; victories of Ulm and +Austerlitz; peace of Pressburg; erection of the two kingdoms of Bavaria +and Wurtemberg against Austria--Confederation of the Rhine--Joseph +Napoleon appointed king of Naples; Louis Napoleon, king of Holland--Fourth +coalition; battle of Jena; capture of Berlin; victories of Eylau and +Friedland; peace of Tilsit; the Prussian monarchy is reduced by one half; +the kingdoms of Saxony and Westphalia are instituted against it; that of +Westphalia given to Jerome Napoleon--The grand empire rises with its +secondary kingdoms, its confederation of the Rhine, its Swiss mediation, +its great fiefs; it is modelled on that of Charlemagne--Blockade of the +continent--Napoleon employs the cessation of commerce to reduce England, +as he had employed arms to subdue the continent--Invasion of Spain and +Portugal; Joseph Napoleon appointed to the throne of Spain; Murat replaces +him on the throne of Naples--New order of events: national insurrection of +the peninsula; religious contest with the pope--Commercial opposition of +Holland--Fifth coalition--Victory of Wagram; peace of Vienna; marriage of +Napoleon with the archduchess Marie Louise--Failure of the attempt at +resistance; the pope is dethroned; Holland is again united to the empire, +and the war in Spain prosecuted with vigour--Russia renounces the +continental system; campaign of 1812; capture of Moscow; disastrous +retreat--Reaction against the power of Napoleon; campaign of 1813; general +defection--Coalition of all Europe; exhaustion of France; marvellous +campaign of 1814--The allied powers at Paris; abdication at Fontainbleau; +character of Napoleon; his part in the French revolution--Conclusion. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I am about to take a rapid review of the history of the French revolution, +which began the era of new societies in Europe, as the English revolution +had begun the era of new governments. This revolution not only modified +the political power, but it entirely changed the internal existence of the +nation. The forms of the society of the middle ages still remained. The +land was divided into hostile provinces, the population into rival +classes. The nobility had lost all their powers, but still retained all +their distinctions: the people had no rights, royalty no limits; France +was in an utter confusion of arbitrary administration, of class +legislation and special privileges to special bodies. For these abuses the +revolution substituted a system more conformable with justice, and better +suited to our times. It substituted law in the place of arbitrary will, +equality in that of privilege; delivered men from the distinctions of +classes, the land from the barriers of provinces, trade from the shackles +of corporations and fellowships, agriculture from feudal subjection and +the oppression of tithes, property from the impediment of entails, and +brought everything to the condition of one state, one system of law, one +people. + +In order to effect such mighty reformation as this, the revolution had +many obstacles to overcome, involving transient excesses with durable +benefits. The privileged sought to prevent it; Europe to subject it; and +thus forced into a struggle, it could not set bounds to its efforts, or +moderate its victory. Resistance from within brought about the sovereignty +of the multitude, and aggression from without, military domination. Yet +the end was attained, in spite of anarchy and in spite of despotism: the +old society was destroyed during the revolution, and the new one became +established under the empire. + +When a reform has become necessary, and the moment for accomplishing it +has arrived, nothing can prevent it, everything furthers it. Happy were it +for men, could they then come to an understanding; would the rich resign +their superfluity, and the poor content themselves with achieving what +they really needed, revolutions would then be quietly effected, and the +historian would have no excesses, no calamities to record; he would merely +have to display the transition of humanity to a wiser, freer, and happier +condition. But the annals of nations have not as yet presented any +instance of such prudent sacrifices; those who should have made them have +refused to do so; those who required them have forcibly compelled them; +and good has been brought about, like evil, by the medium and with all the +violence of usurpation. As yet there has been no sovereign but force. + +In reviewing the history of the important period extending from the +opening of the states-general to 1814, I propose to explain the various +crises of the revolution, while I describe their progress. It will thus be +seen through whose fault, after commencing under such happy auspices, it +so fearfully degenerated; in what way it changed France into a republic, +and how upon the ruins of the republic it raise the empire. These various +phases were almost inevitable, so irresistible was the power of the events +which produced them. It would perhaps be rash to affirm that by no +possibility could the face of things have been otherwise; but it is +certain that the revolution, taking its rise from such causes, and +employing and arousing such passions, naturally took that course, and +ended in that result. Before we enter upon its history, let us see what +led to the convocation of the states-general, which themselves brought on +all that followed. In retracing the preliminary causes of the revolution, +I hope to show that it was as impossible to avoid as to guide it. + +From its establishment the French monarchy had had no settled form, no +fixed and recognised public right. Under the first races the crown was +elective, the nation sovereign, and the king a mere military chief, +depending on the common voice for all decisions to be made, and all the +enterprises to be undertaken. The nation elected its chief, exercised the +legislative power in the Champs de Mars under the presidentship of the +king, and the judicial power in the courts under the direction of one of +his officers. Under the feudal regime, this royal democracy gave way to a +royal aristocracy. Absolute power ascended higher, the nobles stripped the +people of it, as the prince afterwards despoiled the nobles. At this +period the monarch had become hereditary; not as king, but as individually +possessor of a fief; the legislative authority belonged to the seigneurs, +in their vast territories or in the barons' parliaments; and the judicial +authority to the vassals in the manorial courts. In a word, power had +become more and more concentrated, and as it had passed from the many to +the few, it came at last from the few to be invested in one alone. During +centuries of continuous efforts, the kings of France were battering down +the feudal edifice, and at length they established themselves on its +ruins, having step by step usurped the fiefs, subdued the vassals, +suppressed the parliaments of barons, annulled or subjected the manorial +courts, assumed the legislative power, and effected that judicial +authority should be exercised in their name and on their behalf, in +parliaments of legists. + +The states-general, which they convoked on pressing occasions, for the +purpose of obtaining subsidies, and which were composed of the three +orders of the nation, the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate or +commons, had no regular existence. Originated while the royal prerogative +was in progress, they were at first controlled, and finally suppressed by +it. The strongest and most determined opposition the kings had to +encounter in their projects of aggrandizement, proceeded much less from +these assemblies, which they authorized or annulled at pleasure, than from +the nobles vindicating against them, first their sovereignty, and then +their political importance. From Philip Augustus to Louis XI. the object +of all their efforts was to preserve their own power; from Louis XI. to +Louis XIV. to become the ministers of that of royalty. The Fronde was the +last campaign of the aristocracy. Under Louis XIV. absolute monarchy +definitively established itself, and dominated without dispute. + +The government of France, from Louis XIV. to the revolution, was still +more arbitrary than despotic; for the monarchs had much more power than +they exercised. The barriers that opposed the encroachments of this +immense authority were exceedingly feeble. The crown disposed of persons +by _lettres de cachet_, of property by confiscation, of the public revenue +by imposts. Certain bodies, it is true, possessed means of defence, which +were termed privileges, but these privileges were rarely respected. The +parliament had that of ratifying or of refusing an impost, but the king +could compel its assent, by a _lit de justice_, and punish its members by +exile. The nobility were exempt from taxation; the clergy were entitled to +the privilege of taxing themselves, in the form of free gifts; some +provinces enjoyed the right of compounding the taxes, and others made the +assessment themselves. Such were the trifling liberties of France, and +even these all turned to the benefit of the privileged classes, and to the +detriment of the people. + +And this France, so enslaved, was moreover miserably organized; the +excesses of power were still less endurable than their unjust +distribution. The nation, divided into three orders, themselves subdivided +into several classes, was a prey to all the attacks of despotism, and all +the evils of inequality. The nobility were subdivided: into courtiers, +living on the favours of the prince, that is to say, on the labour of the +people, and whose aim was governorships of provinces, or elevated ranks in +the army; ennobled parvenus, who conducted the interior administration, +and whose object was to obtain comptrollerships, and to make the most of +their place while they held it, by jobbing of every description; legists +who administered justice, and were alone competent to perform its +functions; and landed proprietors who oppressed the country by the +exercise of those feudal rights which still survived. The clergy were +divided into two classes: the one destined for the bishoprics and abbeys, +and their rich revenues; the other for the apostolic function and its +poverty. The third estate, ground down by the court, humiliated by the +nobility, was itself divided into corporations, which, in their turn, +exercised upon each other the evil and the contempt they received from the +higher classes. It possessed scarcely a third part of the land, and this +was burdened with the feudal rents due to the lords of the manor, tithes +to the clergy, and taxes to the king. In compensation for all these +sacrifices it enjoyed no political right, had no share in the +administration, and was admitted to no public employment. + +Louis XIV. wore out the main-spring of absolute monarchy by too protracted +tension and too violent use. Fond of sway, rendered irritable by the +vexations of his youth, he quelled all resistance, forbad every kind of +opposition,--that of the aristocracy which manifested itself in revolt,-- +that of the parliaments displayed by remonstrance,--that of the +protestants, whose form was a liberty of conscience which the church +deemed heretical, and royalty factious. Louis XIV. subdued the nobles by +summoning them to his court, where favours and pleasures were the +compensation for their dependence. Parliament, till then the instrument of +the crown, attempted to become its counterbalance, and the prince +haughtily imposed upon it a silence and submission of sixty years' +duration. At length, the revocation of the edict of Nantes completed this +work of despotism. An arbitrary government not only will not endure +resistance, but it demands that its subjects shall approve and imitate it. +After having subjected the actions of men, it persecutes conscience; +needing to be ever in motion, it seeks victims when they do not fall in +its way. The immense power of Louis XIV. was exercised, internally, +against the heretics; externally, against all Europe. Oppression found +ambitious men to counsel it, dragoons to serve, and success to encourage +it; the wounds of France were hidden by laurels, her groans were drowned +in songs of victory. But at last the men of genius died, the victories +ceased, industry emigrated, money disappeared; and the fact became +evident, that the very successes of despotism exhaust its resources, and +consume its future ere that future has arrived. + +The death of Louis XIV. was the signal for a reaction; there was a sudden +transition from intolerance to incredulity, from the spirit of obedience +to that of discussion. Under the regency, the third estate acquired in +importance, by their increasing wealth and intelligence, all that the +nobility lost in consideration, and the clergy in influence. Under Louis +XV., the court prosecuted ruinous wars attended with little glory, and +engaged in a silent struggle with opinion, in an open one with the +parliament. Anarchy crept into its bosom, the government fell into the +hands of royal mistresses, power was completely on the decline, and the +opposition daily made fresh progress. + +The parliaments had undergone a change of position and of system. Royalty +had invested them with a power which they now turned against it. No sooner +had the ruin of the aristocracy been accomplished by the combined efforts +of the parliament and of royalty, than the conquerors quarrelled, +according to the common practice of allies after a victory. Royalty sought +to destroy an instrument that became dangerous when it ceased to be +useful, and the parliament sought to govern royalty. This struggle, +favourable to the monarch under Louis XIV., of mixed reverses and success +under Louis XV., only ceased with the revolution. The parliament, from its +very nature, was only called upon to serve as an instrument. The exercise +of its prerogative, and its ambition as a body, leading it to oppose +itself to the strong and support the weak, it served by turns the crown +against the aristocracy and the nation against the crown. It was this that +made it so popular under Louis XV. and Louis XVI., although it only +attacked the court from a spirit of rivalry. Opinion, without inquiring +into its motives, applauded not its ambition but its resistance, and +supported it because defended by it. Rendered daring by such +encouragement, it became formidable to authority. After annulling the will +of the most imperious and best-obeyed of monarchs; after protesting +against the Seven Years' War; after obtaining the control of financial +operations and the destruction of the Jesuits, its resistance became so +constant and energetic, that the court, meeting with it in every +direction, saw the necessity of either submitting to or subjecting it. It +accordingly carried into execution the plan of disorganization proposed by +the chancellor Maupeou. This daring man, who, to employ his own +expression, had offered _retirer la couronne du greffe_, replaced this +hostile parliament by one devoted to power, and subjected to a similar +operation the entire magistracy of France, who were following the example +of that of Paris. + +But the time had passed for coups d'etat. The current had set in against +arbitrary rule so decidedly that the king resorted to it with doubt and +hesitation, and even encountered the disapprobation of his court. A new +power had arisen--that of opinion; which, though not recognised, was not +the less influential, and whose decrees were beginning to assume sovereign +authority. The nation, hitherto a nonentity, gradually asserted its +rights, and without sharing power influenced it. Such is the course of all +rising powers; they watch over it from without, before they are admitted +into the government; then, from the right of control they pass to that of +co-operation. The epoch at which the third estate was to share the sway +had at last arrived. It had at former periods attempted to effect this, +but in vain, because its efforts were premature. It was then but just +emancipated, and possessed not that which establishes superiority, and +leads to the acquisition of power; for right is only obtained by might. +Accordingly, in insurrections as in the states-general, it had held but +the third rank; everything was done with its aid, but nothing for it. In +times of feudal tyranny, it had served the kings against the nobles; when +ministerial and fiscal despotism prevailed, it assisted the nobles against +the kings; but, in the first instance, it was nothing more than the +servant of the crown; in the second, than that of the aristocracy. The +struggle took place in a sphere, and on the part of interests, with which +it was reputed to have no connexion. When the nobles were definitively +beaten in the time of the Fronde, it laid down its arms; a clear proof how +secondary was the part it had played. + +At length, after a century of absolute submission, it reappeared in the +arena, but on its own account. The past cannot be recalled; and it was not +more possible for the nobles to rise from their defeat than it would now +be for absolute monarchy to regain its position. The court was to have +another antagonist, for it must always have one, power never being without +a candidate. The third estate, which increased daily in strength, wealth, +intelligence, and union, was destined to combat and to displace it. The +parliament did not constitute a class, but a body; and in this new +contest, while able to aid in the displacement of authority, it could not +secure it for itself. + +The court had favoured the progress of the third estate, and had +contributed to the development of one of its chief means of advancement, +its intelligence. The most absolute of monarchs aided the movement of +mind, and, without intending it, created public opinion. By encouraging +praise, he prepared the way for blame; for we cannot invite an examination +in our favour, without undergoing one afterwards to our prejudice. When +the songs of triumph, and gratulation, and adulation were exhausted, +accusation began, and the philosophers of the eighteenth century succeeded +to the litterateurs of the seventeenth. Everything became the object of +their researches and reflections; governments, religion, abuses, laws. +They proclaimed rights, laid bare men's wants, denounced injustice. A +strong and enlightened public opinion was formed, whose attacks the +government underwent without venturing to attempt its suppression. It even +converted those whom it attacked; courtiers submitted to its decisions +from fashion's sake, power from necessity, and the age of reform was +ushered in by the age of philosophy, as the latter had been by the age of +the fine arts. + +Such was the condition of France, when Louis XVI. ascended the throne on +the 11th of May, 1774. Finances, whose deficiencies neither the +restorative ministry of cardinal de Fleury, nor the bankrupt ministry of +the abbe Terray had been able to make good, authority disregarded, +intractable parliaments, an imperious public opinion; such were the +difficulties which the new reign inherited from its predecessors. Of all +princes, Louis XVI., by his tendencies and his virtues, was best suited to +his epoch. The people were weary of arbitrary rule, and he was disposed to +renounce its exercise; they were exasperated with the burdensome +dissoluteness of the court of Louis XV.; the morals of the new king were +pure and his wants few; they demanded reforms that had become +indispensable, and he appreciated the public want, and made it his glory +to satisfy it. But it was as difficult to effect good as to continue evil; +for it was necessary to have sufficient strength either to make the +privileged classes submit to reform, or the nation to abuses; and Louis +XVI. was neither a regenerator nor a despot. He was deficient in that +sovereign will which alone accomplishes great changes in states, and which +is as essential to monarchs who wish to limit their power as to those who +seek to aggrandize it. Louis XVI. possessed a sound mind, a good and +upright heart, but he was without energy of character and perseverance in +action. His projects of amelioration met with obstacles which he had not +foreseen, and which he knew not how to overcome. He accordingly fell +beneath his efforts to favour reform, as another would have fallen in his +attempt to prevent it. Up to the meeting of the states-general, his reign +was one long and fruitless endeavour at amelioration. + +In choosing, on his accession to the throne, Maurepas as prime minister, +Louis XVI. eminently contributed to the irresolute character of his reign. +Young, deeply sensible of his duties and of his own insufficiency, he had +recourse to the experience of an old man of seventy-three, who had lost +the favour of Louis XV. by his opposition to the mistresses of that +monarch. In him the king found not a statesman, but a mere courtier, whose +fatal influence extended over the whole course of his reign. Maurepas had +little heed to the welfare of France, or the glory of his master; his sole +care was to remain in favour. Residing in the palace at Versailles, in an +apartment communicating with that of the king, and presiding over the +council, he rendered the mind of Louis XVI. uncertain, his character +irresolute; he accustomed him to half-measures, to changes of system, to +all the inconsistencies of power, and especially to the necessity of doing +everything by others, and nothing of himself. Maurepas had the choice of +the ministers, and these cultivated his good graces as assiduously as he +the king's. Fearful of endangering his position, he kept out of the +ministry men of powerful connections, and appointed rising men, who +required his support for their own protection, and to effect their +reforms. He successively called Turgot, Malesherbes, and Necker to the +direction of affairs, each of whom undertook to effect ameliorations in +that department of the government which had been the immediate object of +his studies. + +Malesherbes, descended from a family in the law, inherited parliamentary +virtues, and not parliamentary prejudices. To an independent mind, he +united a noble heart. He wished to give to every man his rights; to the +accused, the power of being defended; to protestants, liberty of +conscience; to authors, the liberty of the press; to every Frenchman, +personal freedom; and he proposed the abolition of the torture, the re- +establishment of the edict of Nantes, and the suppression of _lettres de +cachet_ and of the censure. Turgot, of a vigorous and comprehensive mind, +and an extraordinary firmness and strength of character, attempted to +realize still more extensive projects. He joined Malesherbes, in order, +with his assistance, to complete the establishment of a system which was +to bring back unity to the government and equality to the country. This +virtuous citizen constantly occupied himself with the amelioration of the +condition of the people; he undertook, alone, what the revolution +accomplished at a later period,--the suppression of servitude and +privilege. He proposed to enfranchise the rural districts from statute +labour, provinces from their barriers, commerce from internal duties, +trade from its shackles, and lastly, to make the nobility and clergy +contribute to the taxes in the same proportion as the third estate. This +great minister, of whom Malesherbes said, "he has the head of Bacon and +the heart of l'Hopital," wished by means of provincial assemblies to +accustom the nation to public life, and prepare it for the restoration of +the states-general. He would have effected the revolution by ordinances, +had he been able to stand. But under the system of special privileges and +general servitude, all projects for the public good were impraticable. +Turgot dissatisfied the courtiers by his ameliorations, displeased the +parliament by the abolition of statute labour, wardenships, and internal +duties, and alarmed the old minister by the ascendancy which his virtue +gave him over Louis XVI. The prince forsook him, though at the same time +observing that Turgot and himself were the only persons who desired the +welfare of the people: so lamentable is the condition of kings! + +Turgot was succeeded in 1776 in the general control of the finances by +Clugny, formerly comptroller of Saint Domingo, who, six months after, was +himself succeeded by Necker. Necker was a foreigner, a protestant, a +banker, and greater as an administrator than as a statesman; he +accordingly conceived a plan for reforming France, less extensive than +that of Turgot, but which he executed with more moderation, and aided by +the times. Appointed minister in order to find money for the court, he +made use of the wants of the court to procure liberties for the people. He +re-established the finances by means of order, and made the provinces +contribute moderately to their administration. His views were wise and +just; they consisted in bringing the revenue to a level with the +expenditure, by reducing the latter; by employing taxation in ordinary +times, and loans when imperious circumstances rendered it necessary to tax +the future as well as the present; by causing the taxes to be assessed by +the provincial assemblies, and by instituting the publication of accounts, +in order to facilitate loans. This system was founded on the nature of +loans, which, needing credit, require publicity of administration; and on +that of taxation, which needing assent, requires also a share in the +administration. Whenever there is a deficit and the government makes +applications to meet it, if it address itself to lenders, it must produce +its balance-sheet; if it address itself to the tax-payers, it must give +them a share in its power. Thus loans led to the production of accounts, +and taxes to the states-general; the first placing authority under the +jurisdiction of opinion, and the second placing it under that of the +people. But Necker, though less impatient for reform than Turgot, although +he desired to redeem abuses which his predecessor wished to destroy, was +not more fortunate than he. His economy displeased the courtiers; the +measures of the provincial assemblies incurred the disapprobation of the +parliaments, which wished to monopolize opposition; and the prime minister +could not forgive him an appearance of credit. He was obliged to quit +power in 1781, a few months after the publication of the famous _Comptes +rendus_ of the finances, which suddenly initiated France in a knowledge of +state matters, and rendered absolute government for ever impossible. + +The death of Maurepas followed close upon the retirement of Necker. The +queen took his place with Louis XVI., and inherited all his influence over +him. This good but weak prince required to be directed. His wife, young, +beautiful, active, and ambitious, gained great ascendancy over him. Yet it +may be said that the daughter of Marie Therese resembled her mother too +much or too little. She combined frivolity with domination, and disposed +of power only to invest with it men who caused her own ruin and that of +the state. Maurepas, mistrusting court ministers, had always chosen +popular ministers; it is true he did not support them; but if good was not +brought about, at least evil did not increase. After his death, court +ministers succeeded the popular ministers, and by their faults rendered +the crisis inevitable, which others had endeavoured to prevent by their +reforms. This difference of choice is very remarkable; this it was which, +by the change of men, brought on the change in the system of +administration. The revolution dates from this epoch; the abandonment of +reforms and the return of disorders hastened its approach and augmented +its fury. + +Calonne was called from an intendancy to the general control of the +finances. Two successors had already been given to Necker, when +application was made to Calonne in 1783. Calonne was daring, brilliant and +eloquent; he had much readiness and a fertile mind. Either from error or +design he adopted a system of administration directly opposed to that of +his predecessor. Necker recommended economy, Calonne boasted of his lavish +expenditure. Necker fell through courtiers, Calonne sought to be upheld by +them. His sophisms were backed by his liberality; he convinced the queen +by _fetes_, the nobles by pensions; he gave a great circulation to the +finances, in order that the extent and facility of his operations might +excite confidence in the justness of his views; he even deceived the +capitalists, by first showing himself punctual in his payments. He +continued to raise loans after the peace, and he exhausted the credit +which Necker's wise conduct had procured to the government. Having come to +this point, having deprived himself of a resource, the very employment of +which he was unable to manage, in order to prolong his continuance in +power he was obliged to have recourse to taxation. But to whom could he +apply? The people could pay no longer, and the privileged classes would +not offer anything. Yet it was necessary to decide, and Calonne, hoping +more from something new, convoked an assembly of notables, which began its +sittings at Versailles on the 22nd of February, 1787. But a recourse to +others must prove the end of a system founded on prodigality. A minister +who had risen by giving, could not maintain himself by asking. + +The notables, chosen by the government from the higher classes, formed a +ministerial assembly, which had neither a proper existence nor a +commission. It was, indeed, to avoid parliaments and states-general, that +Calonne addressed himself to a more subordinate assembly, hoping to find +it more docile. But, composed of privileged persons, it was little +disposed to make sacrifices. It became still less so, when it saw the +abyss which a devouring administration had excavated. It learned with +terror, that the loans of a few years amounted to one thousand six hundred +and forty-six millions, and that there was an annual deficit in the +revenue of a hundred and forty millions. This disclosure was the signal +for Calonne's fall. He fell, and was succeeded by Brienne, archbishop of +Sens, his opponent in the assembly. Brienne thought the majority of the +notables was devoted to him, because it had united with him against +Calonne. But the privileged classes were not more disposed to make +sacrifices to Brienne than to his predecessor; they had seconded his +attacks, which were to their interest, and not his ambition, to which they +were indifferent. + +The archbishop of Sens, who is censured for a want of plan, was in no +position to form one. He was not allowed to continue the prodigality of +Calonne; and it was too late to return to the retrenchments of Necker. +Economy, which had been a means of safety at a former period, was no +longer so in this. Recourse must be had either to taxation, and that +parliament opposed; or loans, and credit was exhausted; or sacrifices on +the part of the privileged classes, who were unwilling to make them. +Brienne, to whom office had been the chief object of life, who with, the +difficulties of his position combined slenderness of means attempted +everything, and succeeded in nothing. His mind was active, but it wanted +strength; and his character rash without firmness. Daring, previous to +action, but weak afterwards, he ruined himself by his irresolution, want +of foresight, and constant variation of means. There remained only bad +measures to adopt, but he could not decide upon one, and follow that one; +this was his real error. + +The assembly of notables was but little submissive and very parsimonious. +After having sanctioned the establishment of provincial assemblies, a +regulation of the corn trade, the abolition of corvees, and a new stamp +tax, it broke up on the 25th of May, 1787. It spread throughout France +what it had discovered respecting the necessities of the throne, the +errors of the ministers, the dilapidation of the court, and the +irremediable miseries of the people. + +Brienne, deprived of this assistance, had recourse to taxation, as a +resource, the use of which had for some time been abandoned. He demanded +the enrolment of two edicts--that of the stamps and that of the +territorial subsidies. But parliament, which was then in the full vigour +of its existence and in all the ardour of its ambition, and to which the +financial embarrassment of the ministry offered a means of augmenting its +power, refused the enrolment. Banished to Troyes, it grew weary of exile, +and the minister recalled it on condition that the two edicts should be +accepted. But this was only a suspension of hostilities; the necessities +of the crown soon rendered the struggle more obstinate and violent. The +minister had to make fresh applications for money; his existence depended +on the issue of several successive loans to the amount of four hundred and +forty millions. It was necessary to obtain the enrolment of them. + +Brienne, expecting opposition from the parliament, procured the enrolment +of this edict by a _lit de justice_, and to conciliate the magistracy and +public opinion, the protestants were restored to their rights in the same +sitting, and Louis XVI. promised an annual publication of the state of +finances, and the convocation, of the states-general before the end of +five years. But these concessions were no longer sufficient: parliament +refused the enrolment, and rose against the ministerial tyranny. Some of +its members, among others the duke of Orleans, were banished. Parliament +protested, by a decree, against _lettres de cachet_, and required the +recall of its members. This decree was annulled by the king, and confirmed +by parliament. The warfare increased. + +The magistracy of Paris was supported by all the magistracy of France, and +encouraged by public opinion. It proclaimed the rights of the nation, and +its own incompetence in matters of taxation; and, become liberal from +interest, and rendered generous by oppression, it exclaimed against +arbitrary imprisonment, and demanded regularly convoked states-general. +After this act of courage, it decreed the irremovability of its members, +and the incompetence of any who might usurp their functions. This bold +manifesto was followed by the arrest of two members, d'Epremenil and +Goislard, by the reform of the body, and the establishment of a plenary +court. + +Brienne understood that the opposition of the parliament was systematic, +that it would be renewed on every fresh demand for subsidies, or on the +authorization of every loan. Exile was but a momentary remedy, which +suspended opposition, without destroying it. He then projected the +reduction of this body to judicial functions, and associated with himself +Lamoignon, keeper of the seals, for the execution of this project. +Lamoignon was skilled in coups d'etat. He had audacity, and combined with +Maupeou's energetic determination a greater degree of consideration and +probity. But he made a mistake as to the force of power, and what it was +possible to effect in his times. Maupeou had re-established parliament, +changing its members; Lamoignon wished to disorganize it. The first of +these means, if it had succeeded, would only have produced temporary +repose; the second must have produced a definitive one, since it aimed at +destroying the power, which the other only tried to displace; but +Maupeou's reform did not last, and that of Lamoignon could not be +effected. The execution of the latter was, however, tolerably well framed. +All the magistracy of France was exiled on the same day, in order that the +new judicial organization might take place. The keeper of the seals +deprived the parliament of Paris of its political attributes, to invest +with them a plenary court, ministerially composed, and reduced its +judicial competence in favour of bailiwicks, the jurisdiction of which he +extended. Public opinion was indignant; the Chatelet protested, the +provinces rose, and the plenary court could neither be formed nor act. +Disturbances broke out in Dauphine, Brittany, Provence, Flanders, +Languedoc, and Bearn; the ministry, instead of the regular opposition of +parliament, had to encounter one much more animated and factious. The +nobility, the third estate, the provincial states, and even the clergy, +took part in it. Brienne, pressed for money, had called together an +extraordinary assembly of the clergy, who immediately made an address to +the king, demanding the abolition of his plenary court, and the recall of +the states-general: they alone could thenceforth repair the disordered +state of the finances, secure the national debt, and terminate such +conflicts of authority. + +The archbishop of Sens, by his contest with the parliament, had postponed +the financial, by creating a political difficulty. The moment the latter +ceased, the former re-appeared, and made his retreat inevitable. Obtaining +neither taxes nor loans, unable to make use of the plenary court, and not +wishing to recall the parliaments, Brienne, as a last resource, promised +the convocation of the states-general. By this means he hastened his ruin. +He had been called to the financial department in order to remedy +embarrassments which he had augmented, and to procure money which he had +been unable to obtain. So far from it, he had exasperated the nation, +raised a rebellion in the various bodies of the state, compromised the +authority of the government, and rendered inevitable the states-general, +which, in the opinion of the court, was the worst means of raising money. +He succumbed on the 25th of August, 1788. The cause of his fall was a +suspension of the payment of the interest on the debt, which was the +commencement of bankruptcy. This minister has been the most blamed because +he came last. Inheriting the faults, the embarrassments of past times, he +had to struggle with the difficulties of his position with insufficient +means. He tried intrigue and oppression; he banished, suspended, +disorganized parliament; everything was an obstacle to him, nothing aided +him. After a long struggle, he sank under lassitude and weakness; I dare +not say from incapacity, for had he been far stronger and more skilful, +had he been a Richelieu or a Sully, he would still have fallen. It no +longer appertained to any one arbitrarily to raise money or to oppress the +people. It must be said in his excuse, that he had not created that +position from which he was not able to extricate himself; his only mistake +was his presumption in accepting it. He fell through the fault of Calonne, +as Calonne had availed himself of the confidence inspired by Necker for +the purposes of his lavish expenditure. The one had destroyed credit, and +the other, thinking to re-establish it by force, had destroyed authority. + +The states-general had become the only means of government, and the last +resource of the throne. They had been eagerly demanded by parliament and +the peers of the kingdom, on the 13th of July, 1787; by the states of +Dauphine in the assembly of Vizille; by the clergy in its assembly at +Paris. The provincial states had prepared the public mind for them; and +the notables were their precursors. The king after having, on the 18th of +December, 1787, promised their convocation in five years, on the 8th of +August, 1788, fixed the opening for the 1st of May, 1789. Necker was +recalled, parliament re-established, the plenary court abolished, the +bailiwicks destroyed, and the provinces satisfied; and the new minister +prepared everything for the election of deputies and the holding of the +states. + +At this epoch a great change took place in the opposition, which till then +had been unanimous. Under Brienne, the ministry had encountered opposition +from all the various bodies of the state, because it had sought to oppress +them. Under Necker, it met with resistance from the same bodies, which +desired power for themselves and oppression for the people. From being +despotic, it had become national, and it still had them all equally +against it. Parliament had maintained a struggle for authority, and not +for the public welfare; and the nobility had united with the third estate, +rather against the government than in favour of the people. Each of these +bodies had demanded the states-general: the parliament, in the hope of +ruling them as it had done in 1614; and the nobility, in the hope of +regaining its lost influence. Accordingly, the magistracy proposed as a +model for the states-general of 1789, the form of that of 1614, and public +opinion abandoned it; the nobility refused its consent to the double +representation of the third estate, and a division broke out between these +two orders. + +This double representation was required by the intellect of the age, the +necessity of reform, and by the importance which the third estate had +acquired. It had already been admitted in the provincial assemblies. +Brienne, before leaving the ministry, had made an appeal to the writers of +the day, in order to know what would be the most suitable method of +composing and holding the states-general. Among the works favourable to +the people, there appeared the celebrated pamphlet of Sieyes on the Third +Estate, and that of d'Entraigues on the States-general. + +Opinion became daily more decided, and Necker wishing, yet fearing, to +satisfy it, and desirous of conciliating all orders, of obtaining general +approbation, convoked a second assembly of notables on the 6th of +November, 1788, to deliberate on the composition of the states-general, +and the election of its members. He thought to induce it to accept the +double representation of the third estate, but it refused, and he was +obliged to decide, in spite of the notables, that which he ought to have +decided without them. Necker was not the man to avoid disputes by removing +all difficulties beforehand. He did not take the initiative as to the +representation of the third estate, any more than at a later period he +took it with regard to the question of voting by orders or by poll. When +the states-general were assembled, the solution of this second question, +on which depended the state of power and that of the people, was abandoned +to force. + +Be this as it may, Necker, having been unable to make the notables adopt +the double representation of the third estate, caused it to be adopted by +the council. The royal declaration of the 27th of November decreed that +the deputies in the states-general should amount to at least a thousand, +and that the deputies of the third estate should be equal in number to the +deputies of the nobility and clergy together. Necker moreover obtained the +admission of the cures into the order of the clergy, and of protestants +into that of the third estate. The district assemblies were convoked for +the elections; every one exerted himself to secure the nomination of +members of his own party, and to draw up manifestoes setting forth his +views. Parliament had but little influence in the elections, and the court +none at all. The nobility selected a few popular deputies, but mainly such +as were devoted to the interests of their order, and as much opposed to +the third estate as to the oligarchy of the great families of the court. +The clergy nominated bishops and abbes attached to privilege, and cures +favourable to the popular cause, which was their own; lastly, the third +estate selected men enlightened, firm, and unanimous in their wishes. The +deputation of the nobility was comprised of two hundred and forty-two +gentlemen, and twenty-eight members of the parliament; that of the clergy, +of forty-eight archbishops or bishops, thirty-five abbes or deans, and two +hundred and eight cures; and that of the communes, of two ecclesiastics, +twelve noblemen, eighteen magistrates of towns, two hundred county +members, two hundred and twelve barristers, sixteen physicians, and two +hundred and sixteen merchants and agriculturists. The opening of the +states-general was then fixed for the 5th of May, 1789. + +Thus was the revolution brought about. The court in vain tried to prevent, +as it afterwards endeavoured to annul it. Under the direction of Maurepas, +the king nominated popular ministers, and made attempts at reform; under +the influence of the queen, he nominated court ministers, and made +attempts at authority. Oppression met with as little success as reform. +After applying in vain to courtiers for retrenchments, to parliament for +levies, to capitalists for loans, he sought for new tax-payers, and made +an appeal to the privileged orders. He demanded of the notables, +consisting of the nobles and the clergy, a participation in the charges of +the state, which they refused. He then for the first time applied to all +France, and convoked the states-general. He treated with the various +bodies of the nation before treating with the nation itself; and it was +only on the refusal of the first, that he appealed from it to a power +whose intervention and support he dreaded. He preferred private +assemblies, which, being isolated, necessarily remained secondary, to a +general assembly, which representing all interests, must combine all +powers. Up to this great epoch every year saw the wants of the government +increasing, and resistance becoming more extensive. Opposition passed from +parliaments to the nobility, from the nobility to the clergy, and from +them all to the people. In proportion as each participated in power it +began its opposition, until all these private oppositions were fused in or +gave way before the national opposition. The states-general only decreed a +revolution which was already formed. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +FROM THE 5TH OF MAY, 1789, TO THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST + +The 5th of May, 1789, was fixed for the opening of the states-general. A +religious ceremony on the previous day prefaced their installation. The +king, his family, his ministers, the deputies of the three orders, went in +procession from the church of Notre-Dame to that of Saint Louis, to hear +the opening mass. Men did not without enthusiasm see the return of a +national ceremony of which France had for so long a period been deprived. +It had all the appearance of a festival. An enormous multitude flocked +from all parts to Versailles; the weather was splendid; they had been +lavish of the pomp of decoration. The excitement of the music, the kind +and satisfied expression of the king, the beauty and demeanour of the +queen, and, as much as anything, the general hope, exalted every one. But +the etiquette, costumes, and order of the ranks of the states in 1614, +were seen with regret. The clergy, in cassocks, large cloaks, and square +caps, or in violet robes and lawn sleeves, occupied the first place. Then +came the nobles, attired in black coats with waistcoats and facings of +cloth of gold, lace cravats, and hats with white plumes, turned up in the +fashion of Henry IV. The modest third estate came last, clothed in black, +with short cloaks, muslin cravats, and hats without feathers or loops. In +the church, the same distinction as to places existed between the three +orders. + +The royal session took place the following day in the Salle des Menus. +Galleries, arranged in the form of an amphitheatre, were filled with +spectators. The deputies were summoned and introduced according to the +order established in 1614. The clergy were conducted to the right, the +nobility to the left, and the commons in front of the throne at the end of +the hall. The deputations from Dauphine, from Crepi in Valois, to which +the duke of Orleans belonged, and from Provence, were received with loud +applause. Necker was also received on his entrance with general +enthusiasm. Public favour was testified towards all who had contributed to +the convocation of the states-general. When the deputies and ministers had +taken their places, the king appeared, followed by the queen, the princes, +and a brilliant suite. The hall resounded with applause on his arrival. +When he came in, Louis XVI. took his seat on the throne, and when he had +put on his hat, the three orders covered themselves at the same time. The +commons, contrary to the custom of the ancient states, imitated the +nobility and clergy, without hesitation: the time when the third order +should remain uncovered and speak kneeling was gone by. The king's speech +was then expected in profound silence. Men were eager to know the true +feeling of the government with regard to the states. Did it purpose +assimilating the new assembly to the ancient, or to grant it the part +which the necessities of the state and the importance of the occasion +assigned to it? + +"Gentlemen," said the king, with emotion, "the day I have so anxiously +expected has at length arrived, and I see around me the representatives of +the nation which I glory in governing. A long interval had elapsed since +the last session of the states-general, and although the convocation of +these assemblies seemed to have fallen into disuse, I did not hesitate to +restore a custom from which the kingdom might derive new force, and which +might open to the nation a new source of happiness." + +These words which promised much, were only followed by explanations as to +the debt and announcements of retrenchment in the expenditure. The king, +instead of wisely tracing out to the states the course they ought to +follow, urged the orders to union, expressed his want of money, his dread +of innovations, and complained of the uneasiness of the public mind, +without suggesting any means of satisfying it. He was nevertheless very +much applauded when he delivered at the close of his discourse the +following words, which fully described his intentions: "All that can be +expected from the dearest interest in the public welfare, all that can be +required of a sovereign, the first friend of his people; you may and ought +to hope from my sentiments. That a happy spirit of union may pervade this +assembly, gentlemen, and that this may be an ever memorable epoch for the +happiness and prosperity of the kingdom, is the wish of my heart, the most +ardent of my desires; it is, in a word, the reward which I expect for the +uprightness of my intentions, and my love of my subjects." + +Barentin, keeper of the seals, spoke next. His speech was an amplification +respecting the states-general, and the favours of the king. After a long +preamble, he at last touched upon the topics of the occasion. "His +Majesty," he said, "has not changed the ancient method of deliberation, by +granting a double representation in favour of the most numerous of the +three orders, that on which the burden of taxation chiefly falls. Although +the vote by poll, by producing but one result, seems to have the advantage +of best representing the general desire, the king wishes this new form +should be adopted only with the free consent of the states, and the +approval of his majesty. But whatever may be the opinion on this question, +whatever distinctions may be drawn between the different matters that will +become subjects of deliberation, there can be no doubt but that the most +entire harmony will unite the three orders on the subject of taxation." +The government was not opposed to the vote by poll in pecuniary matters, +it being more expeditious; but in political questions it declared itself +in favour of voting by order, as a more effectual check on innovations. In +this way it sought to arrive at its own end,--namely, subsidies, and not +to allow the nation to obtain its object, which was reform. The manner in +which the keeper of the seals determined the province of the states- +general, discovered more plainly the intentions of the court. He reduced +them, in a measure, to the inquiry into taxation, in order to vote it, and +to the discussion of a law respecting the press, for the purpose of fixing +its limits, and to the reform of civil and criminal legislation. He +proscribed all other changes, and concluded by saying: "All just demands +have been granted; the king has not noticed indiscreet murmurs; he has +condescended to overlook them with indulgence; he has even forgiven the +expression of those false and extravagant maxims, under favour of which +attempts have been made to substitute pernicious chimeras for the +unalterable principles of monarchy. You will with indignation, gentlemen, +repel the dangerous innovations which the enemies of the public good seek +to confound with the necessary and happy changes which this regeneration +ought to produce, and which form the first wish of his majesty." + +This speech displayed little knowledge of the wishes of the nation, or it +sought openly to combat them. The dissatisfied assembly looked to M. +Necker, from whom it expected different language. He was the popular +minister, had obtained the double representation, and it was hoped he +would approve of the vote by poll, the only way of enabling the third +estate to turn its numbers to account. But he spoke as comptroller-general +and as a man of caution. His speech, which lasted three hours, was a +lengthened budget; and when, after tiring the assembly, he touched on the +topic of interest, he spoke undecidedly, in order to avoid committing +himself either with the court or the people. + +The government ought to have better understood the importance of the +states-general. The restoration of this assembly alone announced a great +revolution. Looked for with hope by the nation, it reappeared at an epoch +when the ancient monarchy was sinking, and when it alone was capable of +reforming the state and providing for the necessities of royalty. The +difficulties of the time, the nature of their mission, the choice of their +members, everything announced that the states were not assembled as tax- +payers, but as legislators. The right of regenerating France had been +granted them by opinion, was devolved on them by public resolutions, and +they found in the enormity of the abuses and the public encouragement, +strength to undertake and accomplish this great task. + +It behoved the king to associate himself with their labours. In this way +he would have been able to restore his power, and ensure himself from the +excesses of a revolution, by himself assisting in bringing it about. If, +taking the lead in these changes, he had fixed the new order of things +with firmness, but with justice; if, realizing the wishes of France, he +had determined the rights of her citizens, the province of the states- +general and the limits of royalty; if, on his own part, he had renounced +arbitrary power, inequality on the part of the nobility, and privileges on +the part of the different bodies; in a word, if he had accomplished all +the reforms which were demanded by public opinion, and executed by the +constituent assembly, he would have prevented the fatal dissensions which +subsequently arose. It is rare to find a prince willing to share his +power, or sufficiently enlightened to yield what he will be reduced to +lose. Yet Louis XVI. would have done this, if he had been less influenced +by those around him, and had he followed the dictates of his own mind. But +the greatest anarchy pervaded the councils of the king. When the states- +general assembled, no measures had been taken, nothing had been decided +on, which might prevent dispute. Louis XVI. wavered between his ministry, +directed by Necker, and his court, directed by the queen and a few princes +of his family. + +Necker, satisfied with obtaining the representation of the third estate, +dreaded the indecision of the king and the discontent of the court. Not +appreciating sufficiently the importance of a crisis which he considered +more as a financial than a social one, he waited for the course of events +in order to act, and flattered himself with the hope of being able to +guide these events, without attempting to prepare the way for them. He +felt that the ancient organization of the states could no longer be +maintained; that the existence of three orders, each possessing the right +of refusal, was opposed to the execution of reform and the progress of +administration. He hoped, after a trial of this triple opposition, to +reduce the number of the orders, and bring about the adoption of the +English form of government, by uniting the clergy and nobility in one +chamber, and the third estate in another. He did not foresee that the +struggle once begun, his interposition would be in vain: that half +measures would suit neither party; that the weak through obstinacy, and +the strong through passion, would oppose this system of moderation. +Concessions satisfy only before a victory. + +The court, so far from wishing to organize the states-general, sought to +annul them. It preferred the casual resistance of the great bodies of the +nation, to sharing authority with a permanent assembly. The separation of +the orders favoured its views; it reckoned on fomenting their differences, +and thus preventing them from acting. The states-general had never +achieved any result, owing to the defect of their organization; the court +hoped that it would still be the same, since the two first orders were +less disposed to yield to the reforms solicited by the last. The clergy +wished to preserve its privileges and its opulence, and clearly foresaw +that the sacrifices to be made by it were more numerous than the +advantages to be acquired. The nobility, on its side, while it resumed a +political independence long since lost, was aware that it would have to +yield more to the people than it could obtain from royalty. It was almost +entirely in favour of the third estate, that the new revolution was about +to operate, and the first two orders were induced to unite with the court +against the third estate, as but lately they had coalesced with the third +estate against the court. Interest alone led to this change of party, and +they united with the monarch without affection, as they had defended the +people without regard to public good. + +No efforts were spared to keep the nobility and clergy in this +disposition. The deputies of these two orders were the objects of favours +and allurements. A committee, to which the most illustrious persons +belonged, was held at the countess de Polignac's; the principal deputies +were admitted to it. It was here that were gained De Epremenil and De +Entraigues, two of the warmest advocates of liberty in parliament, or +before the states-general, and who afterwards became its most decided +opponents. Here also the costume of the deputies of the different orders +was determined on, and attempts made to separate them, first by etiquette, +then by intrigue, and lastly, by force. The recollection of the ancient +states-general prevailed in the court; it thought it could regulate the +present by the past, restrain Paris by the army, the deputies of the third +estate by those of the nobility, rule the states by separating the orders, +and separate the orders by reviving ancient customs which exalted the +nobles and lowered the commons. Thus, after the first sitting, it was +supposed that all had been prevented by granting nothing. + +On the 6th of May, the day after the opening of the states, the nobility +and clergy repaired to their respective chambers, and constituted +themselves. The third estate being, on account of its double +representation, the most numerous order, had the Salle des Etats allotted +to it, and there awaited the two other orders; it considered its situation +as provisional, its members as presumptive deputies, and adopted a system +of inactivity till the other orders should unite with it. Then a memorable +struggle commenced, the issue of which was to decide whether the +revolution should be effected or stopped. The future fate of France +depended on the separation or reunion of the orders. This important +question arose on the subject of the verification of powers. The popular +deputies asserted very justly, that it ought to be made in common, since, +even if the union of the orders were refused, it was impossible to deny +the interest which each of them had in the examination of the powers of +the others; the privileged deputies argued, on the contrary, that since +the orders had a distinct existence, the verification ought to be made +respectively. They felt that one single co-operation would, for the +future, render all separation impossible. + +The commons acted with much circumspection, deliberation, and steadiness. +It was by a succession of efforts, not unattended with peril, by slow and +undecided success, and by struggles constantly renewed, that they attained +their object. The systematic inactivity they adopted from the commencement +was the surest and wisest course; there are occasions when the way to +victory is to know how to wait for it. The commons were unanimous, and +alone formed the numerical half of the states-general; the nobility had in +its bosom some popular dissentients; the majority of the clergy, composed +of several bishops, friends of peace, and of the numerous class of the +cures, the third estate of the church, entertained sentiments favourable +to the commons. Weariness was therefore to bring about a union; this was +what the third estate hoped, what the bishops feared, and what induced +them on the 13th of May to offer themselves as mediators. But this +mediation was of necessity without any result, as the nobility would not +admit voting by poll, nor the commons voting by order. Accordingly, the +conciliatory conferences, after being prolonged in vain till the 27th of +May, were broken up by the nobility, who declared in favour of separate +verification. + +The day after this hostile decision, the commons determined to declare +themselves the assembly of the nation, and invited the clergy to join them +_in the name of the God of peace and the common weal_. The court taking +alarm at this measure, interfered for the purpose of having the +conferences resumed. The first commissioners appointed for purposes of +reconciliation were charged with regulating the differences of the orders; +the ministry undertook to regulate the differences of the commissioners. +In this way, the states depended on a commission, and the commission had +the council of the prince for arbiter. But these new conferences had not a +more fortunate issue than the first. They lingered on without either of +the orders being willing to yield anything to the others, and the nobility +finally broke them up by confirming all its resolutions. + +Five weeks had already elapsed in useless parleys. The third estate, +perceiving the moment had arrived for it to constitute itself, and that +longer delay would indispose the nation towards it, and destroy the +confidence it had acquired by the refusal of the privileged classes to co- +operate with it, decided on acting, and displayed herein the same +moderation and firmness it had shown during its inactivity. Mirabeau +announced that a deputy of Paris had a motion to propose; and Sieyes, +physically of timid character, but of an enterprising mind, who had great +authority by his ideas, and was better suited than any one to propose a +measure, proved the impossibility of union, the urgency of verification, +the justice of demanding it in common, and caused it to be decreed by the +assembly that the nobility and clergy should be _invited_ to the Salle des +Etats in order to take part in the verification, which would take place, +_whether they were absent or present_. + +The measure for general verification was followed by another still more +energetic. The commons, after having terminated the verification on the +17th of June, on the motion of Sieyes, constituted themselves _the +National Assembly_. This bold step, by which the most numerous order and +the only one whose powers were legalized, declared itself the +representation of France and refused to recognise the other two till they +submitted to the verification, determined questions hitherto undecided, +and changed the assembly of the states into an assembly of the people. The +system of orders disappeared in political powers, and this was the first +step towards the abolition of classes in the private system. This +memorable decree of the 17th of June contained the germ of the night of +the 4th of August; but it was necessary to defend what they had dared to +decide, and there was reason to fear such a determination could not be +maintained. + +The first decree of _the National Assembly_ was an act of sovereignty. It +placed the privileged classes under its dependence, by proclaiming the +indivisibility of the legislative power. The court remained to be +restrained by means of taxation. The assembly declared the illegality of +previous imposts, voted them provisionally, as long as it continued to +sit, and their cessation on its dissolution; it restored the confidence of +capitalists by consolidating the public debt, and provided for the +necessities of the people, by appointing a committee of subsistence. + +Such firmness and foresight excited the enthusiasm of the nation. But +those who directed the court saw that the divisions thus excited between +the orders had failed in their object; and that it was necessary to resort +to other means to obtain it. They considered the royal authority alone +adequate to prescribe the continuance of the orders, which the opposition +of the nobles could no longer preserve. They took advantage of a journey +to Marly to remove Louis XVI. from the influences of the prudent and +pacific counsels of Necker, and to induce him to adopt hostile measures. +This prince, alike accessible to good and bad counsels, surrounded by a +court given up to party spirit, and entreated for the interests of his +crown and in the name of religion to stop the pernicious progress of the +commons, yielded at last, and promised everything. It was decided that he +should go in state to the assembly, annul its decrees, command the +separation of the orders as constitutive of the monarchy, and himself fix +the reforms to be effected by the states-general. From that moment the +privy council held the government, acting no longer secretly, but in the +most open manner. Barentin, the keeper of the seals, the count d'Artois, +the prince de Conde, and the prince de Conti conducted alone the projects +they had concerted. Necker lost all his influence; he had proposed to the +king a conciliatory plan, which might have succeeded before the struggle +attained this degree of animosity, but could do so no longer. He had +advised another royal sitting, in which the vote by poll in matters of +taxation was to be granted, and the vote by order to remain in matters of +private interest and privilege. This measure, which was unfavourable to +the commons, since it tended to maintain abuses by investing the nobility +and clergy with the right of opposing their abolition, would have been +followed by the establishment of two chambers for the next states-general. +Necker was fond of half measures, and wished to effect, by successive +concessions, a political change which should have been accomplished at +once. The moment was arrived to grant the nation all its rights, or to +leave it to take them. His project of a royal sitting, already +insufficient, was changed into a stroke of state policy by the new +council. The latter thought that the injunctions of the throne would +intimidate the assembly, and that France would be satisfied with promises +of reform. It seemed to be ignorant that the worst risk royalty can be +exposed to is that of disobedience. + +Strokes of state policy generally come unexpectedly, and surprise those +they are intended to influence. It was not so with this; its preparations +tended to prevent success. It was feared that the majority of the clergy +would recognise the assembly by uniting with it; and to prevent so decided +a step, instead of hastening the royal sitting, they closed the Salle des +Etats, in order to suspend the assembly till the day of the sitting. The +preparations rendered necessary by the presence of the king was the +pretext for this unskilful and improper measure. At that time Bailly +presided over the assembly. This virtuous citizen had obtained, without +seeking them, all the honours of dawning liberty. He was the first +president of the assembly, as he had been the first deputy of Paris, and +was to become its first mayor. Beloved by his own party, respected by his +adversaries, he combined with the mildest and most enlightened virtues, +the most courageous sense of duty. Apprised on the night of the 20th of +June, by the keeper of the seals, of the suspension of the sitting, he +remained faithful to the wishes of the assembly, and did not fear +disobeying the court. At an appointed hour on the following day, he +repaired to the Salle des Etats, and finding an armed force in possession, +he protested against this act of despotism. In the meantime the deputies +arrived, dissatisfaction increased, all seemed disposed to brave the +perils of a sitting. The most indignant proposed going to Marly, and +holding the assembly under the windows of the king; one named the Tennis- +court; this proposition was well received, and the deputies repaired +thither in procession. Bailly was at their head; the people followed them +with enthusiasm; even soldiers volunteered to escort them, and there, in a +bare hall, the deputies of the commons standing with upraised hands, and +hearts full of their sacred mission, swore, with only one exception, not +to separate till they had given France a constitution. + +This solemn oath, taken on the 20th of June, in the presence of the +nation, was followed on the 22nd by an important triumph. The assembly, +still deprived of their usual place of meeting, unable to make use of the +Tennis-court, the princes having hired it purposely that it might be +refused them, met in the church of Saint Louis. In this sitting, the +majority of the clergy joined them in the midst of patriotic transports. +Thus, the measures taken to intimidate the assembly, increased its +courage, and accelerated the union they were intended to prevent. By these +two failures the court prefaced the famous sitting of the 23rd of June. + +At length it took place. A numerous guard surrounded the hall of the +states-general, the door of which was opened to the deputies, but closed +to the public. The king came surrounded with the pomp of power; he was +received, contrary to the usual custom, in profound silence. His speech +completed the measure of discontent by the tone of authority with which he +dictated measures rejected by public opinion and by the assembly. The king +complained of a want of union, excited by the court itself; he censured +the conduct of the assembly, regarding it only as the order of the third +estate; he annulled its decrees, enjoined the continuance of the orders, +imposed reforms, and determined their limits; enjoined the states-general +to adopt them, and threatened to dissolve them and to provide alone for +the welfare of the kingdom, if he met with more opposition on their part. +After this scene of authority, so ill-suited to the occasion, and at +variance with his heart, Louis XVI. withdrew, having commanded the +deputies to disperse. The clergy and nobility obeyed. The deputies of the +people, motionless, silent, and indignant, remained seated. They continued +in that attitude some time, when Mirabeau suddenly breaking silence, said: +"Gentlemen, I admit that what you have just heard might be for the welfare +of the country, were it not that the presents of despotism are always +dangerous. What is this insulting dictatorship? The pomp of arms, the +violation of the national temple, are resorted to--to command you to be +happy! Who gives this command? Your mandatary. Who makes these imperious +laws for you? Your mandatary; he who should rather receive them from you, +gentlemen--from us, who are invested with a political and inviolable +priesthood; from us, in a word, to whom alone twenty-five millions of men +are looking for certain happiness, because it is to be consented to, and +given and received by all. But the liberty of your discussions is +enchained; a military force surrounds the assembly! Where are the enemies +of the nation? Is Catiline at our gates? I demand, investing yourselves +with your dignity, with your legislative power, you inclose yourselves +within the religion of your oath. It does not permit you to separate till +you have formed a constitution." + +The grand master of the ceremonies, finding the assembly did not break up, +came and reminded them of the king's order. + +"Go and tell your master," cried Mirabeau, "that we are here at the +command of the people, and nothing but the bayonet shall drive us hence." + +"You are to-day," added Sieyes, calmly, "what you were yesterday. Let us +deliberate." + +The assembly, full of resolution and dignity, began the debate +accordingly. On the motion of Camus, it was determined to persist in the +decrees already made; and upon that of Mirabeau the inviolability of the +members of the assembly was decreed. + +On that day the royal authority was lost. The initiative in law and moral +power passed from the monarch to the assembly. Those who, by their +counsels, had provoked this resistance, did not dare to punish it. Necker, +whose dismissal had been decided on that morning, was, in the evening, +entreated by the queen and Louis XVI. to remain in office. This minister +had disapproved of the royal sitting, and, by refusing to be present at +it, he again won the confidence of the assembly, which he had lost through +his hesitation. The season of disgrace was for him the season of +popularity. By this refusal he became the ally of the assembly, which +determined to support him. Every crisis requires a leader, whose name +becomes the standard of his party; while the assembly contended with the +court, that leader was Necker. + +At the first sitting, that part of the clergy which had united with the +assembly in the church of Saint Louis, again sat with it; a few days +after, forty-seven members of the nobility, among whom was the duke of +Orleans, joined them; and the court was itself compelled to invite the +nobility, and a minority of the clergy, to discontinue a dissent that +would henceforth be useless. On the 27th of June the deliberation became +general. The orders ceased to exist legally, and soon disappeared. The +distinct seats they had hitherto occupied in the common hall soon became +confounded; the futile pre-eminences of rank vanished before national +authority. + +The court, after having vainly endeavoured to prevent the formation of the +assembly, could now only unite with it, to direct its operations. With +prudence and candour it might still have repaired its errors and caused +its attacks to be forgotten. At certain moments, the initiative may be +taken in making sacrifices; at others, all that can be done is to make a +merit of accepting them. At the opening of the states-general, the king +might himself have made the constitution, now he was obliged to receive it +from the assembly; had he submitted to that position, he would infallibly +have improved it. But the advisers of Louis XVI., when they recovered from +the first surprise of defeat, resolved to have recourse to the use of the +bayonet, after they had failed in that of authority. They led the king to +suppose that the contempt of his orders, the safety of his throne, the +maintenance of the laws of the kingdom, and even the well-being of his +people depended on his reducing the assembly to submission; that the +latter, sitting at Versailles, close to Paris, two cities decidedly in its +favour, ought to be subdued by force, and removed to some other place or +dissolved; that it was urgent that this resolution should be adopted in +order to stop the progress of the assembly, and that in order to execute +it, it was necessary speedily to call together troops who might intimidate +the assembly and maintain order at Paris and Versailles. + +While these plots were hatching, the deputies of the nation began their +legislative labours, and prepared the anxiously expected constitution, +which they considered they ought no longer to delay. Addresses poured in +from Paris and the principal towns of the kingdom, congratulating them on +their wisdom, and encouraging them to continue their task of regenerating +France. The troops, meantime, arrived in great numbers; Versailles assumed +the aspect of a camp; the Salle des Etats was surrounded by guards, and +the citizens refused admission. Paris was also encompassed by various +bodies of the army, ready to besiege or blockade it, as the occasion might +require. These vast military preparations, trains of artillery arriving +from the frontiers, and the presence of foreign regiments, whose obedience +was unlimited, announced sinister projects. The populace were restless and +agitated; and the assembly desired to enlighten the throne with respect to +its projects, and solicit the removal of the troops. At Mirabeau's +suggestion, it presented on the 9th of July a firm but respectful address +to the king, which proved useless. Louis XVI. declared that he alone had +to judge the necessity of assembling or dismissing troops, and assured +them, that those assembled formed only a precautionary army to prevent +disturbances and protect the assembly. He moreover offered the assembly to +remove it to Noyon or Soissons, that is to say, to place it between two +armies and deprive it of the support of the people. + +Paris was in the greatest excitement; this vast city was unanimous in its +devotion to the assembly. The perils that threatened the representatives +of the nation, and itself, and the scarcity of food disposed it to +insurrection. Capitalists, from interest and the fear of bankruptcy; men +of enlightenment and all the middle classes, from patriotism; the people, +impelled by want, ascribing their sufferings to the privileged classes and +the court, desirous of agitation and change, all had warmly espoused the +cause of the revolution. It is difficult to conceive the movement which +disturbed the capital of France. It was arising from the repose and +silence of servitude; it was, as it were, astonished at the novelty of its +situation, and intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm. The press excited +the public mind, the newspapers published the debates of the assembly, and +enabled the public to be present, as it were, at its deliberations, and +the questions mooted in its bosom were discussed in the open air, in the +public squares. It was at the Palais Royal, more especially, that the +assembly of the capital was held. The garden was always filled by a crowd +that seemed permanent, though continually renewed. A table answered the +purpose of the _tribune_, the first citizen at hand became the orator; +there men expatiated on the dangers that threatened the country, and +excited each other to resistance. Already, on a motion made at the Palais +Royal, the prisons of the Abbaye had been broken open, and some grenadiers +of the French guards, who had been imprisoned for refusing to fire on the +people, released in triumph. This outbreak was attended by no +consequences; a deputation had already solicited, in behalf of the +delivered prisoners, the interest of the assembly, who had recommended +them to the clemency of the king. They had returned to prison, and had +received pardon. But this regiment, one of the most complete and bravest, +had become favourable to the popular cause. + +Such was the disposition of Paris when the court, having established +troops at Versailles, Sevres, the Champ de Mars, and Saint Denis, thought +itself able to execute its project. It commenced, on the 11th of July, by +the banishment of Necker, and the complete reconstruction of the ministry. +The marshal de Broglie, la Galissonniere, the duke de la Vauguyon, the +Baron de Breteuil, and the intendant Foulon, were appointed to replace +Puysegur, Montmorin, La Luzerne, Saint Priest, and Necker. The latter +received, while at dinner on the 11th of July, a note from the king +enjoining him to leave the country immediately. He finished dining very +calmly, without communicating the purport of the order he had received, +and then got into his carriage with Madame Necker, as if intending to +drive to Saint Omer, and took the road to Brussels. + +On the following day, Sunday, the 12th of July, about four in the +afternoon, Necker's disgrace and departure became known at Paris. This +measure was regarded as the execution of the plot, the preparations for +which had so long been observed. In a short time the city was in the +greatest confusion; crowds gathered together on every side; more than ten +thousand persons flocked to the Palais Royal all affected by this news, +ready for anything, but not knowing what measure to adopt. Camille +Desmoulins, a young man, more daring than the rest, one of the usual +orators of the crowd, mounted on a table, pistol in hand, exclaiming: +"Citizens, there is no time to lose; the dismissal of Necker is the knell +of a Saint Bartholomew for patriots! This very night all the Swiss and +German battalions will leave the Champ de Mars to massacre us all; one +resource is left; to take arms!" These words were received with violent +acclamations. He proposed that cockades should be worn for mutual +recognition and protection. "Shall they be green," he cried, "the colour +of hope; or red, the colour of the free order of Cincinnatus?" "Green! +green!" shouted the multitude. The speaker descended from the table, and +fastened the sprig of a tree in his hat. Every one imitated him. The +chestnut-trees of the palace were almost stripped of their leaves, and +the crowd went in tumult to the house of the sculptor Curtius. + +They take busts of Necker and the duke of Orleans, a report having also +gone abroad that the latter would be exiled, and covering them with crape, +carry them in triumph. This procession passes through the Rues Saint +Martin, Saint Denis, and Saint Honore, augmenting at every step. The crowd +obliges all they meet to take off their hats. Meeting the horse-patrol, +they take them as their escort. The procession advances in this way to the +Place Vendome, and there they carry the two busts twice round the statue +of Louis XIV. A detachment of the Royal-allemand comes up and attempts to +disperse the mob, but are put to flight by a shower of stones; and the +multitude, continuing its course, reaches the Place Louis XV. Here they +are assailed by the dragoons of the prince de Lambesc; after resisting a +few moments they are thrown into confusion; the bearer of one of the busts +and a soldier of one of the French guards are killed. The mob disperses, +part towards the quays, part fall back on the Boulevards, the rest hurry +to the Tuileries by the Pont Tournant. The prince de Lambesc, at the head +of his horsemen, with drawn sabre pursues them into the gardens, and +charges an unarmed multitude who were peaceably promenading and had +nothing to do with the procession. In this attack an old man is wounded by +a sabre cut; the mob defend themselves with the seats, and rush to the +terraces; indignation becomes general; the cry _To arms!_ soon resounds on +every side, at the Palais Royal and the Tuileries, in the city and in the +faubourgs. + +We have already said that the regiment of the French guard was favourably +disposed towards the people: it had accordingly been ordered to keep in +barracks. The prince de Lambesc, fearing that it might nevertheless take +an active part, ordered sixty dragoons to station themselves before its +depot, situated in the Chaussee-d'Antin. The soldiers of the guards, +already dissatisfied at being kept as prisoners, were greatly provoked at +the sight of these strangers, with whom they had had a skirmish a few days +before. They wished to fly to arms, and their officers using alternately +threats and entreaties, had much difficulty in restraining them. But they +would hear no more, when some of their men brought them intelligence of +the attack at the Tuileries, and the death of one of their comrades: they +seized their arms, broke open the gates, and drew up in battle array at +the entrance of the barracks, and cried out, "_Qui vive?_"--"Royal- +allemand."--"Are you for the third estate?" "We are for those who command +us." Then the French guards fired on them, killed two of their men, +wounded three, and put the rest to flight. They then advanced at quick +time and with fixed bayonets to the Place Louis XV. and took their stand +between the Tuileries and the Champs Elysees, the people and the troops, +and kept that post during the night. The soldiers of the Champ de Mars +were immediately ordered to advance. When they reached the Champs Elysees, +the French guards received them with discharges of musketry. They wished +to make them fight, but they refused: the Petits-Suisses were the first to +give this example, which the other regiments followed. The officers, in +despair, ordered a retreat; the troops retired as far as the Grille de +Chaillot, whence they soon withdrew into the Champ de Mars. The defection +of the French guard, and the manifest refusal even of the foreign troops +to march on the capital, caused the failure of the projects of the court. + +During the evening the people had repaired to the Hotel de Ville, and +requested that the tocsin might be sounded, the districts assembled, and +the citizens armed. Some electors assembled at the Hotel de Ville, and +took the authority into their own hands. They rendered great service to +their fellow-citizens and the cause of liberty by their courage, prudence, +and activity, during these days of insurrection; but in the first +confusion of the rising it was with difficulty they succeeded in making +themselves heard. The tumult was at its height; each only answered the +dictates of his own passions. Side by side with well-disposed citizens +were men of suspicious character, who only sought in insurrection +opportunities for pillage and disorder. Bands of labourers employed by +government in the public works, for the most part without home or +substance, burnt the barriers, infested the streets, plundered houses, and +obtained the name of brigands. The night of the 12th and 13th was spent in +tumult and alarm. + +The departure of Necker, which threw the capital into this state of +excitement, had no less effect at Versailles and in the assembly. It +caused the same astonishment and discontent. The deputies repaired early +in the morning to the Salle des Etats; they were gloomy, but their silence +arose from indignation rather than dejection. "At the opening of the +session," said a deputy, "several addresses of adherence to the decrees +were listened to in mournful silence by the assembly, more attentive to +their own thoughts than to the addresses read." Mounier began; he +exclaimed against the dismissal of ministers beloved by the nation, and +the choice of their successors. He proposed an address to the king +demanding their recall, showing him the dangers attendant on violent +measures, the misfortunes that would follow the employment of troops, and +telling him that the assembly solemnly opposed itself to an infamous +national bankruptcy. At these words, the feelings of the assembly, +hitherto restrained, broke out in clapping of hands, and cries of +approbation. Lally-Tollendal, a friend of Necker, then came forward with a +sorrowful air, and delivered a long and eloquent eulogium on the banished +minister. He was listened to with the greatest interest; his grief +responded to that of the public; the cause of Necker was now that of the +country. The nobility itself sided with the members of the third estate, +either considering the danger common, or dreading to incur the same blame +as the court if it did not disapprove its conduct, or perhaps it obeyed +the general impulse. + +A noble deputy, the count de Virieu, set the example, and said: "Assembled +for the constitution, let us make the constitution; let us tighten our +mutual bonds; let us renew, confirm, and consecrate the glorious decrees +of the 17th of June; let us join in the celebrated resolution made on the +20th of the same month. Let us all, yes, all, all the united orders, swear +to be faithful to those illustrious decrees which now can alone save the +kingdom." "_The constitution shall be made, or we will cease to be_," +added the duc de la Rochefoucauld. But this unanimity became still more +confirmed when the rising of Paris, the excesses which ensued the burning +of the barriers, the assembling of the electors at the Hotel de Ville, the +confusion of the capital, and the fact that citizens were ready to be +attacked by the soldiers or to slaughter each other, became known to the +assembly. Then one cry resounded through the hall: "Let the recollection +of our momentary divisions be effaced! Let us unite our efforts for the +salvation of the country!" A deputation was immediately sent to the king, +composed of eighty members, among whom were all the deputies of Paris. The +archbishop of Vienne, president of the assembly, was at its head. It was +to represent to the king the dangers that threatened the capital, the +necessity of sending away the troops, and entrusting the care of the city +to a militia of citizens; and if it obtained these demands from the king, +a deputation was to be sent to Paris with the consolatory intelligence. +But the members soon returned with an unsatisfactory answer. + +The assembly now saw that it must depend on itself, and that the projects +of the court were irrevocably fixed. Far from being discouraged, it only +became more firm, and immediately voted unanimously a decree proclaiming +the responsibility of the present ministers of the king, and of all his +counsellors, _of whatever rank they might be_; it further passed a vote of +regret for Necker and the other disgraced ministers; it resolved that it +would not cease to insist upon the dismissal of the troops and the +establishment of a militia of citizens; it placed the public debt under +the safeguard of French honour, and adhered to all its previous decrees. +After these measures, it adopted a last one, not less necessary; +apprehending that the Salle des Etats might, during the night, be occupied +by a military force for the purpose of dispersing the assembly, it +resolved to sit permanently till further orders. It decided that a portion +of the members should sit during the night, and another relieve them early +in the morning. To spare the venerable archbishop of Vienne the fatigue of +a permanent presidency, a vice-president was appointed to supply his place +on these extraordinary occasions. Lafayette was elected to preside over +the night sittings. It passed off without a debate; the deputies remaining +in their seats, observing silence, but apparently calm and serene. It was +by these measures, this expression of public regret, by these decrees, +this unanimous enthusiasm, this sustained good sense, this inflexible +conduct, that the assembly rose gradually to a level with its dangers and +its mission. + +On the 13th the insurrection took at Paris a more regular character. Early +in the morning the populace flocked to the Hotel de Ville; the tocsin was +sounded there and in all the churches; and drums were beat in the streets +to call the citizens together. The public places soon became thronged. +Troops were formed under the titles of volunteers of the Palais Royal, +volunteers of the Tuileries, of the Basoche, and of the Arquebuse. The +districts assembled, and each of them voted two hundred men for its +defence. Arms alone were wanting; and these were eagerly sought wherever +there was any hope of finding them. All that could be found at the gun- +smiths and sword-cutlers were taken, receipts being sent to the owners. +They applied for arms at the Hotel de Ville. The electors who were still +assembled, replied in vain that they had none; they insisted on having +them. The electors then sent the head of the city, M. de Flesselles, the +Prevot des marchands, who alone knew the military state of the capital, +and whose popular authority promised to be of great assistance in this +difficult conjuncture. He was received with loud applause by the +multitude: "_My friends_," said he, "_I am your father; you shall be +satisfied_." A permanent committee was formed at the Hotel de Ville, to +take measures for the general safety. + +About the same time it was announced that the Maison des Lazaristes, which +contained a large quantity of grain, had been despoiled; that the Garde- +Meuble had been forced open to obtain old arms, and that the gun-smiths' +shops had been plundered. The greatest excesses were apprehended from the +crowd; it was let loose, and it seemed difficult to master its fury. But +this was a moment of enthusiasm and disinterestedness. The mob itself +disarmed suspected characters; the corn found at the Lazaristes was taken +to the Halle; not a single house was plundered, and carriages and vehicles +filled with provisions, furniture and utensils, stopped at the gates of +the city, were taken to the Place de Greve, which became a vast depot. +Here the crowd increased every moment, shouting _Arms!_ It was now about +one o'clock. The provost of the merchants then announced the immediate +arrival of twelve thousand guns from the manufactory of Charleville, which +would soon be followed by thirty thousand more. + +This appeased the people for some time, and the committee was enabled to +pursue quietly its task of organizing a militia of citizens. In less than +four hours the plan was drawn up, discussed, adopted, printed, and +proclaimed. It was resolved that the Parisian guard should, till further +orders, be increased to forty-eight thousand men. All citizens were +invited to enrol their names; every district had its battalion; every +battalion its leaders; the command of this army of citizens was offered to +the duc d'Aumont, who required twenty-four hours to decide. In the +meantime the marquis de la Salle was appointed second in command. The +green cockade was then exchanged for a blue and red one, which were the +colours of the city. All this was the work of a few hours. The districts +gave their assent to the measures adopted by the permanent committee. The +clerks of the Chatelet, those of the Palais, medical students, soldiers of +the watch, and what was of still greater value, the French guards offered +their services to the assembly. Patrols began to be formed, and to +perambulate the streets. + +The people waited with impatience the realisation of the promise of the +provost of the merchants, but no guns arrived; evening approached, and +they feared during the night another attack from the troops. They thought +they were betrayed when they heard of an attempt to convey secretly from +Paris nearly fifty cwt. of powder, which had been intercepted by the +people at the barriers. But soon after some cases arrived, labelled +_Artillery_. At this sight, the commotion subsided; the cases were +escorted to the Hotel de Ville, it being supposed that they contained the +guns expected from Charleville. On opening them, they were found to +contain old linen and pieces of wood. A cry of treachery arose on every +side, mingled with murmurs and threats against the committee and the +provost of the merchants. The latter apologized, declaring he had been +deceived; and to gain time, or to get rid of the crowd, sent them to the +Chartreux, to seek for arms. Finding none there, the mob returned, enraged +and mistrustful. The committee then felt satisfied there was no other way +of arming Paris, and curing the suspicions of the people, than by forging +pikes; and accordingly gave orders that fifty thousand should be made +immediately. To avoid the excesses of the preceding night, the town was +illuminated, and patrols marched through it in every direction. + +The next day, the people that had been unable to obtain arms on the +preceding day, came early in the morning to solicit some from the +committee, blaming its refusal and failures of the day before. The +committee had sent for some in vain; none had arrived from Charleville, +none were to be found at the Chartreux, and the arsenal itself was empty. + +The mob, no longer satisfied with excuses, and more convinced than ever +that they were betrayed, hurried in a mass to the Hotel des Invalides, +which contained a considerable depot of arms. It displayed no fear of the +troops established in the Champ de Mars, broke into the Hotel, in spite of +the entreaties of the governor, M. de Sombreuil, found twenty-eight +thousand guns concealed in the cellars, seized them, took all the sabres, +swords, and cannon, and carried them off in triumph. The cannon were +placed at the entrance of the Faubourgs, at the palace of the Tuileries, +on the quays and on the bridges, for the defence of the capital against +the invasion of troops, which was expected every moment. + +Even during the same morning an alarm was given that the regiments +stationed at Saint Denis were on the march, and that the cannon of the +Bastille were pointed on the Rue Saint Antoine. The committee immediately +sent to ascertain the truth; appointed bands of citizens to defend that +side of the town, and sent a deputation to the governor of the Bastille, +soliciting him to withdraw his cannon and engage in no act of hostility. +This alarm, together with the dread which that fortress inspired, the +hatred felt for the abuses it shielded, the importance of possessing so +prominent a point, and of not leaving it in the power of the enemy in a +moment of insurrection, drew the attention of the populace in that +direction. From nine in the morning till two, the only rallying word +throughout Paris was "a la Bastille! a la Bastille!" The citizens hastened +thither in bands from all quarters, armed with guns, pikes, and sabres. +The crowd which already surrounded it was considerable; the sentinels of +the fortress were at their posts, and the drawbridges raised as in war. + +A deputy of the district of Saint Louis de la Culture, named Thuriot de la +Rosiere, then requested a parley with De Launay, the governor. When +admitted to his presence he summoned him to change the direction of the +cannon. The governor replied, that the cannon had always been placed on +the towers, and it was not in his power to remove them; yet, at the same +time, having heard of the alarm prevalent among the Parisians, he had had +them withdrawn a few paces, and taken out of the port-holes. With some +difficulty Thuriot obtained permission to enter the fortress further, and +examine if its condition was really as satisfactory for the town as the +governor represented it to be. As he advanced, he observed three pieces of +cannon pointed on the avenues leading to the open space before the +fortress, and ready to sweep those who might attempt to attack it. About +forty Swiss, and eighty Invalides, were under arms. Thuriot urged them, as +well as the staff of the place, in the name of honour and of their +country, not to act as the enemies of the people. Both officers and +soldiers swore they would not make use of their arms unless attacked. +Thuriot then ascended the towers, and perceived a crowd gathering in all +directions, and the inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint Antoine, who were +rising in a mass. The multitude without, not seeing him return, were +already demanding him with great clamour. To satisfy the people, he +appeared on the parapet of the fortress, and was received with loud +applause from the gardens of the arsenal. He then rejoined his party, and +having informed them of the result of his mission, proceeded to the +committee. + +But the impatient crowd now clamoured for the surrender of the Bastille. +From time to time the cry arose, "The Bastille! we will have the +Bastille!" At length, two men, more determined than the rest, darting from +the crowd, sprang on a guardhouse, and struck at the chains of the +drawbridge with heavy hatchets. The soldiers shouted to them to retire, +and threatened to fire; but they continued to strike, succeeded in +breaking the chains and lowering the bridge, and then rushed over it, +followed by the crowd. In this way they advanced to cut the chains of the +second bridge. The garrison now dispersed them with a discharge of +musketry. They returned, however, to the attack, and for several hours +their efforts were confined to the second bridge, the approach to which +was defended by a ceaseless fire from the fortress. The mob infuriated by +this obstinate resistance, tried to break in the gates with hatchets, and +to set fire to the guard-house. A murderous discharge of grapeshot +proceeded from the garrison, and many of the besiegers were killed and +wounded. They only became the more determined, and seconded by the daring +and determination of the two brave men, Elie and Hulin, who were at their +head, they continued the attack with fury. + +The committee of the Hotel de Ville were in a state of great anxiety. The +siege of the Bastille seemed to them a very rash enterprise. They ever and +anon received intelligence of the disasters that had taken place before +the fortress. They wavered between fear of the troops should they prove +victorious, and that of the multitude who clamoured for ammunition to +continue the siege. As they could not give what they did not possess, the +mob cried treachery. Two deputations had been sent by the committee for +the purpose of discontinuing hostilities, and inviting the governor to +confide the keeping of the place to the citizens; but in the midst of the +tumult, the cries, and the firing, they could not make themselves heard. A +third was sent, carrying a drum and banner, that it might be more easily +distinguished, but it experienced no better fortune: neither side would +listen to anything. The assembly at the Hotel de Ville, notwithstanding it +efforts and activity, still incurred the suspicions of the populace. The +provost of the merchants, especially, excited the greatest mistrust. "He +has already deceived us several times during the day," said one. "He +talks," said another, "of opening a trench; he only wants to gain time, to +make us lose ours." Then an old man cried: "Comrades, why do you listen to +traitors? Forward, follow me! In less than two hours the Bastille will be +taken!" + +The siege had lasted more than four hours when the French guards arrived +with cannon. Their arrival changed the appearance of the combat. The +garrison itself begged the governor to yield. The unfortunate De Launay, +dreading the fate that awaited him, wished to blow up the fortress, and +bury himself under its ruins and those of the faubourg. He went in despair +towards the powder magazine, with a lighted match. The garrison stopped +him, raised a white standard on the platform, and reversed the guns, in +token of peace. But the assailants still continued to fight and advance, +shouting, "Lower the bridges!" Through the battlements a Swiss officer +proposed to capitulate, with permission to retire from the building with +the honours of war. "No! no!" clamoured the crowd. The same officer +proposed to lay down arms, on the promise that their lives should be +spared. "Lower the bridge," rejoined the foremost of the assailants, "you +shall not be injured." The gates were opened and the bridge lowered, on +this assurance, and the crowd rushed into the Bastille. Those who led the +multitude wished to save from its vengeance the governor, Swiss soldiers, +and Invalides; but cries of "Give them up! give them up! they fired on +their fellow-citizens, they deserve to be hanged!" rose on every side. The +governor, a few Swiss soldiers and Invalides were torn from the protection +of those who sought to defend them, and put to death by the implacable +crowd. + +The permanent committee knew nothing of the issue of the combat. The hall +of the sittings was invaded by a furious multitude, who threatened the +provost of the merchants and electors. Flesselles began to be alarmed at +his position; he was pale and agitated. The object of the most violent +reproaches and threats, they obliged him to go from the hall of the +committee to the hall of the general assembly, where a great crowd of +citizens was assembled. "Let him come; let him follow us," resounded from +all sides. "This is too much!" rejoined Flesselles. "Let us go, since they +request it; let us go where I am expected." They had scarcely reached the +great hall, when the attention of the multitude was drawn off by shouts on +the Place de Greve. They heard the cries of "Victory! victory! liberty!" +It was the arrival of the conquerors of the Bastille which this announced. +They themselves soon entered the hall with the most noisy and the most +fearful pomp. The persons who had most distinguished themselves were +carried in triumph, crowned with laurels. They were escorted by more than +fifteen hundred men, with glaring eyes and dishevelled hair, with all +kinds of arms, pressing one upon another, and making the flooring yield +beneath their feet. One carried the keys and standard of the Bastille; +another, its regulations suspended to his bayonet; a third, with horrible +barbarity, raised in his bleeding hand the buckle of the governor's stock. +With this parade, the procession of the conquerors of the Bastille, +followed by an immense crowd that thronged the quays, entered the hall of +the Hotel de Ville to inform the committee of their triumph, and decide +the fate of the prisoners who survived. A few wished to leave it to the +committee, but others shouted: "No quarter for the prisoners! No quarter +for the men who fired on their fellow-citizens!" La Salle, the commandant, +the elector Moreau de Saint-Mery, and the brave Elie, succeeded in +appeasing the multitude, and obtained a general amnesty. + +It was now the turn of the unfortunate Flesselles. It is said that a +letter found on De Launay proved the treachery of which he was suspected. +"I am amusing the Parisians," he wrote, "with cockades and promises. Hold +out till the evening, and you shall be reinforced." The mob hurried to his +office. The more moderate demanded that he should be arrested and confined +in the Chatelet; but others opposed this, saying that he should be +conveyed to the Palais-Royal, and there tried. This decision gave general +satisfaction. "To the Palais-Royal! To the Palais-Royal!" resounded from +every side. "Well--be it so, gentlemen," replied Flesselles, with +composure, "let us go to the Palais-Royal." So saying, he descended the +steps, passed through the crowd, which opened to make way for him, and +which followed without offering him any violence. But at the corner of the +Quay Pelletier a stranger rushed forward, and killed him with a pistol- +shot. + +After these scenes of war, tumult, dispute, and vengeance, the Parisians, +fearing, from some intercepted letters, that an attack would be made +during the night, prepared to receive the enemy. The whole population +joined in the labour of fortifying the town; they formed barricades, +opened intrenchments, unpaved streets, forged pikes, and cast bullets. +Women carried stones to the tops of the houses to crush the soldiers as +they passed. The national guard were distributed in posts; Paris seemed +changed into an immense foundry and a vast camp, and the whole night was +spent under arms, expecting the conflict. + +While the insurrection assumed this violent, permanent, and serious +character at Paris, what was doing at Versailles? The court was preparing +to realize its designs against the capital and assembly. The night of the +14th was fixed upon for their execution. The baron de Breteuil, who was at +the head of the ministry, had promised to restore the royal authority in +three days. Marshal de Broglie, commander of the army collected around +Paris, had received unlimited powers of all kinds. On the 15th the +declaration of the 23rd of June was to be renewed, and the king, after +forcing the assembly to adopt it, was to dissolve it. Forty thousand +copies of this declaration were in readiness to be circulated throughout +the kingdom; and to meet the pressing necessities of the treasury more +than a hundred millions of paper money was created. The movement in Paris, +so far from thwarting the court, favoured its views. To the last moment it +looked upon it as a passing tumult that might easily be suppressed; it +believed neither in its perseverance nor in its success, and it did not +seem possible to it that a town of citizens could resist an army. + +The assembly was apprised of these projects. For two days it had sat +without interruption, in a state of great anxiety and alarm. It was +ignorant of the greater portion of what was passing in Paris. At one time +it was announced that the insurrection was general, and that all Paris was +marching on Versailles; then that the troops were advancing on the +capital. They fancied they heard cannon, and they placed their ears to the +ground to assure themselves. On the evening of the 14th it was announced +that the king intended to depart during the night, and that the assembly +would be left to the mercy of the foreign regiments. This last alarm was +not without foundation. A carriage and horses were kept in readiness, and +the body-guard remained booted for several days. Besides, at the Orangery, +incidents truly alarming took place; the troops were prepared and +stimulated for their expedition by distributions of wine and by +encouragements. Everything announced that a decisive moment had arrived. + +Despite the approaching and increasing danger, the assembly was unshaken, +and persisted in its first resolutions. Mirabeau, who had first required +the dismissal of the troops, now arranged another deputation. It was on +the point of setting out, when the viscount de Noailles, a deputy, just +arrived from Paris, informed the assembly of the progress of the +insurrection, the pillage of the Invalides, the arming of the people, and +the siege of the Bastille. Wimpfen, another deputy, to this account added +that of the personal dangers he had incurred, and assured them that the +fury of the populace was increasing with its peril. The assembly proposed +the establishment of couriers to bring them intelligence every half hour. + +M. M. Ganilh and Bancal-des-Issarts, despatched by the committee at the +Hotel de Ville as a deputation to the assembly, confirmed all they had +just heard. They informed them of the measures taken by the electors to +secure order and the defence of the capital; the disasters that had +happened before the Bastille; the inutility of the deputations sent to the +governor, and told them that the fire of the garrison had surrounded the +fortress with the slain. A cry of indignation arose in the assembly at +this intelligence, and a second deputation was instantly despatched to +communicate these distressing tidings to the king. The first returned with +an unsatisfactory answer; it was now ten at night. The king, on learning +these disastrous events, which seemed to presage others still greater, +appeared affected. Struggling against the part he had been induced to +adopt, he said to the deputies,--"You rend my heart more and more by the +dreadful news you bring of the misfortunes of Paris. It is impossible to +suppose that the orders given to the troops are the cause of these +disasters. You are acquainted with the answer I returned to the first +deputation; I have nothing to add to it." This answer consisted of a +promise that the troops of the Champ de Mars should be sent away from +Paris, and of an order given to general officers to assume the command of +the guard of citizens. Such measures were not sufficient to remedy the +dangerous situation in which men were placed; and it neither satisfied nor +gave confidence to the assembly. + +Shortly after this, the deputies d'Ormesson and Duport announced to the +assembly the taking of the Bastille, and the deaths of De Launay and +Flesselles. It was proposed to send a third deputation to the king, +imploring the removal of the troops. "No," said Clermont Tonnerre, "leave +them the night to consult in; kings must buy experience as well as other +men." In this way the assembly spent the night. On the following morning, +another deputation was appointed to represent to the king the misfortunes +that would follow a longer refusal. When on the point of starting, +Mirabeau stopped it: "Tell him," he exclaimed, "that the hordes of +strangers who invest us, received yesterday, visits, caresses, +exhortations, and presents from the princes, princesses, and favourites; +tell him that, during the night, these foreign satellites, gorged with +gold and wine, predicted in their impious songs the subjection of France, +and invoked the destruction of the national assembly; tell him, that in +his own palace, courtiers danced to the sound of that barbarous music, and +that such was the prelude to the massacre of Saint Bartholomew! Tell him +that the Henry of his ancestors, whom he wished to take as his model, +whose memory is honoured by all nations, sent provisions into a Paris in +revolt when besieging the city himself, while the savage advisers of Louis +send away the corn which trade brings into Paris loyal and starving." + +But at that moment the king entered the assembly. The duke de Liancourt, +taking advantage of the access his quality of master of the robes gave +him, had informed the king, during the night, of the desertion of the +French guard, and of the attack and taking of the Bastille. At this news, +of which his councillors had kept him in ignorance, the monarch exclaimed, +with surprise, "this is a revolt!" "No sire! it is a revolution." This +excellent citizen had represented to him the danger to which the projects +of the court exposed him; the fears and exasperations of the people, the +disaffection of the troops, and he determined upon presenting himself +before the assembly, to satisfy them as to his intentions. The news at +first excited transports of joy. Mirabeau represented to his colleagues, +that it was not fit to indulge in premature applause. "Let us wait," said +he, "till his majesty makes known the good intentions we are led to expect +from him. The blood of our brethren flows in Paris. Let a sad respect be +the first reception given to the king by the representatives of an +unfortunate people: the silence of the people is the lesson of kings." + +The assembly resumed the sombre demeanour which had never left it during +the three preceding days. The king entered without guards, and only +attended by his brothers. He was received, at first, in profound silence; +but when he told them he was _one with the nation_, and that, relying on +the love and fidelity of his subjects, he had ordered the troops to leave +Paris and Versailles; when he uttered the affecting words--_Eh bien, c'est +moi qui me fie a vous_, general applause ensued. The assembly arose +spontaneously, and conducted him back to the chateau. + +This intelligence diffused gladness in Versailles and Paris, where the +reassured people passed, by sudden transition, from animosity to +gratitude. Louis XVI. thus restored to himself, felt the importance of +appeasing the capital in person, of regaining the affection of the people, +and of thus conciliating the popular power. He announced to the assembly +that he would recall Necker, and repair to Paris the following day. The +assembly had already nominated a deputation of a hundred members, which +preceded the king to the capital. It was received with enthusiasm. Bailly +and Lafayette, who formed part of it, were appointed, the former mayor of +Paris, the latter commander-in-chief of the citizen guard. Bailly owed +this recompense to his long and difficult presidency of the assembly, and +Lafayette to his glorious and patriotic conduct. A friend of Washington, +and one of the principal authors of American independence, he had, on his +return to his country, first pronounced the name of the states-general, +had joined the assembly, with the minority of the nobility, and had since +proved himself one of the most zealous partisans of the revolution. + +On the 27th, the new magistrates went to receive the king at the head of +the municipality and the Parisian guard. "Sire," said Bailly, "I bring +your majesty the keys of your good town of Paris; they are the same which +were presented to Henry IV.; he had regained his people; now the people +have regained their king." From the Place Louis XV. to the Hotel de Ville, +the king passed through a double line of the national guard, placed in +ranks three or four deep, and armed with guns, pikes, lances, scythes, and +staves. Their countenances were still gloomy; and no cry was heard but the +oft-repeated shout of "Vive la Nation!" But when Louis XVI. had left his +carriage and received from Bailly's hands the tri-coloured cockade, and, +surrounded by the crowd without guards, had confidently entered the Hotel +de Ville, cries of "Vive le Roi!" burst forth on every side. The +reconciliation was complete; Louis XVI. received the strongest marks of +affection. After approving the choice of the people with respect to the +new magistrates, he returned to Versailles, where some anxiety was +entertained as to the success of his journey, on account of the preceding +troubles. The national assembly met him in the Avenue de Paris; it +accompanied him as far as the chateau, where the queen and her children +ran to his arms. + +The ministers opposed to the revolution, and all the authors of the +unsuccessful projects, retired from court. The count d'Artois and his two +sons, the prince de Conde, the prince de Conti, and the Polignac family, +accompanied by a numerous train, left France. They settled at Turin, where +the count d'Artois and the prince de Conde were soon joined by Calonne, +who became their agent. Thus began the first emigration. The emigrant +princes were not long in exciting civil war in the kingdom, and forming an +European coalition against France. + +Necker returned in triumph. This was the finest moment of his life; few +men have had such. The minister of the nation, disgraced for it, and +recalled for it, he was welcomed along the road from Bale to Paris, with +every expression of public gratitude and joy. His entry into Paris was a +day of festivity. But the day that raised his popularity to its height put +a term to it. The multitude, still enraged against all who had +participated in the project of the 14th of July, had put to death, with +relentless cruelty, Foulon, the intended minister, and his nephew, +Berthier. Indignant at these executions, fearing that others might fall +victims, and especially desirous of saving the baron de Besenval, +commander of the army of Paris, under marshal de Broglie, and detained +prisoner, Necker demanded a general amnesty and obtained it from the +assembly of electors. This step was very imprudent, in a moment of +enthusiasm and mistrust. Necker did not know the people; he was not aware +how easily they suspect their chiefs and destroy their idols. They thought +he wished to protect their enemies from the punishment they had incurred; +the districts assembled, the legality of an amnesty pronounced by an +unauthorised assembly was violently attacked, and the electors themselves +revoked it. No doubt, it was advisable to calm the rage of the people, and +recommend them to be merciful; but instead of demanding the liberation of +the accused, the application should have been for a tribunal which would +have removed them from the murderous jurisdiction of the multitude. In +certain cases that which appears most humane is not really so. Necker, +without gaining anything, excited the people against himself, and the +districts against the electors; from that time he began to contend against +the revolution, of which, because he had been for a moment its hero, he +hoped to become the master. But an individual is of slight importance +during a revolution which raises the masses; that vast movement either +drags him on with it, or tramples him under foot; he must either precede +or succumb. At no time is the subordination of men to circumstances more +clearly manifested: revolutions employ many leaders, and when they submit, +it is to one alone. + +The consequences of the 14th of July were immense. The movement of Paris +communicated itself to the provinces; the country population, imitating +that of the capital, organized itself in all directions into +municipalities for purposes of self-government; and into bodies of +national guards for self-defence. Authority and force became wholly +displaced; royalty had lost them by its defeat, the nation had acquired +them. The new magistrates were alone powerful, alone obeyed; their +predecessors were altogether mistrusted. In towns, the people rose against +them and against the privileged classes, whom they naturally supposed +enemies to the change that had been effected. In the country, the chateaux +were fired and the peasantry burned the title-deeds of their lords. In a +moment of victory it is difficult not to make an abuse of power. But to +appease the people it was necessary to destroy abuses, in order that, they +might not, while seeking to get rid of them, confound privilege with +property. Classes had disappeared, arbitrary power was destroyed; with +these, their old accessory, inequality, too, must be suppressed. Thus must +proceed the establishment of the new order of things, and these +preliminaries were the work of a single night. + +The assembly had addressed to the people proclamations calculated to +restore tranquillity. The Chatelet was constituted a court for trying the +conspirators of the 14th of July, and this also contributed to the +restoration of order by satisfying the multitude. An important measure +remained to be executed, the abolition of privileges. On the night of the +4th of August, the viscount de Noailles gave the signal for this. He +proposed the redemption of feudal rights, and the suppression of personal +servitude. With this motion began the sacrifice of all the privileged +classes; a rivalry of patriotism and public offerings arose among them. +The enthusiasm became general; in a few hours the cessation of all abuses +was decreed. The duke du Chatelet proposed the redemption of tithes and +their conversion into a pecuniary tax; the bishop of Chartres, the +abolition of the game-laws; the count de Virieu, that of the law +protecting doves and pigeons. The abolition of seigneurial courts, of the +purchase and sale of posts in the magistracy, of pecuniary immunities, of +favouritism in taxation, of surplice money, first-fruits, pluralities, and +unmerited pensions, were successively proposed and carried. After +sacrifices made by individuals, came those of bodies, of towns and +provinces. Companies and civic freedoms were abolished. The marquis des +Blacons, a deputy of Dauphine, in the name of his province, pronounced a +solemn renunciation of its privileges. The other provinces followed the +example of Dauphine, and the towns that of the provinces. A medal was +struck to commemorate the day; and the assembly decreed to Louis XVI. the +title of _Restorer of French Liberty_. + +That night, which an enemy of the revolution designated at the time, the +Saint Bartholomew of property, was only the Saint Bartholomew of abuses. +It swept away the rubbish of feudalism; it delivered persons from the +remains of servitude, properties from seigneurial liabilities; from the +ravages of game, and the exaction of tithes. By destroying the seigneurial +courts, that remnant of private power, it led to the principle of public +power; in putting an end to the purchasing posts in the magistracy, it +threw open the prospect of unbought justice. It was the transition from an +order of things in which everything belonged to individuals, to another in +which everything was to belong to the nation. That night changed the face +of the kingdom; it made all Frenchmen equal; all might now obtain public +employments; aspire to the idea of property of their own, of exercising +industry for their own benefit. That night was a revolution as important +as the insurrection of the 14th of July, of which it was the consequence. +It made the people masters of society, as the other had made them masters +of the government, and it enabled them to prepare the new, while +destroying the old constitution. + +The revolution had progressed rapidly, had obtained great results in a +very short time; it would have been less prompt, less complete, had it not +been attacked. Every refusal became for it the cause of a new success; it +foiled intrigue, resisted authority, triumphed over force; and at the +point of time we have reached, the whole edifice of absolute monarchy had +fallen to the ground, through the errors of its chiefs. The 17th of June +had witnessed the disappearance of the three orders, and the states- +general changed into the national assembly; with the 23rd of June +terminated the moral influence of royalty; with the 14th of July its +physical power; the assembly inherited the one, the people the other; +finally, the 4th of August completed this first revolution. The period we +have just gone over stands prominently out from the rest; in its brief +course force was displaced, and all the preliminary changes were +accomplished. The following period is that in which the new system is +discussed, becomes established, and in which the assembly, after having +been destructive, becomes constructive. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FROM THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST TO THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789 + + +The national assembly, composed of the elite of the nation, was full of +intelligence, pure intentions, and projects for the public good. It was +not, indeed, free from parties, or wholly unanimous; but the mass was not +dominated by any man or idea; and it was the mass which, upon a conviction +ever untrammelled and often entirely spontaneous, decided the +deliberations and bestowed popularity. The following were the divisions of +views and interests it contained within itself:-- + +The court had a party in the assembly, the privileged classes, who +remained for a long time silent, and took but a tardy share in the +debates. This party consisted of those who during the dispute as to the +orders had declared against union. The aristocratic classes, +notwithstanding their momentary agreement with the commons, had interests +altogether contrary to those of the national party; and, accordingly, the +nobility and higher clergy, who formed the Right of the assembly, were in +constant opposition to it, except on days of peculiar excitement. These +foes of the revolution, unable to prevent it by their sacrifices, or to +stop it by their adhesion, systematically contended against all its +reforms. Their leaders were two men who were not the first among them in +birth or rank, but who were superior to the rest in talents. Maury and +Cazales represented, as it were, the one the clergy, and the other the +nobility. + +These two orators of the privileged classes, according to the intentions +of their party, who put little faith in the duration of these changes, +rather protested than stood on the defensive; and in all their discussions +their aim was not to instruct the assembly, but to bring it into +disrepute. Each introduced into his part the particular turn of his mind +and character: Maury made long speeches, Cazales lively sallies. The first +preserved at the tribune his habits as a preacher and academician; he +spoke on legislative subjects without understanding them, never seizing +the right view of the subject, nor even that most advantageous to his +party; he gave proofs of audacity, erudition, skill, a brilliant and well- +sustained facility, but never displayed solidity of judgment, firm +conviction, or real eloquence. The abbe Maury spoke as soldiers fight. No +one could contradict oftener or more pertinaciously than he, or more +flippantly substitute quotations and sophisms for reasoning, or rhetorical +phrases for real bursts of feeling. He possessed much talent, but wanted +the faculty which gives it life and truth. Cazales was the opposite of +Maury: he had a just and ready mind; his eloquence was equally facile, but +more animated; there was candour in his outbursts, and he always gave the +best reasons. No rhetorician, he always took the true side of a question +that concerned his party, and left declamation to Maury. With the +clearness of his views, his ardent character, and the good use he made of +his talents, his only fault was that of his position; Maury, on the other +hand, added the errors of his mind to those which were inseparable from +the cause he espoused. + +Necker and the ministry had also a party; but it was less numerous than +the other, on account of its moderation. France was then divided into the +privileged classes opposed to the revolution, and the people who +strenuously desired it. As yet there was no place for a mediating party +between them. Necker had declared himself in favour of the English +constitution, and those who from ambition or conviction were of his views, +rallied round him. Among these was Mounier, a man of strong mind and +inflexible spirit, who considered that system as the type of +representative governments; Lally-Tollendal, as decided in his views as +the former, and more persuasive; Clermont-Tonnerre, the friend and ally of +Mounier and Lally; in a word, the minority of the nobility, and some of +the bishops, who hoped to become members of the upper chamber, should +Necker's views be adopted. + +The leaders of this party, afterwards called the monarchical party, wished +to affect a revolution by compromise, and to introduce into France a +representative government, ready formed, namely, that of England. At every +point, they besought the powerful to make a compromise with the weak. +Before the 14th of July they asked the court and privileged classes to +satisfy the commons; afterwards, they asked the commons to agree to an +arrangement with the court and the privileged classes. They thought that +each ought to preserve his influence in the state; that deposed parties +are discontented parties, and that a legal existence must be made for +them, or interminable struggles be expected on their part. But they did +not see how little their ideas were appropriate to a moment of exclusive +passions. The struggle was begun, the struggle destined to result in the +triumph of a system, and not in a compromise. It was a victory which had +made the three orders give place to a single assembly, and it was +difficult to break the unity of this assembly in order to arrive at a +government of two Chambers. The moderate party had not been able to obtain +this government from the court, nor were they to obtain it from the +nation: to the one it had appeared too popular; for the other, it was too +aristocratic. + +The rest of the assembly consisted of the national party. As yet there +were not observed in it men who, like Robespierre, Petion, Buzot, etc., +wished to begin a second revolution when the first was accomplished. At +this period the most extreme of this party were Duport, Barnave, and +Lameth, who formed a triumvirate, whose opinions were prepared by Duport, +sustained by Barnave, and managed by Alexander Lameth. There was something +remarkable and announcing the spirit of equality of the times, in this +intimate union of an advocate belonging to the middle classes, of a +counsellor belonging to the parliamentary class, and a colonel belonging +to the court, renouncing the interests of their order to unite in views of +the public good and popular happiness. This party at first took a more +advanced position than that which the revolution had attained. The 14th of +July had been the triumph of the middle class; the constituent assembly +was its legislature, the national guard its armed force, the mayoralty its +popular power. Mirabeau, Lafayette, Bailly, relied on this class; one was +its tribune, the other its general, and the third its magistrate. Duport, +Barnave, and Lameth's party were of the principles and sustained the +interests of that period of the revolution; but this party, composed of +young men of ardent patriotism, who entered on public affairs with +superior qualities, fine talents, and elevated positions, and who joined +to the love of liberty the ambition of playing a leading part, placed +itself from the first rather in advance of the revolution of July the +14th. Its fulcrum within the assembly was the members of the extreme left +without, in the clubs, in the nation, in the party of the people, who had +co-operated on the 14th of July, and who were unwilling that the +bourgeoisie alone should derive advantage from the victory. By putting +itself at the head of those who had no leaders, and who being a little out +of the government aspired to enter it, it did not cease to belong to this +first period of the revolution; only it formed a kind of democratic +opposition, even in the middle class itself, only differing from its +leaders on a few unimportant points, and voting with them on most +questions. It was, among these popular men, rather a patriotic emulation +than a party dissension. + +Duport, who was strong-minded, and who had acquired premature experience +of the management of political passions, in the struggles which parliament +had sustained against the ministry, and which he had chiefly directed, +knew well that a people reposes the moment it has gained its rights, and +that it begins to grow weak as soon as it reposes. To keep in vigour those +who governed in the assembly, in the mayoralty, in the militia; to prevent +public activity from slackening, and not to disband the people, whose aid +he might one day require, he conceived and executed the famous +confederation of the clubs. This institution, like everything that gives a +great impulse to a nation, caused a great deal of good, and a great deal +of harm. It impeded legal authority, when this of itself was sufficient; +but it also gave an immense energy to the revolution, when, attacked on +all sides, it could only save itself by the most violent efforts. For the +rest, the founders of this association had not calculated all its +consequences. They regarded it simply as a wheel destined to keep or put +in movement the public machine, without danger, when it tended to abate or +to cease its activity; they did not think they were working for the +advantage of the multitude. After the flight of Varennes, this party had +become too exacting and too formidable; they forsook it, and supported +themselves against it with the mass of the assembly and the middle class, +whose direction was left vacant by the death of Mirabeau. At this period, +it was important to them speedily to fix the constitutional revolution; +for to protract it would have been to bring on the republican revolution. + +The mass of the assembly, we have just mentioned, abounded in just, +experienced, and even superior minds. Its leaders were two men, strangers +to the third estate, and adopted by it. Without the abbe Sieyes, the +constituent assembly would probably have had less unity in its operation, +and without Mirabeau, less energy in its conduct. + +Sieyes was one of those men who create sects in an age of enthusiasm, and +who exercise the ascendancy of a powerful reason in an enlightened era. +Solitude and philosophical studies had matured him at an early age. His +views were new, strong, and extensive, but somewhat too systematic. +Society had especially been the subject of his examination; he had watched +its progress, investigated its springs. The nature of government appeared +to him less a question of right than a question of epoch. His vast +intellect ranged the society of our days in its divisions, relations, +powers, and movement. Sieyes, though of cold temperament, had the ardour +which the pursuit of truth inspires, and the passion which its discovery +gives; he was accordingly absolute in his views, disdaining those of +others, because he considered them incomplete, and because, in his +opinion, half truth was error. Contradiction irritated him; he was not +communicative. Desirous of making himself thoroughly known, he could not +do so with every one. His disciples imparted his systems to others, which +surrounded him with a sort of mystery, and rendered him the object of a +species of reverence. He had the authority which complete political +science procures, and the constitution might have emerged from his head +completely armed, like the Minerva of Jupiter, or the legislation of the +ancients, were it not that in our days every one sought to be engaged in +the task, or to criticise it. Yet, with the exception of some +modifications, his plans were generally adopted, and he had in the +committees more disciples than colleagues. + +Mirabeau obtained in the tribune the same ascendancy as Sieyes in the +committees. He was a man who only waited the occasion to become great. At +Rome, in the best days of the republic, he would have been a Gracchus; in +its decline, a Catiline; under the Fronde, a cardinal de Retz; and in the +decrepitude of a monarchy, when such a being could only find scope for his +immense faculties in agitation, he became remarkable for the vehemence of +his passions, and for their punishment, a life passed in committing +excesses, and suffering for them. This prodigious activity required +employment; the revolution provided it. Accustomed to the struggle against +despotism, irritated by the contempt of a nobility who were inferior to +him, and who excluded him from their body; clever, daring, eloquent, +Mirabeau felt that the revolution would be his work, and his life. He +exactly corresponded to the chief wants of his time. His thought, his +voice, his action, were those of a tribune. In perilous circumstances, his +was the earnestness which carries away an assembly; in difficult +discussions, the unanswerable sally which at once puts an end to them; +with a word he prostrated ambition, silenced enmities, disconcerted +rivalries. This powerful being, perfectly at his ease in the midst of +agitation, now giving himself up to the impetuosity, now to the +familiarities of conscious strength, exercised a sort of sovereignty in +the assembly. He soon obtained immense popularity, which he retained to +the last; and he whom, at his first entrance into the legislature, every +eye shunned, was, at his death, received into the Pantheon, amidst the +tears of the assembly; and of all France. Had it not been for the +revolution, Mirabeau would have failed in realizing his destiny, for it is +not enough to be great: one must live at the fitting period. + +The duke of Orleans, to whom a party has been given, had but little +influence in the assembly; he voted with the majority, not the majority +with him. The personal attachment of some of its members, his name, the +fears of the court, the popularity his opinions enjoyed, hopes rather than +conspiracies had increased his reputation as a factious character. He had +neither the qualities nor the defects of a conspirator; he may have aided +with his money and his name popular movements, which would have taken +place just the same without him, and which had another object than his +elevation. It is still a common error to attribute the greatest of +revolutions to some petty private manoeuvring, as if at such an epoch a +whole people could be used as the instrument of one man. + +The assembly had acquired the entire power; the corporations depended on +it; the national guards obeyed it. It was divided into committees to +facilitate its operations, and execute them. The royal power, though +existing of right, was in a measure suspended, since it was not obeyed, +and the assembly had to supply its action by its own. Thus, independently +of committees entrusted with the preparation of its measures, it had +appointed others to exercise a useful superintendence without. A committee +of supply occupied itself with provisions, an important object in a year +of scarcity; a committee of inquiry corresponded with the corporations and +provinces; a committee of researches received informations against the +conspirators of the 14th of July. But finance and the constitution, which +the past crises had adjourned, were the special subjects of attention. + +After having momentarily provided for the necessities of the treasury, the +assembly, although now become sovereign, consulted, by examining the +_cahiers_, the wishes of its constituents. It then proceeded to form its +institutions with a method, a liberal and extensive spirit of discussion, +which was to procure for France a constitution conformable with justice +and suited to its necessities. The United States of America, at the time +of its independence, had set forth in a declaration the rights of man, and +those of the citizen. This will ever be the first step. A people rising +from slavery feels the necessity of proclaiming its rights, even before it +forms its government. Those Frenchmen who had assisted at the American +revolution, and who co-operated in ours, proposed a similar declaration as +a preamble to our laws. This was agreeable to an assembly of legislators +and philosophers, restricted by no limits, since no institutions existed, +and directed by primitive and fundamental ideas of society, since it was +the pupil of the eighteenth century. Though this declaration only +contained general principles, and confined itself to setting forth in +maxims what the constitution was to put into laws, it was calculated to +elevate the mind, and impart to the citizens a consciousness of their +dignity and importance. At Lafayette's suggestion, the assembly had before +commenced this discussion; but the events at Paris, and the decrees of the +4th of August, had interrupted its labours; they were now resumed, and +concluded, by determining the principles which were to form the table of +the new law, and which were the assumption of right in the name of +humanity. + +These generalities being adopted, the assembly turned its attention to the +organization of the legislative power. This was one of its most important +objects; it was to fix the nature of its functions, and establish its +relations with the king. In this discussion the assembly had only to +decide the future condition of the legislative power. Invested as it was +with constituent authority, it was raised above its own decisions, and no +intermediate power could suspend or prevent its mission. But what should +be the form of the deliberative body in future sessions? Should it remain +indivisible, or be divided into two chambers? If the latter form should be +adopted, what should be the nature of the second chamber? Should it be +made an aristocratic assembly, or a moderative senate? And, whatever the +deliberative body might be, was it to be permanent or periodical, and +should the king share the legislative power with it? Such were the +difficulties that agitated the assembly and Paris during the month of +September. + +If we consider the position of the assembly and its ideas of sovereignty, +we shall easily understand the manner in which these questions were +decided. It regarded the king merely as the hereditary agent of the +nation, having neither the right to assemble its representatives nor that +of directing or suspending them. Accordingly, it refused to grant him the +initiative in making laws and dissolving the assembly. It considered that +the legislative body ought not to be dependent on the king. It moreover +feared that by granting the government too strong an influence over the +assembly, or by not keeping the latter always together, the prince might +profit by the intervals in which he would be left alone, to encroach on +the other powers, and perhaps even to destroy the new system. Therefore to +an authority in constant activity, they wished to oppose an always +existing assembly, and the permanence of the assembly was accordingly +declared. The debate respecting its indivisibility, or its division, was +very animated. Necker, Mounier, and Lally-Tollendal desired, in addition +to a representative chamber, a senate, to be composed of members to be +appointed by the king on the nomination of the people. They considered +this as the only means of moderating the power, and even of preventing the +tyranny of a single assembly. They had as partisans such members as +participated in their ideas, or who hoped to form part of the upper +chamber. The majority of the nobility did not wish for a house of peers, +but for an aristocratic assembly, whose members it should elect. They +could not agree; Mounier's party refusing to fall in with a project +calculated to revive the orders, and the aristocracy refusing to accept a +senate, which would confirm the ruin of the nobility. The greater portion +of the deputies of the clergy and of the commons were in favour of the +unity of the assembly. The popular party considered it illegal to appoint +legislators for life; it thought that the upper chamber would become the +instrument of the court and aristocracy, and would then be dangerous, or +become useless by uniting with the commons. Thus the nobility, from +dissatisfaction, and the national party, from a spirit of absolute +justice, alike rejected the upper chamber. + +This determination of the assembly has been the object of many reproaches. +The partisans of the peerage have attributed all the evils of the +revolution to the absence of that order; as if it had been possible for +anybody whatsoever to arrest its progress. It was not the constitution +which gave it the character it has had, but events arising from party +struggles. What would the upper chamber have done between the court and +the nation? If in favour of the first, it would have been unable to guide +or save it; if in favour of the second, it would not have strengthened it; +in either case, its suppression would have infallibly ensued. In such +times, progress is rapid, and all that seeks to check it is superfluous. +In England, the house of lords, although docile, was suspended during the +crisis. These various systems have each their epoch; revolutions are +achieved by one chamber, and end with two. + +The royal sanction gave rise to great debates in the assembly, and violent +clamours without. The question was as to the part of the king in the +making of laws; the deputies were nearly all agreed on one point. They +were determined, in admitting his right to sanction or refuse laws; but +some desired that this right should be unlimited, others that it should be +temporary. This, in reality, amounted to the same thing, for it was not +possible for the king to prolong his refusal indefinitely, and the veto, +though absolute, would only have been suspensive. But this faculty, +bestowed on a single man, of checking the will of the people, appeared +exorbitant, especially out of the assembly, where it was less understood. + +Paris had not yet recovered from the agitation of the 14th of July; the +popular government was but beginning, and the city experienced all its +liberty and disorder. The assembly of electors, who in difficult +circumstances had taken the place of a provisional corporation, had just +been replaced. A hundred and eighty members nominated by the districts, +constituted themselves legislators and representatives of the city. While +they were engaged on a plan of municipal organization, each desired to +command; for in France the love of liberty is almost the love of power. +The committees acted apart from the mayor; the assembly of representatives +arose against the committees, and the districts against the assembly of +representatives. Each of the sixty districts attributed to itself the +legislative power, and gave the executive power to its committees; they +all considered the members of the general assembly as their subordinates, +and themselves as invested with the right of annulling their decrees. This +idea of the sovereignty of the principal over the delegate made rapid +progress. Those who had no share in authority, formed assemblies, and then +gave themselves up to discussion; soldiers debated at the Oratoire, +journeymen tailors at the Colonnade, hairdressers in the Champs Elysees, +servants at the Louvre; but the most animated debates took place in the +Palais Royal. There were inquired into the questions that occupied the +national assembly, and its discussions criticised. The dearth of +provisions also brought crowds together, and these mobs were not the least +dangerous. + +Such was the state of Paris when the debate concerning the veto was begun. +The alarm which this right conferred on the king excited, was extreme. It +seemed as though the fate of liberty depended on the decision of this +question, and that the veto alone would bring back the ancient system. The +multitude, ignorant of the nature and limits of power, wished the +assembly, on which it relied, to do all, and the king, whom it mistrusted, +to do nothing. Every instrument left at the disposal of the court appeared +the means of a counter-revolution. The crowds at the Palais Royal grew +turbulent; threatening letters were sent to those members of the assembly, +who, like Mounier, had declared in favour of the absolute veto. They spoke +of dismissing them as faithless representatives, and of marching upon +Versailles. The Palais Royal sent a deputation to the assembly, and +required the commune to declare that the deputies were revocable, and to +make them at all times dependent on the electors. The commune remained +firm, rejected the demands of the Palais Royal, and took measures to +prevent the riotous assemblies. The national guard supported it; this body +was well disposed; Lafayette had acquired its confidence; it was becoming +organised, it wore a uniform, submitted to discipline after the example of +the French guard, and learned from its chief the love of order and respect +for the law. But the middle class that composed it had not yet taken +exclusive possession of the popular government. The multitude which was +enrolled on the 14th of July, was not as yet entirely disbanded. This +agitation from without rendered the debates upon the veto stormy; in this +way a very simple question acquired great importance, and the ministry, +perceiving how fatal the influence of an absolute decision might prove, +and seeing, also, that the _unlimited veto_ and the _suspensive veto_ were +one and the same thing, induced the king to be satisfied with the latter, +and give up the former. The assembly declared that the refusal of his +sanction could not be prolonged by the prince beyond two sessions; and +this decision satisfied every one. + +The court took advantage of the agitation in Paris to realise other +projects. For some time it had influenced the king's mind. At first, he +had refused to sanction the decrees of the 4th of August, although they +were constitutive, and consequently he could not avoid promulgating them. +After accepting them, on the remonstrances of the assembly, he renewed the +same difficulties relative to the declaration of rights. The object of the +court was to represent Louis XVI. as oppressed by the assembly, and +constrained to submit to measures which he was unwilling to accept; it +endured its situation with impatience and strove to regain its former +authority. Flight was the only means, and it was requisite to legitimate +it; nothing could be done in the presence of the assembly, and in the +neighbourhood of Paris. Royal authority had fallen on the 23rd of June, +military power on the 14th of July; there was no alternative but civil +war. As it was difficult to persuade the king to this course, they waited +till the last moment to induce him to flee; his hesitation caused the +failure of the plan. It was proposed to retire to Metz, to Bouille, in the +midst of his army; to call around the monarch the nobility, the troops who +continued faithful, the parliaments; to declare the assembly and Paris in +a state of rebellion; to invite them to obedience or to force them to it; +and if the ancient system could not be entirely re-established, at least +to confine themselves to the declaration of the 20th of June. On the other +hand, if the court had an interest in removing the king from Versailles, +that it might effect something, it was the interest of the partisans of +the revolution to bring him to Paris; the Orleans faction, if one existed, +had an interest in driving the king to flight, by intimidating him, in the +hope that the assembly would appoint its leader _lieutenant-general of the +kingdom_; and, lastly, the people, who were in want of bread, wished for +the king to reside at Paris, in the hope that his presence would diminish, +or put a stop to the dearth of provisions. All these causes existing, an +occasion was only wanting to bring about an insurrection; the court +furnished this occasion. On the pretext of protecting itself against the +movements in Paris, it summoned troops to Versailles, doubled the +household guards, and sent for the dragoons and the Flanders regiment. All +this preparation of troops gave rise to the liveliest fears; a report +spread of an anti-revolutionary measure, and the flight of the king, and +the dissolution of the assembly, were announced as at hand. Strange +uniforms, and yellow and black cockades, were to be seen at the +Luxembourg, the Palais Royal, and at the Champs Elysees; the foes of the +revolution displayed a degree of joy they had not manifested for some +time. The behaviour of the court confirmed these suspicions, and disclosed +the object of all these preparations. + +The officers of the Flanders regiment, received with anxiety in the town +of Versailles, were feted at the chateau, and even admitted to the queen's +card tables. Endeavours were made to secure their devotion, and a banquet +was given to them by the king's guards. The officers of the dragoons and +the chasseurs, who were at Versailles, those of the Swiss guards, of the +hundred Swiss, of the prevote, and the staff of the national guard were +invited. The theatre in the chateau, which was reserved for the most +solemn fetes of the court, and which, since the marriage of the second +brother of the king, had only been used for the emperor Joseph II., was +selected for the scene of the festival. The king's musicians were ordered +to attend this, the first fete which the guards had given. During the +banquet, toasts to the king and royal family were drunk with enthusiasm, +while the nation was omitted or rejected. At the second course, the +grenadiers of Flanders, the two bodies of Swiss, and the dragoons were +admitted to witness the spectacle, and share the sentiments which animated +the guests. The enthusiasm increased every moment. Suddenly the king was +announced; he entered attired in a hunting dress, the queen leaning on his +arm, and carrying the dauphin. Shouts of affection and devotion arose on +every side. The health of the royal family was drunk, with swords drawn; +and when Louis XVI. withdrew, the music played, "_O Richard! O mon roi! +l'univers t'abandonne_." The scene now assumed a very significant +character; the march of the Hullans, and the profusion of wine, deprived +the guests of all reserve. The charge was sounded; tottering guests +climbed the boxes, as if mounting to an assault; while cockades were +distributed; the tri-coloured cockade, it is said, was trampled on, and +the guests then spread through the galleries of the chateau, where the +ladies of the court loaded them with congratulations, and decorated them +with ribbons and cockades. + +Such was this famous banquet of the 1st of October, which the court was +imprudent enough to repeat on the third. One cannot help lamenting its +fatal want of foresight; it could neither submit to nor change its +destiny. This assembling of the troops, so far from preventing aggression +in Paris, provoked it; the banquet did not make the devotion of the +soldiers any more sure, while it augmented the ill disposition of the +people. To protect itself there was no necessity for so much ardour, nor +for flight was there needful so much preparation; but the court never took +the measure calculated to make its designs succeed, or else it only half +took it, and, in order to decide, it always waited until there was no +longer any time. + +The news of this banquet, and the appearance of black cockades, produced +the greatest sensation in Paris. From the 4th, suppressed rumours, +counter-revolutionary provocations, the dread of conspiracies, indignation +against the court, and increasing alarm at the dearth of provisions, all +announced an insurrection; the multitude already looked towards +Versailles. On the 5th, the insurrection broke out in a violent and +invincible manner; the entire want of flour was the signal. A young girl, +entering a guardhouse, seized a drum, and rushed through the streets +beating it, and crying, "Bread! Bread!" She was soon surrounded by a crowd +of women. This mob advanced towards the Hotel de Ville, increasing as it +went. It forced the guard that stood at the door, and penetrated into the +interior, clamouring for bread and arms; it broke open doors, seized +weapons, sounded the tocsin, and marched towards Versailles. The people +soon rose _en masse_, uttering the same demand, till the cry, "To +Versailles!" rose on every side. The women started first, headed by +Maillard, one of the volunteers of the Bastille. The populace, the +national guard, and the French guards requested to follow them. The +commander, Lafayette, opposed their departure a long time, but in vain; +neither his efforts nor his popularity could overcome the obstinacy of the +people. For seven hours he harangued and retained them. At length, +impatient at this delay, rejecting his advice, they prepared to set +forward without him; when, feeling that it was now his duty to conduct as +it had previously been to restrain them, he obtained his authorization +from the corporation, and gave the word for departure about seven in the +evening. + +The excitement at Versailles was less impetuous, but quite as real; the +national guard and the assembly were anxious and irritated. The double +banquet of the household troops, the approbation the queen had expressed, +_J'ai ete enchantee de la journee de Jeudi_--the king's refusal to accept +simply the Rights of Man, his concerted temporizings, and the want of +provisions, excited the alarm of the representatives of the people and +filled them with suspicion. Petion, having denounced the banquets of the +guards, was summoned by a royalist deputy to explain his denunciation, and +make known the guilty parties. "Let it be expressly declared," exclaimed +Mirabeau, "that whosoever is not king is a subject and responsible, and I +will speedily furnish proofs." These words, which pointed to the queen, +compelled the Right to be silent. This hostile discussion was preceded and +succeeded by debates equally animated, concerning the refusal of the +sanction, and the scarcity of provisions in Paris. At length, just as a +deputation was despatched to the king, to require his pure and simple +acceptance of the Rights of Man, and to adjure him to facilitate with all +his power the supplying Paris with provisions, the arrival of the women, +headed by Maillard, was announced. + +Their unexpected appearance, for they had intercepted all the couriers who +might have announced it, excited the terrors of the court. The troops of +Versailles flew to arms and surrounded the chateau, but the intentions of +the women were not hostile. Maillard, their leader, had recommended them +to appear as suppliants, and in that attitude they presented their +complaints successively to the assembly and to the king. Accordingly, the +first hours of this turbulent evening were sufficiently calm. Yet it was +impossible but that causes of hostility should arise between an excited +mob and the household troops, the objects of so much irritation. The +latter were stationed in the court of the chateau opposite the national +guard and the Flanders regiment. The space between was filled by women and +volunteers of the Bastille. In the midst of the confusion, necessarily +arising from such a juxtaposition, a scuffle arose; this was the signal +for disorder and conflict. An officer of the guards struck a Parisian +soldier with his sabre, and was in turn shot in the arm. The national +guards sided against the household troops; the conflict became warm, and +would have been sanguinary, but for the darkness, the bad weather, and the +orders given to the household troops first to cease firing and then to +retire. But as these were accused of being the aggressors, the fury of the +multitude continued for some time; their quarters were broken into, two of +them were wounded, and another saved with difficulty. + +During this tumult, the court was in consternation; the flight of the king +was suggested, and carriages prepared; a picket of the national guard saw +them at the gate of the Orangery, and, after closing the gate, compelled +them to go back; moreover, the king, either ignorant of the designs of the +court, or conceiving them impracticable, refused to escape. Fears were +mingled with his pacific intentions, when he hesitated to repel the +aggression or to take flight. Conquered, he apprehended the fate of +Charles I. of England; absent, he feared that the duke of Orleans would +obtain the lieutenancy of the kingdom. But, in the meantime, the rain, +fatigue, and the inaction of the household troops, lessened the fury of +the multitude, and Lafayette arrived at the head of the Parisian army. + +His presence restored security to the court, and the replies of the king +to the deputation from Paris, satisfied the multitude and the army. In a +short time, Lafayette's activity, the good sense and discipline of the +Parisian guard, restored order everywhere. Tranquillity returned. The +crowd of women and volunteers, overcome by fatigue, gradually dispersed, +and some of the national guard were entrusted with the defence of the +chateau, while others were lodged with their companions in arms at +Versailles. The royal family, reassured after the anxiety and fear of this +painful night, retired to rest about two o'clock in the morning. Towards +five, Lafayette, having visited the outposts which had been confided to +his care, and finding the watch well kept, the town calm, and the crowds +dispersed or sleeping, also took a few moments repose. + +About six, however, some men of the lower class, more enthusiastic than +the rest, and awake sooner than they, prowled round the chateau. Finding a +gate open, they informed their companions, and entered. Unfortunately, the +interior posts had been entrusted to the household guards, and refused to +the Parisian army. This fatal refusal caused all the misfortunes of the +night. The interior guard had not even been increased; the gates scarcely +visited, and the watch kept as negligently as on ordinary occasions. These +men, excited by all the passions that had brought them to Versailles, +perceiving one of the household troops at a window, began to insult him. +He fired, and wounded one of them. They then rushed on the household +troops who defended the chateau breast to breast, and sacrificed +themselves heroically. One of them had time to warn the queen, whom the +assailants particularly threatened; and half dressed, she ran for refuge +to the king. The tumult and danger were extreme in the chateau. + +Lafayette, apprised of the invasion of the royal residence, mounted his +horse, and rode hastily to the scene of danger. On the square he met some +of the household troops surrounded by an infuriated mob, who were on the +point of killing them. He threw himself among them, called some French +guards who were near, and having rescued the household troops, and +dispersed their assailants, he hurried to the chateau. He found it already +secured by the grenadiers of the French guard, who, at the first noise of +the tumult, had hastened and protected the household troops from the fury +of the Parisians. But the scene was not over; the crowd assembled again in +the marble court under the king's balcony, loudly called for him, and he +appeared. They required his departure for Paris; he promised to repair +thither with his family, and this promise was received with general +applause. The queen was resolved to accompany him; but the prejudice +against her was so strong that the journey was not without danger; it was +necessary to reconcile her with the multitude. Lafayette proposed to her +to accompany him to the balcony; after some hesitation, she consented. +They appeared on it together, and to communicate by a sign with the +tumultuous crowd, to conquer its animosity, and awaken its enthusiasm, +Lafayette respectfully kissed the queen's hand; the crowd responded with +acclamations. It now remained to make peace between them and the household +troops. Lafayette advanced with one of these, placed his own tricoloured +cockade on his hat, and embraced him before the people, who shouted +"_Vivent les gardes-du-corps!_" Thus terminated this scene; the royal +family set out for Paris, escorted by the army, and its guards mixed with +it. + +The insurrection of the 5th and 6th of October was an entirely popular +movement. We must not try to explain it by secret motives, nor attribute +it to concealed ambition; it was provoked by the imprudence of the court. +The banquet of the household troops, the reports of flight, the dread of +civil war, and the scarcity of provisions alone brought Paris upon +Versailles. If special instigators, which the most careful inquiries have +still left doubtful, contributed to produce this movement, they did not +change either its direction or its object. The result of this event was +the destruction of the ancient regime of the court; it deprived it of its +guard, it removed it from the royal residence at Versailles to the capital +of the revolution, and placed it under the surveillance of the people. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FROM THE 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789, TO THE DEATH OF MIRABEAU, APRIL, 1791 + + +The period which forms the subject of this chapter was less remarkable for +events than for the gradually decided separation of parties. In proportion +as changes were introduced into the state and the laws, those whose +interests or opinions they injured declared themselves against them. The +revolution had had as enemies, from the beginning of the states-general, +the court; from the union of orders and the abolition of privileges, the +nobility; from the establishment of a single assembly and the rejection of +the two chambers, the ministry and the partisans of the English form of +government. It had, moreover, against it since the departmental +organization, the provinces; since the decree respecting the property and +civil constitution of the clergy, the whole ecclesiastical body; since the +introduction of the new military laws, all the officers of the army. It +might seem that the assembly ought not to have effected so many changes at +once, so as to have avoided making so many enemies; but its general plans, +its necessities, and the very plots of its adversaries, required all these +innovations. + +After the 5th and 6th of October, the assembly emigrated as the court had +done after the 14th of July. Mounier and Lally-Tollendal deserted it, +despairing of liberty from the moment their views ceased to be followed. +Too absolute in their plans, they wanted the people, after having +delivered the assembly on the 14th of July, suddenly to cease acting, +which was displaying an entire ignorance of the impetus of revolutions. +When the people have once been made use of, it is difficult to disband +them, and the most prudent course is not to contest, but to regulate +intervention. Lally-Tollendal renounced his title of Frenchman, and +returned to England, the land of his ancestors. Mounier repaired to +Dauphine, his native province, which he endeavoured to excite to a revolt +against the assembly. It was inconsistent to complain of an insurrection, +and yet to provoke one, especially when it was to the profit of another +party, for his was too weak to maintain itself against the ancient regime +and the revolution. Notwithstanding his influence in Dauphine, whose +former movements he had directed, Mounier was unable to establish there a +centre of permanent resistance, but the assembly was thereby warned to +destroy the ancient provincial organisation, which might become the frame- +work of a civil war. + +After the 5th and 6th of October, the national representatives followed +the king to the capital, which their common presence had contributed +greatly to tranquillise. The people were satisfied with possessing the +king, the causes which had excited their ebullition had ceased. The duke +of Orleans, who, rightly or wrongly, was considered the contriver of the +insurrection, had just been sent away; he had accepted a mission to +England; Lafayette was resolved to maintain order; the national guard, +animated by a better spirit, acquired every day habits of discipline and +obedience; the corporation, getting over the confusion of its first +establishment, began to have authority. There remained but one cause of +disturbance--the scarcity of provisions. Notwithstanding the zeal and +foresight of the committee entrusted with the task of providing supplies, +daily assemblages of the people threatened the public tranquillity. The +people, so easily deceived when suffering, killed a baker called Francois, +who was unjustly accused as a monopolist. On the 21st of October a martial +law was proclaimed, authorizing the corporation to employ force to +disperse the mob, after having summoned the citizens to retire. Power was +vested in a class interested in maintaining order; the districts and the +national guard were obedient to the assembly. Submission to the law was +the prevailing passion of that epoch. The deputies on their side only +aspired at completing the constitution and effecting the re-organisation +of the state. They had the more reason for hastening their task, as the +enemies of the assembly made use of what remained of the ancient regime, +to occasion it embarrassment. Accordingly, it replied to each of their +endeavours by a decree, which, changing the ancient order of things, +deprived them of one of their means of attack. + +It began by dividing the kingdom more equally and regularly. The +provinces, which had witnessed with regret the loss of their privileges, +formed small states, the extent of which was too vast, and the +administration too independent. It was essential to reduce their size, +change their names, and subject them to the same government. On the 22nd +of December, the assembly adopted in this respect the project conceived by +Sieyes, and presented by Thouret in the name of the committee, which +occupied itself constantly on this subject for two months. + +France was divided into eighty-three departments, nearly equal in extent +and population; the departments were subdivided into districts and +cantons. Their administration received a uniform and hierarchical form. +The department had an administrative council composed of thirty-six +members, and an executive directory composed of five members: as the names +indicate, the functions of the one were to decide, and of the other to +act. The district was organised in the same way; although on a smaller +scale, it had a council and a directory, fewer in number, and subordinate +to the superior directory and council. The canton composed of five or six +parishes, was an electoral not an administrative division; the active +citizens, and to be considered such it was necessary to pay taxes +amounting to three days' earnings, united in the canton to nominate their +deputies and magistrates. Everything in the new plan was subject to +election, but this had several degrees. It appeared imprudent to confide +to the multitude the choice of its delegates, and illegal to exclude them +from it; this difficult question was avoided by the double election. The +active citizens of the canton named electors intrusted with nominating the +members of the national assembly, the administrators of the department, +those of the district, and the judges of tribunals; a criminal court was +established in each department, a civil court in each district, and a +police-court in each canton. + +Such was the institution of the department. It remained to regulate that +of the corporation: the administration of this was confided to a general +council and a municipality, composed of members whose numbers were +proportioned to the population of the towns. The municipal officers were +named immediately by the people, and could alone authorize the employment +of the armed force. The corporation formed the first step of the +association, the kingdom formed the last; the department was intermediate +between the corporation and the state, between universal interests and +purely local interests. + +The execution of this plan, which organized the sovereignty of the people, +which enabled all citizens to concur in the election of their magistrates, +and entrusted them with their own administration, and distributed them +into a machinery which, by permitting the whole state to move, preserved a +correspondence between its parts, and prevented their isolation, excited +the discontent of some provinces. The states of Languedoc and Brittany +protested against the new division of the kingdom, and on their side the +parliaments of Metz, Rouen, Bordeaux, and Toulouse rose against the +operations of the assembly which suppressed the Chambres de Vacations, +abolished the orders, and declared the commissions of the states +incompetent. The partisans of the ancient regime employed every means to +disturb its progress; the nobility excited the provinces, the parliaments +took resolutions, the clergy issued mandates, and writers took advantage +of the liberty of the press to attack the revolution. Its two principal +enemies were the nobles and the bishops. Parliament, having no root in the +nation, only formed a magistracy, whose attacks were prevented by +destroying the magistracy itself, whereas the nobility and the clergy had +means of action which survived the influence of the body. The misfortunes +of these two classes were caused by themselves. After harassing the +revolution in the assembly, they afterwards attacked it with open force-- +the clergy, by internal insurrections--the nobility, by arming Europe +against it. They had great expectations from anarchy, which, it is true, +caused France many evils, but which was far from rendering their own +position better. Let us now see how the hostilities of the clergy were +brought on; for this purpose we must go back a little. + +The revolution had commenced with the finances, and had not yet been able +to put an end to the embarrassments by which it was caused. More important +objects had occupied the attention of the assembly. Summoned, no longer to +defray the expenses of administration, but to constitute the state, it had +suspended its legislative discussions, from time to time, in order to +satisfy the more pressing necessities of the treasury. Necker had proposed +provisional means, which had been adopted in confidence, and almost +without discussion. Despite this zeal, he did not without displeasure see +the finances considered as subordinate to the constitution, and the +ministry to the assembly. A first loan of thirty millions (1,200,000l.), +voted the 9th of August, had not succeeded; a subsequent loan of eighty +millions (3,200,000l.), voted the 27th of the same month, had been +insufficient. Duties were reduced or abolished, and they yielded scarcely +anything, owing to the difficulty of collecting them. It became useless to +have recourse to public confidence, which refused its aid; and in +September, Necker had proposed, as the only means, an extraordinary +contribution of a fourth of the revenue, to be paid at once. Each citizen +was to fix his proportion himself, making use of that simple form of oath, +which well expressed these first days of honour and patriotism:--"_I +declare with truth._" + +Mirabeau now caused Necker to be invested with a complete financial +dictatorship. He spoke of the urgent wants of the state, of the labours of +the assembly which did not permit it to discuss the plan of the minister, +and which at the same time prevented its examining any other; of Necker's +skill, which ensured the success of his own measure; and urged the +assembly to leave with him the responsibility of its success, by +confidently adopting it. As some did not approve of the views of the +minister, and others suspected the intentions of Mirabeau with respect to +him, he closed his speech, one of the most eloquent he ever delivered, by +displaying bankruptcy impending, and exclaiming, "Vote this extraordinary +subsidy, and may it prove sufficient! Vote it; for if you have doubts +respecting the means, you have none respecting the want, and our inability +to supply it. Vote it, for the public circumstances will not bear delay, +and we shall be accountable for all postponement. Beware of asking for +time; misfortune never grants it. Gentlemen, on the occasion of a +ridiculous motion at the Palais Royal, an absurd incursion, which had +never had any importance, save in feeble imaginations, or the minds of men +of ill designs and bad faith, you once heard these words, '_Catiline is at +the gates of Rome, and yet they deliberate!_' And yet there were around us +neither Catiline, nor perils, nor factions, nor Rome. But now bankruptcy, +hideous bankruptcy, is there; it threatens to consume you, your +properties, your honour, and yet you deliberate!" Mirabeau had carried +away the assembly by his oratory; and the patriotic contribution was voted +with unanimous applause. + +But this resource had only afforded momentary relief. The finances of the +revolution depended on a more daring and more vast measure. It was +necessary not only to support the revolution, but to repair the immense +deficit which stopped its progress, and threatened its future destiny. One +way alone remained--to declare ecclesiastical property national, and to +sell it for the rescue of the state. Public interest prescribed this +course; and it could be done with justice, the clergy not being the +proprietors, but the simple administrators of this property, devoted to +religion, and not to the priests. The nation, therefore, by taking on +itself the expenses of the altar, and the support of its ministers might +procure and appropriate an important financial resource, and obtain a +great political result. + +It was important not to leave an independent body, and especially an +ancient body, any longer in the state; for in a time of revolution +everything ancient is hostile. The clergy, by its formidable hierarchy and +its opulence, a stranger to the new changes, would have remained as a +republic in the kingdom. Its form belonged to another system: when there +was no state, but only bodies, each order had provided for its own +regulation and existence. The clergy had its decretals, the nobility its +law of fiefs, the people its corporations; everything was independent, +because everything was private. But now that functions were becoming +public, it was necessary to make a magistracy of the priesthood as they +had made one of royalty; and, in order to make them dependent on the +state, it was essential they should be paid by it, and to resume from the +monarch his domains, from the clergy its property, by bestowing on each of +them suitable endowments. This great operation, which destroyed the +ancient ecclesiastical regime, was effected in the following manner: + +One of the most pressing necessities was the abolition of tithes. As these +were a tax paid by the rural population to the clergy, the sacrifice would +be for the advantage of those who were oppressed by them. Accordingly, +after declaring they were redeemable, on the night of the 4th of August, +they were suppressed on the 11th, without providing any equivalent. The +clergy opposed the measure at first, but afterwards had the good sense to +consent. The archbishop of Paris gave up tithes in the name of all his +brethren, and by this act of prudence he showed himself faithful to the +line of conduct adopted by the privileged classes on the night of the 4th +of August; but this was the extent of his sacrifices. + +A short time after, the debate respecting the possession of ecclesiastical +property began. Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, proposed to the clergy that +they should renounce it in favour of the nation, which would employ it in +defraying the expenses of worship, and liquidating its debt. He proved the +justice and propriety of this measure; and he showed the great advantages +which would accrue to the state. The property of the clergy amounted to +several thousand millions of francs. After paying its debts, providing for +the ecclesiastical services and that of hospitals, and the endowment of +its ministers, sufficient would still remain to extinguish the public +debt, whether permanent or annuities, and to reimburse the money paid for +judicial offices. The clergy rose against this proposition. The discussion +became very animated; and it was decided, in spite of their resistance, +that they were not proprietors, but simple depositaries of the wealth that +the piety of kings and of the faithful had devoted to religion, and that +the nation, on providing for the service of public worship, had a right to +recall such property. The decree which placed it at its disposal was +passed on the 2nd of December, 1789. + +From that moment the hatred of the clergy to the revolution broke out. At +the commencement of the states-general it had been less intractable than +the nobility, in order to preserve its riches; it now showed itself as +opposed as they to the new regime, of which it became the most tenacious +and furious foe. Yet, as the decree placed ecclesiastical property at the +disposal of the nation, without, as yet, displacing it, it did not break +out into opposition at once. The administration was still confided to it, +and it hoped that the possessions of the church might serve as a mortgage +for the debt, but would not be sold. + +It was, indeed, difficult to effect the sale, which, however, could not be +delayed, the treasury only subsisting on anticipations, and the exchequer, +which supplied it with bills, beginning to lose all credit on account of +the number it had issued. + +They obtained their end, and proceeded with the new financial organisation +in the following manner: The necessities of this and the following year +required a sale of this property to the amount of four hundred millions of +francs; to facilitate it, the corporation of Paris made considerable +subscriptions, and the municipalities of the kingdom followed the example +of Paris. They were to return to the treasury the equivalent of the +property they received from the state to sell to private individuals; but +they wanted money, and they could not deliver the amount since they had +not yet met with purchasers. What was to be done? They supplied municipal +notes intended to reimburse the public creditors, until they should +acquire the funds necessary for withdrawing the notes. Once arrived thus +far, they saw that, instead of municipal notes, it would be better to +create exchequer bills, which would have a compulsory circulation, and +answer the purpose of specie: this was simplifying the operation by +generalising it. In this way the assignats had their origin. + +This invention was of great utility to the revolution, and alone secured +the sale of ecclesiastical property. The assignats, which were a means of +payment for the state, became a pledge to the creditors. The latter by +receiving them were not obliged to accept payment in land for what they +had furnished in money. But sooner or later the assignats would fall into +the hands of men disposed to realise them, and then they were to be +destroyed at the same time that they ceased to be a pledge. In order that +they might fulfil their design, their forced circulation was required; to +render them safe, the quantity was limited to the value of the property +proposed for sale; and that they might not fall by too sudden a change, +they were made to bear interest. The assembly, from the moment of their +issue, wished to give them all the consistency of money. It was hoped that +specie concealed by distrust would immediately re-appear, and that the +assignats would enter into competition with it. Mortgage made them quite +as sure, and interest made them more profitable; but this interest, which +was attended with much inconvenience, disappeared after the first issue. +Such was the origin of the paper money issued under so much necessity, and +with so much prudence, which enabled the revolution to accomplish such +great things, and which was brought into discredit by causes that belonged +less to its nature than to the subsequent use made of it. + +When the clergy saw by a decree of the 29th of December the administration +of church property transferred to the municipalities, the sale they were +about to make of it to the value of four hundred millions of francs, and +the creation of a paper money calculated to facilitate this spoliation, +and render it definitive, it left nothing undone to secure the +intervention of God in the cause of its wealth. It made a last attempt: it +offered to realize in its own name the loan of four hundred millions of +francs, which was rejected, because otherwise, after having decided that +it was not the proprietor of church property, it would thus have again +been admitted to be so. It then sought every means of impeding the +operations of the municipalities. In the south, it raised catholics +against protestants; in the pulpit, it alarmed consciences; in the +confessional, it treated sales as sacrilegious, and in the tribune it +strove to render the sentiments of the assembly suspected. It excited as +much as possible religious questions for the purpose of compromising the +assembly, and confounding the cause of its own interest with that of +religion. The abuses and inutility of monastic vows were at this period +admitted by every one, even by the clergy. At their abolition on the 13th +of February, 1790, the bishop of Nancy proposed incidentally and +perfidiously that the catholic religion alone should have a public +worship. The assembly were indignant at the motives that suggested such a +proposition, and it was abandoned. But the same motion was again brought +forward in another sitting, and after stormy debates the assembly declared +that from respect to the Supreme Being and the catholic religion, the only +one supported at the expense of the state, it conceived it ought not to +decide upon the question submitted to it. + +Such was the disposition of the clergy, when, in the months of June and +July, 1790, the assembly turned its attention to its internal +organization. The clergy waited with impatience for this opportunity of +exciting a schism. This project, the adoption of which caused so much +evil, went to re-establish the church on its ancient basis, and to restore +the purity of its doctrine; it was not the work of philosophers, but of +austere Christians, who wished to support religion by the state, and to +make them concur mutually in promoting its happiness. The reduction of +bishoprics to the same number as the departments, the conformity of the +ecclesiastical circumscription with the civil circumscription, the +nomination of bishops by electors, who also chose deputies and +administrators, the suppression of chapters, and the substitution of +vicars for canons, were the chief features of this plan; there was nothing +in it that attacked the dogmas or worship of the church. For a long time +the bishops and other ecclesiastics had been nominated by the people; as +for diocesan limits, the operation was purely material, and in no respect +religious. It moreover generously provided for the support of the members +of the church, and if the high dignitaries saw their revenues reduced, the +cures, who formed the most numerous portion, had theirs augmented. + +But a pretext was wanting, and the civil constitution of the clergy was +eagerly seized upon. From the outset of the discussion, the archbishop of +Aix protested against the principles of the ecclesiastical committee. In +his opinion, the appointment or suspension of bishops by civil authority +was opposed to discipline; and when the decree was put to the vote, the +bishop of Clermont recapitulated the principles advanced by the archbishop +of Aix, and left the hall at the head of all the dissentient members. The +decree passed, but the clergy declared war against the revolution. From +that moment it leagued more closely with the dissentient nobility. Equally +reduced to the common condition, the two privileged classes employed all +their means to stop the progress of reform. + +The departments were scarcely formed when agents were sent by them to +assemble the electors, and try new nominations. They did not hope to +obtain a favourable choice, but aimed at fomenting divisions between the +assembly and the departments. This project was denounced from the tribune, +and failed as soon as it was made known. Its authors then went to work in +another way. The period allotted to the deputies of the states-general had +expired, their power having been limited to one year, according to the +desire of the districts. The aristocrats availed themselves of this +circumstance to require a fresh election of the assembly. Had they gained +this point, they would have acquired a great advantage, and with this view +they themselves appealed to the sovereignty of the people. "Without +doubt," replied Chapelier, "all sovereignty rests with the people; but +this principle has no application to the present case; it would be +destroying the constitution and liberty to renew the assembly before the +constitution is completed. This is, indeed, the hope of those who wish to +see liberty and the constitution perish, and to witness the return of the +distinction of orders, of prodigality in the public expenditure, and of +the abuses that spring from despotism." At this moment all eyes were +turned to the Right, and rested on the abbe Maury. "_Send those people to +the Chatelet,_" cried the latter, sharply; "_or if you do not know them, +do not speak of them._" "The constitution," continued Chapelier, "can only +be made by one assembly. Besides, the former electors no longer exist; the +bailiwicks are absorbed in the departments, the orders are no longer +separate. The clause respecting the limitation of power is consequently +without value; it will therefore be contrary to the constitution, if the +deputies do not retain their seats in this assembly; their oath commands +them to continue there, and public interest requires it." + +"You entangle us in sophisms," replied the abbe Maury; "how long have we +been a national convention? You talk of the oath we took on the 20th of +June, without considering that it cannot weaken that which we made to our +constituents. Besides, gentlemen, the constitution is completed; you have, +only now to declare that the king enjoys the plenitude of the executive +power. We are here for the sole purpose of securing to the French nation +the right of influencing its legislation, of establishing the principle +that taxation shall be consented to by the people, and of securing our +liberty. Yes, the constitution is made; and I will oppose every decree +calculated to limit the rights of the people over their representatives. +The founders of liberty ought to respect the liberty of the nation; the +nation is above us all, and we destroy our authority by limiting the +national authority." + +The abbe Maury's speech was received with loud applause from the Right. +Mirabeau immediately ascended the tribune. "It is asked," said he, "how +long the deputies of the people have been a national convention? I answer, +from the day when, finding the door of their session-house surrounded by +soldiers, they went and assembled where they could, and swore to perish +rather than betray or abandon the rights of the nation. Whatever our +powers were, that day their nature was changed; and whatever powers we may +have exercised, our efforts and labours have rendered them legitimate, and +the adhesion of the nation has sanctified them. You all remember the +saying of the great man of antiquity, who had neglected legal forms to +save his country. Summoned by a factious tribune to declare whether he had +observed the laws, he replied, 'I swear I have saved my country!' +Gentlemen," he exclaimed, turning to the deputies of the commons, "I swear +that you have saved France!" + +The assembly then rose by a spontaneous movement, and declared that the +session should not close till their task was accomplished. + +Anti-revolutionary efforts were increasing, at the same time, without the +assembly. Attempts were made to seduce or disorganize the army, but the +assembly took prudent measures in this respect. It gained the affections +of the troops by rendering promotion independent of the court, and of +titles of nobility. The count d'Artois and the prince de Conde, who had +retired to Turin after the 14th of July, corresponded with Lyons and the +south; but the emigrants not having yet the external influence they +afterwards acquired at Coblentz, and failing to meet with internal +support, all their efforts were vain. The attempts at insurrection, +originating with the clergy in Languedoc, had as little effect. They +brought on some transient disturbances, but did not effect a religious +war. Time is necessary to form a party; still more is required to induce +it to decide on serious hostilities. A more practicable design was that of +carrying off the king and conveying him to Peronne. The marquis de Favras, +with the support of _Monsieur_, the king's brother, was preparing to +execute it, when it was discovered. The Chatelet condemned to death this +intrepid adventurer, who had failed in his enterprise, through undertaking +it with too much display. The king's flight, after the events of October, +could only be effected furtively, as it subsequently happened at Varennes. + +The position of the court was equivocal and embarrassing. It encouraged +every anti-revolutionary enterprise and avowed none; it felt more than +ever its weakness and dependence on the assembly; and while desirous of +throwing off the yoke, feared to make the attempt because success appeared +difficult. Accordingly, it excited opposition without openly co-operating +in it; with some it dreamed of the restoration of the ancient regime, with +others it only aimed at modifying the revolution. Mirabeau had been +recently in treaty with it. After having been one of the chief authors of +reform, he sought to give it stability by enchaining faction. His object +was to convert the court to the revolution, not to give up the revolution +to the court. The support he offered was constitutional; he could not +offer any other; for his power depended on his popularity, and his +popularity on his principles. But he was wrong in suffering it to be +bought. Had not his immense necessities obliged him to accept money and +sell his counsels, he would not have been more blameable than the +unalterable Lafayette, the Lameths and the Girondins, who successively +negotiated with it. But none of them gained the confidence of the court; +it only had recourse to them in extremity. By their means it endeavoured +to suspend the revolution, while by the means of the aristocracy it tried +to destroy it. Of all the popular leaders, Mirabeau had perhaps the +greatest ascendancy over the court, because he was the most winning, and +had the strongest mind. + +The assembly worked unceasingly at the constitution, in the midst of these +intrigues and plots. It decreed the new judicial organization of France. +All the new magistracies were temporary. Under the absolute monarchy, all +powers emanated from the throne, and all functionaries were appointed by +the king; under the constitutional monarchy, all powers emanating from the +people, the functionaries were to be appointed by it. The throne alone was +transmissible; the other powers being the property neither of a man nor of +a family, were neither of life-tenure, nor hereditary. The legislation of +that period depended on one sole principle, the sovereignty of the nation. +The judicial functions had themselves that changeable character. Trial by +jury, a democratic institution formerly common to nearly all the +continent, but which in England alone had survived the encroachments of +feudalism and the throne, was introduced into criminal causes. For civil +causes special judges were nominated. Fixed courts were established, two +courts of appeal to prevent error, and a _cour de cassation_ intended to +secure the preservation of the protecting forms of the law. This +formidable power, when it proceeds from the throne, can only be +independent by being fixed; but it must be temporary when it proceeds from +the people; because, while depending on all, it depends upon no one. + +In another matter, quite as important, the right of making peace or war, +the assembly decided a new and delicate question, and this in a sure, +just, and prompt manner, after one of the most luminous and eloquent +discussions that ever distinguished its sittings. As peace and war +belonged more to action than to will, it confided, contrary to the usual +rule, the initiative to the king. He who was best able to judge of its +fitness was to propose the question, but it was left to the legislative +body to decide it. + +The popular torrent, after having burst forth against the ancient regime, +gradually subsided into its bed; new dykes restrained it on all sides. The +government of the revolution was rapidly becoming established. The +assembly had given to the new regime its monarch, its national +representation, its territorial division, its armed force, its municipal +and administrative power, its popular tribunals, its currency, its clergy; +it had made an arrangement with respect to its debt, and it had found +means to reconstruct property without injustice. + +The 14th of July approached: that day was regarded by the nation as the +anniversary of its deliverance, and preparations were made to celebrate it +with a solemnity calculated to elevate the souls of the citizens, and to +strengthen the common bonds of union. A confederation of the whole kingdom +was appointed to take place in the Champ de Mars; and there, in the open +air, the deputies sent by the eighty-three departments, the national +representatives, the Parisian guard, and the monarch, were to take the +oath to the constitution. By way of prelude to this patriotic fete, the +popular members of the nobility proposed the abolition of titles; and the +assembly witnessed another sitting similar to that of the 4th of August. +Titles, armorial bearings, liveries, and orders of knighthood, were +abolished on the 20th of June, and vanity, as power had previously done, +lost its privileges. + +This sitting established equality everywhere, and made things agree with +words, by destroying all the pompous paraphernalia of other times. +Formerly titles had designated functions; armorial bearings had +distinguished powerful families; liveries had been worn by whole armies of +vassals; orders of knighthood had defended the state against foreign foes, +Europe against Islamism; but now, nothing of this remained. Titles had +lost their truth and their fitness; nobility, after ceasing to be a +magistracy, had even ceased to be an ornament; and power, like glory, was +henceforth to spring from plebeian ranks. But whether the aristocracy set +more value on their titles than on their privileges, or whether they only +awaited a pretext for openly declaring themselves, this last measure, more +than any other, decided the emigration and its attacks. It was for the +nobility what the civil constitution had been for the clergy, an occasion, +rather than a cause of hostility. + +The 14th of July arrived, and the revolution witnessed few such glorious +days--the weather only did not correspond with this magnificent fete. The +deputies of all the departments were presented to the king, who received +them with much affability; and he, on his part, met also with the most +touching testimonies of love, but as a constitutional king. "Sire," said +the leader of the Breton deputation, kneeling on one knee, and presenting +his sword, "I place in your hands the faithful sword of the brave Bretons: +it shall only be reddened by the blood of your foes." Louis XVI. raised +and embraced him, and returned the sword. "It cannot be in better hands +than in those of my brave Bretons," he replied; "I have never doubted +their loyalty and affection; assure them that I am the father and brother, +the friend of all Frenchmen." "Sire," returned the deputy, "every +Frenchman loves, and will continue to love you, because you are a citizen- +king." + +The confederation was to take place in the Champ de Mars. The immense +preparations were scarcely completed in time; all Paris had been engaged +for several weeks in getting the arrangements ready by the 14th. At seven +in the morning, the procession of electors, of the representatives of the +corporation, of the presidents of districts, of the national assembly, of +the Parisian guard, of the deputies of the army, and of the federates of +the departments, set out in complete order from the site of the Bastille. +The presence of all these national corps, the floating banners, the +patriotic inscriptions, the varied costumes, the sounds of music, the joy +of the crowd, rendered the procession a most imposing one. It traversed +the city, and crossed the Seine, amidst a volley of artillery, over a +bridge of boats, which had been thrown across it the preceding day. It +entered the Champ de Mars under a triumphal arch, adorned with patriotic +inscriptions. Each body took the station assigned it in excellent order, +and amidst shouts of applause. + +The vast space of the Champ de Mars was inclosed by raised seats of turf, +occupied by four hundred thousand spectators. An antique altar was erected +in the middle; and around it, on a vast amphitheatre, were the king, his +family, the assembly, and the corporation. The federates of the +departments were ranged in order under their banners; the deputies of the +army and the national guards were in their ranks, and under their ensigns. +The bishop of Autun ascended the altar in pontifical robes; four hundred +priests in white copes, and decorated with flowing tricoloured sashes, +were posted at the four corners of the altar. Mass was celebrated amid the +sounds of military music; and then the bishop of Autun blessed the +oriflamme, and the eighty-three banners. + +A profound silence now reigned in the vast inclosure, and Lafayette, +appointed that day to the command in chief of all the national guards of +the kingdom, advanced first to take the civic oath. Borne on the arms of +grenadiers to the altar of the country, amidst the acclamations of the +people, he exclaimed with a loud voice, in his own name, and that of the +federates and troops: "We swear eternal fidelity to the nation, the law, +and the king; to maintain to the utmost of our power the constitution +decreed by the national assembly, and accepted by the king; and to remain +united with every Frenchman by the indissoluble ties of fraternity." +Forthwith the firing of cannon, prolonged cries of "Vive la nation!" "Vive +le roi!" and sounds of music, mingled in the air. The president of the +national assembly took the same oath, and all the deputies repeated it +with one voice. Then Louis XVI. rose and said: "I, king of the French, +swear to employ all the power delegated to me by the constitutional act of +the state, in maintaining the constitution decreed by the national +assembly and accepted by me." The queen, carried away by the enthusiasm of +the moment, rose, lifted up the dauphin in her arms, and showing him to +the people, exclaimed: "Behold my son, he unites with me in the same +sentiments." At that moment the banners were lowered, the acclamations of +the people were heard, and the subjects believed in the sincerity of the +monarch, the monarch in the affection of the subjects, and this happy day +closed with a hymn of thanksgiving. + +The fetes of the confederation were protracted for some days. +Illuminations, balls, and sports were given by the city of Paris to the +deputies of the departments. A ball took place on the spot where had +stood, a year before, the Bastille; gratings, fetters, ruins, were +observed here and there, and on the door was the inscription, "_Ici on +danse_," a striking contrast with the ancient destination of the spot. A +contemporary observes: "They danced indeed with joy and security on the +ground where so many tears had been shed; where courage, genius, and +innocence had so often groaned; where so often the cries of despair had +been stifled." A medal was struck to commemorate the confederation; and at +the termination of the fetes the deputies returned to their departments. + +The confederation only suspended the hostility of parties. Petty intrigues +were resumed in the assembly as well as out of doors. The duke of Orleans +had returned from his mission, or, more strictly speaking, from his exile. +The inquiry respecting the events of the 5th and 6th of October, of which +he and Mirabeau were accused as the authors, had been conducted by the +Chatelets inquiry, which had been suspended, was now resumed. By this +attack the court again displayed its want of foresight; for it ought to +have proved the accusation or not to have made it. The assembly having +decided on giving up the guilty parties, had it found any such, declared +there was no ground for proceeding; and Mirabeau, after an overwhelming +outburst against the whole affair, obliged the Right to be silent, and +thus arose triumphantly from an accusation which had been made expressly +to intimidate him. + +They attacked not only a few deputies but the assembly itself. The court +intrigued against it, but the Right drove this to exaggeration. "We like +its decrees," said the abbe Maury; "we want three or four more of them." +Hired libellists sold, at its very doors, papers calculated to deprive it +of the respect of the people; the ministers blamed and obstructed its +progress. Necker, still haunted by the recollection of his former +ascendancy, addressed to it memorials, in which he opposed its decrees and +gave it advice. This minister could not accustom himself to a secondary +part: he would not fall in with the abrupt plans of the assembly, so +entirely opposed to his ideas of gradual reform. At length, convinced or +weary of the inutility of his efforts, he left Paris, after resigning, on +the 4th of September, 1790, and obscurely traversed those provinces which +a year before he had gone through in triumph. In revolutions, men are +easily forgotten, for the nation sees many in its varied course. If we +would not find them ungrateful, we must not cease for an instant to serve +according to their own desire. + +On the other hand, the nobility which had found a new subject of +discontent in the abolition of titles, continued its anti-revolutionary +efforts. As it did not succeed in exciting the people, who, from their +position, found the recent changes very beneficial, it had recourse to +means which it considered more certain; it quitted the kingdom, with the +intention of returning thither with all Europe as its armed ally; but +while waiting till a system of emigration could be organised, while +waiting for the appearance of foreign foes to the revolution, it continued +to arouse enemies to it in the interior of the kingdom. The troops, as we +have before observed, had already for some time been tampered with in +various ways. The new military code was favourable to the soldiers; +promotion formerly granted to the nobility was now granted to seniority. +Most of the officers were attached to the ancient regime, nor did they +conceal the fact. Compelled to take what had become the common oath, the +oath of fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king, some left the army, +and increased the number of emigrants, while others endeavoured to win the +soldiers over to their party. + +General Bouille was of this number. After having long refused to take the +civic oath, he did so at last with this intention. He had a numerous body +of troops under his command near the northern frontier; he was clever, +resolute, attached to the king, opposed to the revolution, such as it had +then become, though the friend of reform; a circumstance that afterwards +brought him into suspicion at Coblentz. He kept his army isolated from the +citizens, that it might remain faithful, and that it might not be infected +with the spirit of insubordination which they communicated to the troops. +By skilful management, and the ascendancy of a great mind, he also +succeeded in retaining the confidence and attachment of his soldiers. It +was not thus elsewhere. The officers were the objects of a general +dislike; they were accused of diminishing the pay, and having no concern +for the great body of the troops. The prevailing opinions had also +something to do with this dissatisfaction. These combined causes led to +revolts among the men; that of Nancy, in August, 1790, produced great +alarm, and became almost the signal of a civil war. Three regiments, those +of Chateauvieux, Maitre-de-camp, and the King's own, rebelled against +their chiefs. Bouille was ordered to march against them; he did so at the +head of the garrison and national guard of Metz. After an animated +skirmish, he subdued them. The assembly congratulated him; but Paris, +which saw in Bouille a conspirator, was thrown into fresh agitation at +this intelligence. Crowds collected, and the impeachment of the ministers +who had given orders to Bouille to march upon Nancy was clamorously +demanded. Lafayette, however, succeeded in allaying this ebullition, +supported by the assembly, which, finding itself placed between a counter- +revolution and anarchy, opposed both with equal wisdom and courage. + +The aristocracy triumphed at the sight of the difficulties which perplexed +the assembly. They imagined that it would be compelled to be dependent on +the multitude, or deprive itself entirely of its support; and in either +case the return to the ancient regime appeared to them short and easy. The +clergy had its share in this work. The sale of church property, which it +took every means to impede, was effected at a higher price than that +fixed. The people, delivered from tithes and reassured as to the national +debt, were far from listening to the angry suggestions of the priests; +they accordingly made use of the civil constitution of the clergy to +excite a schism. We have seen that this decree of the assembly did not +affect either the discipline or the creed of the church. The king +sanctioned it on the 26th of December; but the bishops, who sought to +cover their interests with the mantle of religion, declared that it +encroached on the spiritual authority. The pope, consulted as to this +purely political measure, refused his assent to it, which the king +earnestly sought, and encouraged the opposition of the priests. The latter +decided that they would not concur in the establishment of the civil +constitution; that those of them who might be suppressed would protest +against this uncanonical act, that every bishopric created without the +concurrence of the pope should be null, and that the metropolitans should +refuse institution to bishops appointed according to civil forms. + +The assembly strengthened this league by attempting to frustrate it. If, +contrary to their real desire, it had left the dissentient priests to +themselves, they would not have found the elements of a religious war. But +the assembly decreed that the ecclesiastics should swear fidelity to the +nation, the law, and the king, and to maintain the civil constitution of +the clergy. Refusal to take this oath was to be attended by the +substitution of others in their bishoprics and cures. The assembly hoped +that the higher clergy from interest, and the lower clergy from ambition, +would adopt this measure. + +The bishops, on the contrary, thought that all the ecclesiastics would +follow their example, and that by refusing to swear, they would leave the +state without public worship, and the people without priests. The result +satisfied the expectations of neither party; the majority of the bishops +and cures of the assembly refused to take the oath, but a few bishops and +many cures took it. The dissentient incumbents were deprived, and the +electors nominated successors to them, who received canonical institution +from the bishops of Autun and Lida. But the deprived ecclesiastics refused +to abandon their functions, and declared their successors intruders, the +sacraments administred by them null, and all Christians who should venture +to recognise them excommunicated. They did not leave their dioceses; they +issued charges, and excited the people to disobey the laws; and thus an +affair of private interest became first a matter of religion and then a +matter of party. There were two bodies of clergy, one constitutional, the +other refractory; they had each its partisans, and treated each other as +rebels and heretics. According to passion or interest, religion became an +instrument or an obstacle; and while the priests made fanatics the +revolution made infidels. The people, not yet infected with this malady of +the upper classes, lost, especially in towns, the faith of their fathers, +from the imprudence of those who placed them between the revolution and +their religion. "The bishops," said the marquis de Ferrieres, who will not +be suspected, "refused to fall in with any arrangements, and by their +guilty intrigues closed every approach to reconciliation; sacrificing the +catholic religion to an insane obstinacy, and a discreditable attachment +to their wealth." + +Every party sought to gain the people; it was courted as sovereign. After +attempting to influence it by religion, another means was employed, that +of the clubs. At that period, clubs were private assemblies, in which the +measures of government, the business of the state, and the decrees of the +assembly were discussed; their deliberations had no authority, but they +exercised a certain influence. The first club owed its origin to the +Breton deputies, who already met together at Versailles to consider the +course of proceeding they should take. When the national representatives +were transferred from Versailles to Paris, the Breton deputies and those +of the assembly who were of their views held their sittings in the old +convent of the Jacobins, which subsequently gave its name to their +meetings. It did not at first cease to be a preparatory assembly, but as +all things increase in time, the Jacobin club did not confine itself to +the influencing the assembly; it sought also to influence the municipality +and the people, and received as associates members of the municipality and +common citizens. Its organization became more regular, its action more +powerful; its sittings were regularly reported in the papers; it created +branch clubs in the provinces, and raised by the side of legal power +another power which first counselled and then conducted it. + +The Jacobin club, as it lost its primitive character and became a popular +assembly, had been forsaken by part of its founders. The latter +established another society on the plan of the old one, under the name of +the club of '89. Sieyes, Chapelier, Lafayette, La Rochefoucauld directed +it, as Lameth and Barnave directed that of the Jacobins. Mirabeau belonged +to both, and by both was equally courted. These clubs, of which the one +prevailed in the assembly and the other amongst the people, were attached +to the new order of things, though in different degrees. The aristocracy +sought to attack the revolution with its own arms; it opened royalist +clubs to oppose the popular clubs. That first established under the name +of the _Club des Impartiaux_ could not last because it addressed itself to +no class opinion. Reappearing under the name of the _Club Monarchique_, it +included among its members all those whose views it represented. It sought +to render itself popular with the lower classes, and distributed bread; +but far from accepting its overtures, the people considered such +establishments as a counter-revolutionary movement. The people disturbed +their sittings, and obliged them several times to change their place of +meeting. At length, the municipal authority found itself obliged, in +January, 1791, to close this club, which had been the cause of several +riots. + +The distrust of the multitude was extreme; the departure of the king's +aunts, to which it attached an exaggerated importance, increased its +uneasiness, and led it to suppose another departure was preparing. These +suspicions were not unfounded, and they occasioned a kind of rising which +the anti-revolutionists sought to turn to account by carrying off the +king. This project failed, owing to the resolution and skill of Lafayette. +While the crowd went to Vincennes to demolish the dungeon which they said +communicated with the Tuileries, and would favour the flight of the king, +more than six hundred persons armed with swords and daggers entered the +Tuileries to compel the king to flee. Lafayette, who had repaired to +Vincennes to disperse the multitude, returned to quell the anti- +revolutionists of the chateau, after dissipating the mob of the popular +party, and by this second expedition he regained the confidence which his +first had lost him. + +The attempt rendered the escape of Louis XVI. more feared than ever. +Accordingly, a short time after, when he wished to go to Saint Cloud, he +was prevented by the crowd and even by his own guard, despite the efforts +of Lafayette, who endeavoured to make them respect the law, and the +liberty of the monarch. The assembly on its side, after having decreed the +inviolability of the prince, after having regulated his constitutional +guard, and assigned the regency to the nearest male heir to the crown, +declared that his flight from the kingdom would lead to his dethronement. +The increasing emigration, the open avowal of its objects, and the +threatening attitude of the European cabinets, all cherished the fear that +the king might adopt such a determination. + +Then, for the first time, the assembly sought to stop the progress of +emigration by a decree; but this decree was a difficult question. If they +punished those who left the kingdom, they violated the maxims of liberty, +rendered sacred by the declaration of rights; if they did not raise +obstacles to emigration, they endangered the safety of France, as the +nobles merely quitted it in order to invade it. In the assembly, setting +aside those who favoured emigration, some looked only at the right, others +only at the danger, and every one sided with or opposed the restrictive +law, according to his mode of viewing the subject. Those who desired the +law, wished it to be mild; but only one law could be practicable at such a +moment, and the assembly shrank from enacting it. This law, by the +arbitrary order of a committee of three members, was to pronounce a +sentence of civil death on the fugitive, and the confiscation of his +property. "The horror expressed on the reading of this project," cried +Mirabeau, "proves that this is a law worthy of being placed in the code of +Draco, and cannot find place among the decrees of the national assembly of +France. I proclaim that I shall consider myself released from every oath +of fidelity I have made towards those who may be infamous enough to +nominate a dictatorial commission. The popularity I covet, and which I +have the honour to enjoy, is not a feeble reed; I wish it to take root in +the soil, based on justice and liberty." The exterior position was not yet +sufficiently alarming for the adoption of such a measure of safety and +revolutionary defence. + +Mirabeau did not long enjoy the popularity which he imagined he was so +sure of. That was the last sitting he attended. A few days afterwards he +terminated a life worn out by passions and by toil. His death, which +happened on the 2nd of March, 1791, was considered a public calamity; all +Paris attended his funeral; there was a general mourning throughout +France, and his remains were deposited in the receptacle which had just +been consecrated _aux grands hommes_, in the name of _la patrie +reconnaissante_. No one succeeded him in power and popularity; and for a +long time, in difficult discussions, the eyes of the assembly would turn +towards the seat from whence they had been accustomed to hear the +commanding eloquence which terminated their debates. Mirabeau, after +having assisted the revolution with his daring in seasons of trial, and +with his powerful reasoning since its victory, died seasonably. He was +revolving vast designs; he wished to strengthen the throne, and +consolidate the revolution; two attempts extremely difficult at such a +time. It is to be feared that royalty, if he had made it independent, +would have put down the revolution; or, if he had failed, that the +revolution would have put down royalty. It is, perhaps, impossible to +convert an ancient power into a new order; perhaps a revolution must be +prolonged in order to become legitimate, and the throne, as it recovers, +acquire the novelty of the other institutions. + +From the 5th and 6th of October, 1789, to the month of April, 1791, the +national assembly completed the reorganization of France; the court gave +itself up to petty intrigues and projects of flight; the privileged +classes sought for new means of power, those which they formerly possessed +having been successively taken from them. They took advantage of all the +opportunities of disorder which circumstances furnished them with, to +attack the new regime and restore the old, by means of anarchy. At the +opening of the law courts the nobility caused the Chambres de vacations to +protest; when the provinces were abolished, it made the orders protest. As +soon as the departments were formed, it tried new elections; when the old +writs had expired, it sought the dissolution of the assembly; when the new +military code passed, it endeavoured to excite the defection of the +officers; lastly, all these means of opposition failing to effect the +success of its designs, it emigrated, to excite Europe against the +revolution. The clergy, on its side, discontented with the loss of its +possessions still more than with the ecclesiastical constitution, sought +to destroy the new order by insurrections, and to bring on insurrections +by a schism. Thus it was during this epoch that parties became gradually +disunited, and that the two classes hostile to the revolution prepared the +elements of civil and foreign war. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 3OTH SEPTEMBER. THE END OF THE CONSTITUENT +ASSEMBLY + + +The French revolution was to change the political state of Europe, to +terminate the strife of kings among themselves, and to commence that +between kings and people. This would have taken place much later had not +the kings themselves provoked it. They sought to suppress the revolution, +and they extended it; for by attacking it they were to render it +victorious. Europe had then arrived at the term of the political system +which swayed it. The political activity of the several states after being +internal under the feudal government, had become external under the +monarchical government. The first period terminated almost at the same +time among all the great nations of Europe. Then kings who had so long +been at war with their vassals, because they were in contact with them, +encountered each other on the boundaries of their kingdoms, and fought. As +no domination could become universal, neither that of Charles V. nor that +of Louis XIV., the weak always uniting against the strong, after several +vicissitudes of superiority and alliance, a sort of European equilibrium +was established. In order to appreciate ulterior events, I propose to +consider this equilibrium before the revolution. + +Austria, England, and France had been, from the peace of Westphalia to the +middle of the eighteenth century, the three great powers of Europe. +Interest had leagued the two first against the third. Austria had reason +to dread the influence of France in the Netherlands; England feared it on +the sea. Rivalry of power and commerce often set them at variance, and +they sought to weaken or plunder each other. Spain, since a prince of the +house of Bourbon had been on the throne, was the ally of France against +England. This, however, was a fallen power: confined to a corner of the +continent, oppressed by the system of Philip II., deprived by the Family +Compact of the only enemy that could keep it in action, by sea only had it +retained any of its ancient superiority. But France had other allies on +all sides of Austria: Sweden on the north; Poland and the Porte on the +east; in the south of Germany, Bavaria; Prussia on the west; and in Italy, +the kingdom of Naples. These powers, having reason to dread the +encroachments of Austria, were naturally the allies of her enemy. +Piedmont, placed between the two systems of alliance, sided, according to +circumstances and its interests, with either. Holland was united with +England or with France, as the party of the stadtholders or that of the +people prevailed in the republic. Switzerland was neutral. + +In the last half of the eighteenth century, two powers had risen in the +north, Russia and Prussia. The latter had been changed from a simple +electorate into an important kingdom, by Frederick-William, who had given +it a treasure and an army; and by his son Frederick the Great, who had +made use of these to extend his territory. Russia, long unconnected with +the other states, had been more especially introduced into the politics of +Europe by Peter I. and Catharine II. The accession of these two powers +considerably modified the ancient alliances. In concert with the cabinet +of Vienna, Russia and Prussia had executed the first partition of Poland +in 1772; and after the death of Frederick the Great, the empress Catharine +and the emperor Joseph united in 1785 to effect that of European Turkey. + +The cabinet of Versailles, weakened since the imprudent and unfortunate +Seven Years' War, had assisted at the partition of Poland without opposing +it, had raised no obstacle to the fall of the Ottoman empire, and even +allowed its ally, the republican party in Holland, to sink under the blows +of Prussia and England, without assisting it. The latter powers had in +1787 re-established by force the hereditary, stadtholderate of the United +Provinces. The only act which did honour to French policy, was the support +it had happily given to the emancipation of North America. The revolution +of 1789, while extending the moral influence of France, diminished still +more its diplomatic influence. + +England, under the government of young Pitt, was alarmed in 1788 at the +ambitious projects of Russia, and united with Holland and Prussia to put +an end to them. Hostilities were on the point of commencing when the +emperor Joseph died, in February, 1790, and was succeeded by Leopold, who +in July accepted the convention of Reichenbach. This convention, by the +mediation of England, Russia, and Holland, settled the terms of the peace +between Austria and Turkey, which was signed definitively, on the 4th of +August, 1791, at Sistova; it at the same time provided for the +pacification of the Netherlands. Urged by England and Prussia, Catharine +II. also made peace with the Porte at Jassy, on the 29th of December, +1791. These negotiations, and the treaties they gave rise to, terminated +the political struggles of the eighteenth century, and left the powers +free to turn their attention to the French Revolution. + +The princes of Europe, who had hitherto had no enemies but themselves, +viewed it in the light of a common foe. The ancient relations of war and +of alliance, already overlooked during the Seven Years' War, now ceased +entirely: Sweden united with Russia, and Prussia with Austria. There was +nothing now but the kings on one side, and people on the other, waiting +for the auxiliaries which its example, or the faults of princes might give +it. A general coalition was soon formed against the French revolution. +Austria engaged in it with the hope of aggrandizement, England to avenge +the American war, and to preserve itself from the spirit of the +revolution; Prussia to strengthen the threatened absolute power, and +profitably to engage its unemployed army; the German states to restore +feudal rights to some of their members who had been deprived of them, by +the abolition of the old regime in Alsace; the king of Sweden, who had +constituted himself the champion of arbitrary power, to re-establish it in +France, as he had just done in his own country; Russia, that it might +execute without trouble the partition of Poland, while the attention of +Europe was directed elsewhere; finally, all the sovereigns of the house of +Bourbon, from the interest of power and family attachments. The emigrants +encouraged them in these projects, and excited them to invasion. According +to them, France was without an army, or at least without leaders, +destitute of money, given up to disorder, weary of the assembly, disposed +to the ancient regime, and without either the means or the inclination to +defend itself. They flocked in crowds to take a share in the promised +short campaign, and formed into organized bodies under the prince de +Conde, at Worms, and the count d'Artois, at Coblentz. + +The count d'Artois especially hastened the determination of the cabinets. +The emperor Leopold was in Italy, and the count repaired to him, with +Calonne as minister, and the count Alphonse de Durfort, who had been his +mediator with the court of the Tuileries, and who had brought him the +king's authority to treat with Leopold. The conference took place at +Mantua, and the count de Durfort returned, and delivered to Louis XVI. in +the name of the emperor, a secret declaration, in which was announced to +him the speedy assistance of the coalition. Austria was to advance thirty- +five thousand men on the frontier of Flanders; the German states, fifteen +thousand on Alsace; the Swiss, fifteen thousand on the Lyonese frontier; +the king of Sardinia, fifteen thousand on that of Dauphine; Spain was to +augment its army in Catalonia to twenty thousand; Prussia was well +disposed in favour of the coalition, and the king of England was to take +part in it as elector of Hanover. All these troops were to move at the +same time, at the end of July; the house of Bourbon was then to make a +protest, and the powers were to publish a manifesto; until then, however, +it was essential to keep the design secret, to avoid all partial +insurrection, and to make no attempt at flight. Such was the result of the +conferences at Mantua on the 20th May, 1791. + +Louis XVI., either from a desire not to place himself entirely at the +mercy of foreign powers, or dreading the ascendency which the count +d'Artois, should he return at the head of the victorious emigrants, would +assume over the government he had established, preferred restoring the +government alone. In general Bouille he had a devoted and skilful +partisan, who at the same time condemned both emigration and the assembly, +and promised him refuge and support in his army. For some time past, a +secret correspondence had taken place between him and the king. Bouille +prepared everything to receive him. He established a camp at Montmedy, +under the pretext of a movement of hostile troops on the frontier; he +placed detachments on the route the king was to take, to serve him for +escort, and as a motive was necessary for these arrangements, he alleged +that of protecting the money despatched for the payment of the troops. + +The royal family on its side made every preparation for departure; very +few persons were informed of it, and no measures betrayed it. Louis XVI. +and the queen, on the contrary, pursued a line of conduct calculated to +silence suspicion; and on the night of the 20th of June, they issued at +the appointed hour from the chateau, one by one, in disguise. In this way +they eluded the vigilance of the guard, reached the Boulevard, where a +carriage awaited them, and took the road to Chalons and Montmedy. + +On the following day the news of this escape threw Paris into +consternation; indignation soon became the prevailing sentiment; crowds +assembled, and the tumult increased. Those who had not prevented the +flight were accused of favouring it. Neither Bailly nor Lafayette escaped +the general mistrust. This event was considered the precursor of the +invasion of France, the triumph of the emigrants; the return of the +ancient regime, and a long civil war. But the conduct of the assembly soon +restored the public mind to calmness and security. It took every measure +which so difficult a conjuncture required. It summoned the ministers and +authorities to its bar; calmed the people by a proclamation; used proper +precautions to secure public tranquillity; seized on the executive power, +commissioned Montmorin, the minister of foreign affairs, to inform the +European powers of its pacific intentions; sent commissioners to secure +the favour of the troops, and receive their oath, no longer made in the +name of the king, but in that of the assembly, and lastly, issued an order +through the departments for the arrest of any one attempting to leave the +kingdom. "Thus, in less than four hours," says the marquis de Ferrieres, +"the assembly was invested with every kind of power. The government went +on; public tranquillity did not experience the slightest shock; and Paris +and France learned from this experience, so fatal to royalty, that the +monarch is almost always a stranger to the government that exists in his +name." + +Meantime Louis XVI. and his family were drawing near the termination of +their journey. The success of the first days' journeys, the increasing +distance from Paris, rendered the king less reserved and more confident; +he had the imprudence to show himself, was recognised, and arrested at +Varennes on the 21st. The national guard were under arms instantly; the +officers of the detachments posted by Bouille sought in vain to rescue the +king; the dragoons and hussars feared or refused to support them. Bouille, +apprised of this fatal event, hastened himself at the head of a regiment +of cavalry. But it was too late; on reaching Varennes, he found that the +king had left it several hours before; his squadrons were tired, and +refused to advance. The national guard were on all sides under arms, and +after the failure of his enterprise, he had no alternative but to leave +the army and quit France. + +The assembly, on hearing of the king's arrest, sent to him, as +commissioners, three of its members, Petion, Latour-Maubourg, and Barnave. +They met the royal family at Epernay and returned with them. It was during +this journey, that Barnave, touched by the good sense of Louis XVI., the +fascinations of Marie Antoinette, and the fate of this fallen family, +conceived for it an earnest interest. From that day he gave it his +assiduous counsel and support. On reaching Paris the royal party passed +through an immense crowd, which expressed neither applause nor murmurs, +but observed a reproachful silence. + +The king was provisionally suspended: he had had a guard set over him, as +had the queen; and commissioners were appointed to question him. Agitation +pervaded all parties. Some desired to retain the king on the throne, +notwithstanding his flight; others maintained, that he had abdicated by +condemning, in a manifesto addressed to the French on his departure, both +the revolution, and the acts which had emanated from him during that +period, which he termed a time of captivity. + +The republican party now began to appear. Hitherto it had remained either +dependent or hidden, because it had been without any existence of its own, +or because it wanted a pretext for displaying itself. The struggle, which +lay at first between the assembly and the court, then between the +constitutionalists and the aristocrats, and latterly among the +constitutionalists themselves, was now about to commence between the +constitutionalists and the republicans. In times of revolution such is the +inevitable course of events. The partisans of the order newly established +then met and renounced differences of opinion which were detrimental to +their cause, even while the assembly was all powerful, but which had +become highly perilous, now that the emigration party threatened it on the +one hand, and the multitude on the other. Mirabeau was no more. The +Centre, on which this powerful man had relied, and which constituted the +least ambitious portion of the assembly, the most attached to principles, +might by joining the Lameths, re-establish Louis XVI. and constitutional +monarchy, and present a formidable opposition to the popular ebullition. + +This alliance took place; the Lameth party came to an understanding with +Andre and the principal members of the Centre, made overtures to the +court, and opened the club of the Feuillants in opposition to that of the +Jacobins. But the latter could not want leaders; under Mirabeau, they had +contended against Mounier; under the Lameths against Mirabeau; under +Petion and Robespierre, they contended against the Lameths. The party +which desired a second revolution had constantly supported the most +extreme actors in the revolution already accomplished, because this was +bringing within its reach the struggle and the victory. At this period, +from subordinate it had become independent; it no longer fought for others +and for opinions not its own, but for itself, and under its own banner. +The court, by its multiplied faults, its imprudent machinations, and, +lastly, by the flight of the monarch, had given it a sort of authority to +avow its object; and the Lameths, by forsaking it, had left it to its true +leaders. + +The Lameths, in their turn, underwent the reproaches of the multitude, +which saw only their alliance with the court, without examining its +conditions. But supported by all the constitutionalists, they were +strongest in the assembly; and they found it essential to establish the +king as soon as possible, in order to put a stop to a controversy which +threatened the new order, by authorizing the public party to demand the +abolition of the royal power while its suspension lasted. The +commissioners appointed to interrogate Louis XVI. dictated to him a +declaration, which they presented in his name to the assembly, and which +modified the injurious effect of his flight. The reporter declared, in the +name of the seven committees entrusted with the examination of this great +question, that there were no grounds for bringing Louis XVI. to trial, or +for pronouncing his dethronement. The discussion which followed this +report was long and animated; the efforts of the republican party, +notwithstanding their pertinacity, were unsuccessful. Most of their +orators spoke; they demanded deposition or a regency; that is to say, +popular government, or an approach towards it. Barnave, after meeting all +their arguments, finished his speech with these remarkable words: +"Regenerators of the empire, follow your course without deviation. You +have proved that you had courage to destroy the abuses of power; you have +proved that you possessed all that was requisite to substitute wise and +good institutions in their place; prove now that you have the wisdom to +protect and maintain these. The nation has just given a great evidence of +its strength and courage; it has displayed, solemnly and by a spontaneous +movement, all that it could oppose to the attacks which threatened it. +Continue the same precautions; let our boundaries, let our frontiers be +powerfully defended. But while we manifest our power, let us also prove +our moderation; let us present peace to the world, alarmed by the events +which take place amongst us; let us present an occasion for triumph to all +those who in foreign lands have taken an interest in our revolution. They +cry to us from all parts: you are powerful; be wise, be moderate, therein +will lie your highest glory. Thus will you prove that in various +circumstances you can employ various means, talents, and virtues." + +The assembly sided with Barnave. But to pacify the people, and to provide +for the future safety of France, it decreed that the king should be +considered as abdicating, _de facto_, if he retracted the oath he had +taken to the constitution; if he headed an army for the purpose of making +war upon the nation, or permitted any one to do so in his name; and that, +in such case, become a simple citizen, he would cease to be inviolable, +and might be responsible for acts committed subsequent to his abdication. + +On the day that this decree was adopted by the assembly, the leaders of +the republican party excited the multitude against it. But the hall in +which it sat was surrounded by the national guard, and it could not be +assailed or intimidated. The agitators unable to prevent the passing of +the decree, aroused the people against it. They drew up a petition, in +which they denied the competency of the assembly; appealed from it to the +sovereignty of the nation, treated Louis XVI. as deposed since his flight, +and demanded a substitute for him. This petition, drawn up by Brissot, +author of the _Patriote Francais_, and president of the _Comite des +Recherches_ of Paris, was carried, on the 17th of July, to the altar of +the country in the Champ de Mars: an immense crowd flocked to sign it. The +assembly, apprized of what was taking place, summoned the municipal +authorities to its bar, and directed them to preserve the public +tranquillity. Lafayette marched against the crowd, and in the first +instance succeeded in dispersing it without bloodshed. The municipal +officers took up their quarters in the Invalides; but the same day the +crowd returned in greater numbers, and with more determination. Danton and +Camille Desmoulins harangued them from the altar of the country. Two +Invalides, supposed to be spies, were massacred and their heads stuck on +pikes. The insurrection became alarming. Lafayette again repaired to the +Champ de Mars, at the head of twelve hundred of the national guard. Bailly +accompanied him, and had the red banner unfurled. The crowd was then +summoned to disperse in the name of the law; it refused to retire, and, +contemning authority, shouted, "Down with the red flag!" and assailed the +national guard with stones. Lafayette ordered his men to fire, but in the +air. The crowd was not intimidated with this, and resumed the attack; +compelled by the obstinacy of the insurgents, Lafayette then ordered +another discharge, a real and effective one. The terrified multitude fled, +leaving many dead on the field. The disturbances now ceased, order was +restored; but blood had flown, and the people never forgave Bailly or +Lafayette the cruel necessity to which the crowd had driven them. This was +a regular combat, in which the republican party, not as yet sufficiently +strong or established, was defeated by the constitutional monarchy party. +The attempt of the Champ de Mars was the prelude of the popular movements +which led to the 10th of August. + +While this was passing in the assembly and at Paris, the emigrants, whom +the flight of Louis XVI. had elated with hope, were thrown into +consternation at his arrest. _Monsieur_, who had fled at the same time as +his brother, and with better fortune, arrived alone at Brussels with the +powers and title of regent. The emigrants thenceforth relied only on the +assistance of Europe; the officers quitted their colours; two hundred and +ninety members of the assembly protested against its decrees; in order to +legitimatize invasion, Bouille wrote a threatening letter, in the +inconceivable hope of intimidating the assembly, and at the same time to +take upon himself the sole responsibility of the flight of Louis XVI.; +finally, the emperor, the king of Prussia, and the count d'Artois met at +Pilnitz, where they made the famous declaration of the 27th of August, +preparatory to the invasion of France, and which, far from improving the +condition of the king, would have imperilled him, had not the assembly, in +its wisdom, continued to follow out its new designs, regardless at once of +the clamours of the multitude at home, and the foreign powers. + +In the declaration of Pilnitz, the sovereigns considered the cause of +Louis XVI. as their own. They required that he should be free to go where +he pleased, that is to say, to repair to them that he should be restored +to his throne; that the assembly should be dissolved, and that the princes +of the empire having possessions in Alsace, should be reinstated in their +feudal rights In case of refusal, they threatened France with a war in +which all the powers who were guarantees for the French monarchy would +concur. This declaration, so far from discouraging, only served to +irritate the assembly and the people. Men asked only another, what right +the princes of Europe had to interfere in the government of France; by +what right they gave orders to great people, and imposed conditions upon +it; and since the sovereigns appealed to force, the people of France +prepared to resist them. The frontiers were put in a state of defence; the +hundred thousand men of the national guard were enrolled, and they awaited +in calm serenity the attack of the enemy, well convinced that the French +people, on their own soil and in a state of revolution, would be +invincible. + +Meantime, the assembly approached the close of its labours; civil +relations, public taxation, the nature of crimes, their prosecution, and +their punishment, had been by it as wisely regulated as were the public +and constitutional relations of the country. Equality had been introduced +into the laws of inheritance, into taxation, and into punishments; nothing +remained but to unite all the constitutional decrees into a body and +submit them to the king for his approval. The assembly was growing weary +of its labours and of its dissensions; the people itself, who in France +ever become tired of that which continues beyond a certain time, desired a +new national representation; the convocation of the electoral colleges was +therefore fixed for the 5th of August. Unfortunately, the members of the +present assembly could not form part of the succeeding one; this had been +decided before the flight to Varennes. In this important question, the +assembly had been drawn away by the rivalry of some, the disinterestedness +of others, the desire for anarchy on the part of the aristocrats, and of +domination on that of the republicans. Vainly did Duport exclaim: "While +every one is pestering us with new principles of all sorts, how is it +overlooked that stability is also a principle of government? Is France, +whose children are so ardent and changeable, to be exposed every two years +to a revolution in her laws and opinions?" This was the desire of the +privileged classes and the Jacobins, though with different views. In all +such matters, the constituent assembly was deceived or overruled; when the +ministry was in question, it decided, in opposition to Mirabeau, that no +deputy could hold office; on the subject of re-election, it decided, in +opposition to its own members, that it could not take place; in the same +spirit, it prohibited their accepting, for four years, any post offered +them by the prince. This mania of disinterestedness soon induced Lafayette +to divest himself of the command of the national guard, and Bailly to +resign the mayoralty. Thus this remarkable epoch entirely annihilated the +constituent body. + +The collection of the constitutional decrees into one body led to the idea +of revising them. But this idea of revision gave great dissatisfaction, +and was almost of no effect; it was not desirable to render the +constitution more aristocratic by after measures, lest the multitude +should require it to be made more popular. To limit the sovereignty of the +nation, and, at the same time, not to overlook it, the assembly declared +that France had a right to revise its constitution, but that it was +prudent not to exercise this right for thirty years. + +The act of the constitution was presented to the king by sixty deputies; +the suspension being taken off, Louis XVI. resumed the exercise of his +power; and the guard the law had given him was placed under his own +command. Thus restored to freedom, the constitution was submitted to him. +After examining it for several days, "I accept the constitution," he wrote +to the assembly; "I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all +attacks from abroad; and to cause its execution by all the means it places +at my disposal. I declare, that being informed of the attachment of the +great majority of the people to the constitution, I renounce my claim to +assist in the work, and that being responsible to the nation alone, no +other person, now that I have made this renunciation, has a right to +complain." + +This letter excited general approbation. Lafayette demanded and procured +an amnesty in favour of those who were under prosecution for favouring the +king's flight, or for proceedings against the revolution. Next day the +king came in person to accept the constitution in the assembly. The +populace attended him thither with acclamations; he was the object of the +enthusiasm of the deputies and spectators, and he regained that day the +confidence and affection of his subjects. The 29th of September was fixed +for the closing of the assembly; the king was present; his speech was +often interrupted by applause, and when he said, "For you, gentlemen, who +during a long and arduous career have displayed such indefatigable zeal, +there remains one duty to fulfil when you have returned to your homes over +the country: to explain to your fellow-citizens the true meaning of the +laws you have made for them; to counsel those who slight them; to clarify +and unite all opinions by the example you shall afford of your love of +order, and of submission to the laws." Cries of "Yes! yes!" were uttered +by all the deputies with one common voice. "I rely on your being the +interpreters of my sentiments to your fellow-citizens." "Yes! yes!" "Tell +them all that the king will always be their first and most faithful +friend; that he needs their love; that he can only be happy with them and +by their means; the hope of contributing to their happiness will sustain +my courage, as the satisfaction of having succeeded will be my sweetest +recompense" + +"It is a speech worthy of Henry IV.," said a voice, and the king left the +hall amidst the loudest testimonials of love. + +Then Thouret, in a loud voice, and addressing the people, exclaimed: "The +constituent assembly pronounces its mission accomplished, and that its +sittings now terminate." Thus closed this first and glorious assembly of +the nation. It was courageous, intelligent, just, and had but one passion +--a passion for law. It accomplished, in two years, by its efforts, and +with indefatigable perseverance, the greatest revolution ever witnessed by +one generation of men. Amidst its labours, it repressed despotism and +anarchy, by frustrating the conspiracies of the aristocracy and +maintaining the multitude in subordination. Its only fault was that it did +not confide the guidance of the revolution to those who were its authors; +it divested itself of power, like those legislators of antiquity who +exiled themselves from their country after giving it a constitution. A new +assembly did not apply itself to consolidating its work, and the +revolution, which ought to have been finished, was recommenced. + +The constitution of 1791 was based on principles adapted to the ideas and +situation of France. This constitution was the work of the middle class, +then the strongest; for, as is well known, the predominant force ever +takes possession of institutions. When it belongs to one man alone, it is +despotism; when to several, it is privilege; when to all, it is right; +this last state is the limit, as it is the origin, of society. France had +at length attained it, after passing through feudalism, which was the +aristocratic institution, and absolute power, which was the monarchical +institution. Equality was consecrated among the citizens, and delegation +recognised among the powers; such were to be, under the new system, the +condition of men, and the form of government. + +In this constitution the people was the source of all powers, but it +exercised none; it was entrusted only with election in the first instance, +and its magistrates were selected by men chosen from among the enlightened +portions of the community. The latter constituted the assembly, the law +courts, the public offices, the corporations, the militia, and thus +possessed all the force and all the power of the state. It alone was fit +to exercise them, because it alone had the intelligence necessary for the +conduct of government. The people was not yet sufficiently advanced to +participate in power, consequently, it was only by accident, and in the +most casual and evanescent manner, that power fell into its hands; but it +received civic education, and was disciplined to government in the primary +assemblies, according to the true aim of society, which is not to confer +its advantages as a patrimony on one particular class, but to make all +share in them, when all are capable of acquiring them. This was the +leading characteristic of the constitution of 1791; as each, by degrees, +became competent to enjoy the right, he was admitted to it; it extended +its limits with the extension of civilization, which every day calls a +greater number of men to the administration of the state. In this way it +had established true equality, whose real character is admissibility, as +that of inequality is exclusion. In rendering power transferable by +election, it made it a public magistracy; whilst privilege, in rendering +it hereditary by transmission, makes it private property. + +The constitution of 1791 established homogeneous powers which corresponded +among themselves, and thus reciprocally restrained each other; still, it +must be confessed, the royal authority was too subordinate to popular +power. It is never otherwise: sovereignty, from whatever source derived, +gives itself a feeble counterpoise when it limits itself. A constituent +assembly enfeebles royalty; a king who is a legislator limits the +prerogatives of an assembly. + +This constitution was, however, less democratic than that of the United +States, which had been practicable, despite the extent of the territory, +proving that it is not the form of institutions, but the assent which they +obtain, or the dissent which they excite, which permits or hinders their +establishment. In a new country, after a revolution of independence, as in +America, any constitution is possible; there is but one hostile party, +that of the metropolis, and when that is overcome, the struggle ceases, +because defeat leads to its expulsion. It is not so with social +revolutions among nations who have long been in existence. Changes attack +interests, interests form parties, parties enter into contest, and the +more victory spreads the greater grows opposition. This is what happened +in France. The work of the constituent assembly perished less from its +defects than from the attacks of faction. Placed between the aristocracy +and the multitude, it was attacked by the one and invaded by the other. +The latter would not have become sovereign, had not civil war and the +foreign coalition called for its intervention and aid. To defend the +country, it became necessary that it should govern it; then it effected +its revolution, as the middle class had effected its own. It had its 14th +of July in the 10th of August; its constituent assembly, the convention; +its government, which was the committee of public safety; yet, as we shall +see, without emigration there would have been no republic. + + + + +THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + + + + +CHAPTER V + +FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792 + + +The new assembly opened its session on the 1st October, 1791. It declared +itself immediately _the national legislative assembly_. From its first +appearance, it had occasion to display its attachment to the actual state +of things, and the respect it felt for the authors of French liberty. The +book of the constitution was solemnly presented to it by the archivist +Camus, accompanied by twelve of the oldest members of the national +representation. The assembly received the constitutional act standing and +uncovered, and on it took the oath, amidst the acclamations of the people +who occupied the tribunes, "_to live free or perish!_" A vote of thanks +was given by it to the members of the constituent assembly, and it then +prepared to commence its labours. + +But its first relations with the king had not the same character of union +and confidence. The court, doubtless hoping to regain under the +legislative, the superior position which it had lost under the constituent +assembly, did not employ sufficient management towards a susceptible and +anxious popular authority, which was then considered the first of the +state. The assembly sent a deputation of sixty of its members to the king +to announce its opening. The king did not receive them in person, and sent +word by the minister of justice that he could not give them audience till +noon on the following day. This unceremonious dismissal, and the indirect +communication between the national representatives and the prince, by +means of a minister, hurt the deputation excessively. Accordingly, when +the audience took place, Duchastel, who headed the deputation, said to him +laconically: "Sire, the national legislative assembly is sitting; we are +deputed to inform you of this." Louis XVI. replied still more drily: "I +cannot visit you before Friday." This conduct of the court towards the +assembly was impolitic, and little calculated to conciliate the affection +of the people. + +The assembly approved of the cold manner assumed by the deputation, and +soon indulged in an act of reprisal. The ceremony with which the king was +to be received among them was arranged according to preceding laws. A +fauteuil in the form of a throne was reserved for him; they used towards +him the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_, and the deputies, standing and +uncovered on his entrance, were to sit down, put on their hats, and rise +again, following with deference all the movements of the prince. Some +restless and exaggerated minds considered this condescension unworthy of a +sovereign assembly. The deputy Grangeneuve required that the words _sire_ +and _majesty_ should be replaced by the "more constitutional and finer" +title of _king of the French_. Couthon strongly enforced this motion, and +proposed that a simple fauteuil should be assigned to the king, exactly +like the president's. These motions excited some slight disapprobation on +the part of a few members, but the greater number received them eagerly. +"It gives me pleasure to suppose," said Guadet, "that the French people +will always venerate the simple fauteuil upon which sits the president of +the national representatives, much more than the gilded fauteuil where +sits the head of the executive power. I will say nothing, gentlemen, of +the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_. It astonishes me to find the national +assembly deliberating whether they shall be retained. The word _sire_ +signifies seigneur; it belonged to the feudal system, which has ceased to +exist. As for the term _majesty_, it should only be employed in speaking +of God and of the people." + +The previous question was demanded, but feebly; these motions were put to +the vote, and carried by a considerable majority. Yet, as this decree +appeared hostile, the constitutional opinion pronounced itself against it, +and censured this too excessive rigour in the application of principles. +On the following day those who had demanded the previous question moved +that the decisions of the day before should be abandoned. A report was +circulated, at the same time, that the king would not enter the assembly +if the decree were maintained; and the decree was revoked. These petty +skirmishes between two powers who had to fear usurpations, assumptions, +and more especially ill will between them, terminated here on this +occasion, and all recollection of them was effaced by the presence of +Louis XVI. in the legislative body, where he was received with the +greatest respect and the most lively enthusiasm. + +General pacification formed the chief topic of his speech. He pointed out +to the assembly the subjects that ought to attract its attention,-- +finance, civil law, commerce, trade, and the consolidation of the new +government; he promised to employ his influence to restore order and +discipline in the army, to put the kingdom in a state of defence, and to +diffuse ideas respecting the French revolution, calculated to re-establish +a good understanding in Europe. He added the following words, which were +received with much applause: "Gentlemen, in order that your important +labours, as well as your zeal, may produce all the good which may be +expected from them, a constant harmony and unchanging confidence should +reign between the legislative body and the king. The enemies of our peace +seek but too eagerly to disunite us, but let love of country cement our +union, and let public interest make us inseparable! Thus public power may +develop itself without obstacle; government will not be harassed by vain +fears; the possessions and faith of each will be equally protected, and no +pretext will remain for any one to live apart from a country where the +laws are in vigour, and where the rights of all are respected." +Unfortunately there were two classes, without the revolution, that would +not enter into composition with it, and whose efforts in Europe and the +interior of France were to prevent the realization of these wise and +pacific words. As soon as there are displaced parties in a state, a +struggle will result, and measures of hostility must be taken against +them. Accordingly, the internal troubles, fomented by non-juring priests, +the military assemblings of emigrants, and the preparations for the +coalition, soon drove the legislative assembly further than the +constitution allowed, and than it itself had proposed. + +The composition of this assembly was completely popular. The prevailing +ideas being in favour of the revolution, the court, nobility, and clergy +had exercised no influence over the elections. There were not in this +assembly, as in the preceding, partisans of absolute power and of +privilege. The two fractions of the Left who had separated towards the +close of the constituent assembly were again brought face to face; but no +longer in the same proportion of number and strength. The popular minority +of the previous assembly became the majority in this. The prohibition +against electing representatives already tried, the necessity of choosing +deputies from those most distinguished by their conduct and opinions, and +especially the active influence of the clubs, led to this result. Opinions +and parties soon became known. As in the constituent assembly there was a +Right, a Centre, a Left, but of a perfectly different character. + +The Right, composed of firm and absolute constitutionalists, composed the +Feuillant party. Its principal speakers were Dumas, Ramond, Vaublanc, +Beugnot, etc. It had some relations with the court, through Barnave, +Duport, and Alexander Lameth, who were its former leaders; but whose +counsels were rarely followed by Louis XVI., who gave himself up with more +confidence to the advice of those immediately around him. Out of doors, it +supported itself on the club of the Feuillants and upon the bourgeoisie. +The national guard, the army, the directory of the department, and in +general all the constituted authorities, were favourable to it. But this +party, which no longer prevailed in the assembly, soon lost a post quite +as essential, that of the municipality, which was occupied by its +adversaries of the Left. + +These formed the party called Girondist, and which in the revolution only +formed an intermediate party between the middle class and the multitude. +It had then no subversive project; but it was disposed to defend the +revolution in every way, and in this differed from the constitutionalists +who would only defend it with the law. At its head were the brilliant +orators of the Gironde, [Footnote: The name of the river Garonne, after +its confluence with the Dordogne.] who gave their name to the party, +Vergniaud, Guadet, Gensonne, and the Provencal Isnard, who had a style of +still more impassioned eloquence than theirs. Its chief leader was +Brissot, who, a member of the corporation of Paris during the last +session, had subsequently become a member of the assembly. The opinions of +Brissot, who advocated a complete reform; his great activity of mind, +which he developed at once in the journal the _Patriote_, in the tribune +of the assembly, and at the club of the Jacobins; his exact and extensive +knowledge of the position of foreign powers, gave him great ascendancy at +the moment of a struggle between parties, and of a war with Europe. +Condorcet possessed influence of another description; he owed this to his +profound ideas, to his superior reason, which almost procured him the +place of Sieyes in this second revolutionary generation. Petion, of a calm +and determined character, was the active man of this party. His tranquil +brow, his fluent elocution, his acquaintance with the people, soon +procured for him the municipal magistracy, which Bailly had discharged for +the middle class. + +The Left had in the assembly the nucleus of a party more extreme than +itself, and the members of which, such as Chabot, Bazire, Merlin, were to +the Girondists what Petion, Buzot, Robespierre, had been to the Left of +the constituent. This was the commencement of the democratic faction +which, without, served as auxiliary to the Gironde, and which managed the +clubs and the multitude. Robespierre in the society of the Jacobins, where +he established his sway after leaving the assembly; Danton, Camille +Desmoulins, and Fabre-d'Eglantine at the Cordeliers, where they had +founded a club of innovators more extreme than the Jacobins, composed of +men of the bourgeoisie; the brewer Santerre in the faubourgs, where the +popular power lay; were the true chiefs of this faction, which depended on +one whole class, and aspired at founding its own regime. + +The Centre of the legislative assembly was sincerely attached to the new +order of things. It had almost the same opinions, the same inclination for +moderation as the Centre of the constituent assembly; but its power was +very different: it was no longer at the head of a class established, and +by the aid of which it could master all the extreme parties. Public +dangers, making the want of exalted opinions and parties from without +again felt, completely annulled the Centre. It was soon won over to the +strongest side, the fate of all moderate parties, and the Left swayed it. + +The situation of the assembly was very difficult. Its predecessor had left +it parties which it evidently could not pacify. From the beginning of the +session it was obliged to turn its attention to these, and that in +opposing them. Emigration was making an alarming progress: the king's two +brothers, the prince de Conde and the duke de Bourbon, had protested +against Louis XVI. accepting the constitutional act, that is, against the +only means of accommodation; they had said that the king could not +alienate the rights of the ancient monarchy; and their protest, +circulating throughout France, had produced a great effect on their +partisans. Officers quitted the armies, the nobility their chateaux, whole +companies deserted to enlist on the frontiers. Distaffs were sent to those +who wavered; and those who did not emigrate were threatened with the loss +of the position when the nobility should return victorious. In the +Austrian Low Countries and the bordering electorates, there was formed +what was called _La France exterieure_. The counterrevolution was openly +preparing at Brussels, Worms, and Coblentz, under the protection and even +with the assistance of foreign courts. The ambassadors of the emigrants +were received, while those of the French government were dismissed, ill +received, or even thrown into prison, as in the case of M. Duveryer. +French merchants and travellers suspected of patriotism and attachment to +the revolution were scouted throughout Europe. Several powers had declared +themselves without disguise: of this number were Sweden, Russia, and +Spain; the latter at that time being governed by the marquis Florida- +Blanca, a man entirely devoted to the emigrant party. At the same time, +Prussia kept its army prepared for war: the lines of the Spanish and +Sardinian troops increased on our Alpine and Pyrenean frontiers, and +Gustavus was assembling a Swedish army. + +The dissentient ecclesiastics left nothing undone which might produce a +diversion in favour of the emigrants at home. "Priests, and especially +bishops," says the marquis de Ferrieres, "employed all the resources of +fanaticism to excite the people, in town and country, against the civil +constitution of the clergy." Bishops ordered the priests no longer to +perform divine service in the same church with the constitutional priests, +for fear the people might confound the two. "Independently," he adds, "of +circular letters written to the cures, instructions intended for the +people were circulated through the country. They said that the sacraments +could not be effectually administered by the constitutional priests, whom +they called _Intruders_, and that every one attending their ministrations +became by their presence guilty of a mortal sin; that those who were +married by Intruders, were not married; that they brought a curse upon +themselves and upon their children; that no one should have communication +with them, or with those separated from the church; that the municipal +officers who installed them, like them became apostates; that the moment +of their installation all bell-ringers and sextons ought to resign their +situations.... These fanatical addresses produced the effect which the +bishops expected. Religious disturbances broke out on all sides." + +Insurrection more especially broke out in Calvados, Gevaudan, and La +Vendee. These districts were ill-disposed towards the revolution, because +they contained few of the middle and intelligent classes, and because the +populace, up to that time, had been kept in a state of dependence on the +nobility and clergy. The Girondists, taking alarm, wished to adopt +rigorous measures against emigration and the dissentient priests, who +attacked the new order of things. Brissot proposed putting a stop to +emigration, by giving up the mild system hitherto observed towards it. He +divided the emigrants into three classes:--1st. The principal leaders, and +at their head the brothers of the king. 2ndly. Public functionaries who +forsook their posts and country, and sought to entice their colleagues. +3rdly. Private individuals, who, to preserve life, or from an aversion to +the revolution, or from other motives, left their native land, without +taking arms against it. He required that severe laws should be put in +force against the first two classes; but thought it would be good policy +to be indulgent towards the last. With respect to non-juring +ecclesiastics and agitators, some of the Girondists proposed to confine +themselves to a stricter surveillance; others thought there was only one +safe line of conduct to be pursued towards them: that the spirit of +sedition could only be quelled by banishing them from the country. "All +attempts at conciliation," said the impetuous Isnard, "will henceforth be +in vain. What, I ask, has been the consequence of these reiterated +pardons? The daring of your foes has increased with your indulgence; they +will only cease to injure you when deprived of the means of doing so. They +must be conquerors or conquered. On this point all must agree; the man who +will not see this great truth is, in my opinion, politically blind." + +The constitutionalists were opposed to all these measures; they did not +deny the danger, but they considered such laws arbitrary. They said, +before everything it was necessary to respect the constitution, and from +that time to confine themselves to precautionary measures; that it was +sufficient to keep on the defensive against the emigrants; and to wait, in +order to punish the dissentient priests, till they discovered actual +conspiracies on their part. They recommended that the law should not be +violated even towards enemies, for fear that once engaging in such a +course, it should be impossible to arrest that course, and so the +revolution be lost, like the ancient regime, through its injustice. But +the assembly, which deemed the safety of the state more important than the +strict observance of the law, which saw danger in hesitation, and which, +moreover, was influenced by passions which lead to expeditious measures, +was not stopped by these considerations. With common consent it again, on +the 30th of October, passed a decree relative to the eldest brother of the +king, Louis-Stanislaus-Xavier. This prince was required, in the terms of +the constitution, to return to France in two months, or at the expiration +of that period he would be considered to have forfeited his rights as +regent. But agreement ceased as to the decrees against emigrants and +priests. On the 9th of November the assembly resolved, that the French +gathered together beyond the frontiers were suspected of conspiracy +against their country; that if they remained assembled on the 1st of +January, 1792, they would be treated as conspirators, be punishable by +death, and that after condemnation to death for contumacy, the proceeds of +their estates were to be confiscated to the nation, always without +prejudice to the rights of their wives, children, and lawful creditors. On +the 29th of the same month it passed a similar decree respecting the +dissentient priests. They were obliged to take the civic oath, under pain +of being deprived of their pensions and suspected of revolt against the +law. If they still refused they were to be closely watched; and if any +religious disturbances took place in their parishes, they were to be taken +to the chief town of the department, and if found to have taken any part +in exciting disobedience, they were liable to imprisonment. + +The king sanctioned the first decree respecting his brother; he put his +veto on the other two. A short time before he had disavowed emigration by +public measures, and he had written to the emigrant princes recalling them +to the kingdom. He invited them to return in the name of the tranquillity +of France, and of the attachment and obedience they owed to him as their +brother and their king. "I shall," said he, in concluding the letter, +"always be grateful to you for saving me the necessity of acting in +opposition to you, through the invariable resolution I have made to +maintain what I have announced." These wise invitations had led to no +result: but Louis XVI., while he condemned the conduct of the emigrants, +would not give his consent to the measures taken against them. In refusing +his sanction he was supported by the friends of the constitution and the +directory of the department. This support was not without use to him, at a +time when, in the eyes of the people, he appeared to be an accomplice of +emigration, when he provoked the dissatisfaction of the Girondists, and +separated himself from the assembly. He should have united closely with +it, since he invoked the constitution against the emigrants in his +letters, and against the revolutionist, by the exercise of his +prerogative. His position could only become strong by sincerely falling in +with the first revolution, and making his own cause one with that of the +bourgeoisie. + +But the court was not so resigned; it still expected better times, and was +thus prevented from pursuing an invariable line of conduct, and induced to +seek grounds for hope in every quarter. Now and then disposed to favour +the intervention of foreign powers, it continued to correspond with +Europe; it intrigued with its ministers against the popular party, and +made use of the Feuillants against the Girondists, though with much +distrust. At this period its chief resource was in the petty schemes of +Bertrand de Moleville, who directed the council; who had established a +_French club_, the members of which he paid; who purchased the applause of +the tribunes of the assembly, hoping by this imitation of the revolution +to conquer the true revolution, his object being to deceive parties, and +annul the effects of the constitution by observing it literally. + +By this line of conduct the court had even the imprudence to weaken the +constitutionalists, whom it ought to have reinforced; at their expense it +favoured the election of Petion to the mayoralty. Through the +disinterestedness with which the preceding assembly had been seized, all +who had held popular posts under it successively gave them up. On the 18th +of October, Lafayette resigned the command of the national guard, and +Bailly had just retired from the mayoralty. The constitutional party +proposed that Lafayette should replace him in this first post of the +state, which, by permitting or restraining insurrections, delivered Paris +into the power of him who occupied it. Till then it had been in the hands +of the constitutionalists, who, by this means, had repressed the rising of +the Champ de Mars. They had lost the direction of the assembly, the +command of the national guard; they now lost the corporation. The court +gave to Petion, the Girondist candidate, all the votes at its disposal. +"M. de Lafayette," observed the queen to Bertrand de Moleville, "only +wishes to be mayor of Paris in order to become mayor of the palace. Petion +is a jacobin, a republican, but he is a fool, incapable of ever leading a +party." On the 4th of November, Petion was elected mayor by a majority of +6708 votes in a total of 10,632. + +The Girondists, in whose favour this nomination became decisive, did not +content themselves with the acquisition of the mayoralty. France could not +remain long in this dangerous and provisional state. The decrees which, +justly or otherwise, were to provide for the defence of the revolution, +and which had been rejected by the king, were not replaced by any +government measure; the ministry manifested either unwillingness or sheer +indifference. The Girondists, accordingly, accused Delessart, the minister +for foreign affairs, of compromising the honour and safety of the nation +by the tone of his negotiations with foreign powers, by his +procrastination, and want of skill. They also warmly attacked Duportail, +the war minister, and Bertrand de Moleville, minister of the marine, for +neglecting to put the coasts and frontiers in a state of defence. The +conduct of the Electors of Treves, Mayence, and the bishop of Spires, who +favoured the military preparations of the emigrants, more especially +excited the national indignation. The diplomatic committee proposed a +declaration to the king, that the nation would view with satisfaction a +requisition by him to the neighbouring princes to disperse the military +gatherings within three weeks, and his assembling the forces necessary to +make them respect international law. By this important measure, they also +wished to make Louis XVI. enter into a solemn engagement, and signify to +the diet of Ratisbon, as well as to the other courts of Europe, the firm +intentions of France. + +Isnard ascended the tribune to support this proposition. "Let us," said +he, "in this crisis, rise to the full elevation of our mission; let us +speak to the ministers, to the king, to all Europe, with the firmness that +becomes us. Let us tell our ministers, that hitherto the nation is not +well satisfied with the conduct of any of them; that henceforth they will +have no choice but between public gratitude and the vengeance of the laws; +and that by the word responsibility we understand death. Let us tell the +king that it is his interest to defend the constitution; that he only +reigns by the people and for the people; that the nation is his sovereign, +and that he is subject to the law. Let us tell Europe, that if the French +people once draw the sword, they will throw away the scabbard, and will +not raise it again till it may be crowned with the laurels of victory; +that if cabinets engage kings in a war against the people, we will engage +the people in a mortal warfare against kings. Let us tell them, that all +the fights the people shall fight at the order of despots"--here he was +interrupted by loud applause--"Do not applaud," he cried--"do not applaud; +respect my enthusiasm; it is that of liberty! Let us say to Europe, that +all the fights which the people shall fight at the command of despots, +resemble the blows that two friends, excited by a perfidious instigator, +inflict on each other in darkness. When light arrives, they throw down +their arms, embrace, and chastise their deceiver. So will it be if, when +foreign armies are contending with ours, the light of philosophy shine +upon them. The nations will embrace in the presence of dethroned tyrants-- +of the earth consoled, of Heaven satisfied." + +The assembly unanimously, and with transport, passed the proposed measure, +and, on the 29th of November, sent a message to the king. Vaublanc was the +leader of the deputation. "Sire," said he to Louis XVI., "the national +assembly had scarcely glanced at the state of the nation ere it saw that +the troubles which still agitate it arise from the criminal preparations +of French emigrants. Their audacity is encouraged by German princes, who +trample under foot the treaties between them and France, and affect to +forget that they are indebted to this empire for the treaty of Westphalia, +which secured their rights and their safety. These hostile preparations, +these threats of invasion, will require armaments absorbing immense sums, +which the nation would joyfully pay over to its creditors. It is for you, +sire, to make them desist; it is for you to address to foreign powers the +language befitting the king of the French. Tell them, that wherever +preparations are permitted to be made against France, there France +recognises only foes; that we will religiously observe our oath to make no +conquests; that we offer them the good neighbourship, the inviolable +friendship of a free and powerful people; that we will respect their laws, +their customs, and their constitutions; but that we will have our own +respected! Tell them, that if princes of Germany continue to favour +preparations directed against the French, the French will carry into their +territories, not indeed fire and sword, but liberty. It is for them to +calculate the consequences of this awakening of nations." + +Louis XVI. replied, that he would give the fullest consideration to the +message of the assembly; and in a few days he came in person to announce +his resolutions on the subject. They were conformable with the general +wish. The king said, amidst vehement applause, that he would cause it to +be declared to the elector of Treves and the other electors, that, unless +all gatherings and hostile preparations on the part of the French +emigrants in their states ceased before the 15th of January, he would +consider them as enemies. He added, that he would write to the emperor to +engage him, as chief of the empire, to interpose his authority for the +purpose of averting the calamities which the lengthened resistance of a +few members of the Germanic body would occasion. "If these declarations +are not heeded, then, gentlemen," said he, "it will only remain for me to +propose war--war, which a people who have solemnly renounced conquest, +never declares without necessity, but which a free and generous nation +will undertake and carry on when its honour and safety require it." + +The steps taken by the king with the princes of the empire were supported +by military preparations. On the 6th of December a new minister of war +replaced Duportail; Narbonne, taken from the Feuillants, young, active, +ambitious of distinguishing himself by the triumph of his party and the +defence of the revolution, repaired immediately to the frontiers. A +hundred and fifty thousand men were placed in requisition; for this object +the assembly voted an extraordinary supply of twenty millions of francs; +three armies were formed under the command of Rochambeau, Luckner, and +Lafayette; finally, a decree was passed impeaching _Monsieur_, the count +d'Artois, and the prince de Conde as conspirators against the general +safety of the state and of the constitution. Their property was +sequestrated, and the period previously fixed on for _Monsieur's_ return +to the kingdom having expired, he was deprived of his claim to the +regency. + +The elector of Treves engaged to disperse the gatherings, and not to allow +them in future. It was, however, but the shadow of a dispersion. Austria +ordered marshal Bender to defend the elector if he were attacked, and +ratified the conclusions of the diet of Ratisbon, which required the +restoration of the princes' possessions; refused to sanction any pecuniary +indemnity for the loss of their rights, and only left France the +alternative of restoring feudalism in Alsace, or war. These two measures +of the cabinet of Vienna were by no means pacific. Its troops advanced +towards the frontiers of France, and gave further proof that it would not +be safe to trust to its neutrality. It had fifty thousand men in the +Netherlands; six thousand posted in Breisgau; and thirty thousand men on +their way from Bohemia. This powerful army of observation might at any +moment be converted into an army of attack. + +The assembly felt that it was urgently necessary to bring the emperor to a +decision. It looked on the electors as merely his agents, and on the +emigrants as his instruments; for the prince von Kaunitz recognised as +legitimate "the league of sovereigns united for the safety and honour of +crowns." The Girondists, therefore, wished to anticipate this dangerous +adversary, in order not to give him time for more mature preparations. +They required from him, before the 10th of February, a definite and +precise explanation of his real intentions with regard to France. They at +the same time proceeded against those ministers on whom they could not +rely in the event of war. The incapacity of Delessart, and the intrigues +of Moleville especially, gave room for attack; Narbonne was alone spared. +They were aided by the divisions of the council, which was partly +aristocratic in Bertrand de Moleville, Delessart, etc., and partly +constitutional, in Narbonne, and Cahier de Gerville, minister of the +interior. Men so opposed in character and intentions could scarcely be +expected to agree; Bertrand de Moleville had warm contests with Narbonne, +who wished his colleagues to adopt a frank, decided line of conduct, and +to make the assembly the fulcrum of the throne. Narbonne succumbed in this +struggle, and his dismissal involved the disorganization of the ministry. +The Girondists threw the blame upon Bertrand de Moleville and Delessart; +the former had the address to exonerate himself; but the latter was +brought before the high court of Orleans. + +The king, intimidated by the assaults of the assembly upon the members of +his council, and more especially by the impeachment of Delessart, had no +resource but to select his new ministers from amongst the victorious +party. An alliance with the actual rulers of the revolution could alone +save liberty and the throne, by restoring concord between the assembly, +the supreme authority, and the municipality; and if this union had been +maintained, the Girondists would have effected with the court that which, +after the rupture itself, they considered they could only effect without +it. The members of the new ministry were:--minister of the marine, +Lacoste; of finance, Claviere; of justice, Duranton; of war, de Grave, +soon afterwards replaced by Servan; of foreign affairs, Dumouriez; of the +interior, Roland. The two latter were the most important and most +remarkable men in the cabinet. + +Dumouriez was forty-seven years of age when the revolution began; he had +lived till then immersed in intrigue, and he retained his old habits too +closely at an epoch when he should have employed small means only to aid +great ones, instead of supplying their place. The first part of his +political life was spent in seeking those by whom he might rise: the +second, those by whom he might maintain his position. A courtier up to +1789, a constitutionalist under the first assembly, a Girondist under the +second, a Jacobin under the republic, he was eminently a man of +circumstances. But he had all the resources of great men; an enterprising +character, indefatigable activity, a ready, sure, and extensive +perception, impetuosity of action, and an extraordinary confidence of +success; he was, moreover, open, easy, witty, daring; adapted alike for +arms and for factions, full of expedients, wonderfully ready, and, in +difficult positions, versed in the art of stooping to conquer. It is true +that his great qualities were weakened by defects; he was rash, flighty, +full of inconsistency of thought and action, owing to his continual thirst +for movement and machination. But his great defect was the total absence +of a political conviction. In times of revolution, nothing can be done for +liberty or power by him who is not decidedly of one party or another, and +when he is ambitious, unless he see further than the immediate objects of +that party, and have a stronger will than his colleagues. This it was made +Cromwell; this it was made Buonaparte; while Dumouriez, the employed of +all parties, thought he could get the better of them all by intriguing. He +wanted the passion of his time: that which completes a man, and alone +enables him to sway. + +Roland was the opposite of Dumouriez; his was a character which Liberty +found ready formed, as if moulded by herself. Roland had simple manners, +austere morals, tried opinions; enthusiastically attached to liberty, he +was capable of disinterestedly devoting to her cause his whole life, or of +perishing for her, without ostentation and without regret. A man worthy of +being born in a republic, but out of place in a revolution, and ill +adapted for the agitation and struggle of parties; his talents were not +superior, his temper somewhat uncompliant; he was unskilled in the +knowledge and management of men; and though laborious, well informed, and +active, he would have produced little effect but for his wife. All he +wanted she had for him; force, ability, elevation, foresight. Madame +Roland was the soul of the Gironde; it was at her house that those +brilliant and courageous men assembled to discuss the necessities and +dangers of their country; it was she who stimulated to action those whom +she saw were qualified for action, and who encouraged to the tribune those +whom she knew to be eloquent. + +The court named this ministry, which was appointed during the month of +March, _le Ministere Sans-Culotte_. The first time Roland appeared at the +chateau with strings in his shoes and a round hat, contrary to etiquette, +the master of the ceremonies refused to admit him. Obliged, however, to +give way, he said, despairingly, to Dumouriez, pointing to Roland: "_Ah, +sir--no buckles in his shoes_." "Ah, sir, all is lost," replied Dumouriez, +with an air of the most sympathising gravity. Such were the trifles which +still occupied the attention of the court. The first step of the new +ministry was war. The position of France was becoming more and more +dangerous; everything was to be feared from the enmity of Europe. Leopold +was dead, and this event was calculated to accelerate the decision of the +cabinet of Vienna. His young successor, Francis II., was likely to be less +pacific or less prudent than he. Moreover, Austria was assembling its +troops, forming camps, and appointing generals; it had violated the +territory of Bale, and placed a garrison in Porentruy, to secure for +itself the entry of the department of Doubs. There could be no doubt as to +its projects. The gatherings at Coblenz had recommenced to a greater +extent than before; the cabinet of Vienna had only temporarily dispersed +the emigrants assembled in the Belgian provinces, in order to prevent the +invasion of that country, at a time when it was not yet ready to repel +invasion; it had, however, merely sought to save appearances, and had +allowed a staff of general officers, in full uniform, and with the white +cockade, to remain at Brussels. Finally, the reply of the prince von +Kaunitz to the required explanations was by no means satisfactory. He even +refused to negotiate directly, and the baron von Cobenzl was commissioned +to reply, that Austria would not depart from the required conditions +already set forth. The re-establishment of the monarchy on the basis of +the royal sitting of the 23rd of June; the restitution of its property to +the clergy; of the territory of Alsace, with all their rights, to the +German princes; of Avignon and the Venaissin to the pope; such was the +_ultimatum_ of Austria. All accord was now impossible; peace could no +longer be maintained. France was threatened with the fate which Holland +had just experienced, and perhaps with that of Poland. The sole question +now was whether to wait for or to initiate war, whether to profit by the +enthusiasm of the people or to allow that enthusiasm to cool. The true +author of war is not he who declares it, but he who renders it necessary. + +On the 20th of April, Louis XVI. went to the assembly, attended by all his +ministers. "I come, gentlemen," said he, "to the national assembly for one +of the most important objects that can occupy the representatives of the +nation. My minister for foreign affairs will read to you the report drawn +up in our council, as to our political situation." Dumouriez then rose. He +set forth the grounds of complaint that France had against the house of +Austria; the object of the conferences of Mantua, Reichenbach and Pilnitz; +the coalition it had formed against the French revolution; its armaments +becoming more and more considerable; the open protection it afforded to +bodies of emigrants; the imperious tone and the undisguised +procrastination of its negotiations, lastly, the intolerable conditions of +its _ultimatum_; and, after a long series of considerations, founded on +the hostile conduct of the king of Hungary and Bohemia (Francis II. was +not yet elected emperor); on the urgent circumstances of the nation; on +its formally declared resolution to endure no insult, no encroachment on +its rights; on the honour and good faith of Louis XVI., the depositary of +the dignity and safety of France; he demanded war against Austria. Louis +XVI. then said, in a voice slightly tremulous: "You have heard, gentlemen, +the result of my negotiations with the court of Vienna. The conclusions of +the report are based upon the unanimous opinion of my council; I have +myself adopted them. They are conformable with the wishes often expressed +to me by the national assembly, and with the sentiments frequently +testified by bodies of citizens in different parts of the kingdom; all +prefer war, to witnessing the continuance of insult to the French people, +and danger threatening the national existence. It was my duty first to try +every means of maintaining peace. Having failed in these efforts, I now +come, according to the terms of the constitution, to propose to the +national assembly war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia." The king's +address was received with some applause, but the solemnity of the +circumstances, and the grandeur of the decision, filled every bosom with +silent and concentrated emotion. As soon as the king had withdrawn, the +assembly voted an extraordinary sitting for the evening. In that sitting +war was almost unanimously decided upon. Thus was undertaken, against the +chief of the confederate powers, that war which was protracted throughout +a quarter of a century, which victoriously established the revolution, and +which changed the whole face of Europe. + +All France received the announcement with joy. War gave a new movement to +the people already so much excited. Districts, municipalities, popular +societies, wrote addresses; men were enrolled, voluntary gifts offered, +pikes forged, and the nation seemed to rise up to await Europe, or to +attack it. But enthusiasm, which ensures victory in the end, does not at +first supply the place of organization. Accordingly, at the opening of the +campaign, the regular troops were all that could be relied upon until the +new levies were trained. This was the state of the forces. The vast +frontier, from Dunkirk to Huninguen, was divided into three great military +districts. On the left, from Dunkirk to Philippeville, the army of the +north, of about forty thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, was under +the orders of marshal de Rochambeau. Lafayette commanded the army of the +centre, composed of forty-five thousand foot, and seven thousand horse, +and occupying the district between Philippeville and the lines of +Weissemberg. Lastly, the army of the Rhine, consisting of thirty-five +thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, extending from the lines of +Weissemberg to Bale, was under the command of marshal Luckner. The +frontier of the Alps and Pyrenees was confided to general Montesquiou, +whose army was inconsiderable; but this part of France was not as yet in +danger. + +The marshal de Rochambeau was of opinion that it would be prudent to +remain on the defensive, and simply to guard the frontiers. Dumouriez, on +the contrary, wished to take the initiative in action, as they had done in +declaring war, so as to profit by the advantage of being first prepared. +He was very enterprising, and as, although minister of foreign affairs, he +directed the military operations, his plan was adopted. It consisted of a +rapid invasion of Belgium. This province had, in 1790, essayed to throw +off the Austrian yoke, but, after a brief victory, was subdued by superior +force. Dumouriez imagined that the Brabant patriots would favour the +attack of the French, as a means of freedom for themselves. With this +view, he combined a triple invasion. The two generals, Theobald Dillon, +and Biron, who commanded in Flanders under Rochambeau, received orders to +advance, the one with four thousand men from Lille upon Tournai--the +other, with ten thousand, from Valenciennes upon Mons. At the same time, +Lafayette, with a part of his army, quitted Metz, and advanced by forced +marches upon Namur, by Stenai, Sedan, Mezieres, and Givet. But this plan +implied in the soldiers a discipline which they had not of course as yet +acquired, and on the part of the chiefs a concert very difficult to +obtain; besides, the invading columns were not strong enough for such an +enterprise. Theobald Dillon had scarcely passed the frontier, when, on +meeting the first enemy on the 28th of April, a panic terror seized upon +the troops. The cry of _sauve qui peut_ ran through the ranks, and the +general was carried off, and massacred by his troops. Much the same thing +took place, under the same circumstances, in the corps of Biron, who was +obliged to retreat in disorder to his previous position. The sudden and +concurrent flight of these two columns must be attributed either to fear +of the enemy, on the part of troops who had never before stood fire, or to +a distrust of their leaders, or to traitors who sounded the alarm of +treachery. + +Lafayette, on arriving at Bouvines, after travelling fifty leagues of bad +roads in two or three days, learnt the disasters of Valenciennes and +Lille; he at once saw that the object of the invasion had failed; and he +justly thought that the best course would be to effect a retreat. +Rochambeau complained of the precipitate and incongruous nature of the +measures which had been in the most absolute manner prescribed to him. As +he did not choose to remain a passive machine, obliged to fill, at the +will of the ministers, a post which he himself ought to have the full +direction of, he resigned. From that moment the French army resumed the +defensive. The frontier was divided into two general commands only, the +one intrusted to Lafayette, extending from the sea to Longwy, and the +other, from the Moselle to the Jura, being confided to Luckner. Lafayette +placed his left under the command of Arthur Dillon, and with his right +reached to Luckner, who had Biron as his lieutenant on the Rhine. In this +position they awaited the allies. + +Meantime, the first checks increased the rupture between the Feuillants +and the Girondists. The generals ascribed them to the plans of Dumouriez, +the ministry attributed them to the manner in which its plans had been +executed by the generals, who, having been appointed by Narbonne, were of +the constitutional party. The Jacobins, on the other hand, accused the +anti-revolutionists of having occasioned the flight by the cry of _sauve +qui peut!_ Their joy, which they did not conceal, the declared hope of +soon seeing the confederates in Paris, the emigrants returned, and the +ancient regime restored, confirmed these suspicions. It was thought that +the court, which had increased the household troops from eighteen hundred +to six thousand men, and these carefully selected anti-revolutionists, +acted in concert with the coalition. The public denounced, under the name +of _comite Autrichien_, a secret committee, the very existence of which +could not be proved, and mistrust was at its height. + +The assembly at once took decided measures. It had entered upon the career +of war, and it was thenceforth condemned to regulate its conduct far more +with reference to the public safety than with regard to the mere justice +of the case. It resolved upon sitting permanently; it discharged the +household troops; on account of the increase of religious disturbances, it +passed a decree exiling refractory priests, so that it might not have at +the same time to combat a coalition and to appease revolts. To repair the +late defeats, and to have an army of reserve near the capital, it voted on +the 8th of June, and on the motion of the minister for war, Servan, the +formation of a camp outside Paris of twenty thousand men drawn from the +provinces. It also sought to excite the public mind by revolutionary +fetes, and began to enroll the multitude and arm them with pikes, +conceiving that no assistance could be superfluous in such a moment of +peril. + +All these measures were not carried without opposition from the +constitutionalists. They opposed the establishment of the camp of twenty +thousand men, which they regarded as the army of a party directed against +the national guard and the throne. The staff of the former protested, and +the recomposition of this body was immediately effected in accordance with +the views of the dominant party. Companies armed with pikes were +introduced into the new national guard. The constitutionalists were still +more dissatisfied with this measure, which introduced a lower class into +their ranks, and which seemed to them to aim at superseding the +bourgeoisie by the populace. Finally, they openly condemned the banishment +of the priests, which in their opinion was nothing less than proscription. + +Louis XVI. had for some time past manifested a coolness towards his +ministers, who on their part had been more exacting with him. They urged +him to admit about him priests who had taken the oath, in order to set an +example in favour of the constitutional religion, and to remove pretexts +for religious agitation; he steadily refused this, determined as he was to +make no further religious concession. These last decrees had put an end to +his concord with the Gironde; for several days he did not mention the +subject, much less make known his intentions respecting it. It was on this +occasion that Roland addressed to him his celebrated letter on his +constitutional duties, and entreated him to calm the public mind, and to +establish his authority, by becoming frankly the king of the revolution. +This letter still more highly irritated Louis XVI., already disposed to +break with the Girondists. He was supported in this by Dumouriez, who, +forsaking his party, had formed with Duranton and Lacoste, a division in +the ministry against Roland, Servan, and Claviere. But, able as well as +ambitious, Dumouriez advised Louis, while dismissing the ministers of whom +he had to complain, to sanction their decrees, in order to make himself +popular. He described that against the priests as a precaution in their +favour, exile probably removing them from a proscription still more fatal; +he undertook to prevent any revolutionary consequences from the camp of +twenty thousand men, by marching off each battalion to the army +immediately upon its arrival at the camp. On these conditions, Dumouriez +took upon himself the post of minister for war, and sustained the attacks +of his own party. The king dismissed his ministers on the 13th of June, +rejected the decrees on the 29th, and Dumouriez set out for the army, +after having rendered himself an object of suspicion. The assembly +declared that Roland, Servan, and Claviere carried with them the regrets +of the nation. + +The king selected his new ministers from among the Feuillants. Scipio +Chambonnas was appointed minister of foreign affairs; Terrier de Monceil, +of the interior; Beaulieu, of finance; Lajarre, of war; Lacoste and +Duranton remained provisionally ministers of justice and of the marine. +All these men were without reputation or credit, and their party itself +was approaching the term of its existence. The constitutional situation, +during which it was to sway, was changing more and more decidedly into a +revolutionary situation. How could a legal and moderate party maintain +itself between two extreme and belligerent parties, one of which was +advancing from without to destroy the revolution, while the other was +resolved to defend it at any cost? The Feuillants became superfluous in +such a conjuncture. The king, perceiving their weakness, now seemed to +place his reliance upon Europe alone, and sent Mallet-Dupan on a secret +mission to the coalition. + +Meantime, all those who had been outstripped by the popular tide, and who +belonged to the first period of the revolution, united to second this +slight retrograde movement. The monarchists, at whose head were Lally- +Tollendal and Malouet, two of the principal members of the Mounier and +Necker party; Feuillants, directed by the old triumvirate, Duport, Lameth, +and Barnave; lastly, Lafayette, who had immense reputation as a +constitutionalist, tried to put down the clubs, and to re-establish legal +order and the power of the king. The Jacobins made great exertions at this +period; their influence was becoming enormous; they were at the head of +the party of the populace. To oppose them, to check them, the old party of +the bourgeoisie was required; but this was disorganised, and its influence +grew daily weaker and weaker. In order to revive its courage and strength, +Lafayette, on the 16th of June, addressed from the camp at Maubeuge a +letter to the assembly, in which he denounced the Jacobin faction, +required the cessation of the clubs, the independence and confirmation of +the constitutional throne, and urged the assembly in his own name, in that +of his army, in that of all the friends of liberty, only to adopt such +measures for the public welfare as were sanctioned by law. This letter +gave rise to warm debates between the Right and Left in the assembly. +Though dictated only by pure and disinterested motives, it appeared, +coming as it did from a young general at the head of his army, a +proceeding _a la Cromwell_, and from that moment Lafayette's reputation, +hitherto respected by his opponents, became the object of attack. In fact, +considering it merely in a political point of view, this step was +imprudent. The Gironde, driven from the ministry, stopped in its measures +for the public good, needed no further goading; and, on the other hand, it +was quite undesirable that Lafayette, even for the benefit of his party, +should use his influence. + +The Gironde wished, for its own safety and that of the nation, to recover +power, without, however, departing from constitutional means. Its object +was not, as at a later period, to dethrone the king, but to bring him back +amongst them. For this purpose it had recourse to the imperious petitions +of the multitude. Since the declaration of war, petitioners had appeared +in arms at the bar of the national assembly, had offered their services in +defence of the country, and had obtained permission to march armed through +the house. This concession was blameable, neutralizing all the laws +against military gatherings; but both parties found themselves in an +extraordinary position, and each employed illegal means; the court having +recourse to Europe, and the Gironde to the people. The latter was in a +state of great agitation. The leaders of the Faubourgs, among whom were +the deputy Chabot, Santerre, Legendre, a butcher, Gonchon, the marquis de +Saint Hurugue, prepared them, during several days, for a revolutionary +outbreak, similar to the one which failed at the Champ de Mars. The 20th +of June was approaching, the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis-court. +Under the pretext of celebrating this memorable day by a civic fete, and +of planting a May-pole in honour of liberty, an assemblage of about eight +thousand men left the Faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau, on the +20th of June, and took their way to the assembly. + +Roederer, the recorder, brought the tidings to the assembly, but in the +meantime the mob had reached the doors of the hall. Their leaders asked +permission to present a petition, and to defile before the assembly. A +violent debate arose between the Right, who were unwilling to admit the +armed petitioners, and the Left, who, on the ground of custom, wished to +receive them, Vergniaud declared that the assembly would violate every +principle by admitting armed bands among them; but, considering actual +circumstances, he also declared that it was impossible to deny a request +in the present case, that had been granted in so many others. It was +difficult not to yield to the desires of an enthusiastic and vast +multitude, when seconded by a majority of the representatives. The crowd +already thronged the passages, when the assembly decided that the +petitioners should be admitted to the bar. The deputation was introduced. +The spokesman expressed himself in threatening language. He said that the +people were astir; that they were ready to make use of great means--the +means comprised in the declaration of rights, _resistance of oppression_; +that the dissentient members of the assembly, if there were any, _would +purge the world of liberty_, and would repair to Coblentz; then returning +to the true design of this insurrectional petition, he added: "The +executive power is not in union with you; we require no other proof of it +than the dismissal of the patriot ministers. It is thus, then, that the +happiness of a free nation shall depend on the caprice of a king! But +should this king have any other will than that of the law? The people will +have it so, and the life of the people is as valuable as that of crowned +despots. That life is the genealogical tree of the nation, and the feeble +reed must bend before this sturdy oak! We complain, gentlemen, of the +inactivity of our armies; we require of you to penetrate into the cause of +this; if it spring from the executive power, let that power be destroyed!" + +The assembly answered the petitioners that it would take their request +into consideration; it then urged them to respect the law and legal +authorities, and allowed them to defile before it. This procession, +amounting to thirty thousand persons, comprising women, children, national +guards, and men armed with pikes, among whom waved revolutionary banners +and symbols, sang, as they traversed the hall, the famous chorus, _Ca +ira_, and cried: "Vive la nation!" "Vivent les sans-culottes!" "A bas le +veto!" It was led by Santerre and the marquis de Saint Hurugue. On leaving +the assembly, it proceeded to the chateau, headed by the petitioners. + +The outer doors were opened at the king's command; the multitude rushed +into the interior. They ascended to the apartments, and while forcing the +doors with hatchets, the king ordered them to be opened, and appeared +before them, accompanied by a few persons. The mob stopped a moment before +him; but those who were outside, not being awed by the presence of the +king, continued to advance. Louis XVI. was prudently placed in the recess +of a window. He never displayed more courage than on this deplorable day. +Surrounded by national guards, who formed a barrier against the mob, +seated on a chair placed on a table, that he might breathe more freely and +be seen by the people, he preserved a calm and firm demeanour. In reply to +the cries that arose on all sides for the sanction of the decrees, he +said: "This is neither the mode nor the moment to obtain it of me." Having +the courage to refuse the essential object of the meeting, he thought he +ought not to reject a symbol, meaningless for him, but in the eyes of the +people, that of liberty; he placed on his head a red cap presented to him +on the top of a pike. The multitude were quite satisfied with this +condescension. A moment or two afterwards, they loaded him with applause, +as, almost suffocated with hunger and thirst, he drank off, without +hesitation, a glass of wine presented to him by a half-drunken workman. In +the meantime, Vergniaud, Isnard, and a few deputies of the Gironde, had +hastened thither to protect the king, to address the people, and put an +end to these indecent scenes. The assembly, which had just risen from a +sitting, met again in haste, terrified at this outbreak, and despatched +several successive deputations to Louis XVI. by way of protection. At +length, Petion, the mayor, himself arrived; he mounted a chair, harangued +the people, urged them to retire without tumult, and the people obeyed. +These singular insurgents, whose only aim was to obtain decrees and +ministers, retired without having exceeded their mission, but without +discharging it. + +The events of the 20th of June excited the friends of the constitution +against its authors. The violation of the royal residence, the insults +offered to Louis XVI., the illegality of a petition presented amidst the +violence of the multitude, and the display of arms, were subjects of +serious censure against the popular party. The latter saw itself reduced +for a moment to the defensive; besides being guilty of a riot, it had +undergone a complete check. The constitutionalists assumed the tone and +superiority of an offended and predominant party; but this lasted only a +short time, for they were not seconded by the court. The national guard +offered to Louis XVI. to remain assembled round his person; the duc de la +Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, who commanded at Rouen, wished to convey him to +his troops, who were devoted to his cause. Lafayette proposed to take him +to Compiegne, and place him at the head of his army; but Louis XVI. +declined all these offers. He conceived that the agitators would be +disgusted at the failure of their last attempt; and, as he hoped for +deliverance from the coalition of European powers, rendered more active by +the events of the 20th of June, he was unwilling to make use of the +constitutionalists, because he would have been obliged to treat with them. + +Lafayette, however, attempted to make a last effort in favour of legal +monarchy. After having provided for the command of his army, and collected +addresses protesting against the late events, he started for Paris, and on +the 28th of June he unexpectedly presented himself at the bar of the +assembly. He required in his name, as well as in that of his army, the +punishment of the insurrectionists of the 20th of June, and the +destruction of the Jacobin party. His proceeding excited various +sentiments in the assembly. The Right warmly applauded it, but the Left +protested against his conduct. Guadet proposed that an inquiry should be +made as to his culpability in leaving his army and coming to dictate laws +to the assembly. Some remains of respect prevented the latter from +following Guadet's advice; and after tumultuous debates, Lafayette was +admitted to the honours of the sitting, but this was all on the part of +the assembly. Lafayette then turned to the national guard, that had so +long been devoted to him, and hoped with its aid to close the clubs, +disperse the Jacobins, restore to Louis XVI. the authority which the law +gave him, and again establish the constitution. The revolutionists were +astounded, and dreaded everything from the daring and activity of this +adversary of the Champ de Mars. But the court, which feared the triumph of +the constitutionalists, caused Lafayette's projects to fail; he had +appointed a review, which it contrived to prevent by its influence over +the officers of the royalist battalions. The grenadiers and chasseurs, +picked companies still better disposed than the rest, were to assemble at +his residence and proceed against the clubs; scarcely thirty men came. +Having thus vainly attempted to rally in the cause of the constitution, +and the common defence, the court and the national guard, and finding +himself deserted by those he came to assist, Lafayette returned to his +army, after having lost what little influence and popularity remained to +him. This attempt was the last symptom of life in the constitutional +party. + +The assembly naturally returned to the situation of France, which had not +changed. The extraordinary commission of twelve presented, through +Pastoret, an unsatisfactory picture of the state and divisions of party. +Jean Debry, in the name of the same commission, proposed that the assembly +should secure the tranquillity of the people, now greatly disturbed, by +declaring that when the crisis became imminent, the assembly would declare +_the country is in danger_; and that it would then take measures for the +public safety. The debate opened upon this important subject. Vergniaud, +in a speech which deeply moved the assembly, drew a vivid picture of all +the perils to which the country was at that moment exposed. He said that +it was in the name of the king that the emigrants were assembled, that the +sovereigns of Europe had formed a coalition, that foreign armies were +marching on our frontiers, and that internal disturbances were taking +place. He accused him of checking the national zeal by his refusals, and +of giving France up to the coalition. He quoted the article of the +constitution by which it was declared that "if the king placed himself at +the head of an army and directed its force against the nation, or if he +did not formally oppose such an enterprise, undertaken in his name, he +should be considered as having abdicated the throne." Supposing, then, +that Louis XVI. voluntarily opposed the means of defending the country, in +that case, said he: "have we not a right to say to him: 'O king, who +thought, no doubt, with the tyrant Lysander, that truth was of no more +worth than falsehood, and that men were to be amused by oaths, as children +are diverted by toys; who only feigned obedience to the laws that you +might better preserve the power that enables you to defy them; and who +only feigned love for the constitution that it might not precipitate you +from the throne on which you felt bound to remain in order to destroy the +constitution, do you expect to deceive us by hypocritical protestations? +Do you think to deceive us as to our misfortunes by the art of your +excuses? Was it defending us to oppose to foreign soldiers forces whose +known inferiority admitted of no doubt as to their defeat? To set aside +projects for strengthening the interior? Was it defending us not to check +a general who was violating the constitution, while you repressed the +courage of those who sought to serve it? Did the constitution leave you +the choice of ministers for our happiness or our ruin? Did it place you at +the head of our army for our glory or our shame? Did it give you the right +of sanction, a civil list and so many prerogatives, constitutionally to +lose the empire and the constitution? No! no! man! whom the generosity of +the French could not affect, whom the love of despotism alone actuates, +you are now nothing to the constitution you have so unworthily violated, +and to the people you have so basely betrayed!'" + +The only resource of the Gironde, in its present situation, was the +abdication of the king; Vergniaud, it is true, as yet only expressed +himself ambiguously, but all the popular party attributed to Louis XVI. +projects which Vergniaud had only expressed in the form of suppositions. +In a few days, Brissot expressed himself more openly. "Our peril," said +he, "exceeds all that past ages have witnessed. The country is in danger, +not because we are in want of troops, not because those troops want +courage, or that our frontiers are badly fortified, and our resources +scanty. No, it is in danger, because its force is paralysed. And who has +paralysed it? A man--one man, the man whom the constitution has made its +chief, and whom perfidious advisers have made its foe. You are told to +fear the kings of Hungary and Prussia; I say, the chief force of these +kings is at the court, and it is there that we must first conquer them. +They tell you to strike the dissentient priests throughout the kingdom. I +tell you to strike at the Tuileries, that is, to fell all the priests with +a single blow; you are told to prosecute all factious and intriguing +conspirators; they will all disappear if you once knock loud enough at the +door of the cabinet of the Tuileries, for that cabinet is the point to +which all these threads tend, where every scheme is plotted, and whence +every impulse proceeds. The nation is the plaything of this cabinet. This +is the secret of our position, this is the source of the evil, and here +the remedy must be applied." + +In this way the Gironde prepared the assembly for the question of +deposition. But the great question concerning the danger of the country +was first terminated. The three united committees declared that it was +necessary to take measures for the public safety, and on the 5th July the +assembly pronounced the solemn declaration: _Citizens, the country is in +danger!_ All the civil authorities immediately established themselves _en +surveillance permanente_. All citizens able to bear arms, and having +already served in the national guard, were placed in active service; every +one was obliged to make known what arms and ammunition he possessed; pikes +were given to those who were unable to procure guns; battalions of +volunteers were enrolled on the public squares, in the midst of which +banners were placed, bearing the words--"Citizens, the country is in +danger!" and a camp was formed at Soissons. These measures of defence, now +become indispensable, raised the revolutionary enthusiasm to the highest +pitch. It was especially observable on the anniversary of the 14th of +July, when the sentiments of the multitude and the federates from the +departments were manifested without reserve. Petion was the object of the +people's idolatry, and had all the honours of the federation. A few days +before, he had been dismissed, on account of his conduct on the 20th of +June by the directory of the department and the council; but the assembly +had restored him to his functions, and the only cry on the day of the +federation was: "_Petion or death!_" A few battalions of the national +guard, such as that of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, still betrayed attachment +to the court; they became the object of popular resentment and mistrust. A +disturbance was excited in the Champs Elysees between the grenadiers of +the Filles-Saint-Thomas and the federates of Marseilles, in which some +grenadiers were wounded. Every day the crisis became more imminent; the +party in favour of war could no longer endure that of the constitution. +Attacks against Lafayette multiplied; he was censured in the journals, +denounced in the assembly. At length hostilities began. The club of the +Feuillants was closed; the grenadier and chasseur companies of the +national guard which formed the force of the bourgeoisie were disbanded; +the soldiers of the line, and a portion of the Swiss, were sent away from +Paris, and open preparations were made for the catastrophe of the 10th of +August. + +The progress of the Prussians and the famous manifesto of Brunswick +contributed to hasten this movement. Prussia had joined Austria and the +German princes against France. This coalition, to which the court of Turin +joined itself, was formidable, though it did not comprise all the powers +that were to have joined it at first. The death of Gustavus, appointed at +first commander of the invading army, detached Sweden; the substitution of +the count d'Aranda, a prudent and moderate man, for the minister Florida- +Blanca, prevented Spain from entering it; Russia and England secretly +approved the attacks of the European league, without as yet co-operating +with it. After the military operations already mentioned, they watched +each other rather than fought. During the interval, Lafayette had inspired +his army with good habits of discipline and devotedness; and Dumouriez, +stationed under Luckner at the camp of Maulde, had inured the troops +confided to him by petty engagements and daily successes. In this way they +had formed the nucleus of a good army; a desirable thing, as they required +organization and confidence to repel the approaching invasion of the +coalesced powers. + +The duke of Brunswick directed it. He had the chief command of the enemy's +army, composed of seventy thousand Prussians, and sixty-eight thousand +Austrians, Hessians, or emigrants. The plan of invasion was as follows:-- +The duke of Brunswick with the Prussians, was to pass the Rhine at +Coblentz, ascend the left bank of the Moselle, attack the French frontier +by its central and most accessible point, and advance on the capital by +way of Longwy, Verdun, and Chalons. The prince von Hohenlohe on his left, +was to advance in the direction of Metz and Thionville, with the Hessians +and a body of emigrants; while general Clairfayt, with the Austrians and +another body of emigrants, was to overthrow Lafayette, stationed before +Sedan and Mezieres, cross the Meuse, and march upon Paris by Rheims and +Soissons. Thus the centre and two wings were to make a concentrated +advance on the capital from the Moselle, the Rhine, and the Netherlands. +Other detachments stationed on the frontier of the Rhine and the extreme +northern frontier, were to attack our troops on these sides and facilitate +the central invasion. + +On the 26th of July, when the army began to move from Coblentz, the duke +of Brunswick published a manifesto in the name of the emperor and the king +of Prussia. He reproached _those who had usurped the reins of +administration in France_, with having disturbed order and overturned the +legitimate government; with having used daily-renewed violence against the +king and his family; with having arbitrarily suppressed the rights and +possessions of the German princes in Alsace and Lorraine; and, finally, +with having crowned the measure by declaring an unjust war against his +majesty the emperor, and attacking his provinces in the Netherlands. He +declared that the allied sovereigns were advancing to put an end to +anarchy in France, to arrest the attacks made on the altar and the throne; +to restore to the king the security and liberty he was deprived of, and to +place him in a condition to exercise his legitimate authority. He +consequently rendered the national guard and the authorities responsible +for all the disorders that should arise until the arrival of the troops of +the coalition. He summoned them to return to their ancient fidelity. He +said that the inhabitants of towns, _who dared to stand on the defensive_, +should instantly be punished as rebels, with the rigour of war, and their +houses demolished or burned; that if the city of Paris did not restore the +king to full liberty, and render him due respect, the princes of the +coalition would make the members of the national assembly, of the +department, of the district, the corporation, and the national guard, +personally responsible with their heads, to be tried by martial-law, and +without hope of pardon; and that if the chateau were attacked or insulted, +the princes would inflict an exemplary and never-to-be-forgotten +vengeance, by delivering Paris over to military execution, and total +subversion. He promised, on the other hand, if the inhabitants of Paris +would promptly obey the orders of the coalition, to secure for them the +mediation of the allied princes with Louis XVI. for the pardon of their +offences and errors. + +This fiery and impolitic manifesto, which disguised neither the designs of +the emigrants nor those of Europe, which treated a great nation with a +truly extraordinary tone of command and contempt, which openly announced +to it all the miseries of an invasion, and, moreover, vengeance and +despotism, excited a national insurrection. It more than anything else +hastened the fall of the throne, and prevented the success of the +coalition. There was but one wish, one cry of resistance, from one end of +France to the other; and whoever had not joined in it, would have been +looked on as guilty of impiety towards his country and the sacred cause of +its independence. The popular party, placed in the necessity of +conquering, saw no other way than that of annihilating the power of the +king, and in order to annihilate it, than that of dethroning him. But in +this party, every one wished to attain the end in his own way: the Gironde +by a decree of the assembly; the leaders of the multitude by an +insurrection. Danton, Robespierre, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre-d'Eglantine, +Marat, etc., were a displaced faction requiring a revolution that would +raise it from the midst of the people to the assembly and the corporation. +They were the true leaders of the new movement about to take place by the +means of the lower class of society against the middle class, to which the +Girondists belonged by their habits and position. A division arose from +that day between those who only wished to suppress the court in the +existing order of things, and those who wished to introduce the multitude. +The latter could not fall in with the tardiness of discussion. Agitated by +every revolutionary passion, they disposed themselves for an attack by +force of arms, the preparations for which were made openly, and a long +time beforehand. + +Their enterprise had been projected and suspended several times. On the +26th of July, an insurrection was to break out; but it was badly +contrived, and Petion prevented it. When the federates from Marseilles +arrived, on their way to the camp at Soissons, the faubourgs were to meet +them, and then repair, unexpectedly, to the chateau. This insurrection +also failed. Yet the arrival of the Marseillais encouraged the agitators +of the capital, and conferences were held at Charenton between them and +the federal leaders for the overthrow of the throne. The sections were +much agitated; that of Mauconseil was the first to declare itself in a +state of insurrection, and notified this to the assembly. The dethronement +was discussed in the clubs, and on the 3rd of August, the mayor Petion +came to solicit it of the legislative body, in the name of the commune and +of the sections. The petition was referred to the extraordinary commission +of twelve. On the 8th, the accusation of Lafayette was discussed. Some +remains of courage induced the majority to support him, and not without +danger. He was acquitted; but all who had voted for him were hissed, +pursued, and ill treated by the people at the breaking up of the sitting. + +The following day the excitement was extreme. The assembly learned by the +letters of a large number of deputies, that the day before on leaving the +house they had been ill used, and threatened with death, for voting the +acquittal of Lafayette. Vaublanc announced that a crowd had invested and +searched his house in pursuit of him. Girardin exclaimed: "Discussion is +impossible, without perfect liberty of opinion; I declare to my +constituents that I cannot deliberate if the legislative body does not +secure me liberty and safety." Vaublanc earnestly urged that the assembly +should take the strongest measures to secure respect to the law. He also +required that the federates, who were defended by the Girondists, should +be sent without delay to Soissons. During these debates the president +received a message from de Joly, minister of justice. He announced that +the mischief was at its height, and the people urged to every kind of +excess. He gave an account of those committed the evening before, not only +against the deputies, but against many other persons. "I have," said the +minister, "denounced these attacks in the criminal court; but law is +powerless; and I am impelled by honour and probity to inform you, that +without the promptest assistance of the legislative body, the government +can no longer be responsible." In the meantime, it was announced that the +section of the Quinze-vingts had declared that, if the dethronement were +not pronounced that very day, at midnight they would sound the tocsin, +would beat the generale and attack the chateau. This decision had been +transmitted to the forty-eight sections, and all had approved it, except +one. The assembly summoned the recorder of the department, who assured +them of his good-will, but his inability; and the mayor, who replied that, +at a time when the sections had resumed their sovereignty, he could only +exercise over the people the influence of persuasion. The assembly broke +up without adopting any measures. + +The insurgents fixed the attack on the chateau for the morning of the 10th +of August. On the 8th, the Marseillais had been transferred from their +barracks in the Rue Blanche to the Cordeliers, with their arms, cannon, +and standard. They had received five thousand ball cartridges, which had +been distributed to them by command of the commissioner of police. The +principal scene of the insurrection was the Faubourg Saint Antoine. In the +evening, after a very stormy sitting, the Jacobins repaired thither in +procession; the insurrection was then organized. It was decided to +dissolve the department; to dismiss Petion, in order to withdraw him from +the duties of his place, and all responsibility; and, finally, to replace +the general council of the present commune by an insurrectional +municipality. Agitators repaired at the same time to the sections of the +faubourgs and to the barracks of the federate Marseillais and Bretons. + +The court had been apprised of the danger for some time, and had placed +itself in a state of defence. At this juncture, it probably thought it was +not only able to resist, but also entirely to re-establish itself. The +interior of the chateau was occupied by Swiss, to the number of eight or +nine hundred, by officers of the disbanded guard, and by a troop of +gentlemen and royalists, who had offered their services, armed with +sabres, swords, and pistols. Mandat, the general-in-chief of the national +guard, had repaired to the chateau, with his staff, to defend it; he had +given orders to the battalions most attached to the constitution to take +arms. The ministers were also with the king; the recorder of the +department had gone thither in the evening at the command of the king, who +had also sent for Petion, to ascertain from him the state of Paris, and +obtain an authorization to repel force by force. + +At midnight, the tocsin sounded; the generale was beaten. The insurgents +assembled, and fell into their ranks; the members of the sections broke up +the municipality, and named a provisional council of the commune, which +proceeded to the Hotel de Ville to direct the insurrection. The battalions +of the national guard, on their side, took the route to the chateau, and +were stationed in the court, or at the principal posts, with the mounted +gendarmerie; artillerymen occupied the avenues of the Tuileries, with +their pieces; while the Swiss and volunteers guarded the apartments. The +defence was in the best condition. + +Some deputies, meanwhile, aroused by the tocsin, had hurried to the hall +of the legislative body, and had opened the sitting under the +presidentship of Vergniaud. Hearing that Petion was at the Tuileries, and +presuming he was detained there, and wanted to be released, they sent for +him to the bar of the assembly, to give an account of the state of Paris. +On receiving this order, he left the chateau; he appeared before the +assembly, where a deputation again inquired for him, also supposing him to +be a prisoner at the Tuileries. With this deputation he returned to the +Hotel de Ville, where he was placed under a guard of three hundred men by +the new commune. The latter, unwilling to allow any other authority on +this day of disorder than the insurrectional authorities, early in the +morning sent for the commandant Mandat, to know what arrangements were +made at the chateau. Mandat hesitated to obey; yet, as he did not know +that the municipality had been changed, and as his duty required him to +obey its orders, on a second call which he received from the commune, he +proceeded to the Hotel de Ville. On perceiving new faces as he entered, he +turned pale. He was accused of authorizing the troops to fire on the +people. He became agitated, and was ordered to the Abbaye, and the mob +murdered him as he was leaving, on the steps of the Hotel de Ville. The +commune immediately conferred the command of the national guard on +Santerre. + +The court was thus deprived of its most determined and influential +defender. The presence of Mandat, and the order he had received to employ +force in case of need, were necessary to induce the national guard to +fight. The sight of the nobles and royalists had lessened its zeal. Mandat +himself, previous to his departure, had urged the queen in vain to dismiss +this troop, which the constitutionalists considered as a troop of +aristocrats. + +About four in the morning the queen summoned Roederer, the recorder of the +department, who had passed the night at the Tuileries, and inquired what +was to be done under these circumstances? Roederer replied, that he +thought it necessary that the king and the royal family should proceed to +the national assembly. "You propose," said Dubouchage, "to take the king +to his foes." Roederer replied, that, two days before, four hundred +members of that assembly out of six hundred, had pronounced in favour of +Lafayette; and that he had only proposed this plan as the least dangerous. +The queen then said, in a very positive tone: "Sir, we have forces here: +it is at length time to know who is to prevail, the king and the +constitution, or faction?" "In that case, madam," rejoined Roederer, "let +us see what arrangements have been made for resistance." Laschenaye, who +commanded in the absence of Mandat, was sent for. He was asked if he had +taken measures to prevent the crowd from arriving at the chateau? If he +had guarded the Carrousel? He replied in the affirmative; and, addressing +the queen, he said, in a tone of anger: "I must not allow you to remain in +ignorance, madam, that the apartments are filled with people of all kinds, +who very much impede the service, and prevent free access to the king, a +circumstance which creates dissatisfaction among the national guard." +"This is out of season," replied the queen; "I will answer for those who +are here; they will advance first or last, in the ranks, as you please; +they are ready for all that is necessary; they are sure men." They +contented themselves with sending the two ministers, Joly and Champion to +the assembly to apprise it of the danger, and ask for its assistance and +for commissioners. [Footnote: _Chronique des Cinquante Jours_, par P. L. +Roederer, a writer of the most scrupulous accuracy.] + +Division already existed between the defenders of the chateau, when Louis +XVI. passed them in review at five o'clock in the morning. He first +visited the interior posts, and found them animated by the best +intentions. He was accompanied by some members of his family, and appeared +extremely sad. "I will not," he said, "separate my cause from that of good +citizens; we will save ourselves or perish together." He then descended +into the yard, accompanied by some general officers. As soon as he +arrived, they beat to arms. The cry of "Vive le roi!" was heard, and was +repeated by the national guard; but the artillerymen, and the battalion of +the Croix Rouge replied by the cry of "Vive la nation!" At the same +instant, new battalions, armed with guns and pikes, defiled before the +king, and took their places upon the terrace of the Seine, crying; "Vive +la nation!" "Vive Petion!" The king continued the review, not, however, +without feeling saddened by this omen. He was received with the strongest +evidences of devotion by the battalions of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, and +Petits-Peres, who occupied the terrace, extending the length of the +chateau. As he crossed the garden to visit the ports of the Pont Tournant, +the pike battalions pursued him with the cry of: "Down with the veto!" +"Down with the traitor!" and as he returned, they quitted their position, +placed themselves near the Pont Royal, and turned their cannon against the +chateau. Two other battalions stationed in the courts imitated them, and +established themselves on the Place du Carrousel in an attitude of attack. +On re-entering the chateau, the king was pale and dejected; and the queen +said, "All is lost! This kind of review has done more harm than good." + +While all this was passing at the Tuileries, the insurgents were advancing +in several columns; they had passed the night in assembling, and becoming +organized. In the morning, they had forced the arsenal, and distributed +the arms. The column of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, about fifteen thousand +strong, and that of the Faubourg Saint Marceau, amounting to five +thousand, began to march about six. The crowd increased as they advanced. +Artillerymen had been placed on the Pont Neuf by the directory of the +department, in order to prevent the union of the insurgents from the two +sides of the river. But Manuel, the town clerk, had ordered them to be +withdrawn, and the passage was accordingly free. The vanguard of the +Faubourgs, composed of Marseillais and Breton federates, had already +arrived by the Rue Saint Honore, stationed themselves in battle array on +the Carrousel, and turned their cannon against the chateau. De Joly and +Champion returned from the assembly, stating that the attendance was not +sufficient in number to debate; that it scarcely amounted to sixty or +eighty members, and that their proposition had not been heard. Then +Roederer, the recorder of the department, with the members of the +department, presented himself to the crowd, observing that so great a +multitude could not have access to the king, or to the national assembly, +and recommending them to nominate twenty deputies, and entrust them with +their requests. But they did not listen to him. He turned to the national +guard, reminded them of the article of the law, which enjoined them when +attacked, to repel force by force. A very small part of the national guard +seemed disposed to do so; and a discharge of cannon was the only reply of +the artillerymen. Roederer, seeing that the insurgents were everywhere +triumphant, that they were masters of the field, and that they disposed of +the multitude, and even of the troops, returned hastily to the chateau, at +the head of the executive directory. + +The king held a council with the queen and ministers. A municipal officer +had just given the alarm by announcing that the columns of the insurgents +were advancing upon the Tuileries. "Well, and what do they want?" asked +Joly, keeper of the seals. "Abdication," replied the officer. "To be +pronounced by the assembly," added the minister. "And what will follow +abdication?" inquired the queen. The municipal officer bowed in silence. +At this moment Roederer arrived, and increased the alarm of the court by +announcing that the danger was extreme; that the insurgents would not be +treated with, and that the national guard could not be depended upon. +"Sire," said he, urgently, "your majesty has not five minutes to lose: +your only safety is in the national assembly; it is the opinion of the +department that you ought to repair thither without delay. There are not +sufficient men in the court to defend the chateau; nor are we sure of +them. At the mention of defence, the artillerymen discharged their +cannon." The king replied, at first, that he had not observed many people +on the Carrousel; and the queen rejoined with vivacity, that the king had +forces to defend the chateau. But, at the renewed urgency of Roederer, the +king after looking at him attentively for a few minutes, turned to the +queen, and said, as he rose: "Let us go." "Monsieur Roederer," said Madame +Elizabeth, addressing the recorder, "you answer for the life of the king?" +"Yes, madame, with my own," he replied. "I will walk immediately before +him." + +Louis XVI. left his chamber with his family, ministers, and the members of +the department, and announced to the persons assembled for the defence of +the chateau that he was going to the national assembly. He placed himself +between two ranks of national guards, summoned to escort him, and crossed +the apartments and garden of the Tuileries. A deputation of the assembly, +apprised of his approach, came to meet him: "Sire," said the president of +this deputation, "the assembly, eager to provide for your safety, offers +you and your family an asylum in its bosom." The procession resumed its +march, and had some difficulty in crossing the terrace of the Tuileries, +which was crowded with an animated mob, breathing forth threats and +insults. The king and his family had great difficulty in reaching the hall +of the assembly, where they took the seats reserved for the ministers. +"Gentlemen," said the king, "I come here to avoid a great crime; I think I +cannot be safer than with you." "Sire," replied Vergniaud, who filled the +chair, "you may rely on the firmness of the national assembly. Its members +have sworn to die in maintaining the rights of the people, and the +constituted authorities." The king then took his seat next the president. +But Chabot reminded him that the assembly could not deliberate in the +presence of the king, and Louis XVI. retired with his family and ministers +into the reporter's box behind the president, whence all that took place +could be seen and heard. + +All motives for resistance ceased with the king's departure. The means of +defence had also been diminished by the departure of the national guards +who escorted the king. The gendarmerie left their posts, crying "Vive la +nation!" The national guard began to move in favour of the insurgents. But +the foes were confronted, and, although the cause was removed, the combat +nevertheless commenced. The column of the insurgents surrounded the +chateau. The Marseillais and Bretons who occupied the first rank had just +forced the Porte Royale on the Carrousel, and entered the court of the +chateau. They were led by an old subaltern, called Westermann, a friend of +Danton, and a very daring man. He ranged his force in battle array, and +approaching the artillerymen, induced them to join the Marseillais with +their pieces. The Swiss filled the windows of the chateau, and stood +motionless. The two bodies confronted each other for some time without +making an attack. A few of the assailants advanced amicably, and the Swiss +threw some cartridges from the windows in token of peace. They penetrated +as far as the vestibule, where they were met by other defenders of the +chateau. A barrier separated them. Here the combat began, but it is +unknown on which side it commenced. The Swiss discharged a murderous fire +on the assailants, who were dispersed. The Place du Carrousel was cleared. +But the Marseillais and Bretons soon returned with renewed force; the +Swiss were fired on by the cannon, and surrounded. They kept their posts +until they received orders from the king to cease firing. The exasperated +mob did not cease, however, to pursue them, and gave itself up to the most +sanguinary reprisals. It now became a massacre rather than a combat; and +the crowd perpetrated in the chateau all the excesses of victory. + +All this time the assembly was in the greatest alarm. The first cannonade +filled them with consternation. As the firing became more frequent, the +agitation increased. At one moment, the members considered themselves +lost. An officer entering the hall, hastily exclaimed: "To your places, +legislators; we are forced!" A few rose to go out. "No, no," cried others, +"this is our post." The spectators in the gallery exclaimed instantly, +"Vive l'assemblee nationale!" and the assembly replied, "Vive la nation!" +Shouts of victory were then heard without, and the fate of monarchy was +decided. + +The assembly instantly made a proclamation to restore tranquillity, and +implore the people to respect justice, their magistrates, the rights of +man, liberty, and equality. But the multitude and their chiefs had all the +power in their hands, and were determined to use it. The new municipality +came to assert its authority. It was preceded by three banners, inscribed +with the words, "Patrie, liberte, egalite." Its address was imperious, and +concluded by demanding the deposition of the king, and a national +convention. Deputations followed, and all expressed the same desire, or +rather issued the same command. + +The assembly felt itself compelled to yield; it would not, however, take +upon itself the deposition of the king. Vergniaud ascended the tribune, in +the name of the commission of twelve, and said: "I am about to propose to +you a very rigorous measure; I appeal to the affliction of your hearts to +judge how necessary it is to adopt it immediately." This measure consisted +of the convocation of a national assembly, the dismissal of the ministers, +and the suspension of the king. The assembly adopted it unanimously. The +Girondist ministers were recalled; the celebrated decrees were carried +into execution, about four thousand non-juring priests were exiled, and +commissioners were despatched to the armies to make sure of them. Louis +XVI., to whom the assembly had at first assigned the Luxembourg as a +residence, was transferred as a prisoner to the Temple, by the all- +powerful commune, under the pretext that it could not otherwise be +answerable for the safety of his person. Finally, the 23rd of September +was appointed for opening the extraordinary assembly, destined to decide +the fate of royalty. But royalty had already fallen on the 10th of August, +that day marked by the insurrection of the multitude against the middle +classes and the constitutional throne, as the 14th of July had seen the +insurrection of the middle class against the privileged class and the +absolute power of the crown. On the 10th of August began the dictatorial +and arbitrary epoch of the revolution. Circumstances becoming more and +more difficult to encounter, a vast warfare arose, requiring still greater +energy than ever, and that energy irregular, because popular, rendered the +domination of the lower class restless, cruel, and oppressive. The nature +of the question was then entirely changed; it was no longer a matter of +liberty, but of public safety; and the conventional period, from the end +of the constitution of 1791, to the time when the constitution of the year +III. established the directory, was only a long campaign of the revolution +against parties and against Europe. It was scarcely possible it should be +otherwise. "The revolutionary movement once established," says M. de +Maistre, in his _Considerations sur la France._ [Footnote: Lausanne, +1796.] "France and the monarchy could only be saved by Jacobinism. Our +grandchildren, who will care little for our sufferings, and will dance on +our graves, will laugh at our present ignorance; they will easily console +themselves for the excesses we have witnessed, and which will have +preserved the integrity of the finest of kingdoms." + +The departments adhered to the events of the 10th of August. The army, +which shortly afterwards came under the influence of the revolution, was +at yet of constitutional royalist principles; but as the troops were +subordinate to parties, they would easily submit to the dominant opinion. +The generals, second in rank, such as Dumouriez, Custines, Biron, +Kellermann, and Labourdonnaie, were disposed to adopt the last changes. +They had not yet declared for any particular party, looking to the +revolution as a means of advancement. It was not the same with the two +generals in chief. Luckner floated undecided between the insurrection of +the 10th of August, which he termed, "a little accident that had happened +to Paris and his friend, Lafayette." The latter, head of the +constitutional party, firmly adhering to his oaths, wished still to defend +the overturned throne, and a constitution which no longer existed. He +commanded about thirty thousand men, who were devoted to his person and +his cause. His head-quarters were near Sedan. In his project of resistance +in favour of the constitution, he concerted with the municipality of that +town, and the directory of the department of Ardennes, to establish a +civil centre round which all the departments might rally. The three +commissioners, Kersaint, Antonelle, and Peraldy, sent by the legislature +to his army, were arrested and imprisoned in the tower of Sedan. The +reason assigned for this measure was, that the assembly having been +intimidated, the members who had accepted such a mission were necessarily +but the leaders or instruments of the faction which had subjugated the +national assembly and the king. The troops and the civil authorities then +renewed their oath to the constitution, and Lafayette endeavoured to +enlarge the circle of the insurrection of the army against the popular +insurrection. + +General Lafayette at that moment thought, possibly, too much on the past, +on the law, and the common oath, and not enough on the really +extraordinary position in which France then was. He only saw the dearest +hopes of the friends of liberty destroyed, the usurpation of the state by +the multitude, and the anarchical reign of the Jacobins; he did not +perceive the fatality of a situation which rendered the triumph of the +latest comer in the revolution indispensable. It was scarcely possible +that the bourgeoisie, which had been strong enough to overthrow the old +system and the privileged classes, but which had reposed after that +victory, could resist the emigrants and all Europe. For this a new shock, +a new faith were necessary; there was need of a numerous, ardent, +inexhaustible class, as enthusiastic for the 10th of August, as the +bourgeoisie had been for the 14th of July. Lafayette could not associate +with this party; he had combated it, under the constituent assembly, at +the Champ de Mars, before and after the 20th of June. He could not +continue to play his former part, nor defend a cause just in itself, but +condemned by events, without compromising his country, and the results of +a revolution to which he was sincerely attached. His resistance, if +continued, would have given rise to a civil war between the people and the +army, at a time when it was not certain that the combination of all +parties would suffice against a foreign war. + +It was the 19th of August, and the army of invasion having left Coblentz +on the 30th of July, was ascending the Moselle, and advancing on that +frontier. In consideration of the common danger, the troops were disposed +to resume their obedience to the assembly; Luckner, who at first approved +of Lafayette's views, retracted, weeping and swearing, before the +municipality of Metz; and Lafayette himself saw the necessity of yielding +to a more powerful destiny. He left his army, taking upon himself all the +responsibility of the whole insurrection. He was accompanied by Bureau-de- +Pusy, Latour-Maubourg, Alexander Lameth, and some officers of his staff. +He proceeded through the enemy's posts towards Holland, intending to go to +the United States, his adopted country. But he was discovered and arrested +with his companions. In violation of the rights of nations, he was treated +as a prisoner of war, and confined first in the dungeons of Magdeburg, and +then by the Austrians at Olmuetz. The English parliament itself took steps +in his favour; but it was not until the treaty of Campo-Formio that +Bonaparte released him from prison. During four years of the hardest +captivity, subject to every description of privation, kept in ignorance of +the state of his country and of liberty, with no prospect before him but +that of perpetual and harsh imprisonment, he displayed the most heroic +courage. He might have obtained his liberty by making certain +retractations, but he preferred remaining buried in his dungeon to +abandoning in the least degree the sacred cause he had embraced. + +There have been in our day few lives more pure than Lafayette's; few +characters more beautiful; few men whose popularity has been more justly +won and longer maintained. After defending liberty in America at the side +of Washington, he desired to establish it in the same manner in France; +but this noble part was impossible in our revolution. When a people in the +pursuit of liberty has no internal dissension, and no foes but foreigners, +it may find a deliverer; may produce, in Switzerland a William Tell, in +the Netherlands a prince of Orange, in America a Washington; but when it +pursues it against its own countrymen and foreigners, at once amidst +factions and battles, it can only produce a Cromwell or a Bonaparte, who +become the dictators of revolutions when the struggle subsides and parties +are exhausted. Lafayette, an actor in the first epoch of the crisis, +enthusiastically declared for its results. He became the general of the +middle class, at the head of the national guard under the constituent +assembly, in the army under the legislative assembly. He had risen by it, +and he would end with it. It may be said of him, that if he committed some +faults of position, he had ever but one object, liberty, and that he +employed but one means, the law. The manner in which, when yet quite +young, he devoted himself to the deliverance of the two worlds, his +glorious conduct and his invariable firmness, will transmit his name with +honour to posterity, with whom a man cannot have two reputations, as in +the time of party, but his own alone. + +The authors of the events of the 10th of August became more and more +divided, having no common views as to the results which should arise from +that revolution. The more daring party, which had got hold of the commune +or municipality, wished by means of that commune to rule Paris; by means +of Paris, the national assembly; and by means of the assembly, France. +After having effected the transference of Louis XVI. to the Temple, it +threw down all the statues of the kings, and destroyed all the emblems of +the monarchy. The department exercised a right of superintendence over the +municipality; to be completely independent, it abrogated this right. The +law required certain conditions to constitute a citizen; it decreed the +cessation of these, in order that the multitude might be introduced into +the government of the state. At the same time, it demanded the +establishment of an extraordinary tribunal to try _the conspirators of the +10th of August_. As the assembly did not prove sufficiently docile, and +endeavoured by proclamations to recall the people to more just and +moderate sentiments, it received threatening messages from the Hotel de +Ville. "As a citizen," said a member of the commune, "as a magistrate of +the people, I come to announce to you that this evening, at midnight, the +tocsin will sound, the drum beat to arms. The people are weary of not +being avenged; tremble lest they administer justice themselves." "If, +before two or three hours pass, the foreman of the jury be not named," +said another, "and if the jury be not itself in a condition to act, great +calamities will befall Paris." To avert the threatened outbreaks, the +assembly was obliged to appoint an extraordinary criminal tribunal. This +tribunal condemned a few persons, but the commune having conceived the +most terrible projects, did not consider it sufficiently expeditious. + +At the head of the commune were Marat, Panis, Sergent, Duplain, Lenfent, +Lefort, Jourdeuil, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, Tallien, etc.; but +the chief leader of the party at that time was Danton. He, more than any +other person, had distinguished himself on the 10th of August. During the +whole of that night he had rushed about from the sections to the barracks +of the Marseillais and Bretons, and from these to the Faubourgs. A member +of the revolutionary commune, he had directed its operations, and had +afterwards been appointed minister of justice. + +Danton was a gigantic revolutionist; he deemed no means censurable so they +were useful, and, according to him, men could do whatever they dared +attempt. Danton, who has been termed the Mirabeau of the populace bore a +physical resemblance to that tribune of the higher classes; he had +irregular features, a powerful voice, impetuous gesticulation, a daring +eloquence, a lordly brow. Their vices, too, were the same; only Mirabeau's +were those of a patrician, Danton's those of a democrat; that which there +was of daring in the conceptions of Mirabeau, was to be found in Danton, +but in another way, because, in the revolution, he belonged to another +class and another epoch. Ardent, overwhelmed with debts and wants, of +dissolute habits, given up now to his passions, now to his party, he was +formidable while in the pursuit of an object, but became indifferent as +soon as he had obtained it. This powerful demagogue presented a mixture of +the most opposite vices and qualities. Though he had sold himself to the +court, he did not seem sordid; he was one of those who, so to speak, give +an air of freedom even to baseness. He was an absolute exterminator, +without being personally ferocious; inexorable towards masses, humane, +generous even towards individuals. [Footnote: At the time the commune was +arranging the massacre of the 2nd September, he saved all who applied to +him; he, of his own accord, released from prison Duport, Barnave, and Ch. +Lameth, his personal antagonists.] Revolution, in his opinion, was a game +at which the conqueror, if he required it, won the life of the conquered. +The welfare of his party was, in his eyes, superior to law and even to +humanity; this will explain his endeavours after the 10th of August, and +his return to moderation when he considered the republic established. + +At this period the Prussians, advancing on the plan of invasion described +above, passed the frontier, after a march of twenty days. The army of +Sedan was without a leader, and incapable of resisting a force so superior +in numbers and so much better organised. On the 20th of August, Longwy was +invested by the Prussians; on the 21st it was bombarded, and on the 24th +it capitulated. On the 30th the hostile army arrived before Verdun, +invested it, and began to bombard it. Verdun taken, the road to the +capital was open. The capture of Longwy, and the approach of so great a +danger, threw Paris into the utmost agitation and alarm. The executive +council, composed of the ministers, was summoned by the committee of +general defence, to deliberate on the best measures to be adopted in this +perilous conjuncture. Some proposed to wait for the enemy under the walls +of the capital, others to retire to Saumur. "You are not ignorant," said +Danton, when his turn to speak arrived, "that France is Paris; if you +abandon the capital to the foreigner, you surrender yourselves, and you +surrender France. It is in Paris that we must defend ourselves by every +possible means. I cannot sanction any plan tending to remove you from it. +The second project does not appear to me any better. It is impossible to +think of fighting under the walls of the capital. The 10th of August has +divided France into two parties, the one attached to royalty, the other +desiring a republic. The latter, the decided minority of which in the +state cannot be concealed, is the only one on which you can rely to fight; +the other will refuse to march; it will excite Paris in favour of the +foreigner, while your defenders, placed between two fires, will perish in +repelling him. Should they fall, which seems to me beyond a doubt, your +ruin and that of France are certain; if, contrary to all expectation, they +return victorious over the coalition, this victory will still be a defeat +for you; for it will have cost you thousands of brave men, while the +royalists, more numerous than you, will have lost nothing of their +strength and influence. It is my opinion, that to disconcert their +measures and stop the enemy, we must make the royalists fear." The +committee, at once understanding the meaning of these words, were thrown +into a state of consternation. "Yes, I tell you," resumed Danton, "we must +make them fear." As the committee rejected this proposition by a silence +full of alarm, Danton concerted with the commune. His aim was to put down +its enemies by terror, to involve the multitude more and more by making +them his accomplices, and to leave the revolution no other refuge than +victory. + +Domiciliary visits were made with great and gloomy ceremony; a large +number of persons whose condition, opinions, or conduct rendered them +objects of suspicion, were thrown into prison. These unfortunate persons +were taken especially from the two dissentient classes, the nobles and the +clergy, who were charged with conspiracy under the legislative assembly. +All citizens capable of bearing arms were enrolled in the Champ de Mars, +and departed on the first of September for the frontier. The generale was +beat, the tocsin sounded, cannon were fired, and Danton, presenting +himself to the assembly to report the measures taken to save the country, +exclaimed: "The cannon you hear are no alarm cannon, but the signal for +attacking the enemy! To conquer them, to prostrate them, what is +necessary? Daring, again daring, and still again and ever daring!" +Intelligence of the taking of Verdun arrived during the night of the 1st +of September. The commune availed themselves of this moment, when Paris, +filled with terror, thought it saw the enemy already at its gates, to +execute their fearful projects. The cannon were again fired, the tocsin +sounded, the barriers were closed, and the massacre began. + +During three days, the prisoners confined in the Carmes, the Abbaye, the +Conciergerie, the Force, etc., were slaughtered by a band of about three +hundred assassins, directed and paid by the commune. This body, with a +calm fanaticism, prostituting to murder the sacred forms of justice, now +judges, now executioners, seemed rather to be practising a calling than to +be exercising vengeance; they massacred without question, without remorse, +with the conviction of fanatics and the obedience of executioners. If some +peculiar circumstances seemed to move them, and to recall them to +sentiments of humanity, to justice, and to mercy, they yielded to the +impression for a moment, and then began anew. In this way a few persons +were saved; but they were very few. The assembly desired to prevent the +massacres, but were unable to do so. The ministry were as incapable as the +assembly; the terrible commune alone could order and do everything; +Petion, the mayor, had been cashiered; the soldiers placed in charge of +the prisoners feared to resist the murderers, and allowed them to take +their own course; the crowd seemed indifferent, or accomplices; the rest +of the citizens dared not even betray their consternation. We might be +astonished that so great a crime should, with such deliberation, have been +conceived, executed, and endured, did we not know what the fanaticism of +party will do, and what fear will suffer. But the chastisement of this +enormous crime fell at last upon the heads of its authors. The majority of +them perished in the storm they had themselves raised, and by the same +violent means that they had themselves employed. Men of party seldom +escape the fate they have made others undergo. + +The executive council, directed, as to military operations by general +Servan, advanced the newly-levied battalions towards the frontier. As a +man of judgment, he was desirous of placing a general at the threatened +point; but the choice was difficult. Among the generals who had declared +in favour of the late political events, Kellermann seemed only adapted for +a subordinate command, and the authorities had therefore merely placed him +in the room of the vacillative and incompetent Luckner. Custine was but +little skilled in his art; he was fit for any dashing _coup de main_, but +not for the conduct of a great army intrusted with the destiny of France. +The same military inferiority was chargeable upon Biron, Labourdonnaie, +and the rest, who were therefore left at their old stations, with the +corps under their command. Dumouriez alone remained, against whom the +Girondists still retained some rancour, and in whom they, moreover, +suspected the ambitious views, the tastes, and character of an adventurer, +while they rendered justice to his superior talents. However, as he was +the only general equal to so important a position, the executive council +gave him the command of the army of the Moselle. + +Dumouriez repaired in all haste from the camp at Maulde to that of Sedan. +He assembled a council of war, in which the general opinion was in favour +of retiring towards Chalons or Rheims, and covering themselves with the +Marne. Far from adopting this dangerous plan, which would have discouraged +the troops, given up Lorraine, Trois Eveches, and a part of Champagne, and +thrown open the road to Paris, Dumouriez conceived a project full of +genius. He saw that it was necessary, by a daring march, to advance on the +forest of Argonne, where he might infallibly stop the enemy. This forest +had four issues; that of the Chene-Populeux on the left; those of the +Croix-au-Bois and of Grandpre in the centre, and that of Les Islettes on +the right, which opened or closed the passage into France. The Prussians +were only six leagues from the forest, and Dumouriez had twelve to pass +over, and his design of occupying it to conceal, if he hoped for success. +He executed his project skilfully and boldly. General Dillon, advancing on +the Islettes, took possession of them with seven thousand men; he himself +reached Grandpre, and there established a camp of thirteen thousand men. +The Croix-au-Bois, and the Chene-Populeux were in like manner occupied and +defended by some troops. It was here that he wrote to the minister of war, +Servan:--"Verdun is taken; I await the Prussians. The camps of Grandpre +and Les Islettes are the Thermopylae of France; but I shall be more +fortunate than Leonidas." + +In this position, Dumouriez might have stopped the enemy, and himself have +securely awaited the succours which were on their road to him from every +part of France. The various battalions of volunteers repaired to the camps +in the interior, whence they were despatched to his army, as soon as they +were at all in a state of discipline. Beurnonville, who was on the Flemish +frontier, had received orders to advance with nine thousand men, and to be +at Rhetel, on Dumouriez's left, by the 13th of September. Duval was also +on the 7th to march with seven thousand men to the Chene-Populeux; and +Kellermann was advancing from Metz, on his right, with a reinforcement of +twenty-two thousand men. Time, therefore, was all that was necessary. + +The duke of Brunswick, after taking Verdun, passed the Meuse in three +columns. General Clairfait was operating on his right, and prince +Hohenlohe on his left. Renouncing all hope of driving Dumouriez from his +position by attacking him in front, he tried to turn him. Dumouriez had +been so imprudent as to place nearly his whole force at Grandpre and the +Islettes, and to put only a small corps at Chene-Populeux and Coix-au- +Bois--posts, it is true, of minor importance. The Prussians, accordingly, +seized upon these, and were on the point of turning him in his camp at +Grandpre, and of thus compelling him to lay down his arms. After this +grand blunder, which neutralized his first manoeuvres, he did not despair +of his situation. He broke up his camp secretly during the night of the +14th September, passed the Aisne, the approach to which might have been +closed to him, made a retreat as able as his advance on the Argonne had +been, and concentrated his forces in the camp at Sainte-Menehould. He had +already delayed the advance of the Prussians at Argonne. The season, as it +advanced, became bad. He had now only to maintain his post till the +arrival of Kellermann and Beurnonville, and the success of the campaign +would be certain. The troops had become disciplined and inured, and the +army amounted to about seventy thousand men, after the arrival of +Beurnonville and Kellermann, which took place on the 17th. + +The Prussian army had followed the movements of Dumouriez. On the 20th, it +attacked Kellermann at Valmy, in order to cut off from the French army the +retreat on Chalons. There was a brisk cannonade on both sides. The +Prussians advanced in columns towards the heights of Valmy, to carry them. +Kellermann also formed his infantry in columns, enjoined them not to fire, +but to await the approach of the enemy, and charge them with the bayonet. +He gave this command, with the cry of _Vive la nation!_ and this cry, +repeated from one end of the line to the other, startled the Prussians +still more than the firm attitude of our troops. The duke of Brunswick +made his somewhat shaken battalions fall back; the firing continued till +the evening; the enemy attempted a fresh attack, but were repulsed. The +day was ours; and the success of Valmy, almost insignificant in itself, +produced on our troops, and upon opinion in France, the effect of the most +complete victory. + +From the same epoch may be dated the discouragement and retreat of the +enemy. The Prussians had entered upon this campaign on the assurance of +the emigrants that it would be a mere military promenade. They were +without magazines or provisions; in the midst of a perfectly open country, +they encountered a resistance each day more energetic; the incessant rains +had broken up the roads; the soldiers marched knee-deep in mud, and, for +four days past, boiled corn had been their only food. Diseases, produced +by the chalky water, want of clothing, and damp, had made great ravages in +the army. The duke of Brunswick advised a retreat, contrary to the opinion +of the king of Prussia and the emigrants, who wished to risk a battle, and +get possession of Chalons. But as the fate of the Prussian monarchy +depended on its army, and the entire ruin of that army would be the +inevitable consequence of a defeat, the duke of Brunswick's opinion +prevailed. Negotiations were opened, and the Prussians, abating their +first demands, now only required the restoration of the king upon the +constitutional throne. But the convention had just assembled; the republic +had been proclaimed, and the executive council replied, "that the French +republic could listen to no proposition until the Prussian troops had +entirely evacuated the French territory." The Prussians, upon this, +commenced their retreat on the evening of the 30th of September. It was +slightly disturbed by Kellermann, whom Dumouriez sent in pursuit, while he +himself proceeded to Paris to enjoy his triumph, and concert measures for +the invasion of Belgium. The French troops re-entered Verdun and Longwy; +and the enemy, after having crossed the Ardennes and Luxembourg, repassed +the Rhine at Coblentz, towards the end of October. This campaign had been +marked by general success. In Flanders, the duke of Saxe-Teschen had been +compelled to raise the siege of Lille, after seven days of a bombardment, +contrary, both in its duration and in its useless barbarity, to all the +usages of war. On the Rhine, Custine had taken Treves, Spires, and +Mayence. In the Alps, general Montesquiou had invaded Savoy, and general +Anselme the territory of Nice. Our armies, victorious in all directions, +had everywhere assumed the offensive, and the revolution was saved. + +If we were to present the picture of a state emerging from a great crisis, +and were to say: "There were in this state an absolute government whose +authority has been restricted; two privileged classes which have lost +their supremacy; a vast population, already freed by the effect of +civilization and intelligence, but without political rights, and who have +been obliged, by reason of repeated refusals, to gain these for +themselves"; if we were to add: "The government, after opposing this +revolution, submitted to it, but the privileged classes constantly opposed +it,"--the following would probably be concluded from these data: + +"The government will be full of regret, the people will exhibit distrust, +and the privileged classes will attack the new order of things, each in +its own way. The nobility, unable to do so at home, from its weakness +there, will emigrate, in order to excite foreign powers, who will make +preparations for attack; the clergy, who would lose its means of action +abroad, will remain at home, where it will seek out foes to the +revolution. The people, threatened from without, in danger at home, +irritated against the emigrants who seek to arm foreign powers, against +foreign powers about to attack its independence, against the clergy, who +excite the country to insurrection, will treat as enemies clergy, +emigrants, and foreign powers. It will require first surveillance over, +then the banishment of the refractory priests; confiscation of the +property of the emigrants; war against allied Europe, in order to +forestall it. The first authors of the revolution will condemn such of +these measures as shall violate the law; the continuators of the +revolution will, on the contrary, regard them as the salvation of the +country; and discord will arise between those who prefer the constitution +to the state, and those who prefer the state to the constitution. The +monarch, induced by his interests as king, his affections and his +conscience, to reject such a course of policy, will pass for an accomplice +of the counter-revolution, because he will appear to protect it. The +revolutionists will then seek to gain over the king by intimidation, and +failing in this, will overthrow his authority." + +Such was the history of the legislative assembly. Internal disturbances +led to the decree against the priests; external menaces to that against +the emigrants; the coalition of foreign powers to war against Europe; the +first defeat of our armies, to the formation of the camp of twenty +thousand. The refusal of Louis XVI. to adopt most of these decrees, +rendered him an object of suspicion to the Girondists; the dissensions +between the latter and the constitutionalists, who desired some of them to +be legislators, as in time of peace, others, enemies, as in time of war, +disunited the partisans of the revolution. With the Girondists the +question of liberty was involved in victory, and victory in the decrees. +The 20th of June was an attempt to force their acceptance; but having +failed in its effect, they deemed that either the crown or the revolution +must be renounced, and they brought on the 10th of August. Thus, but for +emigration which induced the war, but for the schism which induced the +disturbances, the king would probably have agreed to the constitution, and +the revolutionists would not have dreamed of the republic. + + + + +THE NATIONAL CONVENTION + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1792, TO THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793 + + +The convention was constituted on the 20th of September, 1792, and +commenced its deliberations on the 21st. In its first sitting it abolished +royalty, and proclaimed the republic. On the 22nd, it appropriated the +revolution to itself, by declaring it would not date from _year IV. of +Liberty_; but from _year I. of the French Republic_. After these first +measures, voted by acclamation, with a sort of rivalry in democracy and +enthusiasm in the two parties, which had become divided at the close of +the legislative assembly, the convention, instead of commencing its +labours, gave itself up to intestine quarrels. The Girondists and the +Mountain, before they established the new revolution, desired to know to +which of them it was to belong, and the enormous dangers of their position +did not divert them from this contest. They had more than ever to fear the +efforts of Europe. Austria, Prussia, and some of the German princes having +attacked France before the 10th of August, there was every reason to +believe that the other sovereigns of Europe would declare against it after +the fall of the monarchy, the imprisonment of the king, and the massacres +of September. Within, the enemies of the revolution had increased. To the +partisans of the ancient regime, of the aristocracy and clergy, were now +to be added the friends of constitutional monarchy, with whom the fate of +Louis XVI. was an object of earnest solicitude, and those who imagined +liberty impossible without order, or under the empire of the multitude. +Amidst so many obstacles and adversaries, at a moment when their strictest +union was requisite, the Gironde and the Mountain attacked each other with +the fiercest animosity. It is true that these two parties were wholly +incompatible, and that their respective leaders could not combine, so +strong and varied were the grounds of separation in their rivalry for +power, and in their designs. + +Events had compelled the Girondists to become republicans. It would have +suited them far better to have remained constitutionalists. The integrity +of their purposes, their distaste for the multitude, their aversion for +violent measures, and especially the prudence which counselled them only +to attempt that which seemed possible--every circumstance made this +imperative upon them; but they had not been left free to remain what they +at first were. They had followed the bias which led them onward to the +republic, and they had gradually habituated themselves to this form of +government. They now desired it ardently and sincerely, but they felt how +difficult it would be to establish and consolidate it. They deemed it a +great and noble thing; but they felt that the men for it were wanting. The +multitude had neither the intelligence nor the virtue proper for this kind +of government. The revolution effected by the constituent assembly was +legitimate, still more because it was possible than because it was just; +it had its constitution and its citizens. But a new revolution, which +should call the lower classes to the conduct of the state, could not be +durable. It would injuriously affect too many interests, and have but +momentary defenders, the lower class being capable of sound action and +conduct in a crisis, but not for a permanency. Yet, in consenting to this +second revolution, it was this inferior class which must be looked to for +support. The Girondists did not adopt this course, and they found +themselves placed in a position altogether false; they lost the assistance +of the constitutionalists without procuring that of the democrats; they +had a hold upon neither extreme of society. Accordingly, they only formed +a half party, which was soon overthrown, because it had no root. The +Girondists, after the 10th of August, were, between the middle class and +the multitude, what the monarchists, or the Mounier and Necker party, had +been after the 24th of July, between the privileged classes and the +bourgeoisie. + +The Mountain, on the contrary, desired a republic of the people. The +leaders of this party, annoyed at the credit of the Girondists, sought to +overthrow and to supersede them. They were less intelligent, and less +eloquent, but abler, more decided, and in no degree scrupulous as to +means. The extremest democracy seemed to them the best of governments, and +what they termed the people, that is, the lowest populace, was the object +of their constant adulation, and most ardent solicitude. No party was more +dangerous; most consistently it laboured for those who fought its battle. + +Ever since the opening of the convention, the Girondists had occupied the +right benches, and the Mountain party the summit of the left, whence the +name by which they are designated. The Girondists were the strongest in +the assembly; the elections in the departments had generally been in their +favour. A great number of the deputies of the legislative assembly had +been re-elected, and as at that time connexion effected much, the members +who had been united with the deputation of the Gironde and the commune of +Paris before the 10th of August, returned with the same opinions. Others +came without any particular system or party, without enmities or +attachments: these formed what was then called the _Plaine_ or the +_Marais_. This party, taking no interest in the struggles between the +Gironde and the Mountain, voted with the side they considered the most +just, so long as they were allowed to be moderate; that is to say, so long +as they had no fears for themselves. + +The Mountain was composed of deputies of Paris, elected under the +influence of the commune of the 10th of August, and of some very decided +republicans from the provinces; it, from time to time, increased its ranks +with those who were rendered enthusiastic by circumstances, or who were +impelled by fear. But though inferior in the convention in point of +numbers, it was none the less very powerful, even at this period. It +swayed Paris; the commune was devoted to it, and the commune had managed +to constitute itself the supreme authority in the state. The Mountain had +sought to master the departments, by endeavouring to establish an identity +of views and conduct between the municipality of Paris and the provincial +municipalities; they had not, however, completely succeeded in this, and +the departments were for the most part favourable to their adversaries, +who cultivated their good will by means of pamphlets and journals sent by +the minister Roland, whose house the Mountain called a _bureau d'esprit +public_, and whose friends they called _intrigants_. But besides this +junction of the communes, which sooner or later would take place, they +were adopted by the Jacobins. This club, the most influential as well as +the most ancient and extensive, changed its views at every crisis without +changing its name; it was a framework ready for every dominating power, +excluding all dissentients. That at Paris was the metropolis of +Jacobinism, and governed the others almost imperiously. The Mountain had +made themselves masters of it; they had already driven the Girondists from +it, by denunciation and disgust, and replaced the members taken from the +bourgeoisie by sans-culottes. Nothing remained to the Girondists but the +ministry, who, thwarted by the commune, were powerless in Paris. The +Mountain, on the contrary, disposed of all the effective force of the +capital, of the public mind by the Jacobins, of the sections and faubourgs +by the sans-culottes, of the insurrectionists by the municipality. + +The first measure of parties after having decreed the republic, was to +contend with each other. The Girondists were indignant at the massacres of +September, and they beheld with horror on the benches of the convention +the men who had advised or ordered them. Above all others, two inspired +them with antipathy and disgust; Robespierre, whom they suspected of +aspiring to tyranny; and Marat, who from the commencement of the +revolution had in his writings constituted himself the apostle of murder. +They denounced Robespierre with more animosity than prudence; he was not +yet sufficiently formidable to incur the accusation of aspiring to the +dictatorship. His enemies by reproaching him with intentions then +improbable, and at all events incapable of proof, themselves augmented his +popularity and importance. + +Robespierre, who played so terrible a part in our revolution, was +beginning to take a prominent position. Hitherto, despite his efforts, he +had had superiors in his own party: under the constituent assembly, its +famous leaders; under the legislative, Brissot and Petion; on the 10th of +August, Danton. At these different periods he had declared himself against +those whose renown or popularity offended him. Only able to distinguish +himself among the celebrated personages of the first assembly by the +singularity of his opinions, he had shown himself an exaggerated reformer; +during the second, he became a constitutionalist, because his rivals were +innovators, and he had talked in favour of peace to the Jacobins, because +his rivals advocated war. From the 10th of August he essayed in that club +to ruin the Girondists, and to supplant Danton, always associating the +cause of his vanity with that of the multitude. This man, of ordinary +talents and vain character, owed it to his inferiority to rank with the +last, a great advantage in times of revolution; and his conceit drove him +to aspire to the first rank, to do all to reach it, to dare all to +maintain himself there. + +Robespierre had the qualifications for tyranny; a soul not great, it is +true, but not common; the advantage of one sole passion, the appearance of +patriotism, a deserved reputation for incorruptibility, an austere life, +and no aversion to the effusion of blood. He was a proof that amidst civil +troubles it is not mind but conduct that leads to political fortune, and +that persevering mediocrity is more powerful than wavering genius. It must +also be observed that Robespierre had the support of an immense and +fanatical sect, whose government he had solicited, and whose principles he +had defended since the close of the constituent assembly. This sect +derived its origin from the eighteenth century, certain opinions of which +it represented. In politics, its symbol was the absolute sovereignty of +the _Contrat social_ of J.J. Rousseau, and for creed, it held the deism of +_la Profession de foi du Vicaire Savoyard_; at a later period it succeeded +in realizing these for a moment in the constitution of '93, and the +worship of the Supreme Being. More fanaticism and system existed in the +different epochs of the revolution than is generally supposed. + +Whether the Girondists distinctly foresaw the dominion of Robespierre, or +whether they suffered themselves to be carried away by their indignation, +they accused him, with republicans, of the most serious of crimes. Paris +was agitated by the spirit of faction; the Girondists wished to pass a law +against those who excited disorders and violence, and at the same time to +give the convention an independent force derived from the eighty-three +departments. They appointed a commission to present a report on this +subject. The Mountain attacked this measure as injurious to Paris; the +Gironde defended it, by pointing out the project of a triumvirate formed +by the deputation of Paris. "I was born in Paris," said Osselin; "I am +deputy for that town. It is announced that a party is formed in the very +heart of it, desiring a dictatorship, triumvirs, tribunes, etc. I declare +that extreme ignorance or profound wickedness alone could have conceived +such a project. Let the member of the deputation of Paris who has +conceived such an idea be anathematized!" "Yes," exclaimed Rebecqui of +Marseilles, "yes, there exists in this assembly a party which aspires at +the dictatorship, and I will name the leader of this party; Robespierre. +That is the man whom I denounce." Barbaroux supported this denunciation by +his evidence; he was one of the chief authors of the 10th of August; he +was the leader of the Marseillais, and he possessed immense influence in +the south. He stated that about the 10th of August, the Marseillais were +much courted by the two parties who divided the capital; he was brought to +Robespierre's, and there he was told to ally himself to those citizens who +had acquired most popularity, and that Paris expressly named to him, +_Robespierre, as the virtuous man who was to be dictator of France_. +Barbaroux was a man of action. There were some members of the Right who +thought with him, that they ought to conquer their adversaries, in order +to avoid being conquered by them. They wished, making use of the +convention against the commune, to oppose the departments to Paris, and +while they remained weak, by no means to spare enemies, to whom they would +otherwise be granting time to become stronger. But the greater number +dreaded a rupture, and trembled at the idea of energetic measures. + +This accusation against Robespierre had no immediate consequences; but it +fell back on Marat, who had recommended a dictatorship, in his journal +"L'Ami du Peuple," and had extolled the massacres. When he ascended the +tribune to justify himself, the assembly shuddered. "_A bas! a bas_!" +resounded from all sides. Marat remained imperturbable. In a momentary +pause, he said: "I have a great number of personal enemies in this +assembly. (_Tous! tous!_) I beg of them to remember decorum; I exhort them +to abstain from all furious clamours and indecent threats against a man +who has served liberty and themselves more than they think. For once let +them learn to listen." And this man delivered in the midst of the +convention, astounded at his audacity and sangfroid, his views of the +proscriptions and of the dictatorship. For some time he had fled from +cellar to cellar to avoid public anger, and the warrants issued against +him. His sanguinary journal alone appeared; in it he demanded heads, and +prepared the multitude for the massacres of September. There is no folly +which may not enter a man's head, and what is worse, which may not be +realized for a moment. Marat was possessed by certain fixed ideas. The +revolution had enemies, and, in his opinion, it could not last unless +freed from them; from that moment he deemed nothing could be more simple +than to exterminate them, and appoint a dictator, whose functions should +be limited to proscribing; these two measures he proclaimed aloud, with a +cynical cruelty, having no more regard for propriety than for the lives of +men, and despising as weak minds all those who called his projects +atrocious, instead of considering them profound. The revolution had actors +really more sanguinary than he, but none exercised a more fatal influence +over his times. He depraved the morality of parties already sufficiently +corrupt; and he had the two leading ideas which the committee of public +safety subsequently realized by its commissioners or its government-- +extermination in mass, and the dictatorship. + +Marat's accusation was not attended with any results; he inspired more +disgust, but less hatred than Robespierre; some regarded him as a madman; +others considered these debates as the quarrels of parties, and not as an +object of interest for the republic. Moreover, it seemed dangerous to +attempt to purify the convention, or to dismiss one of its members, and it +was a difficult step to get over, even for parties. Danton did not +exonerate Marat. "I do not like him," said he; "I have had experience of +his temperament; it is volcanic, crabbed and unsociable. But why seek for +the language of a faction in what he writes? Has the general agitation any +other cause than that of the revolutionary movement itself?" Robespierre, +on his part, protested that he knew very little of Marat; that, previous +to the 10th of August, he had only had one conversation with him, after +which Marat, whose violent opinions he did not approve, had considered his +political views so narrow, that he had stated in his journal, _that he had +neither the higher views nor the daring of a statesman_. + +But he was the object of much greater indignation because he was more +dreaded. The first accusation of Rebecqui and Barbaroux had not succeeded. +A short time afterwards, the Minister Roland made a report on the state of +France and Paris; in it he denounced the massacres of September, the +encroachments of the commune, and the proceedings of the agitators. +"When," said he, "they render the wisest and most intrepid defenders of +liberty odious or suspected, when principles of revolt and slaughter are +boldly professed and applauded in the assemblies, and clamours arise +against the convention itself, I can no longer doubt that partisans of the +ancient regime, or false friends of the people, concealing their +extravagance or wickedness under a mask of patriotism, have conceived the +plan of an overthrow in which they hope to raise themselves on ruins and +corpses, and gratify their thirst for blood, gold, and atrocity." + +He cited, in proof of his report, a letter in which the vice-president of +the second section of the criminal tribunal informed him, that he and the +most distinguished Girondists were threatened; that, in the words of their +enemies, _another bleeding was wanted_; and that these men would hear of +no one but Robespierre. + +At these words the latter hastened to the tribune to justify himself. "No +one," he cried, "dare accuse me to my face!" "I dare!" exclaimed Louvet, +one of the most determined men of the Gironde. "Yes, Robespierre," he +continued, fixing his eye upon him; "I accuse you!" Robespierre, hitherto +full of assurance, became moved. He had once before, at the Jacobins, +measured his strength with this formidable adversary, whom he knew to be +witty, impetuous, and uncompromising. Louvet now spoke, and in a most +eloquent address spared neither acts nor names. He traced the course of +Robespierre to the Jacobins, to the commune, to the electoral assembly: +"calumniating the best patriots; lavishing the basest flatteries on a few +hundred citizens, at first designated as the people of Paris, afterwards +as the people absolutely, and then as the sovereign; repeating the eternal +enumeration of his own merits, perfections, and virtues; and never +failing, after he had dwelt on the strength, grandeur, and sovereignty of +the people, to protest that he was the people too." He then described him +concealing himself on the 10th of August, and afterwards swaying the +conspirators of the commune. Then he came to the massacres of September, +and exclaimed: "The revolution of the 10th of August belongs to all!" he +added, pointing out a few of the members of the Mountain in the commune, +"but that of the 2nd of September, that belongs to them--and to none but +them! Have they not glorified themselves by it? They themselves, with +brutal contempt, only designated us as the patriots of the 10th of August. +With ferocious pride they called themselves the patriots of the 2nd of +September! Ah, let them retain this distinction worthy of the courage +peculiar to them; let them retain it as our justification, and for their +lasting shame! These pretended friends of the people wish to cast on the +people of Paris the horrors that stained the first week of September. They +have basely slandered them. The people of Paris can fight; they cannot +murder! It is true, they were assembled all the day long before the +chateau of the Tuileries on the glorious 10th of August; it is false that +they were seen before the prisons on the horrible 2nd of September. How +many executioners were there within? Two hundred; probably not two +hundred. And without, how many spectators could be reckoned drawn thither +by truly incomprehensible curiosity? At most, twice the number. But, it is +asked, why, if the people did not assist in these murders, did they not +hinder them? Why? Because Petion's tutelary authority was fettered; +because Roland spoke in vain; because Danton, the minister of justice, did +not speak at all,... because the presidents of the forty-eight sections +waited for orders which the general in command did not give; because +municipal officers, wearing their scarfs, presided at these atrocious +executions. But the legislative assembly? The legislative assembly! +representatives of the people, you will avenge it! The powerless state +into which your predecessors were reduced is, in the midst of such crimes, +the greatest for which these ruffians, whom I denounce, must be punished." +Returning to Robespierre, Louvet pointed out his ambition, his efforts, +his extreme ascendancy over the people, and terminated his fiery philippic +by a series of facts, each one of which was preceded by this terrible +form: "_Robespierre, I accuse thee!_" + +Louvet descended from the tribune amidst applause, Robespierre mounted it +to justify himself; he was pale, and was received with murmurs. Either +from agitation or fear of prejudice, he asked for a week's delay. The time +arrived; he appeared less like one accused than as a triumpher; he +repelled with irony Louvet's reproaches, and entered into a long apology +for himself. It must be admitted that the facts were vague, and it +required little trouble to weaken or overturn them. Persons were placed in +the gallery to applaud him; even the convention itself, who regarded this +quarrel as the result of a private pique, and, as Barrere said, did not +fear _a man of a day, a petty leader of riots_, was disposed to close +these debates. Accordingly, when Robespierre observed, as he finished: +"For my part, I will draw no personal conclusions; I have given up the +easy advantage of replying to the calumnies of my adversaries by more +formidable denunciations; I wished to suppress the offensive part of my +justification. I renounce the just vengeance I have a right to pursue +against my calumniators; I ask for no other than the return of peace and +triumph of liberty!" he was applauded, and the convention passed to the +order of the day. Louvet in vain sought to reply; he was not allowed. +Barbaroux as vainly presented himself as accuser and Lanjuinais opposed +the motion for the order without obtaining the renewal of the discussion. +The Girondists themselves supported it: they committed one fault in +commencing the accusation, and another in not continuing it. The Mountain +carried the day, since they were not conquered, and Robespierre was +brought nearer the assumption of the part he had been so far removed from. +In times of revolution, men very soon become what they are supposed to be, +and the Mountain adopted him for their leader because the Girondists +pursued him as such. + +But what was much more important than personal attacks, were the +discussions respecting the means of government, and the management of +authorities and parties. The Girondists struck, not only against +individuals but against the commune. Not one of their measures succeeded; +they were badly proposed or badly sustained. They should have supported +the government, replaced the municipality, maintained their post among the +Jacobins and swayed them, gained over the multitude, or prevented its +acting; and they did nothing of all this. One among them, Buzot, proposed +giving the convention a guard of three thousand men, taken from the +departments. This measure, which would at least have made the assembly +independent, was not supported with sufficient vigour to be adopted. Thus +the Girondists attacked the Mountain without weakening them, the commune +without subduing it, the Faubourgs without suppressing them. They +irritated Paris by invoking the aid of the departments, without procuring +it; thus acting in opposition to the most common rules of prudence, for it +is always safer to do a thing than to threaten to do it. + +Their adversaries skilfully turned this circumstance to advantage. They +secretly circulated a report which could not but compromise the +Girondists; it was, that they wished to remove the republic to the south, +and give up the rest of the empire. Then commenced that reproach of +federalism, which afterwards became so fatal. The Girondists disdained it +because they did not see the consequences; but it necessarily gained +credit in proportion as they became weak and their enemies became daring. +What had given rise to the report was the project of defending themselves +behind the Loire, and removing the government to the south, if the north +should be invaded and Paris taken, and the predilection they manifested +for the provinces, and their indignation against the agitators of the +capital. Nothing is more easy than to change the appearance of a measure +by changing the period in which the measure was adopted, and discover in +the disapprobation expressed at the irregular acts of a city, an intention +to form the other cities of the state into a league against it. +Accordingly, the Girondists were pointed out to the multitude as +federalists. While they denounced the commune, and accused Robespierre and +Marat, the Mountain decreed _the unity and indivisibility of the +republic_. This was a way of attacking them and bringing them into +suspicion, although they themselves adhered so eagerly to these +propositions that they seemed to regret not having made them. + +But a circumstance, apparently unconnected with the disputes of these two +parties, served still better the cause of the Mountain. Already emboldened +by the unsuccessful attempts which had been directed against them, they +only waited for an opportunity to become assailants in their turn. The +convention was fatigued by these long discussions. Those members who were +not interested in them, and even those of the two parties who were not in +the first rank, felt the need of concord, and wished to see men occupy +themselves with the republic. There was an apparent truce, and the +attention of the assembly was directed for a moment to the new +constitution, which the Mountain caused it to abandon, in order to decide +on the fate of the fallen prince. The leaders of the extreme Left were +driven to this course by several motives: they did not want the +Girondists, and the moderate members of the Plain, who directed the +committee of the constitution, the former by Petion, Condorcet, Brissot, +Vergniaud, Gensonne, the others by Barrere, Sieyes, and Thomas Paine, to +organize the republic. They would have established the system of the +bourgeoisie, rendering it a little more democratic than that of 1791, +while they themselves aspired at constituting the people. But they could +only accomplish their end by power, and they could only obtain power by +protracting the revolutionary state in France. Besides the necessity of +preventing the establishment of legal order by a terrible coup d'etat, +such as the condemnation of Louis XVI., which would arouse all passions, +rally round them the violent parties, by proving them to be the inflexible +guardians of the republic, they hoped to expose the sentiments of the +Girondists, who did not conceal their desire to save Louis XVI., and thus +ruin them in the estimation of the multitude. There were, without a doubt, +in this conjuncture, a great number of the Mountain, who, on this +occasion, acted with the greatest sincerity and only as republicans, in +whose eyes Louis XVI. appeared guilty with respect to the revolution; and +a dethroned king was dangerous to a young democracy. But this party would +have been more clement, had it not had to ruin the Gironde at the same +time with Louis XVI. + +For some time past, the public mind had been prepared for his trial. The +Jacobin club resounded with invectives against him; the most injurious +reports were circulated against his character; his condemnation was +required for the firm establishment of liberty. The popular societies in +the departments addressed petitions to the convention with the same +object. The sections presented themselves at the bar of the assembly, and +they carried through it, on litters, the men wounded on the 10th of +August, who came to cry for vengeance on Louis Capet. They now only +designated Louis XVI. by this name of the ancient chief of his race, +thinking to substitute his title of king by his family name. + +Party motives and popular animosities combined against this unfortunate +prince. Those who, two months before, would have repelled the idea of +exposing him to any other punishment than that of dethronement, were +stupefied; so quickly does man lose in moments of crisis the right to +defend his opinions! The discovery of the iron chest especially increased +the fanaticism of the multitude, and the weakness of the king's defenders. +After the 10th of August, there were found in the offices of the civil +list documents which proved the secret correspondence of Louis XVI. with +the discontented princes, with the emigration, and with Europe. In a +report, drawn up at the command of the legislative assembly, he was +accused of intending to betray the state and overthrow the revolution. He +was accused of having written, on the 16th April, 1791, to the bishop of +Clermont, that if he regained his power he would restore the former +government and the clergy to the state in which they previously were; of +having afterwards proposed war, merely to hasten the approach of his +deliverers; of having been in correspondence with men who wrote to him-- +"War will compel all the powers to combine against the seditious and +abandoned men who tyrannize over France, in order that their punishment +may speedily serve as an example to all who shall be induced to trouble +the peace of empires. You may rely on a hundred and fifty thousand men, +Prussians, Austrians, and Imperialists, and on an army of twenty thousand +emigrants;" of having been on terms with his brothers, whom his public +measures had discountenanced: and, lastly, of having constantly opposed +the revolution. + +Fresh documents were soon brought forward in support of this accusation. +In the Tuileries, behind a panel in the wainscot, there was a hole wrought +in the wall, and closed by an iron door. This secret closet was pointed +out by the minister, Roland, and there were discovered proofs of all the +conspiracies and intrigues of the court against the revolution; projects +with the popular leaders to strengthen the constitutional power of the +king, to restore the ancient regime and the aristocrats; the manoeuvres of +Talon, the arrangements with Mirabeau, the proposition accepted by +Bouille, under the constituent assembly, and some new plots under the +legislative assembly. This discovery increased the exasperation against +Louis XVI. Mirabeau's bust was broken by the Jacobins, and the convention +covered the one which stood in the hall where it held its sittings. + +For some time there had been a question in the assembly as to the trial of +this prince, who, having been dethroned, could no longer be proceeded +against. There was no tribunal empowered to pronounce his sentence, no +punishment which could be inflicted on him: accordingly, they plunged into +false interpretations of the inviolability granted to Louis XVI., in order +to condemn him legally. The greatest error of parties, next to being +unjust, is the desire not to appear so. The committee of legislation, +commissioned to draw up a report on the question as to whether Louis XVI. +could be tried, and whether he could be tried by the convention, decided +in the affirmative. The deputy Mailhe opposed, in its name, the dogma of +inviolability; but as this dogma had influenced the preceding epoch of the +revolution, he contended that Louis XVI. was inviolable as king, but not +as an individual. He maintained that the nation, unable to give up its +guarantee respecting acts of power, had supplied the inviolability of the +monarch by the responsibility of his ministers; and that, when Louis XVI. +had acted as a simple individual, his responsibility devolving on no one, +he ceased to be inviolable. Thus Mailhe limited the constitutional +safeguard given to Louis XVI. to the acts of the king. He concluded that +Louis XVI. could be tried, the dethronement not being a punishment, but a +change of government; that he might be brought to trial, by virtue of the +penal code relative to traitors and conspirators; that he could be tried +by the convention, without observing the process of other tribunals, +because, the convention representing the people--the people including all +interests, and all interests constituting justice--it was impossible that +the national tribunal could violate justice, and that, consequently, it +was useless to subject it to forms. Such was the chain of sophistry, by +means of which the committee transformed the convention into a tribunal. +Robespierre's party showed itself much more consistent, dwelling only on +state reasons, and rejecting forms as deceptive. + +The discussion commenced on the 13th of November, six days after the +report of the committee. The partisans of inviolability, while they +considered Louis XVI. guilty, maintained that he could not be tried. The +principal of these was Morrison. He said, that inviolability was general; +that the constitution had anticipated more than secret hostility on the +part of Louis XVI., an open attack, and even in that case had only +pronounced his deposition; that in this respect the nation had pledged its +sovereignty; that the mission of the convention was to change the +government, not to judge Louis XVI.; that, restrained by the rules of +justice, it was so also by the usages of war, which only permitted an +enemy to be destroyed during the combat--after a victory, the law +vindicates him; that, moreover, the republic had no interest in condemning +Louis; that it ought to confine itself with respect to him, to measures of +general safety, detain him prisoner, or banish him from France. This was +the opinion of the Right of the convention. The Plain shared the opinion +of the committee; but the Mountain repelled, at the same time, the +inviolability and the trial of Louis XVI. + +"Citizens," said Saint-Just, "I engage to prove that the opinion of +Morrison, who maintains the king's inviolability, and that of the +committee which requires his trial as a citizen, are equally false; I +contend that we should judge the king as an enemy; that we have less to do +with trying than with opposing him: that having no place in the contract +which unites Frenchmen, the forms of the proceeding are not in civil law, +but in the law of the right of nations; thus, all delay or reserve in this +case are sheer acts of imprudence, and next to the imprudence which +postpones the moment that should give us laws, the most fatal will be that +which makes us temporize with the king." Reducing everything to +considerations of enmity and policy, Saint-Just added, "The very men who +are about to try Louis have a republic to establish: those who attach any +importance to the just chastisement of a king, will never found a +republic. Citizens, if the Roman people, after six hundred years of virtue +and of hatred towards kings; if Great Britain after the death of Cromwell, +saw kings restored in spite of its energy, what ought not good citizens, +friends of liberty, to fear among us, when they see the axe tremble in +your hands, and a people, from the first day of their freedom, respect the +memory of their chains?" + +This violent party, who wished to substitute a coup d'etat for a sentence, +to follow no law, no form, but to strike Louis XVI. like a conquered +prisoner, by making hostilities even survive victory, had but a very +feeble majority in the convention; but without, it was strongly supported +by the Jacobins and the commune. Notwithstanding the terror which it +already inspired, its murderous suggestions were repelled by the +convention; and the partisans of inviolability, in their turn, +courageously asserted reasons of public interest at the same time as rules +of justice and humanity. They maintained that the same men could not be +judges and legislators, the jury and the accusers. They desired also to +impart to the rising republic the lustre of great virtues, those of +generosity and forgiveness; they wished to follow the example of the +people of Rome, who acquired their freedom and retained it five hundred +years, because they proved themselves magnanimous; because they banished +the Tarquins instead of putting them to death. In a political view, they +showed the consequences of the king's condemnation, as it would affect the +anarchical party of the kingdom, rendering it still more insolent; and +with regard to Europe, whose still neutral powers it would induce to join +the coalition against the republic. + +But Robespierre, who during this long debate displayed a daring and +perseverance that presaged his power, appeared at the tribune to support +Saint-Just, to reproach the convention with involving in doubt what the +insurrection had decided, and with restoring, by sympathy and the +publicity of a defence, the fallen royalist party. "The assembly," said +Robespierre, "has involuntarily been led far away from the real question. +Here we have nothing to do with trial: Louis is not an accused man; you +are not judges, you are, and can only be, statesmen. You have no sentence +to pronounce for or against a man, but you are called on to adopt a +measure of public safety; to perform an act of national precaution. A +dethroned king is only fit for two purposes, to disturb the tranquillity +of the state, and shake its freedom, or to strengthen one or the other of +them. + +"Louis was king; the republic is founded; the famous question you are +discussing is decided in these few words. Louis cannot be tried; he is +already tried, he is condemned, or the republic is not absolved." He +required that the convention should declare Louis XVI. a traitor towards +the French, criminal towards humanity, and sentence him at once to death, +by virtue of the insurrection. + +The Mountain by these extreme propositions, by the popularity they +attained without, rendered condemnation in a measure inevitable. By +gaining an extraordinary advance on the other parties, it obliged them to +follow it, though at a distance. The majority of the convention, composed +in a large part of Girondists, who dared not pronounce Louis XVI. +inviolable, and of the Plain, decided, on Petion's proposition, against +the opinion of the fanatical Mountain and against that of the partisans of +inviolability, that Louis XVI. should be tried by the convention. Robert +Lindet then made, in the name of the commission of the twenty-one, his +report respecting Louis XVI. The arraignment, setting forth the offences +imputed to him, was drawn up, and the convention summoned the prisoner to +its bar. + +Louis had been confined in the Temple for four months. He was not at +liberty, as the assembly at first wished him to be in assigning him the +Luxembourg for a residence. The suspicious commune guarded him closely; +but, submissive to his destiny, prepared for everything, he manifested +neither impatience, regret, nor indignation. He had only one servant about +his person, Clery, who at the same time waited on his family. During the +first months of his imprisonment, he was not separated from his family; +and he still found solace in meeting them. He comforted and supported his +two companions in misfortune, his wife and sister; he acted as preceptor +to the young dauphin, and gave him the lessons of an unfortunate man, of a +captive king. He read a great deal, and often turned to the History of +England, by Hume; there he read of many dethroned kings, and one of them +condemned by the people. Man always seeks destinies similar to his own. +But the consolation he found in the sight of his family did not last long; +as soon as his trial was decided, he was separated from them. The commune +wished to prevent the prisoners from concerting their justification; the +surveillance it exercised over Louis XVI. became daily more minute and +severe. + +In this state of things, Santerre received the order to conduct Louis XVI. +to the bar of the convention. He repaired to the Temple, accompanied by +the mayor, who communicated his mission to the king, and inquired if he +was willing to descend. Louis hesitated a moment, then said: "This is +another violence. I must yield!" and he decided on appearing before the +convention; not objecting to it, as Charles I. had done with regard to his +judges. "Representatives," said Barrere, when his approach was announced, +"you are about to exercise the right of national justice. Let your +attitude be suited to your new functions;" and turning to the gallery, he +added, "Citizens, remember the terrible silence which accompanied Louis on +his return from Varennes; a silence which was the precursor of the trial +of kings by nations." Louis XVI. appeared firm as he entered the hall, and +he took a steady glance round the assembly. He was placed at the bar, and +the president said to him in a voice of emotion: "Louis, the French nation +accuses you. You are about to hear the charges of the indictment. Louis, +be seated." A seat had been prepared for him; he sat in it. During a long +examination, he displayed much calmness and presence of mind, he replied +to each question appropriately, often in an affecting and triumphant +manner. He repelled the reproaches addressed to him respecting his conduct +before the 14th of July, reminding them that his authority was not then +limited; before the journey to Varennes, by the decree of the constituent +assembly, which had been satisfied with his replies; and after the 10th of +August, by throwing all public acts on ministerial responsibility, and by +denying all the secret measures which were personally attributed to him. +This denial did not, however, in the eyes of the convention, overthrow +facts, proved for the most part by documents written or signed by the hand +of Louis XVI. himself; he made use of the natural right of every accused +person. Thus he did not admit the existence of the iron chest, and the +papers that were brought forward. Louis XVI. invoked a law of safety, +which the convention did not admit, and the convention sought to protect +itself from anti-revolutionary attempts, which Louis XVI. would not admit. + +When Louis had returned to the Temple, the convention considered the +request he had made for a defender. A few of the Mountain opposed the +request in vain. The convention determined to allow him the services of a +counsel. It was then that the venerable Malesherbes offered himself to the +convention to defend Louis XVI. "Twice," he wrote, "have I been summoned +to the council of him who was my master, at a time when that function was +the object of ambition to every man; I owe him the same service now, when +many consider it dangerous." His request was granted, Louis XVI. in his +abandonment, was touched by this proof of devotion. When Malesherbes +entered his room, he went towards him, pressed him in his arms, and said +with tears:--"Your sacrifice is the more generous, since you endanger your +own life without saving mine." Malesherbes and Tronchet toiled +uninterruptedly at his defence, and associated M. Deseze with them; they +sought to reanimate the courage of the king, but they found the king +little inclined to hope. "I am sure they will take my life; but no matter, +let us attend to my trial as if I were about to gain it. In truth, I shall +gain it, for I shall leave no stain on my memory." + +At length the day for the defence arrived; it was delivered by M. Deseze; +Louis was present. The profoundest silence pervaded the assembly and the +galleries. M. Deseze availed himself of every consideration of justice and +innocence in favour of the royal prisoner. He appealed to the +inviolability which had been granted him; he asserted that as king he +could not be tried; that as accusers, the representatives of the people +could not be his judges. In this he advanced nothing which had not already +been maintained by one party of the assembly. But he chiefly strove to +justify the conduct of Louis XVI. by ascribing to him intentions always +pure and irreproachable. He concluded with these last and solemn words:-- +"Listen, in anticipation, to what History will say to Fame; Louis +ascending the throne at twenty, presented an example of morals, justice, +and economy; he had no weakness, no corrupting passion: he was the +constant friend of the people. Did the people desire the abolition of an +oppressive tax? Louis abolished it: did the people desire the suppression +of slavery? Louis suppressed it: did the people solicit reforms? he made +them: did the people wish to change its laws? he consented to change them: +did the people desire that millions of Frenchmen should be restored to +their rights? he restored them: did the people wish for liberty? he gave +it them. Men cannot deny to Louis the glory of having anticipated the +people by his sacrifices; and it is he whom it is proposed to slay. +Citizens, I will not continue, I leave it to History; remember, she will +judge your sentence, and her judgment will be that of ages." But passion +proved deaf and incapable of foresight. + +The Girondists wished to save Louis XVI., but they feared the imputation +of royalism, which was already cast upon them by the Mountain. During the +whole transaction, their conduct was rather equivocal; they dared not +pronounce themselves in favour of or against the accused; and their +moderation ruined them without serving him. At that moment his cause, not +only that of his throne, but of his life, was their own. They were about +to determine, by an act of justice or by a coup d'etat, whether they +should return to the legal regime, or prolong the revolutionary regime. +The triumph of the Girondists or of the Mountain was involved in one or +the other of these solutions. The latter became exceedingly active. They +pretended that, while following forms, men were forgetful of republican +energy, and that the defence of Louis XVI. was a lecture on monarchy +addressed to the nation. The Jacobins powerfully seconded them, and +deputations came to the bar demanding the death of the king. + +Yet the Girondists, who had not dared to maintain the question of +inviolability, proposed a skilful way of saving Louis XVI. from death, by +appealing from the sentence of the convention to the people. The extreme +Right still protested against the erection of the assembly into a +tribunal; but the competence of the assembly having been previously +decided, all their efforts were turned in another direction. Salles +proposed that the king should be pronounced guilty, but that the +application of the punishment should be left to the primary assembly. +Buzot, fearing that the convention would incur the reproach of weakness, +thought that it ought to pronounce the sentence, and submit the judgment +it pronounced to the decision of the people. This advice was vigorously +opposed by the Mountain, and even by a great number of the more moderate +members of the convention, who saw, in the convocation of the primary +assemblies, the germ of civil war. + +The assembly had unanimously decided that Louis was guilty, when the +appeal to the people was put to the question. Two hundred and eighty-four +voices voted for, four hundred and twenty-four against it; ten declined +voting. Then came the terrible question as to the nature of the +punishment. Paris was in a state of the greatest excitement: deputies were +threatened at the very door of the assembly; fresh excesses on the part of +the populace were dreaded; the Jacobin clubs resounded with extravagant +invectives against Louis XVI., and the Right. The Mountain, till then the +weakest party in the convention, sought to obtain the majority by terror, +determined, if it did not succeed, none the less to sacrifice Louis XVI. +Finally, after four hours of nominal appeal, the president, Vergniaud, +said: "Citizens, I am about to proclaim the result of the scrutiny. When +justice has spoken, humanity should have its turn." There were seven +hundred and twenty-one voters. The actual majority was three hundred and +sixty-one. The death of the king was decided by a majority of twenty-six +votes. Opinions were very various: Girondists voted for his death, with a +reservation, it is true; most of the members of the Right voted for +imprisonment or exile; a few of the Mountain voted with the Girondists. As +soon as the result was known, the president said, in a tone of grief: "In +the name of the convention, I declare the punishment, to which it condemns +Louis Capet, to be death." Those who had undertaken the defence appeared +at the bar; they were deeply affected. They endeavoured to bring back the +assembly to sentiments of compassion, in consideration of the small +majority in favour of the sentence. But this subject had already been +discussed and decided. "Laws are only made by a simple majority," said one +of the Mountain. "Yes," replied a voice, "but laws may be revoked; you +cannot restore the life of a man." Malesherbes wished to speak, but could +not. Sobs prevented his utterance; he could only articulate a few +indistinct words of entreaty. His grief moved the assembly. The request +for a reprieve was received by the Girondists as a last resource; but this +also failed them, and the fatal sentence was pronounced. + +Louis expected it. When Malesherbes came in tears to announce the +sentence, he found him sitting in the dark, his elbows resting on a table, +his face hid in his hands, and in profound meditation. At the noise of his +entrance, Louis rose and said: "For two hours I have been trying to +discover if, during my reign, I have deserved the slightest reproach from +my subjects. Well, M. de Malesherbes, I swear to you, in the truth of my +heart, as a man about to appear before God, that I have constantly sought +the happiness of my people, and never indulged a wish opposed to it." +Malesherbes urged that a reprieve would not be rejected, but this Louis +did not expect. As he saw Malesherbes go out, Louis begged him not to +forsake him in his last moments; Malesherbes promised to return; but he +came several times, and was never able to gain access to him. Louis asked +for him frequently, and appeared distressed at not seeing him. He received +without emotion the formal announcement of his sentence from the minister +of justice. He asked three days to prepare to appear before God; and also +to be allowed the services of a priest, and permission to communicate +freely with his wife and children. Only the last two requests were +granted. + +The interview was a distressing scene to this desolate family; but the +moment of separation was far more so. Louis, on parting with his family, +promised to see them again the next day; but, on reaching his room, he +felt that the trial would be too much, and, pacing up and down violently, +he exclaimed, "I will not go!" This was his last struggle; the rest of his +time was spent in preparing for death. The night before the execution he +slept calmly. Clery awoke him, as he had been ordered, at five, and +received his last instructions. He then communicated, commissioned Clery +with his dying words, and all he was allowed to bequeath, a ring, a seal, +and some hair. The drums were already beating, and the dull sound of +travelling cannon, and of confused voices, might be heard. At length +Santerre arrived. "You are come for me," said Louis; "I ask one moment." +He deposited his will in the hands of the municipal officer, asked for his +hat, and said, in a firm tone: "Let us go." + +The carriage was an hour on its way from the Temple to the Place de la +Revolution. A double row of soldiers lined the road; more than forty +thousand men were under arms. Paris presented a gloomy aspect. The +citizens present at the execution manifested neither applause nor regret; +all were silent. On reaching the place of execution, Louis alighted from +the carriage. He ascended the scaffold with a firm step, knelt to receive +the benediction of the priest, who is recorded to have said, "Son of Saint +Louis, ascend to heaven!" With some repugnance he submitted to the binding +of his hands, and walked hastily to the left of the scaffold; "I die +innocent," said he; "I forgive my enemies; and you, unfortunate people..." +Here, at a signal, the drums and trumpets drowned his voice, and the three +executioners seized him. At ten minutes after ten he had ceased to live. + +Thus perished, at the age of thirty-nine, after a reign of sixteen years +and a half, spent in endeavouring to do good, the best but weakest of +monarchs. His ancestors bequeathed to him a revolution. He was better +calculated than any of them to prevent and terminate it; for he was +capable of becoming a reformer-king before it broke out, or of becoming a +constitutional king afterwards. He is, perhaps, the only prince who, +having no other passion, had not that of power, and who united the two +qualities which make good kings, fear of God and love of the people. He +perished, the victim of passions which he did not share; of those of the +persons about him, to which he was a stranger, and to those of the +multitude, which he had not excited. Few memories of kings are so +commendable. History will say of him, that, with a little more strength of +mind, he would have been an exemplary king. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +FROM THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793, TO THE 2ND OF JUNE + + +The death of Louis XVI. rendered the different parties irreconcilable, and +increased the external enemies of the revolution. The republicans had to +contend with all Europe, with several classes of malcontents, and with +themselves. But the Mountain, who then directed the popular movement, +imagined that they were too far involved not to push matters to extremity. +To terrify the enemies of the revolution, to excite the fanaticism of the +people by harangues, by the presence of danger, and by insurrections; to +refer everything to it, both the government and the safety of the +republic; to infuse into it the most ardent enthusiasm, in the name of +liberty, equality, and fraternity; to keep it in this violent state of +crisis for the purpose of making use of its passions and its power; such +was the plan of Danton and the Mountain, who had chosen him for their +leader. It was he who augmented the popular effervescence by the growing +dangers of the republic, and who, under the name of revolutionary +government, established the despotism of the multitude, instead of legal +liberty. Robespierre and Marat went even much further than he. They sought +to erect into a permanent government what Danton considered as merely +transitory. The latter was only a political chief, while the others were +true sectarians; the first, more ambitious, the second, more fanatical. + +The Mountain had, by the catastrophe of the 21st of January, gained a +great victory over the Girondists, whose politics were much more moral +than theirs, and who hoped to save the revolution, without staining it +with blood. But their humanity, their spirit of justice, proved of no +service, and even turned against them. They were accused of being the +enemies of the people, because they opposed their excesses; of being the +accomplices of the tyrant, because they had sought to save Louis XVI.; and +of betraying the republic, because they recommended moderation. It was +with these reproaches that the Mountain persecuted them with constant +animosity in the bosom of the convention, from the 21st of January till +the 31st of May and the 2nd of June. The Girondists were for a long time +supported by the Centre, which sided with the Right against murder and +anarchy, and with the Left for measures of public safety. This mass, +which, properly speaking, formed the spirit of the convention, displayed +some courage, and balanced the power of the Mountain and the Commune as +long as it possessed those intrepid and eloquent Girondists, who carried +with them to prison and to the scaffold all the generous resolutions of +the assembly. + +For a moment, union existed among the various parties of the assembly. +Lepelletier Saint Fargeau was stabbed by a retired member of the household +guard, named Paris, for having voted the death of Louis XVI. The members +of the convention, united by common danger, swore on his tomb to forget +their enmities; but they soon revived them. Some of the murderers of +September, whose punishment was desired by the more honourable +republicans, were proceeded against at Meaux. The Mountain, apprehensive +that their past conduct would be inquired into, and that their adversaries +would take advantage of a condemnation to attack them more openly +themselves, put a stop to these proceedings. This impunity further +emboldened the leaders of the multitude; and Marat, who at that period had +an incredible influence over the multitude, excited them to pillage the +dealers, whom he accused of monopolizing provisions. He wrote and spoke +violently, in his pamphlets and at the Jacobins, against the aristocracy +of the burghers, merchants, and _statesmen_ (as he designated the +Girondists), that is to say, against those who, in the assembly or the +nation at large, still opposed the reign of the Sans-culottes and the +Mountain. There was something frightful in the fanaticism and invincible +obstinacy of these sectaries. The name given by them to the Girondists +from the beginning of the convention, was that of Intrigants, on account +of the ministerial and rather stealthy means with which they opposed in +the departments the insolent and public conduct of the Jacobins. + +Accordingly, they denounced them regularly in the club. "At Rome, an +orator cried daily: 'Carthage must be destroyed!' well, let a Jacobin +mount this tribune every day, and say these single words, 'The intrigants +must be destroyed!' Who could withstand us? We oppose crime, and the +ephemeral power of riches; but we have truth, justice, poverty, and virtue +in our cause. With such arms, the Jacobins will soon have to say: 'We had +only to pass on, they were already extinct.'" Marat, who was much more +daring than Robespierre, whose hatred and projects still concealed +themselves under certain forms, was the patron of all denouncers and +lovers of anarchy. Several of the Mountain reproached him with +compromising their cause by his extreme counsels, and by unseasonable +excesses; but the entire Jacobin people supported him even against +Robespierre, who rarely obtained the advantage in his disputes with him. +The pillage recommended in February, in _L'Ami du Peuple_, with respect to +some dealers, "by way of example," took place, and Marat was denounced to +the convention, who decreed his accusation after a stormy sitting. But +this decree had no result, because the ordinary tribunals had no +authority. This double effort of force on one side, and weakness on the +other, took place in the month of February. More decisive events soon +brought the Girondists to ruin. + +Hitherto, the military position of France had been satisfactory. Dumouriez +had just crowned the brilliant campaign of Argonne by the conquest of +Belgium. After the retreat of the Prussians, he had repaired to Paris to +concert measures for the invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. Returning +to the army on the 20th of October, 1792, he began the attack on the 28th. +The plan attempted so inappropriately, with so little strength and +success, at the commencement of the war, was resumed and executed with +superior means. Dumouriez, at the head of the army of Belgium, forty +thousand strong, advanced from Valenciennes upon Mons, supported on the +right by the army of the Ardennes, amounting to about sixteen thousand +men, under general Valence, who marched from Givet upon Namur; and on his +left, by the army of the north, eighteen thousand strong, under general +Labourdonnaie, who advanced from Lille upon Tournai. The Austrian army, +posted before Mons, awaited battle in its intrenchments. Dumouriez +completely defeated it; and the victory of Jemappes opened Belgium to the +French, and again gave our arms the ascendancy in Europe. A victor on the +6th of November, Dumouriez entered Mons on the 7th, Brussels on the 14th, +and Liege on the 28th. Valence took Namur, Labourdonnaie Antwerp; and by +the middle of December, the invasion of the Netherlands was completely +achieved. The French army, masters of the Meuse and the Scheldt, went into +their winter quarters, after driving beyond the Roer the Austrians, whom +they might have pushed beyond the Lower Rhine. + +From this moment hostilities began between Dumouriez and the Jacobins. A +decree of the convention, dated the 15th of September, abrogated the +Belgian customs, and democratically organized that country. The Jacobins +sent agents to Belgium to propagate revolutionary principles, and +establish clubs on the model of the parent society; but the Flemings, who +had received us with enthusiasm, became cool at the heavy demands made +upon them, and at the general pillage and insupportable anarchy which the +Jacobins brought with them. All the party that had opposed the Austrian +army, and hoped to be free under the protection of France, found our rule +too severe, and regretted having sought our aid, or supported us. +Dumouriez, who had projects of independence for the Flemings, and of +ambition for himself, came to Paris to complain of this impolitic conduct +with regard to the conquered countries. He changed his hitherto equivocal +course; he had employed every means to keep on terms with the two +factions; he had ranged himself under the banner of neither, hoping to +make use of the Right through his friend Gensonne, and the Mountain +through Danton and Lacroix, whilst he awed both by his victories. But in +this second journey he tried to stop the Jacobins and save Louis XVI.; not +having been able to attain his end, he returned to the army to begin the +second campaign, very dissatisfied, and determined to make his new +victories the means of suspending the revolution and changing its +government. + +This time all the frontiers of France were to be attacked by the European +powers. The military successes of the revolution, and the catastrophe of +the 21st of January, had made most of the undecided or neutral governments +join the coalition. + +The court of St. James', on learning the death of Louis XVI., dismissed +the ambassador Chauvelin, whom it had refused to acknowledge since the +10th of August and the dethronement of the king. The convention, finding +England already leagued with the coalition, and consequently all its +promises of neutrality vain and elusive, on the 1st of February, 1793, +declared war against the king of Great Britain and the stadtholder of +Holland, who had been entirely guided by the English cabinet since 1788. +England had hitherto preserved the appearances of neutrality, but it took +advantage of this opportunity to appear on the scene of hostilities. For +some time disposed for a rupture, Pitt employed all his resources, and in +the space of six months concluded seven treaties of alliance, and six +treaties of subsidies. [Footnote: These treaties were as follows: the 4th +March, articles between Great Britain and Hanover; 25th March, treaty of +alliance at London between Russia and Great Britain; 10th April, treaty of +subsidies with the landgrave of Hesse Cassel; 25th April, treaty of +subsidies with Sardinia; 25th May, treaty of alliance at Madrid with +Spain; 12th July, treaty of alliance with Naples, the kingdom of the Two +Sicilies; 14th July, treaty of alliance at the camp before Mayence with +Prussia; 30th August, treaty of alliance at London with the emperor; 21st +September, treaty of subsidies with the margrave of Baden; 26th September, +treaty of alliance at London with Portugal. By these treaties England gave +considerable subsidies, more especially to Austria and Prussia.] England +thus became the soul of the coalition against France; her fleets were +ready to sail; the minister had obtained 3,200,000l. extraordinary, and +Pitt designed to profit by our revolution by securing the preponderance of +Great Britain, as Richelieu and Mazarin had taken advantage of the crisis +in England in 1640, to establish the French domination in Europe. The +court of St. James' was only influenced by motives of English interests; +it desired at any cost to effect the consolidation of the aristocratical +power at home, and the exclusive empire in the two Indies, and on the +seas. + +The court of St. James' then made the second levy of the coalition. Spain +had just undergone a ministerial change; the famous Godoy, duke of +Alcudia, afterwards Prince of the Peace, had been placed at the head of +the government by means of an intrigue of England and the emigrants. This +power came to a rupture with the republic, after having interceded in vain +for Louis XVI., and made its neutrality the price of the life of the king. +The German empire entirely adopted the war; Bavaria, Suabia, and the +elector palatine joined the hostile circles of the empire. Naples followed +the example of the Holy See; and the only neutral powers were Venice, +Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey. Russia was still engaged with +the second partition of Poland. + +The republic was threatened on all sides by the most warlike troops of +Europe. It would soon have to face forty-five thousand Austro-Sardinians +in the Alps; fifty thousand Spaniards on the Pyrenees; seventy thousand +Austrians or Imperialists, reinforced by thirty-eight thousand English and +Dutch troops, on the Lower Rhine and in Belgium; thirty-three thousand +four hundred Austrians between the Meuse and the Moselle; a hundred and +twelve thousand six hundred Prussians, Austrians and Imperialists on the +Middle and Upper Rhine. In order to confront so many enemies, the +convention decreed a levy of three hundred thousand men. This measure of +external defence was accompanied by a party measure for the interior. At +the moment the new battalions, about to quit Paris, presented themselves +to the assembly, the Mountain demanded the establishment of an +extraordinary tribunal to maintain the revolution at home, which the +battalions were going to defend on the frontiers. This tribunal, composed +of nine members, was to try without jury or appeal. The Girondists arose +with all their power against so arbitrary and formidable an institution, +but it was in vain; for they seemed to be favouring the enemies of the +republic by rejecting a tribunal intended to punish them. All they +obtained was the introduction of juries into it, the removal of some +violent men, and the power of annulling its acts, as long as they +maintained any influence. + +The principal efforts of the coalition were directed against the vast +frontier extending from the north sea to Huninguen. The prince of Coburg, +at the head of the Austrians, was to attack the French army on the Roer +and the Meuse, to enter Belgium; while the Prussians, on the other point, +should march against Custine, give him battle, surround Mayence, and after +taking it, renew the preceding invasion. These two armies of operation +were sustained in the intermediate position by considerable forces. +Dumouriez, engrossed by ambitious and reactionary designs, at a moment +when he ought only to have thought of the perils of France, proposed to +himself to re-establish the monarchy of 1791, in spite of the convention +and Europe. What Bouille could not do for an absolute, nor Lafayette for a +constitutional throne, Dumouriez, at a less propitious time, hoped alone +to carry through in the interest of a destroyed constitution and a +monarchy without a party. Instead of remaining neutral among factions, as +circumstances dictated to a general, and even to an ambitious man, +Dumouriez preferred a rupture, in order to sway them. He conceived a +design of forming a party out of France; of entering Holland by means of +the Dutch republicans opposed to the stadtholdership, and to English +influence; to deliver Belgium from the Jacobins; to unite these countries +in a single independent state, and secure for himself their political +protectorate after having acquired all the glory of a conqueror. To +intimidate parties, he was to gain over his troops, march on the capital, +dissolve the convention, put down popular meetings, re-establish the +constitution of 1791, and give a king to France. + +This project, impracticable amidst the great shock between the revolution +and Europe, appeared easy to the fiery and adventurous Dumouriez. Instead +of defending the line, threatened from Mayence to the Roer, he threw +himself on the left of the operations, and entered Holland at the head of +twenty thousand men. By a rapid march he was to reach the centre of the +United Provinces, attack the fortresses from behind, and be joined at +Nymegen by twenty-five thousand men under General Miranda, who would +probably have made himself master of Maestricht. An army of forty thousand +men was to observe the Austrians and protect his right. + +Dumouriez vigorously prosecuted his expedition into Holland; he took Breda +and Gertruydenberg, and prepared to pass the Biesbos, and capture +Dordrecht. But the army of the right experienced in the meantime the most +alarming reverses on the Lower Meuse. The Austrians assumed the offensive, +passed the Roer, beat Miazinski at Aix-la-Chapelle; made Miranda raise the +blockade of Maestricht, which he had uselessly bombarded; crossed the +Meuse, and at Liege put our army, which had fallen back between Tirlemont +and Louvain, wholly to the rout. Dumouriez received from the executive +council orders to leave Holland immediately, and to take the command of +the troops in Belgium; he was compelled to obey, and to renounce in part +his wildest but dearest hopes. + +The Jacobins, at the news of these reverses, became much more intractable; +unable to conceive a defeat without treachery, especially after the +brilliant and unexpected victories of the last campaign, they attributed +these military disasters to party combinations. They denounced the +Girondists, the ministers, and generals who, they supposed, had combined +to abandon the republic, and clamoured for their destruction. Rivalry +mingled with suspicion, and they desired as much to acquire an exclusive +domination, as to defend the threatened territory; they began with the +Girondists. As they had not yet accustomed the multitude to the idea of +the proscription of representatives, they at first had recourse to a plot +to get rid of them; they resolved to strike them in the convention, where +they would all be assembled, and the night of the 10th of March was fixed +on for the execution of the plot. The assembly sat permanently on account +of the public danger. It was decided on the preceding day at the Jacobins +and Cordeliers to shut the barriers, sound the tocsin, and march in two +bands on the convention and the ministers. They started at the appointed +hour, but several circumstances prevented the conspirators from +succeeding. The Girondists, apprised, did not attend the evening sitting; +the sections declared themselves opposed to the plot, and Beurnonville, +minister for war, advanced against them at the head of a battalion of +Brest federalists; these unexpected obstacles, together with the ceaseless +rain, obliged the conspirators to disperse. The next day Vergniaud +denounced the insurrectional committee who had projected these murders, +demanded that the executive council should be commissioned to make +inquiries respecting the conspiracy of the 10th of March, to examine the +registers of the clubs, and to arrest the members of the insurrectional +committee. "We go," said he, "from crimes to amnesties, from amnesties to +crimes. Numbers of citizens have begun to confound seditious insurrections +with the great insurrection of liberty; to look on the excitement of +robbers as the outburst of energetic minds, and robbery itself as a +measure of general security. We have witnessed the development of that +strange system of liberty, in which we are told: 'you are free; but think +with us, or we will denounce you to the vengeance of the people; you are +free, but bow down your head to the idol we worship, or we will denounce +you to the vengeance of the people; you are free, but join us in +persecuting the men whose probity and intelligence we dread, or we will +denounce you to the vengeance of the people.' Citizens, we have reason to +fear that the revolution, like Saturn, will devour successively all its +children, and only engender despotism and the calamities which accompany +it." These prophetic words produced some effect in the assembly; but the +measures proposed by Vergniaud led to nothing. + +The Jacobins were stopped for a moment by the failure of their first +enterprise against their adversaries; but the insurrection of La Vendee +gave them new courage. The Vendean war was an inevitable event in the +revolution. This country, bounded by the Loire and the sea, crossed by few +roads, sprinkled with villages, hamlets, and manorial residences, had +retained its ancient feudal state. In La Vendee there was no civilization +or intelligence, because there was no middle class; and there was no +middle class because there were no towns, or very few. At that time the +peasants had acquired no other ideas than those few communicated to them +by the priests, and had not separated their interests from those of the +nobility. These simple and sturdy men, devotedly attached to the old state +of things, did not understand a revolution, which was the result of a +faith and necessities entirely foreign to their situation. The nobles and +priests, being strong in these districts, had not emigrated; and the +ancient regime really existed there, because there were its doctrines and +its society. Sooner or later, a war between France and La Vendee, +countries so different, and which had nothing in common but language, was +inevitable. It was inevitable that the two fanaticisms of monarchy and of +popular sovereignty, of the priesthood and human reason, should raise +their banners against each other, and bring about the triumph of the old +or of the new civilization. + +Partial disturbances had taken place several times in La Vendee. In 1792 +the count de la Rouairie had prepared a general rising, which failed on +account of his arrest; but all yet remained ready for an insurrection, +when the decree for raising three hundred thousand men was put into +execution. This levy became the signal of revolt. The Vendeans beat the +gendarmerie at Saint Florent, and took for leaders, in different +directions, Cathelineau, a waggoner, Charette, a naval officer, and +Stofflet, a gamekeeper. Aided by arms and money from England, the +insurrection soon overspread the country; nine hundred communes flew to +arms at the sound of the tocsin; and then the noble leaders Bonchamps, +Lescure, La Rochejaquelin, d'Elbee, and Talmont, joined the others. The +troops of the line and the battalions of the national guard who advanced +against the insurgents were defeated. General Marce was beaten at Saint +Vincent by Stofflet; general Gauvilliers at Beaupreau, by d'Elbee and +Bonchamps; general Quetineau at Aubiers, by La Rochejaquelin; and general +Ligonnier at Cholet. The Vendeans, masters of Chatillon, Bressuire, and +Vihiers, considered it advisable to form some plan of organization before +they pushed their advantages further. They formed three corps, each from +ten to twelve thousand strong, according to the division of La Vendee, +under three commanders; the first, under Bonchamps, guarded the banks of +the Loire, and was called the _Armee d'Anjou_; the second, stationed in +the centre, formed the _Grande armee_ under d'Elbee; the third, in Lower +Vendee, was styled the _Armee du Marais_, under Charette. The insurgents +established a council to determine their operations, and elected +Cathelineau generalissimo. These arrangements, with this division of the +country, enabled them to enrol the insurgents, and to dismiss them to +their fields, or call them to arms. + +The intelligence of this formidable insurrection drove the convention to +adopt still more rigorous measures against priests and emigrants. It +outlawed all priests and nobles who took part in any gathering, and +disarmed all who had belonged to the privileged classes. The former +emigrants were banished for ever; they could not return, under penalty of +death; their property was confiscated. On the door of every house, the +names of all its inmates were to be inscribed; and the revolutionary +tribunal, which had been adjourned, began its terrible functions. + +At the same time, tidings of new military disasters arrived, one after the +other. Dumouriez, returned to the army of Belgium, concentrated all his +forces to resist the Austrian general, the prince of Coburg. His troops +were greatly discouraged, and in want of everything; he wrote to the +convention a threatening letter against the Jacobins, who denounced him. +After having again restored to his army a part of its former confidence by +some minor advantages, he ventured a general action at Neerwinden, and +lost it. Belgium was evacuated, and Dumouriez, placed between the +Austrians and Jacobins, beaten by the one and assailed by the other, had +recourse to the guilty project of defection, in order to realize his +former designs. He had conferences with Colonel Mack, and agreed with the +Austrians to march upon Paris for the purpose of re-establishing the +monarchy, leaving them on the frontiers, and having first given up to them +several fortresses as a guarantee. It is probable that Dumouriez wished to +place on the constitutional throne the young duc de Chartres, who had +distinguished himself throughout this campaign; while the prince of Coburg +hoped that if the counter-revolution reached that point, it would be +carried further and restore the son of Louis XVI. and the ancient +monarchy. A counter-revolution will not halt any more than a revolution; +when once begun, it must exhaust itself. The Jacobins were soon informed +of Dumouriez's arrangements; he took little precaution to conceal them; +whether he wished to try his troops, or to alarm his enemies, or whether +he merely followed his natural levity. To be more sure of his designs, the +Jacobin club sent to him a deputation, consisting of Proly, Pereira, and +Dubuisson, three of its members. Taken to Dumouriez's presence, they +received from him more admissions than they expected: "The convention," +said he, "is an assembly of seven hundred and thirty-five tyrants. While I +have four inches of iron I will not suffer it to reign and shed blood with +the revolutionary tribunal it has just created; as for the republic," he +added, "it is an idle word. I had faith in it for three days. Since +Jemappes, I have deplored all the successes I obtained in so bad a cause. +There is only one way to save the country--that is, to re-establish the +constitution of 1791, and a king." "Can you think of it, general?" said +Dubuisson; "the French view royalty with horror--the very name of Louis--" +"What does it signify whether the king be called Louis, Jacques, or +Philippe?" "And what are your means?" "My army--yes, my army will do it, +and from my camp, or the stronghold of some fortress, it will express its +desire for a king." "But your project endangers the safety of the +prisoners in the Temple." "Should the last of the Bourbons be killed, even +those of Coblentz, France shall still have a king, and if Paris were to +add this murder to those which have already dishonoured it, I would +instantly march upon it." After thus unguardedly disclosing his +intentions, Dumouriez proceeded to the execution of his impracticable +design. He was really in a very difficult position; the soldiers were very +much attached to him, but they were also devoted to their country. He was +to surrender some fortresses which he was not master of, and it was to be +supposed that the generals under his orders, either from fidelity to the +republic, or from ambition, would treat him as he had treated Lafayette. +His first attempt was not encouraging; after having established himself at +Saint Amand, he essayed to possess himself of Lille, Conde, and +Valenciennes; but failed in this enterprise. The failure made him +hesitate, and prevented his taking the initiative in the attack. + +It was not so with the convention; it acted with a promptitude, a +boldness, a firmness, and, above all, with a precision in attaining its +object, which rendered success certain. When we know what we want, and +desire it strongly and speedily, we nearly always attain our object. This +quality was wanting in Dumouriez, and the want impeded his audacity and +deterred his partisans. As soon as the convention was informed of his +projects, it summoned him to its bar. He refused to obey; without, +however, immediately raising the standard of revolt. The convention +instantly despatched four representatives: Camus, Quinette, Lamarque, +Bancal, and Beurnonville, the war minister, to bring him before it, or to +arrest him in the midst of his army. Dumouriez received the commissioners +at the head of his staff. They presented to him the decree of the +convention; he read it and returned it to them, saying that the state of +his army would not admit of his leaving it. He offered to resign, and +promised in a calmer season to demand judges himself, and to give an +account of his designs and of his conduct. The commissioners tried to +induce him to submit, quoting the example of the ancient Roman generals. +"We are always mistaken in our quotations," he replied; "and we disfigure +Roman history by taking as an excuse for our crimes the example of their +virtues. The Romans did not kill Tarquin; the Romans had a well ordered +republic and good laws; they had neither a Jacobin club nor a +revolutionary tribunal. We live in a time of anarchy. Tigers wish for my +head; I will not give it them." "Citizen general," said Camus then, "will +you obey the decree of the national convention, and repair to Paris?" "Not +at present." "Well, then, I declare that I suspend you; you are no longer +a general; I order your arrest." "This is too much," said Dumouriez; and +he had the commissioners arrested by German hussars, and delivered them as +hostages to the Austrians. After this act of revolt he could no longer +hesitate. Dumouriez made another attempt on Conde, but it succeeded no +better than the first. He tried to induce the army to join him, but was +forsaken by it. The soldiers were likely for a long time to prefer the +republic to their general; the attachment to the revolution was in all its +fervour, and the civil power in all its force. Dumouriez experienced, in +declaring himself against the convention, the fate which Lafayette +experienced when he declared himself against the legislative assembly, and +Bouille when he declared against the constituent assembly. At this period, +a general, combining the firmness of Bouille with the patriotism and +popularity of Lafayette, with the victories and resources of Dumouriez, +would have failed as they did. The revolution, with the movement imparted +to it, was necessarily stronger than parties, than generals, and than +Europe. Dumouriez went over to the Austrian camp with the duc de Chartres, +colonel Thouvenot, and two squadrons of Berchiny. The rest of his army +went to the camp at Famars, and joined the troops commanded by Dampierre. + +The convention, on learning the arrest of the commissioners, established +itself as a permanent assembly, declared Dumouriez a traitor to his +country, authorized any citizen to attack him, set a price on his head, +decreed the famous committee of public safety, and banished the duke of +Orleans and all the Bourbons from the republic. Although the Girondists +had assailed Dumouriez as warmly as the Mountain, they were accused of +being his accomplices, and this was a new cause of complaint added to the +rest. Their enemies became every day more powerful; and it was in moments +of public danger that they were especially dangerous. Hitherto, in the +struggle between the two parties, they had carried the day on every point. +They had stopped all inquiries into the massacres of September; they had +maintained the usurpation of the commune; they had obtained, first the +trial, then the death of Louis XVI.; through their means the plunderings +of February and the conspiracy of the 10th of March, had remained +unpunished; they had procured the erection of the revolutionary tribunal +despite the Girondists; they had driven Roland from the ministry, in +disgust; and they had just defeated Dumouriez. It only remained now to +deprive the Girondists of their last asylum--the assembly; this they set +about on the 10th of April, and accomplished on the 2nd of June. + +Robespierre attacked by name Brissot, Guadet, Vergniaud, Petion, and +Gensonne, in the convention; Marat denounced them in the popular +societies. As president of the Jacobins, he wrote an address to the +departments, in which he invoked the thunder of petitions and accusations +against the traitors and faithless delegates who had sought to save the +tyrant by an appeal to the public or his imprisonment. The Right and the +Plain of the convention felt that it was necessary to unite. Marat was +sent before the revolutionary tribunal. This news set the clubs in motion, +the people, and the commune. By way of reprisal, Pache, the mayor, came in +the name of the thirty-five sections and of the general council, to demand +the expulsion of the principal Girondists. Young Boyer Fonfrede required +to be included in the proscription of his colleagues, and the members of +the Right and the Plain rose, exclaiming, "All! all!" This petition, +though declared calumnious, was the first attack upon the convention from +without, and it prepared the public mind for the destruction of the +Gironde. + +The accusation of Marat was far from intimidating the Jacobins who +accompanied him to the revolutionary tribunal. Marat was acquitted, and +borne in triumph to the assembly. From that moment the approaches to the +hall were thronged with daring sans-culottes, and the partisans of the +Jacobins filled the galleries of the convention. The clubists and +Robespierre's _tricoteuses_ (knitters) constantly interrupted the speakers +of the Right, and disturbed the debate; while without, every opportunity +was sought to get rid of the Girondists. Henriot, commandant of the +section of sans-culottes, excited against them the battalions about to +march for La Vendee. Gaudet then saw that it was time for something more +than complaints and speeches; he ascended the tribune. "Citizens," said +he, "while virtuous men content themselves with bewailing the misfortunes +of the country, conspirators are active for its ruin. With Caesar they +say: 'Let them talk, we will act.' Well, then, do you act also. The evil +consists in the impunity of the conspirators of the 10th of March; the +evil is in anarchy; the evil is in the existence of the authorities of +Paris--authorities striving at once for gain and dominion. Citizens, there +is yet time; you may save the republic and your compromised glory. I +propose to abolish the Paris authorities, to replace within twenty-four +hours the municipality by the presidents of the sections, to assemble the +convention at Bourges with the least possible delay, and to transmit this +decree to the departments by extraordinary couriers." The Mountain was +surprised for a moment by Guadet's motion. Had his measures been at once +adopted, there would have been an end to the domination of the commune, +and to the projects of the conspirators; but it is also probable that the +agitation of parties would have brought on a civil war, that the +convention would have been dissolved by the assembly at Bourges, that all +centre of action would have been destroyed, and that the revolution would +not have been sufficiently strong to contend against internal struggles +and the attacks of Europe. This was what the moderate party in the +assembly feared. Dreading anarchy if the career of the commune was not +stopped, and counter-revolution if the multitude were too closely kept +down, its aim was to maintain the balance between the two extremes of the +convention. This party comprised the committees of general safety and of +public safety. It was directed by Barrere, who, like all men of upright +intentions but weak characters, advocated moderation so long as fear did +not make him an instrument of cruelty and tyranny. Instead of Guadet's +decisive measures, he proposed to nominate an extraordinary commission of +twelve members, deputed to inquire into the conduct of the municipality; +to seek out the authors of the plots against the national representatives, +and to secure their persons. This middle course was adopted; but it left +the commune in existence, and the commune was destined to triumph over the +convention. + +The Commission of Twelve threw the members of the commune into great alarm +by its inquiries. It discovered a new conspiracy, which was to be put into +execution on the 22nd of May, and arrested some of the conspirators, and +among others, Hebert, the deputy recorder, author of _Pere Duchesne_, who +was taken in the very bosom of the municipality. The commune, at first +astounded, began to take measures of defence. From that moment, not +conspiracy, but insurrection was the order of the day. The general +council, encouraged by the Mountain, surrounded itself with the agitators +of the capital; it circulated a report that the Twelve wished to purge the +convention, and to substitute a counter-revolutionary tribunal for that +which had acquitted Marat. The Jacobins, the Cordeliers, the sections sat +permanently. On the 26th of May, the agitation became perceptible; on the +27th; it was sufficiently decided to induce the commune to open the +attack. It accordingly appeared before the convention and demanded the +liberation of Hebert and the suppression of the Twelve; it was accompanied +by the deputies of the sections, who expressed the same desire, and the +hall was surrounded by a large mob. The section of the City even presumed +to require that the Twelve should be brought before the revolutionary +tribunal. Isnard, president of the assembly, replied in a solemn tone: +"Listen to what I am about to say. If ever by one of those insurrections, +of such frequent recurrence since the 10th of March, and of which the +magistrates have never apprised the assembly, a hostile hand be raised +against the national representatives, I declare to you in the name of all +France, Paris will be destroyed. Yes, universal France would rise to +avenge such a crime, and soon it would be matter of doubt on which side of +the Seine Paris had stood." This reply became the signal for great tumult. +"And I declare to you," exclaimed Danton, "that so much impudence begins +to be intolerable; we will resist you." Then turning to the Right, he +added: "No truce between the Mountain and the cowards who wished to save +the tyrant." + +The utmost confusion now reigned in the hall. The strangers' galleries +vociferated denunciations of the Right; the Mountain broke forth into +menaces; every moment deputations arrived without, and the convention was +surrounded by an immense multitude. A few sectionaries of the Mail and of +the Butte-des-Moulins, commanded by Raffet, drew up in the passages and +avenues to defend it. The Girondists withstood, as long as they could, the +deputations and the Mountain. Threatened within, besieged without, they +would have availed themselves of this violence to arouse the indignation +of the assembly. But the minister of the interior, Garat, deprived them of +this resource. Called upon to give an account of the state of Paris, he +declared that the convention had nothing to fear; and the opinion of +Garat, who was considered impartial, and whose conciliatory turn of mind +involved him in equivocal proceedings, emboldened the members of the +Mountain. Isnard was obliged to resign the chair, which was taken by +Herault de Sechelles, a sign of victory for the Mountain. The new +president replied to the petitioners, whom Isnard had hitherto kept in the +background. "The power of reason and the power of the people are the same +thing. You demand from us a magistrate and justice. The representatives of +the people will give you both." It was now very late; the Right was +discouraged, some of its members had left. The petitioners had moved from +the bar to the seats of the representatives, and there, mixed up with the +Mountain, with outcry and disorder, they voted, all together, for the +dismissal of the Twelve, and the liberation of the prisoners. It was at +half-past twelve, amidst the applause of the galleries and the people +outside, that this decree was passed. + +It would, perhaps, have been wise on the part of the Girondists, since +they were really not the strongest party, to have made no recurrence to +this matter. The movement of the preceding day would have had no other +result than the suppression of the Twelve, if other causes had not +prolonged it. But animosity had attained such a height, that it had become +necessary to bring the quarrel to an issue; since the two parties could +not endure each other, the only alternative was for them to fight; they +must needs go on from victory to defeat, and from defeat to victory, +growing more and more excited every day, until the stronger finally +triumphed over the weaker party. Next day, the Right regained its position +in the convention, and declared the decree of the preceding day illegally +passed, in tumult and under compulsion, and the commission was re- +established. "You yesterday," said Danton, "did a great act of justice; +but I declare to you, if the commission retains the tyrannical power it +has hitherto exercised; if the magistrates of the people are not restored +to their functions; if good citizens are again exposed to arbitrary +arrest; then, after having proved to you that we surpass our enemies in +prudence, in wisdom, we shall surpass them in audacity and revolutionary +vigour." Danton feared to commence the attack; he dreaded the triumph of +the Mountain as much as he did that of the Girondists: he accordingly +sought, by turns, to anticipate the 31st of May, and to moderate its +results. But he was reduced to join his own party during the conflict, and +to remain silent after the victory. + +The agitation, which had been a little allayed by the suppression of the +Twelve, became threatening at the news of their restoration. The benches +of the sections and popular societies resounded with invectives, with +cries of danger, with calls to insurrection. Hebert, having quitted his +prison, reappeared at the commune. A crown was placed on his brow, which +he transferred to the bust of Brutus, and then rushed to the Jacobins to +demand vengeance on the Twelve. Robespierre, Marat, Danton, Chaumette, and +Pache then combined in organising a new movement. The insurrection was +modelled on that of the 10th of August. The 29th of May was occupied in +preparing the public mind. On the 30th, members of the electoral college, +commissioners of the clubs, and deputies of sections assembled at the +Eveche, declared themselves in a state of insurrection, dissolved the +general council of the commune, and immediately reconstituted it, making +it take a new oath; Henriot received the title of commandant-general of +the armed force, and the sans-culottes were assigned forty sous a day +while under arms. These preparations made, early on the morning of the +31st the tocsin rang, the drums beat to arms, the troops were assembled, +and all marched towards the convention, which for some time past had held +its sittings at the Tuileries. + +The assembly had met at the sound of the tocsin. The minister of the +interior, the administrators of the department, and the mayor of Paris had +been summoned, in succession, to the bar. Garat had given an account of +the agitated state of Paris, but appeared to apprehend no dangerous +result. Lhuillier, in the name of the department, declared it was only a +_moral_ insurrection. Pache, the mayor, appeared last, and informed them, +with an hypocritical air, of the operations of the insurgents; he +pretended that he had employed every means to maintain order; assured them +that the guard of the convention had been doubled, and that he had +prohibited the firing of the alarm cannon; yet, at the same moment, the +cannon was heard in the distance. The surprise and excitement of the +assembly were extreme. Cambon exhorted the members to union, and called +upon the people in the strangers' gallery to be silent. "Under these +extraordinary circumstances," said he, "the only way of frustrating the +designs of the malcontents is to make the national convention respected." +"I demand," said Thuriot, "the immediate abolition of the Commission of +Twelve." "And I," cried Tallien, "that the sword of the law may strike the +conspirators who profane the very bosom of the convention." The +Girondists, on their part, required that the audacious Henriot should be +called to the bar, for having fired the alarm cannon without the +permission of the convention. "If a struggle take place," said Vergniaud, +"be the success what it may, it will be the ruin of the republic. Let +every member swear to die at his post." The entire assembly rose, +applauding the proposition. Danton rushed to the tribune: "Break up the +Commission of Twelve! you have heard the thunder of the cannon. If you are +politic legislators, far from blaming the outbreak of Paris, you will turn +it to the profit of the republic, by reforming your own errors, by +dismissing your commission.--I address those," he continued, on hearing +murmurs around him, "who possess some political talent, not dullards, who +can only act and speak in obedience to their passions.--Consider the +grandeur of your aim; it is to save the people from their foes, from the +aristocrats, to save them from their own blind fury. If a few men, really +dangerous, no matter to what party they belong, should then seek to +prolong a movement, become useless, by your act of justice, Paris itself +will hurl them back into their original insignificance. I calmly, simply, +and deliberately demand the suppression of the commission, on political +grounds." The commission was violently attacked on one side, feebly +defended on the other; Barrere and the committee of public safety, who +were its creators proposed its suppression, in order to restore peace, and +to save the assembly from being left to the mercy of the multitude. The +moderate portion of the Mountain were about to adopt this concession, when +the deputations arrived. The members of the department, those of the +municipality, and the commissaries of sections, being admitted to the bar, +demanded not merely the suppression of the Twelve, but also the punishment +of the moderate members, and of all the Girondist chiefs. + +The Tuileries was completely blockaded by the insurgents; and the presence +of their commissaries in the convention emboldened the extreme Mountain, +who were desirous of destroying the Girondist party. Robespierre, their +leader and orator, spoke: "Citizens, let us not lose this day in vain +clamours and unnecessary measures; this is, perhaps, the last day in which +patriotism will combat with tyranny. Let the faithful representatives of +the people combine to secure their happiness." He urged the convention to +follow the course pointed out by the petitioners, rather than that +proposed by the committee of public safety. He was thundering forth a +lengthened declamation against his adversaries, when Vergniaud interfered: +"Conclude this!"--"I am about to conclude, and against you! Against you, +who, after the revolution of the 10th of August, sought to bring to the +scaffold those who had effected it. Against you, who have never ceased in +a course which involved the destruction of Paris. Against you, who desired +to save the tyrant. Against you, who conspired with Dumouriez. Against +you, who fiercely persecuted the same patriots whose heads Dumouriez +demanded. Against you, whose criminal vengeance provoked those cries of +vengeance which you seek to make a crime in your victims. I conclude my +conclusion is--I propose a decree of accusation against all the +accomplices of Dumouriez, and against those who are indicated by the +petitioners." Notwithstanding the violence of this outbreak, Robespierre's +party were not victorious. The insurrection had only been directed against +the Twelve, and the committee of public safety, who proposed their +suppression prevailed over the commune. The assembly adopted the decree of +Barrere, which dissolved the Twelve, placed the public force in permanent +requisition, and, to satisfy the petitioners, directed the committee of +public safety to inquire into the conspiracies which they denounced. As +soon as the multitude surrounding the assembly was informed of these +measures, it received them with applause, and dispersed. + +But the conspirators were not disposed to rest content with this half +triumph: they had gone further on the 30th of May than on the 29th; and on +the 2nd of June they went further than on the 31st of May. The +insurrection, from being moral, as they termed it, became personal; that +is to say, it was no longer directed against a power, but against the +deputies; it passed from Danton and the Mountain, to Robespierre, Marat, +and the commune. On the evening of the 31st, a Jacobin deputy said: "We +have had but half the game yet; we must complete it, and not allow the +people to cool." Henriot offered to place the armed force at the +disposition of the club. The insurrectional committee openly took up its +quarters near the convention. The whole of the 1st of June was devoted to +the preparation of a great movement. The commune wrote to the sections: +"Citizens, remain under arms: the danger of the country renders this a +supreme law." In the evening, Marat, who was the chief author of the 2nd +of June, repaired to the Hotel de Ville, ascended the clock-tower himself, +and rang the tocsin; he called upon the members of the council not to +separate till they had obtained a decree of accusation against the +traitors and the "statesmen." A few deputies assembled at the convention, +and the conspirators came to demand the decree against the proscribed +parties; but they were not yet sufficiently strong to enforce it from the +convention. + +The whole night was spent in making preparations; the tocsin rang, drums +beat to arms, the people gathered together. On Sunday morning, about eight +o'clock, Henriot presented himself to the general council, and declared to +his accomplices, in the name of the insurrectionary people, that they +would not lay down their arms until they had obtained the arrest of the +conspiring deputies. He then placed himself at the head of the vast crowd +assembled in the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, harangued them, and gave the +signal for their departure. It was nearly ten o'clock when the insurgents +reached the Place du Carrousel. Henriot posted round the chateau bands of +the most devoted men, and the convention was soon surrounded by eighty +thousand men, the greater part ignorant of what was required of them and +more disposed to defend than to attack the deputation. + +The majority of the proscribed members had not proceeded to the assembly. +A few, courageous to the last, had come to brave the storm for the last +time. As soon as the sitting commenced, the intrepid Lanjuinais ascended +the tribune. "I demand," said he, "to speak respecting the general call to +arms now beating throughout Paris." He was immediately interrupted by +cries of "Down! down! He wants civil war! He wants a counter-revolution! +He calumniates Paris! He insults the people." Despite the threats, the +insults, the clamours of the Mountain and the galleries, Lanjuinais +denounced the projects of the commune and of the malcontents; his courage +rose with the danger. "You accuse us," he said, "of calumniating Paris! +Paris is pure; Paris is good; Paris is oppressed by tyrants who thirst for +blood and dominion." These words were the signal for the most violent +tumult; several Mountain deputies rushed to the tribune to tear Lanjuinais +from it; but he, clinging firmly to it, exclaimed, in accents of the most +lofty courage, "I demand the dissolution of all the revolutionist +authorities in Paris. I demand that all they have done during the last +three days may be declared null. I demand that all who would arrogate to +themselves a new authority contrary to law, be placed without the law, and +that every citizen be at liberty to punish them." He had scarcely +concluded, when the insurgent petitioners came to demand his arrest, and +that of his colleagues. "Citizens," said they, "the people are weary of +seeing their happiness still postponed; they leave it once more in your +hands; save them, or we declare that they will save themselves." + +The Right moved the order of the day on the petition of the insurgents, +and the convention accordingly proceeded to the previous question. The +petitioners immediately withdrew in a menacing attitude; the strangers +quitted the galleries; cries to arms were shouted, and a great tumult was +heard without: "Save the people!" cried one of the Mountain. "Save your +colleagues, by decreeing their provisional arrest." "No, no!" replied the +Right, and even a portion of the Left. "We will all share their fate!" +exclaimed La Reveillere-Lepaux. The committee of public safety, called +upon to make a report, terrified at the magnitude of the danger, proposed, +as on the 31st of May, a measure apparently conciliatory, to satisfy the +insurgents, without entirely sacrificing the proscribed members. "The +committee," said Barrere, "appeal to the generosity and patriotism of the +accused members. It asks of them the suspension of their power, +representing to them that this alone can put an end to the divisions which +afflict the republic, can alone restore to it peace." A few among them +adopted the proposition. Isnard at once gave in his resignation; +Lanthenas, Dussaulx, and Fauchet followed his example; Lanjuinais would +not. He said: "I have hitherto, I believe, shown some courage; expect not +from me either suspension or resignation. When the ancients," he +continued, amidst violent interruption, "prepared a sacrifice, they +crowned the victim with flowers and chaplets, as they conducted it to the +altar; but they did not insult it." Barbaroux was as firm as Lanjuinais. +"I have sworn," he said, "to die at my post; I will keep my oath." The +conspirators of the Mountain themselves protested against the proposition +of the committee. Marat urged that those who make sacrifices should be +pure; and Billaud-Varennes demanded the trial of the Girondists, not their +suspension. + +While this was going on, Lacroix, a deputy of the Mountain, rushed into +the house, and to the tribune, and declared that he had been insulted at +the door, that he had been refused egress, and that the convention was no +longer free. Many of the Mountain expressed their indignation at Henriot +and his troops. Danton said it was necessary vigorously to avenge this +insult to the national majesty. Barrere proposed to the convention to +present themselves to the people. "Representatives," said he, "vindicate +your liberty; suspend your sitting; cause the bayonets that surround you +to be lowered." The whole convention arose, and set forth in procession, +preceded by its sergeants, and headed by the president, who was covered, +in token of his affliction. On arriving at a door on the Place du +Carrousel, they found there Henriot on horseback, sabre in hand. "What do +the people require?" said the president, Herault de Sechelles; "the +convention is wholly engaged in promoting their happiness." "Herault," +replied Henriot, "the people have not risen to hear phrases; they require +twenty-four traitors to be given up to them." "Give us all up!" cried +those who surrounded the president. Henriot then turned to his people, and +exclaimed: "Cannoneers, to your guns." Two pieces were directed upon the +convention, who, retiring to the gardens, sought an outlet at various +points, but found all the issues guarded. The soldiers were everywhere +under arms. Marat ran through the ranks, encouraging and exciting them. +"No weakness," said he; "do not quit your posts till they have given them +up." The convention then returned within the house, overwhelmed with a +sense of their powerlessness, convinced of the inutility of their efforts, +and entirely subdued. The arrest of the proscribed members was no longer +opposed. Marat, the true dictator of the assembly, imperiously decided the +fate of its members. "Dussaulx," said he, "is an old twaddler, incapable +of leading a party; Lathenas is a poor creature, unworthy of a thought; +Ducos is merely chargeable with a few absurd notions, and is not at all a +man to become a counter-revolutionary leader. I require that these be +struck out of the list, and their names replaced by that of Valaze." These +names were accordingly struck out, and that of Valaze substituted, and the +list thus altered was agreed to, scarcely one half of the assembly taking +part in the vote. + +These are the names of the illustrious men proscribed: the Girondists +Gensonne, Guadet, Brissot, Gorsas, Petion, Vergniaud, Salles, Barbaroux, +Chambon, Buzot, Birotteau, Lidon, Rabaud, Lasource, Lanjuinais, +Grangeneuve, Lehardy, Lesage, Louvet, Valaze, Lebrun, minister of foreign +affairs, Clavieres, minister of taxes; and the members of the Council of +Twelve, Kervelegan, Gardien, Rabaud Saint-Etienne, Boileau, Bertrand, +Vigee, Molleveau, Henri La Riviere, Gomaire, and Bergoing. The convention +placed them under arrest at their own houses, and under the protection of +the people. The order for keeping the assembly itself prisoners was at +once withdrawn, and the multitude dispersed, but from that moment the +convention ceased to be free. + +Thus fell the Gironde party, a party rendered illustrious by great talents +and great courage, a party which did honour to the young republic by its +horror of bloodshed, its hatred of crime and anarchy, its love of order, +justice, and liberty; a party unfitly placed between the middle class, +whose revolution it had combated, and the multitude, whose government it +rejected. Condemned to inaction, it could only render illustrious certain +defeat, by a courageous struggle and a glorious death. At this period, its +fate might readily be foreseen; it had been driven from post to post; from +the Jacobins by the invasion of the Mountain; from the commune by the +outbreak of Petion; from the ministry by the retirement of Roland and his +colleagues; from the army by the defection of Dumouriez. The convention +alone remained to it, there it threw up its intrenchments, there it +fought, and there it fell. Its enemies employed against it, in turn, +insurrection and conspiracy. The conspiracies led to the creation of the +Commission of Twelve, which seemed to give a momentary advantage to the +Gironde, but which only excited its adversaries the more violently against +it. These aroused the people, and took from the Girondists, first, their +authority, by destroying the Twelve; then, their political existence, by +proscribing their leaders. + +The consequences of this disastrous event did not answer the expectations +of any one. The Dantonists thought that the dissensions of parties were at +an end: civil war broke out. The moderate members of the committee of +public safety thought that the convention would resume all its power: it +was utterly subdued. The commune thought that the 31st of May would secure +to it domination; domination fell to Robespierre, and to a few men devoted +to his fortune, or to the principle of extreme democracy. Lastly, there +was another party to be added to the parties defeated, and thenceforth +hostile; and as after the 10th of August the republic had been opposed to +the constitutionalists, after the 31st of May the Reign of Terror was +opposed to the moderate party of the republic. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE 2ND OF JUNE, 1793, TO APRIL, 1794 + + +It was to be presumed that the Girondists would not bow to their defeat, +and that the 31st of May would be the signal for the insurrection of the +departments against the Mountain and the commune of Paris. This was the +last trial left them to make, and they attempted it. But, in this decisive +measure, there was seen the same want of union which had caused their +defeat in the assembly. It is doubtful whether the Girondists would have +triumphed, had they been united, and especially whether their triumph +would have saved the revolution. How could they have done with just laws +what the Mountain effected by violent measures? How could they have +conquered foreign foes without fanaticism, restrained parties without the +aid of terror, fed the multitude without a _maximum_, and supplied the +armies without requisition. If the 31st of May had had a different result, +what happened at a much later period would probably have taken place +immediately, namely, a gradual abatement of the revolutionary movement, +increased attacks on the part of Europe, a general resumption of +hostilities by all parties, the days of Prairial, without power to drive +back the multitude; the days of Vendemiaire, without power to repel the +royalists; the invasion of the allies, and, according to the policy of the +times, the partition of France. The republic was not sufficiently powerful +to meet so many attacks as it did after the reaction of Thermidor. + +However this may be, the Girondists who ought to have remained quiet or +fought all together, did not do so, and, after the 2nd of June, all the +moderate men of the party remained under the decree of arrest: the others +escaped. Vergniaud, Gensonne, Ducos, Fonfrede, etc., were among the first; +Petion, Barbaroux, Guadet, Louvet, Buzot, and Lanjuinais, among the +latter. They repaired to Evreux, in the department de l'Eure, where Buzot +had much influence, and thence to Caen, in Calvados. These made this town +the centre of the insurrection. Brittany soon joined them. The insurgents, +under the name of the _assembly of the departments assembled at Caen_, +formed an army, appointed general Wimpfen commander, arrested Romme and +Prieur de la Marne, who were members of the Mountain and commissaries of +the convention, and prepared to march on Paris. From there, a young, +beautiful, and courageous woman, Charlotte Corday, went to punish Marat, +the principal author of the 31st of May, and the 2nd of June. She hoped to +save the republic by sacrificing herself to its cause. But tyranny did not +rest with one man; it belonged to a party, and to the violent situation of +the republic. Charlotte Corday, after executing her generous but vain +design, died with unchanging calmness, modest courage, and the +satisfaction of having done well. [Footnote: The following are a few of +the replies of this heroic girl before the revolutionary tribunal:--"What +were your intentions in killing Marat?"--"To put an end to the troubles of +France."--"Is it long since you conceived this project?"--"Since the +proscription of the deputies of the people on the 31st of May."--"You +learned then by the papers that Marat was a friend of anarchy?"--"Yes, I +knew he was perverting France. I have killed," she added, raising her +voice, "a man to save a thousand; a villain, to save the innocent; a wild +beast, to give tranquility to my country. I was a republican before the +revolution, and I have never been without energy."] But Marat, after his +assassination, became a greater object of enthusiasm with the people than +he had been while living. He was invoked on all the public squares; his +bust was placed in all the popular societies, and the convention was +obliged to grant him the honours of the Pantheon. + +At the same time Lyons arose, Marseilles and Bordeaux took arms, and more +than sixty departments joined the insurrection. This attack soon led to a +general rising among all parties, and the royalists for the most part took +advantage of the movement which the Girondists had commenced. They sought, +especially, to direct the insurrection of Lyons, in order to make it the +centre of the movement in the south. This city was strongly attached to +the ancient order of things. Its manufactures of silver and gold and +silken embroidery, and its trade in articles of luxury, made it dependent +on the upper classes. It therefore declared at an early period against a +social change, which destroyed its former connexions, and ruined its +manufactures, by destroying the nobility and clergy. Lyons, accordingly, +in 1790, even under the constituent assembly, when the emigrant princes +were in that neighbourhood, at the court of Turin, had made attempts at a +rising. These attempts, directed by priests and nobles, had been +repressed, but the spirit remained the same. There, as elsewhere, after +the 10th of August, men had wished to bring about the revolution of the +multitude, and to establish its government. Chalier, the fanatical +imitator of Marat, was at the head of the Jacobins, the sans-culottes, and +the municipality of Lyons. His audacity increased after the massacres of +September and the 21st of January. Yet nothing had as yet been decided +between the lower republican class, and the middle royalist class, the one +having its seat of power in the municipality, and the other in the +sections. But the disputes became greater towards the end of May; they +fought, and the sections carried the day. The municipality was besieged, +and taken by assault. Chalier, who had fled, was apprehended and executed. +The sections, not as yet daring to throw off the yoke of the convention, +endeavoured to excuse themselves on the score of the necessity of arming +themselves, because the Jacobins and the members of the corporation had +forced them to do so. The convention, which could only save itself by +means of daring, losing everything if it yielded, would listen to nothing. +Meanwhile the insurrection of Calvados became known, and the people of +Lyons, thus encouraged, no longer feared to raise the standard of revolt. +They put their town in a state of defence; they raised fortifications, +formed an army of twenty thousand men, received emigrants among them, +entrusted the command of their forces to the royalist Precy and the +marquis de Virieux, and concerted their operations with the king of +Sardinia. + +The revolt of Lyons was so much the more to be feared by the convention, +as its central position gave it the support of the south, which was in +arms, while there was also a rising in the west. At Marseilles, the news +of the 31st of May had aroused the partisans of the Girondists: Rebecqui +repaired thither in haste. The sections were assembled; the members of the +revolutionary tribunal were outlawed; the two representatives, Baux and +Antiboul, were arrested, and an army of ten thousand men raised to advance +on Paris. These measures were the work of the royalists, who, there as +elsewhere, only waiting for an opportunity to revive their party, had at +first assumed a republican appearance, but now acted in their own name. +They had secured the sections; and the movement was no longer effected in +favour of the Girondists, but for the counter-revolutionists. Once in a +state of revolt, the party whose opinions are the most violent, and whose +aim is the clearest, supplants its allies. Rebecqui, perceiving this new +turn of the insurrection, threw himself in despair into the port of +Marseilles. The insurgents took the road to Lyons; their example was +rapidly imitated at Toulon, Nimes, Montauban, and the principal towns in +the south. In Calvados, the insurrection had had the same royalist +character, since the marquis de Puisaye, at the head of some troops, had +introduced himself into the ranks of the Girondists. The towns of +Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest, and L'Orient, were favourable to the persons +proscribed on the 2nd of June, and a few openly joined them; but they were +of no great service, because they were restrained by the Jacobin party, or +by the necessity of fighting the royalists of the west. + +The latter, during this almost general rising of the departments, +continued to extend their enterprises. After their first victories, the +Vendeans seized on Bressuire, Argenton, and Thouars. Entirely masters of +their own country, they proposed getting possession of the frontiers, and +opening a way into revolutionary France, as well as communications with +England. On the 6th of June, the Vendean army, composed of forty thousand +men, under Cathelineau, Lescure, Stofflet, and La Rochejaquelin, marched +on Saumur, which it took by storm. It then prepared to attack and capture +Nantes, to secure the possession of its own country, and become master of +the course of the Loire. Cathelineau, at the head of the Vendean troops, +left a garrison in Saumur, took Angers, crossed the Loire, pretended to +advance upon Tours and Le Mans, and then rapidly threw himself upon +Nantes, which he attacked on the right bank, while Charette was to attack +it on the left. + +Everything seemed combined for the overthrow of the convention. Its armies +were beaten on the north and on the Pyrenees, while it was threatened by +the people of Lyons in the centre, those of Marseilles in the south, the +Girondists in one part of the west, the Vendeans in the other, and while +twenty thousand Piedmontese were invading France. The military reaction +which, after the brilliant campaigns of Argonne and Belgium, had taken +place, chiefly owing to the disagreement between Dumouriez and the +Jacobins, between the army and the government, had manifested itself in a +most disastrous manner since the defection of the commander-in-chief. +There was no longer unity of operation, enthusiasm in the troops, or +agreement between the convention, occupied with its quarrels, and the +discouraged generals. The remains of Dumouriez's army had assembled at the +camp at Famars, under the command of Dampierre; but they had been obliged +to retire, after a defeat, under the cannon of Bouchain. Dampierre was +killed. The frontier from Dunkirk to Givet was threatened by superior +forces. Custine was promptly called from the Moselle to the army of the +north, but his presence did not restore affairs. Valenciennes, the key to +France, was taken; Conde shared the same fate; the army, driven from +position to position, retired beyond the Scarpe, before Arras, the last +post between the Scarpe and Paris. Mayence, on the other side, sorely +pressed by the enemy and by famine, gave up all hope of being assisted by +the army of the Moselle, reduced to inaction; and despairing of being able +to hold out long, capitulated. Lastly, the English Government, seeing that +Paris and the departments were distressed by famine, after the 31st of May +and the 2nd of June, pronounced all the ports of France in a state of +blockade, and that all neutral ships attempting to bring a supply of +provisions would be confiscated. This measure, new to the annals of +history, and destined to starve an entire people, three months afterwards +originated the law of the _maximum_. The situation of the republic could +not be worse. + +The convention was, as it were, taken by surprise. It was disorganized, +because emerging from a struggle, and because the conquerors had not had +time to establish themselves. After the 2nd of June, before the danger +became so pressing both on the frontiers and in the departments, the +Mountain had sent commissioners in every direction, and immediately turned +its attention to the constitution, which had so long been expected, and +from which it entertained great hopes. The Girondists had wished to decree +it before the 21st of January, in order to save Louis XVI., by +substituting legal order for the revolutionary state of things; they +returned to the subject previous to the 31st of May, in order to prevent +their own ruin. But the Mountain, on two occasions, had diverted the +assembly from this discussion by two coups d'etat, the trial of Louis +XVI., and the elimination of the Gironde. Masters of the field, they now +endeavoured to secure the republicans by decreeing the constitution. +Herault de Sechelles was the legislator of the Mountain, as Condorcet had +been of the Gironde. In a few days, this new constitution was adopted in +the convention, and submitted to the approval of the primary assemblies. +It is easy to conceive its nature, with the ideas that then prevailed +respecting democratic government. The constituent assembly was considered +as aristocratical: the law it had established was regarded as a violation +of the rights of the people, because it imposed conditions for the +exercise of political rights; because it did not recognise the most +absolute equality; because it had deputies and magistrates appointed by +electors, and these electors by the people; because, in some cases, it put +limits to the national sovereignty, by excluding a portion of active +citizens from high public functions, and the proletarians from the +functions of acting citizens; finally, because, instead of fixing on +population as the only basis of political rights, it combined it, in all +its operations, with property. The constitutional law of 1793 established +the pure regime of the multitude: it not only recognised the people as the +source of all power, but also delegated the exercise of it to the people; +an unlimited sovereignty; extreme mobility in the magistracy; direct +elections, in which every one could vote; primary assemblies, that could +meet without convocation, at given times, to elect representatives and +control their acts; a national assembly, to be renewed annually, and +which, properly speaking, was only a committee of the primary assemblies; +such was this constitution. As it made the multitude govern, and as it +entirely disorganized authority, it was impracticable at all times; but +especially in a moment of general war. The Mountain, instead of extreme +democracy, needed a stern dictatorship. The constitution was suspended as +soon as made, and the revolutionary government strengthened and maintained +until peace was achieved. + +Both during the discussion of the constitution and its presentation to the +primary assemblies, the Mountain learned the danger which threatened them. +These daring men, having three or four parties to put down in the +interior, several kinds of civil war to terminate, the disasters of the +armies to repair, and all Europe to repel, were not alarmed at their +position. The representatives of the forty-four thousand municipalities +came to accept the constitution. Admitted to the bar of the assembly, +after making known the assent of the people, they required _the arrest of +all suspected persons, and a levy en masse of the people_. "Well," +exclaimed Danton, "let us respond to their wishes. The deputies of the +primary assemblies have just taken the initiative among us, in the way of +inspiring terror! I demand that the convention, which ought now to be +penetrated with a sense of its dignity, for it has just been invested with +the entire national power, I demand that it do now, by a decree, invest +the primary assemblies with the right of supplying the state with arms, +provisions, and ammunition; of making an appeal to the people, of exciting +the energy of citizens, and of raising four hundred thousand men. It is +with cannon-balls that we must declare the constitution to our foes! Now +is the time to take the last great oath, that we will destroy tyranny, or +perish!" This oath was immediately taken by all the deputies and citizens +present. A few days after, Barrere, in the name of the committee of public +safety, which was composed of revolutionary members, and which became the +centre of operations and the government of the assembly, proposed measures +still more general: "Liberty," said he, "has become the creditor of every +citizen; some owe her their industry; others their fortune; these their +counsel; those their arms; all owe her their blood. Accordingly, all the +French, of every age and of either sex, are summoned by their country to +defend liberty; all faculties, physical or moral; all means, political or +commercial; all metal, all the elements are her tributaries. Let each +maintain his post in the national and military movement about to take +place. The young men will fight; the married men will forge arms, +transport the baggage and artillery, and prepare provisions; the women +will make tents and clothes for the soldiers, and exercise their +hospitable care in the asylums of the wounded; children will make lint +from old linen; and the aged, resuming the mission they discharged among +the ancients, shall cause themselves to be carried to the public places, +where they shall excite the courage of the young warriors, and propagate +the doctrine of hatred to kings, and the unity of the republic. National +buildings shall be converted into barracks, public squares into workshops; +the ground of the cellars will serve for the preparation of saltpetre; all +saddle horses shall be placed in requisition for the cavalry; all draught +horses for the artillery; fowling-pieces, pistols, swords and pikes, +belonging to individuals, shall be employed in the service of the +interior. The republic being but a large city, in a state of necessity, +France must be converted into a vast camp." + +The measures proposed by Barrere were at once decreed. All Frenchmen, from +eighteen to five-and-twenty, took arms, the armies were recruited by +levies of men, and supported by levies of provisions. The republic had +very soon fourteen armies, and twelve hundred thousand soldiers. France, +while it became a camp and a workshop for the republicans, became at the +same time a prison for those who did not accept the republic. While +marching against avowed enemies, it was thought necessary to make sure of +secret foes, and the famous law, _des suspects_, was passed. All +foreigners were arrested, on the ground of their hostile machinations, and +the partisans of constitutional monarchy and a limited republic were +imprisoned, to be kept close, until the peace was effected. At the time, +this was so far only a reasonable measure of precaution. The bourgeoisie, +the mercantile people, and the middle classes, furnished prisoners after +the 31st of May, as the nobility and clergy had done after the 10th of +August. A revolutionary army of six thousand soldiers and a thousand +artillerymen was formed for the interior. Every indigent citizen was +allowed forty sous a day, to enable him to be present at the sectionary +meetings. Certificates of citizenship were delivered, in order to make +sure of the opinions of all who co-operated in the revolutionary movement. +The functionaries were placed under the surveillance of the clubs, a +revolutionary committee was formed in each section, and thus they prepared +to face the enemy on all sides, both abroad and at home. + +The insurgents in Calvados were easily suppressed; at the very first +skirmish at Vernon, the insurgent troops fled. Wimpfen endeavoured to +rally them in vain. The moderate class, those who had taken up the defence +of the Girondists, displayed little ardour or activity. When the +constitution was accepted by the other departments, it saw the opportunity +for admitting that it had been in error, when it thought it was taking +arms against a mere factious minority. This retractation was made at Caen, +which had been the headquarters of the revolt. The Mountain commissioners +did not sully this first victory with executions. General Carteaux, on the +other hand, marched at the head of some troops against the sectionary army +of the south; he defeated its force, pursued it to Marseilles, entered the +town after it, and Provence would have been brought into subjection like +Calvados, if the royalists, who had taken refuge at Toulon, after their +defeat, had not called in the English to their aid, and placed in their +hands this key to France. Admiral Hood entered the town in the name of +Louis XVII., whom he proclaimed king, disarmed the fleet, sent for eight +thousand Spaniards by sea, occupied the surrounding forts, and forced +Carteaux, who was advancing against Toulon, to fall back on Marseilles. + +Notwithstanding this check, the conventionalists succeeded in isolating +the insurrection, and this was a great point. The Mountain commissioners +had made their entry into the rebel capitals; Robert Lindet into Caen; +Tallien into Bordeaux; Barras and Freron into Marseilles. Only two towns +remained to be taken--Toulon and Lyons. + +A simultaneous attack from the south, west, and centre was no longer +apprehended, and in the interior the enemy was only on the defensive. +Lyons was besieged by Kellermann, general of the army of the Alps; three +corps pressed the town on all sides. The veteran soldiers of the Alps, the +revolutionary battalions and the newly-levied troops, reinforced the +besiegers every day. The people of Lyons defended themselves with all the +courage of despair. At first, they relied on the assistance of the +insurgents of the south; but these having been repulsed by Carteaux, the +Lyonnais placed their last hope in the army of Piedmont, which attempted a +diversion in their favour, but was beaten by Kellermann. Pressed still +more energetically, they saw their first positions carried. Famine began +to be felt, and courage forsook them. The royalist leaders, convinced of +the inutility of longer resistance, left the town, and the republican army +entered the walls, where they awaited the orders of the convention. A few +months after, Toulon itself, defended by veteran troops and formidable +fortifications, fell into the power of the republicans. The battalions of +the army of Italy, reinforced by those which the taking of Lyons left +disposable, pressed the place closely. After repeated attacks and +prodigies of skill and valour, they made themselves masters of it, and the +capture of Toulon finished what that of Lyons had begun. + +Everywhere the convention was victorious. The Vendeans had failed in their +attempt upon Nantes, after having lost many men, and their general-in- +chief, Cathelineau. This attack put an end to the aggressive and +previously promising movement of the Vendean insurrection. The royalists +repassed the Loire, abandoned Saumur, and resumed their former +cantonments. They were, however, still formidable; and the republicans, +who pursued them, were again beaten in La Vendee. General Biron, who had +succeeded general Berruyer, unsuccessfully continued the war with small +bodies of troops; his moderation and defective system of attack caused him +to be replaced by Canclaux and Rossignol, who were not more fortunate than +he. There were two leaders, two armies, and two centres of operation--the +one at Nantes, and the other at Saumur, placed under contrary influences. +General Canclaux could not agree with general Rossignol, nor the moderate +Mountain commissioner Philippeaux with Bourbotte, the commissioner of the +committee of public safety; and this attempt at invasion failed like the +preceding attempts, for want of concert in plan and action. The committee +of public safety soon remedied this, by appointing one sole general-in- +chief, Lechelle, and by introducing war on a large scale into La Vendee. +This new method, aided by the garrison of Mayence, consisting of seventeen +thousand veterans, who, relieved from operations against the allied +nations after the capitulation, were employed in the interior, entirely +changed the face of the war. The royalists underwent four consecutive +defeats, two at Chatillon, two at Cholet. Lescure, Bonchamps, and d'Elbee +were mortally wounded, and the insurgents, completely beaten in Upper +Vendee, and fearing that they should be exterminated if they took refuge +in Lower Vendee, determined to leave their country to the number of eighty +thousand persons. This emigration through Brittany, which they hoped to +arouse to insurrection, became fatal to them. Repulsed before Granville, +utterly routed at Mans, they were destroyed at Savenay, and barely a few +thousand men, the wreck of this vast emigration, returned to Vendee. These +disasters, irreparable for the royalist cause, the taking of the island of +Noirmoutiers from Charette, the dispersion of the troops of that leader, +the death of La Rochejaquelin, rendered the republicans masters of the +country. The committee of public safety, thinking, not without reason, +that its enemies were beaten but not subjugated, adopted a terrible system +of extermination to prevent them from rising again. General Thurreau +surrounded Vendee with sixteen entrenched camps; twelve moveable columns, +called the _infernal columns_, overran the country in every direction, +sword and fire in hand, scoured the woods, dispersed the assemblies, and +diffused terror throughout this unhappy country. + +The foreign armies had also been driven back from the frontiers they had +invaded. After having taken Valenciennes and Conde, blockaded Maubeuge and +Le Quesnoy, the enemy advanced on Cassel, Hondschoote, and Furnes, under +the command of the duke of York. The committee of public safety, +dissatisfied with Custine, who was further regarded with suspicion as a +Girondist, superseded him by general Houchard. The enemy, hitherto +successful, was defeated at Hondschoote, and compelled to retreat. The +military reaction began with the daring measures of the committee of +public safety. Houchard himself was dismissed. Jourdan took the command of +the army of the north, gained the important victory of Watignies over the +prince of Coburg, raised the siege of Maubeuge, and resumed the offensive +on that frontier. Similar successes took place on all the others. The +immortal campaign of 1793-1794 opened. What Jourdan had done with the army +of the north, Hoche and Pichegru did with the army of the Moselle, and +Kellermann with that of the Alps. The enemy was repulsed, and kept in +check on all sides. Then took place, after the 31st of May, that which had +followed the 10th of August. The want of union between the generals and +the leaders of the assembly was removed; the revolutionary movement, which +had slackened, increased; and victories recommenced. Armies have had their +crises, as well as parties, and these crises have brought about successes +or defeat, always by the same law. + +In 1792, at the beginning of the war, the generals were +constitutionalists, and the ministers Girondists. Rochambeau, Lafayette, +and Luckner, did not at all agree with Dumouriez, Servan, Claviere, and +Roland. There was, besides, little enthusiasm in the army; it was beaten. +After the 10th of August, the Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, +Kellermann, and Dillon, replaced the constitutionalist generals. There was +unity of views, confidence, and co-operation, between the army and the +government. The catastrophe of the 10th of August augmented this energy, +by increasing the necessity for victory; and the results were the plan of +the campaign of Argonne, the victories of Valmy and Jemappes, and the +invasion of Belgium. The struggle between the Mountain and the Gironde, +between Dumouriez and the Jacobins, again created discord between the army +and government, and destroyed the confidence of the troops, who +experienced immediate and numerous reverses. There was defection on the +part of Dumouriez, as there had been withdrawal on the part of Lafayette. +After the 31st of May, which overthrew the Gironde party, after the +committee of public safety had become established, and had replaced the +Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, Houchard, and Dillon, by the +Mountain generals, Jourdan, Hoche, Pichegru, and Moreau; after it had +restored the revolutionary movement by the daring measures we have +described, the campaign of Argonne and of Belgium was renewed in that of +1794, and the genius of Carnot equalled that of Dumouriez, if it did not +surpass it. + +During this war, the committee of public safety permitted a frightful +number of executions. Armies confine themselves to slaughter in battle; it +is not so with parties, who, under violent circumstances, fearing to see +the combat renewed after the victory, secure themselves from new attacks +by inexorable rigour. The usage of all governments being to make their own +preservation a matter of right, they regard those who attack them as +enemies so long as they fight, as conspirators when they are defeated; and +thus destroy them alike by means of war and of law. + +All these views at once guided the policy of the committee of public +safety, a policy of vengeance, of terror, and of self-preservation. This +was the maxim upon which it proceeded in reference to insurgent towns: +"The name of Lyons," said Barrere, "must no longer exist. You will call it +_Ville Affranchie_, and upon the ruins of that famous city there shall be +raised a monument to attest the crime and the punishment of the enemies of +liberty. Its history shall be told in these words: '_Lyons warred against +liberty; Lyons exists no more_.'" To realise this terrible anathema, the +committee sent to this unfortunate city Collot-d'Herbois, Fouche, and +Couthon, who slaughtered the inhabitants with grape shot and demolished +its buildings. The insurgents of Toulon underwent at the hands of the +representatives, Barras and Freron, a nearly similar fate. At Caen, +Marseilles, and Bordeaux, the executions were less general and less +violent, because they were proportioned to the gravity of the +insurrection, which had not been undertaken in concert with foreign foes. + +In the interior, the dictatorial government struck at all the parties with +which it was at war, in the persons of their greatest members. The +condemnation of queen Marie-Antoinette was directed against Europe; that +of the twenty-two against the Girondists; of the wise Bailly against the +old constitutionalists; lastly, that of the duke of Orleans against +certain members of the Mountain who were supposed to have plotted his +elevation. The unfortunate widow of Louis XVI. was first sentenced to +death by this sanguinary revolutionary tribunal. The proscribed of the 2nd +of June soon followed her. She perished on the 16th of October, and the +Girondist deputies on the 31st. They were twenty-one in number: Brissot, +Vergniaud, Gensonne, Fonfrede, Ducos, Valaze, Lasource, Sillery, Gardien, +Carra, Duperret, Duprat, Fauchet, Beauvais, Duchatel, Mainvielle, Lacaze, +Boileau, Lehardy, Antiboul, and Vigee. Seventy-three of their colleagues, +who had protested against their arrest, were also imprisoned, but the +committee did not venture to inflict death upon them. + +During the debates, these illustrious prisoners displayed uniform and +serene courage. Vergniaud raised his eloquent voice for a moment, but in +vain. Valaze stabbed himself with a poignard on hearing the sentence, and +Lasource said to the judges: "I die at a time when the people have lost +their senses; you will die when they recover them." They went to execution +displaying all the stoicism of the times, singing the _Marseillaise_, and +applying it to their own case: + + "Allons, enfants de la patrie, + Le jour de gloire est arrive: + Contre nous de la tyrannie + Le couteau sanglant est leve," etc. + +Nearly all the other leaders of this party had a violent end. Salles, +Guadet, and Barbaroux, were discovered in the grottos of Saint-Emilion, +near Bordeaux, and died on the scaffold. Petion and Buzot, after wandering +about some time, committed suicide; they were found, dead in a field, half +devoured by wolves. Rabaud-Saint-Etienne was betrayed by an old friend; +Madame Roland was also condemned to death, and displayed the courage of a +Roman matron. Her husband, on hearing of her death, left his place of +concealment, and killed himself on the high road. Condorcet, outlawed soon +after the 2nd of June, was taken while endeavouring to escape, and saved +himself from the executioner's knife only by poison. Louvet, Kervelegan, +Lanjuinais, Henri La Riviere, Lesage, La Reveillere-Lepeaux, were the only +leading Girondists who, in secure retreat, awaited the end of the furious +storm. + +The revolutionary government was formed; it was proclaimed by the +convention on the 10th of October. Before the 31st of May, power had been +nowhere, neither in the ministry, nor in the commune, nor in the +convention. It was natural that power should become concentrated in this +extreme situation of affairs, and at a moment when the need for unity and +promptitude of action was deeply felt. The assembly being the most central +and extensive power, the dictatorship would as naturally become placed in +its bosom, be exercised there by the dominant faction, and in that faction +by a few men. The committee of public safety of the convention created on +the 6th of April, in order, as the name indicates, to provide for the +defence of the revolution by extraordinary measures, was in itself a +complete framework of government. Formed during the divisions of the +Mountain and the Gironde, it was composed of neutral members of the +convention till the 31st of May; and at its first renewal, of members of +the extreme Mountain. Barrere remained in it; but Robespierre acceded, and +his party dominated in it by Saint-Just, Couthon, Collot-d'Herbois, and +Billaud-Varennes. He set aside some Dantonists who still remained in it, +such as Herault de Sechelles and Robert Lindet, gained over Barrere, and +usurped the lead by assuming the direction of the public mind and of +police. His associates divided the various departments among themselves. +Saint-Just undertook the surveillance and denouncing of parties; Couthon, +the violent propositions which required to be softened in form; Billaud- +Varennes and Collot-d'Herbois directed the missions into the departments; +Carnot took the war department; Cambon, the exchequer; Prieur de la Cote- +d'Or, Prieur de la Marne, and several others, the various branches of +internal administration; and Barrere was the daily orator, the panegyrist +ever prepared, of the dictatorial committee. Below these, assisting in the +detail of the revolutionary administration, and of minor measures, was +placed the committee of general safety, composed in the same spirit as the +great committee, having, like it, twelve members, who were re-eligible +every three months, and always renewed in their office. + +The whole revolutionary power was lodged in the hands of these men. Saint- +Just, in proposing the establishment of the decemviral power until the +restoration of peace, did not conceal the motives nor the object of this +dictatorship. "You must no longer show any lenity to the enemies of the +new order of things," said he. "Liberty must triumph at any cost. In the +present circumstances of the republic, the constitution cannot be +established; it would guarantee impunity to attacks on our liberty, +because it would be deficient in the violence necessary to restrain them. +The present government is not sufficiently free to act. You are not near +enough to strike in every direction at the authors of these attacks; the +sword of the law must extend everywhere; your arm must be felt +everywhere." Thus was created that terrible power, which first destroyed +the enemies of the Mountain, then the Mountain and the Commune, and, +lastly, itself. The committee did everything in the name of the +convention, which it used as an instrument. It nominated and dismissed +generals, ministers, representatives, commissioners, judges, and juries. +It assailed factions; it took the initiative in all measures. Through its +commissioners, armies and generals were dependent upon it, and it ruled +the departments with sovereign sway. By means of the law touching +suspected persons, it disposed of men's liberties; by the revolutionary +tribunal, of men's lives; by levies and the _maximum_, of property; by +decrees of accusation in the terrified convention, of its own members. +Lastly, its dictatorship was supported by the multitude, who debated in +the clubs, ruled in the revolutionary committees: whose services it paid +by a daily stipend, and whom it fed with the _maximum_. The multitude +adhered to a system which inflamed its passions, exaggerated its +importance, assigned it the first place, and appeared to do everything +for it. + +The innovators, separated by war and by their laws from all states and +from all forms of government, determined to widen the separation. By an +unprecedented revolution they established an entirely new era; they +changed the divisions of the year, the names of the months and days; they +substituted a republican for the Christian calendar, the decade for the +week, and fixed the day of rest not on the sabbath, but on the tenth day. +The new era dated from the 22nd of September, 1792, the epoch of the +foundation of the republic. There were twelve equal months of thirty days, +which began on the 22nd of September, in the following order:-- +_Vendemiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire_, for the autumn; _Nivose, Pluviose, +Ventose_, for the winter; _Germinal, Floreal, Prairial_, for the spring; +_Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor_, for the summer. Each month had three +decades, each decade ten days, and each day was named from its order in +the decade:--_Primidi, Duodi, Tridi, Quartidi, Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, +Octidi, Nonidi, Decadi_. The surplus five days were placed at the end of +the year; they received the name of _Sans-culottides_, and were +consecrated, the first, to the festival of genius; the second, to that of +labour; the third, to that of actions; the fourth, to that of rewards; the +fifth, to that of opinion. The constitution of 1793 led to the +establishment of the republican calendar, and the republican calendar to +the abolition of Christian worship. We shall soon see the commune and the +committee of public safety each proposing a religion of its own; the +commune, the worship of reason; the committee of public safety, the +worship of the Supreme Being. But we must first mention a new struggle +between the authors of the catastrophe of the 31st of May themselves. + +The Commune and the Mountain had effected this revolution against the +Gironde, and the committee alone had benefited by it. During the five +months from June to November, the committee, having taken all the measures +of defence, had naturally become the first power in the republic. The +actual struggle being, as it were, over, the commune sought to sway the +committee, and the Mountain to throw off its yoke. The most intense +manifestation of the revolution was found in the municipal faction. With +an aim opposed to that of the committee of public safety, it desired +instead of the conventional dictatorship, the most extreme local +democracy; and instead of religion, the consecration of materialism. +Political anarchy and religious atheism were the symbols of this party, +and the means by which it aimed at establishing its own rule. A revolution +is the effect of the different systems which have agitated the age which +has originated it. Thus, during the continuance of the crisis in France, +ultra-montane catholicism was represented by the nonjuring clergy; +Jansenism by the constitutionist clergy; philosophical deism by the +worship of the Supreme Being, instituted by the committee of public +safety; and the materialism of Holbach's school by the worship of Reason +and of Nature, decreed by the commune. It was the same with political +opinions, from the royalty of the _Ancien Regime_ to the unlimited +democracy of the municipal faction. The latter had lost, in Marat, its +principal support, its true leader, while the committee of public safety +still retained Robespierre. It had at its head men who enjoyed great +popularity with the lower classes; Chaumette, and his substitute Hebert, +were its political leaders; Ronsin, commandant of the revolutionary army, +its general; the atheist, Anacharsis Clootz, its apostle. In the sections +it relied on the revolutionary committees, in which there were many +obscure foreigners, supposed, and not without probability, to be agents of +England, sent to destroy the republic by driving it into anarchy and +excess. The club of the Cordeliers was composed entirely of its partisans. +The _Vieux Cordeliers_ of Danton, who had contributed so powerfully to the +10th of August, and who constituted the commune of that period, had +entered the government and the convention, and had been replaced in the +club by members whom they contemptuously designated the _patriotes de la +troisieme requisition_. + +Hebert's faction, which, in a work entitled _Pere Duchesne_, popularised +obscene language and low and cruel sentiments, and which added derision of +the victims to the executions of party, in a short time made terrible +progress. It compelled the bishop of Paris and his vicars to abjure +Christianity at the bar of the convention, and forced the convention to +decree, that _the worship of Reason should be substituted for the catholic +religion_. The churches were shut up or converted into temples of reason, +and fetes were established in every town, which became scandalous scenes +of atheism. The committee of public safety grew alarmed at the power of +this ultra-revolutionary faction, and hastened to stop and to destroy it. +Robespierre soon attacked it in the assembly, (15th Frimaire, year II., +5th Dec., 1793). "Citizens, representatives of the people," said he, "the +kings in alliance against the republic are making war against us with +armies and intrigues; we will oppose their armies by braver ones; their +intrigues, by vigilance and the terror of national justice. Ever intent on +renewing their secret plots, in proportion as they are destroyed by the +hand of patriotism, ever skilful in directing the arms of liberty against +liberty itself, the emissaries of the enemies of France are now labouring +to overthrow the republic by republicanism, and to rekindle civil war by +philosophy." He classed the ultra-revolutionists of the commune with the +external enemies of the republic. "It is your part," said he to the +convention, "to prevent the follies and extravagancies which coincide with +the projects of foreign conspiracy. I require you to prohibit particular +authorities (the commune) from serving our enemies by rash measures, and +that no armed force be allowed to interfere in questions of religious +opinions." And the convention, which had applauded the abjurations at the +demand of the commune, decreed, on Robespierre's motion, that _all +violence and all measures opposed to the liberty of religion are +prohibited_. + +The committee of public safety was too strong not to triumph over the +commune; but, at the same time, it had to resist the moderate party of the +Mountain, which demanded the cessation of the revolutionary government and +the dictatorship of the committees. The revolutionary government had only +been created to restrain, the dictatorship to conquer; and as Danton and +his party no longer considered restraint and victory essential, they +sought to establish legal order, and the independence of the convention; +they wished to throw down the faction of the commune, to stop the +operation of the revolutionary tribunal, to empty the prisons now filled +with suspected persons, to reduce or destroy the powers of the committees. +This project in favour of clemency, humanity, and legal government, was +conceived by Danton, Philippeaux, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre-d'Eglantine, +Lacroix, general Westermann, and all the friends of Danton. Before all +things they wanted _that the republic should secure the field of battle_; +but after conquest, they wished to conciliate. + +This party, become moderate, had renounced power; it had withdrawn from +the government, or suffered itself to be excluded by Robespierre's party. +Moreover, since the 31st of May, zealous patriots had considered Danton's +conduct equivocal. He had acted mildly on that day, and had subsequently +disapproved the condemnation of the twenty-two. They began to reproach him +with his disorderly life, his venal passions, his change of party, and +untimely moderation. To avoid the storm, he had retired to his native +place, Arcis-sur-Aube, and there he seemed to have forgotten all in +retirement. During his absence, the Hebert faction made immense progress; +and the friends of Danton hastily summoned him to their aid. He returned +at the beginning of Frimaire (December). Philippeaux immediately denounced +the manner in which the Vendean war had been carried on; general +Westermann, who had greatly distinguised himself in that war, and who had +just been dismissed by the committee of public safety, supported +Philippeaux, and Camille Desmoulins published the first numbers of his +_Vieux Cordelier_. This brilliant and fiery young man had followed all the +movements of the revolution, from the 14th of July to the 31st of May, +approving all its exaggerations and all its measures. His heart, however, +was gentle and tender, though his opinions were violent, and his humour +often bitter. He had praised the revolutionary regime because he believed +it indispensable for the establishment of the republic; he had co-operated +in the ruin of the Gironde, because he feared the dissensions of the +republic. For the republic he had sacrificed even his scruples and the +desires of his heart, even justice and humanity; he had given all to his +party, thinking that he gave it to the republic; but now he was able +neither to praise nor to keep silent; his energetic activity, which he had +employed for the republic, he now directed against those who were ruining +it by bloodshed. In his _Vieux Cordelier_ he spoke of liberty with the +depth of Machiavelli, and of men with the wit of Voltaire. But he soon +raised the fanatics and dictators against him, by calling the government +to sentiments of moderation, compassion, and justice. + +He drew a striking picture of present tyranny, under the name of a past +tyranny. He selected his examples from Tacitus. "At this period," said he, +"words became state crimes: there wanted but one step more to render mere +glances, sadness, pity, sighs--even silence itself criminal. It soon +became high-treason, or an anti-revolutionary crime, for Cremutius Cordus +to call Brutus and Cassius the last of the Romans; a counter-revolutionary +crime in a descendant of Cassius to possess a portrait of his ancestor; a +counter-revolutionary crime in Mamercus Scaurus to write a tragedy in +which there were lines capable of a double meaning; a counter- +revolutionary crime in Torquatus Silanus to be extravagant; a counter- +revolutionary crime in Pomponius, because a friend of Sejanus had sought +an asylum in one of his country houses; a counter-revolutionary crime to +bewail the misfortunes of the time, for this was accusing the government; +a counter-revolutionary crime for the consul Fusius Geminus to bewail the +sad death of his son. + +"If a man would escape death himself, it became necessary to rejoice at +the death of his friend or relative. Under Nero, many went to return +thanks to the gods for their relatives whom he had put to death. At least, +an assumed air of contentment was necessary; for even fear was sufficient +to render one guilty. Everything gave the tyrant umbrage. If a citizen was +popular, he was considered a rival to the prince, and capable of exciting +a civil war, and he was suspected. Did he, on the contrary, shun +popularity, and keep by his fireside; his retired mode of life drew +attention, and he was suspected. Was a man rich; it was feared the people +might be corrupted by his bounty, and he was suspected. Was he poor; it +became necessary to watch him closely, as none are so enterprising as +those who have nothing, and he was suspected. If his disposition chanced +to be sombre and melancholy, and his dress neglected, his distress was +supposed to be occasioned by the state of public affairs, and he was +suspected. If a citizen indulged in good living to the injury of his +digestion, he was said to do so because the prince lived ill, and he was +suspected. If virtuous and austere in his manners, he was thought to +censure the court, and he was suspected. Was he philosopher, orator, or +poet; it was unbecoming to have more celebrity than the government, and he +was suspected. Lastly, if any one had obtained a reputation in war, his +talent only served to make him dangerous; it became necessary to get rid +of the general, or to remove him speedily from the army; he was suspected. + +"The natural death of a celebrated man, or of even a public official, was +so rare, that historians handed it down to posterity as an event worthy to +be remembered in remote ages. The death of so many innocent and worthy +citizens seemed less a calamity than the insolence and disgraceful +opulence of their murderers and denouncers. Every day the sacred and +inviolable informer made his triumphant entry into the palace of the dead, +and received some rich heritage. All these denouncers assumed illustrious +names, and called themselves Cotta, Scipio, Regulus, Saevius, Severus. To +distinguish himself by a brilliant debut, the marquis Serenus brought an +accusation of anti-revolutionary practices against his aged father, +already in exile, after which he proudly called himself Brutus. Such were +the accusers, such the judges; the tribunals, the protectors of life and +property, became slaughter-houses, in which theft and murder bore the +names of punishment and confiscation." + +Camille Desmoulins did not confine himself to attacking the revolutionary +and dictatorial regime; he required its abolition. He demanded the +establishment of a committee of mercy, as the only way of terminating the +revolution and pacifying parties. His journal produced a great effect upon +public opinion; it inspired some hope and courage: Have you read the +_Vieux Cordelier_? was asked on all sides. At the same time Fabre- +d'Eglantine, Lacroix, and Bourdon de l'Oise, excited the convention to +throw off the yoke of the committee; they sought to unite the Mountain and +the Right, in order to restore the freedom and power of the assembly. As +the committees were all powerful, they tried to ruin them by degrees, the +best course to follow. It was important to change public opinion, and to +encourage the assembly, in order to support themselves by a moral force +against revolutionary force, by the power of the convention against the +power of the committees. The Dantonist in the Mountain endeavoured to +detach Robespierre from the other Decemvirs; Billaud-Varennes, Collot- +d'Herbois and Saint-Just, alone appeared to them invincibly attached to +the Reign of Terror. Barrere adhered to it through weakness--Couthon from +his devotion to Robespierre. They hoped to gain over the latter to the +cause of moderation, through his friendship for Danton, his ideas of +order, his austere habits, his profession of public virtue, and his pride. +He had defended seventy-three imprisoned Girondist deputies against the +committees and the Jacobins; he had dared to attack Clootz and Hebert as +ultra-revolutionists; and he had induced the convention to decree the +existence of the Supreme Being. Robespierre was the most popularly +renowned man of that time; he was, in a measure, the moderator of the +republic and the dictator of opinion: by gaining him, they hoped to +overcome both the committees and the commune, without compromising the +cause of the revolution. + +Danton saw him on his return from Arcis-sur-Aube, and they seemed to +understand one another; attacked at the Jacobins, he was defended by him. +Robespierre himself read and corrected the _Vieux Cordelier_, and approved +of it. At the same time he professed some principles of moderation; but +then all those who exercised the revolutionary government, or who thought +it indispensable, became aroused. Billaud-Varennes and Saint-Just openly +maintained the policy of the committees. Desmoulins had said of the +latter: "He so esteems himself, that he carries his head on his shoulders +with as much respect as if it were the holy sacrament." "And I," replied +Saint-Just, "will make him carry his like another Saint Denis." Collot- +d'Herbois, who was on a mission, arrived while matters were in this state. +He protected the faction of the anarchists, who had been intimidated for a +moment, and who derived fresh audacity from his presence. The Jacobins +expelled Camille Desmoulins from their society, and Barrere attacked him +at the convention in the name of the government. Robespierre himself was +not spared; he was accused of _moderatism_, and murmurs began to circulate +against him. + +However, his credit being immense, as they could not attack or conquer +without him, he was sought on both sides. Taking advantage of this +superior position, he adopted neither party, and sought to put down the +leaders of each, one after the other. + +Under these circumstances, he wished to sacrifice the commune and the +anarchists; the committees wished to sacrifice the Mountain and the +Moderates. They came to an understanding: Robespierre gave up Danton, +Desmoulins, and their friends to the members of the committee; and the +members of the committee gave up Hebert, Clootz, Chaumette, Ronsin, and +their accomplices. By favouring the Moderates at first, he prepared the +ruin of the anarchists, and he attained two objects favourable to his +domination or to his pride--he overturned a formidable faction, and he got +rid of a revolutionary reputation, the rival of his own. + +Motives of public safety, it must be admitted, mingled with these +combinations of party. At this period of general fury against the +republic, and of victories not yet definitive on its part, the committees +did not think the moment for peace with Europe and the internal +dissentients had arrived; and they considered it impossible to carry on +the war without a dictatorship. They, moreover, regarded the Hebertists as +an obscene faction, which corrupted the people, and served the foreign foe +by anarchy; and the Dantonists as a party whose political moderation and +private immorality compromised and dishonoured the republic. The +government accordingly proposed to the assembly, through the medium of +Barrere, the continuation of the war, with additional activity in its +pursuit; while Robespierre, a few days afterwards, demanded the +continuance of the revolutionary government. In the Jacobins he had +already expressed himself opposed to the _Vieux Cordelier_, which he had +hitherto supported. He rejected legal government in the following terms:-- + +"Without," said he, "all the tyrants surround us; within, all the friends +of tyranny conspire against us; they will continue to conspire till crime +is left without hope. We must destroy the infernal and external enemies of +the republic or perish with it. Now, in such a situation, the first maxim +of your policy should be, to lead the people by reason, and the enemies of +the people by terror. If, during peace, virtue be the mainspring of a +popular government, its mainspring in the times of revolution is both +virtue and terror; virtue, without which terror becomes fatal, terror, +without which virtue is powerless. Subdue, then, the enemies of liberty by +terror; and, as the founders of the republic, you will act rightly. The +government of the revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny." + +In this speech he denounced the _moderates_ and the _ultra- +revolutionists_, as both of them desiring the downfall of the republic. +"They advance," said he, "under different banners and by different roads, +but they advance towards the same goal; that goal is the disorganization +of the popular government, the ruin of the convention, and the triumph of +tyranny. One of these two factions reduces us to weakness, the other +drives us to excesses." He prepared the public mind for their +proscription; and his speech, adopted without discussion, was sent to all +the popular societies, to all the authorities, and to all the armies. + +After this beginning of hostilities, Danton, who had not given up his +connexion with Robespierre, asked for an interview with him. It took place +at the residence of Robespierre himself. They were cold and bitter; Danton +complained violently, and Robespierre was reserved. "I know," said Danton, +"all the hatred the committee bear me; but I do not fear it." "You are +wrong," replied Robespierre; "it entertains no ill designs against you; +but you would do well to have an explanation." "An explanation?" rejoined +Danton, "an explanation? That requires good faith!" Seeing that +Robespierre looked grave at these words, he added: "No doubt it is +necessary to put down the royalists, but we ought only to strike blows +which will benefit the republic; we must not confound the innocent with +the guilty." "And who says," exclaimed Robespierre, sharply, "that an +innocent person has been put to death?" Danton turned to one of his +friends who had accompanied him, and said, with a bitter smile: "What do +you say to this? Not one innocent person has perished!" They then +separated, and all friendship ceased between them. + +A few days afterwards, Saint-Just ascended the tribune, and threatened +more openly than had yet been done all dissentients, moderates, or +anarchists. "Citizens," said he, "you wished for a republic; if you do not +at the same time desire all that constitutes it, you will overwhelm the +people in its ruins. What constitutes a republic is the destruction of all +that is opposed to it. We are guilty towards the republic because we pity +the prisoners; we are guilty towards the republic because we do not desire +virtue; we are guilty to the republic because we do not desire terror. +What is it you want, those of you who do not wish for virtue, that you may +be happy? (The Anarchists.) What is it you want, those of you who do not +wish to employ terror against the wicked? (The Moderates.) What is it you +want, those of you who haunt public places to be seen, and to have it said +of you: 'Do you see such a one pass?' (Danton.) You will perish, those of +you who seek fortune, who assume haggard looks, and affect the patriot +that the foreigner may buy you up, or the government give you a place; you +of the indulgent faction, who seek to save the guilty; you of the foreign +faction, who direct severity against the defenders of the people. Measures +are already taken to secure the guilty; they are hemmed in on all sides. +Let us return thanks to the genius of the French people, that liberty has +triumphed over one of the most dangerous attacks ever meditated against +it. The development of this vast plot, the panic it will create, and the +measures about to be proposed to you, will free the republic and the world +of all the conspirators." + +Saint-Just caused the government to be invested with the most extensive +powers against the conspirators of the commune. He had it decreed that +justice and probity were the order of the day. The anarchists were unable +to adopt any measure of defence; they veiled for a moment the Rights of +Man at the club of the Cordeliers, and they made an attempt at +insurrection, but without vigour or union. The people did not stir, and +the committee caused its commandant, Henriot, to seize the substitute +Hebert, Ronsin, the revolutionary general, Anacharsis Clootz, Monmoro the +orator of the human race, Vincent, etc. They were brought before the +revolutionary tribunal, as _the agents of foreign powers, and, as having +conspired to place a tyrant over the state_. That tyrant was to have been +Pache, under the title of _Grand Juge_. The anarchist leaders lost their +audacity as soon as they were arrested; they defended themselves, and, for +the most part, died, without any display of courage. The committee of +public safety disbanded the revolutionary army, diminished the power of +the sectionary committees, and obliged the commune to appear at the bar of +the convention, and give thanks for the arrest and punishment of the +conspirators, its accomplices. + +It was now time for Danton to defend himself; the proscription, after +striking the commune, threatened him. He was advised to be on his guard, +and to take immediate steps; but not having been able to overturn the +dictatorial power, by arousing public opinion and the assembly by the +means of the public journals, and his friends of the Mountain, on what +could he depend for support? The convention, indeed, was inclined to +favour him and his cause; but it was wholly subject to the revolutionary +power of the committee. Danton having to support him, neither the +government, nor the assembly, nor the commune, nor the clubs, awaited +proscription, without making any effort to avoid it. + +His friends implored him to defend himself. "I would rather," said he, "be +guillotined, than be a guillotiner; besides, my life is not worth the +trouble; and I am sick of the world." "The members of the committee seek +thy death." "Well," he exclaimed, impatiently, "should Billaud, should +Robespierre kill me, they will be execrated as tyrants; Robespierre's +house will be razed to the ground; salt will be strewn upon it; a gallows +will be erected on it, devoted to the vengeance of crime! But my friends +will say of me, that I was a good father, a good friend, a good citizen; +they will not forget me." "Thou mayst avert..." "I would rather be +guillotined than be a guillotiner." "Well, then, thou shouldst depart." +"Depart!" he repeated, curling his lip disdainfully, "depart! Can we carry +our country away on the sole of our shoe?" + +Danton's only resource now was to make trial of his so well known and +potent eloquence, to denounce Robespierre and the committee, and to arouse +the convention against their tyranny. He was earnestly entreated to do +this; but he knew too well how difficult a thing it is to overthrow an +established domination, he knew too well the complete subjection and +terror of the assembly, to rely on the efficacy of such means. He +accordingly waited, thinking, he who had dared so much, that his enemies +would shrink from proscribing him. + +On the 10th of Germinal, he was informed that his arrest was being +discussed in the committee of public safety, and he was again entreated to +save himself by flight. After a moment's reflection, he exclaimed, "They +dare not." During the night his house was surrounded, and he was taken to +the Luxembourg with Camille Desmoulins, Philippeaux, Lacroix, and +Westermann. On his arrival, he accosted with cordiality the prisoners who +crowded round him. "Gentlemen," said he, "I had hoped in a short time to +liberate you, but here I am come to join you, and I know not how the +matter may end." In about an hour he was placed in solitary confinement in +the cell in which Hebert had been imprisoned, and which Robespierre was so +soon to occupy. There, giving way to reflection and regret, he exclaimed: +"It was at this time I instituted the revolutionary tribunal. I implore +forgiveness from God and man for having done so; but I designed it not for +the scourge of humanity." + +His arrest gave rise to general excitement, to a sombre anxiety. The +following day, at the opening of the sittings in the assembly, men spoke +in whispers; they inquired with alarm, what was the pretext for this new +proceeding against the representatives of the people. "Citizens," at +length exclaimed Legendre, "four members of this assembly have been +arrested during the night. Danton is one, I know not the others. Citizens, +I declare that I believe Danton to be as pure as myself, yet he is in a +dungeon. They feared, no doubt, that his replies would overturn the +accusations brought against him: I move, therefore, that before you listen +to any report, you send for the prisoners, and hear them." This motion was +favourably received, and inspired the assembly with momentary courage: a +few members desired it might be put to the vote, but this state of things +did not last long. Robespierre ascended the tribune. "By the excitement, +such as for a long time has been unknown in this the assembly," said he, +"by the sensation the words of the speaker you have just heard have +produced, it is easy to see that a question of great interest is before +us; a question whether two or three individuals shall be preferred to the +country. We shall see to-day whether the convention can crush to atoms a +mock idol, long since decayed, or whether its fall shall overwhelm both +the convention and the French people." And a few words from him sufficed +to restore silence and subordination to the assembly, to restrain the +friends of Danton, and to make Legendre himself retract. Soon after, +Saint-Just entered the house, followed by other members of the committees. +He read a long report against the members under arrest, in which he +impugned their opinions, their political conduct, their private life, +their projects; making them appear, by improbable and subtle combinations, +accomplices in every conspiracy, and the servants of every party. The +assembly, after listening without a murmur, with a bewildered sanction +unanimously decreed, and with applause even, the impeachment of Danton and +his friends. Every one sought to gain time with tyranny, and gave up +others' heads to save his own. + +The accused were brought before the revolutionary tribunal; their attitude +was haughty, and full of courage. They displayed an audacity of speech, +and a contempt of their judges, wholly unusual: Danton replied to the +president Dumas, who asked him the customary questions as to his name, his +age, his residence: "I am Danton, tolerably well known in the revolution; +I am thirty-five years old. My residence will soon be nothing. My name +will live in the Pantheon of history." His disdainful or indignant +replies, the cold and measured answers of Lacroix, the austere dignity of +Philippeaux, the vigour of Desmoulins, were beginning to move the people. +But the accused were silenced, under the pretext that they were wanting in +respect to justice, and were immediately condemned without a hearing. "We +are immolated," cried Danton, "to the ambition of a few miserable +brigands, but they will not long enjoy the fruit of their criminal +victory. I draw Robespierre after me--Robespierre will follow me." They +were taken to the Conciergerie, and thence to the scaffold. + +They went to death with the intrepidity usual at that epoch. There were +many troops under arms, and their escort was numerous. The crowd, +generally loud in its applause, was silent. Camille Desmoulins, when in +the fatal cart, was still full of astonishment at his condemnation, which +he could not comprehend. "This, then," said he, "is the reward reserved +for the first apostle of liberty." Danton stood erect, and looked proudly +and calmly around. At the foot of the scaffold he betrayed a momentary +emotion. "Oh, my best beloved--my wife!" he cried, "I shall not see thee +again." Then suddenly interrupting himself: "No weakness, Danton!" Thus +perished the last defenders of humanity and moderation; the last who +sought to promote peace among the conquerors of the revolution and pity +for the conquered. For a long time after them no voice was raised against +the dictatorship of terror; and from one end of France to the other it +struck silent and redoubled blows. The Girondists had sought to prevent +this violent reign,--the Dantonists to stop it; all perished, and the +conquerors had the more victims to strike the more foes arose around them. +In so sanguinary a career, there is no stopping until the tyrant is +himself slain. The Decemvirs, after the definitive fall of the Girondists, +had made _terror_ the order of the day; after the fall of the Hebertists, +_justice_ and _probity_, because these were _impure men of faction_; after +the fall of the Dantonists, _terror_ and _all virtues_, because these +Dantonists were, according to their phraseology, _indulgents and +immorals_. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE DEATH OF DANTON, APRIL, 1794, TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR, +(27TH JULY, 1794) + + +During the four months following the fall of the Danton party, the +committees exercised their authority without opposition or restraint. +Death became the only means of governing, and the republic was given up to +daily and systematic executions. It was then were invented the alleged +conspiracies of the inmates of the prisons, crowded under the law _des +suspects_, or emptied by that of the 22nd Prairial, which might be called +the law _des condamnes;_ then the emissaries of the committee of public +safety entirely replaced in the departments those of the Mountain; and +Carrier, the protege of Billaud, was seen in the west; Maigret, the +protege of Couthon, in the south; and Joseph Lebon, the protege of +Robespierre, in the north. The extermination _en masse_ of the enemies of +the democratic dictatorship, which had already been effected at Lyons and +Toulon by grape-shot, became still more horrible, by the noyades of +Nantes, and the scaffolds of Arras, Paris, and Orange. + +May this example teach men a truth, which for their good ought to be +generally known, that in a revolution all depends on a first refusal and a +first struggle. To effect a pacific innovation, it must not be contested; +otherwise war is declared and the revolution spreads, because the whole +nation is aroused to its defence. When society is thus shaken to its +foundations, it is the most daring who triumph, and instead of wise and +temperate reformers, we find only extreme and inflexible innovators. +Engendered by contest, they maintain themselves by it; with one hand they +fight to maintain their sway, with the other they establish their system +with a view to its consolidation; they massacre in the name of their +doctrines: virtue, humanity, the welfare of the people, all that is +holiest on earth, they use to sanction their executions, and to protect +their dictatorship. Until they become exhausted and fall, all perish +indiscriminately, both the enemies and the partisans of reform. The +tempest dashes a whole nation against the rock of revolution. Inquire what +became of the men of 1789 in 1794, and it will be found that they were all +alike swept away in this vast shipwreck. As soon as one party appeared on +the field of battle, it summoned all the others thither, and all like it +were in turn conquered and exterminated; constitutionalists, Girondists, +the Mountain, and the Decemvirs themselves. At each defeat, the effusion +of blood became greater, and the system of tyranny more violent. The +Decemvirs were the most cruel, because they were the last. + +The committee of public safety, being at once the object of the attacks of +Europe, and of the hatred of so many conquered parties, thought that any +abatement of violence would occasion its destruction; it wished at the +same time to subdue its foes, and to get rid of them. "The dead alone do +not return," said Barrere. "The more freely the social body perspires, the +more healthy it becomes," added Collot-d'Herbois. But the Decemvirs, not +suspecting their power to be ephemeral, aimed at founding a democracy, and +sought in institutions a security for its permanence in the time when they +should cease to employ executions. They possessed in the highest degree +the fanaticism of certain social theories, as the millenarians of the +English revolution, with whom they may be compared, had the fanaticism of +certain religious ideas. The one originated with the people, as the other +looked to God; these desired the most absolute political equality, as +those sought evangelical equality; these aspired to the reign of virtue, +as those to the reign of the saints. Human nature flies to extremes in all +things, and produces, in a religious epoch, democratic Christians--in a +philosophical epoch, political democrats. + +Robespierre and Saint-Just had produced the plan of that democracy, whose +principles they professed in all their speeches; they wished to change the +manners, mind, and customs of France, and to make it a republic after the +manner of the ancients; they sought to establish the dominion of the +people; to have magistrates free from pride; citizens free from vice; +fraternity of intercourse, simplicity of manners, austerity of character, +and the worship of virtue. The symbolical words of the sect may be found +in the speeches of all the reporters of the committee, and especially in +those of Robespierre and Saint-Just. _Liberty and equality_ for the +government of the republic; _indivisibility_ for its form; _public safety_ +for its defence and preservation; _virtue_ for its principle; _the Supreme +Being_ for its religion; as for the citizens, _fraternity_ for their daily +intercourse; _probity_ for their conduct; _good sense_ for their mental +qualities; _modesty_ for their public actions, which were to have for +object the welfare of the state, and not their own: such was the symbol of +this democracy. Fanaticism could not go further. The authors of this +system did not inquire into its practicability; they thought it just and +natural; and having power, they tried to establish it by violence. Not one +of these words but served to condemn a party or individuals. The royalists +and aristocrats were hunted down in the name of _liberty and equality_; +the Girondists in the name of _indivisibility_; Philippeaux, Camille +Desmoulins, and the moderate party, in the name of _public safety_; +Chaumette, Anacharsis Clootz, Gobet, Hebert, all the anarchical and +atheistical party, in the name of _virtue and the Supreme Being_; Chabot, +Bazire, Fabre-d'Eglantine, in the name of _probity_; Danton in the name of +_virtue and modesty_. In the eyes of fanatics, these _moral crimes_ +necessitated their destruction, as much as the conspiracies which they +were accused of. + +Robespierre was the patron of this sect, which had in the committee a more +zealous, disinterested, and fanatic partisan than himself, in the person +of Saint-Just, who was called the Apocalyptic. His features were bold but +regular, and marked by an expression determined, but melancholy. His eye +was steady and piercing; his hair black, straight, and long. His manners +cold, though his character was ardent; simple in his habits, austere and +sententious, he advanced without hesitation towards the completion of his +system. Though scarcely twenty-five years old, he was the boldest of the +Decemvirs, because his convictions were the deepest. Passionately devoted +to the republic, he was indefatigable in the committees, intrepid on his +missions to the armies, where he set an example of courage, sharing the +marches and dangers of the soldiers. His predilection for the multitude +did not make him pay court to their propensities; and far from adopting +their dress and language with Hebert, he wished to confer on them ease, +gravity, and dignity. But his policy made him more terrible than his +popular sentiments. He had much daring, coolness, readiness, and decision. +Rarely susceptible to pity, he reduced to form his measures for the public +safety, and put them into execution immediately. If he considered victory, +proscription, the dictatorship necessary, he at once demanded them. Unlike +Robespierre, he was completely a man of action. The latter, comprehending +all the use he might make of him, early gained him over in the convention. +Saint-Just, on his part, was drawn towards Robespierre by his reputation +for incorruptibility, his austere life, and the conformity of their ideas. + +The terrible effects of their association may be conceived when we +consider their popularity, the envious and tyrannical passions of the one, +and the inflexible character and systematic views of the other. Couthon +had joined them; he was personally devoted to Robespierre. Although he had +a mild look and a partially paralysed frame, he was a man of merciless +fanaticism. They formed, in the committee, a triumvirate which soon sought +to engross all power. This ambition alienated the other members of the +committee, and caused their own destruction. In the meantime, the +triumvirate imperiously governed the convention and the committee itself. +When it was necessary to intimidate the assembly, Saint-Just was intrusted +with the task; when they wished to take it by surprise, Couthon was +employed. If the assembly murmured or hesitated, Robespierre rose, and +restored silence and terror by a single word. + +During the first two months after the fall of the commune and the Danton +party, the Decemvirs, who were not yet divided, laboured to secure their +domination: their commissioners kept the departments in restraint, and the +armies of the republic were victorious on all the frontiers. The committee +took advantage of this moment of security and union to lay the foundation +of new manners and new institutions. It must never be forgotten, that in a +revolution men are moved by two tendencies, attachment to their ideas, and +a thirst for command. The members of the committee, at the beginning, +agreed in their democratic sentiments; at the end, they contended for +power. + +Billaud-Varennes presented the theory of popular government and the means +of rendering the army always subordinate to the nation. Robespierre +delivered a discourse on the moral sentiments and solemnities suited to a +republic: he dedicated festivals _to the Supreme Being, to Truth, Justice, +Modesty, Friendship, Frugality, Fidelity, Immortality, Misfortune, etc._, +in a word, to all the moral and republican virtues. In this way he +prepared the establishment of the new worship _of the Supreme Being_. +Barrere made a report on the extirpation of mendicity, and the assistance +the republic owed to indigent citizens. All these reports passed into +decrees, agreeably to the wishes of the democrats. Barrere, whose habitual +speeches in the convention were calculated to disguise his servitude from +himself, was one of the most supple instruments of the committee; he +belonged to the regime of terror, neither from cruelty nor from +fanaticism. His manners were gentle, his private life blameless, and he +possessed great moderation of mind. But he was timid; and after having +been a constitutional royalist before the 10th of August, a moderate +republican prior to the 31st of May, he became the panegyrist and the co- +operator of the decemviral tyranny. This shows that, in a revolution, no +one should become an actor without decision of character. Intellect alone +is not inflexible enough; it is too accommodating; it finds reasons for +everything, even for what terrifies and disgusts it; it never knows when +to stop, at a time when one ought always to be prepared to die, and to end +one's part or end one's opinions. + +Robespierre, who was considered the founder of this moral democracy, now +attained the highest degree of elevation and of power. He became the +object of the general flattery of his party; he was _the great man_ of the +republic. Men spoke of nothing but _of his virtue, of his genius, and of +his eloquence_. Two circumstances contributed to augment his importance +still further. On the 3rd Prairial, an obscure but intrepid man, named +l'Admiral, was determined to deliver France from Robespierre and Collot- +d'Herbois. He waited in vain for Robespierre all day, and at night he +resolved to kill Collot. He fired twice at him with pistols, but missed +him. The following day, a young girl, name Cecile Renaud, called at +Robespierre's house, and earnestly begged to speak with him. As he was +out, and as she still insisted upon being admitted, she was detained. She +carried a small parcel, and two knives were found on her person. "What +motive brought you to Robespierre's?" inquired her examiners. "I wanted to +speak to him." "On what business?" "That depended on how I might find +him." "Do you know citizen Robespierre?" "No, I sought to know him; I went +to his house to see what a tyrant was like." "What did you propose doing +with your two knives?" "Nothing, having no intention to injure any one." +"And your parcel?" "Contains a change of linen for my use in the place I +shall be sent to." "Where is that?" "To prison; and from thence to the +guillotine." The unfortunate girl was ultimately taken there, and her +family shared her fate. + +Robespierre received marks of the most intoxicating adulation. At the +Jacobins and in the convention his preservation was attributed to the +_good genius of the republic_, and to _the Supreme Being_, whose existence +he had decreed on the 18th Floreal. The celebration of the new religion +had been fixed for the 20th Prairial throughout France. On the 16th, +Robespierre was unanimously appointed president of the convention, in +order that he might officiate as the pontiff at the festival. At that +ceremony he appeared at the head of the assembly, his face beaming with +joy and confidence, an unusual expression with him. He advanced alone, +fifteen feet in advance of his colleagues, attired in a magnificent dress, +holding flowers and ears of corn in his hand, the object of general +attention. Expectation was universally raised on this occasion: the +enemies of Robespierre foreboded attempts at usurpation, the persecuted +looked forward to a milder regime. He disappointed every one. He harangued +the people in his capacity of high priest, and concluded his speech, in +which all expected to find a hope of happier prospects, with these +discouraging words:--"_People, let us to-day give ourselves up to the +transports of pure delight! To-morrow we will renew our struggle against +vices and against tyrants._" + +Two days after, on the 22nd Prairial, Couthon presented a new law to the +convention. The revolutionary tribunal had dutifully struck all those who +had been pointed out to it: royalists, constitutionalists, Girondists, +anarchists, and Mountain, had been all alike despatched to execution. But +it did not proceed expeditiously enough to satisfy the systematic +exterminators, who wished promptly, and at any cost, to get rid of all +their prisoners. It still observed some forms; these were suppressed. "All +tardiness," said Couthon, "is a crime, all indulgent formality a public +danger; there should be no longer delay in punishing the enemies of the +state than suffices to recognise them." Hitherto the prisoners had +counsel; they had them no longer:--_The law furnishes patriot jurymen for +the defence of calumniated patriots; it grants none to conspirators_. They +tried them, at first, individually; now they tried them _en masse_. There +had been some precision in the crimes, even when revolutionary; now _all +the enemies of the people_ were declared guilty, and all were pronounced +enemies of the people _who sought to destroy liberty by force or +stratagem_. The jury before had the law to guide their determinations, +they _now only had their conscience_. A single tribunal, Fouquier-Tinville +and a few jurymen, were not sufficient for the increase of victims the new +law threatened to bring before it; the tribunal was divided into four +sections, the number of judges and juries was increased, and the public +accuser had four substitutes appointed to assist him. Lastly, the deputies +of the people could not before be brought to trial without a decree of the +convention; but the law was now so drawn up that they could be tried on an +order from the committees. The law respecting suspected persons gave rise +to that of Prairial. + +As soon as Couthon had made his report, a murmur of astonishment and alarm +pervaded the assembly. "If this law passes," cried Ruamps, "all we have to +do is to blow our brains out. I demand an adjourment." This motion was +supported; but Robespierre ascended the tribunal. "For a long time," said +he, "the national assembly has been accustomed to discuss and decree at +the same time, because it has long been delivered from the thraldom of +faction. I move that without considering the question of adjournment, the +convention debate, till eight in the evening if necessary, on the proposed +law." The discussion was immediately begun, and in thirty minutes after +the second reading, the decree was carried. But the following day, a few +members, more afraid of the law than of the committee, returned to the +debate of the day before. The Mountain, friends of Danton, fearing, for +their own sakes, the new provisions, which left the representatives at the +mercy of the Decemvirs, proposed to the convention to provide for the +safety of its members. Bourdon de l'Oise was the first to speak on this +subject; he was supported. Merlin, by a skilful amendment, restored the +old safeguard of the conventionalists, and the assembly adopted Merlin's +measure. Gradually, objections were made to the decree; the courage of the +Mountain increased, and the discussion became very animated. Couthon +attacked the Mountain. "Let them know," replied Bourdon de l'Oise--"let +the members of the committee know that if they are patriots, we are +patriots too. Let them know that I shall not reply with bitterness to +their reproaches. I esteem Couthon, I esteem the committee; but I also +esteem the unshaken Mountain which has saved our liberty." Robespierre, +surprised at this unexpected resistance, hurried to the tribune. "The +convention," said he, "the Mountain, and the committee are the same thing! +Every representative of the people who sincerely loves liberty, every +representative of the people who is ready to die for his country, belongs +to the Mountain! We should insult our country, assassinate the people, did +we allow a few intriguing persons, more contemptible than others, because +they are more hypocritical, to draw off a portion of the Mountain, and +make themselves the leaders of a party." "If was never my intention," said +Bourdon, "to make myself leader of a party." "It would be the height of +opprobrium," continued Robespierre, "if a few of our colleagues, led away +by calumny respecting our intentions and the object of our labours...." "I +insist on your proving what you assert," rejoined Bourdon. "I have been +very plainly called a scoundrel." "I did not name Bourdon. Woe to the man +who names himself! Yes, the Mountain is pure, it is sublime; intriguers do +not belong to the Mountain!" "Name them!" "I will name them when it is +necessary." The threats and the imperious tone of Robespierre, the support +of the other Decemvirs, and the feeling of fear which went round caused +profound silence. The amendment of Merlin was revoked as insulting to the +committee of public safety, and the whole law was adopted. From that time +executions took place in batches; and fifty persons were sent to death +daily. This _Terror_ within terror lasted about two months. + +But the end of this system drew near. The sittings of Prairial were the +term of union for the member of the committees. From that time, silent +dissensions existed among them. They had advanced together, so long as +they had to contend together; but this ceased to be the case when they +found themselves alone in the arena, with habits of contest and the desire +for dominion. Moreover, their opinions were no longer entirely the same: +the democratic party were divided by the fall of the old commune; Billaud- +Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, and the principal members of the committee of +general safety, Vadier, Amar, Vouland, clung to this overthrown faction, +and preferred _the worship of Reason_ to that of _the Supreme Being_. They +were also jealous of the fame, and anxious at the power of Robespierre, +who, in his turn, was irritated at their secret disapprobation and the +obstacles they opposed to his will. At this period, the latter conceived +the design of putting down the most enterprising members of the Mountain, +Tallien, Bourdon, Legendre, Freron, Rovere, etc., and his rivals of the +committee. + +Robespierre had a prodigious force at his disposal, the common people, who +considered the revolution as depending on him, supported him as the +representative of its doctrines and interests; the armed force of Paris, +commanded by Henriot, was at his command. He had entire sway over the +Jacobins, whom he admitted and ejected at pleasure; all important posts +were occupied by his creatures; he had formed the revolutionary tribunal +and the new committee himself, substituting Payan, the national agent, for +Chaumette, the attorney-general; and Fleuriot for Pache, in the office of +mayor. But what was his design in granting the most influential places to +new men, and in separating himself from the committees? Did he aspire to +the dictatorship? Did he only seek to establish his democracy _of virtue_ +by the ruin of the remaining _immoral_ members of the Mountain, and the +_factious_ of the committee? Each party had lost its leaders: the Gironde +had lost the _twenty-two_; the commune, Hebert, Chaumette, and Ronsin; the +Mountain, Danton, Chabot, Lacroix, and Camille Desmoulins. But while thus +proscribing the leaders, Robespierre had carefully protected the sects. He +had defended the _seventy-three prisoners_ against the denunciations of +the Jacobins and the hatred of the committees; he had placed himself at +the head of the new commune; he had no longer reason to fear opposition to +his projects, whatever they might be, except from a few of the Mountain +and the members of the conventional government. It was against this double +obstacle that he directed his efforts during the last moments of his +career. It is probable that he did not separate the republic from his +protectorate, and that he thought to establish both on the overthrow of +the other parties. + +The committees opposed Robespierre in their own way. They secretly strove +to bring about his fall by accusing him of tyranny; they caused the +establishment of his religion to be considered as the presage of his +usurpation; they recalled the haughty attitude he assumed on the 20th +Priarial, and the distance at which he kept even the national convention. +Among themselves, they called him _Pisistratus_, and this name already +passed from mouth to mouth. A circumstance, insignificant enough at any +other time, gave them an opportunity of attacking him indirectly. An old +woman, called _Catherine Theot_, played the prophetess in an obscure +habitation, surrounded by a few mystic sectaries: they styled her _the +Mother of God_, and she announced the immediate coming of a _Messiah_. +Among her followers there was on old associate of Robespierre in the +constituent assembly, the Chartreux Dom Gerle, who had a civic certificate +from Robespierre himself. When the committees discovered _the mysteries of +the Mother of God_, and her predictions, they believed or pretended to +believe, that Robespierre made use of her instrumentality to gain over the +fanatics, or to announce his elevation. They altered her name of _Theot_ +into that of _Theos_, signifying God; and they craftily insinuated that +Robespierre was the Messiah she announced. The aged Vadier, in the name of +the committee of general safety, was deputed to bring forward a motion +against this new sect. He was vain and subtle; he denounced those who were +initiated into these mysteries, turned the worship into derision, +implicated Robespierre in it without naming him, and had the fanatics sent +to prison. Robespierre wished to save them. The conduct of the committee +of general safety greatly irritated him, and in the Jacobin club he spoke +of the speech of Vadier with contempt and anger. He experienced fresh +opposition from the committee of public safety, which refused to proceed +against the persons he pointed out to them. From that time he ceased to +join his colleagues in the government, and was rarely present at the +sittings of the convention. But he attended the Jacobins regularly; and +from the tribune of that club he hoped to overthrow his enemies as he had +hitherto done. + +Naturally sad, suspicious and timid, he became more melancholy and +mistrustful than ever. He never went out without being accompanied by +several Jacobins armed with sticks, who were called his body-guard. He +soon commenced his denunciations in the popular assembly. "_All corrupt +men_," said he, "_must be expelled the convention._" This was designating +the friends of Danton. Robespierre had them watched with the most minute +anxiety. Every day spies followed all their motions, observing their +actions, haunts, and conversation. Robespierre not only attacked the +Dantonists at the Jacobins, he even arose against the committee itself, +and for that purpose he chose a day when Barrere presided in the popular +assembly. At the close of the sitting, the latter returned home +discouraged; "I am disgusted with men," said he to Villate. "What could be +his motive for attacking you?" inquired the other. "Robespierre is +insatiable," rejoined Barrere; "because we will not do all he wishes, he +must break with us. If he talked to us about Thuriot, Guffroi, Rovere +Lecointre, Panis, Cambon, Monestier, and the rest of the Dantonists, we +might agree with him; let him even require Tallien, Bourdon de l'Oise, +Legendre, Freron, well; but Duval, Audoin, Leonard Bourdon, Vadier, +Vouland--it is impossible to consent." To give up members of the +committee of general safety, was to expose themselves; accordingly, while +fearing, they firmly awaited the attack. Robespierre was very formidable, +with respect to his power, his hatred, and his designs; it was for him to +begin the combat. + +But how could he set about it? For the first time he was the author of a +conspiracy; hitherto he had taken advantage of all popular movements. +Danton, the Cordeliers, and the faubourgs had made the insurrection of the +10th of August against the throne; Marat, the Mountain, and the commune +had made that of the 31st of May against the Gironde; Billaud, Saint-Just, +and the committees had effected the ruin of the commune, and weakened the +Mountain. Robespierre remained alone. Unable to procure assistance from +the government, since he had declared against the committees, he had +recourse to the populace and the Jacobins. The principal conspirators were +Saint-Just, and Couthon in the committee; Fleuriot the mayor, and Payan +the national agent in the commune; Dumas the president, and Coffinhal the +vice-president, in the revolutionary tribunal; Henriot, the commander of +the armed force, and the popular society. On the 15th Messidor, three +weeks after the law of Prairial, and twenty-four days before the 9th +Thermidor, the resolution was already taken; at that time, and under that +date, Henriot wrote to the mayor: "You shall be satisfied with me, +comrade, and with the way in which I shall proceed; trust me, men who love +their country, easily agree in directing all their steps to the benefit of +public affairs. I would have wished, and I do wish, that the _secret of +the operation_ rested with us two; the wicked should know nothing of it. +Health and brotherhood." + +Saint-Just was on a mission to the army of the north; Robespierre hastily +recalled him. While waiting his return, he prepared the public mind at the +Jacobins. In the sitting of the 3rd Thermidor, he complained of the +conduct of the committees, and of the _persecution of the patriots_, whom +he swore to defend. "There must no longer be traces of crime or faction," +said he, "in any place whatever. A few scoundrels disgrace the convention; +but it will not allow itself to be swayed by them." He then urged his +colleagues, the Jacobins, to prevent _their reflections_ to the national +assembly. This was the transaction of the 31st of May. On the 4th, he +received a deputation from the department of l'Aisne, who came to complain +to him of the operations of the government, to which, for a month past, he +had been a stranger. "The convention," said Robespierre, in his reply to +the deputation, "in the situation in which it now stands, gangrened by +corruption, and being wholly unable to recover itself, cannot save the +republic-both must perish. The proscription of patriots is the order of +the day. As for me I have one foot in the tomb; in a few days the other +will follow it. The rest is in the hands of Providence." He was then +slightly indisposed, and he purposely exaggerated his discouragement, his +fears, and the dangers of the republic, in order to inflame the patriots, +and again bind the fate of the revolution with his own. + +In the meantime. Saint-Just arrived from the army. He ascertained the +state of affairs from Robespierre. He presented himself to the committees, +the members of which received him coldly; every time he entered, they +ceased to deliberate. Saint-Just, who, from their silence, a few chance +words, and the expression of perplexity or hostility on their +countenances, saw there was no time to be lost, pressed Robespierre to +act. His Maxim was to strike at once, and resolutely. "Dare," said he, +"that is the secret of revolutions." But he wished to prevail on +Robespierre to take a measure, which was impossible, by urging him to +strike his foes, without apprising them. The force at his disposal was a +force of revolutionary opinion, and not an organized force. It was +necessary for him to seek the assistance of the convention or of the +commune, the legal authority of government, or the extraordinary authority +of insurrection. Such was the custom, and such must be all coups-d'etat. +They could not even have recourse to insurrection, until after they had +received the refusal of the assembly, otherwise a pretext was wanting for +the rising. Robespierre was therefore obliged to commence the attack in +the convention itself. He hoped to obtain everything from it by his +ascendancy, or if, contrary to its custom, it resisted, he reckoned on the +people, urged by the commune, rising on the 9th Thermidor against the +proscribed of the Mountain, and the committee of public safety, as it had +risen on the 31st of May against the proscribed of the Gironde and the +Commission of Twelve. It is almost always by the past that man regulates +his conduct and his hopes. + +On the 8th Thermidor, he entered the convention at an early hour. He +ascended the tribunal and denounced the committee in a most skilful +speech. "I am come," said he, "to defend before you your authority +insulted, and liberty violated. I will also defend myself; you will not be +surprised at this; you do not resemble the tyrants you contend with. The +cries of outraged innocence do not importune your ears, and you know that +this cause is not foreign to your interests." After this opening, he +complained of those who had calumniated him; he attacked those who sought +the ruin of the republic, either by excesses or moderation; those who +persecuted pacific citizens, meaning the committees, and those who +persecuted true patriots, meaning the Mountain. He associated himself with +the intentions, past conduct, and spirit of the convention; he added that +its enemies were his: "What have I done to merit persecution, if it +entered not into the general system of their conspiracy against the +convention? Have you not observed that, to isolate you from the nation, +they have given out that you are dictators, reigning by means of terror, +and disavowed by the silent wishes of all Frenchmen? For myself, what +faction do I belong to? To yourselves. What is that faction that, from the +beginning of the revolution, has overthrown all factions, and got rid of +acknowledged traitors. It is you, it is the people, it is principles. That +is the faction to which I am devoted, and against which all crimes are +leagued. For at least six weeks, my inability to do good and to check evil +has obliged me absolutely to renounce my functions as a member of the +committee of public safety. Has patriotism been better protected? Have +factions been more timid? Or the country more happy? At all times my +influence has been confined to pleading the cause of my country before the +national representation, and at the tribunal of public opinion." After +having attempted to confound his cause with that of the convention, he +tried to excite it against the committees by dwelling on the idea of its +independence. "Representatives of the people," said he, "it is time to +resume the pride and elevation of character which befits you. You are not +made to be ruled, but to rule the depositaries of your confidence." + +While he thus endeavoured to tempt the assembly by the return of its power +and the end of its slavery, he addressed the moderate party, by reminding +them that they were indebted to him for the lives of the Seventy-Three, +and by holding forth hopes of returning order, justice, and clemency. He +spoke of changing the devouring and trickster system of finance, of +softening the revolutionary government, of guiding its influence, and +punishing its prevaricating agents. Lastly, he invoked the people, talked +of their necessities, and of their power. And when he had recalled all +that could act upon the interests, hopes, or fears of the convention, he +added: "We say, then, that there exists a conspiracy against public +liberty; that it owes its strength to a criminal coalition which intrigues +in the very heart of the convention; that this coalition has accomplices +in the committee of general safety; that the enemies of the republic have +opposed this committee to the committee of public safety, and have thus +constituted two governments; that members of the committee of public +safety are concerned in this plot; that the coalition thus formed seeks +the ruin both of patriots and of the country; What remedy is there for +this evil? Punish the traitors; compose anew the committee of general +safety; purify this committee, and make it subordinate to the committee of +public safety; purify the latter committee itself; constitute the unity of +the government under the supreme authority of the convention; crush every +faction under the weight of national authority, and establish on their +ruins the power of justice and liberty." + +Not a murmur, not a mark of applause welcomed this declaration of war. The +silence with which Robespierre was heard continued long after he had +ceased speaking. Anxious looks were exchanged in all parts of the doubting +assembly. At length Lecointre of Versailles arose and proposed that the +speech should be printed. This motion was the signal for agitation, +discussion, and resistance. Bourdon de l'Oise opposed the motion for +printing the speech, as a dangerous measure. He was applauded. But +Barrere, in his ambiguous manner, having maintained that all speeches +ought to be published, and Couthon having moved that it should be sent to +all the communes of the republic, the convention, intimidated by this +apparent concord of the two opposite factions, decreed both the printing +and circulation of the speech. + +The members of the two committees thus attacked, who had hitherto remained +silent, seeing the Mountain thwarted, and the majority undecided, thought +it time to speak. Vadier first opposed Robespierre's speech and +Robespierre himself. Cambon went further. "It is time," he cried, "to +speak the whole truth: one man paralyzed the resolution of the national +assembly; that man is Robespierre." "The mask must be torn off," added +Billaud-Varennes, "whatever face it may cover; I would rather my corpse +should serve an ambitious man for his throne, than by my silence to become +the accomplice of his crimes." Panis, Bentabole, Charlier, Thirion, Amar, +attacked him in turn. Freron proposed to the convention to throw off the +fatal yoke of the committees. "The time is come," said he, "to revive +liberty of opinion; I move that the assembly revoke the decree which gives +the committee power to arrest the representatives of the people. Who can +speak freely while he fears an arrest?" Some applause was heard; but the +moment for the entire deliverance of the convention was not yet arrived. +It was necessary to contend with Robespierre from behind the committees, +in order subsequently to attack the committees more easily. Freron's +motion was accordingly rejected. "The man who is prevented by fear from +delivering his opinion," said Billaud-Varennes, looking at him, "is not +worthy the title of a representative of the people." Attention was again +drawn to Robespierre. The decree ordering his speech to be printed was +recalled, and the convention submitted the speech to the examination of +the committees. Robespierre who had been surprised at this fiery +resistance, then said: "What! I had the courage to place before the +assembly truths which I think necessary to the safety of the country, and +you send my discourse for the examination of the members whom I accuse." +He retired, a little discouraged, but hoping to bring back the assembly to +his views, or rather, bring it into subjection with the aid of the +conspirators of the Jacobins and the commune. + +In the evening he repaired to the popular society. He was received with +enthusiasm. He read the speech which the assembly had just condemned, and +the Jacobins loaded him with applause. He then recounted to them the +attacks which had been directed against him, and to increase their +excitement he added: "If necessary, I am ready to drink the cup of +Socrates." "Robespierre," cried a deputy, "I will drink it with you." "The +enemies of Robespierre," cried numbers on all sides, "are the enemies of +the country; let them be named, and they shall cease to live." During the +whole night Robespierre prepared his partisans for the following day. It +was agreed that they should assemble at the commune and the Jacobins, in +order to be ready for every event, while he, accompanied by his friends, +repaired to the assembly. + +The committees had also spent the night in deliberation. Saint-Just had +appeared among them. His colleagues tried to disunite him from the +triumvirate; they deputed him to draw up a report on the events of the +preceding day, and submit it to them. But, instead of that, he drew up an +act of accusation, which he would not communicate to them, and said, as he +withdrew: "You have withered my heart; I am going to open it to the +convention." The committees placed all their hope in the courage of the +assembly and the union of parties. The Mountain had omitted nothing to +bring about this salutary agreement. They had addressed themselves to the +most influential members of the Right and of the Marais. They had +entreated Boissy d'Anglas and Durand de Maillane, who were at their head, +to join them against Robespierre. They hesitated at first: they were so +alarmed at his power, so full of resentment against the Mountain, that +they dismissed the Dantonists twice without listening to them. At last the +Dantonists returned to the charge a third time, and then the Right and the +Plain engaged to support them. There was thus a conspiracy on both sides. +All the parties of the assembly were united against Robespierre, all the +accomplices of the triumvirs were prepared to act against the convention. +In this state of affairs the sitting of the ninth Thermidor began. + +The members of the assembly repaired there earlier than usual. About half- +past eleven they gathered in the passages, encouraging each other. The +Bourdon de l'Oise, one of the Mountain, approached Durand de Maillane, a +moderate, pressed his hand, and said--"The people of the Right are +excellent men." Rovere and Tallien came up and mingled their +congratulations with those of Bourdon. At twelve they saw, from the door +of the hall, Saint-Just ascend the tribune. "_Now is the time_," said +Tallien, and they entered the hall. Robespierre occupied a seat in front +of the tribune, doubtless in order to intimidate his adversaries with his +looks. Saint-Just began: "I belong," he said, "to no faction; I will +oppose them all. The course of things has perhaps made this tribune the +Tarpeian rock for him who shall tell you that the members of the +government have quitted the path of prudence." Tallien then interrupted +Saint-Just, and exclaimed violently: "No good citizen can restrain his +tears at the wretched state of public affairs. We see nothing but +divisions. Yesterday a member of the government separated himself from it +to accuse it. To-day another does the same. Men still seek to attack each +other, to increase the woes of the country, to precipitate it into the +abyss. Let the veil be wholly torn asunder." "It must! it must!" resounded +on every side. + +Billaud-Varennes spoke from his seat--"Yesterday," said he, "the society +of Jacobins was filled with hired men, for no one had a card; yesterday +the design of assassinating the members of the national assembly was +developed in that society; yesterday I saw men uttering the most atrocious +insults against those who have never deviated from the revolution. I see +on the Mountain one of those men who threatened the republic; there he +is." "Arrest him! arrest him!" was the general cry. The serjeant seized +him, and took him to the committee of general safety. "The time is come +for speaking the truth," said Billaud. "The assembly would form a wrong +judgment of events and of the position in which it is placed, did it +conceal from itself that it is placed between two massacres. It will +perish, if feeble." "No! no! It will not perish!" exclaimed all the +members, rising from their seats. They swore to save the republic. The +spectators in the gallery applauded, and cried--"Vive la Convention +Rationale!" The impetuous Lebas attempted to speak in defence of the +triumvirs; he was not allowed to do so, and Billaud continued. He warned +the convention of its dangers, attacked Robespierre, pointed out his +accomplices, denounced his conduct and his plans of dictatorship. All eyes +were directed towards him. He faced them firmly for some time; but at +length, unable to contain himself, he rushed to the tribune. The cry of +"Down with the tyrant," instantly became general, and drowned his voice. + +"Just now," said Tallien, "I required that the veil should be torn +asunder. It gives me pleasure to see that it is wholly sundered. The +conspirators are unmasked; they will soon be destroyed, and liberty will +triumph. I was present yesterday at the sitting of the Jacobins; I +trembled for my country. I saw the army of this new Cromwell forming, and +I armed myself with a poignard to stab him to the heart, if the national +convention wanted courage to decree his impeachment." He drew out his +poignard, brandished it before the indignant assembly, and moved before +anything else, the arrest of Henriot, the permanent sitting of the +assembly; and both motions were carried, in the midst of cries of--"Vive +la republique!" Billaud also moved the arrest of three of Robespierre's +most daring accomplices, Dumas, Boulanger, and Dufrese. Barrere caused the +convention to be placed under the guard of the armed sections, and drew up +a proclamation to be addressed to the people. Every one proposed a measure +of precaution. Vadier diverted the assembly for a moment, from the danger +which threatened it, to the affair of Catherine Theos. "Let us not be +diverted from the true object of debate," said Tallien. "I will undertake +to bring you back to it," said Robespierre. "Let us turn our attention to +the tyrant," rejoined Tallien, attacking him more warmly than before. + +Robespierre, after attempting to speak several times, ascending and +descending the stairs of the tribune, while his voice was drowned by cries +of "Down with the tyrant!" and the bell which the president Thuriot +continued ringing, now made a last effort to be heard. "President of +assassins," he cried, "for the last time, will you let me speak?" But +Thuriot continued to ring his bell. Robespierre, after glancing at the +spectators in the public gallery, who remained motionless, turned towards +the Right. "Pure and virtuous men," said he, "I have recourse to you; give +me the hearing which these assassins refuse." No answer was returned; +profound silence prevailed. Then, wholly dejected, he returned to his +place, and sank on his seat exhausted by fatigue and rage. He foamed at +the mouth, and his utterance was choked. "Wretch!" said one of the +Mountain, "the blood of Danton chokes thee." His arrest was demanded and +supported on all sides. Young Robespierre now arose: "I am as guilty as my +brother," said he. "I share his virtues, and I will share his fate." "I +will not be involved in the opprobrium of this decree," added Lebas; "I +demand my arrest too." The assembly unanimously decreed the arrest of the +two Robespierres, Couthon, Lebas, and Saint-Just. The latter, after +standing for some time at the tribune with unchanged countenance, +descended with composure to his place. He had faced this protracted storm +without any show of agitation. The triumvirs were delivered to the +gendarmerie, who removed them amidst general applause. Robespierre +exclaimed, as he went out--"The republic is lost, the brigands triumph." +It was now half-past five, and the sitting was suspended till seven. + +During this stormy contest the accomplices of the triumvirs had assembled +at the Commune and the Jacobins. Fleuriot the mayor, Payan the national +agent, and Henriot the commandant, had been at the Hotel de Ville since +noon. They had assembled the municipal officers by the sound of the drum, +hoping that Robespierre would be triumphant in the assembly, and that they +should not require the general council to decree the insurrection, or the +sections to sustain it. A few hours after, a serjeant of the convention +arrived to summon the mayor to the bar of the assembly to give a report of +the state of Paris. "Go, and tell your scoundrels," said Henriot, "that we +are discussing how to purge them. Do not forget to tell Robespierre to be +firm, and to fear nothing." About half-past four they learned of the +arrest of the triumvirs, and the decree against their accomplices. The +tocsin was immediately sounded, the barriers closed, the general council +assembled, and the sectionaries called together. The cannoneers were +ordered to bring their pieces to the commune, and the revolutionary +committees to take the oath of insurrection. A message was sent to the +Jacobins, who sat permanently. The municipal deputies were received with +the greatest enthusiasm. "The society watches over the country," they were +told. "It has sworn to die rather than live under crime." At the same time +they concerted together, and established rapid communications between +these two centres of the insurrection. Henriot, on his side, to arouse the +people, ran through the streets, pistol in hand, at the head of his staff, +crying "to arms!" haranguing the multitude, and instigating all he met to +repair to the commune to _save the country_. While on this errand, two +members of the convention perceived him in the Rue Saint Honore. They +summoned, in the name of the law, a few gendarmes to execute the order for +his arrest; they obeyed, and Henriot was pinioned and conveyed to the +committee of general safety. + +Nothing, however, was decided as yet on either side. Each party made use +of its means of power; the convention of its decrees, the commune of the +insurrection; each party knew what would be the consequences of defeat, +and this rendered them both so active, so full of foresight and decision. +Success was long uncertain. From noon till five the convention had the +upper hand; it caused the arrest of the triumvirs, Payan the national +agent, and Henriot the commandant. It was already assembled, and the +commune had not yet collected its forces; but from six to eight the +insurgents regained their position, and the cause of the convention was +nearly lost. During this interval, the national representatives had +separated, and the commune had redoubled its efforts and audacity. + +Robespierre had been transferred to the Luxembourg, his brother to Saint- +Lazare, Saint-Just to the Ecossais, Couthon to La Bourbe, Lebas to the +Conciergerie. The commune, after having ordered the gaolers not to receive +them, sent municipal officers with detachments to bring them away. +Robespierre was liberated first, and conducted in triumph to the Hotel de +Ville. On arriving, he was received with the greatest enthusiasm; "Long +live Robespierre! Down with the traitors!" resounded on all sides. A +little before, Coffinhal had departed, at the head of two hundred +cannoneers, to release Henriot, who was detained at the committee of +general safety. It was now seven o'clock, and the convention had resumed +its sitting. Its guard, at the most, was a hundred men. Coffinhal arrived, +made his way through the outer courts, entered the committee chamber, and +delivered Henriot. The latter repaired to the Place du Carrousel, +harangued the cannoneers, and ordered them to point their pieces on the +convention. + +The assembly was just then discussing the danger to which it was exposed. +It had just heard of the alarming success of the conspirators, of the +insurrectional orders of the commune, the rescue of the triumvirs, their +presence at the Hotel de Ville, the rage of the Jacobins, the successive +convocation of the revolutionary council and of the sections. It was +dreading a violent invasion every moment, when the terrified members of +the committees rushed in, fleeing from Coffinhal. They learned that the +committees were surrounded, and Henriot released. This news caused great +agitation. The next moment Amar entered precipitately, and announced that +the cannoneers, acted upon by Henriot, had turned their pieces upon the +convention. "Citizens," said the president, putting on his hat, in token +of distress, "the hour is come to die at our posts!" "Yes, yes! we will +die there!" exclaimed all the members. The people in the galleries rushed +out, crying, "To arms! Let us drive back the scoundrels!" And the assembly +courageously outlawed Henriot. + +Fortunately for the assembly, Henriot could not prevail upon the +cannoneers to fire. His influence was limited to inducing them to +accompany him, and he turned his steps to the Hotel de Ville. The refusal +of the cannoneers decided the fate of the day. From that moment the +commune, which had been on the point of triumphing, saw its affairs +decline. Having failed in a surprise by main force, it was reduced to the +slow measures of the insurrection; the point of attack was changed, and +soon it was no longer the commune which besieged the Tuileries, but the +convention which marched upon the Hotel de Ville. The assembly instantly +outlawed the conspiring deputies and the insurgent commune. It sent +commissioners to the sections, to secure their aid, named the +representative Barras commandant of the armed force, joining with him +Freron, Rovere, Bourdon de l'Oise, Feraud, Leonard Bourdon, Legendre, all +men of decision: and made the committees the centre of operation. + +The sections, on the invitation of the commune, had assembled about nine +o'clock; the greater part of the citizens, in repairing thither, were +anxious, uncertain, and but vaguely informed of the quarrels between the +commune and the convention. The emissaries of the insurgents urged them to +join them and to march their battalions to the Hotel de Ville. The +sections confined themselves to sending a deputation, but as soon as the +commissioners of the convention arrived among them, had communicated to +them the decrees and invitations of the assembly, and informed them that +there was a leader and a rallying point, they hesitated no longer. Their +battalions presented themselves in succession to the assembly; they swore +to defend it, and they passed in files through the hall, amid shouts of +enthusiasm and sincere applause. "The moments are precious," said Freron; +"we must act; Barras is gone to take the orders of the committees; we will +march against the rebels; we will summon them in the name of the +convention to deliver up the traitors, and if they refuse, we will reduce +the building in which they are to ashes." "Go," said the president, "and +let not day appear before the heads of the conspirators have fallen." A +few battalions and some pieces of artillery were placed round the +assembly, to guard it from attack, and the sections then marched in two +columns against the commune. It was now nearly midnight. + +The conspirators were still assembled. Robespierre, after having been +received with cries of enthusiasm, promises of devotedness and victory, +had been admitted into the general council between Payan and Fleuriot. The +Place de Greve was filled with men, and glittered with bayonets, pikes, +and cannon. They only waited the arrival of the sections to proceed to +action. The presence of their deputies, and the sending of municipal +commissioners in their midst, had inspired reliance on their aid. Henriot +answered for everything. The conspirators looked for certain victory; they +appointed an executive commission, prepared addresses to the armies, and +drew up various lists. Half-past midnight, however, arrived, and no +section had yet appeared, no order had yet been given, the triumvirs were +still sitting, and the crowd on the Place de Greve became discouraged by +this tardiness and indecision. A report spread in whispers that the +sections had declared in favour of the convention, that the commune was +outlawed, and that the troops of the convention were advancing. The +eagerness of the armed multitude had already abated, when a few emissaries +of the assembly glided among them, and raised the cry, "Vive la +convention!" Several voices repeated it. They then read the proclamation +of outlawry against the commune; and after hearing it, the whole crowd +dispersed. The Place de Greve was deserted in a moment. Henriot came down +a few minutes after, sabre in hand, to excite their courage; but finding +no one: "What!" cried he; "is it possible? Those rascals of cannoneers, +who saved my life five hours ago, now forsake me." He went up again. At +that moment, the columns of the convention arrived, surrounded the Hotel +de Ville, silently took possession of all its outlets, and then shouted, +"Vive la convention nationale!" + +The conspirators, finding they were lost, sought to escape the violence of +their enemies. A gendarme named Meda, who first entered the room where the +conspirators were assembled, fired a pistol at Robespierre and shattered +his jaw; Lebas wounded himself fatally; Robespierre the younger jumped +from a window on the third story, and survived his fall; Couthon hid +himself under a table; Saint-Just awaited his fate; Coffinhal, after +reproaching Henriot with cowardice, threw him from a window into a drain +and fled. Meantime, the conventionalists penetrated into the Hotel de +Ville, traversed the desolate halls, seized the conspirators, and carried +them in triumph to the assembly. Bourdon entered the hall crying "Victory! +victory! the traitors are no more!" "The wretched Robespierre is there," +said the president; "they are bringing him on a litter. Doubtless you +would not have him brought in." "No! no!" they cried; "carry him to the +Place de la Revolution!" He was deposited for some time at the committee +of general safety before he was transferred to the Conciergerie; and here, +stretched on a table, his face disfigured and bloody, exposed to the +looks, the invectives, the curses of all, he beheld the various parties +exulting in his fall, and charging upon him all the crimes that had been +committed. He displayed much insensibility during his last moments. He was +taken to the Conciergerie, and afterwards appeared before the +revolutionary tribunal, which, after identifying him and his accomplices, +sent them to the scaffold. On the 10th Thermidor, about five in the +evening, he ascended the death cart, placed between Henriot and Couthon, +mutilated like himself. His head was enveloped in linen saturated with +blood; his face was livid, his eyes almost visionless. An immense crowd +thronged around the cart, manifesting the most boisterous and exulting +joy. They congratulated and embraced each other, loading him with +imprecations, and pressed near to view him more closely. The gendarmes +pointed him out with their sabres. As to him, he seemed to regard the +crowd with contemptuous pity; Saint-Just looked calmly at them; the rest, +in number twenty-two, were dejected. Robespierre ascended the scaffold +last; when his head fell, shouts of applause arose in the air, and lasted +for some minutes. + +With him ended the reign of terror, although he was not the most zealous +advocate of that system in his party. If he sought for supremacy, after +obtaining it, he would have employed moderation; and the reign of terror, +which ceased at his fall, would also have ceased with his triumph. I +regard his ruin to have been inevitable; he had no organized force; his +partisans, though numerous, were not enrolled; his instrument was the +force of opinion and of terror; accordingly, not being able to surprise +his foes by a strong hand, after the fashion of Cromwell, he sought to +intimidate them. Terror not succeeding, he tried insurrection. But as the +convention with the support of the committees had become courageous, so +the sections, relying on the courage of the convention, would naturally +declare against the insurgents. By attacking the government, he aroused +the assembly; by arousing the assembly, he aroused the people, and this +coalition necessarily ruined him. The convention on the 9th of Thermidor +was no longer, as on the 31st of May, divided, undecided, opposed to a +compact, numerous, and daring faction. All parties were united by defeat, +misfortune, and the proscription ever threatening them, and would +naturally cooperate in the event of a struggle. It did not, therefore, +depend on Robespierre himself to escape defeat; and it was not in his +power to secede from the committees. In the position to which he had +attained, one is consumed by one's passions, deceived by hopes and by +fortune, hitherto good; and when once the scaffolds have been erected, +justice and clemency are as impossible as peace, tranquillity, and the +dispensing of power when war is declared. One must then fall by the means +by which one has arisen; the man of faction must perish by the scaffold, +as conquerors by war. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). +EPOCH OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY + + +The 9th of Thermidor was the first day of the revolution in which those +fell who attacked. This indication alone manifested that the ascendant +revolutionary movement had reached its term. From that day the contrary +movement necessarily began. The general rising of all parties against one +man was calculated to put an end to the compression under which they +laboured. In Robespierre the committees subdued each other, and the +decemviral government lost the prestige of terror which had constituted +its strength. The committees liberated the convention, which gradually +liberated the entire republic. Yet they thought they had been working for +themselves, and for the prolongation of the revolutionary government, +while the greater part of those who had supported them had for their +object the overthrow of the dictatorship, the independence of the +assembly, and the establishment of legal order. From the day after the 9th +of Thermidor there were, therefore, two opposite parties among the +conquerors, that of the committees, and that of the Mountain, which was +called the Thermidorian party. + +The former was deprived of half its forces; besides the loss of its chief, +it no longer had the commune, whose insurgent members, to the number of +seventy-two, had been sent to the scaffold, and, which, after its double +defeat under Hebert and under Robespierre, was not again re-organized, and +remained without direct influence. But this party retained the direction +of affairs through the committees. All its members were attached to the +revolutionary system; some, such as Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, +Barrere, Vadier, Amar, saw it was their only safety; others, such as +Carnot, Cambon, the two Prieurs, de la Marne, and de la Cote-d'Or, etc., +feared the counter-revolution, and the punishment of their colleagues. In +the convention it reckoned all the commissioners hitherto sent on +missions, several of the Mountain who had signalized themselves on the 9th +Thermidor, and the remnant of Robespierre's party. Without, the Jacobins +were attached to it; and it still had the support of the faubourgs and of +the lower class. + +The Thermidorian party was composed of the greater number of the +conventionalists. All the centre of the assembly, and what remained of the +Right, joined the Mountain, who had abated their former exaggeration of +views. The coalition of the Moderates, Boissy d'Anglas, Sieyes, +Cambaceres, Chenier, Thibeaudeau, with the Dantonists, Tallien, Freron, +Legendre, Barras, Bourdon de l'Oise, Rovere, Bentabole, Dumont, and the +two Merlins, entirely changed the character of the assembly. After the 9th +of Thermidor, the first step of this party was to secure its empire in the +convention. Soon it found its way into the government, and succeeded in +excluding the previous occupants. Sustained by public opinion, by the +assembly, by the committees, it advanced openly towards its object; it +proceeded against the principal decemvirs, and some of their agents. As +these had many partisans in Paris, it sought the aid of the young men +against the Jacobins, of the sections against the faubourgs. At the same +time, to strengthen it, it recalled to the assembly all the deputies whom +the committee of public safety had proscribed; first, the seventy-three +who had protested against the 31st of May, and then the surviving victims +of that day themselves. The Jacobins exhibited excitement: it closed their +club; the faubourgs raised an insurrection: it disarmed them. After +overthrowing the revolutionary government, it directed its attention to +the establishment of another, and to the introduction, under the +constitution of the year III., of a feasible, liberal, regular, and stable +order of things, in place of the extraordinary and provisional state in +which the convention had been from its commencement until then. But all +this was accomplished gradually. + +The two parties were not long before they began to differ, after their +common victory. The revolutionary tribunal was an especial object of +general horror. On the 11th Thermidor it was suspended; but Billaud- +Varennes, in the same sitting, had the decree of suspension rescinded. He +maintained that the accomplices of Robespierre alone were guilty, that the +majority of the judges and jurors being men of integrity, it was desirable +to retain them in their offices. Barrere presented a decree to that +effect: he urged that the triumvirs had done nothing for the revolutionary +government; that they had often even opposed its measures; that their only +care had been to place their creatures in it, and to give it a direction +favourable to their own projects; he insisted, in order to strengthen that +government, upon retaining the law _des suspects_ and the tribunal, with +its existing members, including Fouquier-Tinville. At this name a general +murmur rose in the assembly. Freron, rendering himself the organ of the +general indignation, exclaimed: "I demand that at last the earth be +delivered from that monster, and that Fouquier be sent to hell, there to +wallow in the blood he has shed." His proposition was applauded, and +Fouquier's accusation decreed. Barrere, however, did not regard himself as +defeated; he still retained toward the convention the imperious language +which the old committee had made use of with success; this was at once +habit and calculation on his part; for he well knew that nothing is so +easily continued as that which has been successful. + +But the political tergiversations of Barrere, a man of noble birth, and +who was a royalist Feuillant before the 10th of August, did not +countenance his assuming this imperious and inflexible tone. "Who is this +president of the Feuillants," said Merlin de Thionville, "who assumes to +dictate to us the law?" The hall resounded with applause. Barrere became +confused, left the tribune, and this first check of the committees +indicated their decline in the convention. The revolutionary tribunal +continued to exist, but with other members and another organization. The +law of the 22nd Prairial was abolished, and there were now as much +deliberation and moderation, as many protecting forms in trials, as before +there had been precipitation and inhumanity. This tribunal was no longer +made use of against persons formerly suspected, who were still detained in +prison, though under milder treatment, and who, by degrees, were restored +to liberty on the plan proposed by Camille Desmoulins for his Committee of +Clemency. + +On the 13th of Thermidor the government itself became the subject of +discussion. The committee of public safety was deficient in many members; +Herault de Sechelles had never been replaced; Jean-Bon-Saint-Andre and +Prieur de la Marne were on missions; Robespierre, Couthon, and Saint-Just +had perished on the scaffold. In the places of these were appointed +Tallien, Breard, Echasseriaux, Treilhard, Thuriot, and Laloi, whose +accession lessened still more the influence of the old members. At the +same time, were reorganized the two committees, so as to render them more +dependent on the assembly, and less so on one another. The committee of +public safety was charged with military and diplomatic operations; that of +general safety with internal administration. As it was desired, by +limiting the revolutionary power, to calm the fever which had excited the +multitude; and gradually to disperse them, the daily meetings of the +sections were reduced to one in every ten days; and the pay of forty sous +a day, lately given to every indigent citizen who attended them, was +discontinued. + +These measures being carried into effect, on the 11th of Fructidor, one +month after the death of Robespierre, Lecointre of Versailles denounced +Billaud, Collot, Barrere, of the committee of public safety; and Vadier, +Amar, and Vouland, of the committee of general safety. The evening before, +Tallien had vehemently assailed the reign of terror, and Lecointre was. +encouraged to his attack by the sensation which Tallien's speech had +produced. He brought twenty-three charges against the accused; he imputed +to them all the measures of cruelty or tyranny which they threw on the +triumvirs, and called them the successors of Robespierre. This +denunciation agitated the assembly, and more especially those who +supported the committees, or who wished that divisions might cease in the +republic. "If the crimes Lecointre reproaches us with were proved," said +Billaud-Varennes--"if they were as real as they are absurd and chimerical, +there is, doubtless, not one of us but would deserve to lose his head on +the scaffold. But I defy Lecointre to prove, by documents or any evidence +worthy of belief, any of the facts he has charged us with." He repelled +the charges brought against him by Lecointre; he reproached his enemies +with being corrupt and intriguing men, who wished to sacrifice him to the +memory of Danton, _an odious conspirator, the hope of all parricidal +factions_. "What seek these men," he continued--"what seek these men who +call us the successors of Robespierre? Citizens, know you what they seek? +To destroy liberty on the tomb of the tyrant." Lecointre's denunciation +was premature; almost all the convention pronounced it calumnious. The +accused and their friends gave way to outbursts of unrestrained and still +powerful indignation, for they were now attacked for the first time; the +accuser, scarcely supported by any one, was silenced. Billaud-Varennes and +his friends triumphed for the time. + +A few days after, the period for renewing a third of the committee +arrived. The following members were fixed on by lot to retire: Barrere, +Carnot, Robert Lindet, in the committee of public safety; Vadier, Vouland, +Moise Baile in the committee of general safety. They were replaced by +Thermidorians; and Collot-d'Herbois, as well as Billaud-Varennes, finding +themselves too weak, resigned. Another circumstance contributed still more +to the fall of their party, by exciting public opinion against it; this +was the publicity given to the crimes of Joseph Lebon and Carrier, two of +the proconsuls of the committee. They had been sent, the one to Arras and +to Cambrai, the frontier exposed to invasion; the other to Nantes, the +limit of the Vendean war. They had signalized their mission by, beyond all +others, displaying a cruelty and a caprice of tyranny, which are, however, +generally found in those who are invested with supreme human power. Lebon, +young and of a weak constitution, was naturally mild. On a first mission, +he had been humane; but he was censured for this by the committee, and +sent to Arras, with orders to show himself _somewhat more revolutionary_. +Not to fall short of the inexorable policy of the committee, he gave way +to unheard of excesses; he mingled debauchery with extermination; he had +the guillotine always in his presence, and called it holy. He associated +with the executioner, and admitted him to his table. Carrier, having more +victims to strike, surpassed even Lebon; he was bilious, fanatical, and +naturally blood-thirsty. He had only awaited the opportunity to execute +enormities that the imagination even of Marat would not have dared to +conceive. Sent to the borders of an insurgent country, he condemned to +death the whole hostile population--priests, women, children, old men, and +girls. As the scaffold did not suffice for his cruelty, he substituted a +company of assassins, called Marat's company, for the revolutionary +tribune, and, for the guillotine, boats, with false bottoms, by means of +which he drowned his victims in the Loire. Cries of vengeance and justice +were raised against these enormities. After the 9th of Thermidor, Lebon +was attacked first, because he was more especially the agent of +Robespierre. Carrier, who was that of the committee of public safety, and +of whose conduct Robespierre had disapproved, was prosecuted subsequently. + +There were in the prisons of Paris ninety-four people of Nantes, sincerely +attached to the revolution, and who had defended their town with courage +during the attack made on it by the Vendeans. Carrier had sent them to +Paris as federalists. It had not been deemed safe to bring them before the +revolutionary tribunal until the ninth of Thermidor; they were then taken +there for the purpose of unmasking, by their trial, the crimes of Carrier. +They were tried purposely with prolonged solemnity; their trial lasted +nearly a month; there was time given for public opinion to declare itself; +and on their acquittal, there was a general demand for justice on the +revolutionary committee of Nantes, and on the proconsul Carrier. Legendre +renewed Lecointre's impeachment of Billaud, Barrere, Collot, and Vadier, +who were generously defended by Carnot, Prieur, and Cambon, their former +colleagues, who demanded to share their fate. Lecointre's motion was not +attended with any result; and, for the present, they only brought to trial +the members of the revolutionary committee of Nantes; but we may observe +the progress of the Thermidorian party. This time the members of the +committee were obliged to have recourse to defence, and the convention +simply passed to the order of the day, on the question of the denunciation +made by Legendre, without voting it calumnious, as they had done that of +Lecointre. + +The revolutionary democrats were, however, still very powerful in Paris: +if they had lost the commune, the tribunal, the convention, and the +committee, they yet retained the Jacobins and the faubourgs. It was in +these popular societies that their party concentrated, especially for the +purpose of defending themselves. Carrier attended them assiduously, and +invoked their assistance; Billaud-Varennes, and Collot-d'Herbois also +resorted to them; but these being somewhat less threatened were +circumspect. They were accordingly censured for their silence. "_The lion +sleeps_," replied Billaud-Varennes, "_but his waking will be terrible_." +This club had been expurgated after the 10th Thermidor, and it had +congratulated the convention in the name of the regenerated societies, on +the fall of Robespierre and of tyranny. About this time, as many of its +leaders were proceeded against, and many Jacobins were imprisoned in the +departments, it came in the name of the united societies "_to give +utterance to the cry of grief that resounded from every part of the +republic, and to the voice of oppressed patriots, plunged in the dungeons +which the aristocrats had just left_." + +The convention, far from yielding to the Jacobins, prohibited, for the +purpose of destroying their influence, all collective petitions, branch- +associations, correspondence, etc., between the parent society and its +off-sets, and in this way disorganized the famous confederation of the +clubs. The Jacobins, rejected from the convention, began to agitate Paris, +where they were still masters. Then the Thermidorians also began to +convoke their people, by appealing to the support of the sections. At the +same time Freron called the young men at arms, in his journal _l'Orateur +du Peuple_, and placed himself at their head. This new and irregular +militia called itself _La jeunesse doree de Freron_. All those who +composed it belonged to the rich and the middle class; they had adopted a +particular costume, called _Costume a la victime_. Instead of the blouse +of the Jacobins, they wore a square open coat and very low shoes; the +hair, long at the sides, was turned up behind, with tresses called +_cadenettes_; they were armed with short sticks, leadened and formed like +bludgeons. Some of these young men and some of the sectionaries were +royalists; others followed the impulse of the moment, which was anti- +revolutionary. The latter acted without object or ambition, declaring in +favour of the strongest party, especially when the triumph of that party +promised to restore order, the want of which was generally felt. The other +contended under the Thermidorians against the old committees, as the +Thermidorians had contended under the old committees against Robespierre; +it waited for an opportunity of acting on its own account, which occurred +after the entire downfall of the revolutionary party. In the violent +situation of the two parties, actuated by fear and resentment, they +pursued each other ruthlessly and often came to blows in the streets to +the cry of "Vive la Montagne!" or "Vive la Convention!" The _jeunesse +doree_ were powerful in the Palais Royal, where they were supported by the +shopkeepers; but the Jacobins were the strongest in the garden of the +Tuileries, which was near their club. + +These quarrels became more animated every day; and Paris was transformed +into a field of battle, where the fate of the parties was left to the +decision of arms. This state of war and disorder would necessarily have an +end; and since the parties had not the wisdom to come to an understanding, +one or the other must inevitably carry the day. The Thermidorians were the +growing party, and victory naturally fell to them. On the day following +that on which Billaud had spoken of the _waking of the lion_ in the +popular society, there was great agitation throughout Paris. It was wished +to take the Jacobin club by assault. Men shouted in the streets--"The +great Jacobin conspiracy! Outlaw the Jacobins!" At this period the +revolutionary committee of Nantes were being tried. In their defence they +pleaded that they had received from Carrier the sanguinary orders they had +executed; which led the convention to enter into an examination of his +conduct. Carrier was allowed to defend himself before the decree was +passed against him. He justified his cruelty by the cruelty of the +Vendeans, and the maddening; fury of civil war. "When I acted," he said, +"the air still seemed to resound with the civic songs of twenty thousand +martyrs, who had shouted 'Vive la republique!' in the midst of tortures. +How could the voice of humanity, which had died in this terrible crisis, +be heard? What would my adversaries have done in my place? I saved the +republic at Nantes; my life has been devoted to my country, and I am ready +to die for it." Out of five hundred voters, four hundred and ninety-eight +were for the impeachment; the other two voted for it, but conditionally. + +The Jacobins finding their opponents were going from subordinate agents to +the representatives themselves, regarded themselves as lost. They +endeavoured to rouse the multitude, less to defend Carrier than for the +support of their party, which was threatened more and more. But they were +kept in check by the _jeunesse doree_ and the sectionaries, who eventually +proceeded to the place of their sittings to dissolve the club. A sharp +conflict ensued. The besiegers broke the windows with stones, forced the +doors, and dispersed the Jacobins after some resistance on their part. The +latter complained to the convention of this violence. Rewbell, deputed to +make a report on the subject, was not favourable to them. "Where was +tyranny organized?" said he. "At the Jacobin club. Where had it its +supports and its satellites? At the Jacobin club. Who covered France with +mourning, threw families into despair, filled the republic with bastilles, +made the republican system so odious, that a slave laden with fetters +would have refused to live under it? The Jacobins. Who regret the terrible +reign we have lived under? The Jacobins. If you have not courage to decide +in a moment like this, the republic is at an end, because you have +Jacobins." The convention suspended them provisionally, in order to +expurgate and reorganize them, not daring to destroy them at once. The +Jacobins, setting the decree at defiance, assembled in arms at their usual +place of meeting; the Thermidorian troop who had already besieged them +there, came again to assail them. It surrounded the club with cries of +"Long live the convention! Down with the Jacobins!" The latter prepared +for defence; they left their seats, shouting, "Long live the republic!" +rushed to the doors, and attempted a sortie. At first they made a few +prisoners; but soon yielding to superior numbers, they submitted, and +traversed the ranks of the victors, who, after disarming them, covered +them with hisses, insults, and even blows. These illegal expeditions were +accompanied by all the excesses which attend party struggles. + +The next day commissioners of the convention came to close the club, and +put seals on its registers and papers, and from that moment the society of +the Jacobins ceased to exist. This popular body had powerfully served the +revolution, when, in order to repel Europe, it was necessary to place the +government in the multitude, and to give the republic all the energy of +defence; but now it only obstructed the progress of the new order of +things. + +The situation of affairs was changed; liberty was to succeed the +dictatorship, now that the salvation of the revolution had been effected, +and that it was necessary to revert to legal order, in order to preserve +it. An exorbitant and extraordinary power, like the confederation of the +clubs, would necessarily terminate with the defeat of the party which had +supported it, and that party itself expire with the circumstances which +had given it rise. + +Carrier, brought before the revolutionary tribunal, was tried without +interruption, and condemned with the majority of his accomplices. During +the trial, the seventy-three deputies, whose protest against the 31st of +May had excluded them from the assemblies, were reinstated. Merlin de +Douai moved their recall in the name of the committee of public safety; +his motion was received with applause, and the seventy-three resumed their +seats in the convention. The seventy-three, in their turn, tried to obtain +the return of the outlawed deputies; but they met with warm opposition. +The Thermidorians and the members of the new committees feared that such a +measure would be calling the revolution itself into question. They were +also afraid of introducing a new party into the convention, already +divided, and of recalling implacable enemies, who might cause, with regard +to themselves, a reaction similar to that which had taken place against +the old committees. Accordingly they vehemently opposed the motion, and +Merlin de Douai went so far as to say: "Do you want to throw open the +doors of the Temple?" The young son of Louis XVI. was confined there, and +the Girondists, on account of the results of the 31st of May, were +confounded with the Royalists; besides, the 31st of May still figured +among the revolutionary dates beside the 10th of August and the 14th of +July. The retrograde movement had yet some steps to take before it reached +that period. The republican counter-revolution had turned back from the +9th Thermidor, 1794, to the 3rd of October, 1793, the day on which the +seventy-three had been arrested, but not to the 2nd of June, 1793, when +the twenty-two were arrested. After overthrowing Robespierre, and the +committee, it had to attack Marat and the Mountain. In the almost +geometrical progression of popular movement, a few months were still +necessary to effect this. + +They went on to abolish the decemviral system. The decree against the +priests and nobles, who had formed two proscribed classes under the reign +of terror, was revoked; the _maximum_ was abolished, in order to restore +confidence by putting an end to commercial tyranny; the general and +earnest effort was to substitute the most elevated liberty for the +despotic pressure of the committee of public safety. This period was also +marked by the independence of the press, the restoration of religious +worship, and the return of the property confiscated from the federalists +during the reign of the committees. + +Here was a complete reaction against the revolutionary government; it soon +reached Marat and the Mountain. After the 9th of Thermidor, it had been +considered necessary to oppose a great revolutionary reputation to that of +Robespierre, and Marat had been selected for this purpose. To him were +decreed the honours of the Pantheon, which Robespierre, while in power, +had deferred granting him. He, in his turn, was now attacked. His bust was +in the convention, the theatres, on the public squares, and in the popular +assemblies. The _jeunesse doree_ broke that in the Theatre Feydeau. The +Mountain complained, but the convention decreed that no citizen could +obtain the honours of the Pantheon, nor his bust be placed in the +convention, until he had been dead ten years. The bust of Marat +disappeared from the hall of the convention, and as the excitement was +very great in the faubourgs, the sections, the usual support of the +assembly, defiled through it. There was, also, opposite the Invalides, an +elevated mound, a _Mountain_, surmounted by a colossal group, representing +Hercules crushing a hydra. The section of the Halle-au-ble demanded that +this should be removed. The left of the assembly murmured. "The giant," +said a member, "is an emblem of the people." "All I see in it is a +mountain," replied another, "and what is a Mountain but an eternal protest +against equality." These words were much applauded, and sufficed to carry +the petition and overthrow the monument of the victory and domination of a +party. + +Next were recalled the proscribed conventionalists; already, some time +since, their outlawry had been reversed. Isnard and Louvet wrote to the +assembly to be reinstated in their rights; they were met by the objection +as to the consequences of the 31st of May, and the insurrections of the +departments. "I will not," said Chenier, who spoke in their favour, "I +will not so insult the national convention as to bring before them the +phantom of federalism, which has been preposterously made the chief charge +against your colleagues. They fled, it will be said; they hid themselves. +This, then, is their crime! would that this, for the welfare of the +republic, had been the crime of all! Why were there not caverns deep +enough to preserve to the country the meditations of Condorcet, the +eloquence of Vergniaud? Why did not some hospitable land, on the 10th +Thermidor, give back to light that colony of energetic patriots and +virtuous republicans? But projects of vengeance are apprehended from these +men, soured by misfortune. Taught in the school of suffering, they have +learnt only to lament human errors. No, no, Condorcet, Rabaud-Saint- +Etienne, Vergniaud, Camille Desmoulins seek not holocausts of blood; their +manes are not to be appeased by hecatombs." The Left opposed Chenier's +motion. "You are about," cried Bentabole, "to rouse every passion; if you +attack the insurrection of the 31st of May, you attack the eighty thousand +men who concurred in it." "Let us take care," replied Sieyes, "not to +confound the work of tyranny with that of principles. When men, supported +by a subordinate authority, the rival of ours, succeeded in organizing the +greatest of crimes, on the fatal 31st of May, and 2nd of June, it was not +a work of patriotism, but an outrage of tyranny; from that time you have +seen the convention domineered over, the majority oppressed, the minority +dictating laws. The present session is divided into three distinct +periods; till the 31st of May, there was oppression of the convention by +the people; till the 9th Thermidor, oppression of the people by the +convention, itself the object of tyranny; and lastly, since the 9th of +Thermidor, justice, as regards the convention, has resumed its rights." He +demanded the recall of the proscribed members, as a pledge of union in the +assembly, and of security for the republic. Merlin de Douai immediately +proposed their return in the name of the committee of public safety; it +was granted, and after eighteen months' proscription, the twenty-two +conventionalists resumed their seats; among them were Isnard, Louvet, +Lanjuinais, Kervelegan, Henri La Riviere, La Reveillere-Lepaux, and +Lesage, all that remained of the brilliant but unfortunate Gironde. They +joined the moderate party, which was composed daily more and more of the +remains of different parties. For old enemies, forgetting their +resentments and their contest for domination, because they had now the +same interests and the same object, became allies. It was the commencement +of pacification between those who wished for a republic against the +royalists, and a practicable constitution, in opposition to the +revolutionists. At this period all measures against the federalists were +rescinded, and the Girondists assumed the lead of the republican counter- +revolution. + +The convention was, however, carried much too far by the partisans of +reaction; in its desire to repair all and to punish all, it fell into +excesses of justice. After the abolition of the decemviral regime, the +past should have been buried in oblivion, and the revolutionary abyss +closed after a few expiatory victims had been thrown into it. Security +alone brings about pacification; and pacification only admits of liberty. +By again entering upon a course characterized by passion, they only +effected a transference of tyranny, violence, and calamity. Hitherto the +bourgeoisie had been sacrificed to the multitude, to the consumers now it +was just the reverse. Stock-jobbing was substituted for the _maximum_, and +informers of the middle class altogether surpassed the popular informers. +All who had taken part in the dictatorial government were proceeded +against with the fiercest determination. The sections, the seat of the +middle class, required the disarming and punishment of the members of +their revolutionary committees, composed of sans-culottes. There was a +general hue and cry against the _terrorists_, who increased in number +daily. The departments denounced all the former proconsuls, thus rendering +desperate a numerous party, in reality no longer to be feared, since it +had lost all power, by thus threatening it with great and perpetual +reprisals. + +Dread of proscription, and several other reasons, disposed them for +revolt. The general want was terrible. Labour and its produce had been +diminished ever since the revolutionary period, during which the rich had +been imprisoned and the poor had governed; the suppression of the +_maximum_ had occasioned a violent crisis, which the traders and farmers +turned to account, by disastrous monopoly and jobbing. To increase the +difficulty, the assignats were falling into discredit, and their value +diminished daily. More than eight milliards worth of them had been issued. +The insecurity of this paper money, by reason of the revolutionary +confiscations, which had depreciated the national property, the want of +confidence on the part of the merchants, tradesmen, etc., in the stability +of the revolutionary government, which they considered merely provisional, +all this had combined to reduce the real value of the assignats to one- +fifteenth of their nominal value. They were received reluctantly, and +specie was hoarded up with all the greater care, in proportion to the +increasing demand for it, and the depreciation of paper money. The people, +in want of food, and without the means of buying it, even when they held +assignats, were in utter distress. They attributed this to the merchants, +the farmers, the landed and other proprietors, to the government, and +dwelt with regret upon the fact that before, under the committee of public +safety, they had enjoyed both power and food. The convention had indeed +appointed a committee of subsistence to supply Paris with provisions, but +this committee had great difficulty and expense in procuring from day to +day the supply of fifteen hundred sacks of flour necessary to support this +immense city; and the people, who waited in crowds for hours together +before the bakers' shops, for the pound of bad bread, distributed to each +inhabitant, were loud in their complaints, and violent in their murmurs. +They called Boissy d'Anglas, president of the committee of subsistence, +_Boissy-Famine_. Such was the state of the fanatical and exasperated +multitude, when its former leaders were brought to trial. + +On the 12th Ventose, a short time after the return of the remaining +Girondists, the assembly had decreed the arrest of Billaud-Varennes, +Collot-d'Herbois, Barrere and Vadier. Their trial before the convention +was appointed to commence on the 3rd Germinal. On the 1st (20th of March, +1795), the Decade day, and that on which the sections assembled, their +partisans organized a riot to prevent their being brought to trial; the +outer sections of the faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau were +devoted to their cause. From these quarters they proceeded, half +petitioners, half insurgents, towards the convention, to demand bread, the +constitution of '93, and the liberation of the imprisoned patriots. They +met a few young men on their way, whom they threw into the basins of the +Tuileries. The news, however, soon spread that the convention was exposed +to danger, and that the Jacobins were about to liberate their leaders, and +the _jeunesse doree_, followed by about five thousand citizens of the +inner sections, came, dispersed the men of the faubourgs, and acted as a +guard for the assembly. The latter, warned by this new danger, revived, on +the motion of Sieyes, the old martial law, under the name of _loi de +grande police_. + +This rising in favour of the accused having failed, they were brought +before the convention on the 3rd Germinal. Vadier alone was contumacious. +Their conduct was investigated with the greatest solemnity; they were +charged with having tyrannized over the people and oppressed the +convention. Though proofs were not wanting to support this charge, the +accused defended themselves with much address. They ascribed to +Robespierre the oppression of the assembly, and of themselves; they +endeavoured to palliate their own conduct by citing the measures taken by +the committee, and adopted by the convention, by urging the excitement of +the period, and the necessity of securing the defence and safety of the +republic. Their former colleagues appeared as witnesses in their favour, +and wished to make common cause with them. The _Cretois_ (the name then +given to the remnant of the Mountain) also supported them warmly. Their +trial had lasted nine days, and each sitting had been occupied by the +prosecution and the defence. The sections of the faubourgs were greatly +excited. The mobs which had collected every day since the 1st Germinal, +increased twofold on the 12th, and a new rising took place, in order to +suspend the trial, which the first rising had failed to prevent. The +agitators, more numerous and bold on this occasion, forced their way +through the guard of the convention, and entered the hall, having written +with chalk on their hats the words, "Bread," "The constitution of '93," +"Liberty for the patriots." Many of the deputies of the _Crete_ declared +in their favour; the other members, astounded at the tumult and disorder +of this popular invasion, awaited the arrival of the inner sections for +their deliverance. All debating was at an end. The tocsin, which had been +removed from the commune after its defeat, and placed on the top of the +Tuileries, where the convention sat, sounded the alarm. The committee +ordered the drums to beat to arms. In a short time the citizens of the +nearest sections assembled, marched in arms to assist the convention, and +rescued it a second time. It sentenced the accused, whose cause was the +pretext for this rising, to transportation, and decreed the arrest of +seventeen members of the _Crete_ who had favoured the insurgents, and +might therefore be regarded as their accomplices. Among these were Cambon, +Ruamps, Leonard Bourdon, Thuriot, Chasle, Amar, and Lecointre, who, since +the recall of the Girondists, had returned to the Mountain. On the +following day they, and the persons sentenced to transportation, were +conveyed to the castle of Ham. + +The events of the 12th of Germinal decided nothing. The faubourgs had been +repulsed, but not conquered; and both power and confidence must be taken +from a party by a decisive defeat, before it is effectually destroyed. +After so many questions decided against the democratists, there still +remained one of the utmost importance--the constitution. On this depended +the ascendancy of the multitude or of the bourgeoisie. The supporters of +the revolutionary government then fell back on the democratic constitution +of '93, which presented to them the means of resuming the authority they +had lost. Their opponents, on the other hand, endeavoured to replace it by +a constitution which would secure all the advantage to them, by +concentrating the government a little more, and giving it to the middle +class. For a month, both parties were preparing for this last contest. The +constitution of 1793, having been sanctioned by the people, enjoyed a +great prestige. It was accordingly attacked with infinite precaution. At +first its assailants engaged to carry it into execution without +restriction; next they appointed a commission of eleven members to prepare +the _lois organiques_, which were to render it practicable; by and by, +they ventured to suggest objections to it on the ground that it +distributed power too loosely, and only recognised one assembly dependent +on the people, even in its measures of legislation. At last, a deputation +of the sectionaries went so far as to call the constitution of '93 a +decemviral constitution, dictated by terror. All its partisans, at once +indignant and filled with fears, organized an insurrection to maintain it. +This was another 31st of May, as terrible as the first, but which, not +having the support of an all-powerful commune, not being directed by a +general commandant, and not having a terrified convention and submissive +sections to deal with, had not the same result. + +The conspirators, warned by the failure of the risings of the 1st and 12th +Germinal, omitted nothing to make up for their want of direct object and +of organization. On the 1st Prairial (20th of May) in the name of the +people, insurgent for the purpose of obtaining bread and their rights, +they decreed the abolition of the revolutionary government, the +establishment of the democratic constitution of '93, the dismissal and +arrest of the members of the existing government, the liberation of the +patriots, the convocation of the primary assemblies on the 25th Prairial, +the convocation of the legislative assembly, destined to replace the +convention, on the 25th Messidor, and the suspension of all authority not +emanating from the people. They determined on forming a new municipality, +to serve as a common centre; to seize on the barriers, telegraph, cannon, +tocsins, drums, and not to rest till they had secured repose, happiness, +liberty, and means of subsistence for all the French nation. They invited +the artillery, gendarmes, horse and foot soldiers, to join the banners of +the people, and marched on the convention. + +Meantime, the latter was deliberating on the means of preventing the +insurrection. The daily assemblages occasioned by the distribution of +bread and the popular excitement, had concealed from it the preparations +for a great rising, and it had taken no steps to prevent it. The +committees came in all haste to apprise it of its danger; it immediately +declared its sitting permanent, voted Paris responsible for the safety of +the representatives of the republic, closed its doors, outlawed all the +leaders of the mob, summoned the citizens of the sections to arms, and +appointed as their leaders eight commissioners, among whom were Legendre, +Henri La Riviere, Kervelegan, etc. These deputies had scarcely gone, when +a loud noise was heard without. An outer door had been forced, and numbers +of women rushed into the galleries, crying, "Bread and the constitution of +'93!" The convention received them firmly. "Your cries," said the +president Vernier, "will not alter our position; they will not accelerate +by one moment the arrival of supplies. They will only serve to hinder it." +A fearful tumult drowned the voice of the president, and interrupted the +proceedings. The galleries were then cleared; but the insurgents of the +faubourgs soon reached the inner doors, and finding them closed, forced +them with hatchets and hammers, and then rushed in amidst the convention. + +The hall now became a field of battle. The veterans and gendarmes, to whom +the guard of the assembly was confided, cried, "To arms!" The deputy +Auguis, sword in hand, headed them, and succeeded in repelling the +assailants, and even made a few of them prisoners. But the insurgents, +more numerous, returned to the charge, and again rushed into the house. +The deputy Feraud entered precipitately, pursued by the insurgents, who +fired some shots in the house. They took aim at Boissy d'Anglas, who was +occupying the president's chair, in place of Vernier. Feraud ran to the +tribune, to shield him with his body; he was struck at with pikes and +sabres, and fell dangerously wounded. + +The insurgents dragged him into the lobby, and, mistaking him for Freron, +cut off his head, and placed it on a pike. + +After this skirmish, they became masters of the hall. Most of the deputies +had taken flight. There only remained the members of the _Crete_ and +Boissy d'Anglas, who, calm, his hat on, heedless of threat and insult, +protested in the name of the convention against this popular violence. +They held out to him the bleeding head of Feraud; he bowed respectfully +before it. They tried to force him, by placing pikes at his breast, to put +the propositions of the insurgents to the vote; he steadily and +courageously refused. But the _Cretois_, who approved of the insurrection, +took possession of the bureaux and of the tribune, and decreed, amidst the +applause of the multitude, all the articles contained in the manifesto of +the insurrection. The deputy Romme became their organ. They further +appointed an executive commission, composed of Bourbotte, Duroy, +Duquesnoy, Prieur de la Marne, and a general-in-chief of the armed force, +the deputy Soubrany. In this way they prepared for the return of their +domination. They decreed the recall of their imprisoned colleagues, the +dismissal of their enemies, a democratic constitution, the re- +establishment of the Jacobin club. But it was not enough for them to have +usurped the assembly for a short time; it was necessary to conquer the +sections, for it was only with these they could really contend there. + +The commissioners despatched to the sections had quickly gathered them +together. The battalions of the _Butte des Moulins, Lepelletier, des +Piques, de la Fontaine-Grenelle_, who were the nearest, soon occupied the +Carrousel and its principal avenues. The aspect of affairs then underwent +a change; Legendre, Kervelegan, and Auguis besieged the insurgents, in +their turn, at the head of the sectionaries. At first they experienced +some resistance. But with fixed bayonets they soon entered the hall, where +the conspirators were still deliberating, and Legendre cried out: "_In the +name of the law, I order armed citizens to withdraw_." They hesitated a +moment, but the arrival of the battalions, now entering at every door, +intimidated them, and they hastened from the hall in all the disorder of +flight. The assembly again became complete; the sections received a vote +of thanks, and the deliberations were resumed. All the measures adopted in +the interim were annulled, and fourteen representatives, to whom were +afterwards joined fourteen others, were arrested, for organizing the +insurrection, or approving it in their speeches. It was then midnight; at +five in the morning the prisoners were already six leagues from Paris. + +Despite this defeat, the faubourgs did not consider themselves beaten; and +the next day they advanced _en masse_ with their cannon against the +convention. The sections, on their side, marched for its defence. The two +parties were on the point of engaging; the cannons of the faubourg which +were mounted on the Place du Carrousel, were directed towards the chateau, +when the assembly sent commissioners to the insurgents. Negotiations were +begun. A deputy of the faubourgs, admitted to the convention, first +repeated the demand made the preceding day, adding: "We are resolved to +die at the post we now occupy, rather than abate our present demands. I +fear nothing! My name is Saint-Legier. Vive la Republique! Vive la +Convention! if it is attached to principles, as I believe it to be." The +deputy was favourably received, and they came to friendly terms with the +faubourgs, without, however, granting them anything positive. The latter +having no longer a general council of the commune to support their +resolutions, nor a commander like Henriot to keep them under arms, till +their propositions were decreed, went no further. They retired after +having received an assurance that the convention would assiduously attend +to the question of provisions, and would soon publish the organic laws of +the constitution of '93. That day showed that immense physical force and a +decided object are not the only things essential to secure success; +leaders and an authority to support and direct the insurrection are also +necessary. The convention was the only remaining legal power: the party +which it held in favour triumphed. + +Six democratic members of the Mountain, Goujon, Bourbotte, Romme, Duroy, +Duquesnoy, and Soubrany, were brought before a military commission. They +behaved firmly, like men fanatically devoted to their cause, and almost +all free from excesses. The Prairial movement was the only thing against +them; but that was sufficient in times of party strife, and they were +condemned to death. They all stabbed themselves with the same knife, which +was transferred from one to the other, exclaiming, "_Vive la Republique!_" +Romme, Goujon, and Duquesnoy were fortunate enough to wound themselves +fatally; the other three were conducted to the scaffold in a dying state, +but faced death with serene countenances. + +Meantime, the faubourgs, though repelled on the 1st, and diverted from +their object on the 2nd of Prairial, still had the means of rising. An +event of much less importance than the preceding riots occasioned their +final ruin. The murderer of Feraud was discovered, condemned, and on the +4th, the day of his execution, a mob succeeded in rescuing him. There was +a general outcry against this attempt; and the convention ordered the +faubourgs to be disarmed. They were encompassed by all the interior +sections. After attempting to resist, they yielded, giving up some of +their leaders, their arms, and artillery. The democratic party had lost +its chiefs, its clubs, and its authorities; it had nothing left but an +armed force, which rendered it still formidable, and institutions by means +of which it might yet regain everything. After the last check, the +inferior class was entirely excluded from the government of the state, the +revolutionary committees which formed its assemblies were destroyed; the +cannoneers forming its armed force were disarmed; the constitution of '93, +which was its code, was abolished; and here the rule of the multitude +terminated. + +From the 9th Thermidor to the 1st Prairial, the Mountain was treated as +the Girondist party had been treated from the 2nd of June to the 9th +Thermidor. Seventy-six of its members were sentenced to death or arrest. +In its turn, it underwent the destiny it had imposed on the other; for in +times when the passions are called into play, parties know not how to come +to terms, and seek only to conquer. Like the Girondists, they resorted to +insurrection, in order to regain the power which they had lost; and like +them, they fell. Vergniaud, Brissot, Guadet, etc., were tried by a +revolutionary tribunal; Bourbotte, Duroy, Soubrany, Romme, Goujon, +Duquesnoy, by a military commission. They all died with the same courage; +which shows that all parties are the same, and are guided by the same +maxims, or, if you please, by the same necessities. From that period, the +middle class resumed the management of the revolution without, and the +assembly was as united under the Girondists as it had been, after the 2nd +of June, under the Mountain. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE 1ST PRAIRIAL (20TH OF MAY, 1795) TO THE 4TH BRUMAIRE (26TH OF +OCTOBER), YEAR IV., THE CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION + + +The exterior prosperity of the revolution chiefly contributed to the fall +of the dictatorial government and of the Jacobin party. The increasing +victories of the republic to which they had very greatly contributed by +their vigorous measures, and by their enthusiasm, rendered their power +superfluous. The committee of public safety, by crushing with its strong +and formidable hand the interior of France, had developed resources, +organized armies, found generals and guided them to victories which +ultimately secured the triumph of the revolution in the face of Europe. A +prosperous position no longer required the same efforts; its mission was +accomplished, the peculiar province of such a dictatorship being to save a +country and a cause, and to perish by the very safety it has secured. +Internal events have prevented our rapidly describing the impulse which +the committee of public safety gave to the armies after the 31st of May, +and the results which it obtained from it. + +The levy en masse that took place in the summer of 1793, formed the troops +of the Mountain. The leaders of that party soon selected from the +secondary ranks generals belonging to the Mountain to replace the +Girondist generals. Those generals were Jourdan, Pichegru, Hoche, Moreau, +Westermann, Dugommier, Marceau, Joubert, Kleber, etc. Carnot, by his +admission to the committee of public safety, became minister of war and +commander-in-chief of all the republican armies. Instead of scattered +bodies, acting without concert upon isolated points, he proceeded with +strong masses, concentrated on one object. He commenced the practice of a +great plan of warfare, which he tried with decided success at Watignies, +in his capacity of commissioner of the convention. This important victory, +at which he assisted in person, drove the allied generals, Clairfait and +the prince of Coburg, behind the Sambre, and raised the siege of Maubeuge. +During the winter of 1793 and 1794 the two armies continued in presence of +each other without undertaking anything. + +At the opening of the campaign, they each conceived a plan of invasion. +The Austrian army advanced upon the towns on the Somme, Peronne, Saint- +Quentin, Arras, and threatened Paris, while the French army again +projected the conquest of Belgium. The plan of the committee of public +safety was combined in a very different way to the vague design of the +coalition. Pichegru, at the head of fifty thousand men of the army of the +north, entered Flanders, resting on the sea and the Scheldt. On his right, +Moreau advanced with twenty thousand men upon Menin and Courtrai. General +Souham, with thirty thousand men, remained under Lille, to sustain the +extreme right of the invading army against the Austrians; while Jourdan, +with the army of the Moselle, directed his course towards Charleroi by +Arlon and Dinan, to join the army of the north. + +The Austrians, attacked in Flanders, and threatened with a surprise in the +rear by Jourdan, soon abandoned their positions on the Somme. Clairfait +and the duke of York allowed themselves to be beaten at Courtrai and +Hooglede by the army of Pichegru; Coburg at Fleurus by that of Jourdan, +who had just taken Charleroi. The two victorious generals rapidly +completed the invasion of the Netherlands. The Anglo-Dutch army fell back +on Antwerp, and from thence upon Breda, and from Breda to Bois-le-Duc, +receiving continual checks. It crossed the Waal, and fell back upon +Holland. The Austrians endeavoured with the same want of success, to cover +Brussels and Maestricht: they were pursued and beaten by the army of +Jourdan, which since its union had taken the name of the army of the +_Sambre et Meuse_, and which did not leave them behind the Roer, as +Dumouriez had done, but drove them beyond the Rhine. Jourdan made himself +master of Cologne and Bonn, and communicated by his left with the right of +the army of the Moselle, which had advanced into the country of +Luxembourg, and which, conjointly with him, occupied Coblentz. A general +and concerted movement of all the French armies had taken place, all of +them marching towards the Rhenish frontier. At the time of the defeats, +the lines of Weissenburg had been forced. The committee of public safety +employed in the army of the Rhine the expeditious measures peculiar to its +policy. The commissioners, Saint-Just and Lebas, gave the chief command to +Hoche, made terror and victory the order of the day; and generals +Brunswick and Wurmser were very soon driven from Haguenau on the lines of +the Lauter, and not being able even to maintain that position, passed the +Rhine at Philipsburg. Spire and Worms were retaken. The republican troops, +everywhere victorious, occupied Belgium, that part of Holland situated on +the left of the Meuse, and all the towns on the Rhine, except Mayence and +Mannheim, which were closely beset. + +The army of the Alps did not make much progress in this campaign. It tried +to invade Piedmont, but failed. On the Spanish frontier, the war had +commenced under ill auspices: the two armies of the eastern and western +Pyrenees, few in number and badly disciplined, were constantly beaten; one +had retired under Perpignan, the other under Bayonne. The committee of +public safety turned its attention and efforts but tardily on this point, +which was not the most dangerous for it. But as soon as it had introduced +its system, generals, and organization into the two armies, the appearance +of things changed. Dugommier, after repeated successes, drove the +Spaniards from the French territory, and entered the peninsula by +Catalonia. Moncey also invaded it by the valley of Bastan, the other +opening of the Pyrenees, and became master of San Sebastian and +Fontarabia. The coalition was everywhere conquered, and some of the +confederated powers began to repent of their over-confident adhesion. + +In the meantime, news of the revolution of the 9th Thermidor reached the +armies. They were entirely republican, and they feared that Robespierre's +fall would lead to that of the popular government; and they, accordingly, +received this intelligence with marked disapprobation; but, as the armies +were submissive to the civil authority, none of them rebelled. The +insurrections of the army only took place from the 14th of July to the +31st of May; because, being the refuge of the conquered parties, their +leaders had at every crisis the advantage of political precedence, and +contended with all the ardour of compromised factions. Under the committee +of public safety, on the contrary, the most renowned generals had no +political influence, and were subject to the terrible discipline of +parties. While occasionally thwarting the generals, the convention had no +difficulty in keeping the armies in obedience. + +A short time afterwards the movement of invasion was prolonged in Holland +and in the Spanish peninsula. The United Provinces were attacked in the +middle of winter, and on several sides, by Pichegru, who summoned the +Dutch patriots to liberty. The party opposed to the stadtholderate +seconded the victorious efforts of the French army, and the revolution and +conquest took place simultaneously at Leyden, Amsterdam, the Hague, and +Utrecht. The stadtholder took refuge in England, his authority was +abolished, and the assembly of the states-general proclaimed the +sovereignty of the people, and constituted the Dutch Republic, which +formed a close alliance with France, to which it ceded, by the treaty of +Paris, of the 16th of May, 1795, Dutch Flanders, Maestricht, Venloo, and +their dependencies. The navigation of the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the +Meuse was left free to both nations. Holland, by its wealth, powerfully +contributed towards the continuance of the war against the coalition. This +important conquest at the same time deprived the English of a powerful +support, and compelled Prussia, threatened on the Rhine and by Holland, to +conclude, at Basle, with the French Republic, a peace, for which its +reverses and the affairs of Poland had long rendered it disposed. A peace +was also made at Basle, on the 10th of July, with Spain, alarmed by our +progress on its territory. Figuieres and the fortress of Rosas had been +taken; and Perignon was advancing into Catalonia; while Moncey, after +becoming master of Villa Real, Bilbao, and Vittoria, marched against the +Spaniards who had retired to the frontiers of Old Castile. The cabinet of +Madrid demanded peace. It recognised the French Republic, which restored +its conquests, and which received in exchange the portion of San Domingo +possessed by Spain. The two disciplined armies of the Pyrenees joined the +army of the Alps, which by this means soon overran Piedmont, and entered +Italy--Tuscany only having made peace with the republic on the 9th of +February, 1795. + +These partial pacifications and the reverses of the allied troops gave +another direction to the efforts of England and the emigrant party. The +time had arrived for making the interior of France the fulcrum of the +counter-revolutionary movement. In 1791, when unanimity existed in France, +the royalists placed all their hopes in foreign powers; now, dissensions +at home and the defeat of their allies in Europe left them no resource but +in conspiracies. Unsuccessful attempts, as we have seen, never make +vanquished parties despair: victory alone wearies and enervates, and +sooner or later restores the dominion of those who wait. + +The events of Prairial and the defeat of the Jacobin party, had decided +the counter-revolutionary movement. At this period, the reaction, hitherto +conducted by moderate republicans, became generally royalist. The +partisans of monarchy were still as divided as they had been from the +opening of the states-general to the 10th of August. In the interior, the +old constitutionalists, who had their sittings in the sections, and who +consisted of the wealthy middle classes, had not the same views of +monarchy with the absolute royalists. They still felt the rivalry and +opposition of interest, natural to the middle against the privileged +classes. The absolute royalists themselves did not agree; the party beaten +in the interior had little sympathy with that enrolled among the armies of +Europe; but besides the divisions between the emigrants and Vendeans, +dissensions had arisen among the emigrants from the date of their +departure from France. Meantime, all these royalists of different +opinions, not having yet to contend for the reward of victory, came to an +agreement to attack the convention in common. The emigrants and the +priests, who for some months past had returned in great numbers, took the +banner of the sections, quite certain, if they carried the day by means of +the middle class, to establish their own government; for they had a +leader, and a definite object, which the sectionaries had not. + +This reaction, of a new character, was restrained for some time in Paris, +where the convention, a strong and neutral power, wished to prevent the +violence and usurpation of both parties. While overthrowing the sway of +the Jacobins, it suppressed the vengeance of the royalists. Then it was +that the greater part of _la troupe doree_ deserted its cause, that the +leaders of the sections prepared the bourgeoisie to oppose the assembly, +and that the confederation of the Journalists succeeded that of the +Jacobins. La Harpe, Richer-de-Serizy, Poncelin, Troncon-du-Coudray, +Marchena, etc., became the organs of this new opinion, and were the +literary clubists. The active but irregular troops of this party assembled +at the Theatre Feydeau. the Boulevard des Italiens, and the Palais Royal, +and began _the chase of the Jacobins_, while they sang the _Reveil du +Peuple_. The word of proscription, at that time, was Terrorist, in virtue +of which an _honest man_ might with good conscience attack a +revolutionist. The Terrorist class was extended at the will or the +passions of the new reactionaries, who wore their hair _a la victime_, and +who, no longer fearing to avow their intentions, for some time past had +adopted the Chouan uniform--a grey turned-back coat with a green or black +collar. + +But this reaction was much more ardent in the departments where there was +no authority to interpose in the prevention of bloodshed. Here there were +only two parties, that which had dominated and that which had suffered +under the Mountain. The intermediate class was alternately governed by the +royalists and by the democrats. The latter, foreseeing the terrible +reprisals to which they would be subject if they fell, held out as long as +they could; but their defeat at Paris led to their downfall in the +departments. Party executions then took place, similar to those of the +proconsuls of the committee of public safety. The south was, more +especially, a prey to wholesale massacres and acts of personal vengeance. +Societies, called _Compagnies de Jesus_ and _Compagnies du Soleil_, which +were of royalists origin, were organized, and executed terrible reprisals. +At Lyons, Aix, Tarascon, and Marseilles, they slew in the prisons those +who had taken part in the preceding regime. Nearly all the south had its +2nd of September. At Lyons, after the first revolutionary massacres, the +members of the _compagnie_ hunted out those who had not been taken; and +when they met one, without any other form than the exclamation, "There's a +Matavon," (the name given to them), they slew and threw him into the +Rhone. At Tarascon, they threw them from the top of the tower on a rock on +the bank of the Rhone. During this new reign of terror, and this general +defeat of the revolutionists, England and the emigrants attempted the +daring enterprise of Quiberon. + +The Vendeans were exhausted by their repeated defeats, but they were not +wholly reduced. Their losses, however, and the divisions between their +principal leaders, Charette and Stofflet, rendered them an extremely +feeble succour. Charette had even consented to treat with the republic, +and a sort of pacification had been concluded between him and the +convention at Jusnay. The marquis de Puisaye, an enterprising man, but +volatile and more capable of intrigue than of vigorous party conceptions, +intended to replace the almost expiring insurrection of La Vendee by that +of Brittany. Since the enterprise of Wimpfen, in which Puisaye had a +command, there already existed, in Calvados and Morbihan, bands of +Chouans, composed of the remains of parties, adventurers, men without +employment, and daring smugglers, who made expeditions, but were unable to +keep the field, like the Vendeans. Puisaye had recourse to England to +extend the _Chouanerie_, leading it to hope for a general rising in +Brittany, and from thence in the rest of France, if it would land the +nucleus of an army, with ammunition and guns. + +The ministry of Great Britain, deceived as to the coalition, desired +nothing better than to expose the republic to fresh perils, while it +sought to revive the courage of Europe. It confided in Puisaye, and in the +spring of 1795 prepared an expedition, in which the most energetic +emigrants took a share, nearly all the officers of the former navy, and +all who, weary of the part of exiles and of the distresses of a life of +wandering, wished to try their fortunes for the last time. + +The English fleet landed, on the peninsula of Quiberon, fifteen hundred +emigrants, six thousand republican prisoners who had embraced the cause of +the emigrants to return to France, sixty thousand muskets, and the full +equipment for an army of forty thousand men. Fifteen hundred Chouans +joined the army on its landing, but it was soon attacked by General Hoche. +His attack proved successful; the republican prisoners who were in the +ranks deserted, and it was defeated after a most energetic resistance. In +the mortal warfare between the emigrants and the republic, the vanquished, +being considered as _outlaws_, were mercilessly massacred. Their loss +inflicted a deep and incurable wound on the emigrant party. + +The hopes founded on the victories of Europe, on the progress of +insurrection and the attempt of the emigrants, being thus overthrown, +recourse was had to the discontented sections. It was hoped to make a +counter-revolution by means of the new constitution decreed by the +convention on the 22nd of August, 1795. This constitution was, indeed, the +work of the moderate republican party; but as it restored the ascendancy +of the middle class, the royalist leaders thought that by it they might +easily enter the legislative body and the government. + +This constitution was the best, the wisest, and most liberal, and the most +provident that had as yet been established or projected; it contained the +result of six years' revolutionary and legislative experience. At this +period, the convention felt the necessity of organizing power, and of +rendering the people settled, while the first assembly, from its position, +only felt the necessity of weakening royalty and agitating the nation. All +had been exhausted, from the throne to the people; existence now depended +on reconstructing and restoring order, at the same time keeping the nation +in great activity. The new constitution accomplished this. It differed but +little from that of 1791, with respect to the exercise of sovereignty; but +greatly in everything relative to government. It confided the legislative +power to two councils; that of the _Cinq-cents_ and that of the _Anciens_; +and the executive power to a directory of five members. It restored the +two degrees of elections destined to retard the popular movement, and to +lead to a more enlightened choice than immediate elections. The wise but +moderate qualifications with respect to property, required in the members +of the primary assemblies and the electoral assemblies, again conferred +political importance on the middle class, to which it became imperatively +necessary to recur after the dismissal of the multitude and the +abandonment of the constitution of '93. + +In order to prevent the despotism or the servility of a single assembly, +it was necessary to place somewhere a power to check or defend it. The +division of the legislative body into two councils, which had the same +origin, the same duration, and only differed in functions, attained the +twofold object of not alarming the people by an aristocratic institution, +and of contributing to the formation of a good government. The Council of +Five Hundred, whose members were required to be thirty years old, was +alone entrusted with the initiative and the discussion of laws. The +Council of Ancients, composed of two hundred and fifty members, who had +completed their fortieth year, was charged with adopting or rejecting +them. + +In order to avoid precipitation in legislative measures, and to prevent a +compulsory sanction from the Council of Ancients in a moment of popular +excitement, they could not come to a decision until after three readings, +at a distance of five days at least from each other. In _urgent cases_ +this formality was dispensed with; and the council had the right of +determining such urgency. This council acted sometimes as a legislative +power, when it did not thoroughly approve a measure, and made use of the +form "_Le Conseil des Anciens ne peut pas adopter_," and sometimes as a +conservative power, when it only considered a measure in its legal +bearing, and said "_La Constitution annule_." For the first time, partial +re-elections were adopted, and the renewing of half of the council every +two years was fixed, in order to avoid that rush of legislators who came +with an immoderate desire for innovation, and suddenly changed the spirit +of an assembly. + +The executive power was distinct from the councils, and no longer existed +in the committees. Monarchy was still too much feared to admit of a +president of the republic being named. They, therefore, confined +themselves to the creation of a directory of five members, nominated by +the council of ancients, at the recommendation of that of the Five +Hundred. The directors might be brought to trial by the councils, but +could not be dismissed by them. They were entrusted with a general and +independent power of execution, but it was wished also to prevent their +abusing it, and especially to guard against the danger of a long habit of +authority leading to usurpation. They had the management of the armed +force and of the finances; the nomination of functionaries, the conduct of +negotiations, but they could do nothing of themselves; they had ministers +and generals, for whose conduct they were responsible. Each member was +president for three months, holding the seals and affixing his signature. +Every year, one of the members was to go out. It will be seen by this +account that the functions of royalty as they were in 1791, were shared by +the council of ancients, who had the _veto_, and the directory, which held +the executive power. The directory had a guard, a national palace, the +Luxembourg, for a residence, and a kind of civil list. The council of the +ancients, destined to check the encroachments of the legislative power, +was invested with the means of restraining the usurpations of the +directory; it could change the residence of the councils and of the +government. + +The foresight of this constitution was infinite: it prevented popular +violence, the encroachments of power, and provided for all the perils +which the different crises of the revolution had displayed. If any +constitution could have become firmly established at that period, it was +the directorial constitution. It restored authority, granted liberty, and +offered the different parties an opportunity of peace, if each, sincerely +renouncing exclusive dominion, and satisfied with the common right, would +have taken its proper place in the state. But it did not last longer than +the others, because it could not establish legal order in spite of +parties. Each of them aspired to the government, in order to make its +system and its interests prevail, and instead of the reign of law, it was +still necessary to relapse into that of force, and of coups-d'etat. When +parties do not wish to terminate a revolution--and those who do not +dominate never wish to terminate it--a constitution, however excellent it +may be, cannot accomplish it. + +The members of the Commission of Eleven, who, previously to the events of +Prairial, had no other mission than to prepare the organic laws of the +constitution of '93, and who, after those events, made the constitution of +the year III., were at the head of the conventional party. This party +neither belonged to the old Gironde nor to the old Mountain. Neutral up to +the 31st of May, subject till the 9th Thermidor, it had been in the +possession of power since that period, because the twofold defeat of the +Girondists and the Mountain had left it the strongest. The men of the +extreme sides, who had begun the fusion of parties, joined it. Merlin de +Douai represented the party of that mass which had yielded to +circumstances, Thibaudeau, the party that continued inactive, and Daunou, +the courageous party. The latter had declared himself opposed to all +coups-d'etat, ever since the opening of the assembly, both the 21st of +January, and to the 31st of May, because he wished for the regime of the +convention, without party violence and measures. After the 9th Thermidor, +he blamed the fury displayed towards the chiefs of the revolutionary +government, whose victim he had been, as one of the _seventy-three_. He +had obtained great ascendancy, as men gradually approached towards a legal +system. His enlightened attachment to the revolution, his noble +independence, the solidity and extent of his ideas, and his imperturbable +fortitude, rendered him one of the most influential actors of this period. +He was the chief author of the constitution of the year III., and the +convention deputed him, with some others of its members, to undertake the +defence of the republic, during the crisis of Vendemiaire. + +The reaction gradually increased; it was indirectly favoured by the +members of the Right, who, since the opening of that assembly, had only +been incidentally republican. They were not prepared to repel the attacks +of the royalists with the same energy as that of the revolutionists. Among +this number were Boissy d'Anglas, Lanjuinais, Henri La Riviere, Saladin, +Aubry, etc.; they formed in the assembly the nucleus of the sectionary +party. Old and ardent members of the Mountain, such as Rovere, Bourdon de +l'Oise, etc., carried away by the counter-revolutionary movement, suffered +the reaction to be prolonged, doubtless in order to make their peace with +those whom they had so violently combated. + +But the conventional party, reassured with respect to the democrats, set +itself to prevent the triumph of the royalists. It felt that the safety of +the republic depended on the formation of the councils, and that the +councils being elected by the middle class, which was directed by +royalists, would be composed on counter-revolutionary principles. It was +important to entrust the guardianship of the regime they were about to +establish to those who had an interest in defending it. In order to avoid +the error of the constituent assembly, which had excluded itself from the +legislature that succeeded it, the convention decided by a decree, that +two-thirds of its members should be re-elected. By this means it secured +the majority of the councils and the nomination of the directory; it could +accompany its constitution into the state, and consolidate it without +violence. This re-election of two-thirds was not exactly legal, but it was +politic, and the only means of saving France from the rule of the +democrats or counter-revolutionists. The convention granted itself a +moderate dictatorship, by the decrees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor (22nd +and 30th of August, 1795), one of which established the re-election, and +the other fixed the manner of it. But these two exceptional decrees were +submitted to the ratification of the primary assemblies, at the same time +as the constitutional act. + +The royalist party was taken by surprise by the decrees of Fructidor. It +hoped to form part of the government by the councils, of the councils by +elections, and to effect a change of system when once in power. It +inveighed against the convention. The royalist committee of Paris, whose +agent was an obscure man, named Lemaitre, the journalists, and the leaders +of the sections coalesced. They had no difficulty in securing the support +of public opinion, of which they were the only organs; they accused the +convention of perpetuating its power, and of assailing the sovereignty of +the people. The chief advocates of the two-thirds, Louvet, Daunou, and +Chenier, were not spared, and every preparation was made for a grand +movement. The Faubourg Saint Germain, lately almost deserted, gradually +filled; emigrants flocked in, and the conspirators, scarcely concealing +their plans, adopted the Chouan uniform. + +The convention, perceiving the storm increase, sought support in the army, +which, at that time, was the republican class, and a camp was formed at +Paris. The people had been disbanded, and the royalists had secured the +bourgeoisie. In the meantime, the primary assemblies met on the 20th +Fructidor, to deliberate on the constitutional act, and the decrees of the +two-thirds, which were to be accepted or rejected together. The +Lepelletier section (formerly Filles Saint Thomas) was the centre of all +the others. On a motion made by that section, it was decided that the +power of all constituent authority ceased in the presence of the assembled +people. The Lepelletier section, directed by Richer-Serizy, La Harpe, +Lacretelle junior, Vaublanc, etc., turned its attention to the +organization of the insurrectional government, under the name of the +central committee. This committee was to replace in Vendemiaire, against +the convention, the committee of the 10th of August against the throne, +and of the 31st of May against the Girondists. The majority of the +sections adopted this measure, which was annulled by the convention, whose +decree was in its turn rejected by the majority of the sections. The +struggle now became open; and in Paris they separated the constitutional +act, which was adopted, from the decrees of re-election, which were +rejected. + +On the 1st Vendemiaire, the convention proclaimed the acceptance of the +decrees by the greater number of the primary assemblies of France. The +sections assembled again to nominate the electors who were to choose the +members of the legislature. On the 10th they determined that the electors +should assemble in the Theatre Francais (it was then on the other side of +the bridges); that they should be accompanied there by the armed force of +the sections, after having sworn to defend them till death. On the 11th, +accordingly, the electors assembled under the presidency of the duc de +Nivernois, and the guard of some detachments of chasseurs and grenadiers. + +The convention, apprised of the danger, sat permanently, stationed round +its place of sitting the troops of the camp of Sablons, and concentrated +its powers in a committee of five members, who were entrusted with all +measures of public safety. These members were Colombel, Barras, Daunou, +Letourneur, and Merlin de Douai. For some time the revolutionists had +ceased to be feared, and all had been liberated who had been imprisoned +for the events of Prairial. They enrolled, under the name of _Battalion of +Patriots of '89_, about fifteen or eighteen hundred of them, who had been +proceeded against, in the departments or in Paris, by the friends of the +reaction. In the evening of the 11th, the convention sent to dissolve the +assembly of electors by force, but they had already adjourned to the +following day. + +During the night of the 11th, the decree which dissolved the college of +electors, and which armed the battalion of patriots of '89, caused the +greatest agitation. Drums beat to arms; the Lepelletier section declaimed +against the despotism of the convention, against the return of the _Reign +of Terror_, and during the whole of the 12th prepared the other sections +for the contest. In the evening, the convention, scarcely less agitated, +decided on taking the initiative, by surrounding the conspiring section, +and terminating the crisis by disarming it. Menou, general of the +interior, and Laporte the representative, were entrusted with this +mission. The convent of the Filles Saint Thomas was the headquarters of +the sectionaries, before which they had seven or eight hundred men in +battle array. These were surrounded by superior forces, from the +Boulevards on each side, and the Rue Vivienne opposite. Instead of +disarming them, the leaders of the expedition began to parley. Both +parties agreed to withdraw; but the conventional troops had no sooner +retired than the sectionaries returned reinforced. This was a complete +victory for them, which being exaggerated in Paris, as such things always +are, increased their number, and gave them courage to attack the +convention the next day. + +About eleven at night the convention learned the issue of the expedition +and the dangerous effect which it had produced; it immediately dismissed +Menou, and gave the command of the armed force to Barras, the general in +command on the 9th Thermidor. Barras asked the committee of five to +appoint as his second in command, a young officer who had distinguished +himself at the siege of Toulon, but had been dismissed by Aubry of the +reaction party; a young man of talent and resolution, calculated to do +good service to the republic in a moment of peril. This young officer was +Bonaparte. He appeared before the committee, but there was nothing in his +appearance that announced his astonishing destiny. Not a man of party, +summoned for the first time to this great scene of action, his demeanour +exhibited a timidity and a want of assurance, which disappeared entirely +in the preparations for battle, and in the heat of action. He immediately +sent for the artillery of the camp of Sablons, and disposed them, with the +five thousand men of the conventional army, on all the points from which +the convention could be assailed. At noon on the 13th Vendemiaire, the +enclosure of the convention had the appearance of a fortified place, which +could only be taken by assault. The line of defence extended, on the left +side of the Tuileries along the river, from the Pont Neuf to the Pont +Louis XV.; on the right, in all the small streets opening on the Rue Saint +Honore, from the Rues de Rohan, de l'Echelle and the Cul-de-sac Dauphin, +to the Place de la Revolution. In front, the Louvre, the Jardin de +l'Infante, and the Carrousel were planted with cannon; and behind, the +Pont Tournant and the Place de la Revolution formed a park of reserve. In +this position the convention awaited the insurgents. + +The latter soon encompassed it on several points. They had about forty +thousand men under arms, commanded by generals Danican, Duhoux, and the +ex-garde-du-corps Lafond. The thirty-two sections which formed the +majority, had supplied their military contingent. Of the other sixteen, +several sections of the faubourgs had their troops in the battalion of +'89. A few, those of the Quinze-vingts and Montreuil, sent assistance +during the action; others, though favourably disposed, as that of +Popincourt, could not do so; and lastly, others remained neutral, like +that of L'Indivisibilite. From two to three o'clock, general Carteaux, who +occupied the Pont Neuf with four hundred men and two four-pounders, was +surrounded by several columns of sectionaries, who obliged him to retire +on the Louvre. This advantage emboldened the insurgents, who were strong +on all points. General Danican summoned the convention to withdraw its +troops, and disarm the terrorists. The officer entrusted with the summons +was led into the assembly blindfold, and his message occasioned some +agitation, several members declaring in favour of conciliatory measures. +Boissy d'Anglas advised a conference with Danican; Gamon proposed a +proclamation in which they should call upon the citizens to retire, +promising then to disarm the battalion of '89. This address excited +violent murmurs. Chenier rushed to the tribune. "I am surprised," said he, +"that the demands of sections in a state of revolt should be discussed +here. Negotiation must not be heard of; there is only victory or death for +the national convention." Lanjuinais wished to support the address, by +dwelling on the danger and misery of civil war; but the convention would +not hear him, and on the motion of Fermond, passed to the order of the +day. The debates respecting measures of peace or war with the sections +were continued for some time, when, about half-past four several +discharges of musketry were heard, which put an end to all discussion. +Seven hundred guns were brought in, and the convention took arms as a body +of reserve. + +The conflict had now commenced in the Rue Saint Honore, of which the +insurgents were masters. The first shots were fired from the Hotel de +Noailles, and a murderous fire extended the whole length of this line. A +few moments after, on the other side, two columns of sectionaries, about +four thousand strong, commanded by the count de Maulevrier, advanced by +the quays, and attacked the Pont Royal. The action then became general, +but it could not last long; the place was too well defended to be taken by +assault. After an hour's fighting, the sectionaries were driven from Saint +Roch and Rue Saint Honore, by the cannon of the convention and the +battalion of patriots. The column of the Pont Royal received three +discharges of artillery in front and on the side, from the bridge and the +quays, which put it entirely to flight. At seven o'clock the conventional +troops, victorious on all sides, took the offensive; by nine o'clock they +had dislodged the sectionaries from the Theatre de la Republique and the +posts they still occupied in the neighbourhood of the Palais Royal. They +prepared to make barricades during the night, and several volleys were +fired in the Rue de la Loi (Richelieu), to prevent the works. The next +day, the 14th, the troops of the convention disarmed the Lepelletier +section, and compelled the others to return to order. + +The assembly, which had only fought in its own defence, displayed much +moderation. The 13th Vendemiaire was the 10th of August of the royalists +against the republic, except that the convention resisted the bourgeoisie +much better than the throne resisted the faubourgs. The position of France +contributed very much to this victory. Men now wished for a republic +without a revolutionary government, a moderate regime without a counter- +revolution. The convention, which was a mediatory power, pronounced alike +against the exclusive domination of the lower class, which it had thrown +off in Prairial, and the reactionary domination of the bourgeoisie, which +it repelled in Vendemiaire, seemed alone capable of satisfying this +twofold want, and of putting an end to the state of warfare between the +two parties, which was prolonged by their alternate entrance into the +government. This situation, as well as its own dangers, gave it courage to +resist, and secured its triumph. The sections could not take it by +surprise, and still less by assault. + +After the events of Vendemiaire, the convention occupied itself with +forming the councils and the directory. The third part, freely elected, +had been favourable to reaction. A few conventionalists, headed by +Tallien, proposed to annul the elections of this _third_, and wished to +suspend, for a longer time, the conventional government. Thibaudeau +exposed their design with much courage and eloquence. The whole +conventional party adopted his opinion. It rejected all superfluous +arbitrary sway, and showed itself impatient to leave the provisional state +it had been in for the last three years. The convention established itself +as a _national electoral assembly_, in order to complete the _two-thirds_ +from among its members. It then formed the councils; that of the +_Ancients_ of two hundred and fifty members, who according to the new law +had completed forty years; that of _The Five Hundred_ from among the +others. The councils met in the Tuileries. They then proceeded to form the +government. + +The attack of Vendemiaire was quite recent; and the republican party, +especially dreading the counter-revolution, agreed to choose the directors +only, from the conventionalists, and further from among those of them who +had voted for the death of the king. Some of the most influential members, +among whom was Daunou, opposed this view, which restricted the choice, and +continued to give the government a dictatorial and revolutionary +character; but it prevailed. The conventionalists thus elected were La +Reveillere-Lepaux, invested with general confidence on account of his +courageous conduct on the 31st of May, for his probity and his moderation; +Sieyes, the man who of all others enjoyed the greatest celebrity of the +day; Rewbell, possessed of great administrative activity; Letourneur, one +of the members of the commission of five during the last crisis; and +Barras, chosen for his two pieces of good fortune of Thermidor and +Vendemiaire. Sieyes, who had refused to take part in the legislative +commission _of the eleven_, also refused to enter upon the directory. It +is difficult to say whether this reluctance arose from calculation or an +insurmountable antipathy for Rewbell. He was replaced by Carnot, the only +member of the former committee whom they were disposed to favour, on +account of his political purity, and his great share in the victories of +the republic. Such was the first composition of the directory. On the 4th +Brumaire, the convention passed a law of amnesty, in order to enter on +legal government; changed the name of the Place de la Revolution into +Place de la Concorde, and declared its session closed. + +The convention lasted three years, from the 21st of September, 1792, to +October 26, 1795 (4th Brumaire, year IV.). It took several directions. +During the six first months of its existence it was drawn into the +struggle which arose between the legal party of the Gironde, and the +revolutionary party of the Mountain. The latter had the lead from the 31st +of May, 1793, to the 9th Thermidor, year II. (26th July, 1794). The +convention then obeyed the committee of public safety, which first +destroyed its old allies of the commune and of the Mountain, and +afterwards perished through its own divisions. From the 9th Thermidor to +the month of Brumaire, year IV., the convention conquered the +revolutionary and royalist parties, and sought to establish a moderate +republic in opposition to both. + +During this long and terrible period, the violence of the situation +changed the revolution into a war, and the assembly into a field of +battle. Each party wished to establish its sway by victory, and to secure +it by founding its system. The Girondist party made the attempt, and +perished; the Mountain made the attempt, and perished; the party of the +commune made the attempt, and perished; Robespierre's party made the +attempt, and perished. They could only conquer, they were unable to found +a system. The property of such a storm was to overthrow everything that +attempted to become settled. All was provisional; dominion, men, parties, +and systems, because the only thing real and possible was--war. A year was +necessary to enable the conventional party, on its return to power, to +restore the revolution to a legal position; and it could only accomplish +this by two victories--that of Prairial and that of Vendemiaire. But the +convention having then returned to the point whence it started, and having +discharged its true mission, which was to establish the republic after +having defended it, disappeared from the theatre of the world which it had +filled with surprise. A revolutionary power, it ceased as soon as legal +order recommenced. Three years of dictatorship had been lost to liberty +but not to the revolution. + + + + +THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THE DIRECTORY, ON THE 27TH OCTOBER, 1795, TO THE +COUP-D'ETAT OF THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, YEAR V. (3RD AUGUST, 1797) + + +The French revolution, which had destroyed the old government, and +thoroughly overturned the old society, had two wholly distinct objects; +that of a free constitution, and that of a more perfect state of +civilization. The six years we have just gone over were the search for +government by each of the classes which composed the French nation. The +privileged classes wished to establish their regime against the court and +the bourgeoisie, by preserving the social orders and the states-general; +the bourgeoisie sought to establish its regime against the privileged +classes and the multitude, by the constitution of 1791; and the multitude +wished to establish its regime against all the others, by the constitution +of 1793. Not one of these governments could become consolidated, because +they were all exclusive. But during their attempts, each class, in power +for a time, destroyed of the higher classes all that was intolerant or +calculated to oppose the progress of the new civilization. + +When the directory succeeded the convention, the struggle between the +classes was greatly weakened. The higher ranks of each formed a party +which still contended for the possession and for the form of government; +but the mass of the nation which had been so profoundly agitated from 1789 +to 1795, longed to become settled again, and to arrange itself according +to the new order of things. This period witnessed the end of the movement +for liberty, and the beginning of the movement towards civilization. The +revolution now took its second character, its character of order, +foundation, repose, after the agitation, the immense toil, and system of +complete demolition of its early years. + +This second period was remarkable, inasmuch as it seemed a kind of +abandonment of liberty. The different parties being no longer able to +possess it in an exclusive and durable manner, became discouraged, and +fell back from public into private life. This second period divided itself +into two epochs: it was liberal under the directory and at the +commencement of the Consulate, and military at the close of the Consulate +and under the empire. The revolution daily grew more materialized; after +having made a nation of sectaries, it made a nation of working men, and +then it made a nation of soldiers. + +Many illusions were already destroyed; men had passed through so many +different states, had lived so much in so few years, that all ideas were +confounded and all creeds shaken. The reign of the middle class and that +of the multitude had passed away like a rapid phantasmagoria. They were +far from that France of the 14th of July, with its deep conviction, its +high morality, its assembly exercising the all-powerful sway of liberty +and of reason, its popular magistracies, its citizen-guard, its +brilliant, peaceable, and animated exterior, wearing the impress of order +and independence. They were far from the more sombre and more tempestuous +France of the 10th of August, when a single class held the government and +society, and had introduced therein its language, manners, and costume, +the agitation of its fears, the fanaticism of its ideas, the distrust of +its position. Then private life entirely gave place to public life; the +republic presented, in turn, the aspect of an assembly and of a camp; the +rich were subject to the poor; the creed of democracy combined with the +gloomy and ragged administration of the people. At each of these periods +men had been strongly attached to some idea: first, to liberty and +constitutional monarchy; afterwards, to equality, fraternity, and the +republic. But at the beginning of the directory, there was belief in +nothing; in the great shipwreck of parties, all had been lost, both the +virtue of the bourgeoisie and the virtue of the people. + +Men arose from this furious turmoil weakened and wounded, and each, +remembering his political existence with terror, plunged wildly into the +pleasures and relations of private life which had so long been suspended. +Balls, banquets, debauchery, splendid carriages, became more fashionable +than ever; this was the reaction of the ancient regime. The reign of the +sans-culottes brought back the dominion of the rich; the clubs, the +return of the salons. For the rest, it was scarcely possible but that the +first symptom of the resumption of modern civilization should be thus +irregular. The directorial manners were the product of another society, +which had to appear again before the new state of society could regulate +its relations, and constitute its own manners. In this transition, luxury +would give rise to labour, stock-jobbing to commerce; salons bring parties +together who could not approximate except in private life; in a word, +civilization would again usher in liberty. + +The situation of the republic was discouraging at the installation of the +directory. There existed no element of order or administration. There was +no money in the public treasury; couriers were often delayed for want of +the small sum necessary to enable them to set out. In the interior, +anarchy and uneasiness were general; paper currency, in the last stage of +discredit, destroyed confidence and commerce; the dearth became +protracted, every one refusing to part with his commodities, for it +amounted to giving them away; the arsenals were exhausted or almost empty. +Without, the armies were destitute of baggage-wagons, horses, and +supplies; the soldiers were in want of clothes, and the generals were +often unable to liquidate their pay of eight francs a month in specie, an +indispensable supplement, small as it was, to their pay in assignats; and +lastly, the troops, discontented and undisciplined, on account of their +necessities, were again beaten, and on the defensive. + +Things were at this state of crisis after the fall of the committee of +public safety. This committee had foreseen the dearth, and prepared for +it, both in the army and in the interior, by the requisitions and the +_maximum_. No one had dared to exempt himself from this financial system, +which rendered the wealthy and commercial classes tributary to the +soldiers and the multitude, and at that time provisions had not been +withheld from the market. But since violence and confiscation had ceased, +the people, the convention, and the armies were at the mercy of the landed +proprietors and speculators, and terrible scarcity existed, a reaction +against the _maximum_. The system of the convention had consisted, in +political economy, in the consumption of an immense capital, represented +by the assignats. This assembly had been a rich government, which had +ruined itself in defending the revolution. Nearly half the French +territory, consisting of domains of the crown, ecclesiastical property, or +the estates of the emigrant nobility, had been sold, and the produce +applied to the support of the people, who did little labour, and to the +external defence of the republic by the armies. More than eight milliards +of assignats had been issued before the 9th Thermidor, and since that +period thirty thousand millions had been added to that sum, already so +enormous. Such a system could not be continued; it was necessary to begin +the work again, and return to real money. + +The men deputed to remedy this great disorganization were, for the most +part, of ordinary talent; but they set to work with zeal, courage, and +good sense. "When the directors," said M. Bailleul, [Footnote: _Examen +Critique des Considerations de Madame de Stael, sur la Revolution +Francaise_, by M. J. Ch. Bailleul, vol. ii., pp. 275, 281.] "entered the +Luxembourg, there was not an article of furniture. In a small room, at a +little broken table, one leg of which was half eaten away with age, on +which they placed some letter-paper and a calumet standish, which they had +fortunately brought from the committee of public safety, seated on four +straw-bottom chairs, opposite a few logs of dimly-burning wood, the whole +borrowed from Dupont, the porter; who would believe that it was in such a +condition that the members of the new government, after having +investigated all the difficulties, nay, all the horror of their position, +resolved that they would face all obstacles, and that they would either +perish or rescue France from the abyss into which she had fallen? On a +sheet of writing-paper they drew up the act by which they ventured to +declare themselves constituted; an act which they immediately despatched +to the legislative chambers." + +The directors then proceeded to divide their labours, taking as their +guide the grounds which had induced the constitutional party to select +them. Rewbell, possessed of great energy, a lawyer versed in government +and diplomacy, had assigned to him the departments of law, finance, and +foreign affairs. His skill and commanding character soon made him the +moving spirit of the directory in all civil matters. Barras had no special +knowledge; his mind was mediocre, his resources few, his habits indolent. +In an hour of danger, his resolution qualified him to execute sudden +measures, like those of Thermidor or Vendemiaire. But being, on ordinary +occasions, only adapted for the surveillance of parties, the intrigues of +which he was better acquainted with than any one else, the police +department was allotted to him. He was well suited for the task, being +supple and insinuating, without partiality for any political sect, and +having revolutionary connexions by his past life, while his birth gave him +access to the aristocracy. Barras took on himself the representation of +the directory, and established a sort of republican regency at the +Luxembourg. The pure and moderate La Reveillere, whose gentleness tempered +with courage, whose sincere attachment for the republic and legal +measures, had procured him a post in the directory, with the general +consent of the assembly and public opinion, had assigned to him the moral +department, embracing education, the arts, sciences, manufactures, etc. +Letourneur, an ex-artillery officer, member of the committee of public +safety at the latter period of the convention, had been appointed to the +war department. But when Carnot was chosen, on the refusal of Sieyes, he +assumed the direction of military operations, and left to his colleague +Letourneur the navy and the colonies. His high talents and resolute +character gave him the upper hand in the direction. Letourneur attached +himself to him, as La Reveillere to Rewbell, and Barras was between the +two. At this period, the directors turned their attention with the +greatest concord to the improvement and welfare of the state. + +The directors frankly followed the route traced out for them by the +constitution. After having established authority in the centre of the +republic, they organized it in the departments, and established, as well +as they could, a correspondence of design between local administrations +and their own. Placed between the two exclusive and dissatisfied parties +of Prairial and Vendemiaire, they endeavoured, by a decided line of +conduct, to subject them to an order of things, holding a place midway +between their extreme pretensions. They sought to revive the enthusiasm +and order of the first years of the revolution. "You, whom we summon to +share our labours," they wrote to their agents, "you who have, with us, to +promote the progress of the republican constitution, your first virtue, +your first feeling, should be that decided resolution, that patriotic +faith, which has also produced its enthusiasts and its miracles. All will +be achieved when, by your care, that sincere love of liberty which +sanctified the dawn of the revolution, again animates the heart of every +Frenchman. The banners of liberty floating on every house, and the +republican device written on every door, doubtless form an interesting +sight. Obtain more; hasten the day when the sacred name of the republic +shall be graven voluntarily on every heart." + +In a short time, the wise and firm proceedings of the new government +restored confidence, labour, and plenty. The circulation of provisions was +secured, and at the end of a month the directory was relieved from the +obligation to provide Paris with supplies, which it effected for itself. +The immense activity created by the revolution began to be directed +towards industry and agriculture. A part of the population quitted the +clubs and public places for workshops and fields; and then the benefit of +a revolution, which, having destroyed corporations, divided property, +abolished privileges, increased fourfold the means of civilization, and +was destined to produce prodigious good to France, began to be felt. The +directory encouraged this movement in the direction of labour by salutary +institutions. It re-established public exhibitions of the produce of +industry, and improved the system of education decreed under the +convention. The national institute, primary, central, and normal schools, +formed a complete system of republican institutions. La Reveillere, the +director intrusted with the moral department of the government, then +sought to establish, under the name of _Theophilanthropie_, the deistical +religion which the committee of public safety had vainly endeavoured to +establish by the _Fete a l'Etre Supreme_. He provided temples, hymns, +forms, and a kind of liturgy, for the new religion; but such a faith could +only be individual, could not long continue public. The +_theophilanthropists_, whose religion was opposed to the political +opinions and the unbelief of the revolutionists, were much ridiculed. +Thus, in the passage from public institutions to individual faith, all +that had been liberty became civilization, and what had been religion +became opinion. Deists remained, but _theophilanthropists_ were no longer +to be met with. + +The directory, pressed for money, and shackled by the disastrous state of +the finances, had recourse to measures somewhat extraordinary. It had sold +or pledged the most valuable articles of the Wardrobe, in order to meet +the greatest urgencies. National property was still left; but it sold +badly, and for assignats. The directory proposed a compulsory loan, which +was decreed by the councils. This was a relic of the revolutionary +measures with regard to the rich; but, having been irresolutely adopted, +and executed without due authority, it did not succeed. The directory then +endeavoured to revive paper money; it proposed the issue of _mandats +territoriaux_, which were to be substituted for the assignats then in +circulation, at the rate of thirty for one, and to take the place of +money. The councils decreed the issue of _mandats territoriaux_ to the +amount of two thousand four hundred millions. They had the advantage of +being exchangeable at once and upon presentation, for the national domains +which represented them. Their sale was very extensive, and in this way was +completed the revolutionary mission of the assignats, of which they were +the second period. They procured the directory a momentary resource; but +they also lost their credit, and led insensibly to bankruptcy, which was +the transition from paper to specie. + +The military situation of the republic was not a brilliant one; at the +close of the convention there had been an abatement of victories. The +equivocal position and weakness of the central authority, as much as the +scarcity, had relaxed the discipline of the troops. The generals, too, +disappointed that they had distinguished their command by so few +victories, and were not spurred on by an energetic government, became +inclined to insubordination. The convention had deputed Pichegru and +Jourdan, one at the head of the army of the Rhine, the other with that of +the Sambre-et-Meuse, to surround and capture Mayence, in order that they +might occupy the whole line of the Rhine. Pichegru made this project +completely fail; although possessing the entire confidence of the +republic, and enjoying the greatest military fame of the day, he formed +counter-revolutionary schemes with the prince of Conde; but they were +unable to agree. Pichegru urged the emigrant prince to enter France with +his troops, by Switzerland or the Rhine, promising to remain inactive, the +only thing in his power to do in favour of such an attempt. The prince +required as a preliminary, that Pichegru should hoist the white flag in +his army, which was, to a man, republican. This hesitation, no doubt, +injured the projects of the reactionists, who were preparing the +conspiracy of Vendemiaire. But Pichegru wishing, one way or the other, to +serve his new allies and to betray his country, allowed himself to be +defeated at Heidelberg, compromised the army of Jourdan, evacuated +Mannheim, raised the siege of Mayence with considerable loss, and exposed +that frontier to the enemy. + +The directory found the Rhine open towards Mayence, the war of La Vendee +rekindled; the coasts of France and Holland threatened with a descent from +England; lastly, the army of Italy destitute of everything, and merely +maintaining the defensive under Scherer and Kellermann. Carnot prepared a +new plan of campaign, which was to carry the armies of the republic to the +very heart of the hostile states. Bonaparte, appointed general of the +interior after the events of Vendemiaire, was placed at the head of the +army of Italy; Jourdan retained the command of the army of the Sambre-et- +Meuse, and Moreau had that of the army of the Rhine, in place of Pichegru. +The latter, whose treason was suspected by the directory, though not +proved, was offered the embassy to Sweden, which he refused, and retired +to Arbois, his native place. The three great armies, placed under the +orders of Bonaparte, Jourdan, and Moreau, were to attack the Austrian +monarchy by Italy and Germany, combine at the entrance of the Tyrol and +march upon Vienna, in echelon. The generals prepared to execute this vast +movement, the success of which would make the republic mistress of the +headquarters of the coalition on the continent. + +The directory gave to general Hoche the command of the coast, and deputed +him to conclude the Vendean war. Hoche changed the system of warfare +adopted by his predecessors. La Vendee was disposed to submit. Its +previous victories had not led to the success of its cause; defeat and +ill-fortune had exposed it to plunder and conflagration. The insurgents, +irreparably injured by the disaster of Savenay, by the loss of their +principal leader, and their best soldiers, by the devastating system of +the infernal columns, now desired nothing more than to live on good terms +with the republic. The war now depended only on a few chiefs, upon +Charette, Stofflet, etc. Hoche saw that it was necessary to wean the +masses from these men by concessions, and then to crush them. He skilfully +separated the royalist cause from the cause of religion, and employed the +priests against the generals, by showing great indulgence to the catholic +religion. He had the country scoured by four powerful columns, took their +cattle from the inhabitants, and only restored them in return for their +arms. He left no repose to the armed party, defeated Charette in several +encounters, pursued him from one retreat to another, and at last made him +prisoner. Stofflet wished to raise the Vendean standard again on his +territory; but it was given up to the republicans. These two chiefs, who +had witnessed the beginning of the insurrection, were present at its +close. They died courageously; Stofflet at Angers, Charette at Nantes, +after having displayed character and talents worthy of a larger theatre. +Hoche likewise tranquillized Brittany. Morbihan was occupied by numerous +bands of Chouans, who formed a formidable association, the principal +leader of which was George Cadoudal. Without entering on a campaign, they +were mastering the country. Hoche directed all his force and activity +against them, and before long had destroyed or exhausted them. Most of +their leaders quitted their arms, and took refuge in England. The +directory, on learning these fortunate pacifications, formally announced +to both councils, on the 28th Messidor (June, 1796), that this civil war +was definitively terminated. + +In this manner the winter of the year IV. passed away. But the directory +could hardly fail to be attacked by the two parties, whose sway was +prevented by its existence, the democrats and the royalists. The former +constituted an inflexible and enterprising sect. For them, the 9th +Thermidor was an era of pain and oppression: they desired to establish +absolute equality, in spite of the state of society, and democratic +liberty, in spite of civilization. This sect had been so vanquished as +effectually to prevent its return to power. On the 9th Thermidor it had +been driven from the government; on the 2nd Prairial, from society; and it +had lost both power and insurrections. But though disorganized and +proscribed, it was far from having disappeared. After the unfortunate +attempt of the royalists in Vendemiaire, it arose through their abasement. + +The democrats re-established their club at the Pantheon, which the +directory tolerated for some time. They had for their chief, "Gracchus" +Babeuf, who styled himself the "Tribune of the people." He was a daring +man, of an exalted imagination, an extraordinary fanaticism of democracy, +and with great influence over his party. In his journal, he prepared the +reign of general happiness. The society at the Pantheon daily became more +numerous, and more alarming to the directory who at first endeavoured to +restrain it. But the sittings were soon protracted to an advanced hour of +the night; the democrats repaired thither in arms, and proposed marching +against the directory and the councils. The directory determined to oppose +them openly. On the 8th Ventose, year IV. (February, 1796), it closed the +society of the Pantheon, and on the 9th, by a message informed the +legislative body that it had done so. + +The democrats, deprived of their place of meeting, had recourse to another +plan. They seduced the police force, which was chiefly composed of deposed +revolutionists; and in concert with it, they were to destroy the +constitution of the year III. The directory, informed of this new +manoeuvre, disbanded the police force, causing it to be disarmed by other +troops on whom it could rely. The conspirators, taken by surprise a second +time, determined on a project of attack and insurrection: they formed an +insurrectionary committee of public safety, which communicated by +secondary agents with the lower orders of the twelve communes of Paris. +The members of this principal committee were Babeuf, the chief of the +conspiracy, ex-conventionalists, such as Vadier, Amar, Choudieu, Ricord, +the representative Drouet, the former generals of the decemviral +committee, Rossignol, Parrein, Fyon, Lami. Many cashiered officers, +patriots of the departments, and the old Jacobin mass, composed the army +of this faction. The chiefs often assembled in a place they called the +Temple of Reason; here they sang lamentations on the death of Robespierre, +and deplored the slavery of the people. They opened a negotiation with the +troops of the camp of Grenelle, admitted among them a captain of that +camp, named Grisel, whom they supposed their own, and concerted every +measure for the attack. + +Their plan was to establish common happiness; and for that purpose, to +make a distribution of property, and to cause the government of true, +pure, and absolute democrats to prevail; to create a convention composed +of sixty-eight members of the Mountain, the remnant of the numbers +proscribed since the reaction of Thermidor, and to join with these a +democrat for each department; lastly, to start from the different quarters +in which they had distributed themselves, and march at the same time +against the directory and against the councils. On the night of the +insurrection, they were to fix up two placards; one, containing the words, +"The Constitution of 1793! liberty! equality! common happiness!" the +other, containing the following declaration, "Those who usurp the +sovereignty, ought to be put to death by free men." All was ready; the +proclamations printed, the day appointed, when they were betrayed by +Grisel, as generally happens in conspiracies. + +On the 21st Floreal (May), the eve of the day fixed for the attack, the +conspirators were seized at their regular place of meeting. In Babeuf's +house were found a plan of the plot and all the documents connected with +it. The directory apprised the councils of it by a message, and announced +it to the people by proclamation. This strange attempt, savouring so +strongly of fanaticism, and which could only be a repetition of the +insurrection of Prairial, without its means and its hopes of success, +excited the greatest terror. The public mind was still terrified with the +recent domination of the Jacobins. + +Babeuf, like a daring conspirator, prisoner as he was, proposed terms of +peace to the directory:-- + +"Would you consider it beneath you, citizen directors," he wrote to them, +"to treat with me, as power with power? You have seen what vast confidence +centres in me; you have seen that my party may well balance equally in the +scale your own; you have seen its immense ramifications. I am convinced +you have trembled at the sight." He concluded by saying: "I see but one +wise mode of proceeding; declare there has been no serious conspiracy. +Five men, by showing themselves great and generous may now save the +country. I will answer for it, that the patriots will defend you with +their lives; the patriots do not hate you; they only hated your unpopular +measures. For my part, I will give you a guarantee as extensive as is my +perpetual franchise." The directors, instead of this reconciliation, +published Babeuf's letter, and sent the conspirators before the high court +of Vendome. + +Their partisans made one more attempt. On the 13th Fructidor (August), +about eleven at night, they marched, to the number of six or seven +hundred, armed with sabres and pistols, against the directory, whom they +found defended by its guard. They then repaired to the camp of Grenelle, +which they hoped to gain over by means of a correspondence which they had +established with it. The troops had retired to rest when the conspirators +arrived. To the sentinel's cry of "_Qui vive?_" they replied: "_Vive la +republique! Vive la constitution de '93!_" The sentinels gave the alarm +through the camp. The conspirators, relying on the assistance of a +battalion from Gard, which had been disbanded, advanced towards the tent +of Malo, the commander-in-chief, who gave orders to sound to arms, and +commanded his half-dressed dragoons to mount. The conspirators, surprised +at this reception, feebly defended themselves: they were cut down by the +dragoons or put to flight, leaving many dead and prisoners on the field of +battle. This ill-fated expedition was almost the last of the party: with +each defeat it lost its force, its chiefs, and acquired the secret +conviction that its reign was over. The Grenelle enterprise proved most +fatal to it; besides the numbers slain in the fight, many were condemned +to death by the military commissions, which were to it what the +revolutionary tribunals had been to its foes. The commission of the camp +of Grenelle, in five sittings, condemned one-and-thirty conspirators to +death, thirty to transportation, and twenty-five to imprisonment. + +Shortly afterwards the high court of Vendome tried Babeuf and his +accomplices, among whom were Amar, Vadier, and Darthe, formerly secretary +to Joseph Lebon. They none of them belied themselves; they spoke as men +who feared neither to avow their object, nor to die for their cause. At +the beginning and the end of each sitting, they sang the _Marseillaise_. +This old song of victory, and their firm demeanour, struck the public mind +with astonishment, and seemed to render them still more formidable. Their +wives accompanied them to the trial, Babeuf, at the close of his defence, +turned to them, and said, "_they should accompany them even to Calvary, +because the cause of their punishment would not bring them to shame_." The +high court condemned Babeuf and Darthe to death: as they heard their +sentence they both stabbed themselves with a poignard. Babeuf was the last +leader of the old commune and the committee of public safety, which had +separated previous to Thermidor, and which afterwards united again. This +party decreased daily. Its dispersal and isolation more especially date +from this period. Under the reaction, it still formed a compact mass; +under Babeuf, it maintained the position of a formidable association. From +that time democrates existed, but the party was broken up. + +In the interim between the Grenelle enterprise and Babeuf's condemnation, +the royalists also formed their conspiracy. The projects of the democrats +produced a movement of opinion, contrary to that which had been manifested +after Vendemiaire, and the counter-revolutionists in their turn became +emboldened. The secret chiefs of this party hoped to find auxiliaries in +the troops of the camp of Grenelle, who had repelled the Babeuf faction. +This party, impatient and unskilful, unable to employ the whole of the +sectionaries, as in Vendemiaire, or the mass of the councils, as on the +18th Fructidor, made use of three men without either name or influence: +the abbe Brothier, the ex-counsellor of parliament, Lavilheurnois, and a +sort of adventurer, named Dunan. They applied at once, in all simplicity, +to Malo for the camp of Grenelle, in order by its means to restore the +ancient regime. Malo delivered them up to the directory, who transferred +them to the civil tribunals, not having been able, as he wished, to have +them tried by military commissioners. They were treated with much +consideration by judges of their party, elected under the influence of +Vendemiaire, and the sentence pronounced against them was only a short +imprisonment. At this period, a contest arose between all the authorities +appointed by the sections, and the directory supported by the army; each +taking its strength and judges wherever its party prevailed; the result +was, that the electoral power placing itself at the disposition of the +counter-revolution, the directory was compelled to introduce the army in +the state; which afterwards gave rise to serious inconvenience. + +The directory, triumphant over the two dissentient parties, also triumphed +over Europe. The new campaign opened under the most favourable auspices. +Bonaparte, on arriving at Nice, signalised his command by one of the most +daring of invasions. Hitherto his army had hovered idly on the side of the +Alps; it was destitute of everything, and scarcely amounted to thirty +thousand men; but it was well provided with courage and patriotism; and, +by their means, Bonaparte then commenced that world-astonishment by which +he carried all before him for twenty years. He broke up the cantonments, +and entered the valley of Savona, in order to march into Italy between the +Alps and the Apennines. There were before him ninety thousand troops of +the coalition, commanded in the centre by Argentau, by Colle on the left, +and Beaulieu on the right. This immense army was dispersed in a few days +by prodigies of genius and courage. Bonaparte overthrew the centre at +Montenotte, and entered Piedmont; at Millesimo he entirely separated the +Sardinian from the Austrian army. They hastened to defend Turin and Milan, +the capitals of their domination. Before pursuing the Austrians, the +republican general threw himself on the left, to cut off the Sardinian +army. The fate of Piedmont was decided at Mondovi, and the terrified court +of Turin hastened to submit. At Cherasco an armistice was concluded, which +was soon afterwards followed by a treaty of peace, signed at Paris, on the +18th of May, 1796, between the republic and the king of Sardinia, who +ceded Savoy and the counties of Nice and Tenda. The occupation of +Alessandria, which opened the Lombard country; the demolition of the +fortresses of Susa, and of Brunette, on the borders of France; the +abandonment of the territory of Nice, and of Savoy, and the rendering +available the other army of the Alps, under Kellermann, was the reward of +a fortnight's campaign, and six victories. + +War being over with Piedmont, Bonaparte marched against the Austrian army, +to which he left no repose. He passed the Po at Piacenza, and the Adda at +Lodi. The latter victory opened the gates of Milan, and secured him the +possession of Lombardy. General Beaulieu was driven into the defiles of +Tyrol by the republican army, which invested Mantua, and appeared on the +mountains of the empire. General Wurmser came to replace Beaulieu, and a +new army was sent to join the wrecks of the conquered one. Wurmser +advanced to relieve Mantua, and once more make Italy the field of battle; +but he was overpowered, like his predecessor, by Bonaparte, who, after +having raised the blockade of Mantua, in order to oppose this new enemy, +renewed it with increased vigour, and resumed his positions in Tyrol. The +plan of invasion was executed with much union and success. While the army +of Italy threatened Austria by Tyrol, the two armies of the Meuse and +Rhine entered Germany; Moreau, supported by Jourdan on his left, was ready +to join Bonaparte on his right. The two armies had passed the Rhine at +Neuwied and Strasburg, and had advanced on a front, drawn up in echelons +to the distance of sixty leagues, driving back the enemy, who, while +retreating before them, strove to impede their march and break their line. +They had almost attained the aim of their enterprise; Moreau had entered +Ulm and Augsburg, crossed the Leek, and his advanced guard was on the +extreme of the defiles of Tyrol, when Jourdan, from a misunderstanding, +passed beyond the line, was attacked by the archduke Charles, and +completely routed. Moreau, exposed on his left wing, was reduced to the +necessity of retracing his steps, and he then effected his memorable +retreat. The fault of Jourdan was a capital one: it prevented the success +of this vast plan of campaign, and gave respite to the Austrian +government. + +The cabinet of Vienna, which had lost Belgium in this war, and which felt +the importance of preserving Italy, defended it with the greatest +obstinacy. Wurmser, after a new defeat, was obliged to throw himself into +Mantua with the wreck of his army. General Alvinzy, at the head of fifty +thousand Hungarians, now came to try his fortune, but was not more +successful than Beaulieu or Wurmser. New victories were added to the +wonders already achieved by the army of Italy, and secured the conquest of +that country. Mantua capitulated; the republican troops, masters of Italy, +took the route to Vienna across the mountains. Bonaparte had before him +prince Charles, the last hope of Austria. He soon passed through the +defiles of Tyrol, and entered the plains of Germany. In the meantime, the +army of the Rhine under Moreau, and that of the Meuse under Hoche, +successfully resumed the plan of the preceding campaign; and the cabinet +of Vienna, in a state of alarm, concluded the truce of Leoben. It had +exhausted all its force, and tried all its generals, while the French +republic was in the full vigour of conquest. + +The army of Italy accomplished in Europe the work of the French +revolution. This wonderful campaign was owing to the union of a general of +genius, and an intelligent army. Bonaparte had for lieutenants generals +capable of commanding themselves, who knew how to take upon themselves the +responsibility of a movement of a battle, and an army of citizens all +possessing cultivated minds, deep feeling, strong emulation of all that is +great; passionately attached to a revolution which aggrandized their +country, preserved their independence under discipline, and which afforded +an opportunity to every soldier of becoming a general. There is nothing +which a leader of genius might not accomplish with such men. He must have +regretted, at this recollection of his earlier years, that he ever centred +in himself all liberty and intelligence, that he ever created mechanical +armies and generals only fit to obey. Bonaparte began the third epoch of +the war. The campaign of 1792 had been made on the old system, with +dispersed corps, acting separately without abandoning their fixed line. +The committee of public safety concentrated the corps, made them operate +no longer merely on what was before them, but at a distance; it hastened +their movement, and directed them towards a common end. Bonaparte did for +each battle what the committee had done for each campaign. He brought all +these corps on the determinate point, and destroyed several armies with a +single one by the rapidity of his measures. He disposed of whole masses of +troops at his pleasure, moved them here or there, brought them forward, or +kept them out of sight, had them wholly at his disposition, when, where, +and how he pleased, whether to occupy a position or to gain a battle. His +diplomacy was as masterly as his military science. + +All the Italian governments, except Venice and Genoa, had adhered to the +coalition, but the people were in favour of the French republic. Bonaparte +relied on the latter. He abolished Piedmont, which he could not conquer; +transformed the Milanese, hitherto dependent on Austria, into the +_Cisalpine Republic_; he weakened Tuscany and the petty princes of Parma +and Modena by contributions, without dispossessing them; the pope, who had +signed a truce on Bonaparte's first success against Beaulieu, and who did +not hesitate to infringe it on the arrival of Wurmser, bought peace by +yielding Romagna, Bologna, and Ferrara, which were joined to the Cisalpine +republic; lastly, the aristocracy of Venice and Genoa having favoured the +coalition, and raised an insurrection in the rear of the army, their +government was changed, and Bonaparte made it democratic, in order to +oppose the power of the people to that of the nobility. In this way the +revolution penetrated into Italy. + +Austria, by the preliminaries of Leoben, ceded Belgium to France, and +recognised the Lombard republic. All the allied powers had laid down their +arms, and even England asked to treat. France, peaceable and free at home, +had on her borders attained her natural limits, and was surrounded with +rising republics, such as Holland, Lombardy, and Liguria, which guarded +her sides and extended her system in Europe. The coalition was little +disposed to assail anew a revolution, all the governments of which were +victorious; that of anarchy after the 10th of August, of the dictatorship +after the 31st of May, and of legal authority under the directory; a +revolution, which, at every new hostility, advanced a step further upon +European territory. In 1792, it had only extended to Belgium; in 1794, it +had reached Holland and the Rhine; in 1796, had reached Italy, and entered +Germany. If it continued its progress, the coalition had reason to fear +that it would carry its conquests further. Everything seemed prepared for +general peace. + +But the situation of the directory was materially changed by the elections +of the year V. (May, 1797). These elections, by introducing, in a legal +way, the royalist party into the legislature and government, brought again +into question what the conflict of Vendemiaire had decided. Up to this +period, a good understanding had existed between the directory and the +councils. Composed of conventionalists, united by a common interest, and +the necessity of establishing the republic, after having been blown about +by the winds of all parties, they had manifested much good-will in their +intercourse, and much union in their measures. The councils had yielded to +the various demands of the directory; and, with the exception of a few +slight modifications, they had approved its projects concerning the +finance and the administration, its conduct with regard to the +conspiracies, the armies, and Europe. The anti-conventional minority had +formed an opposition in the councils; but this opposition, while waiting +the reinforcement of a new third, had but cautiously contended against the +policy of the directory. At its head were Barbe-Marbois, Pastoret, +Vaublanc, Dumas, Portalis, Simeon, Troncon-Ducoudray, Dupont de Nemours, +most of them members of the Right in the legislative assembly, and some of +them avowed royalists. Their position soon became less equivocal and more +aggressive, by the addition of those members elected in the year V. + +The royalists formed a formidable and active confederation, having its +leaders, agents, budgets, and journals. They excluded republicans from the +elections, influenced the masses, who always follow the most energetic +party, and whose banner they momentarily assume. They would not even admit +patriots of the first epoch, and only elected decided counter- +revolutionists or equivocal constitutionalists. The republican party was +then placed in the government and in the army; the royalist party in the +electoral assemblies and the councils. + +On the 1st Prairial, year V. (20th May), the two councils opened their +sittings. From the beginning they manifested the spirit which actuated +them. Pichegru, whom the royalists transferred on to the new field of +battle of the counter-revolution, was enthusiastically elected president +of the council _des jeunes_. Barbe-Marbois had given him, with the same +eagerness, the presidentship of the elder council. The legislative body +proceeded to appoint a director to replace Letourneur, who, on the 30th +Floreal, had been fixed on by ballot as the retiring member. Their choice +fell on Barthelemy, the ambassador to Switzerland, whose moderate views +and attachment to peace suited the councils and Europe, but who was +scarcely adapted for the government of the republic, owing to his absence +from France during all the revolution. + +These first hostilities against the directory and the conventional party +were followed by more actual attacks. Its administration and policy were +now attacked without scruple. The directory had done all it had been able +to do by a legal government in a situation still revolutionary. It was +blamed for continuing the war and for the disorder of the financial +department. The legislative majority skilfully turned its attention to the +public wants; it supported the entire liberty of the press, which allowed +journalists to attack the directory, and to prepare the way for another +system; it supported peace because it would lead to the disarming of the +republic, and lastly, it supported economy. + +These demands were in one sense useful and national. France was weary, and +felt the need of all these things in order to complete its social +restoration; accordingly, the nation half adopted the views of the +royalists, but from entirely different motives. It saw with rather more +anxiety the measures adopted by the councils relative to priests and +emigrants. A pacification was desired; but the nation did not wish that +the conquered foes of the revolution should return triumphant. The +councils passed the laws with regard to them with great precipitation. +They justly abolished the sentence of transportation or imprisonment +against priests for matters of religion or incivism; but they wished to +restore the ancient prerogatives of their form of worship; to render +Catholicism, already re-established, outwardly manifest by the use of +bells, and to exempt priests from the oath of public functionaries. +Camille Jordan, a young Lyonnais deputy, full of eloquence and courage, +but professing unreasonable opinions, was the principal panegyrist of the +clergy in the younger council. The speech which he delivered on this +subject excited great surprise and violent opposition. The little +enthusiasm that remained was still entirely patriotic, and all were +astonished at witnessing the revival of another enthusiasm, that of +religion: the last century and the revolution had made men entirely +unaccustomed to it, and prevented them from understanding it. This was the +moment when the old party revived its creed, introduced its language, and +mingled them with the creed and language of the reform party, which had +hitherto prevailed alone. The result was, as is usual with all that is +unexpected, an unfavourable and ridiculous impression against Camille +Jordan, who was nicknamed _Jordan-Carillon, Jordan-les-Cloches_. The +attempt of the protectors of the clergy did not, however, succeed; and the +council of five hundred did not venture as yet to pass a decree for the +use of bells, or to make the priests independent. After some hesitation, +the moderate party joined the directorial party, and supported the civic +oath with cries of "Vive la Republique!" + +Meantime, hostilities continued against the directory, especially in the +council of five hundred, which was more zealous and impatient than that of +the ancients. All this greatly emboldened the royalist faction in the +interior. The counter-revolutionary reprisals against the _patriots_, and +those who had acquired national property, were renewed. Emigrant and +dissentient priests returned in crowds, and being unable to endure +anything savouring of the revolution, they did not conceal their projects +for its overthrow. The directorial authority, threatened in the centre, +and disowned in the departments, became wholly powerless. + +But the necessity of defence, the anxiety of all men who were devoted to +the directory, and especially to the revolution, gave courage and support +to the government. The aggressive progress of the councils brought their +attachment to the republic into suspicion; and the mass, which had at +first supported, now forsook them. The constitutionalists of 1791, and the +directorial party formed an alliance. The club of _Salm_, established +under the auspices of this alliance, was opposed to the club of _Clichy_, +which for a long time had been the rendezvous of the most influential +members of the councils. The directory, while it had recourse to opinion, +did not neglect its principal force--the support of the troops. It brought +near Paris several regiments of the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, commanded +by Hoche. The constitutional radius of six myriametres (twelve leagues), +which the troops could not legally pass, was violated: and the councils +denounced this violation to the directory, which feigned an ignorance, +wholly disbelieved, and made very weak excuses. + +The two parties were watching each other. One had its posts at the +directory, at the club of _Salm_, and in the army, the other, in the +councils, at _Clichy_, and in the _salons_ of the royalists. The mass were +spectators. Each of the two parties was disposed to act in a revolutionary +manner towards the other. An intermediate constitutional and conciliatory +party tried to prevent the struggle, and to bring about an union, which +was altogether impossible. Carnot was at its head: a few members of the +younger council, directed by Thibaudeau, and a tolerably large number of +the Ancients, seconded his projects of moderation. Carnot, who, at that +period, was the director of the constitution, with Barthelemy, who was the +director of the legislature, formed a minority in the government. Carnot, +very austere in his conduct and very obstinate in his views, could not +agree either with Barras or with the imperious Rewbell. To this opposition +of character was then added difference of system. Barras and Rewbell, +supported by La Reveillere, were not at all averse to a coup-d'etat +against the councils, while Carnot wished strictly to follow the law. This +great citizen, at each epoch of the revolution, had perfectly seen the +mode of government which suited it, and his opinion immediately became a +fixed idea. Under the committee of public safety, the dictatorship was his +fixed system, and under the directory, legal government. Recognising no +difference of situation, he found himself placed in an equivocal position; +he wished for peace in a moment of war; and for law, in a moment of coups- +d'etat. + +The councils, somewhat alarmed at the preparations of the directory, +seemed to make the dismissal of a few ministers, in whom they placed no +confidence, the price of reconciliation. These were, Merlin de Douai, the +minister of justice; Delacroix, minister of foreign affairs; and Ramel, +minister of finance. On the other hand they desired to retain Petiet as +minister of war, Benesech as minister of the interior, and Cochon de +Lapparent as minister of police. The legislative body, in default of +directorial power, wished to make sure of the ministry. Far from falling +in with this wish, which would have introduced the enemy into the +government, Rewbell, La Reveillere and Barras dismissed the ministers +protected by the councils, and retained the others. Benesech was replaced +by Francois de Neufchateau, Petiet by Hoche, and soon afterwards by +Scherer; Cochon de Lapparent, by Lenoir-Laroche; and Lenoir-Laroche, who +had too little decision, by Sotin. Talleyrand, likewise, formed part of +this ministry. He had been struck off the list of emigrants, from the +close of the conventional session, as a revolutionist of 1791; and his +great sagacity, which always placed him with the party having the greatest +hope of victory, made him, at this period, a directorial republican. He +held the portfolio of Delacroix, and he contributed very much, by his +counsels and his daring, to the events of Fructidor. + +War now appeared more and more inevitable. The directory did not wish for +a reconciliation, which, at the best, would only have postponed its +downfall and that of the republic to the elections of the year VI. It +caused threatening addresses against the councils to be sent from the +armies. Bonaparte had watched with an anxious eye the events which were +preparing in Paris. Though intimate with Carnot, and corresponding +directly with him, he had sent Lavalette, his aid-de-camp, to furnish him +with an account of the divisions in the government, and the intrigues and +conspiracies with which it was beset. Bonaparte had promised the directory +the support of his army, in case of actual danger. He sent Augereau to +Paris with addresses from his troops. "Tremble, royalists!" said the +soldiers. "From the Adige to the Seine is but a step. Tremble! your +iniquities are numbered; and their recompense is at the end of our +bayonets."--"We have observed with indignation," said the staff, "the +intrigues of royalty threatening liberty. By the manes of the heroes slain +for our country, we have sworn implacable war against royalty and +royalists. Such are our sentiments; they are yours, and those of all +patriots. Let the royalists show themselves, and their days are numbered." +The councils protested, but in vain, against these deliberations of the +army. General Richepanse, who commanded the troops arrived from the army +of the Sambre-et-Meuse, stationed them at Versailles, Meudon, and +Vincennes. + +The councils had been assailants in Prairial, but as the success of their +cause might be put off to the year VI., when it might take place without +risk or combat, they kept on the defensive after Thermidor (July, 1797). +They, however, then made every preparation for the contest: they gave +orders that the _constitutional circles_ should be closed, with a view to +getting rid of the club of _Salm_; they also increased the powers of the +commission of inspectors of the hall, which became the government of the +legislative body, and of which the two royalist conspirators, Willot and +Pichegru, formed part. The guard of the councils, which was under the +control of the directory, was placed under the immediate orders of the +inspectors of the hall. At last, on the 17th Fructidor, the legislative +body thought of procuring the assistance of the militia of Vendemiaire, +and it decreed, on the motion of Pichegru, the formation of the national +guard. On the following day, the 18th, this measure was to be executed, +and the councils were by a decree to order the troops to remove to a +distance. They had reached a point that rendered a new victory necessary +to decide the great struggle of the revolution and the ancient system. The +impetuous general, Willot, wished them to take the initiative, to decree +the impeachment of the three directors, Barras, Rewbell, and La +Reveillere; to cause the other two to join the legislative body; if the +government refused to obey, to sound the tocsin, and march with the old +sectionaries against the directory; to place Pichegru at the head of this +_legal insurrection_, and to execute all these measures promptly, boldly, +and at mid-day. Pichegru is said to have hesitated; and the opinion of the +undecided prevailing, the tardy course of legal preparations was adopted. + +It was not, however, the same with the directory. Barras, Rewbell, and La +Reveillere determined instantly to attack Carnot, Barthelemy, and the +legislative majority. The morning of the 18th was fixed on for the +execution of this coup-d'etat. During the night, the troops encamped in +the neighbourhood of Paris, entered the city under the command of +Augereau. It was the design of the directorial triumvirate to occupy the +Tuileries with troops before the assembling of the legislative body, in +order to avoid a violent expulsion; to convoke the councils in the +neighbourhood of the Luxembourg, after having arrested their principal +leaders, and by a legislative measure to accomplish a coup-d'etat begun by +force. It was in agreement with the minority of the councils, and relied +on the approbation of the mass. The troops reached the Hotel de Ville at +one in the morning, spread themselves over the quays, the bridges, and the +Champs Elysees, and before long, twelve thousand men and forty pieces of +cannon surrounded the Tuileries. At four o'clock the alarm-shot was fired, +and Augereau presented himself at the gate of the Pont-Tournant. + +The guard of the legislative body was under arms. The inspectors of the +hall, apprised the night before of the movement in preparation, had +repaired to the national palace (the Tuileries), to defend the entrance. +Ramel, commander of the legislative guard, was devoted to the councils, +and he had stationed his eight hundred grenadiers in the different avenues +of the garden, shut in by gates. But Pichegru, Willot, and Ramel, could +not resist the directory with this small and uncertain force. Augereau had +no need even to force the passage of the Pont-Tournant: as soon as he came +before the grenadiers, he cried out, "Are you republicans?" The latter +lowered their arms and replied, "Vive Augereau! Vive le directoire!" and +joined him. Augereau traversed the garden, entered the hall of the +councils, arrested Pichegru, Willot, Ramel, and all the inspectors of the +hall, and had them conveyed to the Temple. The members of the councils, +convoked in haste by the inspectors, repaired in crowds to their place of +sitting; but they were arrested or refused admittance by the armed force. +Augereau announced to them that the directory, urged by the necessity of +defending the republic from the conspirators among them, had assigned the +Odeon and the School of Medicine for the place of their sittings. The +greater part of the deputies present exclaimed against military violence +and the dictatorial usurpation, but they were obliged to yield. + +At six in the morning this expedition was terminated. The people of Paris, +on awaking, found the troops still under arms, and the walls placarded +with proclamations announcing the discovery of a formidable conspiracy. +The people were exhorted to observe order and confidence. The directory +had printed a letter of general Moreau, in which he announced in detail +the plots of his predecessor Pichegru with the emigrants, and another +letter from the prince de Conde to Imbert Colomes, a member of the +Ancients. The entire population remained quiet; they were mere spectators +of an event brought about without the interference of parties, and by the +assistance of the army only. They displayed neither approbation nor +regret. + +The directory felt the necessity of legalizing, and more especially of +terminating, this extraordinary act. As soon as the members of the five +hundred, and of the ancients, were assembled at the Odeon and the School +of Medicine in sufficient numbers to debate, they determined to sit +permanently. A message from the directory announced the motive which had +actuated all its measures. "Citizens, legislators," ran the message, "if +the directory had delayed another day, the republic would have been given +up to its enemies. The very place of your sittings was the rendezvous of +the conspirators: from thence they yesterday distributed their plans and +orders for the delivery of arms; from thence they corresponded last night +with their accomplices; lastly, from thence, or in the neighbourhood, they +again endeavoured to raise clandestine and seditious assemblies, which the +police at this moment are employed in dispersing. We should have +compromised the public welfare, and that of its faithful representatives, +had we suffered them to remain confounded with the foes of the country in +the den of conspiracy." + +The younger council appointed a commission, composed of Sieyes, Poulain- +Granpre, Villers, Chazal, and Boulay de la Meurthe, deputed to present a +law of _public safety_. The law was a measure of ostracism; only +transportation was substituted for the scaffold in this second +revolutionary and dictatorial period. + +The members of the five hundred sentenced to transportation were: Aubry, +J. J. Aime, Bayard, Blain, Boissy d'Anglas, Borne, Bourdon de l'Oise, +Cadroy, Couchery, Delahaye, Delarue, Doumere, Dumolard, Duplantier, Gibert +Desmolieres, Henri La Riviere, Imbert-Colomes, Camille Jordan, Jourdan +(des Bouches-du-Rhone) Gall, La Carriere, Lemarchand-Gomicourt, Lemerer, +Mersan, Madier, Maillard, Noailles, Andre, Mac-Cartin, Pavie, Pastoret, +Pichegru, Polissard, Praire-Montaud, Quatremere-Quincy, Saladin, Simeon, +Vauvilliers, Vienot-Vaublanc, Villaret-Joyeuse, Willot. In the council of +ancients: Barbe-Marbois, Dumas, Ferraud-Vaillant, Lafond-Ladebat, Laumont, +Muraire, Murinais, Paradis, Portalis, Rovere, Troncon-Ducoudray. In the +directory: Carnot and Barthelemy. They also condemned the abbe Brottier, +Lavilleheurnois, Dunan, the ex-minister of police, Cochon, the ex-agent of +the police Dossonville, generals Miranda and Morgan; the journalist, +Suard; the ex-conventionalist, Mailhe; and the commandant, Ramel. A few of +the proscribed succeeded in evading the decree of exile; Carnot was among +the number. Most of them were transported to Cayenne; but a great many did +not leave the Isle of Re. + +The directory greatly extended this act of ostracism. The authors of +thirty-five journals were included in the sentence of transportation. It +wished to strike at once all the avenues of the republic in the councils, +in the press, in the electoral assemblies, the departments, in a word, +wherever they had introduced themselves. The elections of forty-eight +departments were annulled, the laws in favour of priests and emigrants +were revoked, and soon afterwards the disappearance of all who had swayed +in the departments since the 9th Thermidor raised the spirits of the cast- +down republican party. The coup-d'etat of Fructidor was not purely +central; like the victory of Vendemiaire; it ruined the royalist party, +which had only been repulsed by the preceding defeat. But, by again +replacing the legal government by the dictatorship, it rendered necessary +another revolution, which shall be recounted later. + +We may say, that on the 18th Fructidor of the year V. it was necessary +that the directory should triumph over the counterrevolution by decimating +the councils; or that the councils should triumph over the republic by +overthrowing the directory. The question thus stated, it remains to +inquire, 1st, if the directory could have conquered by any other means +than a coup-d'etat; 2ndly, whether it misused its victory? + +The government had not the power of dissolving the councils. At the +termination of a revolution, whose object was to establish the extreme +right, they were unable to invest a secondary authority with the control +of the sovereignty of the people, and in certain cases to make the +legislature subordinate to the directory. This concession of an +experimental policy not existing, what means remained to the directory of +driving the enemy from the heart of the state? No longer able to defend +the revolution by virtue of the law, it had no resource but the +dictatorship; but in having recourse to that, it broke the conditions of +its existence; and while saving the revolution, it soon fell itself. + +As for its victory, it sullied it with violence, by endeavouring to make +it too complete. The sentence of transportation was extended to too many +victims; the petty passions of men mingled with the defence of the cause, +and the directory did not manifest that reluctance to arbitrary measures +which is the only justification of coups-d'etat. To attain its object, it +should have exiled the leading conspirators only; but it rarely happens +that a party does not abuse the dictatorship; and that, possessing the +power, it believes not in the dangers of indulgence. The defeat of the +18th Fructidor was the fourth of the royalist party; two took place in +order to dispossess it of power, those of the 14th of July and 10th of +August; two to prevent its resuming it; those of the 13th Vendemiaire and +18th Fructidor. This repetition of powerless attempts and protracted +reverses did not a little contribute to the submission of this party under +the consulate and the empire. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +FROM THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, IN THE YEAR V. (4TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1797), TO THE +18TH BRUMAIRE, IN THE YEAR VIII. (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) + + +The chief result of the 18th Fructidor was a return, with slight +mitigation, to the revolutionary government. The two ancient privileged +classes were again excluded from society; the dissentient priests were +again banished. The Chouans, and former fugitives, who occupied the field +of battle in the departments, abandoned it to the old republicans: those +who had formed part of the military household of the Bourbons, the +superior officers of the crown, the members of the parliaments, commanders +of the order of the Holy Ghost and Saint Louis, the knights of Malta, all +those who had protested against the abolition of nobility, and who had +preserved its titles, were to quit the territory of the republic. The ci- +devant nobles, or those ennobled, could only enjoy the rights of citizens, +after a term of seven years, and after having gone through a sort of +apprenticeship as Frenchmen. This party, by desiring sway, restored the +dictatorship. + +At this period the directory attained its maximum of power; for some time +it had no enemies in arms. Delivered from all internal opposition, it +imposed the continental peace on Austria by the treaty of Campo-Formio, +and on the empire by the congress of Rastadt. The treaty of Campo-Formio +was more advantageous to the cabinet of Vienna than the preliminaries of +Leoben. Its Belgian and Lombard states were paid for by a part of the +Venetian states. This old republic was divided; France retained the Ionian +Isles, and gave the city of Venice and the provinces of Istria and +Dalmatia to Austria. In this the directory committed a great fault, and +was guilty of an attempt against liberty. In the fanaticism of a system, +we may desire to set a country free, but we should never give it away. By +arbitrarily distributing the territory of a small state, the directory set +the bad example of this traffic in nations since but too much followed. +Besides, Austrian dominion would, sooner or later, extend in Italy, +through this imprudent cession of Venice. + +The coalition of 1792 and 1793 was dissolved; England was the only +remaining belligerent power. The cabinet of London was not at all disposed +to cede to France, which it had attacked in the hope of weakening it, +Belgium, Luxembourg, the left bank of the Rhine, Porentruy, Nice, Savoy, +the protectorate of Genoa, Milan, and Holland. But finding it necessary to +appease the English opposition, and reorganize its means of attack, it +made propositions of peace; it sent Lord Malmesbury as plenipotentiary, +first to Paris, then to Lille. But the offers of Pitt not being sincere, +the directory did not allow itself to be deceived by his diplomatic +stratagems. The negotiations were twice broken off, and war continued +between the two powers. While England negotiated at Lille, she was +preparing at Saint Petersburg the triple alliance, or second coalition. + +The directory, on its side, without finances, without any party in the +interior, having no support but the army, and no eminence save that +derived from the continuation of its victories, was not in a condition to +consent to a general peace. It had increased the public discontent by the +establishment of certain taxes and the reduction of the debt to a +consolidated third, payable in specie only, which had ruined the +fundholders. It became necessary to maintain itself by war. The immense +body of soldiers could not be disbanded without danger. Besides, being +deprived of its power, and being placed at the mercy of Europe, the +directory had attempted a thing never done without creating a shock, +except in times of great tranquillity, of great ease, abundance, and +employment. The directory was driven by its position to the invasion of +Switzerland and the expedition into Egypt. + +Bonaparte had then returned to Paris. The conqueror of Italy and the +pacificator of the continent, was received with enthusiasm, constrained on +the part of the directory, but deeply felt by the people. Honours were +accorded him, never yet obtained by any general of the republic. A +patriotic altar was prepared in the Luxembourg, and he passed under an +arch of standards won in Italy, on his way to the triumphal ceremony in +his honour. He was harangued by Barras, president of the directory, who, +after congratulating him on his victories, invited him "to crown so noble +a life by a conquest which the great country owed to its insulted +dignity." This was the conquest of England. Everything seemed in +preparation for a descent, while the invasion of Egypt was really the +enterprise in view. + +Such an expedition suited both Bonaparte and the directory. The +independent conduct of that general in Italy, his ambition, which, from +time to time, burst through his studied simplicity, rendered his presence +dangerous. He, on his side, feared, by his inactivity, to compromise the +already high opinion entertained of his talents: for men always require +from those whom they make great, more than they are able to perform. Thus, +while the directory saw in the expedition to Egypt the means of keeping a +formidable general at a distance, and a prospect of attacking the English +by India, Bonaparte saw in it a gigantic conception, an employment suited +to his taste, and a new means of astonishing mankind. He sailed from +Toulon on the 30th Floreal, in the year VI. (19th May, 1798), with a fleet +of four hundred sail, and a portion of the army of Italy; he steered for +Malta; of which he made himself master, and from thence to Egypt. + +The directory, who violated the neutrality of the Ottoman Porte in order +to attack the English, had already violated that of Switzerland, in order +to expel the emigrants from its territory. French opinions had already +penetrated into Geneva and the Pays de Vaud; but the policy of the Swiss +confederation was counter-revolutionary, from the influence of the +aristocracy of Berne. They had driven from the cantons all the Swiss who +had shown themselves partisans of the French republic. Berne was the +headquarters of the emigrants, and it was there that all the plots against +the revolution were formed. The directory complained, but did not receive +satisfaction. The Vaudois, placed by old treaties under the protection of +France, invoked her help against the tyranny of Berne. This appeal of the +Vaudois, its own grievances, its desire to extend the directorial +republican system to Switzerland, much more than the temptation of seizing +the little amount of treasure in Berne, a reproach brought against it by +some, determined the directory. Some conferences took place, which led to +no result, and war began. The Swiss defended themselves with much courage +and obstinacy, and hoped to resuscitate the times of their ancestors, but +they succumbed. Geneva was united to France, and Switzerland exchanged its +ancient constitution for that of the year III. From that time two parties +existed in the confederation, one of which was for France and the +revolution, the other for the counter-revolution and Austria. Switzerland +ceased to be a common barrier, and became the high road of Europe. + +This revolution had been followed by that of Rome. General Duphot was +killed at Rome in a riot; and in punishment of this assassination, which +the pontifical government had not interfered to prevent, Rome was changed +into a republic. All this combined to complete the system of the +directory, and make it preponderant in Europe; it was now at the head of +the Helvetian, Batavian, Ligurian, Cisalpine, and Roman republics, all +constructed on the same model. But while the directory extended its +influence abroad, it was again menaced by internal parties. + +The elections of Floreal in the year VI. (May, 1798) were by no means +favourable to the directory; the returns were quite at variance with those +of the year V. Since the 18th Fructidor, the withdrawal of the counter- +revolutionists had restored all the influence of the exclusive republican +party, which had reestablished the clubs under the name of _Constitutional +Circles_. This party dominated in the electoral assemblies, which, most +unusually, had to nominate four hundred and thirty-seven deputies: two +hundred and ninety-eight for the council of five hundred; a hundred and +thirty-nine for that of the ancients. When the elections drew near, the +directory exclaimed loudly against the _anarchists_. But its proclamations +having been unable to prevent democratic returns, it decided upon +annulling them in virtue of a law, by which the councils, after the 18th +Fructidor, had granted it the _power of judging_ the operations of the +electoral assemblies. It invited the legislative body, by a message, to +appoint a commission of five members for that purpose. On the 22nd +Floreal, the elections were for the most part annulled. At this period the +directorial party struck a blow at the extreme republicans, as nine months +before it had aimed at the royalists. + +The directory wished to maintain the political balance, which had been the +characteristic of its first two years; but its position was much changed. +Since its last coup-d'etat, it could no longer be an impartial government, +because it was no longer a constitutional government. With these +pretensions of isolation, it dissatisfied every one. Yet it lived on in +this way till the elections of the year VII. It displayed much activity, +but an activity of a narrow and shuffling nature. Merlin de Douai and +Treilhard, who had replaced Carnot and Barthelemy, were two political +lawyers. Rewbell had in the highest degree the courage, without having the +enlarged views of a statesman. Lareveillere was too much occupied with the +sect of the Theophilanthropists for a government leader. As to Barras, he +continued his dissipated life and his directorial regency; his palace was +the rendezvous of gamesters, women of gallantry, and stock-jobbers of +every kind. The administration of the directors betrayed their character, +but more especially their position; to the embarrassments of which was +added war with all Europe. + +While the republican plenipotentiaries were yet negotiating for peace with +the empire at Rastadt, the second coalition began the campaign. The treaty +of Campo-Formio had only been for Austria a suspension of arms. England +had no difficulty in gaining her to a new coalition; with the exception of +Spain and Prussia, most of the European powers formed part of it. The +subsidies of the British cabinet, and the attraction of the West, decided +Russia; the Porte and the states of Barbary acceded to it, because of the +invasion of Egypt; the empire, in order to recover the left bank of the +Rhine, and the petty princes of Italy, that they might destroy the new +republics. At Rastadt they were discussing the treaty relative to the +empire, the concession of the left bank of the Rhine, the navigation of +that river, and the demolition of some fortresses on the right bank, when +the Russians entered Germany, and the Austrian army began to move. The +French plenipotentiaries, taken by surprise, received orders to leave in +four and twenty hours; they obeyed immediately, and set out, after having +obtained safe conduct from the generals of the enemy. At a short distance +from Rastadt they were stopped by some Austrian hussars, who, having +satisfied themselves as to their names and titles, assassinated them: +Bonnier and Roberjot were killed, Jean de Bry was left for dead. This +unheard-of violation of the right of nations, this premeditated +assassination of three men invested with a sacred character, excited +general horror. The legislative body declared war, and declared it with +indignation against the governments on whom the guilt of this enormity +fell. + +Hostilities had already commenced in Italy and on the Rhine. The +directory, apprised of the march of the Russian troops, and suspecting the +intentions of Austria, caused the councils to pass a law for recruiting. +The military conscription placed two hundred thousand young men at the +disposal of the republic. This law, which was attended with incalculable +consequences, was the result of a more regular order of things. Levies _en +masse_ had been the revolutionary service of the country; the conscription +became the legal service. + +The most impatient of the powers, those which formed the advanced guard of +the coalition, had already commenced the attack. The king of Naples had +advanced on Rome, and the king of Sardinia had raised troops and +threatened the Ligurian republic. As they had not sufficient power to +sustain the shock of the French armies, they were easily conquered and +dispossessed. General Championnet entered Naples after a sanguinary +victory. The lazaroni defended the interior of the town for three days; +but they yielded, and the Parthenopian republic was proclaimed. General +Joubert occupied Turin; and the whole of Italy was in the hands of the +French, when the new campaign began. + +The coalition was superior to the republic in effective force and in +preparations. It attacked it by the three great openings of Italy, +Switzerland, and Holland. A strong Austrian army debouched in the duchy of +Mantua; it defeated Scherer twice on the Adige, and was soon joined by the +whimsical and hitherto victorious Suvorov. Moreau replaced Scherer, and, +like him, was beaten; he retreated towards Genoa, in order to keep the +barrier of the Apennines and to join the army of Naples, commanded by +Macdonald, which was overpowered at the Trebia. The Austro-Russians then +directed their chief forces upon Switzerland. A few Russian corps joined +the archduke Charles, who had defeated Jourdan on the Upper Rhine, and was +preparing to pass over the Helvetian barrier. At the same time the duke of +York disembarked in Holland with forty thousand Anglo-Russians. The small +republics which protected France were invaded, and a few more victories +would have enabled the confederates to penetrate even to the scene of the +revolution. + +In the midst of these military disasters and the discontent of parties, +the elections of Floreal in the year VII. (May, 1799) took place; they +were republican, like those of the preceding year. The directory was no +longer strong enough to contend with public misfortunes and the rancour of +parties. The retirement of Rewbell, who was replaced by Sieyes, caused it +to lose the only man able to face the storm, and brought into its bosom +the most avowed antagonist of this compromised and worn-out government. +The moderate party and the extreme republicans united in demanding from +the directory an account of the internal and external situation of the +republic. The councils sat permanently. Barras abandoned his colleagues. +The fury of the councils was directed solely against Treilhard, Merlin, +and La Reveillere, the last supports of the old directory. They deposed +Treilhard, because an interval of a year had not elapsed between his +legislative and his directorial functions, as the constitution required. +The ex-minister of justice, Gohier, was immediately chosen to replace him. + +The orators of the councils then warmly attacked Merlin and La Reveillere, +whom they could not dismiss from the directory. The threatened directors +sent a justificatory message to the councils, and proposed peace. On the +30th Prairial, the republican Bertrand (du Calvados) ascended the tribune, +and after examining the offers of the directors, exclaimed: "You have +proposed union; and I propose that you reflect if you yourselves can still +preserve your functions. If you love the republic you will not hesitate to +decide. You are incapable of doing good; you will never have the +confidence of your colleagues, that of the people, or that of the +representatives, without which you cannot cause the laws to be executed. I +know that, thanks to the constitution, there already exists in the +directory a majority which enjoys the confidence of the people, and that +of the national representation. Why do you hesitate to introduce unanimity +of desires and principles between the two first authorities of the +republic? You have not even the confidence of those vile flatterers, who +have dug your political tomb. Finish your career by an act of devotion, +which good republican hearts will be able to appreciate." + +Merlin and La Reveillere, deprived of the support of the government by the +retirement of Rewbell, the dismissal of Treilhard, and the desertion of +Barras, urged by the councils and by patriotic motives, yielded to +circumstances, and resigned the directorial authority. This victory, +gained by the republican and moderate parties combined, turned to the +profit of both. The former introduced general Moulins into the directory; +the latter, Roger Ducos. The 30th Prairial (18th June), which witnessed +the breaking up of the old government of the year III., was an act of +reprisal on the part of the councils against the directory for the 18th +Fructidor and the 22nd Floreal. At this period the two great powers of the +state had each in turn violated the constitution: the directory by +decimating the legislature; the legislature by expelling the directory. +This form of government, which every party complained of, could not have a +protracted existence. + +Sieyes, after the success of the 30th Prairial, laboured to destroy what +yet remained of the government of the year III., in order to establish the +legal system on another plan. He was whimsical and systematic; but he had +the faculty of judging surely of situations. He re-entered upon the scene +of the revolution of a singular epoch, with the intention of strengthening +it by a definitive constitution. After having co-operated in the principal +changes of 1789, by his motion of the 17 of June, which transformed the +states-general into a national assembly, and by his plan of internal +organization, which substituted departments for provinces, he had remained +passive and silent during the subsequent interval. He waited till the +period of public defence should again give place to institutions. +Appointed, under the directory, to the embassy at Berlin, the neutrality +of Prussia was attributed to his efforts. On his return, he accepted the +office of director, hitherto refused by him, because Rewbell was leaving +the government, and he thought that parties were sufficiently weary to +undertake a definitive pacification, and the establishment of liberty. +With this object, he placed his reliance on Roger-Ducos in the directory, +on the council of ancients in the legislature, and without, on the mass of +moderate men and the middle-class, who, after desiring laws, merely as a +novelty, now desired repose as a novelty. This party sought for a strong +and secure government, which should have no past, no enmities, and which +thenceforward might satisfy all opinions and interests. As all that had +been dene, from the 14th of July till the 9th Thermidor, by the people, in +connexion with a part of the government, had been done since the 13th +Vendemiaire by the soldiers, Sieyes was in want of a general. He cast his +eyes upon Joubert, who was put at the head of the army of Italy, in order +that he might gain by his victories, and by the deliverance of Italy, a +great political importance. + +The constitution of the year III. was, however, still supported by the two +directors, Gohier and Moulins, the council of five hundred, and without, +by the party of the _Manege_. The decided republicans had formed a club +that held its sittings in that hall where had sat the first of our +assemblies. The new club, formed from the remains of that of Salm, before +the 18th Fructidor; of that of the Pantheon, at the beginning of the +directory; and of the old society of the Jacobins, enthusiastically +professed republican principles, but not the democratic opinions of the +inferior class. Each of these parties also had a share in the ministry +which had been renewed at the same time as the directory. Cambaceres had +the department of justice; Quinette, the home department; Reinhard, who +had been temporarily placed in office during the ministerial interregnum +of Talleyrand, was minister of foreign affairs; Robert Lindet was minister +of finance, Bourdon (of Vatry) of the navy, Bernadotte of war, +Bourguignon, soon afterwards replaced by Fouche (of Nantes), of police. + +This time Barras remained neutral between the two divisions of the +legislature, of the directory and of the ministry. Seeing that matters +were coming to a more considerable change than that of the 30th Prairial, +he, an ex-noble, thought that the decline of the republic would lead to +the restoration of the Bourbons, and he treated with the Pretender Louis +XVIII. It seems that, in negotiating the restoration of the monarchy by +his agent, David Monnier, he was not forgetful of himself. Barras espoused +nothing from conviction, and always sided with the party which had the +greatest chance of victory. A democratic member of the Mountain on the +31st of May; a reactionary member of the Mountain on the 9th Thermidor; a +revolutionary director against the royalists on the 18th Fructidor; +extreme republican director against his old colleagues on the 30th +Prairial; he now became a royalist director against the government of the +year III. + +The faction disconcerted by the 18th Fructidor and the peace of the +Continent, had also gained courage. The military successes of the new +coalition, the law of compulsory loans and that of hostages, which had +compelled every emigrant family to give guarantees to government, had made +the royalists of the south and west again take up arms. They reappeared in +bands, which daily became more formidable, and revived the petty but +disastrous warfare of the Chouans. They awaited the arrival of the +Russians, and looked forward to the speedy restoration of the monarchy. +This was a moment of fresh competition with every party. Each aspired to +the inheritance of the dying constitution, as they had done at the close +of the convention. In France, people are warned by a kind of political +odour that a government is dying, and all parties rush to be in at the +death. + +Fortunately for the republic, the war changed its aspect on the two +principal frontiers of the Upper and Lower Rhine. The allies, after having +acquired Italy, wished to enter France by Switzerland and Holland; but +generals Massena and Brune arrested their hitherto victorious progress. +Massena advanced against Korsakov and Suvorov. During twelve days of great +combinations and consecutive victories, hastening in turns from Constance +to Zurich, he repelled the efforts of the Russians, forced them to +retreat, and disorganized the coalition. Brune also defeated the duke of +York in Holland, obliged him to re-embark, and to renounce his attempted +invasion. The army of Italy alone had been less fortunate. It had lost its +general, Joubert, killed at the battle of Novi, while leading a charge on +the Austro-Russians. But this frontier, which was at a distance from the +centre of action, despite the defeat of Novi, was not crossed, and +Championnet ably defended it. It was soon to be repassed by the republican +troops, who, after each resumption of arms, having been for a moment +beaten, soon regained their superiority and recommenced their victories. +Europe, by giving additional exercise to the military power, by its +repeated attacks, rendered it each time more triumphant. + +But at home nothing was changed. Divisions, discontent, and anxiety were +the same as before. The struggle between the moderate republicans and the +extreme republicans had become more determined. Sieyes pursued his +projects against the latter. In the Champ-de-Mars, on the 10th of August, +he assailed the Jacobins. Lucien Bonaparte, who had much influence in the +council of five hundred, from his character, his talents, and the military +importance of the conqueror of Italy and of Egypt, drew in that assembly a +fearful picture of the reign of terror, and said that France was +threatened with its return. About the same time, Sieyes caused Bernadotte +to be dismissed, and Fouche, in concert with him, closed the meetings of +the Manege. The multitude, to whom it is only necessary to present the +phantom of the past to inspire it with fear, sided with the moderate +party, dreading the return of the reign of terror; and the extreme +republicans failed in their endeavour to declare _la patrie en danger_, as +they had done at the close of the legislative assembly. But Sieyes, after +having lost Joubert, sought for a general who could enter into his +designs, and who would protect the republic, without becoming its +oppressor. Hoche had been dead more than a year. Moreau had given rise to +suspicion by his equivocal conduct to the directory before the 18th +Fructidor, and by the sudden denunciation of his old friend Pichegru, +whose treason he had kept secret for a whole year; Massena was not a +political general; Bernadotte and Jourdan were devoted to the party of the +Manege; Sieyes was compelled to postpone his scheme for want of a suitable +agent. + +Bonaparte had learned in the east, from his brother Lucien and a few other +friends, the state of affairs in France, and the decline of the +directorial government. His expedition had been brilliant, but without +results. After having defeated the Mamelukes, and ruined their power in +Upper and Lower Egypt, he had advanced into Syria; but the failure of the +siege of Acre had compelled him to return to his first conquest. There, +after defeating an Ottoman army on the coast of Aboukir, so fatal to the +French fleet the preceding year, he decided on leaving that land of exile +and fame, in order to turn the new crisis in France to his own elevation. +He left general Kleber to command the army of the east, and crossed the +Mediterranean, then covered with English ships, in a frigate. He +disembarked at Frejus, on the 7th Vendemiaire, year VIII. (9th October, +1799), nineteen days after the battle of Berghen, gained by Brune over the +Anglo-Russians under the duke of York, and fourteen days after that of +Zurich, gained by Massena over the Austro-Russians under Korsakov and +Suvorov. He traversed France, from the shore of the Mediterranean to +Paris, in triumph. His expedition, almost fabulous, had struck the public +mind with surprise, and had still more increased the great renown he had +acquired by the conquest of Italy. These two enterprises had raised him +above all the other generals of the republic. The distance of the theatre +upon which he had fought enabled him to begin his career of independence +and authority. A victorious general, an acknowledged and obeyed +negotiator, a creator of republics, he had treated all interests with +skill, all creeds with moderation. Preparing afar off his ambitious +destiny, he had not made himself subservient to any system, and had +managed all parties so as to work his elevation with their assent. He had +entertained this idea of usurpation since his victories in Italy. On the +18th Fructidor, had the directory been conquered by the councils, he +purposed marching against the latter with his army and seizing the +protectorate of the republic. After the 18th Fructidor; finding the +directory too powerful, and the inactivity of the continent too dangerous +for him, he accepted the expedition to Egypt, that he might not fall, and +might not be forgotten. At the news of the disorganization of the +directory, on the 30th Prairial, he repaired with haste to the scene of +events. + +His arrival excited the enthusiasm of the moderate masses of the nation. +He received general congratulations, and every party contended for his +favour. Generals, directors, deputies, and even the republicans of the +Manege, waited on and tried to sound him. Fetes and banquets were given in +his honour. His manners were grave, simple, cool, and observing; he had +already a tone of condescending familiarity and involuntary habits of +command. Notwithstanding his want of earnestness and openness, he had an +air of self-possession, and it was easy to read in him an after-thought of +conspiracy. Without uttering his design, he allowed it to be guessed; +because a thing must always be expected in order to be accomplished. He +could not seek supporters in the republicans of the Manege, as they +neither wished for a coup-d'etat nor for a dictator; and Sieyes feared +that he was too ambitious to fall in with his constitutional views. Hence +Sieyes hesitated to open his mind to Bonaparte, but, urged by their mutual +friends, they at length met and concerted together. On the 15th Brumaire, +they determined on their plan of attack on the constitution of the year +III, Sieyes undertook to prepare the councils by the _commissions of +inspectors,_ who placed unlimited confidence in him. Bonaparte was to gain +the generals and the different corps of troops stationed in Paris, who +displayed much enthusiasm for him and much attachment to his person. They +agreed to convoke an extraordinary meeting of the moderate members of the +councils, to describe the public danger to the Ancients, and by urging the +ascendancy of Jacobinism to demand the removal of the legislative body to +Saint-Cloud, and the appointment of general Bonaparte to the command of +the armed force, as the only man able to save the country; and then, by +means of the new military power, to obtain the dismissal of the directory, +and the temporary dissolution of the legislative body. The enterprise was +fixed for the morning of the 18th Brumaire (9th November). + +During these three days, the secret was faithfully kept, Barras, Moulins, +and Gohier, who formed the majority of the directory, of which Gohier was +then president, might have frustrated the coup-d'etat of the conspirators +by forestalling them, as on the 18th Fructidor. But they gave them credit +for hopes only, and not for any decided projects. On the morning of the +18th, the members of the ancients were convoked in an unusual way by the +_inspectors;_ they repaired to the Tuileries, and the debate was opened +about seven in the morning under the presidentship of Lemercier. Cornudet, +Lebrun, and Fargues, the three most influential conspirators in the +council, drew a most alarming picture of the state of public affairs; +protesting that the Jacobins were flocking in crowds to Paris from all the +departments; that they wished to re-establish the revolutionary +government, and that a reign of terror would once more desolate the +republic, if the council had not the courage and wisdom to prevent its +return. Another conspirator, Regnier de la Meurthe, required of the +ancients already moved, that in virtue of the right conferred on them by +the constitution, they should transfer the legislative body to Saint +Cloud, and depute Bonaparte, nominated by them to the command of the 17th +military division, to superintend the removal. Whether all the members of +the council were accomplices of this manoeuvre, or whether they were +terrified by so hasty convocation, and by speeches so alarming, they +instantly granted what the conspirators required. + +Bonaparte awaited with impatience the result of this deliberation, at his +house in the Rue Chantereine; he was surrounded by generals, by Lefevre, +the commander of the guard of the directory, and by three regiments of +cavalry which he was about to review. The decree of the council of +ancients was passed about eight, and brought to him at half-past eight by +a state messenger. He received the congratulations of all around him; the +officers drew their swords as a sign of fidelity. He put himself at their +head, and they marched to the Tuileries; he appeared at the bar of the +ancients, took the oath of fidelity, and appointed as his lieutenant, +Lefevre, chief of the directorial guard. + +This was, however, only a beginning of success. Bonaparte was at the head +of the armed force; but the executive power of the directory and the +legislative power of the councils still existed. In the struggle which +would infallibly ensue, it was not certain that the great and hitherto +victorious force of the revolution would not triumph. Sieyes and Roger +Ducos went from the Luxembourg to the legislative and military camp of the +Tuileries, and gave in their resignation. Barras, Moulins, and Gohier, +apprised on their side, but a little too late, of what was going on, +wished to employ their power and make themselves sure of their guard; but +the latter, having received from Bonaparte information of the decree of +the ancients, refused to obey them. Barras, discouraged, sent in his +resignation, and departed for his estate of Gros-Bois. The directory was, +in fact, dissolved; and there was one antagonist less in the struggle. The +five hundred and Bonaparte alone remained opposed. + +The decree of the council of ancients and the proclamations of Bonaparte +were placarded on the walls of Paris. The agitation which accompanies +extraordinary events prevailed in that great city. The republicans, and +not without reason, felt serious alarm for the fate of liberty. But when +they showed alarm respecting the intentions of Bonaparte, in whom they +beheld a Caesar, or a Cromwell, they were answered in the general's own +words: "_Bad parts, worn out parts, unworthy a man of sense, even if they +were not so of a good man. It would be sacrilege to attack representative +government in this age of intelligence and freedom. He would be but a fool +who, with lightness of heart, could wish to cause the loss of the stakes +of the republic against royalty after having supported them with some +glory and peril_." Yet the importance he gave himself in his proclamations +was ominous. He reproached the directory with the situation of France in a +most extraordinary way. "What have you done," said he, "with that France +which I left so flourishing in your hands? I left you peace, I find you at +war; I left you victories, I find nothing but reverses; I left you the +millions of Italy, I find nothing but plundering laws and misery. What +have you done with the hundred thousand Frenchmen whom I knew, my +companions in glory? They are dead! This state of things cannot last; in +less than three years it would lead us to despotism." This was the first +time for ten years that a man had ventured to refer everything to himself; +and to demand an account of the republic, as of his own property. It is a +painful surprise to see a new comer of the revolution introduce himself +thus into the inheritance, so laboriously acquired, of an entire people. + +On the 19th Brumaire the members of the councils repaired to Saint Cloud; +Sieyes and Roger Ducos accompanied Bonaparte to this new field of battle; +they went thither with the intention of supporting the designs of the +conspirators; Sieyes, who understood the tactics of revolution, wished to +make sure of events by provisionally arresting the leaders, and only +admitting the moderate party into the councils; but Bonaparte refused to +accede to this. He was no party man; having hitherto acted and conquered +with regiments only, he thought he could direct legislative councils like +an army, by the word of command. The gallery of Mars had been prepared for +the ancients, the Orangery for the five hundred. A considerable armed +force surrounded the seat of the legislature, as the multitude, on the 2nd +of June, had surrounded the convention. The republicans, assembled in +groups in the grounds, waited the opening of the sittings; they were +agitated with a generous indignation against the military brutalism that +threatened them, and communicated to each other their projects of +resistance. The young general, followed by a few grenadiers, passed +through the courts and apartments, and prematurely yielding to his +character, he said, like the twentieth king of a dynasty: "_I will have no +more factions: there must be an end to this; I absolutely will not have +any more of it_," About two o'clock in the afternoon, the councils +assembled in their respective halls, to the sound of instruments which +played the _Marseillaise_. + +As soon as the business of the sitting commenced, Emile Gaudin, one of the +conspirators, ascended the tribune of the five hundred. He proposed a vote +of thanks to the council of ancients for the measures it had taken, and to +request it to expound the means of saving the republic. This motion was +the signal for a violent tumult; cries arose against Gaudin from every +part of the hall. The republican deputies surrounded the tribune and the +bureau, at which Lucien Bonaparte presided. The conspirators Cabanis, +Boulay (de la Meurthe), Chazal, Gaudin, etc., turned pale on their seats. +After a long scene of agitation, during which no one could obtain a +hearing, calm was restored for a few moments, and Delbred proposed that +the oath made to the constitution of the year III. should be renewed. As +no one opposed this motion, which at such a juncture was of vital +importance, the oath was taken with an enthusiasm and unanimity which was +dangerous to the conspiracy. + +Bonaparte, learning what had passed in the five hundred, and in the +greatest danger of desertion and defeat, presented himself at the council +of ancients. All would have been lost for him, had the latter, in favour +of the conspiracy, been carried away by the enthusiasm of the younger +council. "Representatives of the people," said he, "you are in no ordinary +situation; you stand on a volcano. Yesterday, when you summoned me to +inform me of the decree for your removal, and charged me with its +execution, I was tranquil. I immediately assembled my comrades; we flew to +your aid! Well, now I am overwhelmed with calumnies! They talk of Caesar, +Cromwell, and military government! Had I wished to oppress the liberty of +my country, I should not have attended to the orders which you gave me; I +should not have had any occasion to receive this authority from your +hands. Representatives of the people! I swear to you that the country has +not a more zealous defender than I am; but its safety rests with you +alone! There is no longer a government; four of the directors have given +in their resignation; the fifth (Moulins) has been placed under +surveillance for his own security; the council of five hundred is divided; +nothing is left but the council of ancients. Let it adopt measures; let it +but speak; I am ready to execute. Let us save liberty! let us save +equality!" Linglet, a republican, then arose and said: "General, we +applaud what you say: swear with us to obey the constitution of the year +III., which alone can maintain the republic." All would have been lost for +him had this motion met with the same reception which it had found in the +five hundred. It surprised the council, and for a moment Bonaparte was +disconcerted. But he soon resumed: "The constitution of the year III. has +ceased to exist; you violated it on the 18th Fructidor; you violated it on +the 22nd Floreal; you violated it on the 30th Prairial. The constitution +is invoked by all factions, and violated by all; it cannot be a means of +safety for us, because it no longer obtains respect from any one; the +constitution being violated, we must have another compact, new +guarantees." The council applauded these reproaches of Bonaparte, and rose +in sign of approbation. + +Bonaparte, deceived by his easy success with the ancients, imagined that +his presence alone would suffice to appease the stormy council of the five +hundred. He hastened thither at the head of a few grenadiers, whom he left +at the door, but within the hall, and he advanced alone, hat in hand. At +the sight of the bayonets, the assembly arose with a sudden movement. The +legislators, conceiving his entrance to be a signal for military violence, +uttered all at once the cry of "Outlaw him! Down with the dictator!" +Several members rushed to meet him, and the republican, Bigonet, seizing +him by the arm, exclaimed, "Rash man! what are you doing? Retire; you are +violating the sanctuary of the laws." Bonaparte, pale and agitated, +receded, and was carried off by the grenadiers who had escorted him there. + +His disappearance did not put a stop to the agitation of the council. All +the members spoke at once, all proposed measures of public safety and +defence. Lucien Bonaparte was the object of general reproach; he attempted +to justify his brother, but with timidity. After a long struggle, he +succeeded in reaching the tribune, and urged the assembly to judge his +brother with less severity. He protested that he had no design against +their liberty; and recalled his services. But several voices immediately +exclaimed: "He has lost all their merit; down with the dictator! down with +the tyrants!" The tumult now became more violent than ever; and all +demanded the outlawry of general Bonaparte. "What," said Lucien, "do you +wish me to pronounce the outlawry of my brother?" "Yes! yes! outlawry! it +is the reward of tyrants!" In the midst of the confusion, a motion was +made and put to the vote that the council should sit permanently; that it +should instantly repair to its palace at Paris; that the troops assembled +at Saint Cloud should form a part of the guard of the legislative body; +that the command of them should be given to general Bernadotte. Lucien, +astounded by these propositions, and by the outlawry, which he thought had +been adopted with the rest, left the president's chair, and ascending the +tribune, said, in the greatest agitation: "Since I cannot be heard in this +assembly, I put off the symbols of the popular magistracy with a deep +sense of insulted dignity." And he took off his cap, robe, and scarf. + +Bonaparte, meantime, on leaving the council of the five hundred, had found +some difficulty in regaining his composure. Unaccustomed to scenes of +popular tumult, he had been greatly agitated. His officers came around +him; and Sieyes, having more revolutionary experience, besought him not to +lose time, and to employ force. General Lefevre immediately gave an order +for carrying off Lucien from the council. A detachment entered the hall, +advanced to the chair which Lucien now occupied again, placed him in their +ranks, and returned with him to the troops. As soon as Lucien came out, he +mounted a horse by his brother's side, and although divested of his legal +character, harangued the troops as president. In concert with Bonaparte, +he invented the story, so often repeated since, that poignards had been +drawn on the general in the council of five hundred, and exclaimed: +"Citizen soldiers, the president of the council of five hundred declares +to you that the large majority of that council is at this moment kept in +fear by the daggers of a few representatives, who surround the tribune, +threaten their colleagues with death, and occasion the most terrible +deliberations. General, and you, soldiers and citizens, you will only +recognise as legislators of France those who follow me. As for those who +remain in the Orangery, let force expel them. Those brigands are no longer +representatives of the people, but representatives of the poignard." After +this violent appeal, addressed to the troops by a conspirator president, +who, as usual, calumniated those he wished to proscribe, Bonaparte spoke: +"Soldiers," said he, "I have led you to victory; may I rely on you?"-- +"Yes! yes! Vive le General!"--"Soldiers, there were reasons for expecting +that the council of five hundred would save the country; on the contrary, +it is given up to intestine quarrels; agitators seek to excite it against +me. Soldiers, may I rely on you?" "Yes! yes! Vive Bonaparte." "Well, +then, I will bring them to their senses!" And he instantly gave orders to +the officers surrounding him to clear the hall of the five hundred. + +The council, after Lucien's departure, had been a prey to great anxiety +and indecision. A few members proposed that they should leave the place in +a body, and go to Paris to seek protection amidst the people. Others +wished the national representatives not to forsake their post, but to +brave the outrages of force. In the meantime, a troop of grenadiers +entered the hall by degrees, and the officer in command informed the +council that they should disperse. The deputy Prudhon reminded the officer +and his soldiers of the respect due to the representatives of the people; +general Jourdan also represented to them the enormity of such a measure. +For a moment the troops hesitated; but a reinforcement now arrived in +close column. General Leclerc exclaimed: "In the name of general +Bonaparte, the legislative body is dissolved; let all good citizens +retire. Grenadiers, forward!" Cries of indignation arose from every side; +but these were drowned by the drums. The grenadiers advanced slowly across +the whole width of the Orangery, and presenting bayonets. In this way they +drove the legislators before them, who continued shouting, "Vive la +republique!" as they left the place. At half-past five, on the 19th +Brumaire of the year VIII. (10th November, 1799) there was no longer a +representation. + +Thus this violation of the law, this coup-d'etat against liberty was +accomplished. Force began to sway. The 18th of Brumaire was the 31st of +May of the army against the representation, except that it was not +directed against a party, but against the popular power. But it is just to +distinguish the 18th Brumaire from its consequences. It might then be +supposed that the army was only an auxiliary of the revolution as it had +been on the 13th Vendemiaire and the 18th Fructidor, and that this +indispensable change would not turn to the advantage of a man--a single +man, who would soon change France into a regiment, and cause nothing to be +heard of in a world hitherto agitated by so great a moral commotion, save +the tread of his army, and the voice of his will. + + + + +THE CONSULATE + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +FROM THE 18TH BRUMAIRE (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) TO THE 2ND OF DECEMBER, +1804 + + +The 18th Brumaire had immense popularity. People did not perceive in this +event the elevation of a single man above the councils of the nation; they +did not see in it the end of the great movement of the 14th of July, which +had commenced the national existence. + +The 18th Brumaire assumed an aspect of hope and restoration. Although the +nation was much exhausted, and little capable of supporting a sovereignty +oppressive to it, and which had even become the object of its ridicule, +since the lower class had exercised it, yet it considered despotism so +improbable, that no one seemed to it to be in a condition to reduce it to +a state of subjection. All felt the need of being restored by a skilful +hand, and Bonaparte, as a great man and a victorious general, seemed +suited for the task. + +On this account almost every one, except the directorial republicans, +declared in favour of the events of that day. Violation of the laws and +coups-d'etat had occurred so frequently during the revolution, that people +had become accustomed no longer to judge them by their legality, but by +their consequences. From the party of Sieyes down to the royalists of +1788, every one congratulated himself on the 18th Brumaire, and attributed +to himself the future political advantages of this change. The moderate +constitutionalists believed that definitive liberty would be established; +the royalists fed themselves with hope by inappropriately comparing this +epoch of our revolution with the epoch of 1660 in the English revolution, +with the hope that Bonaparte was assuming the part of Monk, and that he +would soon restore the monarchy of the Bourbons; the mass, possessing +little intelligence, and desirous of repose, relied on the return of order +under a powerful protector; the proscribed classes and ambitious men +expected from him their amnesty or elevation. During the three months +which followed the 18th Brumaire, approbation and expectation were +general. A provisional government had been appointed, composed of three +consuls, Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Roger Ducos, with two legislative +commissioners, entrusted to prepare the constitution and a definitive +order of things. + +The consuls and the two commissioners were installed on the 21st Brumaire. +This provisional government abolished the law respecting hostages and +compulsory loans; it permitted the return of the priests proscribed since +the 18th Fructidor; it released from prison and sent out of the republic +the emigrants who had been shipwrecked on the coast of Calais, and who for +four years were captives in France, and were exposed to the heavy +punishment of the emigrant army. All these measures were very favourably +received. But public opinion revolted at a proscription put in force +against the extreme republicans. Thirty-six of them were sentenced to +transportation to Guiana, and twenty-one were put under surveillance in +the department of Charante-Inferieure, merely by a decree of the consuls +on the report of Fouche, minister of police. The public viewed +unfavourably all who attacked the government; but at the same time it +exclaimed against an act so arbitrary and unjust. The consuls, +accordingly, recoiled before their own act; they first commuted +transportation into surveillance, and soon withdrew surveillance itself. + +It was not long before a rupture broke out between the authors of the 18th +Brumaire. During their provisional authority, it did not create much +noise, because it took place in the legislative commissions. The new +constitution was the cause of it. Sieyes and Bonaparte could not agree on +this subject: the former wished to institute France, the latter to govern +it as a master. + +The constitution of Sieyes, which was distorted in the consular +constitution of the year VIII., deserves to be known, were it only in the +light of a legislative curiosity. Sieyes distributed France into three +political divisions; the commune, the province or department, and the +State. Each had its own powers of administration and judicature, arranged +in hierarchical order: the first, the municipalities and _tribunaux de +paix_ and _de premiere instance;_ the second, the popular prefectures and +courts of appeal; the third, the central government and the court of +cassation. To fill the functions of the commune, the department, and the +State, there were three budgets of _notability_, the members of which were +only candidates nominated by the people. + +The executive power was vested in the _proclamateur-electeur_, a superior +functionary, perpetual, without responsibility, deputed to represent the +nation without, and to form the government in a deliberating state-council +and a responsible ministry. The _proclamateur-electeur_ selected from the +lists of candidates, judges, from the tribunals of peace to the court of +cassation; administrators, from the mayors to the ministers. But he was +incapable of governing himself; power was directed by the state council, +exercised by the ministry. + +The legislature departed from the form hitherto established; it ceased to +be a deliberative assembly to become a judicial court. Before it, the +council of state, in the name of the government, and the _tribunat_, in +the name of the people, pleaded their respective projects. Its sentence +was law. It would seem that the object of Sieyes was to put a stop to the +violent usurpations of party, and while placing the sovereignty in the +people, to give it limits in itself: this design appears from the +complicated works of his political machine. The primary assemblies, +composed of the tenth of the general population, nominated the local _list +of communal candidates_; electoral colleges, also nominated by them, +selected from the _communal list_ the superior list of provincial +candidates and from the _provincial list_, the list of national +candidates. In all which concerned the government, there was a reciprocal +control. The proclamateur-electeur selected his functionaries from among +the candidates nominated by the people: and the people could dismiss +functionaries, by not keeping them on the lists of candidates, which were +renewed, the first every two years, the second every five years, the third +every ten years. But the proclamateur-electeur did not interfere in the +nomination of tribunes and legislators, whose attributes were purely +popular. + +Yet, to place a counterpoise in the heart of this authority itself, Sieyes +separated the initiative and the discussion of the law, which was invested +in the tribunate from its adoption, which belonged to the legislative +assembly. But besides these different prerogatives, the legislative body +and the tribunate were not elected in the same manner. The tribunate was +composed by right of the first hundred members of the _national list_, +while the legislative body was chosen directly by the electoral colleges. +The tribunes, being necessarily more active, bustling, and popular, were +appointed for life, and by a protracted process, to prevent their arriving +in a moment of passion, with destructive and angry projects, as had +hitherto been the case in most of the assemblies. The same dangers not +existing in the other assembly, which had only to judge calmly and +disinterestedly of the law, its election was direct, and its authority +transient. + +Lastly, there existed, as the complement of all the other powers, a +conservatory body, incapable of ordering, incapable of acting, intended +solely to provide for the regular existence of the state. This body was +the constitutional jury, or conservatory senate; it was to be for the +political law what the court of cassation was to the civil law. The +tribunate, or the council of state, appealed to it when the sentence of +the legislative body was not conformable to the constitution. It had also +the faculty of calling into its own body any leader of the government who +was too ambitious, or a tribune who was too popular, by the "droit +d'absorption," and when senators, they were disqualified from filling any +other function. In this way it kept a double watch over the safety of the +whole republic, by maintaining the fundamental law, and protecting liberty +against the ambition of individuals. + +Whatever may be thought of this constitution, which seems too finely +complicated to be practicable, it must be granted that it is the +production of considerable strength of mind, and even great practical +information. Sieyes paid too little regard to the passions of men; he made +them too reasonable as human beings, and too obedient as machines. He +wished by skilful inventions to avoid the abuses of human constitutions, +and excluded death, that is to say, despotism, from whatever quarter it +might come. But I have very little faith in the efficacy of constitutions; +in such moments, I believe only in the strength of parties in their +domination, and, from time to time, in their reconciliation. But I must +also admit that, if ever a constitution was adapted to a period, it was +that of Sieyes for France in the year VIII. + +After an experience of ten years, which had only shown exclusive +dominations, after the violent transition from the constitutionalists of +1789 to the Girondists, from the Girondists to the Mountain, from the +Mountain to the reactionists, from the reactionists to the directory, from +the directory to the councils, from the councils to the military force, +there could be no repose or public life save in it. People were weary of +worn-out constitutions; that of Sieyes was new; exclusive men were no +longer wanted, and by elaborate voting it prevented the sudden accession +of counter-revolutionists, as at the beginning of the directory, or of +ardent democrats, as at the end of this government. It was a constitution +of moderate men, suited to terminate a revolution, and to settle a nation. +But precisely because it was a constitution of moderate men, precisely +because parties had no longer sufficient ardour to demand a law of +domination, for that very reason there would necessarily be found a man +stronger than the fallen parties and the moderate legislators, who would +refuse this law, or, accepting, abuse it, and this was what happened. + +Bonaparte took part in the deliberations of the constituent committee; +with his instinct of power, he seized upon everything in the ideas of +Sieyes which was calculated to serve his projects, and caused the rest to +be rejected. Sieyes intended for him the functions of grand elector, with +a revenue of six millions of francs, and a guard of three thousand men; +the palace of Versailles for a residence, and the entire external +representation of the republic. But the actual government was to be +invested in a consul for war and a consul for peace, functionaries +unthought of by Sieyes in the year III., but adopted by him in the year +VIII.; in order, no doubt, to suit the ideas of the times. This +insignificant magistracy was far from suiting Bonaparte. "How could you +suppose," said he, "that a man of any talent and honour could resign +himself to the part of fattening like a hog, on a few millions a year?" +From that moment it was not again mentioned; Roger Ducos, and the greater +part of the committee, declared in favour of Bonaparte; and Sieyes, who +hated discussion, was either unwilling or unable to defend his ideas. He +saw that laws, men, and France itself were at the mercy of the man whose +elevation he had promoted. + +On the 24th of December, 1799 (Nivose, year VIII.), forty-five days after +the 18th Brumaire, was published the constitution of the year VIII.; it +was composed of the wrecks of that of Sieyes, now become a constitution of +servitude. The government was placed in the hands of the first consul, who +was supported by two others, having a deliberative voice. The senate, +primarily selected by the consuls, chose the members of the tribunal and +legislative body, from the list of the national candidates. The government +alone had the initiative in making the laws. Accordingly, there were no +more bodies of electors who appointed the candidates of different lists, +the tribunes and legislators; no more independent tribunes earnestly +pleading the cause of the people before the legislative assembly; no +legislative assembly arising directly from the bosom of the nation, and +accountable to it alone--in a word, no political nation. Instead of all +this, there existed an all-powerful consul, disposing of armies and of +power, a general and a dictator; a council of state destined to be the +advanced guard of usurpation; and lastly, a senate of eighty members, +whose only function was to nullify the people, and to choose tribunes +without authority, and legislators who should remain mute. Life passed +from the nation to the government. The constitution of Sieyes served as a +pretext for a bad order of things. It is worth notice that up to the year +VIII. all the constitutions had emanated from the _Contrat-social_, and +subsequently, down to 1814, from the constitution of Sieyes. + +The new government was immediately installed. Bonaparte was first consul, +and he united with him as second and third consuls, Cambaceres, a lawyer, +and formerly a member of the Plain in the convention, and Lebrun, formerly +a co-adjutor of the chancellor Maupeou. By their means, he hoped to +influence the revolutionists and moderate royalists. With the same object, +an ex-noble, Talleyrand, and a former member of the Mountain, Fouche, were +appointed to the posts of minister of foreign affairs, and minister of +police. Sieyes felt much repugnance at employing Fouche; but Bonaparte +wished it. "We are forming a new epoch," said he; "we must forget all the +ill of the past, and remember only the good." He cared very little under +what banner men had hitherto served, provided they now enlisted under his, +and summoned thither their old associates in royalism and in revolution. + +The two new consuls and the retiring consuls nominated sixty senators, +without waiting for the lists of eligibility; the senators appointed a +hundred tribunes and three hundred legislators; and the authors of the +18th Brumaire distributed among themselves the functions of the state, as +the booty of their victory. It is, however, just to say that the moderate +liberal party prevailed in this partition, and that, as long as it +preserved any influence, Bonaparte governed in a mild, advantageous, and +republican manner. The constitution of the year VIII., submitted to the +people for acceptance, was approved by three millions eleven thousand and +seven citizens. That of 1793 had obtained one million eight hundred and +one thousand nine hundred and eighteen suffrages; and that of the year +III. one million fifty-seven thousand three hundred and ninety. The new +law satisfied the moderate masses, who sought tranquillity, rather than +guarantees; while the code of '93 had only found partisans among the lower +class; and that of the year III. had been equally rejected by the +royalists and democrats. The constitution of 1791 alone had obtained +general approbation; and, without having been subjected to individual +acceptance, had been sworn to by all France. + +The first consul, in compliance with the wishes of the republic, made +offers of peace to England, which it refused. He naturally wished to +assume an appearance of moderation, and, previous to treating, to confer +on his government the lustre of new victories. The continuance of the war +was therefore decided on, and the consuls made a remarkable proclamation, +in which they appealed to sentiments new to the nation. Hitherto it had +been called to arms in defence of liberty; now they began to excite it in +the name of honour: "Frenchmen, you wish for peace. Your government +desires it with still more ardour: its foremost hopes, its constant +efforts, have been in favour of it. The English ministry rejects it; the +English ministry has betrayed the secret of its horrible policy. To rend +France, to destroy its navy and ports, to efface it from the map of +Europe, or reduce it to the rank of a secondary power, to keep the nations +of the continent at variance, in order to seize on the commerce of all, +and enrich itself by their spoils: these are the fearful successes for +which England scatters its gold, lavishes its promises, and multiplies its +intrigues. It is in your power to command peace; but, to command it, +money, the sword, and soldiers are necessary; let all, then, hasten to pay +the tribute they owe to their common defence. Let our young citizens +arise! No longer will they take arms for factions, or for the choice of +tyrants, but for the security of all they hold most dear; for the honour +of France, and for the sacred interests of humanity." + +Holland and Switzerland had been sheltered during the preceding campaign. +The first consul assembled all his force on the Rhine and the Alps. He +gave Moreau the command of the army of the Rhine, and he himself marched +into Italy. He set out on the 16th Floreal, year VIII. (6th of May, 1800) +for that brilliant campaign which lasted only forty days. It was important +that he should not be long absent from Paris at the beginning of his +power, and especially not to leave the war in a state of indecision. +Field-marshal Melas had a hundred and thirty thousand men under arms; he +occupied all Italy. The republican army opposed to him only amounted to +forty thousand men. He left the field-marshal lieutenant Ott with thirty +thousand men before Genoa; and marched against the corps of general +Suchet. He entered Nice, prepared to pass the Var, and to enter Provence. +It was then that Bonaparte crossed the great Saint Bernard at the head of +an army of forty thousand men, descended into Italy in the rear of Melas, +entered Milan on the 16th Prairial (2nd of June), and placed the Austrians +between Suchet and himself. Melas, whose line of operation was broken, +quickly fell back upon Nice, and from thence on to Turin; he established +his headquarters at Alessandria, and decided on re-opening his +communications by a battle. On the 9th of June, the advance guard of the +republicans gained a glorious victory at Monte-Bello, the chief honour of +which belonged to general Lannes. But it was the plain of Marengo, on the +14th of June (25th Prairial) that decided the fate of Italy; the Austrians +were overwhelmed. Unable to force the passage of the Bormida by a victory, +they were placed without any opportunity of retreat between the army of +Suchet and that of the first consul. On the 15th, they obtained permission +to fall behind Mantua, on condition of restoring all the places of +Piedmont, Lombardy, and the Legations; and the victory of Marengo thus +secured possession of all Italy. + +Eighteen days after, Bonaparte returned to Paris. He was received with all +the evidence of admiration that such decided victories and prodigious +activity could excite; the enthusiasm was universal. There was a +spontaneous illumination, and the crowd hurried to the Tuileries to see +him. The hope of speedy peace redoubled the public joy. On the 25th +Messidor the first consul was present at the anniversary fete of the 14th +of July. When the officers presented him the standards taken from the +enemy, he said to them: "When you return to your camps, tell your soldiers +that the French people, on the 1st Vendemiaire, when we shall celebrate +the anniversary of the republic, will expect either the proclamation of +peace, or, if the enemy raise insuperable obstacles, further standards as +the result of new victories." Peace, however, was delayed for some time. + +In the interim between the victory of Marengo and the general +pacification, the first consul turned his attention chiefly to settling +the people, and to diminishing the number of malcontents, by employing the +displaced factions in the state. He was very conciliatory to those parties +who renounced their systems, and very lavish of favours to those chiefs +who renounced their parties. As it was a time of selfishness and +indifference, he had no difficulty in succeeding. The proscribed of the +18th Fructidor were already recalled, with the exception of a few royalist +conspirators, such as Pichegru, Willot, etc. Bonaparte soon even employed +those of the banished who, like Portalis, Simeon, Barbe-Marbois, had shown +themselves more anti-conventionalists than counter-revolutionists. He had +also gained over opponents of another description. The late leaders of La +Vendee, the famous Bernier, cure of Saint-Lo, who had assisted in the +whole insurrection, Chatillon, d'Autichamp and Suzannet had come to an +arrangement by the treaty of Mont-Lucon (17th January, 1800). He also +addressed himself to the leaders of the Breton bands, Georges Cadoudal, +Frotte, Laprevelaye, and Bourmont. The two last alone consented to submit. +Frotte was surprised and shot; and Cadoudal defeated at Grand Champ, by +General Brune, capitulated. The western war was thus definitively +terminated. + +But the _Chouans_ who had taken refuge in England, and whose only hope was +in the death of him who now concentrated the power of the revolution, +projected his assassination. A few of them disembarked on the coast of +France, and secretly repaired to Paris. As it was not easy to reach the +first consul, they decided on a conspiracy truly horrible. On the third +Nivose, at eight in the evening, Bonaparte was to go to the Opera by the +Rue Saint-Nicaise. The conspirators placed a barrel of powder on a little +truck, which obstructed the carriage way, and one of them, named Saint +Regent, was to set fire to it as soon as he received a signal of the first +consul's approach. At the appointed time, Bonaparte left the Tuileries, +and crossed the Rue Nicaise. His coachman was skilful enough to drive +rapidly between the truck and the wall; but the match was already alight, +and the carriage had scarcely reached the end of the street when _the +infernal machine_ exploded, covered the quarter of Saint-Nicaise with +ruins, shaking the carriage, and breaking its windows. + +The police, taken by surprise, though directed by Fouche, attributed this +plot to the democrats, against whom the first consul had a much more +decided antipathy than against the _Chouans_. Many of them were +imprisoned, and a hundred and thirty were transported by a simple senatus- +consultus asked and obtained during the night. At length they discovered +the true authors of the conspiracy, some of whom were condemned to death. +On this occasion, the consul caused the creation of special military +tribunals. The constitutional party separated still further from him, and +began its energetic but useless opposition. Lanjuinais, Gregoire, who had +courageously resisted the extreme party in the convention, Garat, +Lambrechts, Lenoir-Laroche, Cabanis, etc., opposed, in the senate, the +illegal proscription of a hundred and thirty democrats; and the tribunes, +Isnard, Daunou, Chenier, Benjamin Constant, Bailleul, Chazal, etc., +opposed the special courts. But a glorious peace threw into the shade this +new encroachment of power. + +The Austrians, conquered at Marengo, and defeated in Germany by Moreau, +determined on laying down arms; On the 8th of January, 1801, the republic, +the cabinet of Vienna, and the empire, concluded the treaty of Luneville. +Austria ratified all the conditions of the treaty of Campo-Formio, and +also ceded Tuscany to the young duke of Parma. The empire recognised the +independence of the Batavian, Helvetian, Ligurian, and Cisalpine +republics. The pacification soon became general, by the treaty of Florence +(18th of February 1801,) with the king of Naples, who ceded the isle of +Elba and the principality of Piombino, by the treaty of Madrid (29th of +September, 1801) with Portugal; by the treaty of Paris (8th of October, +1801) with the emperor of Russia; and, lastly, by the preliminaries (9th +of October, 1801) with the Ottoman Porte. The continent, by ceasing +hostilities, compelled England to a momentary peace. Pitt, Dundas, and +Lord Grenville, who had maintained these sanguinary struggles with France, +went out of office when their system ceased to be followed. The opposition +replaced them; and, on the 25th of March, 1802, the treaty of Amiens +completed the pacification of the world. England consented to all the +continental acquisitions of the French republic, recognised the existence +of the secondary republics, and restored our colonies. + +During the maritime war with England, the French navy had been almost +entirely ruined. Three hundred and forty ships had been taken or +destroyed, and the greater part of the colonies had fallen into the hands +of the English. San Domingo, the most important of them all, after +throwing off the yoke of the whites, had continued the American +revolution, which having commenced in the English colonies, was to end in +those of Spain, and change the colonies of the new world into independent +states. The blacks of San Domingo wished to maintain, with respect to the +mother country, the freedom which they had acquired from the colonists, +and to defend themselves against the English. They were led by a man of +colour, the famous Toussaint-L'Ouverture. France should have consented to +this revolution which had been very costly for humanity. The metropolitan +government could no longer be restored at San Domingo; and it became +necessary to obtain the only real advantages which Europe can now derive +from America, by strengthening the commercial ties with our old colony. +Instead of this prudent policy, Bonaparte attempted an expedition to +reduce the island to subjection. Forty thousand men embarked for this +disastrous enterprise. It was impossible for the blacks to resist such an +army at first; but after the first victories, it was attacked by the +climate, and new insurrections secured the independence of the colony. +France experienced the twofold loss of an army and of advantageous +commercial connexions. + +Bonaparte, whose principal object hitherto had been to promote the fusion +of parties, now turned all his attention to the internal prosperity of the +republic, and the organization of power. The old privileged classes of the +nobility and the clergy had returned into the state without forming +particular classes. Dissentient priests, on taking an oath of obedience, +might conduct their modes of worship and receive their pensions from +government. An act of pardon had been passed in favour of those accused of +emigration; there only remained a list of about a thousand names of those +who remained faithful to the family and the claims of the pretender. The +work of pacification was at an end. Bonaparte, knowing that the surest way +of commanding a nation is to promote its happiness, encouraged the +development of industry, and favoured external commerce, which had so long +been suspended. He united higher views with his political policy, and +connected his own glory with the prosperity of France; he travelled +through the departments, caused canals and harbours to be dug, bridges to +be built, roads to be repaired, monuments to be erected, and means of +communication to be multiplied. He especially strove to become the +protector and legislator of private interests. The civil, penal, and +commercial codes, which he formed, whether at this period, or at a later +period, completed, in this respect, the work of the revolution, and +regulated the internal existence of the nation, in a manner somewhat more +conformable to its real condition. Notwithstanding political despotism, +France, during the domination of Bonaparte, had a private legislation +superior to that of any European society; for with absolute government, +most of them still preserved the civil condition of the middle-ages. +General peace, universal toleration, the return of order, the restoration, +and the creation of an administrative system, soon changed the appearance +of the republic. Attention was turned to the construction of roads and +canals. Civilization became developed in an extraordinary manner; and the +consulate was, in this respect, the perfected period of the directory, +from its commencement to the 18th Fructidor. + +It was more especially after the peace Amiens that Bonaparte raised the +foundation of his future power. He himself says, in the Memoirs published +under his name, [Footnote: _Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire de France +sous Napoleon, ecrits a Sainte Helene_, vol. i. p. 248.] "The ideas of +Napoleon were fixed, but to realise them he required the assistance of +time and circumstances. The organization of the consulate had nothing in +contradiction with these; it accustomed the nation to unity, and that was +a first step. This step taken, Napoleon was indifferent to the forms and +denominations of the different constituted bodies. He was a stranger to +the revolution. It was his wisdom to advance from day to day, without +deviating from the fixed point, the polar star, which directed Napoleon +how to guide the revolution to the port whither he wished to conduct it." + +In the beginning of 1802, he was at one and the same time forming three +great projects, tending to the same end. He sought to organize religion +and to establish the clergy, which as yet had only a religious existence; +to create, by means of the Legation of Honour, a permanent military order +in the army; and to secure his own power, first for his life, and then to +render it hereditary. Bonaparte was installed at the Tuileries, where he +gradually resumed the customs and ceremonies of the old monarchy. He. +already thought of placing intermediate bodies between himself and the +people. For some time past he had opened a negotiation with Pope Pius +VII., on matters of religious worship. The famous concordat, which created +nine archbishoprics, forty-one bishoprics, with the institution of +chapters, which established the clergy in the state, and again placed it +under the external monarchy of the pope, was signed at Paris on the 16th +of July, 1801, and ratified at Rome on the 15th of August, 1801. + +Bonaparte, who had destroyed the liberty of the press, created exceptional +tribunals, and who had departed more and more from the principles of the +revolution, felt that before he went further it was necessary to break +entirely with the liberal party of the 18th Brumaire. In Ventose, year X. +(March, 1802), the most energetic of the tribunes were dismissed by a +simple operation of the senate. The tribunate was reduced to eighty +members, and the legislative body underwent a similar purgation. About a +month after, the 15th Germinal (6th of April, 1802), Bonaparte, no longer +apprehensive of opposition, submitted the concordat to these assemblies, +whose obedience he had thus secured, for their acceptance. They adopted it +by a great majority. The Sunday and four great religious festivals were +re-established, and from that time the government ceased to observe the +system of decades. This was the first attempt at renouncing the republican +calendar. Bonaparte hoped to gain the sacerdotal party, always most +disposed to passive obedience, and thus deprive the royalist of the +clergy, and the coalition of the pope. + +The concordat was inaugurated with great pomp in the cathedral of Notre- +Dame. The senate, the legislative body, the tribunate, and the leading +functionaries were present at this new ceremony. The first consul repaired +thither in the carriages of the old court, with the etiquette and +attendants of the old monarchy; salvos of artillery announced this return +of privilege, and this essay at royalty. A pontifical mass was performed +by Caprara, the cardinal-legate, and the people were addressed by +proclamation in a language to which they had long been unaccustomed. +"Reason and the example of ages," ran the proclamation, "command us to +have recourse to the sovereign pontiff to effect unison of opinion and +reconciliation of hearts. The head of the church has weighed in his wisdom +and for the interest of the church, propositions dictated by the interest +of the state." + +In the evening there was an illumination, and a concert in the gardens of +the Tuileries. The soldiery reluctantly attended at the inauguration +ceremony, and expressed their dissatisfaction aloud. On returning to the +palace, Bonaparte questioned general Delmas on the subject. "_What did you +think of the ceremony? _" said he. "_A fine mummery_" was the reply. +"_Nothing was wanting but a million of men slain, in destroying what you +re-establish. _" + +A month after, on the 25th Floreal, year X. (15th of May, 1802), he +presented the project of a law respecting _the creation of a legion of +honour_. This legion was to be composed of fifteen cohorts, dignitaries +for life, disposed in hierarchical order, having a centre, an +organization, and revenues. The first consul was the chief of the legion. +Each cohort was composed of seven grand officers, twenty commanders, +thirty officers, and three hundred and fifty legionaries. Bonaparte's +object was to originate a new nobility. He thus appealed to the ill- +suppressed sentiment of inequality. While discussing this projected law in +the council of state, he did not scruple to announce his aristocratic +design. Berlier, counsellor of state, having disapproved an institution so +opposed to the spirit of the republic, said that: "Distinctions were the +playthings of a monarchy." "I defy you," replied the first consul, "to +show me a republic, ancient or modern, in which distinctions did not +exist; you call them toys; well, it is by toys that men are led. I would +not say as much to a tribune; but in a council of wise men and statesmen +we may speak plainly. I do not believe that the French love _liberty and +equality_. The French have not been changed by ten years of revolution; +they have but one sentiment--_honour_. That sentiment, then, must be +nourished; they must have distinctions. See how the people prostrate +themselves before the ribbons and stars of foreigners; they have been +surprised by them; and they do not fail to wear them. All has been +destroyed; the question is, how to restore all. There is a government, +there are authorities; but the rest of the nation, what is it? Grains of +sand. Among us we have the old privileged classes, organized in principles +and interests, and knowing well what they want. I can count our enemies. +But we, ourselves, are dispersed, without system, union, or contact. As +long as I am here, I will answer for the republic; but we must provide for +the future. Do you think the republic is definitively established? If so, +you are greatly deceived. It is in our power to make it so; but we have +not done it; and we shall not do it if we do not hurl some masses of +granite on the soil of France." [Footnote: This passage is extracted from +M. Thibaudeau's _Memoires_ of the Consulate. There are in these +_Memoires_, which are extremely curious, some political conversations of +Bonaparte, details concerning his internal government and the principal +sittings of the council of state, which throw much light upon this epoch.] +By these words Bonaparte announced a system of government opposed to that +which the revolution sought to establish, and which the change in society +demanded. + +Yet, notwithstanding the docility of the council of state, the purgation +undergone by the tribunal and the legislative body, these three bodies +vigorously opposed a law which revived inequality. In the council of +state, the legion of honour only had fourteen votes against ten; in the +tribunal, thirty-eight against fifty-six; in the legislative body, a +hundred and sixty-six against a hundred and ten. Public opinion manifested +a still greater repugnance for this new order of knighthood. Those first +invested seemed almost ashamed of it, and received it with a sort of +contempt. But Bonaparte pursued his counterrevolutionary course, without +troubling himself about a dissatisfaction no longer capable of resistance. + +He wished to confirm his power by the establishment of privilege, and to +confirm privilege by the duration of his power. On the motion of Chabot de +l'Allier, the tribunal resolved: "That the first consul, general +Bonaparte, should receive a signal mark of national gratitude." In +pursuance of this resolution, on the 6th of May, 1802, an organic senatus- +consultus appointed Bonaparte consul for an additional period of ten +years. + +But Bonaparte did not consider the prolongation of the consulate +sufficient; and two months after, on the 2nd of August, the senate, on the +decision of the tribunate and the legislative body, and with the consent +of the people, consulted by means of the public registers, passed the +following decree: + +"I. The French people nominate, and the senate proclaim Napoleon Bonaparte +first consul for life. + +"II. A statue of Peace, holding in one hand a laurel of victory, and in +the other, the decree of the senate, shall attest to posterity the +gratitude of the nation. + +"III. The senate will convey to the first consul the expression of the +confidence, love, and admiration of the French people." + +This revolution was complete by adapting to the consulship for life, by a +simple senatus-consultus, the constitution, already sufficiently despotic, +of the temporary consulship. "Senators," said Cornudet, on presenting the +new law, "we must for ever close the public path to the Gracchi. The +wishes of the citizens, with respect to the political laws they obey, are +expressed by the general prosperity; the guarantee of social rights +absolutely places the dogma of the exercise of the sovereignty of the +people in the senate, which is the bond of the nation. This is the only +social doctrine." The senate admitted this new social doctrine, took +possession of the sovereignty, and held it as a deposit till a favourable +moment arrived for transferring it to Bonaparte. + +The constitution of the 16th Thermidor, year X. (4th of August, 1802,) +excluded the people from the state. The public and administrative +functions became fixed, like those of the government. The first consul +could increase the number of electors who were elected for life. The +senate had the right of changing institutions, suspending the functions of +the jury, of placing the departments out of the constitution, of annulling +the sentences of the tribunals, of dissolving the legislative body, and +the tribunate. The council of state was reinforced; the tribunate, already +reduced by dismissals, was still sufficiently formidable to require to be +reduced to fifty members. + +Such, in the course of two years, was the terrible progress of privilege +and absolute power. Towards the close of 1802, everything was in the hands +of the consul for life, who had a class devoted to him in the clergy; a +military order in the legion of honour; an administrative body in the +council of state; a machinery for decrees in the legislative assembly; a +machinery for the constitution in the senate. Not daring, as yet, to +destroy the tribunate, in which assembly there arose, from time to time, a +few words of freedom and opposition, he deprived it of its most courageous +and eloquent members, that he might hear his will declared with docility +in all the assemblies of the nation. + +This interior policy of usurpation was extended beyond the country. On the +26th of August, Bonaparte united the island of Elba, and on the 11th of +September, 1802, Piedmont, to the French territory. On the 9th of October +he took possession of the states of Parma, left vacant by the death of the +duke; and lastly, on the 21st of October, he marched into Switzerland an +army of thirty thousand men, to support a federative act, which regulated +the constitution of each canton, and which had caused disturbances. He +thus furnished a pretext for a rupture with England, which had not +sincerely subscribed to the peace. The British cabinet had only felt the +necessity of a momentary suspension of hostilities; and, a short time +after the treaty of Amiens, it arranged a third coalition, as it had done +after the treaty of Campo-Formio, and at the time of the congress of +Rastadt. The interest and situation of England were alone of a nature to +bring about a rupture, which was hastened by the union of states effected +by Bonaparte, and the influence which he retained over the neighbouring +republics, called to complete independence by the recent treaties. +Bonaparte, on his part, eager for the glory gained on the field of battle, +wishing to aggrandize France by conquests, and to complete his own +elevation by victories, could not rest satisfied with repose; he had +rejected liberty, and war became a necessity. + +The two cabinets exchanged for some time very bitter diplomatic notes. At +length, Lord Whitworth, the English ambassador, left Paris on the 25th +Floreal, year XI. (13th of May, 1803). Peace was now definitively broken: +preparations for war were made on both sides. On the 26th of May, the +French troops entered the electorate of Hanover. The German empire, on the +point of expiring, raised no obstacle. The emigrant Chouan party, which +had taken no steps since the affair of the infernal machine and the +continental peace, were encouraged by this return of hostilities. The +opportunity seemed favourable, and it formed in London, with the assent of +the British cabinet, a conspiracy headed by Pichegru and Georges Cadoudal. +The conspirators disembarked secretly on the coast of France, and repaired +with the same secrecy to Paris. They communicated with general Moreau, who +had been induced by his wife to embrace the royalist party. Just as they +were about to execute their project, most of them were arrested by the +police, who had discovered the plot, and traced them. Georges Cadoudal was +executed, Pichegru was found strangled in prison, and Moreau was sentenced +to two years' imprisonment, commuted to exile. This conspiracy, discovered +in the middle of February, 1804, rendered the person of the first consul, +whose life had been thus threatened, still dearer to the masses of the +people; addresses of congratulation were presented by all the bodies of +the state, and all the departments of the republic. About this time he +sacrificed an illustrious victim. On the 15th of March, the duc d'Enghien +was carried off by a squadron of cavalry from the castle of Ettenheim, in +the grand-duchy of Baden, a few leagues from the Rhine. The first consul +believed, from the reports of the police, that this prince had directed +the recent conspiracy. The duc d'Engbien was conveyed hastily to +Vincennes, tried in a few hours by a military commission, and shot in the +trenches of the chateau. This crime was not an act of policy, or +usurpation; but a deed of violence and wrath. The royalists might have +thought on the 18th Brumaire that the first consul was studying the part +of general Monk; but for four years he had destroyed that hope. He had no +longer any necessity for breaking with them in so outrageous a manner, nor +for reassuring, as it has been suggested, the Jacobins, who no longer +existed. Those who remained devoted to the republic, dreaded at this time +despotism far more than a counter-revolution. There is every reason to +think that Bonaparte, who thought little of human life, or of the rights +of nations, having already formed the habit of an expeditious and hasty +policy, imagined the prince to be one of the conspirators, and sought, by +a terrible example, to put an end to conspiracies, the only peril that +threatened his power at that period. + +The war with Britain and the conspiracy of Georges Cadoudal and Pichegru, +were the stepping-stones by which Bonaparte ascended from the consulate to +the empire. On the 6th Germinal, year XII. (27th March, 1804), the senate, +on receiving intelligence of the plot, sent a deputation to the first +consul. The president, Francois de Neufchateau, expressed himself in these +terms: "Citizen first consul, you are founding a new era, but you ought to +perpetuate it: splendour is nothing without duration. We do not doubt but +this great idea has had a share of your attention; for your creative +genius embraces all and forgets nothing. But do not delay: you are urged +on by the times, by events, by conspirators, and by ambitious men; and in +another direction, by the anxiety which agitates the French people. It is +in your power to enchain time, master events, disarm the ambitious, and +tranquillize the whole of France by giving it institutions which will +cement your edifice, and prolong for our children what you have done for +their fathers. Citizen first consul, be assured that the senate here +speaks to you in the name of all citizens." + +On the 5th Floreal, year XII. (25th of April, 1804), Bonaparte replied to +the senate from Saint-Cloud, as follows: "Your address has occupied my +thoughts incessantly; it has been the subject of my constant meditation. +You consider, that the supreme magistracy should be hereditary, in order +to protect the people from the plots of our enemies, and the agitation +which arises from rival ambitions. You also think that several of our +institutions ought to be perfected, to secure the permanent triumph of +equality and public liberty, and to offer the nation and government the +twofold guarantee which they require. The more I consider these great +objects, the more deeply do I feel that in such novel and important +circumstances, the councils of your wisdom and experience are necessary to +enable me to come to a conclusion. I invite you, then, to communicate to +me your ideas on the subject." The senate, in its turn, replied on the +14th Floreal (3rd of May): "The senate considers that the interests of the +French people will be greatly promoted by confiding the government of the +republic to _Napoleon Bonaparte_, as hereditary emperor." By this +preconcerted scene was ushered in the establishment of the empire. + +The tribune Curee opened the debate in the tribunate by a motion on the +subject. He dwelt on the same motives as the senators had done. His +proposition was carried with enthusiasm. Carnot alone had the courage to +oppose the empire: "I am far," said he, "from wishing to weaken the +praises bestowed on the first consul; but whatever services a citizen may +have done to his country, there are bounds which honour, as well as +reason, imposes on national gratitude. If this citizen has restored public +liberty, if he has secured the safety of his country, is it a reward to +offer him the sacrifice of that liberty; and would it not be destroying +his own work to make his country his private patrimony? When once the +proposition of holding the consulate for life was presented for the votes +of the people, it was easy to see that an after-thought existed. A crowd +of institutions evidently monarchical followed in succession; but now the +object of so many preliminary measures is disclosed in a positive manner; +we are called to declare our sentiments on a formal motion to restore the +monarchical system, and to confer imperial and hereditary dignity on the +first consul. + +"Has liberty, then, only been shown to man that he might never enjoy it? +No, I cannot consent to consider this good, so universally preferred to +all others, without which all others are as nothing, as a mere illusion. +My heart tells me that liberty is attainable; that its regime is easier +and more stable than any arbitrary government. I voted against the +consulate for life; I now vote against the restoration of the monarchy; as +I conceive my quality as tribune compels me to do." + +But he was the only one who thought thus; and his colleagues rivalled each +other in their opposition to the opinion of the only man who alone among +them remained free. In the speeches of that period, we may see the +prodigious change that had taken place in ideas and language. The +revolution had returned to the political principles of the ancient regime; +the same enthusiasm and fanaticism existed; but it was the enthusiasm of +flattery, the fanaticism of servitude. The French rushed into the empire +as they had rushed into the revolution; in the age of reason they referred +everything to the enfranchisement of nations; now they talked of nothing +but the greatness of a man, and of the age of Bonaparte; and they now +fought to make kings, as they had formerly fought to create republics. + +The tribunate, the legislative body, and the senate, voted the empire, +which was proclaimed at Saint-Cloud on the 28th Floreal, year XII. (18th +of May, 1804). On the same day, a senatus-consultum modified the +constitution, which was adapted to the new order of things. The empire +required its appendages; and French princes, high dignitaries, marshals, +chamberlains, and pages were given to it. All publicity was destroyed. The +liberty of the press had already been subjected to censorship; only one +tribune remained, and that became mute. The sittings of the tribunate were +secret, like those of the council of state; and from that day, for a space +of ten years, France was governed with closed doors. Joseph and Louis +Bonaparte were recognised as French princes. Bethier, Murat, Moncey, +Jourdan, Massena, Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, +Ney, Davoust, Bessieres, Kellermann, Lefevre, Perignon, Serurier, were +named marshals of the empire. The departments sent up addresses, and the +clergy compared Napoleon to a new Moses, a new Mattathias, a new Cyrus. +They saw in his elevation "the finger of God," and said "that submission +was due to him as dominating over all; to his ministers as sent by him, +because such was the order of Providence." Pope Pius VII. came to Paris to +consecrate the new dynasty. The coronation took place on Sunday, the 2nd +of December, in the church of Notre-Dame. + +Preparations had been making for this ceremony for some time, and it was +regulated according to ancient customs. The emperor repaired to the +metropolitan church with the empress Josephine, in a coach surmounted by a +crown, drawn by eight white horses, and escorted by his guard. The pope, +cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and all the great bodies of the state +were awaiting him in the cathedral, which had been magnificently decorated +for this extraordinary ceremony. He was addressed in an oration at the +door; and then, clothed with the imperial mantle, the crown on his head, +and the sceptre in his hand, he ascended a throne placed at the end of the +church. The high almoner, a cardinal, and a bishop, came and conducted him +to the foot of the altar for consecration. The pope poured the three-fold +unction on his head and hands, and delivered the following prayer:--"O +Almighty God, who didst establish Hazael to govern Syria, and Jehu king of +Israel, by revealing unto them thy purpose by the mouth of the prophet +Elias; who didst also shed the holy unction of kings on the head of Saul +and of David, by the ministry of thy prophet Samuel, vouchsafe to pour, by +my hands, the treasures of thy grace and blessing on thy servant Napoleon, +who, notwithstanding our own unworthiness, we this day consecrate emperor +in thy name." + +The pope led him solemnly back to the throne; and after he had sworn on +the Testament the oath prescribed by the new constitution, the chief +herald-at-arms cried in a loud voice--"_The most glorious and most august +emperor of the French is crowned and enthroned! Long live the emperor! _" +The church instantly resounded with the cry, salvoes of artillery were +fired, and the pope intoned the Te Deum. For several days there was a +succession of fetes; but these fetes _by command_, these fetes of absolute +power, did not breathe the frank, lively, popular, and unanimous joy of +the first federation of the 14th of July; and, exhausted as the people +were, they did not welcome the beginning of despotism as they had welcomed +that of liberty. + +The consulate was the last period of the existence of the republic. The +revolution was coming to man's estate. During the first period of the +consular government, Bonaparte had gained the proscribed classes by +recalling them, he found a people still agitated by every passion, and he +restored them to tranquillity by labour, and to prosperity by restoring +order. Finally he compelled Europe, conquered for the third time, to +acknowledge his elevation. Till the treaty of Amiens, he revived in the +republic victory, concord, and prosperity, without sacrificing liberty. He +might then, had he wished, have made himself the representative of that +great age, which sought for that noble system of human dignity the +consecration of far-extended equality, wise liberty, and more developed +civilization. The nation was in the hands of the great man or the despot; +it rested with him to preserve it free or to enslave it. He preferred the +realization of his selfish projects, and preferred himself to all +humanity. Brought up in tents, coming late into the revolution, he only +understood its material and interested side; he had no faith in the moral +wants which had given rise to it, nor in the creeds which had agitated it, +and which, sooner or later, would return and destroy him. He saw an +insurrection approaching its end, an exhausted people at his mercy, and a +crown on the ground within his reach. + + + + +THE EMPIRE + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE, 1804-1814 + + +After the establishment of the empire, power became more arbitrary, and +society reconstructed itself on an aristocratic principle. The great +movement of recomposition, which had commenced on the 9th Thermidor went +on increasing. The convention had abolished classes; the directory +defeated parties; the consulate gained over men; and the empire corrupted +them by distinctions and privileges. This second period was the opposite +of the first. Under the one, we saw the government of the committees +exercised by men elected every three months, without guards, honours, or +representation, living on a few francs a day, working eighteen hours +together on common wooden tables; under the other, the government of the +empire, with all its paraphernalia of administration, it chamberlains, +gentlemen, praetorian guard, hereditary rights, its immense civil list, +and dazzling ostentation. The national activity was exclusively directed +to labour and war. All material interests, all ambitious passions, were +hierarchically arranged under one leader, who, after having sacrificed +liberty by establishing absolute power, destroyed equality by introducing +nobility. + +The directory had erected all the surrounding states into republics; +Napoleon wished to constitute them on the model of the empire. He began +with Italy. The council of state of the Cisalpine republic determined on +restoring hereditary monarchy in favour of Napoleon. Its vice-president, +M. Melzi, came to Paris to communicate to him this decision. On the 26th +Ventose, year XIII. (17th of March, 1805), he was received with great +solemnity at the Tuileries. Napoleon was on his throne, surrounded by his +court, and all the splendour of sovereign power, in the display of which +he delighted. M. Melzi offered him the crown, in the name of his fellow- +citizens. "Sire," said he, in conclusion, "deign to gratify the wishes of +the assembly over which I have the honour to preside. Interpreter of the +sentiments which animate every Italian heart, it brings you their sincere +homage. It will inform them with joy that by accepting, you have +strengthened the ties which attach you to the preservation, defence, and +prosperity of the Italian nation. Yes, sire, you wished the existence of +the Italian republic, and it existed. Desire the Italian monarchy to be +happy, and it will be so." + +The emperor went to take possession of this kingdom; and, on the 26th of +May, 1805, he received at Milan the iron crown of the Lombards. He +appointed his adopted son, prince Eugene de Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, +and repaired to Genoa, which also renounced its sovereignty. On the 4th of +June, 1805, its territory was united to the empire, and formed the three +departments of Genoa, Montenotte, and the Apennines. The small republic of +Lucca was included in this monarchical revolution. At the request of its +gonfalonier, it was given in appanage to the prince of Piombino and his +princess, a sister of Napoleon. The latter, after this royal progress, +recrossed the Alps, and returned to the capital of his empire; he soon +after departed for the camp at Boulogne, where a great maritime expedition +against England was preparing. + +This project of descent which the directory had entertained after the +peace of Campo-Formio, and the first consul, after the peace of Luneville, +had been resumed with much ardour since the new rupture. At the +commencement of 1805, a flotilla of two thousand small vessels, manned by +sixteen thousand sailors, carrying an army of one hundred and sixty +thousand men, nine thousand horses, and a numerous artillery, had +assembled in the ports of Boulogne, Etaples, Wimereux, Ambleteuse. and +Calais. The emperor was hastening by his presence the execution of this +project, when he learned that England, to avoid the descent with which it +was threatened, had prevailed on Austria to come to a rupture with France, +and that all the forces of the Austrian monarchy were in motion. Ninety +thousand men, under the archduke Ferdinand and general Mack, had crossed +the Jura, seized on Munich, and driven out the elector of Bavaria, the +ally of France; thirty thousand, under the archduke John, occupied the +Tyrol, and the archduke Charles, with one hundred thousand men, was +advancing on the Adige. Two Russian armies were preparing to join the +Austrians. Pitt had made the greatest efforts to organize this third +coalition. The establishment of the kingdom of Italy, the annexation of +Genoa and Piedmont to France, the open influence of the emperor over +Holland and Switzerland, had again aroused Europe, which now dreaded the +ambition of Napoleon as much as it had formerly feared the principles of +the revolution. The treaty of alliance between the British ministry and +the Russian cabinet had been signed on the 11th of April, 1805, and +Austria had acceded to it on the 9th of August. + +Napoleon left Boulogne, returned hastily to Paris, repaired to the senate +on the 23rd of September, obtained a levy of eighty thousand men, and set +out the next day to begin the campaign. He passed the Rhine on the 1st of +October, and entered Bavaria on the 6th, with an army of a hundred and +sixty thousand men. Massena held back Prince Charles in Italy, and the +emperor carried on the war in Germany at full speed. In a few days he +passed the Danube, entered Munich, gained the victory of Wertingen, and +forced general Mack to lay down his arms at Ulm. This capitulation +disorganized the Austrian army. Napoleon pursued the course of his +victories, entered Vienna on the 13th of November, and then marched into +Moravia to meet the Russians, round whom the defeated troops had rallied. + +On the 2nd of December, 1805, the anniversary of the coronation, the two +armies met in the plains of Austerlitz. The enemy amounted to ninety-five +thousand men, the French to eighty thousand. On both sides the artillery +was formidable. The battle began at sunrise; these enormous masses began +to move; the Russian infantry could not stand against the impetuosity of +our troops and the manoeuvres of their general. The enemy's left was first +cut off; the Russian imperial guard came up to re-establish the +communication, and was entirely overwhelmed. The centre experienced the +same fate, and at one o'clock in the afternoon the most decisive victory +had completed this wonderful campaign. The following day the emperor +congratulated the army in a proclamation on the field of battle itself: +"Soldiers," said he, "I am satisfied with you. You have adorned your +eagles with immortal glory. An army of a hundred thousand men, commanded +by the emperors of Russia and Austria, in less than four days has been cut +to pieces or dispersed; those who escaped your steel have been drowned in +the lakes. Forty flags, the standards of the Russian imperial guard, a +hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, twenty generals, more than thirty +thousand prisoners, are the result of this ever memorable day. This +infantry, so vaunted and so superior in numbers, could not resist your +shock, and henceforth you have no more rivals to fear. Thus, in two +months, this third coalition has been defeated and dissolved." A truce was +concluded with Austria; and the Russians, who might have been cut to +pieces, obtained permission to retire by fixed stages. + +The peace of Pressburg followed the victories of Ulm and Austerlitz; it +was signed on the 26th of December. The house of Austria, which had lost +its external possessions, Holland and the Milanese, was now assailed in +Germany itself. It gave up the provinces of Dalmatia and Albania to the +kingdom of Italy; the territory of the Tyrol, the town of Augsburg, the +principality of Eichstett, a part of the territory of Passau, and all its +possessions in Swabia, Brisgau, and Ortenau to the electorates of Bavaria +and Wurtemberg, which were transformed into kingdoms. The grand duchy of +Baden also profited by its spoils. The treaty of Pressburg completed the +humiliation of Austria, commenced by the treaty of Campo-Formio, and +continued by that of Luneville. The emperor, on his return to Paris, +crowned with so much glory, became the object of such general and wild +admiration, that he was himself carried away by the public enthusiasm and +intoxicated at his fortune. The different bodies of the state contended +among themselves in obedience and flatteries. He received the title of +Great, and the senate passed a decree dedicating to him a triumphal +monument. + +Napoleon became more confirmed in the principle he had espoused. The +victory of Marengo and the peace of Luneville had sanctioned the +consulate; the victory of Austerlitz and peace of Pressburg consecrated +the empire. The last vestiges of the revolution were abandoned. On the 1st +of January, 1806, the Gregorian calendar definitively replaced the +republican calendar, after an existence of fourteen years. The Pantheon +was again devoted to purposes of worship, and soon even the tribunate +ceased to exist. But the emperor aimed especially at extending his +dominion over the continent. Ferdinand, king of Naples, having, during the +last war, violated the treaty of peace with France, had his states +invaded; and Joseph Bonaparte on the 30th of March was declared king of +the Two Sicilies. Soon after (June 5th, 1806), Holland was converted into +a kingdom, and received as monarch Louis Bonaparte, another brother of the +emperor. None of the republics created by the convention, or the +directory, now existed. Napoleon, in nominating secondary kings, restored +the military hierarchical system, and the titles of the middle ages. He +erected Dalmatia, Istria, Friuli, Cadore, Belluno, Conegliano, Treviso, +Feltra, Bassano, Vicenza, Padua, and Rovigo into duchies, great fiefs of +the empire. Marshal Berthier was invested with the principality of +Neufchatel, the minister Talleyrand with that of Benevento. Prince +Borghese and his wife with that of Guastalla, Murat with the grand-duchy +of Berg and Cleves. Napoleon, not venturing to destroy the Swiss republic, +styled himself its mediator, and completed the organization of his +military empire by placing under his dependence the ancient Germanic body. +On the 12th of July, 1806, fourteen princes of the south and west of +Germany united themselves into the confederation of the Rhine, and +recognized Napoleon as their protector. On the 1st of August, they +signified to the diet of Ratisbon their separation from the Germanic body. +The empire of Germany ceased to exist, and Francis II. abdicated the title +by proclamation. By a convention signed at Vienna, on the 15th of +December, Prussia exchanged the territories of Anspach, Cleves, and +Neufchatel for the electorate of Hanover. Napoleon had all the west under +his power. Absolute master of France and Italy, as emperor and king, he +was also master of Spain, by the dependence of that court; of Naples and +Holland, by his two brothers; of Switzerland, by the act of mediation; and +in Germany he had at his disposal the kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, and +the confederation of the Rhine against Austria and Prussia. After the +peace of Amiens, by supporting liberty he might have made himself the +protector of France and the moderator of Europe; but having sought glory +in domination, and made conquest the object of his life, he condemned +himself to a long struggle, which would inevitably terminate in the +dependence of the continent or in his own downfall. + +This encroaching progress gave rise to the fourth coalition. Prussia, +neutral since the peace of Basle, had, in the last campaign, been on the +point of joining the Austro-Russian coalition. The rapidity of the +emperor's victories had alone restrained her; but now, alarmed at the +aggrandizement of the empire, and encouraged by the fine condition of her +troops, she leagued with Russia to drive the French from Germany. The +cabinet of Berlin required that the French troops should recross the +Rhine, or war would be the consequence. At the same time, it sought to +form in the north of Germany a league against the confederation of the +south. The emperor, who was in the plenitude of his prosperity and of +national enthusiasm, far from submitting to the _ultimatum_ of Prussia, +immediately marched against her. + +The campaign opened early in October. Napoleon, as usual, overwhelmed the +coalition by the promptitude of his marches and the vigour of his +measures. On the 14th of October, he destroyed at Jena the military +monarchy of Prussia, by a decisive victory; on the 16th, fourteen thousand +Prussians threw down their arms at Erfurth; on the 25th, the French army +entered Berlin, and the close of 1806 was employed in taking the Prussian +fortresses and marching into Poland against the Russian army. The campaign +in Poland was less rapid, but as brilliant as that of Prussia. Russia, for +the third time, measured its strength with France. Conquered at Zurich and +Austerlitz, it was also defeated at Eylau and Friedland. After these +memorable battles, the emperor Alexander entered into a negotiation, and +concluded at Tilsit, on the 21st of June, 1807, an armistice which was +followed by a definitive treaty on the 7th of July. + +The peace of Tilsit extended the French domination on the continent. +Prussia was reduced to half its extent. In the south of Germany, Napoleon +had instituted the two kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg against Austria; +further to the north, he created the two feudatory kingdoms of Saxony and +Westphalia against Prussia. That of Saxony, composed of the electorate of +that name, and Prussian Poland, called the grand-duchy of Warsaw, was +given to the king of Saxony; that of Westphalia comprehended the states of +Hesse-Cassel, Brunswick, Fulde, Paderborn, and the greatest part of +Hanover, and was given to Jerome Napoleon. The emperor Alexander, acceding +to all these arrangements, evacuated Moldavia and Wallachia. Russia, +however, though conquered, was the only power unencroached upon. Napoleon +followed more than ever in the footsteps of Charlemagne; at his +coronation, he had had the crown, sword, and sceptre, of the Frank king +carried before him. A pope had crossed the Alps to consecrate his dynasty, +and he modelled his states on the vast empire of that conqueror. The +revolution sought the establishment of ancient liberty; Napoleon restored +the military hierarchy of the middle ages. The former had made citizens, +the latter made vassals. The one had changed Europe into republics, the +other transformed it into fiefs. Great and powerful as he was, coming +immediately after a shock which had exhausted the world by its violence, +he was enabled to arrange it for a time according to his pleasure. The +_grand empire_ rose internally by its system of administration, which +replaced the government of assemblies; its special courts, its lyceums, in +which military education was substituted for the republican education of +the central schools; its hereditary nobility, which in 1808 completed the +establishment of inequality; its civil discipline, which rendered all +France like an army obedient to the word of command; and externally by its +secondary kingdoms, its confederate states, its great fiefs, and its +supreme chief. Napoleon, no longer meeting resistance anywhere, could +command from one end of the continent to the other. + +At this period all the emperor's attention was directed to England, the +only power that could secure itself from his attacks. Pitt had been dead a +year, but the British cabinet followed with much ardour and pertinacity +his plans with respect to France. After having vainly formed a third and a +fourth coalition, it did not lay down arms. It was a war to the death. +Great Britain had declared France in a state of blockade, and furnished +the emperor with the means of cutting off its continental intercourse by a +similar measure. The continental blockade, which began in 1807, was the +second period of Bonaparte's system. In order to attain universal and +uncontested supremacy, he made use of arms against the continent, and the +cessation of commerce against England. But in forbidding to the +continental states all communication with England, he was preparing new +difficulties for himself, and soon added to the animosity of opinion +excited by his despotism, and the hatred of states produced by his +conquering domination, the exasperation of private interests and +commercial suffering occasioned by the blockade. + +Yet all the powers seemed united in the same design. England was placed +under the ban of continental Europe, at the peace. Russia and Denmark in +the Northern Seas; France, Spain, and Holland, in the Mediterranean and +the ocean, were obliged to declare against it. This period was the height +of the imperial sway. Napoleon employed all his activity and all his +genius in creating maritime resources capable of counter-balancing the +forces of England, which had then eleven hundred ships of war of every +class. He caused ports to be constructed, coasts to be fortified, ships to +be built and prepared, everything for combating in a few years upon this +new battle-field. But before that moment arrived, he wished to secure the +Spanish peninsula, and to found his dynasty there, for the purpose of +introducing a firmer and more favourable policy. The expedition of +Portugal in 1807, and the invasion of Spain in 1808, began for him and for +Europe a new order of events. + +Portugal had for some time been a complete English colony. The emperor, in +concert with the Bourbons of Madrid, decided by the treaty of +Fontainebleau, of the 27th of October, 1807, that the house of Braganza +had ceased to reign. A French army, under the command of Junot, entered +Portugal. The prince-regent embarked for Brazil, and the French took +possession of Lisbon on the 30th of November, 1807. This invasion was only +an approach towards Spain. The royal family were in a state of the +greatest anarchy. The favourite, Godoy, was execrated by the people, and +Ferdinand, prince of the Asturias, conspired against the authority of his +father's favourite. Though the emperor had not much to fear from such a +government, he had taken alarm at a clumsy armament prepared by Godoy +during the Prussian war. No doubt, at this time he formed the project of +putting one of his brothers on the throne of Spain; he thought he could +easily overturn a divided family, an expiring monarchy, and obtain the +consent of a people whom he would restore to civilization. Under the +pretext of the maritime war and the blockade, his troops entered the +peninsula, occupied the coasts and principal places, and encamped near +Madrid. It was then suggested to the royal family to retire to Mexico, +after the example of the house of Braganza. But the people rose against +this departure; Godoy, the object of public hatred, was in great risk of +losing his life, and the prince of the Asturias was proclaimed king, under +the title of Ferdinand VII. The emperor took advantage of this court +revolution to bring about his own. The French entered Madrid, and he +himself proceeded to Bayonne, whither he summoned the Spanish princes. +Ferdinand restored the crown to his father, who in his turn resigned it in +favour of Napoleon; the latter had it decreed on his brother Joseph by a +supreme junta, by the council of Castille, and the municipality of Madrid. +Ferdinand was sent to the Chateau de Valencay, and Charles VI. fixed his +residence at Compiegne. Napoleon called his brother-in-law, Murat, grand- +duke of Berg, to the throne of Naples, in the place of Joseph. + +At this period began the first opposition to the domination of the emperor +and the continental system. The reaction manifested itself in three +countries hitherto allies of France, and it brought on the fifth +coalition. The court of Rome was dissatisfied; the peninsula was wounded +in its national pride by having imposed upon it a foreign king; in its +usages, by the suppression of convents, of the Inquisition, and of the +grandees; Holland suffered in its commerce from the blockade, and Austria +supported impatiently its losses and subordinate condition. England, +watching for an opportunity to revive the struggle on the continent, +excited the resistance of Rome, the peninsula, and the cabinet of Vienna. +The pope had been cold towards France since 1805; he had hoped that his +pontifical complaisance in reference to Napoleon's coronation would have +been recompensed by the restoration to the ecclesiastical domain of those +provinces which the directory had annexed to the Cisalpine republic. +Deceived in this expectation, he joined the European counter-revolutionary +opposition, and from 1807 to 1808 the Roman States became the rendezvous +of English emissaries. After some warm remonstrances, the emperor ordered +general Miollis to occupy Rome; the pope threatened him with +excommunication; and Napoleon seized on the legations of Ancona, Urbino, +Macerata, and Camerino, which became part of the Italian kingdom. The +legate left Paris on the 3rd of April, 1808, and the religious struggle +for temporal interests commenced with the head of the church, whom +Napoleon should either not have recognised, or not have despoiled. + +The war with the peninsula was still more serious. The Spaniards +recognised Ferdinand VII. as king, in a provincial junta, held at Seville, +on the 27th of May, 1808, and they took arms in all the provinces which +were not occupied by French troops. The Portuguese also rose at Oporto, on +the 16th of June. These two insurrections were at first attended with the +happiest results; in a short time they made rapid progress. General Dupont +laid down arms at Baylen in the province of Cordova, and this first +reverse of the French arms excited the liveliest hope and enthusiasm among +the Spaniards. Joseph Napoleon left Madrid, where Ferdinand VII. was +proclaimed; and about the same time, Junot, not having troops enough to +keep Portugal, consented, by the convention of Cintra, to evacuate it with +all the honours of war. The English general, Wellington, took possession +of this kingdom with twenty-five thousand men. While the pope was +declaring against Napoleon, while the Spanish insurgents were entering +Madrid, while the English were again setting foot on the continent, the +king of Sweden avowed himself an enemy of the European imperial league, +and Austria was making considerable armaments and preparing for a new +struggle. + +Fortunately for Napoleon, Russia remained faithful to the alliance and +engagements of Tilsit. The emperor Alexander had at that time a fit of +enthusiasm and affection for this powerful and extraordinary mortal. +Napoleon wishing to be sure of the north, before he conveyed all his +forces to the peninsula, had an interview with Alexander at Erfurt, on the +27th September, 1808. The two masters of the north and west guaranteed to +each other the repose and submission of Europe. Napoleon marched into +Spain, and Alexander undertook Sweden. The presence of the emperor soon +changed the fortune of the war in the peninsula. He brought with him +eighty thousand veteran soldiers, just come from Germany. Several +victories made him master of most of the Spanish provinces. He made his +entry into Madrid, and presented himself to the inhabitants of the +peninsula, not as a master, but as a liberator. "I have abolished," he +said to them, "the tribunal of the Inquisition, against which the age and +Europe protested. Priests should direct the conscience, but ought not to +exercise any external or corporal jurisdiction over the citizens. I have +suppressed feudal rights; and every one may set up inns, ovens, mills, +fisheries, and give free impulse to his industry. The selfishness, wealth, +and prosperity of a few did more injury to your agriculture than the heats +of the extreme summer. As there is but one God, one system of justice only +should exist in a state. All private tribunals were usurped and opposed to +the rights of the nation. I have suppressed them. The present generation +may change its opinion; too many passions have been brought into play; but +your grandchildren will bless me as your regenerator; they will rank among +their memorable days those in which I appeared among you, and from those +days will Spain date its prosperity." + +Such was indeed the part of Napoleon in the peninsula, which could only be +restored to a better state of things, and to liberty, by the revival of +civilization. The establishment of independence cannot be effected all at +once, any more than anything else; and when a country is ignorant, poor, +and backward, covered with convents, and governed by monks, its social +condition must be reconstructed before liberty can be thought of. +Napoleon, the oppressor of civilized nations, was a real regenerator for +the peninsula. But the two parties of civil liberty and religious +servitude, that of the cortes and that of the monks, though with far +different aims, came to an understanding for their common defence. The one +was at the head of the upper and the middle classes, the other of the +populace; and they vied with each other in exciting the Spaniards to +enthusiasm with the sentiments of independence or religious fanaticism. +The following is the catechism used by the priests: "Tell me, my child, +who you are? A Spaniard by the grace of God.--Who is the enemy of our +happiness? The emperor of the French.--How many natures has he? Two: human +and diabolical.--How many emperors of the French are there? One true one, +in three deceptive persons.--What are their names, Napoleon, Murat, and +Manuel Godoy.--Which of the three is the most wicked? They are all three +equally so.--Whence is Napoleon derived? From sin.--Murat? From Napoleon. +--And Godoy? The junction of the two.--What is the ruling spirit of the +first? Pride and despotism.--Of the second? Rapine and cruelty.--Of the +third? Cupidity, treason, and ignorance.--Who are the French? Former +Christians become heretics.--Is it a sin to kill a Frenchman? No, father; +heaven is gained by killing one of these dogs of heretics.--What +punishment does the Spaniard deserve who has failed in his duty? The death +and infamy of a traitor.--What will deliver us from our enemies? +Confidence in ourselves and in arms." + +Napoleon had engaged in a long and dangerous enterprise, in which his +whole system of war was at fault. Victory, here, did not consist in the +defeat of an army and the possession of a capital, but in the entire +occupation of the territory, and, what was still more difficult, the +submission of the public mind. Napoleon, however, was preparing to subdue +this people with his irresistible activity and inflexible determination, +when the fifth coalition called him again to Germany. + +Austria had turned to advantage his absence, and that of his troops. It +made a powerful effort, and raised five hundred and fifty thousand men, +comprising the Landwehr, and took the field in the spring of 1809. The +Tyrol rose, and king Jerome was driven from his capital by the +Westphalians; Italy wavered; and Prussia only waited till Napoleon met +with a reverse, to take arms; but the emperor was still at the height of +his power and prosperity. He hastened from Madrid in the beginning of +February, and directed the members of the confederation to keep their +contingents in readiness. On the 12th of April he left Paris, passed the +Rhine, plunged into Germany, gained the victories of Eckmuehl and Essling, +occupied Vienna a second time on the 15th of May, and overthrew this new +coalition by the battle of Wagram, after a campaign of four months. While +he was pursuing the Austrian armies, the English landed on the island of +Walcheren, and appeared before Antwerp; but a levy of national guards +sufficed to frustrate the expedition of the Scheldt. The peace of Vienna, +of the 11th of October, 1809, deprived the house of Austria of several +more provinces, and compelled it again to adopt the continental system. + +This period was remarkable for the new character of the struggle. It began +the reaction of Europe against the empire, and announced the alliance of +dynasties, people, nations, the priesthood, and commerce. All whose +interests were injured made an attempt at resistance, which at first was +destined to fail. Napoleon, since the peace of Amiens, had entered on a +career that must necessarily terminate in the possession or hostility of +all Europe. Carried away by his character and position, he had created +against the people a system of administration of unparalleled benefit to +power; against Europe, a system of secondary monarchies and grand fiefs, +which facilitated his plans of conquest; and, lastly, against England, the +blockade which suspended its commerce, and that of the continent. Nothing +impeded him in the realization of those immense but insensate designs. +Portugal opened a communication with the English: he invaded it. The royal +family of Spain, by its quarrels and vacillations, compromised the +extremities of the empire: he compelled it to abdicate, that he might +reduce the peninsula to a bolder and less wavering policy. The pope kept +up relations with the enemy: his patrimony was diminished. He threatened +excommunication: the French entered Rome. He realized his threat by a +bull: he was dethroned as a temporal sovereign in 1809. Finally, after the +battle of Wagram, and the peace of Vienna, Holland became a depot for +English merchandise, on account of its commercial wants, and the emperor +dispossessed his brother Louis of that kingdom, which, on the 1st of July, +1810, became incorporated with the empire. He shrank from no invasion, +because he would not endure opposition or hesitation from any quarter. All +were compelled to submit, allies as well as enemies, the chief of the +church as well as kings, brothers as well as strangers; but, though +conquered this time, all who had joined this new league only waited an +opportunity to rise again. + +Meantime, after the peace of Vienna, Napoleon still added to the extent +and power of the empire. Sweden having undergone an internal revolution, +and the king, Gustavus Adolphus IV., having been forced to abdicate, +admitted the continental system. Bernadotte, prince of Ponte-Corvo, was +elected by the states-general hereditary prince of Sweden, and king +Charles XIII. adopted him for his son. The blockade was observed +throughout Europe; and the empire, augmented by the Roman States, the +Illyrian provinces, Valais, Holland, and the Hanse Towns, had a hundred +and thirty departments, and extended from Hamburg and Dantzic to Trieste +and Corfu. Napoleon, who seemed to follow a rash but inflexible policy, +deviated from his course about this time by a second marriage. He divorced +Josephine that he might give an heir to the empire, and married, on the +1st of April, 1810, Marie-Louise, arch-duchess of Austria. This was a +decided error. He quitted his position and his post as a parvenu and +revolutionary monarch, opposing in Europe the ancient courts as the +republic had opposed the ancient governments. He placed himself in a false +situation with respect to Austria, which he ought either to have crushed +after the victory of Wagram, or to have reinstated in its possessions +after his marriage with the arch-duchess. Solid alliances only repose on +real interests, and Napoleon could not remove from the cabinet of Vienna +the desire or power of renewing hostilities. This marriage also changed +the character of his empire, and separated it still further from popular +interests; he sought out old families to give lustre to his court, and did +all he could to amalgamate together the old and the new nobility as he +mingled old and new dynasties. Austerlitz had established the plebeian +empire; after Wagram was established the noble empire. The birth, on the +20th of March, 1811, of a son, who received the title of King of Rome, +seemed to consolidate the power of Napoleon by securing to him a +successor. + +The war in Spain was prosecuted with vigour during the years 1810 and +1811. The territory of the peninsula was defended inch by inch, and its +was necessary to take several towns by storm. Suchet, Soult, Mortier, Ney, +and Sebastiani made themselves masters of several provinces; and the +Spanish junta, unable to keep their post at Seville, retired to Cadiz, +which the French army began to blockade. The new expedition into Portugal +was less fortune. Massena, who directed it, at first obliged Wellington to +retreat, and took Oporto and Olivenca; but the English general having +entrenched himself in the strong position of Torres-Vedras, Massena, +unable to force it, was compelled to evacuate the country. + +While the war was proceeding in the peninsula with advantage, but without +any decided success, a new campaign was preparing in the north. Russia +perceived the empire of Napoleon approaching its territories. Shut up in +its own limits, it remained without influence or acquisitions; suffering +from the blockade, without gaining any advantage by the war. This cabinet, +moreover, endured with impatience a supremacy to which it itself aspired, +and which it had pursued slowly but without interruption since the reign +of Peter the Great. About the close of 1810, it increased its armies, +renewed its commercial relations with Great Britain, and did not seem +indisposed to a rupture. The year 1811 was spent in negotiations which led +to nothing, and preparations for war were made on both sides. The emperor, +whose armies were before Cadiz, and who relied on the co-operation of the +West and North against Russia, made with ardour preparations for an +enterprise which was intended to reduce the only power as yet untouched, +and to carry his victorious eagles even to Moscow. He obtained the +assistance of Prussia and Austria, which engaged by the treaties of the +24th of February and the 14th of March, 1812, to furnish auxiliary bodies; +one of twenty, and the other of thirty thousand men. All the unemployed +forces of France were immediately on foot. A senatus-consultus divided the +national guard into three bodies for the home service, and appropriated a +hundred of the first line regiments (nearly a hundred thousand men) for +active military service. On the 9th of March, Napoleon left Paris on this +vast expedition. During several months he fixed his court at Dresden, +where the emperor of Austria, the king of Prussia, and all the sovereigns +of Germany, came to bow before his high fortune. On the 22nd of June, war +was declared against Russia. + +In this campaign, Napoleon was guided by the maxims he had always found +successful. He had terminated all the wars he had undertaken by the rapid +defeat of the enemy, the occupation of his capital, and concluded the +peace by parcelling out his territory. His project was to reduce Russia by +creating the kingdom of Poland, as he had reduced Austria by forming the +kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, after Austerlitz; and Prussia, by +organizing those of Saxony and Westphalia, after Jena. With this object, +he had stipulated with the Austrian cabinet by the treaty of the 14th of +March, to exchange Gallicia for the Illyrian provinces. The establishment +of the kingdom of Poland was proclaimed by the diet of Warsaw, but in an +incomplete manner, and Napoleon, who, according to his custom, wished to +finish all in one campaign, advanced at once into the heart of Russia, +instead of prudently organizing the Polish barrier against it. His army +amounted to about five hundred thousand men. He passed the Niemen on the +24th of June, took Vilna, and Vitepsk, defeated the Russians at Astrowno, +Polotsk, Mohilev, Smolensk, at the Moskva, and on the 14th of September, +made his entry into Moscow. + +The Russian cabinet relied for its defence not only upon its troops, but +on its vast territory and on its climate. As the conquered armies +retreated before ours, they burnt all the towns, devastated the provinces, +and thus prepared great difficulties for the foe in the event of reverses +or retreat. According to this plan of defence, Moscow was burnt by its +governor Rostopchin, as Smolensk, Dorigoboui, Viasma, Gjhat, Mojaisk, and +a great number of other towns and villages had already been. The emperor +ought to have seen that this war would not terminate as the others had +done; yet, conqueror of the foe, and master of his capital, he conceived +hopes of peace which the Russians skilfully encouraged. Winter was +approaching, and Napoleon prolonged his stay at Moscow for six weeks. He +delayed his movements on account of the deceptive negotiations of the +Russians, and did not decide on a retreat till the 19th of October. This +retreat was disastrous, and began the downfall of the empire. Napoleon +could not have been defeated by the hand of man, for what general could +have triumphed over this incomparable chief? what army could have +conquered the French army? But his reverses were to take place in the +remote limits of Europe; in the frozen regions which were to end his +conquering domination. He lost, with the close of this campaign, not by a +defeat, but by cold and famine, in the midst of Russian snows and +solitude, his old army, and the _prestige_ of his fortune. + +The retreat was effected with some order as far as the Berezina, where it +became one vast rout. After the passage of this river, Napoleon, who had +hitherto accompanied his army, started in a sledge for Paris, in great +haste, a conspiracy having broken out there during his absence. General +Mallet, with a few others, had conceived the design of overthrowing this +colossus of power. His enterprise was daring; and as it was grounded on a +false report of Napoleon's death, it was necessary to deceive too many for +success to be probable. Besides, the empire was still firmly established, +and it was not a plot, but a slow and general defection which could +destroy it. Mallet's plot failed, and its leaders were executed. The +emperor, on his return, found the nation astounded at so unusual a +disaster. But the different bodies of the state still manifested implicit +obedience. He reached Paris on the 18th of December, obtained a levy of +three hundred thousand men, inspired a spirit of sacrifice, re-equipped in +a short time, with his wonderful activity, a new army, and took the field +again on the 15th of April, 1813. + +But since the retreat of Moscow, Napoleon had entered on a new series of +events. It was in 1812 that the decline of the empire manifested itself. +The weariness of his domination became general. All those by whose consent +he had risen, took part against him. The priests had conspired in secret +since his rupture with the pope. Eight state prisons had been created in +an official manner against the dissentients of his party. The national +masses were as tired of conquest as they had formerly been of factions. +They had expected from him consideration for private interests, the +promotion of commerce; respect for men; and they were oppressed by +conscriptions, taxes, the blockade, provost courts, and duties which were +the inevitable consequences of this conquering system. He had no longer +for adversaries the few who remained faithful to the political object of +the revolution, and whom he styled _ideologues_, but all who, without +definite ideas, wished for the material advantages of better civilization. +Without, whole nations groaned beneath the military yoke, and the fallen +dynasties aspired to rise again. The whole world was ill at ease; and one +check served to bring about a general rising. "I triumphed," says Napoleon +himself, speaking of the preceding campaigns, "in the midst of constantly +reviving perils. I constantly required as much address as voice. Had I not +conquered at Austerlitz, all Prussia would have been upon me; had I not +triumphed at Jena, Austria and Spain would have attacked my rear; had I +not fought at Wagram, which action was not a decided victory, I had reason +to fear that Russia would forsake, Prussia rise against me, and the +English were before Antwerp." [Footnote: _Memorial de Saint Helene_, tome +ii. p. 221.] Such was his condition; the further he advanced in his +career, the greater need he had to conquer more and more decisively. +Accordingly, as soon as he was defeated, the kings he had subdued, the +kings he had made, the allies he had aggrandized, the states he had +incorporated with the empire, the senators who had so flattered him, and +even his comrades in arms, successively forsook him. The field of battle +extended to Moscow in 1812, drew back to Dresden in 1813, and to Paris in +1814: so rapid was the reverse of fortune. + +The cabinet of Berlin began the defections. On the 1st of March, 1813, it +joined Russia and England, which were forming the sixth coalition. Sweden +acceded to it soon after; yet the emperor, whom the confederate powers +thought prostrated by the last disaster, opened the campaign with new +victories. The battle of Luetzen, won by conscripts, on the 2nd of May, the +occupation of Dresden, the victory of Bautzen, and the war carried to the +Elbe, astonished the coalition. Austria, which, since 1810, had been on a +footing of peace, was resuming arms, and already meditating a change of +alliance. She now offered to act as mediator between the emperor and the +confederates. Her mediation was accepted; an armistice was concluded at +Plesswitz, on the 4th of June, and a congress assembled at Prague to +negotiate peace. It was impossible to come to terms. Napoleon would not +consent to diminished grandeur; Europe would not consent to remain subject +to him. The confederate powers, joined by Austria, required that the +limits of the empire should be to the Rhine, the Alps, and the Meuse. The +negotiators separated without coming to an agreement. Austria joined the +coalition, and war, the only means of settling this great contest, was +resumed. + +The emperor had only two hundred and eighty thousand men against five +hundred and twenty thousand; he wished to force the enemy to retire behind +the Elbe, and to break up, as usual, this new coalition by the promptitude +and vigour of his blows. Victory seemed, at first, to second him. At +Dresden, he defeated the combined forces; but the defeats of his +lieutenants deranged his plans. Macdonald was conquered in Silesia; Ney, +near Berlin; Vandamme, at Kulm. Unable to obstruct the enemy, pouring on +him from all parts, Napoleon thought of retreating. The princes of the +confederation of the Rhine chose this moment to desert the cause of the +empire. A vast engagement having taken place at Leipzic between the two +armies, the Saxons and Wurtembergers passed over to the enemy on the field +of battle. This defection to the strength of the allied powers, who had +learned a more compact and skilful mode of warfare, obliged Napoleon to +retreat, after a struggle of three days. The army advanced with much +confusion towards the Rhine, where the Bavarians, who had also deserted, +attempted to prevent its passage. But it overwhelmed them at Hanau, and +re-entered the territory of the empire on the 30th of October, 1813. The +close of this campaign was as disastrous as that of the preceding one. +France was threatened in its own limits, as it had been in 1799; but the +enthusiasm of independence no longer existed, and the man who deprived it +of its rights found it, at this great crisis, incapable of sustaining him +or defending itself. The servitude of nations is, sooner or later, ever +avenged. + +Napoleon returned to Paris on the 9th of November, 1813. He obtained from +the senate a levy of three hundred thousand men, and made with great +ardour preparations for a new campaign. He convoked the legislative body +to associate it in the common defence; he communicated to it the documents +relative to the negotiations of Prague, and asked for another and last +effort in order to secure a glorious peace, the general wish of France. +But the legislative body, hitherto silently obedient, chose this period to +resist Napoleon. + +It shared the common exhaustion, and without desiring it, was under the +influence of the royalist party, which had been secretly agitating ever +since the decline of the empire had revived its hopes. A commission, +composed of MM. Laine, Raynouard, Gallois, Flaugergues, Maine de Biran, +drew up a very hostile report, censuring the course adopted by the +government, and demanding that all conquests should be given up, and +liberty restored. This wish, so just at any other time, could then only +favour the invasion of the foe. Though the confederate powers seemed to +make the evacuation of Europe the condition of peace, they were disposed +to push victory to extremity. Napoleon, irritated by this unexpected and +harassing opposition, suddenly dismissed the legislative body. This +commencement of resistance announced internal defections. After passing +from Russia to Germany, they were about to extend from Germany and Italy +to France. But now, as before, all depended on the issue of the war, which +the winter had not interrupted. Napoleon placed all his hopes on it; and +started from Paris on the 25th of January, for this immortal campaign. + +The empire was invaded in all directions. The Austrians entered Italy; the +English, having made themselves masters of the peninsula during the last +two years, had passed the Bidassoa, under general Wellington, and appeared +on the Pyrenees. Three armies pressed on France to the east and north. The +great allied army, amounting to a hundred and fifty thousand men, under +Schwartzenberg, advanced by Switzerland; the army of Silesia, of a hundred +and thirty thousand, under Bluecher, by Frankfort; and that of the north, +of a hundred thousand men, under Bernadotte, had seized on Holland and +entered Belgium. The enemies, in their turn, neglected the fortified +places, and, taking a lesson from the conqueror, advanced on the capital. +When Napoleon left Paris, the two armies of Schwartzenberg and Bluecher +were on the point of effecting a junction in Champaigne. Deprived of the +support of the people, who were only lookers on, Napoleon was left alone +against the whole world with a handful of veterans and his genius, which +had lost nothing of its daring and vigour. At this moment, he stands out +nobly, no longer an oppressor; no longer a conqueror; defending, inch by +inch, with new victories, the soil of his country, and at the same time, +his empire and renown. + +He marched into Champaigne against the two great hostile armies. General +Maison was charged to intercept Bernadotte in Belgium; Augereau, the +Austrians, at Lyons; Soult, the English, on the Spanish frontier. Prince +Eugene was to defend Italy; and the empire, though penetrated in the very +centre, still stretched its vast arms into the depths of Germany by its +garrisons beyond the Rhine. Napoleon did not despair of driving these +swarms of foes from the territory of France by means of a powerful +military reaction, and again planting his standards in the countries of +the enemy. He placed himself skilfully between Bluecher, who was descending +the Marne, and Schwartzenberg, who descended the Seine; he hastened from +one of these armies to the other, and defeated them alternately; Bluecher +was overpowered at Champ-Aubert, Montmirail, Chateau-Thierry, and +Vauchamps; and when his army was destroyed, Napoleon returned to the +Seine, defeated the Austrians at Montereau, and drove them before him. His +combinations were so strong, his activity so great, his measures so sure, +that he seemed on the point of entirely disorganizing these two formidable +armies, and with them annihilating the coalition. + +But if he conquered wherever he came, the foe triumphed wherever he was +not. The English had entered Bordeaux, where a party had declared for the +Bourbon family; the Austrians occupied Lyons; the Belgian army had joined +the remnant of that of Bluecher, which re-appeared on Napoleon's rear. +Defection now entered his own family, and Murat had just followed, in +Italy, the example of Bernadotte, by joining the coalition. The grand +officers of the empire still served him, but languidly, and he only found +ardour and fidelity in his subaltern generals and indefatigable soldiers. +Napoleon had again marched on Bluecher, who had escaped from him thrice: on +the left of the Marne, by a sudden frost, which hardened the muddy ways +amongst which the Prussians had involved themselves, and were in danger of +perishing; on the Aisne, through the defection of Soissons, which opened a +passage to them, at a moment when they had no other way of escape; and +Laon, by the fault of the duke of Ragusa, who prevented a decisive battle, +by suffering himself to be surprised by night. After so many fatalities, +which frustrated the surest plans, Napoleon, ill sustained by his +generals, surrounded by the coalition, conceived the bold design of +transporting himself to Saint-Dizier and closing on the enemy the egress +from France. This daring march so full of genius, startled for a moment +the confederate generals, from whom it cut off all retreat; but, excited +by secret encouragements, without being anxious for their rear, they +advanced on Paris. + +This great city, the only capital of Europe which had not been the theatre +of war, suddenly saw all the troops of Europe enter its plains, and was on +the point of undergoing the common humiliation. It was left to itself. The +empress, appointed regent a few months before, had just left it to repair +to Blois. Napoleon was at a distance. There was not that despair and that +movement of liberty which drive a people to resistance; war was no longer +made on nations, but on governments, and the emperor had centred all the +public interest in himself, and placed all his means of defence in +mechanical troops. The exhaustion was great; a feeling of pride, of very +just pride, alone made the approach of the stranger painful, and oppressed +every Frenchman's heart at seeing his native land trodden by armies so +long vanquished. But this sentiment was not sufficiently strong to raise +the masses of the population against the enemy; and the measures of the +royalist party, at the head of which the prince of Benevento placed +himself, called the allied troops to the capital. An action took place, +however, on the 30th of March, under the walls of Paris; but on the 31st, +the gates were opened to the confederate forces, who entered in pursuance +of a capitulation. The senate consummated the great imperial defection by +forsaking its old master; it was influenced by M. de Talleyrand, who for +some time had been out of favour with Napoleon. This voluntary actor in +every crisis of power had just declared against him. With no attachment to +party, of a profound political indifference, he foresaw from a distance +with wonderful sagacity the fall of a government; withdrew from it +opportunely; and when the precise moment for assailing it had arrived, +joined in the attack with all his talents, his influence, his name, and +his authority, which he had taken care to preserve. In favour of the +revolution, under the constituent assembly; of the directory, on the 18th +Fructidor; for the consulate, on the 18th Brumaire; for the empire, in +1804, he was for the restoration of the royal family, in 1814; he seemed +grand master of the ceremonies for the party in power, and for the last +thirty years it was he who had dismissed and installed the successive +governments. The senate, influenced by him, appointed a provisional +government, and declared Napoleon deposed from his throne, the hereditary +rights of his family abolished, the people and army freed from their oath +of fidelity. It proclaimed him _tyrant_ whose despotism it had facilitated +by its adulation. Meantime, Napoleon, urged by those about him to succour +the capital, had abandoned his march on Saint-Dizier, and hastened to +Paris at the head of fifty thousand men, in the hope of preventing the +entry of the enemy. On his arrival (1st of April), he heard of the +capitulation of the preceding day, and fell back on Fontainebleau, where +he learned the defection of the senate, and his deposition. Then finding +that all gave way around him in his ill fortune, the people, the senate, +generals and courtiers, he decided on abdicating in favour of his son. He +sent the duke of Vicenza, the prince of the Moskva, and the duke of +Tarento, as plenipotentiaries to the confederates; on their way, they were +to take with them the duke of Ragusa, who covered Fontainebleau with a +corps. + +Napoleon, with his fifty thousand men, and strong military position, could +yet oblige the coalition to admit the claim of his son. But the duke of +Ragusa forsook his post, treated with the enemy, and left Fontainebleau +exposed. Napoleon was then obliged to submit to the conditions of the +allied powers; their pretensions increased with their power. At Prague, +they ceded to him the empire, with the Alps and the Rhine for limits; +after the invasion of France, they offered him at Chatillon the +possessions of the old monarchy only; later, they refused to treat with +him except in favour of his son; but now, determined on destroying all +that remained of the revolution with respect to Europe, its conquest and +dynasty, they compelled Napoleon to abdicate absolutely. On the 11th of +April, 1814, he renounced for himself and children the thrones of France +and Italy, and received the little island of Elba in exchange for his vast +sovereignty, the limits of which had extended from Cadiz to the Baltic +Sea. On the 20th, after an affecting farewell to his old soldiers, he +departed for his new principality. + +Thus fell this man, who alone, for fourteen years, had filled the world. +His enterprising and organising genius, his power of life and will, his +love of glory, and the immense disposable force which the revolution +placed in his hands, have made him the most gigantic being of modern +times. That which would have rendered the destiny of another +extraordinary, scarcely counts in his. Rising from an obscure to the +highest rank; from a simple artillery officer becoming the chief of the +greatest of nations, he dared to conceive the idea of universal monarchy, +and for a moment realized it. After having obtained the empire by his +victories, he wished to subdue Europe by means of France, and reduce +England by means of Europe, and he established the military system against +the continent, the blockade against Great Britain. This design succeeded +for some years; from Lisbon to Moscow he subjected people and potentates +to his word of command as general, and to the vast sequestration which he +prescribed. But in this way he failed in discharging his restorative +mission of the 18th Brumaire. By exercising on his own account the power +he had received, by attacking the liberty of the people by despotic +institutions, the independence of states by war, he excited against +himself the opinions and interests of the human race; he provoked +universal hostility. The nation forsook him, and after having been long +victorious, after having planted his standard in every capital, after +having during ten years augmented his power, and gained a kingdom with +every battle, a single reverse combined the world against him, proving by +his fall how impossible in our days is despotism. + +Yet Napoleon, amidst all the disastrous results of his system, gave a +prodigious impulse to the continent; his armies carried with them the +ideas and customs of the more advanced civilization of France. European +societies were shaken on their old foundations; nations were mingled by +frequent intercourse; bridges thrown across boundary rivers; high roads +made over the Alps, Apennines, and Pyrenees, brought territories nearer to +each other; and Napoleon effected for the material condition of states +what the revolution had done for the minds of men. The blockade completed +the impulse of conquest; it improved continental industry, enabling it to +take the place of that of England, and replaced colonial commerce by the +produce of manufactures. Thus Napoleon, by agitating nations, contributed +to their civilization. His despotism rendered him counter-revolutionary +with respect to France; but his spirit of conquest made him a regenerator +with respect to Europe, of which many nations, in torpor till he came, +will live henceforth with the life he gave them. But in this Napoleon +obeyed the dictates of his nature. The child of war--war was his tendency, +his pleasure: domination his object; he wanted to master the world, and +circumstances placed it in his hand, in order that he might make use of +it. + +Napoleon has presented in France what Cromwell presented for a moment in +England; the government of the army, which always establishes itself when +a revolution is contended against; it then gradually changes, and from +being civil, as it was at first, becomes military. In Great Britain, +internal war not being complicated with foreign war, on account of the +geographical situation of the country, which isolated it from other +states, as soon as the enemies of reform were vanquished, the army passed +from the field of battle to the government. Its intervention being +premature, Cromwell, its general, found parties still in the fury of their +passions, in all the fanaticism of their opinions, and he directed against +them alone his military administration. The French revolution taking place +on the continent saw the nations disposed for liberty, and sovereigns +leagued from a fear of the liberation of their people. It had not only +internal enemies, but also foreign enemies to contend with; and while its +armies were repelling Europe, parties were overthrowing each other in the +assemblies. The military intervention came later; Napoleon, finding +factions defeated and opinions almost forsaken, obtained obedience easily +from the nation, and turned the military government against Europe. + +This difference of position materially influenced the conduct and +character of these two extraordinary men. Napoleon, disposing of immense +force and of uncontested power, gave himself up in security to the vast +designs and the part of a conqueror; while Cromwell, deprived of the +assent which a worn out people could give, and, incessantly attacked by +factions, was reduced to neutralise them one by the other, and keep +himself to the end the military dictator of parties. The one employed his +genius in undertaking; the other in resisting. Accordingly, the former had +the frankness and decision of power; the other, the craft and hypocrisy of +opposed ambition. This situation would destroy their sway. + +All dictatorships are transient; and however strong or great, it is +impossible for any one long to subject parties or long to retain kingdoms. +It is this that, sooner or later, would have led to the fall of Cromwell +(had he lived longer,) by internal conspiracies; and that brought on the +downfall of Napoleon, by the raising of Europe. Such is the fate of all +powers which, arising from liberty, do not continue to abide with her. In +1814, the empire had just been destroyed; the revolutionary parties had +ceased to exist since the 18th Brumaire. All the governments of this +political period had been exhausted. The senate recalled the old royal +family. Already unpopular on account of its past servility, it ruined- +itself in public opinion by publishing a constitution, tolerably liberal, +but which placed on the same footing the pensions of senators and the +guarantees of the nation. The Count d'Artois, who had been the first to +leave France, was the first to return, in the character of lieutenant- +general of the kingdom. He signed, on the 23rd of April, the convention of +Paris, which reduced the French territory to its limits of the 1st of +January, 1792, and by which Belgium, Savoy, Nice, and Geneva, and immense +military stores, ceased to belong to us. Louis XVIII. landed at Calais on +the 24th of April, and entered Paris with solemnity on the 3rd of May, +1814, after having, on the 2nd, made the Declaration of Saint Omer, which +fixed the principles of the representative government, and which was +followed on the 2nd of June by the promulgation of the charter. + +At this epoch, a new series of events begins. The year 1814 was the term +of the great movement of the preceding five and twenty years. The +revolution had been political, as directed against the absolute power of +the court and the privileged classes, and military, because Europe had +attacked it. The reaction which arose at that time only destroyed the +empire and brought about the coalition in Europe, and the representative +system in France; such was to be its first period. Later, it opposed the +revolution, and produced the holy alliance against the people, and the +government of a party against the charter. This retrograde movement +necessarily had its course and limits. France can only be ruled in a +durable manner by satisfying the twofold need which made it undertake the +revolution. It requires real political liberty in the government; and in +society, the material prosperity produced by the continually progressing +development of civilization. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM 1789 TO 1814 *** + +This file should be named 7hfrr10.txt or 7hfrr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7hfrr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7hfrr10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Mignet + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9602] +[This file was first posted on October 9, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM 1789 TO 1814 *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Anne Soulard, Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, and the +Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM 1789 TO 1814 + +BY + +F.A.M. MIGNET + + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Of the great incidents of History, none has attracted more attention or +proved more difficult of interpretation than the French Revolution. The +ultimate significance of other striking events and their place in the +development of mankind can be readily estimated. It is clear enough that +the barbarian invasions marked the death of the classical world, already +mortally wounded by the rise of Christianity. It is clear enough that the +Renaissance emancipated the human intellect from the trammels of a bastard +mediaevalism, that the Reformation consolidated the victory of the "new +learning" by including theology among the subjects of human debate. But +the French Revolution seems to defy complete analysis. Its complexity was +great, its contradictions numerous and astounding. A movement ostensibly +directed against despotism culminated in the establishment of a despotism +far more complete than that which had been overthrown. The apostles of +liberty proscribed whole classes of their fellow-citizens, drenching in +innocent blood the land which they claimed to deliver from oppression. The +apostles of equality established a tyranny of horror, labouring to +extirpate all who had committed the sin of being fortunate. The apostles +of fraternity carried fire and sword to the farthest confines of Europe, +demanding that a continent should submit to the arbitrary dictation of a +single people. And of the Revolution were born the most rigid of modern +codes of law, that spirit of militarism which to-day has caused a world to +mourn, that intolerance of intolerance which has armed anti-clerical +persecutions in all lands. Nor were the actors in the drama less varied +than the scenes enacted. The Revolution produced Mirabeau and Talleyrand, +Robespierre and Napoleon, Sieyès and Hébert. The marshals of the First +Empire, the doctrinaires of the Restoration, the journalists of the +Orleanist monarchy, all were alike the children of this generation of +storm and stress, of high idealism and gross brutality, of changing +fortunes and glory mingled with disaster. + +To describe the whole character of a movement so complex, so diverse in +its promises and fulfilment, so crowded with incident, so rich in action, +may well be declared impossible. No sooner has some proposition been +apparently established, than a new aspect of the period is suddenly +revealed, and all judgments have forthwith to be revised. That the +Revolution was a great event is certain; all else seems to be uncertain. +For some it is, as it was for Charles Fox, much the greatest of all events +and much the best. For some it is, as it was for Burke, the accursed +thing, the abomination of desolation. If its dark side alone be regarded, +it oppresses the very soul of man. A king, guilty of little more than +amiable weakness and legitimate or pious affection; a queen whose gravest +fault was but the frivolity of youth and beauty, was done to death. For +loyalty to her friends, Madame Roland died; for loving her husband, +Lucille Desmoulins perished. The agents of the Terror spared neither age +nor sex; neither the eminence of high attainment nor the insignificance of +dull mediocrity won mercy at their hands. The miserable Du Barri was +dragged from her obscure retreat to share the fate of a Malesherbes, a +Bailly, a Lavoisier. Robespierre was no more protected by his cold +incorruptibility, than was Barnave by his eloquence, Hébert by his +sensuality, Danton by his practical good sense. Nothing availed to save +from the all-devouring guillotine. Those who did survive seem almost to +have survived by chance, delivered by some caprice of fortune or by the +criminal levity of "les tricoteuses," vile women who degraded the very +dregs of their sex. + +For such atrocities no apology need be attempted, but their cause may be +explained, the factors which produced such popular fury may be understood. +As he stands on the terrace of Versailles or wanders through the vast +apartments of the château, the traveller sees in imagination the dramatic +panorama of the long-dead past. The courtyard is filled with half-demented +women, clamouring that the Father of his People should feed his starving +children. The Well-Beloved jests cynically as, amid torrents of rain, +Pompadour is borne to her grave. Maintenon, gloomily pious, urges with +sinister whispers the commission of a great crime, bidding the king save +his vice-laden soul. Montespan laughs happily in her brief days of +triumph. And dominating the scene is the imposing figure of the Grand +Monarque. Louis haunts his great creation; Louis in his prime, the admired +and feared of Europe, the incarnation of kingship; Louis surrounded by +his gay and brilliant court, all eager to echo his historic boast, to sink +in their master the last traces of their identity. + +Then a veil falls. But some can lift it, to behold a far different, a far +more stirring vision, and to such the deeper causes of the Terror are +revealed. For they behold a vast multitude, stained with care, haggard, +forlorn, striving, dying, toiling even to their death, that the passing +whim of a tyrant may be gratified. Louis commanded; Versailles arose, a +palace of rare delight for princes and nobles, for wits and courtly +prelates, for grave philosophers and ladies frail as fair. A palace and a +hell, a grim monument to regal egoism, created to minister to the inflated +vanity of a despot, an eternal warning to mankind that the abuse of +absolute power is an accursed thing. Every flower, in those wide gardens +has been watered with the tears of stricken souls; every stone in that +vast pile of buildings was cemented with human blood. None can estimate +the toll of anguish exacted that Versailles might be; none can tell all +its cost, since for human suffering there is no price. The weary toilers +went to their doom, unnoticed, unhonoured, their misery unregarded, their +pain ignored, And the king rejoiced in his glory, while his poets sang +paeans in his praise. + +But the day of reckoning came, and that day was the Terror. The heirs of +those who toiled made their account with the heirs of those who played. +The players died bravely, like the gallant gentlemen they were; their +courage is applauded, a world laments their fate. The misery, thus +avenged, is forgotten; all the long agony of centuries, all the sunless +hours, all the darkness of a land's despair. For that sadness was hidden; +it was but the exceeding bitter lot of the poor, devoid of that dramatic +interest which illumines one immortal hour of pain. Yet he who would +estimate aright the Terror, who would fully understand the Revolution, +must reflect not only upon the suffering of those who fell victims to an +outburst of insensate frenzy, but also upon the suffering by which that +frenzy was aroused. In a few months the French people took what recompense +they might for many decades of oppression. They exacted retribution for +the building of Versailles, of all the châteaux of Touraine; for all the +burdens laid upon them since that day when liberty was enchained and +France became the bond-slave of her monarchs. Louis XVI. paid for the +selfish glory of Louis XIV.; the nobles paid for the pleasures which their +forefathers had so carelessly enjoyed; the privileged classes for the +privileges which they had usurped and had so grievously misused. + +The payment fell heavily upon individuals; the innocent often suffered for +the guilty; a Liancourt died while a Polignac escaped. Many who wished +well to France, many who had laboured for her salvation, perished; virtue +received the just punishment of vice. But the Revolution has another side; +it was no mere nightmare of horrors piled on horrors. It is part of the +pathos of History that no good has been unattended by evil, that by +suffering alone is mankind redeemed, that through the valley of shadow +lies the path by which the race toils slowly towards the fulfilment of its +high destiny. And if the victims of the guillotine could have foreseen the +future, many might have died gladly. For by their death they brought the +new France to birth. The Revolution rises superior to the crimes and +follies of its authors; it has atoned to posterity for all the sorrow that +it caused, for all the wrong that was done in its name. If it killed +laughter, it also dried many tears. By it privilege was slain in France, +tyranny rendered more improbable, almost impossible. The canker of a +debased feudalism was swept away. Men were made equal before the law. +Those barriers by which the flow of economic life in France was checked +were broken down. All careers were thrown open to talent. The right of the +producer to a voice in the distribution of the product was recognised. +Above all, a new gospel of political liberty was expounded. The world, and +the princes of the world, learned that peoples do not exist for the +pleasure of some despot and the profit of his cringing satellites. In the +order of nature, nothing can be born save through suffering; in the order +of politics, this is no less true. From the sorrow of brief months has +grown the joy of long years; the Revolution slew that it might also make +alive. + +Herein, perhaps, may be found the secret of its complexity, of its seeming +contradictions. The authors of the Revolution pursued an ideal, an ideal +expressed in three words, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. That they might +win their quest, they had both to destroy and to construct. They had to +sweep away the past, and from the resultant chaos to construct a new +order. Alike in destruction and construction, they committed errors; they +fell far below their high ideals. The altruistic enthusiasts of the +National Assembly gave place to the practical politicians of the +Convention, the diplomatists of the Directory, the generals of the +Consulate. The Empire was far from realising that bright vision of a +regenerate nation which had dazzled the eyes of Frenchmen in the first +hours of the States-General. Liberty was sacrificed to efficiency; +equality to man's love for titles of honour; fraternity to desire of +glory. So it has been with all human effort. Man is imperfect, and his +imperfection mars his fairest achievements. Whatever great movement may be +considered, its ultimate attainment has fallen far short of its initial +promise. The authors of the Revolution were but men; they were no more +able than their fellows to discover and to hold fast to the true way of +happiness. They wavered between the two extremes of despotism and anarchy; +they declined from the path of grace. And their task remained unfulfilled. +Many of their dreams were far from attaining realisation; they inaugurated +no era of perfect bliss; they produced no Utopia. But their labour was not +in vain. Despite its disappointments, despite all its crimes and blunders, +the French Revolution was a great, a wonderful event. It did contribute to +the uplifting of humanity, and the world is the better for its occurrence. + +That he might indicate this truth, that he might do something to +counteract the distortion of the past, Mignet wrote his _Histoire de la +Révolution Française_. At the moment when he came from Aix to Paris, the +tide of reaction was rising steadily in France. Decazes had fallen; Louis +XVIII. was surrendering to the ultra-royalist cabal. Aided by such +fortuitous events as the murder of the Duc de Berri, and supported by an +artificial majority in the Chamber, Villèle was endeavouring to bring back +the _ancien régime_. Compensation for the _émigrés_ was already mooted; +ecclesiastical control of education suggested. Direct criticism of the +ministry was rendered difficult, and even dangerous, by the censorship of +the press. Above all, the champions of reaction relied upon a certain +misrepresentation of the recent history of their country. The memory of +the Terror was still vivid; it was sedulously kept alive. The people were +encouraged to dread revolutionary violence, to forget the abuses by which +that violence had been evoked and which it had swept away. To all +complaints of executive tyranny, to all demands for greater political +liberty, the reactionaries made one answer. They declared that through +willingness to hear such complaints Louis XVI. had lost his throne and +life; that through the granting of such demands, the way had been prepared +for the bloody despotism of Robespierre. And they pointed the apparent +moral, that concessions to superficially mild and legitimate requests +would speedily reanimate the forces of anarchy. They insisted that by +strong government and by the sternest repression of the disaffected alone +could France be protected from a renewal of that nightmare of horror, at +the thought of which she still shuddered. And hence those who would +prevent the further progress of reaction had first of all to induce their +fellow-countrymen to realise that the Revolution was no mere orgy of +murder. They had to deliver liberty from those calumnies by which its +curtailment was rendered possible and even popular. + +Understanding this, Mignet wrote. It would have been idle for him to have +denied that atrocities had been committed, nor had the day for a panegyric +on Danton, for a defence of Robespierre, yet dawned. Mignet did not +attempt the impossible. Rather by granting the case for his opponents he +sought to controvert them the more effectively. He laid down as his +fundamental thesis that the Revolution was inevitable. It was the outcome +of the past history of France; it pursued the course which it was bound to +pursue. Individuals and episodes in the drama are thus relatively +insignificant and unimportant. The crimes committed may be regretted; +their memory should not produce any condemnation of the movement as a +whole. To judge the Revolution by the Terror, or by the Consulate, would +be wrong and foolish; to declare it evil, because it did not proceed in a +gentle and orderly manner would be to outrage the historical sense. It is +wiser and more profitable to look below the surface, to search out those +deep lessons which may be learned. And Mignet closes his work by stating +one of these lessons, that which to him was, perhaps, the most vital: "On +ne peut régir désormais la France d'une manière durable, qu'en +satisfaisant le double besoin qui lui a fait entreprendre la révolution. +Il lui faut, dans le gouvernement, une liberté politique réelle, et dans +la société, le bien-être matériel que produit le développement sans cesse +perfectionné de la civilisation." + +It was not Mignet's object to present a complete account of the +Revolution, and while he records the more important events of the period, +he does not attempt to deal exhaustively with all its many sides. It is +accordingly possible to point out various omissions. He does not explain +the organisation of the "deputies on mission," he only glances at that of +the commune or of the Committee of Public Safety. His account of the +Consulate and of the Empire appears to be disproportionately brief. But +the complexity of the period, and the wealth of materials for its history, +render it impossible for any one man to discuss it in detail, and Mignet's +work gains rather than loses by its limitations. Those facts which +illustrate his fundamental thesis are duly recorded; the causes and +results of events are clearly indicated; the actions of individuals are +described in so far as they subserve the author's purpose. The whole book +is marked by a notable impartiality; it is only on rare occasions, as in +the case of Lafayette, that the circumstances in which it was written have +been permitted to colour the judgments passed. Nor is the value of the +work seriously reduced by the fact that modern research compels its +revision in certain particulars, since it is so clearly not intended to be +a final and detailed history of the period. It is a philosophical study of +a great epoch, and as such, however its point of view may be criticised, +it is illuminating and well worthy of preservation. It supplies a +thoughtful and inspiring commentary upon the French Revolution. + +L. CECIL JANE. +1915. + + +BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.--François Auguste Marie Mignet was born at Aix in +Provence in 1796. He was educated at Avignon and in his native town, at +first studying law. But, having gained some literary successes, he removed +to Paris in 1821 and devoted himself to writing. He became professor of +history at the _Athenée_, and after the Revolution of 1830 was made +director of the archives in the Foreign Office, a post which he held until +1848. He was then removed by Lamartine and died in retirement in 1854. His +_Histoire de la Révolution Française_ was first published in 1824; a +translation into English appeared in Bogue's European library in 1846 and +is here re-edited. Among Mignet's other works may be mentioned _Antoine +Perez et Philippe II._ and _Histoire de Marie Stuart_. As a journalist, he +wrote mainly on foreign policy for the _Courrier Français_. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +Éloge de Charles VII., 1820; Les Institutions de Saint Louis, 1821; De la +féodalité, des institutions de Saint Louis et de l'influence de la +législation de ce prince, 1822; Histoire de la révolution française, 1824 +(trans. 2 vols., London, 1826, Bonn's Libraries, 1846); La Germanie au +VIIIe et au IXe siècle, sa conversion au christianisme, et son +introduction dans la société civilisée de l'Europe occidentale, 1834; +Essai sur la formation territoriale et politique de la France depuis la +fin de XIe siècle jusqu'a la fin du XVe, 1836; Notices et Mémoires +historiques, 1843; Charles Quint, son abdication, son séjour, et sa mort +au monastère de Yuste, 1845; Antonio Perez et Philippe II., 1845 +(translated by C. Cocks, London, 1846; translated from second French +edition by W. F. Ainsworth, London, 1846); Histoire de Marie Stuart, 2 +vols., 1851 (translated by A. R. Scoble, 1851); Portraits et Notices, +historiques et littéraires, 2 vols., 1852; Éloges historiques, 1864; +Histoire de la rivalité de François I. et de Charles Quint, 1875; Nouveaux +éloges historiques, 1877. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +Character of the French revolution--Its results, its progress--Successive +forms of the monarchy--Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--State of men's minds, of +the finances, of the public power and the public wants at the accession of +Louis XVI.--His character--Maurepas, prime minister--His policy--Chooses +popular and reforming ministers--His object--Turgot, Malesherbes, Necker-- +Their plans--Opposed by the court and the privileged classes--Their +failure--Death of Maurepas--Influence of the Queen, Marie-Antoinette-- +Popular ministers are succeeded by court ministers--Calonne and his +system--Brienne, his character and attempts--Distressed state of the +finances--Opposition of the assembly of the notables, of the parliament, +and provinces--Dismissal of Brienne--Second administration of Necker-- +Convocation of the states-general--Immediate causes of the revolution. + +CHAPTER I + +FROM THE 5TH OF MAY, 1789, TO THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST + +Opening of the states-general--Opinion of the court, of the ministry, and +of the various bodies of the kingdom respecting the states--Verification +of powers--Question of vote by order or by poll--The order of the commons +forms itself into a national assembly--The court causes the Hall of the +states to be closed--Oath of the Tennis-court--The majority of the order +of the clergy unites itself with the commons--Royal sitting of the 23rd of +June--Its inutility--Project of the court--Events of the 12th, 13th, and +14th of July--Dismissal of Necker--Insurrection of Paris--Formation of +the national guard--Siege and taking of the Bastille--Consequences of the +14th of July--Decrees of the night of the 4th of August--Character of the +revolution which had just been brought about. + +CHAPTER II + +FROM THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST TO THE 5TH AND 6TH OF +OCTOBER, 1789 + +State of the constituent assembly--Party of the high clergy and nobility-- +Maury and Cazales--Party of the ministry and of the two chambers: Mounier, +Lally-Tollendal--Popular party: triumvirate of Barnave, Duport, and +Lameth--Its position--Influence of Sieyès--Mirabeau chief of the assembly +at that period--Opinion to be formed of the Orleans party--Constitutional +labours--Declaration of rights--Permanency and unity of the legislative +body--Royal sanction--External agitation caused by it--Project of the +court--Banquet of the gardes-du-corps--Insurrection of the 5th and 6th +October--The king comes to reside at Paris. + +CHAPTER III + +FROM THE 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789, TO THE DEATH OF MIRABEAU, +APRIL, 1791 + +Results of the events of October--Alteration of the provinces into +departments--Organization of the administrative and municipal authorities +according to the system of popular sovereignty and election--Finances; all +the means employed are insufficient--Property of the clergy declared +national--The sale of the property of the clergy leads to assignats--Civil +constitution of the clergy--Religious opposition of the bishops-- +Anniversary of the 14th of July--Abolition of titles--Confederation of the +Champ de Mars--New organization of the army--Opposition of the officers-- +Schism respecting the civil constitution of the clergy--Clubs--Death of +Mirabeau--During the whole of this period the separation of parties +becomes more decided. + +CHAPTER IV + +FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 30TH SEPTEMBER, THE END OF THE +CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY + +Political state of Europe before the French revolution--System of alliance +observed by different states--General coalition against the revolution-- +Motives of each power--Conference of Mantua, and circular of Pavia--Flight +to Varennes--Arrest of the king--His suspension--The republican party +separate, for the first time, from the party of the constitutional +monarchy--The latter re-establishes the king--Declaration of Pilnitz--The +king accepts the constitution--End of the constituent assembly--Opinion of +it. + + + +THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + +CHAPTER V + +FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792 + +Early relations between the legislative assembly and the king--State of +parties: the Feuillants rely on the middle classes, the Girondists on the +people--Emigration and the dissentient clergy; decree against them; the +king's veto--Declarations of war--Girondist ministry; Dumouriez, Roland-- +Declaration of war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia--Disasters of +our armies; decree for a camp of reserve for twenty thousand men at Paris; +decree of banishment against the nonjuring priests; veto of the king; fall +of the Girondist ministry--Petition of insurgents of the 20th of June to +secure the passing of the decrees and the recall of the ministers--Last +efforts of the constitutional party--Manifesto of the duke of Brunswick-- +Events of the 10th of August--Military insurrection of Lafayette against +the authors of the events of the 10th of August; it fails--Division of the +assembly and the new commune; Danton--Invasion of the Prussians-- +Massacres of the 2nd of September--Campaign of the Argonne--Causes of the +events under the legislative assembly. + + +THE NATIONAL CONVENTION + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1792, TO THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793 + +First measures of the Convention--Its composition--Rivalry of the Gironde +and of the Mountain--Strength and views of the two parties--Robespierre: +the Girondists accuse him of aspiring to the dictatorship--Marat--Fresh +accusation of Robespierre by Louvet; Robespierre's defence; the Convention +passes to the order of the day--The Mountain, victorious in this struggle, +demand the trial of Louis XVI.--Opinions of parties on this subject--The +Convention decides that Louis XVI. shall be tried, and by itself--Louis +XVI. at the Temple; his replies before the Convention; his defence; his +condemnation; courage and serenity of his last moments--What he was, and +what he was not, as a king. + +CHAPTER VII + +FROM THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793, TO THE 2ND OF JUNE + +Political and military situation of France--England, Holland, Spain, +Naples, and all the circles of the empire fall in with the coalition-- +Dumouriez, after having conquered Belgium, attempts an expedition into +Holland--He wishes to re-establish constitutional monarchy--Reverses of +our armies--Struggle between the Gironde and the Mountain--Conspiracy of +the 10th of March--Insurrection of La Vendée; its progress--Defection of +Dumouriez--The Gironde accused of being his accomplices--New conspiracies +against them--Establishment of the Commission of Twelve to frustrate the +conspirators--Insurrections of the 27th and 31st of May against the +Commission of Twelve; its suppression--Insurrection of the 2nd of June +against the two-and-twenty leading Girondists; their arrest--Total defeat +of that party. + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE 2ND OF JUNE, 1793, TO APRIL, 1794 + +Insurrection of the departments against the 31st of May--Protracted +reverses on the frontiers--Progress of the Vendéans--The _Montagnards_ +decree the constitution of 1793, and immediately suspend it to maintain +and strengthen the revolutionary government--_Levée en masse_; law against +suspected persons--Victories of the _Montagnards_ in the interior, and on +the frontiers--Death of the queen, of the twenty-two Girondists, etc.-- +Committee of public safety; its power; its members--Republican calendar-- +The conquerors of the 31st of May separate--The ultra-revolutionary +faction of the commune, or the Hébertists, abolish the catholic religion, +and establish the worship of Reason; its struggle with the committee of +public safety; its defeat--The moderate faction of the _Montagnards_, or +the Dantonists, wish to destroy the revolutionary dictatorship, and to +establish the legal government; their fall--The committee of public safety +remains alone, and triumphant. + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE DEATH OF DANTON, APRIL, 1794, TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR +(27TH JULY, 1794) + +Increase of terror; its cause--System of the democrats; Saint-Just-- +Robespierre's power--Festival of the Supreme Being--Couthon presents the +law of the 22nd Prairial, which reorganizes the revolutionary tribunal; +disturbances; debates; final obedience of the convention--The active +members of the committee have a division--Robespierre, Saint-Just, and +Couthon on one side; Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, Barrère, and the +members of the committee of general safety on the other--Conduct of +Robespierre--He absents himself from the committee, and rests on the +Jacobins and the commune--On the 8th of Thermidor he demands the renewal +of the committees; the motion is rejected--Sitting of the 9th Thermidor; +Saint-Just denounces the committees; is interrupted by Tallien; Billaud- +Varennes violently attacks Robespierre; general indignation of the +convention against the triumvirate; they are arrested--The commune rises +and liberates the prisoners--Peril and courage of the convention; it +outlaws the insurgents--The sections declare for the convention--Defeat +and execution of Robespierre. + +CHAPTER X + +FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). +EPOCH OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY + +The convention, after the fall of Robespierre; party of the committees; +Thermidorian party; their constitution and object--Decay of the democratic +party of the committees--Impeachment of Lebon and Carrier--State of Paris +--The Jacobins and the Faubourgs declare for the old committees; the +_jeunesse dorée_, and the sections for the Thermidorians--Impeachment of +Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, Barrère, and Vadier--Movement of +Germinal--Transportation of the accused, and of a few of the Mountain, +their partisans--Insurrection of the 1st Prairial--Defeat of the +democratic party; disarming of the Faubourgs--The lower class is excluded +from the government, deprived of the constitution of '93, and loses its +material power. + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE 1ST PRAIRIAL (20TH OF MAY, 1795) TO THE 4TH BRUMAIRE +(26TH OF OCTOBER), YEAR IV., THE CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION + +Campaign of 1793 and 1794--Disposition of the armies on hearing the news +of the 9th Thermidor--Conquest of Holland; position on the Rhine--Peace of +Basel with Prussia--Peace with Spain--Descent upon Quiberon--The reaction +ceases to be conventional, and becomes royalist--Massacre of the +revolutionists, in the south--Directorial constitution of the year III.-- +Decrees of Fructidor, which require the re-election of two-thirds of the +convention--Irritation of the sectionary royalist party--It becomes +insurgent--The 13th of Vendémiaire--Appointment of the councils and of the +directory--Close of the convention; its duration and character. + + +THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY + +CHAPTER XII + +FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THE DIRECTORY, ON THE 27TH OCTOBER, 1795, TO THE +COUP-D'ÉTAT OF THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, YEAR V. (3RD AUGUST, 1797) + +Review of the revolution--Its second character of reorganization; +transition from public to private life--The five directors; their labours +for the interior--Pacification of La Vendée--Conspiracy of Babeuf; final +defeat of the democratic party--Plan of campaign against Austria; conquest +of Italy by general Bonaparte; treaty of Campo-Formio; the French republic +is acknowledged, with its acquisitions, and its connection with the Dutch, +Lombard, and Ligurian republics, which prolonged its system in Europe-- +Royalist elections in the year V.; they alter the position of the +republic--New contest between the counter-revolutionary party in the +councils, in the club of Clichy, in the salons, and the conventional +party, in the directory, the club of _Salm_, and the army--Coup d'état of +the 18th Fructidor; the Vendémiaire party again defeated. + +CHAPTER XIII + +FROM THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, IN THE YEAR V. (4TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1797), TO THE +18TH BRUMAIRE, IN THE YEAR VIII. (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) + +By the 18th Fructidor the directory returns, with slight mitigation, to +the revolutionary government--General peace, except with England--Return +of Bonaparte to Paris--Expedition into Egypt--Democratic elections for the +year VI.--The directory annuls them on the 22nd Floréal--Second coalition; +Russia, Austria, and England attack the republic through Italy, +Switzerland, and Holland; general defeats--Democratic elections for the +year VII.; on the 30th Prairial the councils get the upper hand, and +disorganize the old directory--Two parties in the new directory, and in +the councils: the moderate republican party under Sieyès, Roger-Ducos, and +the ancients; the extreme republican party under Moulins, Golier, the Five +Hundred, and the Society of the Manège--Various projects--Victories of +Masséna, in Switzerland; of Brune, in Holland--Bonaparte returns from +Egypt; comes to an understanding with Sieyès and his party--The 18th and +19th Brumaire--End of the directorial system. + + +THE CONSULATE + +CHAPTER XIV + +FROM THE 18TH BRUMAIRE (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) TO THE 2ND +OF DECEMBER, 1804 + +Hopes entertained by the various parties, after the 18th Brumaire-- +Provisional government--Constitution of Sieyès; distorted into the +consular constitution of the year VIII.--Formation of the government; +pacific designs of Bonaparte--Campaign of Italy; victory of Marengo-- +General peace: on the continent, by the treaty of Lunéville with England; +by the treaty of Amiens--Fusion of parties; internal prosperity of France +--Ambitious system of the First Consul; re-establishes the clergy in the +state, by the Concordat of 1802; he creates a military order of +knighthood, by means of the Legion of Honour; he completes this order of +things by the consulate for life--Resumption of hostilities with England-- +Conspiracy of Georges and Pichegru--The war and royalist attempts form a +pretext for the erection of the empire--Napoleon Bonaparte appointed +hereditary emperor; is crowned by the pope on the 2nd of December, 1804, +in the church of Notre Dame--Successive abandonment of the revolution-- +Progress of absolute power during the four years of the consulate. + + +THE EMPIRE + +CHAPTER XV + +FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE, 1804-1814 + +Character of the empire--Change of the republics created by the directory +into kingdoms--Third coalition; capture of Vienna; victories of Ulm and +Austerlitz; peace of Pressburg; erection of the two kingdoms of Bavaria +and Wurtemberg against Austria--Confederation of the Rhine--Joseph +Napoleon appointed king of Naples; Louis Napoleon, king of Holland--Fourth +coalition; battle of Jena; capture of Berlin; victories of Eylau and +Friedland; peace of Tilsit; the Prussian monarchy is reduced by one half; +the kingdoms of Saxony and Westphalia are instituted against it; that of +Westphalia given to Jerome Napoleon--The grand empire rises with its +secondary kingdoms, its confederation of the Rhine, its Swiss mediation, +its great fiefs; it is modelled on that of Charlemagne--Blockade of the +continent--Napoleon employs the cessation of commerce to reduce England, +as he had employed arms to subdue the continent--Invasion of Spain and +Portugal; Joseph Napoleon appointed to the throne of Spain; Murat replaces +him on the throne of Naples--New order of events: national insurrection of +the peninsula; religious contest with the pope--Commercial opposition of +Holland--Fifth coalition--Victory of Wagram; peace of Vienna; marriage of +Napoleon with the archduchess Marie Louise--Failure of the attempt at +resistance; the pope is dethroned; Holland is again united to the empire, +and the war in Spain prosecuted with vigour--Russia renounces the +continental system; campaign of 1812; capture of Moscow; disastrous +retreat--Reaction against the power of Napoleon; campaign of 1813; general +defection--Coalition of all Europe; exhaustion of France; marvellous +campaign of 1814--The allied powers at Paris; abdication at Fontainbleau; +character of Napoleon; his part in the French revolution--Conclusion. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I am about to take a rapid review of the history of the French revolution, +which began the era of new societies in Europe, as the English revolution +had begun the era of new governments. This revolution not only modified +the political power, but it entirely changed the internal existence of the +nation. The forms of the society of the middle ages still remained. The +land was divided into hostile provinces, the population into rival +classes. The nobility had lost all their powers, but still retained all +their distinctions: the people had no rights, royalty no limits; France +was in an utter confusion of arbitrary administration, of class +legislation and special privileges to special bodies. For these abuses the +revolution substituted a system more conformable with justice, and better +suited to our times. It substituted law in the place of arbitrary will, +equality in that of privilege; delivered men from the distinctions of +classes, the land from the barriers of provinces, trade from the shackles +of corporations and fellowships, agriculture from feudal subjection and +the oppression of tithes, property from the impediment of entails, and +brought everything to the condition of one state, one system of law, one +people. + +In order to effect such mighty reformation as this, the revolution had +many obstacles to overcome, involving transient excesses with durable +benefits. The privileged sought to prevent it; Europe to subject it; and +thus forced into a struggle, it could not set bounds to its efforts, or +moderate its victory. Resistance from within brought about the sovereignty +of the multitude, and aggression from without, military domination. Yet +the end was attained, in spite of anarchy and in spite of despotism: the +old society was destroyed during the revolution, and the new one became +established under the empire. + +When a reform has become necessary, and the moment for accomplishing it +has arrived, nothing can prevent it, everything furthers it. Happy were it +for men, could they then come to an understanding; would the rich resign +their superfluity, and the poor content themselves with achieving what +they really needed, revolutions would then be quietly effected, and the +historian would have no excesses, no calamities to record; he would merely +have to display the transition of humanity to a wiser, freer, and happier +condition. But the annals of nations have not as yet presented any +instance of such prudent sacrifices; those who should have made them have +refused to do so; those who required them have forcibly compelled them; +and good has been brought about, like evil, by the medium and with all the +violence of usurpation. As yet there has been no sovereign but force. + +In reviewing the history of the important period extending from the +opening of the states-general to 1814, I propose to explain the various +crises of the revolution, while I describe their progress. It will thus be +seen through whose fault, after commencing under such happy auspices, it +so fearfully degenerated; in what way it changed France into a republic, +and how upon the ruins of the republic it raise the empire. These various +phases were almost inevitable, so irresistible was the power of the events +which produced them. It would perhaps be rash to affirm that by no +possibility could the face of things have been otherwise; but it is +certain that the revolution, taking its rise from such causes, and +employing and arousing such passions, naturally took that course, and +ended in that result. Before we enter upon its history, let us see what +led to the convocation of the states-general, which themselves brought on +all that followed. In retracing the preliminary causes of the revolution, +I hope to show that it was as impossible to avoid as to guide it. + +From its establishment the French monarchy had had no settled form, no +fixed and recognised public right. Under the first races the crown was +elective, the nation sovereign, and the king a mere military chief, +depending on the common voice for all decisions to be made, and all the +enterprises to be undertaken. The nation elected its chief, exercised the +legislative power in the Champs de Mars under the presidentship of the +king, and the judicial power in the courts under the direction of one of +his officers. Under the feudal regime, this royal democracy gave way to a +royal aristocracy. Absolute power ascended higher, the nobles stripped the +people of it, as the prince afterwards despoiled the nobles. At this +period the monarch had become hereditary; not as king, but as individually +possessor of a fief; the legislative authority belonged to the seigneurs, +in their vast territories or in the barons' parliaments; and the judicial +authority to the vassals in the manorial courts. In a word, power had +become more and more concentrated, and as it had passed from the many to +the few, it came at last from the few to be invested in one alone. During +centuries of continuous efforts, the kings of France were battering down +the feudal edifice, and at length they established themselves on its +ruins, having step by step usurped the fiefs, subdued the vassals, +suppressed the parliaments of barons, annulled or subjected the manorial +courts, assumed the legislative power, and effected that judicial +authority should be exercised in their name and on their behalf, in +parliaments of legists. + +The states-general, which they convoked on pressing occasions, for the +purpose of obtaining subsidies, and which were composed of the three +orders of the nation, the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate or +commons, had no regular existence. Originated while the royal prerogative +was in progress, they were at first controlled, and finally suppressed by +it. The strongest and most determined opposition the kings had to +encounter in their projects of aggrandizement, proceeded much less from +these assemblies, which they authorized or annulled at pleasure, than from +the nobles vindicating against them, first their sovereignty, and then +their political importance. From Philip Augustus to Louis XI. the object +of all their efforts was to preserve their own power; from Louis XI. to +Louis XIV. to become the ministers of that of royalty. The Fronde was the +last campaign of the aristocracy. Under Louis XIV. absolute monarchy +definitively established itself, and dominated without dispute. + +The government of France, from Louis XIV. to the revolution, was still +more arbitrary than despotic; for the monarchs had much more power than +they exercised. The barriers that opposed the encroachments of this +immense authority were exceedingly feeble. The crown disposed of persons +by _lettres de cachet_, of property by confiscation, of the public revenue +by imposts. Certain bodies, it is true, possessed means of defence, which +were termed privileges, but these privileges were rarely respected. The +parliament had that of ratifying or of refusing an impost, but the king +could compel its assent, by a _lit de justice_, and punish its members by +exile. The nobility were exempt from taxation; the clergy were entitled to +the privilege of taxing themselves, in the form of free gifts; some +provinces enjoyed the right of compounding the taxes, and others made the +assessment themselves. Such were the trifling liberties of France, and +even these all turned to the benefit of the privileged classes, and to the +detriment of the people. + +And this France, so enslaved, was moreover miserably organized; the +excesses of power were still less endurable than their unjust +distribution. The nation, divided into three orders, themselves subdivided +into several classes, was a prey to all the attacks of despotism, and all +the evils of inequality. The nobility were subdivided: into courtiers, +living on the favours of the prince, that is to say, on the labour of the +people, and whose aim was governorships of provinces, or elevated ranks in +the army; ennobled parvenus, who conducted the interior administration, +and whose object was to obtain comptrollerships, and to make the most of +their place while they held it, by jobbing of every description; legists +who administered justice, and were alone competent to perform its +functions; and landed proprietors who oppressed the country by the +exercise of those feudal rights which still survived. The clergy were +divided into two classes: the one destined for the bishoprics and abbeys, +and their rich revenues; the other for the apostolic function and its +poverty. The third estate, ground down by the court, humiliated by the +nobility, was itself divided into corporations, which, in their turn, +exercised upon each other the evil and the contempt they received from the +higher classes. It possessed scarcely a third part of the land, and this +was burdened with the feudal rents due to the lords of the manor, tithes +to the clergy, and taxes to the king. In compensation for all these +sacrifices it enjoyed no political right, had no share in the +administration, and was admitted to no public employment. + +Louis XIV. wore out the main-spring of absolute monarchy by too protracted +tension and too violent use. Fond of sway, rendered irritable by the +vexations of his youth, he quelled all resistance, forbad every kind of +opposition,--that of the aristocracy which manifested itself in revolt,-- +that of the parliaments displayed by remonstrance,--that of the +protestants, whose form was a liberty of conscience which the church +deemed heretical, and royalty factious. Louis XIV. subdued the nobles by +summoning them to his court, where favours and pleasures were the +compensation for their dependence. Parliament, till then the instrument of +the crown, attempted to become its counterbalance, and the prince +haughtily imposed upon it a silence and submission of sixty years' +duration. At length, the revocation of the edict of Nantes completed this +work of despotism. An arbitrary government not only will not endure +resistance, but it demands that its subjects shall approve and imitate it. +After having subjected the actions of men, it persecutes conscience; +needing to be ever in motion, it seeks victims when they do not fall in +its way. The immense power of Louis XIV. was exercised, internally, +against the heretics; externally, against all Europe. Oppression found +ambitious men to counsel it, dragoons to serve, and success to encourage +it; the wounds of France were hidden by laurels, her groans were drowned +in songs of victory. But at last the men of genius died, the victories +ceased, industry emigrated, money disappeared; and the fact became +evident, that the very successes of despotism exhaust its resources, and +consume its future ere that future has arrived. + +The death of Louis XIV. was the signal for a reaction; there was a sudden +transition from intolerance to incredulity, from the spirit of obedience +to that of discussion. Under the regency, the third estate acquired in +importance, by their increasing wealth and intelligence, all that the +nobility lost in consideration, and the clergy in influence. Under Louis +XV., the court prosecuted ruinous wars attended with little glory, and +engaged in a silent struggle with opinion, in an open one with the +parliament. Anarchy crept into its bosom, the government fell into the +hands of royal mistresses, power was completely on the decline, and the +opposition daily made fresh progress. + +The parliaments had undergone a change of position and of system. Royalty +had invested them with a power which they now turned against it. No sooner +had the ruin of the aristocracy been accomplished by the combined efforts +of the parliament and of royalty, than the conquerors quarrelled, +according to the common practice of allies after a victory. Royalty sought +to destroy an instrument that became dangerous when it ceased to be +useful, and the parliament sought to govern royalty. This struggle, +favourable to the monarch under Louis XIV., of mixed reverses and success +under Louis XV., only ceased with the revolution. The parliament, from its +very nature, was only called upon to serve as an instrument. The exercise +of its prerogative, and its ambition as a body, leading it to oppose +itself to the strong and support the weak, it served by turns the crown +against the aristocracy and the nation against the crown. It was this that +made it so popular under Louis XV. and Louis XVI., although it only +attacked the court from a spirit of rivalry. Opinion, without inquiring +into its motives, applauded not its ambition but its resistance, and +supported it because defended by it. Rendered daring by such +encouragement, it became formidable to authority. After annulling the will +of the most imperious and best-obeyed of monarchs; after protesting +against the Seven Years' War; after obtaining the control of financial +operations and the destruction of the Jesuits, its resistance became so +constant and energetic, that the court, meeting with it in every +direction, saw the necessity of either submitting to or subjecting it. It +accordingly carried into execution the plan of disorganization proposed by +the chancellor Maupeou. This daring man, who, to employ his own +expression, had offered _retirer la couronne du greffe_, replaced this +hostile parliament by one devoted to power, and subjected to a similar +operation the entire magistracy of France, who were following the example +of that of Paris. + +But the time had passed for coups d'état. The current had set in against +arbitrary rule so decidedly that the king resorted to it with doubt and +hesitation, and even encountered the disapprobation of his court. A new +power had arisen--that of opinion; which, though not recognised, was not +the less influential, and whose decrees were beginning to assume sovereign +authority. The nation, hitherto a nonentity, gradually asserted its +rights, and without sharing power influenced it. Such is the course of all +rising powers; they watch over it from without, before they are admitted +into the government; then, from the right of control they pass to that of +co-operation. The epoch at which the third estate was to share the sway +had at last arrived. It had at former periods attempted to effect this, +but in vain, because its efforts were premature. It was then but just +emancipated, and possessed not that which establishes superiority, and +leads to the acquisition of power; for right is only obtained by might. +Accordingly, in insurrections as in the states-general, it had held but +the third rank; everything was done with its aid, but nothing for it. In +times of feudal tyranny, it had served the kings against the nobles; when +ministerial and fiscal despotism prevailed, it assisted the nobles against +the kings; but, in the first instance, it was nothing more than the +servant of the crown; in the second, than that of the aristocracy. The +struggle took place in a sphere, and on the part of interests, with which +it was reputed to have no connexion. When the nobles were definitively +beaten in the time of the Fronde, it laid down its arms; a clear proof how +secondary was the part it had played. + +At length, after a century of absolute submission, it reappeared in the +arena, but on its own account. The past cannot be recalled; and it was not +more possible for the nobles to rise from their defeat than it would now +be for absolute monarchy to regain its position. The court was to have +another antagonist, for it must always have one, power never being without +a candidate. The third estate, which increased daily in strength, wealth, +intelligence, and union, was destined to combat and to displace it. The +parliament did not constitute a class, but a body; and in this new +contest, while able to aid in the displacement of authority, it could not +secure it for itself. + +The court had favoured the progress of the third estate, and had +contributed to the development of one of its chief means of advancement, +its intelligence. The most absolute of monarchs aided the movement of +mind, and, without intending it, created public opinion. By encouraging +praise, he prepared the way for blame; for we cannot invite an examination +in our favour, without undergoing one afterwards to our prejudice. When +the songs of triumph, and gratulation, and adulation were exhausted, +accusation began, and the philosophers of the eighteenth century succeeded +to the litterateurs of the seventeenth. Everything became the object of +their researches and reflections; governments, religion, abuses, laws. +They proclaimed rights, laid bare men's wants, denounced injustice. A +strong and enlightened public opinion was formed, whose attacks the +government underwent without venturing to attempt its suppression. It even +converted those whom it attacked; courtiers submitted to its decisions +from fashion's sake, power from necessity, and the age of reform was +ushered in by the age of philosophy, as the latter had been by the age of +the fine arts. + +Such was the condition of France, when Louis XVI. ascended the throne on +the 11th of May, 1774. Finances, whose deficiencies neither the +restorative ministry of cardinal de Fleury, nor the bankrupt ministry of +the abbé Terray had been able to make good, authority disregarded, +intractable parliaments, an imperious public opinion; such were the +difficulties which the new reign inherited from its predecessors. Of all +princes, Louis XVI., by his tendencies and his virtues, was best suited to +his epoch. The people were weary of arbitrary rule, and he was disposed to +renounce its exercise; they were exasperated with the burdensome +dissoluteness of the court of Louis XV.; the morals of the new king were +pure and his wants few; they demanded reforms that had become +indispensable, and he appreciated the public want, and made it his glory +to satisfy it. But it was as difficult to effect good as to continue evil; +for it was necessary to have sufficient strength either to make the +privileged classes submit to reform, or the nation to abuses; and Louis +XVI. was neither a regenerator nor a despot. He was deficient in that +sovereign will which alone accomplishes great changes in states, and which +is as essential to monarchs who wish to limit their power as to those who +seek to aggrandize it. Louis XVI. possessed a sound mind, a good and +upright heart, but he was without energy of character and perseverance in +action. His projects of amelioration met with obstacles which he had not +foreseen, and which he knew not how to overcome. He accordingly fell +beneath his efforts to favour reform, as another would have fallen in his +attempt to prevent it. Up to the meeting of the states-general, his reign +was one long and fruitless endeavour at amelioration. + +In choosing, on his accession to the throne, Maurepas as prime minister, +Louis XVI. eminently contributed to the irresolute character of his reign. +Young, deeply sensible of his duties and of his own insufficiency, he had +recourse to the experience of an old man of seventy-three, who had lost +the favour of Louis XV. by his opposition to the mistresses of that +monarch. In him the king found not a statesman, but a mere courtier, whose +fatal influence extended over the whole course of his reign. Maurepas had +little heed to the welfare of France, or the glory of his master; his sole +care was to remain in favour. Residing in the palace at Versailles, in an +apartment communicating with that of the king, and presiding over the +council, he rendered the mind of Louis XVI. uncertain, his character +irresolute; he accustomed him to half-measures, to changes of system, to +all the inconsistencies of power, and especially to the necessity of doing +everything by others, and nothing of himself. Maurepas had the choice of +the ministers, and these cultivated his good graces as assiduously as he +the king's. Fearful of endangering his position, he kept out of the +ministry men of powerful connections, and appointed rising men, who +required his support for their own protection, and to effect their +reforms. He successively called Turgot, Malesherbes, and Necker to the +direction of affairs, each of whom undertook to effect ameliorations in +that department of the government which had been the immediate object of +his studies. + +Malesherbes, descended from a family in the law, inherited parliamentary +virtues, and not parliamentary prejudices. To an independent mind, he +united a noble heart. He wished to give to every man his rights; to the +accused, the power of being defended; to protestants, liberty of +conscience; to authors, the liberty of the press; to every Frenchman, +personal freedom; and he proposed the abolition of the torture, the re- +establishment of the edict of Nantes, and the suppression of _lettres de +cachet_ and of the censure. Turgot, of a vigorous and comprehensive mind, +and an extraordinary firmness and strength of character, attempted to +realize still more extensive projects. He joined Malesherbes, in order, +with his assistance, to complete the establishment of a system which was +to bring back unity to the government and equality to the country. This +virtuous citizen constantly occupied himself with the amelioration of the +condition of the people; he undertook, alone, what the revolution +accomplished at a later period,--the suppression of servitude and +privilege. He proposed to enfranchise the rural districts from statute +labour, provinces from their barriers, commerce from internal duties, +trade from its shackles, and lastly, to make the nobility and clergy +contribute to the taxes in the same proportion as the third estate. This +great minister, of whom Malesherbes said, "he has the head of Bacon and +the heart of l'Hôpital," wished by means of provincial assemblies to +accustom the nation to public life, and prepare it for the restoration of +the states-general. He would have effected the revolution by ordinances, +had he been able to stand. But under the system of special privileges and +general servitude, all projects for the public good were impraticable. +Turgot dissatisfied the courtiers by his ameliorations, displeased the +parliament by the abolition of statute labour, wardenships, and internal +duties, and alarmed the old minister by the ascendancy which his virtue +gave him over Louis XVI. The prince forsook him, though at the same time +observing that Turgot and himself were the only persons who desired the +welfare of the people: so lamentable is the condition of kings! + +Turgot was succeeded in 1776 in the general control of the finances by +Clugny, formerly comptroller of Saint Domingo, who, six months after, was +himself succeeded by Necker. Necker was a foreigner, a protestant, a +banker, and greater as an administrator than as a statesman; he +accordingly conceived a plan for reforming France, less extensive than +that of Turgot, but which he executed with more moderation, and aided by +the times. Appointed minister in order to find money for the court, he +made use of the wants of the court to procure liberties for the people. He +re-established the finances by means of order, and made the provinces +contribute moderately to their administration. His views were wise and +just; they consisted in bringing the revenue to a level with the +expenditure, by reducing the latter; by employing taxation in ordinary +times, and loans when imperious circumstances rendered it necessary to tax +the future as well as the present; by causing the taxes to be assessed by +the provincial assemblies, and by instituting the publication of accounts, +in order to facilitate loans. This system was founded on the nature of +loans, which, needing credit, require publicity of administration; and on +that of taxation, which needing assent, requires also a share in the +administration. Whenever there is a deficit and the government makes +applications to meet it, if it address itself to lenders, it must produce +its balance-sheet; if it address itself to the tax-payers, it must give +them a share in its power. Thus loans led to the production of accounts, +and taxes to the states-general; the first placing authority under the +jurisdiction of opinion, and the second placing it under that of the +people. But Necker, though less impatient for reform than Turgot, although +he desired to redeem abuses which his predecessor wished to destroy, was +not more fortunate than he. His economy displeased the courtiers; the +measures of the provincial assemblies incurred the disapprobation of the +parliaments, which wished to monopolize opposition; and the prime minister +could not forgive him an appearance of credit. He was obliged to quit +power in 1781, a few months after the publication of the famous _Comptes +rendus_ of the finances, which suddenly initiated France in a knowledge of +state matters, and rendered absolute government for ever impossible. + +The death of Maurepas followed close upon the retirement of Necker. The +queen took his place with Louis XVI., and inherited all his influence over +him. This good but weak prince required to be directed. His wife, young, +beautiful, active, and ambitious, gained great ascendancy over him. Yet it +may be said that the daughter of Marie Thérèse resembled her mother too +much or too little. She combined frivolity with domination, and disposed +of power only to invest with it men who caused her own ruin and that of +the state. Maurepas, mistrusting court ministers, had always chosen +popular ministers; it is true he did not support them; but if good was not +brought about, at least evil did not increase. After his death, court +ministers succeeded the popular ministers, and by their faults rendered +the crisis inevitable, which others had endeavoured to prevent by their +reforms. This difference of choice is very remarkable; this it was which, +by the change of men, brought on the change in the system of +administration. The revolution dates from this epoch; the abandonment of +reforms and the return of disorders hastened its approach and augmented +its fury. + +Calonne was called from an intendancy to the general control of the +finances. Two successors had already been given to Necker, when +application was made to Calonne in 1783. Calonne was daring, brilliant and +eloquent; he had much readiness and a fertile mind. Either from error or +design he adopted a system of administration directly opposed to that of +his predecessor. Necker recommended economy, Calonne boasted of his lavish +expenditure. Necker fell through courtiers, Calonne sought to be upheld by +them. His sophisms were backed by his liberality; he convinced the queen +by _fêtes_, the nobles by pensions; he gave a great circulation to the +finances, in order that the extent and facility of his operations might +excite confidence in the justness of his views; he even deceived the +capitalists, by first showing himself punctual in his payments. He +continued to raise loans after the peace, and he exhausted the credit +which Necker's wise conduct had procured to the government. Having come to +this point, having deprived himself of a resource, the very employment of +which he was unable to manage, in order to prolong his continuance in +power he was obliged to have recourse to taxation. But to whom could he +apply? The people could pay no longer, and the privileged classes would +not offer anything. Yet it was necessary to decide, and Calonne, hoping +more from something new, convoked an assembly of notables, which began its +sittings at Versailles on the 22nd of February, 1787. But a recourse to +others must prove the end of a system founded on prodigality. A minister +who had risen by giving, could not maintain himself by asking. + +The notables, chosen by the government from the higher classes, formed a +ministerial assembly, which had neither a proper existence nor a +commission. It was, indeed, to avoid parliaments and states-general, that +Calonne addressed himself to a more subordinate assembly, hoping to find +it more docile. But, composed of privileged persons, it was little +disposed to make sacrifices. It became still less so, when it saw the +abyss which a devouring administration had excavated. It learned with +terror, that the loans of a few years amounted to one thousand six hundred +and forty-six millions, and that there was an annual deficit in the +revenue of a hundred and forty millions. This disclosure was the signal +for Calonne's fall. He fell, and was succeeded by Brienne, archbishop of +Sens, his opponent in the assembly. Brienne thought the majority of the +notables was devoted to him, because it had united with him against +Calonne. But the privileged classes were not more disposed to make +sacrifices to Brienne than to his predecessor; they had seconded his +attacks, which were to their interest, and not his ambition, to which they +were indifferent. + +The archbishop of Sens, who is censured for a want of plan, was in no +position to form one. He was not allowed to continue the prodigality of +Calonne; and it was too late to return to the retrenchments of Necker. +Economy, which had been a means of safety at a former period, was no +longer so in this. Recourse must be had either to taxation, and that +parliament opposed; or loans, and credit was exhausted; or sacrifices on +the part of the privileged classes, who were unwilling to make them. +Brienne, to whom office had been the chief object of life, who with, the +difficulties of his position combined slenderness of means attempted +everything, and succeeded in nothing. His mind was active, but it wanted +strength; and his character rash without firmness. Daring, previous to +action, but weak afterwards, he ruined himself by his irresolution, want +of foresight, and constant variation of means. There remained only bad +measures to adopt, but he could not decide upon one, and follow that one; +this was his real error. + +The assembly of notables was but little submissive and very parsimonious. +After having sanctioned the establishment of provincial assemblies, a +regulation of the corn trade, the abolition of corvées, and a new stamp +tax, it broke up on the 25th of May, 1787. It spread throughout France +what it had discovered respecting the necessities of the throne, the +errors of the ministers, the dilapidation of the court, and the +irremediable miseries of the people. + +Brienne, deprived of this assistance, had recourse to taxation, as a +resource, the use of which had for some time been abandoned. He demanded +the enrolment of two edicts--that of the stamps and that of the +territorial subsidies. But parliament, which was then in the full vigour +of its existence and in all the ardour of its ambition, and to which the +financial embarrassment of the ministry offered a means of augmenting its +power, refused the enrolment. Banished to Troyes, it grew weary of exile, +and the minister recalled it on condition that the two edicts should be +accepted. But this was only a suspension of hostilities; the necessities +of the crown soon rendered the struggle more obstinate and violent. The +minister had to make fresh applications for money; his existence depended +on the issue of several successive loans to the amount of four hundred and +forty millions. It was necessary to obtain the enrolment of them. + +Brienne, expecting opposition from the parliament, procured the enrolment +of this edict by a _lit de justice_, and to conciliate the magistracy and +public opinion, the protestants were restored to their rights in the same +sitting, and Louis XVI. promised an annual publication of the state of +finances, and the convocation, of the states-general before the end of +five years. But these concessions were no longer sufficient: parliament +refused the enrolment, and rose against the ministerial tyranny. Some of +its members, among others the duke of Orleans, were banished. Parliament +protested, by a decree, against _lettres de cachet_, and required the +recall of its members. This decree was annulled by the king, and confirmed +by parliament. The warfare increased. + +The magistracy of Paris was supported by all the magistracy of France, and +encouraged by public opinion. It proclaimed the rights of the nation, and +its own incompetence in matters of taxation; and, become liberal from +interest, and rendered generous by oppression, it exclaimed against +arbitrary imprisonment, and demanded regularly convoked states-general. +After this act of courage, it decreed the irremovability of its members, +and the incompetence of any who might usurp their functions. This bold +manifesto was followed by the arrest of two members, d'Eprémenil and +Goislard, by the reform of the body, and the establishment of a plenary +court. + +Brienne understood that the opposition of the parliament was systematic, +that it would be renewed on every fresh demand for subsidies, or on the +authorization of every loan. Exile was but a momentary remedy, which +suspended opposition, without destroying it. He then projected the +reduction of this body to judicial functions, and associated with himself +Lamoignon, keeper of the seals, for the execution of this project. +Lamoignon was skilled in coups d'état. He had audacity, and combined with +Maupeou's energetic determination a greater degree of consideration and +probity. But he made a mistake as to the force of power, and what it was +possible to effect in his times. Maupeou had re-established parliament, +changing its members; Lamoignon wished to disorganize it. The first of +these means, if it had succeeded, would only have produced temporary +repose; the second must have produced a definitive one, since it aimed at +destroying the power, which the other only tried to displace; but +Maupeou's reform did not last, and that of Lamoignon could not be +effected. The execution of the latter was, however, tolerably well framed. +All the magistracy of France was exiled on the same day, in order that the +new judicial organization might take place. The keeper of the seals +deprived the parliament of Paris of its political attributes, to invest +with them a plenary court, ministerially composed, and reduced its +judicial competence in favour of bailiwicks, the jurisdiction of which he +extended. Public opinion was indignant; the Châtelet protested, the +provinces rose, and the plenary court could neither be formed nor act. +Disturbances broke out in Dauphiné, Brittany, Provence, Flanders, +Languedoc, and Béarn; the ministry, instead of the regular opposition of +parliament, had to encounter one much more animated and factious. The +nobility, the third estate, the provincial states, and even the clergy, +took part in it. Brienne, pressed for money, had called together an +extraordinary assembly of the clergy, who immediately made an address to +the king, demanding the abolition of his plenary court, and the recall of +the states-general: they alone could thenceforth repair the disordered +state of the finances, secure the national debt, and terminate such +conflicts of authority. + +The archbishop of Sens, by his contest with the parliament, had postponed +the financial, by creating a political difficulty. The moment the latter +ceased, the former re-appeared, and made his retreat inevitable. Obtaining +neither taxes nor loans, unable to make use of the plenary court, and not +wishing to recall the parliaments, Brienne, as a last resource, promised +the convocation of the states-general. By this means he hastened his ruin. +He had been called to the financial department in order to remedy +embarrassments which he had augmented, and to procure money which he had +been unable to obtain. So far from it, he had exasperated the nation, +raised a rebellion in the various bodies of the state, compromised the +authority of the government, and rendered inevitable the states-general, +which, in the opinion of the court, was the worst means of raising money. +He succumbed on the 25th of August, 1788. The cause of his fall was a +suspension of the payment of the interest on the debt, which was the +commencement of bankruptcy. This minister has been the most blamed because +he came last. Inheriting the faults, the embarrassments of past times, he +had to struggle with the difficulties of his position with insufficient +means. He tried intrigue and oppression; he banished, suspended, +disorganized parliament; everything was an obstacle to him, nothing aided +him. After a long struggle, he sank under lassitude and weakness; I dare +not say from incapacity, for had he been far stronger and more skilful, +had he been a Richelieu or a Sully, he would still have fallen. It no +longer appertained to any one arbitrarily to raise money or to oppress the +people. It must be said in his excuse, that he had not created that +position from which he was not able to extricate himself; his only mistake +was his presumption in accepting it. He fell through the fault of Calonne, +as Calonne had availed himself of the confidence inspired by Necker for +the purposes of his lavish expenditure. The one had destroyed credit, and +the other, thinking to re-establish it by force, had destroyed authority. + +The states-general had become the only means of government, and the last +resource of the throne. They had been eagerly demanded by parliament and +the peers of the kingdom, on the 13th of July, 1787; by the states of +Dauphiné in the assembly of Vizille; by the clergy in its assembly at +Paris. The provincial states had prepared the public mind for them; and +the notables were their precursors. The king after having, on the 18th of +December, 1787, promised their convocation in five years, on the 8th of +August, 1788, fixed the opening for the 1st of May, 1789. Necker was +recalled, parliament re-established, the plenary court abolished, the +bailiwicks destroyed, and the provinces satisfied; and the new minister +prepared everything for the election of deputies and the holding of the +states. + +At this epoch a great change took place in the opposition, which till then +had been unanimous. Under Brienne, the ministry had encountered opposition +from all the various bodies of the state, because it had sought to oppress +them. Under Necker, it met with resistance from the same bodies, which +desired power for themselves and oppression for the people. From being +despotic, it had become national, and it still had them all equally +against it. Parliament had maintained a struggle for authority, and not +for the public welfare; and the nobility had united with the third estate, +rather against the government than in favour of the people. Each of these +bodies had demanded the states-general: the parliament, in the hope of +ruling them as it had done in 1614; and the nobility, in the hope of +regaining its lost influence. Accordingly, the magistracy proposed as a +model for the states-general of 1789, the form of that of 1614, and public +opinion abandoned it; the nobility refused its consent to the double +representation of the third estate, and a division broke out between these +two orders. + +This double representation was required by the intellect of the age, the +necessity of reform, and by the importance which the third estate had +acquired. It had already been admitted in the provincial assemblies. +Brienne, before leaving the ministry, had made an appeal to the writers of +the day, in order to know what would be the most suitable method of +composing and holding the states-general. Among the works favourable to +the people, there appeared the celebrated pamphlet of Sieyès on the Third +Estate, and that of d'Entraigues on the States-general. + +Opinion became daily more decided, and Necker wishing, yet fearing, to +satisfy it, and desirous of conciliating all orders, of obtaining general +approbation, convoked a second assembly of notables on the 6th of +November, 1788, to deliberate on the composition of the states-general, +and the election of its members. He thought to induce it to accept the +double representation of the third estate, but it refused, and he was +obliged to decide, in spite of the notables, that which he ought to have +decided without them. Necker was not the man to avoid disputes by removing +all difficulties beforehand. He did not take the initiative as to the +representation of the third estate, any more than at a later period he +took it with regard to the question of voting by orders or by poll. When +the states-general were assembled, the solution of this second question, +on which depended the state of power and that of the people, was abandoned +to force. + +Be this as it may, Necker, having been unable to make the notables adopt +the double representation of the third estate, caused it to be adopted by +the council. The royal declaration of the 27th of November decreed that +the deputies in the states-general should amount to at least a thousand, +and that the deputies of the third estate should be equal in number to the +deputies of the nobility and clergy together. Necker moreover obtained the +admission of the curés into the order of the clergy, and of protestants +into that of the third estate. The district assemblies were convoked for +the elections; every one exerted himself to secure the nomination of +members of his own party, and to draw up manifestoes setting forth his +views. Parliament had but little influence in the elections, and the court +none at all. The nobility selected a few popular deputies, but mainly such +as were devoted to the interests of their order, and as much opposed to +the third estate as to the oligarchy of the great families of the court. +The clergy nominated bishops and abbés attached to privilege, and curés +favourable to the popular cause, which was their own; lastly, the third +estate selected men enlightened, firm, and unanimous in their wishes. The +deputation of the nobility was comprised of two hundred and forty-two +gentlemen, and twenty-eight members of the parliament; that of the clergy, +of forty-eight archbishops or bishops, thirty-five abbés or deans, and two +hundred and eight curés; and that of the communes, of two ecclesiastics, +twelve noblemen, eighteen magistrates of towns, two hundred county +members, two hundred and twelve barristers, sixteen physicians, and two +hundred and sixteen merchants and agriculturists. The opening of the +states-general was then fixed for the 5th of May, 1789. + +Thus was the revolution brought about. The court in vain tried to prevent, +as it afterwards endeavoured to annul it. Under the direction of Maurepas, +the king nominated popular ministers, and made attempts at reform; under +the influence of the queen, he nominated court ministers, and made +attempts at authority. Oppression met with as little success as reform. +After applying in vain to courtiers for retrenchments, to parliament for +levies, to capitalists for loans, he sought for new tax-payers, and made +an appeal to the privileged orders. He demanded of the notables, +consisting of the nobles and the clergy, a participation in the charges of +the state, which they refused. He then for the first time applied to all +France, and convoked the states-general. He treated with the various +bodies of the nation before treating with the nation itself; and it was +only on the refusal of the first, that he appealed from it to a power +whose intervention and support he dreaded. He preferred private +assemblies, which, being isolated, necessarily remained secondary, to a +general assembly, which representing all interests, must combine all +powers. Up to this great epoch every year saw the wants of the government +increasing, and resistance becoming more extensive. Opposition passed from +parliaments to the nobility, from the nobility to the clergy, and from +them all to the people. In proportion as each participated in power it +began its opposition, until all these private oppositions were fused in or +gave way before the national opposition. The states-general only decreed a +revolution which was already formed. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +FROM THE 5TH OF MAY, 1789, TO THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST + +The 5th of May, 1789, was fixed for the opening of the states-general. A +religious ceremony on the previous day prefaced their installation. The +king, his family, his ministers, the deputies of the three orders, went in +procession from the church of Notre-Dame to that of Saint Louis, to hear +the opening mass. Men did not without enthusiasm see the return of a +national ceremony of which France had for so long a period been deprived. +It had all the appearance of a festival. An enormous multitude flocked +from all parts to Versailles; the weather was splendid; they had been +lavish of the pomp of decoration. The excitement of the music, the kind +and satisfied expression of the king, the beauty and demeanour of the +queen, and, as much as anything, the general hope, exalted every one. But +the etiquette, costumes, and order of the ranks of the states in 1614, +were seen with regret. The clergy, in cassocks, large cloaks, and square +caps, or in violet robes and lawn sleeves, occupied the first place. Then +came the nobles, attired in black coats with waistcoats and facings of +cloth of gold, lace cravats, and hats with white plumes, turned up in the +fashion of Henry IV. The modest third estate came last, clothed in black, +with short cloaks, muslin cravats, and hats without feathers or loops. In +the church, the same distinction as to places existed between the three +orders. + +The royal session took place the following day in the Salle des Menus. +Galleries, arranged in the form of an amphitheatre, were filled with +spectators. The deputies were summoned and introduced according to the +order established in 1614. The clergy were conducted to the right, the +nobility to the left, and the commons in front of the throne at the end of +the hall. The deputations from Dauphiné, from Crépi in Valois, to which +the duke of Orleans belonged, and from Provence, were received with loud +applause. Necker was also received on his entrance with general +enthusiasm. Public favour was testified towards all who had contributed to +the convocation of the states-general. When the deputies and ministers had +taken their places, the king appeared, followed by the queen, the princes, +and a brilliant suite. The hall resounded with applause on his arrival. +When he came in, Louis XVI. took his seat on the throne, and when he had +put on his hat, the three orders covered themselves at the same time. The +commons, contrary to the custom of the ancient states, imitated the +nobility and clergy, without hesitation: the time when the third order +should remain uncovered and speak kneeling was gone by. The king's speech +was then expected in profound silence. Men were eager to know the true +feeling of the government with regard to the states. Did it purpose +assimilating the new assembly to the ancient, or to grant it the part +which the necessities of the state and the importance of the occasion +assigned to it? + +"Gentlemen," said the king, with emotion, "the day I have so anxiously +expected has at length arrived, and I see around me the representatives of +the nation which I glory in governing. A long interval had elapsed since +the last session of the states-general, and although the convocation of +these assemblies seemed to have fallen into disuse, I did not hesitate to +restore a custom from which the kingdom might derive new force, and which +might open to the nation a new source of happiness." + +These words which promised much, were only followed by explanations as to +the debt and announcements of retrenchment in the expenditure. The king, +instead of wisely tracing out to the states the course they ought to +follow, urged the orders to union, expressed his want of money, his dread +of innovations, and complained of the uneasiness of the public mind, +without suggesting any means of satisfying it. He was nevertheless very +much applauded when he delivered at the close of his discourse the +following words, which fully described his intentions: "All that can be +expected from the dearest interest in the public welfare, all that can be +required of a sovereign, the first friend of his people; you may and ought +to hope from my sentiments. That a happy spirit of union may pervade this +assembly, gentlemen, and that this may be an ever memorable epoch for the +happiness and prosperity of the kingdom, is the wish of my heart, the most +ardent of my desires; it is, in a word, the reward which I expect for the +uprightness of my intentions, and my love of my subjects." + +Barentin, keeper of the seals, spoke next. His speech was an amplification +respecting the states-general, and the favours of the king. After a long +preamble, he at last touched upon the topics of the occasion. "His +Majesty," he said, "has not changed the ancient method of deliberation, by +granting a double representation in favour of the most numerous of the +three orders, that on which the burden of taxation chiefly falls. Although +the vote by poll, by producing but one result, seems to have the advantage +of best representing the general desire, the king wishes this new form +should be adopted only with the free consent of the states, and the +approval of his majesty. But whatever may be the opinion on this question, +whatever distinctions may be drawn between the different matters that will +become subjects of deliberation, there can be no doubt but that the most +entire harmony will unite the three orders on the subject of taxation." +The government was not opposed to the vote by poll in pecuniary matters, +it being more expeditious; but in political questions it declared itself +in favour of voting by order, as a more effectual check on innovations. In +this way it sought to arrive at its own end,--namely, subsidies, and not +to allow the nation to obtain its object, which was reform. The manner in +which the keeper of the seals determined the province of the states- +general, discovered more plainly the intentions of the court. He reduced +them, in a measure, to the inquiry into taxation, in order to vote it, and +to the discussion of a law respecting the press, for the purpose of fixing +its limits, and to the reform of civil and criminal legislation. He +proscribed all other changes, and concluded by saying: "All just demands +have been granted; the king has not noticed indiscreet murmurs; he has +condescended to overlook them with indulgence; he has even forgiven the +expression of those false and extravagant maxims, under favour of which +attempts have been made to substitute pernicious chimeras for the +unalterable principles of monarchy. You will with indignation, gentlemen, +repel the dangerous innovations which the enemies of the public good seek +to confound with the necessary and happy changes which this regeneration +ought to produce, and which form the first wish of his majesty." + +This speech displayed little knowledge of the wishes of the nation, or it +sought openly to combat them. The dissatisfied assembly looked to M. +Necker, from whom it expected different language. He was the popular +minister, had obtained the double representation, and it was hoped he +would approve of the vote by poll, the only way of enabling the third +estate to turn its numbers to account. But he spoke as comptroller-general +and as a man of caution. His speech, which lasted three hours, was a +lengthened budget; and when, after tiring the assembly, he touched on the +topic of interest, he spoke undecidedly, in order to avoid committing +himself either with the court or the people. + +The government ought to have better understood the importance of the +states-general. The restoration of this assembly alone announced a great +revolution. Looked for with hope by the nation, it reappeared at an epoch +when the ancient monarchy was sinking, and when it alone was capable of +reforming the state and providing for the necessities of royalty. The +difficulties of the time, the nature of their mission, the choice of their +members, everything announced that the states were not assembled as tax- +payers, but as legislators. The right of regenerating France had been +granted them by opinion, was devolved on them by public resolutions, and +they found in the enormity of the abuses and the public encouragement, +strength to undertake and accomplish this great task. + +It behoved the king to associate himself with their labours. In this way +he would have been able to restore his power, and ensure himself from the +excesses of a revolution, by himself assisting in bringing it about. If, +taking the lead in these changes, he had fixed the new order of things +with firmness, but with justice; if, realizing the wishes of France, he +had determined the rights of her citizens, the province of the states- +general and the limits of royalty; if, on his own part, he had renounced +arbitrary power, inequality on the part of the nobility, and privileges on +the part of the different bodies; in a word, if he had accomplished all +the reforms which were demanded by public opinion, and executed by the +constituent assembly, he would have prevented the fatal dissensions which +subsequently arose. It is rare to find a prince willing to share his +power, or sufficiently enlightened to yield what he will be reduced to +lose. Yet Louis XVI. would have done this, if he had been less influenced +by those around him, and had he followed the dictates of his own mind. But +the greatest anarchy pervaded the councils of the king. When the states- +general assembled, no measures had been taken, nothing had been decided +on, which might prevent dispute. Louis XVI. wavered between his ministry, +directed by Necker, and his court, directed by the queen and a few princes +of his family. + +Necker, satisfied with obtaining the representation of the third estate, +dreaded the indecision of the king and the discontent of the court. Not +appreciating sufficiently the importance of a crisis which he considered +more as a financial than a social one, he waited for the course of events +in order to act, and flattered himself with the hope of being able to +guide these events, without attempting to prepare the way for them. He +felt that the ancient organization of the states could no longer be +maintained; that the existence of three orders, each possessing the right +of refusal, was opposed to the execution of reform and the progress of +administration. He hoped, after a trial of this triple opposition, to +reduce the number of the orders, and bring about the adoption of the +English form of government, by uniting the clergy and nobility in one +chamber, and the third estate in another. He did not foresee that the +struggle once begun, his interposition would be in vain: that half +measures would suit neither party; that the weak through obstinacy, and +the strong through passion, would oppose this system of moderation. +Concessions satisfy only before a victory. + +The court, so far from wishing to organize the states-general, sought to +annul them. It preferred the casual resistance of the great bodies of the +nation, to sharing authority with a permanent assembly. The separation of +the orders favoured its views; it reckoned on fomenting their differences, +and thus preventing them from acting. The states-general had never +achieved any result, owing to the defect of their organization; the court +hoped that it would still be the same, since the two first orders were +less disposed to yield to the reforms solicited by the last. The clergy +wished to preserve its privileges and its opulence, and clearly foresaw +that the sacrifices to be made by it were more numerous than the +advantages to be acquired. The nobility, on its side, while it resumed a +political independence long since lost, was aware that it would have to +yield more to the people than it could obtain from royalty. It was almost +entirely in favour of the third estate, that the new revolution was about +to operate, and the first two orders were induced to unite with the court +against the third estate, as but lately they had coalesced with the third +estate against the court. Interest alone led to this change of party, and +they united with the monarch without affection, as they had defended the +people without regard to public good. + +No efforts were spared to keep the nobility and clergy in this +disposition. The deputies of these two orders were the objects of favours +and allurements. A committee, to which the most illustrious persons +belonged, was held at the countess de Polignac's; the principal deputies +were admitted to it. It was here that were gained De Eprémenil and De +Entraigues, two of the warmest advocates of liberty in parliament, or +before the states-general, and who afterwards became its most decided +opponents. Here also the costume of the deputies of the different orders +was determined on, and attempts made to separate them, first by etiquette, +then by intrigue, and lastly, by force. The recollection of the ancient +states-general prevailed in the court; it thought it could regulate the +present by the past, restrain Paris by the army, the deputies of the third +estate by those of the nobility, rule the states by separating the orders, +and separate the orders by reviving ancient customs which exalted the +nobles and lowered the commons. Thus, after the first sitting, it was +supposed that all had been prevented by granting nothing. + +On the 6th of May, the day after the opening of the states, the nobility +and clergy repaired to their respective chambers, and constituted +themselves. The third estate being, on account of its double +representation, the most numerous order, had the Salle des États allotted +to it, and there awaited the two other orders; it considered its situation +as provisional, its members as presumptive deputies, and adopted a system +of inactivity till the other orders should unite with it. Then a memorable +struggle commenced, the issue of which was to decide whether the +revolution should be effected or stopped. The future fate of France +depended on the separation or reunion of the orders. This important +question arose on the subject of the verification of powers. The popular +deputies asserted very justly, that it ought to be made in common, since, +even if the union of the orders were refused, it was impossible to deny +the interest which each of them had in the examination of the powers of +the others; the privileged deputies argued, on the contrary, that since +the orders had a distinct existence, the verification ought to be made +respectively. They felt that one single co-operation would, for the +future, render all separation impossible. + +The commons acted with much circumspection, deliberation, and steadiness. +It was by a succession of efforts, not unattended with peril, by slow and +undecided success, and by struggles constantly renewed, that they attained +their object. The systematic inactivity they adopted from the commencement +was the surest and wisest course; there are occasions when the way to +victory is to know how to wait for it. The commons were unanimous, and +alone formed the numerical half of the states-general; the nobility had in +its bosom some popular dissentients; the majority of the clergy, composed +of several bishops, friends of peace, and of the numerous class of the +curés, the third estate of the church, entertained sentiments favourable +to the commons. Weariness was therefore to bring about a union; this was +what the third estate hoped, what the bishops feared, and what induced +them on the 13th of May to offer themselves as mediators. But this +mediation was of necessity without any result, as the nobility would not +admit voting by poll, nor the commons voting by order. Accordingly, the +conciliatory conferences, after being prolonged in vain till the 27th of +May, were broken up by the nobility, who declared in favour of separate +verification. + +The day after this hostile decision, the commons determined to declare +themselves the assembly of the nation, and invited the clergy to join them +_in the name of the God of peace and the common weal_. The court taking +alarm at this measure, interfered for the purpose of having the +conferences resumed. The first commissioners appointed for purposes of +reconciliation were charged with regulating the differences of the orders; +the ministry undertook to regulate the differences of the commissioners. +In this way, the states depended on a commission, and the commission had +the council of the prince for arbiter. But these new conferences had not a +more fortunate issue than the first. They lingered on without either of +the orders being willing to yield anything to the others, and the nobility +finally broke them up by confirming all its resolutions. + +Five weeks had already elapsed in useless parleys. The third estate, +perceiving the moment had arrived for it to constitute itself, and that +longer delay would indispose the nation towards it, and destroy the +confidence it had acquired by the refusal of the privileged classes to co- +operate with it, decided on acting, and displayed herein the same +moderation and firmness it had shown during its inactivity. Mirabeau +announced that a deputy of Paris had a motion to propose; and Sieyès, +physically of timid character, but of an enterprising mind, who had great +authority by his ideas, and was better suited than any one to propose a +measure, proved the impossibility of union, the urgency of verification, +the justice of demanding it in common, and caused it to be decreed by the +assembly that the nobility and clergy should be _invited_ to the Salle des +États in order to take part in the verification, which would take place, +_whether they were absent or present_. + +The measure for general verification was followed by another still more +energetic. The commons, after having terminated the verification on the +17th of June, on the motion of Sieyès, constituted themselves _the +National Assembly_. This bold step, by which the most numerous order and +the only one whose powers were legalized, declared itself the +representation of France and refused to recognise the other two till they +submitted to the verification, determined questions hitherto undecided, +and changed the assembly of the states into an assembly of the people. The +system of orders disappeared in political powers, and this was the first +step towards the abolition of classes in the private system. This +memorable decree of the 17th of June contained the germ of the night of +the 4th of August; but it was necessary to defend what they had dared to +decide, and there was reason to fear such a determination could not be +maintained. + +The first decree of _the National Assembly_ was an act of sovereignty. It +placed the privileged classes under its dependence, by proclaiming the +indivisibility of the legislative power. The court remained to be +restrained by means of taxation. The assembly declared the illegality of +previous imposts, voted them provisionally, as long as it continued to +sit, and their cessation on its dissolution; it restored the confidence of +capitalists by consolidating the public debt, and provided for the +necessities of the people, by appointing a committee of subsistence. + +Such firmness and foresight excited the enthusiasm of the nation. But +those who directed the court saw that the divisions thus excited between +the orders had failed in their object; and that it was necessary to resort +to other means to obtain it. They considered the royal authority alone +adequate to prescribe the continuance of the orders, which the opposition +of the nobles could no longer preserve. They took advantage of a journey +to Marly to remove Louis XVI. from the influences of the prudent and +pacific counsels of Necker, and to induce him to adopt hostile measures. +This prince, alike accessible to good and bad counsels, surrounded by a +court given up to party spirit, and entreated for the interests of his +crown and in the name of religion to stop the pernicious progress of the +commons, yielded at last, and promised everything. It was decided that he +should go in state to the assembly, annul its decrees, command the +separation of the orders as constitutive of the monarchy, and himself fix +the reforms to be effected by the states-general. From that moment the +privy council held the government, acting no longer secretly, but in the +most open manner. Barentin, the keeper of the seals, the count d'Artois, +the prince de Condé, and the prince de Conti conducted alone the projects +they had concerted. Necker lost all his influence; he had proposed to the +king a conciliatory plan, which might have succeeded before the struggle +attained this degree of animosity, but could do so no longer. He had +advised another royal sitting, in which the vote by poll in matters of +taxation was to be granted, and the vote by order to remain in matters of +private interest and privilege. This measure, which was unfavourable to +the commons, since it tended to maintain abuses by investing the nobility +and clergy with the right of opposing their abolition, would have been +followed by the establishment of two chambers for the next states-general. +Necker was fond of half measures, and wished to effect, by successive +concessions, a political change which should have been accomplished at +once. The moment was arrived to grant the nation all its rights, or to +leave it to take them. His project of a royal sitting, already +insufficient, was changed into a stroke of state policy by the new +council. The latter thought that the injunctions of the throne would +intimidate the assembly, and that France would be satisfied with promises +of reform. It seemed to be ignorant that the worst risk royalty can be +exposed to is that of disobedience. + +Strokes of state policy generally come unexpectedly, and surprise those +they are intended to influence. It was not so with this; its preparations +tended to prevent success. It was feared that the majority of the clergy +would recognise the assembly by uniting with it; and to prevent so decided +a step, instead of hastening the royal sitting, they closed the Salle des +États, in order to suspend the assembly till the day of the sitting. The +preparations rendered necessary by the presence of the king was the +pretext for this unskilful and improper measure. At that time Bailly +presided over the assembly. This virtuous citizen had obtained, without +seeking them, all the honours of dawning liberty. He was the first +president of the assembly, as he had been the first deputy of Paris, and +was to become its first mayor. Beloved by his own party, respected by his +adversaries, he combined with the mildest and most enlightened virtues, +the most courageous sense of duty. Apprised on the night of the 20th of +June, by the keeper of the seals, of the suspension of the sitting, he +remained faithful to the wishes of the assembly, and did not fear +disobeying the court. At an appointed hour on the following day, he +repaired to the Salle des États, and finding an armed force in possession, +he protested against this act of despotism. In the meantime the deputies +arrived, dissatisfaction increased, all seemed disposed to brave the +perils of a sitting. The most indignant proposed going to Marly, and +holding the assembly under the windows of the king; one named the Tennis- +court; this proposition was well received, and the deputies repaired +thither in procession. Bailly was at their head; the people followed them +with enthusiasm; even soldiers volunteered to escort them, and there, in a +bare hall, the deputies of the commons standing with upraised hands, and +hearts full of their sacred mission, swore, with only one exception, not +to separate till they had given France a constitution. + +This solemn oath, taken on the 20th of June, in the presence of the +nation, was followed on the 22nd by an important triumph. The assembly, +still deprived of their usual place of meeting, unable to make use of the +Tennis-court, the princes having hired it purposely that it might be +refused them, met in the church of Saint Louis. In this sitting, the +majority of the clergy joined them in the midst of patriotic transports. +Thus, the measures taken to intimidate the assembly, increased its +courage, and accelerated the union they were intended to prevent. By these +two failures the court prefaced the famous sitting of the 23rd of June. + +At length it took place. A numerous guard surrounded the hall of the +states-general, the door of which was opened to the deputies, but closed +to the public. The king came surrounded with the pomp of power; he was +received, contrary to the usual custom, in profound silence. His speech +completed the measure of discontent by the tone of authority with which he +dictated measures rejected by public opinion and by the assembly. The king +complained of a want of union, excited by the court itself; he censured +the conduct of the assembly, regarding it only as the order of the third +estate; he annulled its decrees, enjoined the continuance of the orders, +imposed reforms, and determined their limits; enjoined the states-general +to adopt them, and threatened to dissolve them and to provide alone for +the welfare of the kingdom, if he met with more opposition on their part. +After this scene of authority, so ill-suited to the occasion, and at +variance with his heart, Louis XVI. withdrew, having commanded the +deputies to disperse. The clergy and nobility obeyed. The deputies of the +people, motionless, silent, and indignant, remained seated. They continued +in that attitude some time, when Mirabeau suddenly breaking silence, said: +"Gentlemen, I admit that what you have just heard might be for the welfare +of the country, were it not that the presents of despotism are always +dangerous. What is this insulting dictatorship? The pomp of arms, the +violation of the national temple, are resorted to--to command you to be +happy! Who gives this command? Your mandatary. Who makes these imperious +laws for you? Your mandatary; he who should rather receive them from you, +gentlemen--from us, who are invested with a political and inviolable +priesthood; from us, in a word, to whom alone twenty-five millions of men +are looking for certain happiness, because it is to be consented to, and +given and received by all. But the liberty of your discussions is +enchained; a military force surrounds the assembly! Where are the enemies +of the nation? Is Catiline at our gates? I demand, investing yourselves +with your dignity, with your legislative power, you inclose yourselves +within the religion of your oath. It does not permit you to separate till +you have formed a constitution." + +The grand master of the ceremonies, finding the assembly did not break up, +came and reminded them of the king's order. + +"Go and tell your master," cried Mirabeau, "that we are here at the +command of the people, and nothing but the bayonet shall drive us hence." + +"You are to-day," added Sieyès, calmly, "what you were yesterday. Let us +deliberate." + +The assembly, full of resolution and dignity, began the debate +accordingly. On the motion of Camus, it was determined to persist in the +decrees already made; and upon that of Mirabeau the inviolability of the +members of the assembly was decreed. + +On that day the royal authority was lost. The initiative in law and moral +power passed from the monarch to the assembly. Those who, by their +counsels, had provoked this resistance, did not dare to punish it. Necker, +whose dismissal had been decided on that morning, was, in the evening, +entreated by the queen and Louis XVI. to remain in office. This minister +had disapproved of the royal sitting, and, by refusing to be present at +it, he again won the confidence of the assembly, which he had lost through +his hesitation. The season of disgrace was for him the season of +popularity. By this refusal he became the ally of the assembly, which +determined to support him. Every crisis requires a leader, whose name +becomes the standard of his party; while the assembly contended with the +court, that leader was Necker. + +At the first sitting, that part of the clergy which had united with the +assembly in the church of Saint Louis, again sat with it; a few days +after, forty-seven members of the nobility, among whom was the duke of +Orleans, joined them; and the court was itself compelled to invite the +nobility, and a minority of the clergy, to discontinue a dissent that +would henceforth be useless. On the 27th of June the deliberation became +general. The orders ceased to exist legally, and soon disappeared. The +distinct seats they had hitherto occupied in the common hall soon became +confounded; the futile pre-eminences of rank vanished before national +authority. + +The court, after having vainly endeavoured to prevent the formation of the +assembly, could now only unite with it, to direct its operations. With +prudence and candour it might still have repaired its errors and caused +its attacks to be forgotten. At certain moments, the initiative may be +taken in making sacrifices; at others, all that can be done is to make a +merit of accepting them. At the opening of the states-general, the king +might himself have made the constitution, now he was obliged to receive it +from the assembly; had he submitted to that position, he would infallibly +have improved it. But the advisers of Louis XVI., when they recovered from +the first surprise of defeat, resolved to have recourse to the use of the +bayonet, after they had failed in that of authority. They led the king to +suppose that the contempt of his orders, the safety of his throne, the +maintenance of the laws of the kingdom, and even the well-being of his +people depended on his reducing the assembly to submission; that the +latter, sitting at Versailles, close to Paris, two cities decidedly in its +favour, ought to be subdued by force, and removed to some other place or +dissolved; that it was urgent that this resolution should be adopted in +order to stop the progress of the assembly, and that in order to execute +it, it was necessary speedily to call together troops who might intimidate +the assembly and maintain order at Paris and Versailles. + +While these plots were hatching, the deputies of the nation began their +legislative labours, and prepared the anxiously expected constitution, +which they considered they ought no longer to delay. Addresses poured in +from Paris and the principal towns of the kingdom, congratulating them on +their wisdom, and encouraging them to continue their task of regenerating +France. The troops, meantime, arrived in great numbers; Versailles assumed +the aspect of a camp; the Salle des États was surrounded by guards, and +the citizens refused admission. Paris was also encompassed by various +bodies of the army, ready to besiege or blockade it, as the occasion might +require. These vast military preparations, trains of artillery arriving +from the frontiers, and the presence of foreign regiments, whose obedience +was unlimited, announced sinister projects. The populace were restless and +agitated; and the assembly desired to enlighten the throne with respect to +its projects, and solicit the removal of the troops. At Mirabeau's +suggestion, it presented on the 9th of July a firm but respectful address +to the king, which proved useless. Louis XVI. declared that he alone had +to judge the necessity of assembling or dismissing troops, and assured +them, that those assembled formed only a precautionary army to prevent +disturbances and protect the assembly. He moreover offered the assembly to +remove it to Noyon or Soissons, that is to say, to place it between two +armies and deprive it of the support of the people. + +Paris was in the greatest excitement; this vast city was unanimous in its +devotion to the assembly. The perils that threatened the representatives +of the nation, and itself, and the scarcity of food disposed it to +insurrection. Capitalists, from interest and the fear of bankruptcy; men +of enlightenment and all the middle classes, from patriotism; the people, +impelled by want, ascribing their sufferings to the privileged classes and +the court, desirous of agitation and change, all had warmly espoused the +cause of the revolution. It is difficult to conceive the movement which +disturbed the capital of France. It was arising from the repose and +silence of servitude; it was, as it were, astonished at the novelty of its +situation, and intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm. The press excited +the public mind, the newspapers published the debates of the assembly, and +enabled the public to be present, as it were, at its deliberations, and +the questions mooted in its bosom were discussed in the open air, in the +public squares. It was at the Palais Royal, more especially, that the +assembly of the capital was held. The garden was always filled by a crowd +that seemed permanent, though continually renewed. A table answered the +purpose of the _tribune_, the first citizen at hand became the orator; +there men expatiated on the dangers that threatened the country, and +excited each other to resistance. Already, on a motion made at the Palais +Royal, the prisons of the Abbaye had been broken open, and some grenadiers +of the French guards, who had been imprisoned for refusing to fire on the +people, released in triumph. This outbreak was attended by no +consequences; a deputation had already solicited, in behalf of the +delivered prisoners, the interest of the assembly, who had recommended +them to the clemency of the king. They had returned to prison, and had +received pardon. But this regiment, one of the most complete and bravest, +had become favourable to the popular cause. + +Such was the disposition of Paris when the court, having established +troops at Versailles, Sèvres, the Champ de Mars, and Saint Denis, thought +itself able to execute its project. It commenced, on the 11th of July, by +the banishment of Necker, and the complete reconstruction of the ministry. +The marshal de Broglie, la Galissonnière, the duke de la Vauguyon, the +Baron de Breteuil, and the intendant Foulon, were appointed to replace +Puységur, Montmorin, La Luzerne, Saint Priest, and Necker. The latter +received, while at dinner on the 11th of July, a note from the king +enjoining him to leave the country immediately. He finished dining very +calmly, without communicating the purport of the order he had received, +and then got into his carriage with Madame Necker, as if intending to +drive to Saint Omer, and took the road to Brussels. + +On the following day, Sunday, the 12th of July, about four in the +afternoon, Necker's disgrace and departure became known at Paris. This +measure was regarded as the execution of the plot, the preparations for +which had so long been observed. In a short time the city was in the +greatest confusion; crowds gathered together on every side; more than ten +thousand persons flocked to the Palais Royal all affected by this news, +ready for anything, but not knowing what measure to adopt. Camille +Desmoulins, a young man, more daring than the rest, one of the usual +orators of the crowd, mounted on a table, pistol in hand, exclaiming: +"Citizens, there is no time to lose; the dismissal of Necker is the knell +of a Saint Bartholomew for patriots! This very night all the Swiss and +German battalions will leave the Champ de Mars to massacre us all; one +resource is left; to take arms!" These words were received with violent +acclamations. He proposed that cockades should be worn for mutual +recognition and protection. "Shall they be green," he cried, "the colour +of hope; or red, the colour of the free order of Cincinnatus?" "Green! +green!" shouted the multitude. The speaker descended from the table, and +fastened the sprig of a tree in his hat. Every one imitated him. The +chestnut-trees of the palace were almost stripped of their leaves, and +the crowd went in tumult to the house of the sculptor Curtius. + +They take busts of Necker and the duke of Orleans, a report having also +gone abroad that the latter would be exiled, and covering them with crape, +carry them in triumph. This procession passes through the Rues Saint +Martin, Saint Denis, and Saint Honoré, augmenting at every step. The crowd +obliges all they meet to take off their hats. Meeting the horse-patrol, +they take them as their escort. The procession advances in this way to the +Place Vendôme, and there they carry the two busts twice round the statue +of Louis XIV. A detachment of the Royal-allemand comes up and attempts to +disperse the mob, but are put to flight by a shower of stones; and the +multitude, continuing its course, reaches the Place Louis XV. Here they +are assailed by the dragoons of the prince de Lambesc; after resisting a +few moments they are thrown into confusion; the bearer of one of the busts +and a soldier of one of the French guards are killed. The mob disperses, +part towards the quays, part fall back on the Boulevards, the rest hurry +to the Tuileries by the Pont Tournant. The prince de Lambesc, at the head +of his horsemen, with drawn sabre pursues them into the gardens, and +charges an unarmed multitude who were peaceably promenading and had +nothing to do with the procession. In this attack an old man is wounded by +a sabre cut; the mob defend themselves with the seats, and rush to the +terraces; indignation becomes general; the cry _To arms!_ soon resounds on +every side, at the Palais Royal and the Tuileries, in the city and in the +faubourgs. + +We have already said that the regiment of the French guard was favourably +disposed towards the people: it had accordingly been ordered to keep in +barracks. The prince de Lambesc, fearing that it might nevertheless take +an active part, ordered sixty dragoons to station themselves before its +dépôt, situated in the Chaussée-d'Antin. The soldiers of the guards, +already dissatisfied at being kept as prisoners, were greatly provoked at +the sight of these strangers, with whom they had had a skirmish a few days +before. They wished to fly to arms, and their officers using alternately +threats and entreaties, had much difficulty in restraining them. But they +would hear no more, when some of their men brought them intelligence of +the attack at the Tuileries, and the death of one of their comrades: they +seized their arms, broke open the gates, and drew up in battle array at +the entrance of the barracks, and cried out, "_Qui vive?_"--"Royal- +allemand."--"Are you for the third estate?" "We are for those who command +us." Then the French guards fired on them, killed two of their men, +wounded three, and put the rest to flight. They then advanced at quick +time and with fixed bayonets to the Place Louis XV. and took their stand +between the Tuileries and the Champs Élysées, the people and the troops, +and kept that post during the night. The soldiers of the Champ de Mars +were immediately ordered to advance. When they reached the Champs Élysées, +the French guards received them with discharges of musketry. They wished +to make them fight, but they refused: the Petits-Suisses were the first to +give this example, which the other regiments followed. The officers, in +despair, ordered a retreat; the troops retired as far as the Grille de +Chaillot, whence they soon withdrew into the Champ de Mars. The defection +of the French guard, and the manifest refusal even of the foreign troops +to march on the capital, caused the failure of the projects of the court. + +During the evening the people had repaired to the Hôtel de Ville, and +requested that the tocsin might be sounded, the districts assembled, and +the citizens armed. Some electors assembled at the Hôtel de Ville, and +took the authority into their own hands. They rendered great service to +their fellow-citizens and the cause of liberty by their courage, prudence, +and activity, during these days of insurrection; but in the first +confusion of the rising it was with difficulty they succeeded in making +themselves heard. The tumult was at its height; each only answered the +dictates of his own passions. Side by side with well-disposed citizens +were men of suspicious character, who only sought in insurrection +opportunities for pillage and disorder. Bands of labourers employed by +government in the public works, for the most part without home or +substance, burnt the barriers, infested the streets, plundered houses, and +obtained the name of brigands. The night of the 12th and 13th was spent in +tumult and alarm. + +The departure of Necker, which threw the capital into this state of +excitement, had no less effect at Versailles and in the assembly. It +caused the same astonishment and discontent. The deputies repaired early +in the morning to the Salle des États; they were gloomy, but their silence +arose from indignation rather than dejection. "At the opening of the +session," said a deputy, "several addresses of adherence to the decrees +were listened to in mournful silence by the assembly, more attentive to +their own thoughts than to the addresses read." Mounier began; he +exclaimed against the dismissal of ministers beloved by the nation, and +the choice of their successors. He proposed an address to the king +demanding their recall, showing him the dangers attendant on violent +measures, the misfortunes that would follow the employment of troops, and +telling him that the assembly solemnly opposed itself to an infamous +national bankruptcy. At these words, the feelings of the assembly, +hitherto restrained, broke out in clapping of hands, and cries of +approbation. Lally-Tollendal, a friend of Necker, then came forward with a +sorrowful air, and delivered a long and eloquent eulogium on the banished +minister. He was listened to with the greatest interest; his grief +responded to that of the public; the cause of Necker was now that of the +country. The nobility itself sided with the members of the third estate, +either considering the danger common, or dreading to incur the same blame +as the court if it did not disapprove its conduct, or perhaps it obeyed +the general impulse. + +A noble deputy, the count de Virieu, set the example, and said: "Assembled +for the constitution, let us make the constitution; let us tighten our +mutual bonds; let us renew, confirm, and consecrate the glorious decrees +of the 17th of June; let us join in the celebrated resolution made on the +20th of the same month. Let us all, yes, all, all the united orders, swear +to be faithful to those illustrious decrees which now can alone save the +kingdom." "_The constitution shall be made, or we will cease to be_," +added the duc de la Rochefoucauld. But this unanimity became still more +confirmed when the rising of Paris, the excesses which ensued the burning +of the barriers, the assembling of the electors at the Hôtel de Ville, the +confusion of the capital, and the fact that citizens were ready to be +attacked by the soldiers or to slaughter each other, became known to the +assembly. Then one cry resounded through the hall: "Let the recollection +of our momentary divisions be effaced! Let us unite our efforts for the +salvation of the country!" A deputation was immediately sent to the king, +composed of eighty members, among whom were all the deputies of Paris. The +archbishop of Vienne, president of the assembly, was at its head. It was +to represent to the king the dangers that threatened the capital, the +necessity of sending away the troops, and entrusting the care of the city +to a militia of citizens; and if it obtained these demands from the king, +a deputation was to be sent to Paris with the consolatory intelligence. +But the members soon returned with an unsatisfactory answer. + +The assembly now saw that it must depend on itself, and that the projects +of the court were irrevocably fixed. Far from being discouraged, it only +became more firm, and immediately voted unanimously a decree proclaiming +the responsibility of the present ministers of the king, and of all his +counsellors, _of whatever rank they might be_; it further passed a vote of +regret for Necker and the other disgraced ministers; it resolved that it +would not cease to insist upon the dismissal of the troops and the +establishment of a militia of citizens; it placed the public debt under +the safeguard of French honour, and adhered to all its previous decrees. +After these measures, it adopted a last one, not less necessary; +apprehending that the Salle des États might, during the night, be occupied +by a military force for the purpose of dispersing the assembly, it +resolved to sit permanently till further orders. It decided that a portion +of the members should sit during the night, and another relieve them early +in the morning. To spare the venerable archbishop of Vienne the fatigue of +a permanent presidency, a vice-president was appointed to supply his place +on these extraordinary occasions. Lafayette was elected to preside over +the night sittings. It passed off without a debate; the deputies remaining +in their seats, observing silence, but apparently calm and serene. It was +by these measures, this expression of public regret, by these decrees, +this unanimous enthusiasm, this sustained good sense, this inflexible +conduct, that the assembly rose gradually to a level with its dangers and +its mission. + +On the 13th the insurrection took at Paris a more regular character. Early +in the morning the populace flocked to the Hôtel de Ville; the tocsin was +sounded there and in all the churches; and drums were beat in the streets +to call the citizens together. The public places soon became thronged. +Troops were formed under the titles of volunteers of the Palais Royal, +volunteers of the Tuileries, of the Basoche, and of the Arquebuse. The +districts assembled, and each of them voted two hundred men for its +defence. Arms alone were wanting; and these were eagerly sought wherever +there was any hope of finding them. All that could be found at the gun- +smiths and sword-cutlers were taken, receipts being sent to the owners. +They applied for arms at the Hôtel de Ville. The electors who were still +assembled, replied in vain that they had none; they insisted on having +them. The electors then sent the head of the city, M. de Flesselles, the +Prévôt des marchands, who alone knew the military state of the capital, +and whose popular authority promised to be of great assistance in this +difficult conjuncture. He was received with loud applause by the +multitude: "_My friends_," said he, "_I am your father; you shall be +satisfied_." A permanent committee was formed at the Hôtel de Ville, to +take measures for the general safety. + +About the same time it was announced that the Maison des Lazaristes, which +contained a large quantity of grain, had been despoiled; that the Garde- +Meuble had been forced open to obtain old arms, and that the gun-smiths' +shops had been plundered. The greatest excesses were apprehended from the +crowd; it was let loose, and it seemed difficult to master its fury. But +this was a moment of enthusiasm and disinterestedness. The mob itself +disarmed suspected characters; the corn found at the Lazaristes was taken +to the Halle; not a single house was plundered, and carriages and vehicles +filled with provisions, furniture and utensils, stopped at the gates of +the city, were taken to the Place de Grève, which became a vast depôt. +Here the crowd increased every moment, shouting _Arms!_ It was now about +one o'clock. The provost of the merchants then announced the immediate +arrival of twelve thousand guns from the manufactory of Charleville, which +would soon be followed by thirty thousand more. + +This appeased the people for some time, and the committee was enabled to +pursue quietly its task of organizing a militia of citizens. In less than +four hours the plan was drawn up, discussed, adopted, printed, and +proclaimed. It was resolved that the Parisian guard should, till further +orders, be increased to forty-eight thousand men. All citizens were +invited to enrol their names; every district had its battalion; every +battalion its leaders; the command of this army of citizens was offered to +the duc d'Aumont, who required twenty-four hours to decide. In the +meantime the marquis de la Salle was appointed second in command. The +green cockade was then exchanged for a blue and red one, which were the +colours of the city. All this was the work of a few hours. The districts +gave their assent to the measures adopted by the permanent committee. The +clerks of the Châtelet, those of the Palais, medical students, soldiers of +the watch, and what was of still greater value, the French guards offered +their services to the assembly. Patrols began to be formed, and to +perambulate the streets. + +The people waited with impatience the realisation of the promise of the +provost of the merchants, but no guns arrived; evening approached, and +they feared during the night another attack from the troops. They thought +they were betrayed when they heard of an attempt to convey secretly from +Paris nearly fifty cwt. of powder, which had been intercepted by the +people at the barriers. But soon after some cases arrived, labelled +_Artillery_. At this sight, the commotion subsided; the cases were +escorted to the Hôtel de Ville, it being supposed that they contained the +guns expected from Charleville. On opening them, they were found to +contain old linen and pieces of wood. A cry of treachery arose on every +side, mingled with murmurs and threats against the committee and the +provost of the merchants. The latter apologized, declaring he had been +deceived; and to gain time, or to get rid of the crowd, sent them to the +Chartreux, to seek for arms. Finding none there, the mob returned, enraged +and mistrustful. The committee then felt satisfied there was no other way +of arming Paris, and curing the suspicions of the people, than by forging +pikes; and accordingly gave orders that fifty thousand should be made +immediately. To avoid the excesses of the preceding night, the town was +illuminated, and patrols marched through it in every direction. + +The next day, the people that had been unable to obtain arms on the +preceding day, came early in the morning to solicit some from the +committee, blaming its refusal and failures of the day before. The +committee had sent for some in vain; none had arrived from Charleville, +none were to be found at the Chartreux, and the arsenal itself was empty. + +The mob, no longer satisfied with excuses, and more convinced than ever +that they were betrayed, hurried in a mass to the Hôtel des Invalides, +which contained a considerable depot of arms. It displayed no fear of the +troops established in the Champ de Mars, broke into the Hôtel, in spite of +the entreaties of the governor, M. de Sombreuil, found twenty-eight +thousand guns concealed in the cellars, seized them, took all the sabres, +swords, and cannon, and carried them off in triumph. The cannon were +placed at the entrance of the Faubourgs, at the palace of the Tuileries, +on the quays and on the bridges, for the defence of the capital against +the invasion of troops, which was expected every moment. + +Even during the same morning an alarm was given that the regiments +stationed at Saint Denis were on the march, and that the cannon of the +Bastille were pointed on the Rue Saint Antoine. The committee immediately +sent to ascertain the truth; appointed bands of citizens to defend that +side of the town, and sent a deputation to the governor of the Bastille, +soliciting him to withdraw his cannon and engage in no act of hostility. +This alarm, together with the dread which that fortress inspired, the +hatred felt for the abuses it shielded, the importance of possessing so +prominent a point, and of not leaving it in the power of the enemy in a +moment of insurrection, drew the attention of the populace in that +direction. From nine in the morning till two, the only rallying word +throughout Paris was "à la Bastille! à la Bastille!" The citizens hastened +thither in bands from all quarters, armed with guns, pikes, and sabres. +The crowd which already surrounded it was considerable; the sentinels of +the fortress were at their posts, and the drawbridges raised as in war. + +A deputy of the district of Saint Louis de la Culture, named Thuriot de la +Rosière, then requested a parley with De Launay, the governor. When +admitted to his presence he summoned him to change the direction of the +cannon. The governor replied, that the cannon had always been placed on +the towers, and it was not in his power to remove them; yet, at the same +time, having heard of the alarm prevalent among the Parisians, he had had +them withdrawn a few paces, and taken out of the port-holes. With some +difficulty Thuriot obtained permission to enter the fortress further, and +examine if its condition was really as satisfactory for the town as the +governor represented it to be. As he advanced, he observed three pieces of +cannon pointed on the avenues leading to the open space before the +fortress, and ready to sweep those who might attempt to attack it. About +forty Swiss, and eighty Invalides, were under arms. Thuriot urged them, as +well as the staff of the place, in the name of honour and of their +country, not to act as the enemies of the people. Both officers and +soldiers swore they would not make use of their arms unless attacked. +Thuriot then ascended the towers, and perceived a crowd gathering in all +directions, and the inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint Antoine, who were +rising in a mass. The multitude without, not seeing him return, were +already demanding him with great clamour. To satisfy the people, he +appeared on the parapet of the fortress, and was received with loud +applause from the gardens of the arsenal. He then rejoined his party, and +having informed them of the result of his mission, proceeded to the +committee. + +But the impatient crowd now clamoured for the surrender of the Bastille. +From time to time the cry arose, "The Bastille! we will have the +Bastille!" At length, two men, more determined than the rest, darting from +the crowd, sprang on a guardhouse, and struck at the chains of the +drawbridge with heavy hatchets. The soldiers shouted to them to retire, +and threatened to fire; but they continued to strike, succeeded in +breaking the chains and lowering the bridge, and then rushed over it, +followed by the crowd. In this way they advanced to cut the chains of the +second bridge. The garrison now dispersed them with a discharge of +musketry. They returned, however, to the attack, and for several hours +their efforts were confined to the second bridge, the approach to which +was defended by a ceaseless fire from the fortress. The mob infuriated by +this obstinate resistance, tried to break in the gates with hatchets, and +to set fire to the guard-house. A murderous discharge of grapeshot +proceeded from the garrison, and many of the besiegers were killed and +wounded. They only became the more determined, and seconded by the daring +and determination of the two brave men, Elie and Hulin, who were at their +head, they continued the attack with fury. + +The committee of the Hôtel de Ville were in a state of great anxiety. The +siege of the Bastille seemed to them a very rash enterprise. They ever and +anon received intelligence of the disasters that had taken place before +the fortress. They wavered between fear of the troops should they prove +victorious, and that of the multitude who clamoured for ammunition to +continue the siege. As they could not give what they did not possess, the +mob cried treachery. Two deputations had been sent by the committee for +the purpose of discontinuing hostilities, and inviting the governor to +confide the keeping of the place to the citizens; but in the midst of the +tumult, the cries, and the firing, they could not make themselves heard. A +third was sent, carrying a drum and banner, that it might be more easily +distinguished, but it experienced no better fortune: neither side would +listen to anything. The assembly at the Hôtel de Ville, notwithstanding it +efforts and activity, still incurred the suspicions of the populace. The +provost of the merchants, especially, excited the greatest mistrust. "He +has already deceived us several times during the day," said one. "He +talks," said another, "of opening a trench; he only wants to gain time, to +make us lose ours." Then an old man cried: "Comrades, why do you listen to +traitors? Forward, follow me! In less than two hours the Bastille will be +taken!" + +The siege had lasted more than four hours when the French guards arrived +with cannon. Their arrival changed the appearance of the combat. The +garrison itself begged the governor to yield. The unfortunate De Launay, +dreading the fate that awaited him, wished to blow up the fortress, and +bury himself under its ruins and those of the faubourg. He went in despair +towards the powder magazine, with a lighted match. The garrison stopped +him, raised a white standard on the platform, and reversed the guns, in +token of peace. But the assailants still continued to fight and advance, +shouting, "Lower the bridges!" Through the battlements a Swiss officer +proposed to capitulate, with permission to retire from the building with +the honours of war. "No! no!" clamoured the crowd. The same officer +proposed to lay down arms, on the promise that their lives should be +spared. "Lower the bridge," rejoined the foremost of the assailants, "you +shall not be injured." The gates were opened and the bridge lowered, on +this assurance, and the crowd rushed into the Bastille. Those who led the +multitude wished to save from its vengeance the governor, Swiss soldiers, +and Invalides; but cries of "Give them up! give them up! they fired on +their fellow-citizens, they deserve to be hanged!" rose on every side. The +governor, a few Swiss soldiers and Invalides were torn from the protection +of those who sought to defend them, and put to death by the implacable +crowd. + +The permanent committee knew nothing of the issue of the combat. The hall +of the sittings was invaded by a furious multitude, who threatened the +provost of the merchants and electors. Flesselles began to be alarmed at +his position; he was pale and agitated. The object of the most violent +reproaches and threats, they obliged him to go from the hall of the +committee to the hall of the general assembly, where a great crowd of +citizens was assembled. "Let him come; let him follow us," resounded from +all sides. "This is too much!" rejoined Flesselles. "Let us go, since they +request it; let us go where I am expected." They had scarcely reached the +great hall, when the attention of the multitude was drawn off by shouts on +the Place de Grève. They heard the cries of "Victory! victory! liberty!" +It was the arrival of the conquerors of the Bastille which this announced. +They themselves soon entered the hall with the most noisy and the most +fearful pomp. The persons who had most distinguished themselves were +carried in triumph, crowned with laurels. They were escorted by more than +fifteen hundred men, with glaring eyes and dishevelled hair, with all +kinds of arms, pressing one upon another, and making the flooring yield +beneath their feet. One carried the keys and standard of the Bastille; +another, its regulations suspended to his bayonet; a third, with horrible +barbarity, raised in his bleeding hand the buckle of the governor's stock. +With this parade, the procession of the conquerors of the Bastille, +followed by an immense crowd that thronged the quays, entered the hall of +the Hôtel de Ville to inform the committee of their triumph, and decide +the fate of the prisoners who survived. A few wished to leave it to the +committee, but others shouted: "No quarter for the prisoners! No quarter +for the men who fired on their fellow-citizens!" La Salle, the commandant, +the elector Moreau de Saint-Méry, and the brave Elie, succeeded in +appeasing the multitude, and obtained a general amnesty. + +It was now the turn of the unfortunate Flesselles. It is said that a +letter found on De Launay proved the treachery of which he was suspected. +"I am amusing the Parisians," he wrote, "with cockades and promises. Hold +out till the evening, and you shall be reinforced." The mob hurried to his +office. The more moderate demanded that he should be arrested and confined +in the Châtelet; but others opposed this, saying that he should be +conveyed to the Palais-Royal, and there tried. This decision gave general +satisfaction. "To the Palais-Royal! To the Palais-Royal!" resounded from +every side. "Well--be it so, gentlemen," replied Flesselles, with +composure, "let us go to the Palais-Royal." So saying, he descended the +steps, passed through the crowd, which opened to make way for him, and +which followed without offering him any violence. But at the corner of the +Quay Pelletier a stranger rushed forward, and killed him with a pistol- +shot. + +After these scenes of war, tumult, dispute, and vengeance, the Parisians, +fearing, from some intercepted letters, that an attack would be made +during the night, prepared to receive the enemy. The whole population +joined in the labour of fortifying the town; they formed barricades, +opened intrenchments, unpaved streets, forged pikes, and cast bullets. +Women carried stones to the tops of the houses to crush the soldiers as +they passed. The national guard were distributed in posts; Paris seemed +changed into an immense foundry and a vast camp, and the whole night was +spent under arms, expecting the conflict. + +While the insurrection assumed this violent, permanent, and serious +character at Paris, what was doing at Versailles? The court was preparing +to realize its designs against the capital and assembly. The night of the +14th was fixed upon for their execution. The baron de Breteuil, who was at +the head of the ministry, had promised to restore the royal authority in +three days. Marshal de Broglie, commander of the army collected around +Paris, had received unlimited powers of all kinds. On the 15th the +declaration of the 23rd of June was to be renewed, and the king, after +forcing the assembly to adopt it, was to dissolve it. Forty thousand +copies of this declaration were in readiness to be circulated throughout +the kingdom; and to meet the pressing necessities of the treasury more +than a hundred millions of paper money was created. The movement in Paris, +so far from thwarting the court, favoured its views. To the last moment it +looked upon it as a passing tumult that might easily be suppressed; it +believed neither in its perseverance nor in its success, and it did not +seem possible to it that a town of citizens could resist an army. + +The assembly was apprised of these projects. For two days it had sat +without interruption, in a state of great anxiety and alarm. It was +ignorant of the greater portion of what was passing in Paris. At one time +it was announced that the insurrection was general, and that all Paris was +marching on Versailles; then that the troops were advancing on the +capital. They fancied they heard cannon, and they placed their ears to the +ground to assure themselves. On the evening of the 14th it was announced +that the king intended to depart during the night, and that the assembly +would be left to the mercy of the foreign regiments. This last alarm was +not without foundation. A carriage and horses were kept in readiness, and +the body-guard remained booted for several days. Besides, at the Orangery, +incidents truly alarming took place; the troops were prepared and +stimulated for their expedition by distributions of wine and by +encouragements. Everything announced that a decisive moment had arrived. + +Despite the approaching and increasing danger, the assembly was unshaken, +and persisted in its first resolutions. Mirabeau, who had first required +the dismissal of the troops, now arranged another deputation. It was on +the point of setting out, when the viscount de Noailles, a deputy, just +arrived from Paris, informed the assembly of the progress of the +insurrection, the pillage of the Invalides, the arming of the people, and +the siege of the Bastille. Wimpfen, another deputy, to this account added +that of the personal dangers he had incurred, and assured them that the +fury of the populace was increasing with its peril. The assembly proposed +the establishment of couriers to bring them intelligence every half hour. + +M. M. Ganilh and Bancal-des-Issarts, despatched by the committee at the +Hôtel de Ville as a deputation to the assembly, confirmed all they had +just heard. They informed them of the measures taken by the electors to +secure order and the defence of the capital; the disasters that had +happened before the Bastille; the inutility of the deputations sent to the +governor, and told them that the fire of the garrison had surrounded the +fortress with the slain. A cry of indignation arose in the assembly at +this intelligence, and a second deputation was instantly despatched to +communicate these distressing tidings to the king. The first returned with +an unsatisfactory answer; it was now ten at night. The king, on learning +these disastrous events, which seemed to presage others still greater, +appeared affected. Struggling against the part he had been induced to +adopt, he said to the deputies,--"You rend my heart more and more by the +dreadful news you bring of the misfortunes of Paris. It is impossible to +suppose that the orders given to the troops are the cause of these +disasters. You are acquainted with the answer I returned to the first +deputation; I have nothing to add to it." This answer consisted of a +promise that the troops of the Champ de Mars should be sent away from +Paris, and of an order given to general officers to assume the command of +the guard of citizens. Such measures were not sufficient to remedy the +dangerous situation in which men were placed; and it neither satisfied nor +gave confidence to the assembly. + +Shortly after this, the deputies d'Ormesson and Duport announced to the +assembly the taking of the Bastille, and the deaths of De Launay and +Flesselles. It was proposed to send a third deputation to the king, +imploring the removal of the troops. "No," said Clermont Tonnerre, "leave +them the night to consult in; kings must buy experience as well as other +men." In this way the assembly spent the night. On the following morning, +another deputation was appointed to represent to the king the misfortunes +that would follow a longer refusal. When on the point of starting, +Mirabeau stopped it: "Tell him," he exclaimed, "that the hordes of +strangers who invest us, received yesterday, visits, caresses, +exhortations, and presents from the princes, princesses, and favourites; +tell him that, during the night, these foreign satellites, gorged with +gold and wine, predicted in their impious songs the subjection of France, +and invoked the destruction of the national assembly; tell him, that in +his own palace, courtiers danced to the sound of that barbarous music, and +that such was the prelude to the massacre of Saint Bartholomew! Tell him +that the Henry of his ancestors, whom he wished to take as his model, +whose memory is honoured by all nations, sent provisions into a Paris in +revolt when besieging the city himself, while the savage advisers of Louis +send away the corn which trade brings into Paris loyal and starving." + +But at that moment the king entered the assembly. The duke de Liancourt, +taking advantage of the access his quality of master of the robes gave +him, had informed the king, during the night, of the desertion of the +French guard, and of the attack and taking of the Bastille. At this news, +of which his councillors had kept him in ignorance, the monarch exclaimed, +with surprise, "this is a revolt!" "No sire! it is a revolution." This +excellent citizen had represented to him the danger to which the projects +of the court exposed him; the fears and exasperations of the people, the +disaffection of the troops, and he determined upon presenting himself +before the assembly, to satisfy them as to his intentions. The news at +first excited transports of joy. Mirabeau represented to his colleagues, +that it was not fit to indulge in premature applause. "Let us wait," said +he, "till his majesty makes known the good intentions we are led to expect +from him. The blood of our brethren flows in Paris. Let a sad respect be +the first reception given to the king by the representatives of an +unfortunate people: the silence of the people is the lesson of kings." + +The assembly resumed the sombre demeanour which had never left it during +the three preceding days. The king entered without guards, and only +attended by his brothers. He was received, at first, in profound silence; +but when he told them he was _one with the nation_, and that, relying on +the love and fidelity of his subjects, he had ordered the troops to leave +Paris and Versailles; when he uttered the affecting words--_Eh bien, c'est +moi qui me fie à vous_, general applause ensued. The assembly arose +spontaneously, and conducted him back to the château. + +This intelligence diffused gladness in Versailles and Paris, where the +reassured people passed, by sudden transition, from animosity to +gratitude. Louis XVI. thus restored to himself, felt the importance of +appeasing the capital in person, of regaining the affection of the people, +and of thus conciliating the popular power. He announced to the assembly +that he would recall Necker, and repair to Paris the following day. The +assembly had already nominated a deputation of a hundred members, which +preceded the king to the capital. It was received with enthusiasm. Bailly +and Lafayette, who formed part of it, were appointed, the former mayor of +Paris, the latter commander-in-chief of the citizen guard. Bailly owed +this recompense to his long and difficult presidency of the assembly, and +Lafayette to his glorious and patriotic conduct. A friend of Washington, +and one of the principal authors of American independence, he had, on his +return to his country, first pronounced the name of the states-general, +had joined the assembly, with the minority of the nobility, and had since +proved himself one of the most zealous partisans of the revolution. + +On the 27th, the new magistrates went to receive the king at the head of +the municipality and the Parisian guard. "Sire," said Bailly, "I bring +your majesty the keys of your good town of Paris; they are the same which +were presented to Henry IV.; he had regained his people; now the people +have regained their king." From the Place Louis XV. to the Hôtel de Ville, +the king passed through a double line of the national guard, placed in +ranks three or four deep, and armed with guns, pikes, lances, scythes, and +staves. Their countenances were still gloomy; and no cry was heard but the +oft-repeated shout of "Vive la Nation!" But when Louis XVI. had left his +carriage and received from Bailly's hands the tri-coloured cockade, and, +surrounded by the crowd without guards, had confidently entered the Hôtel +de Ville, cries of "Vive le Roi!" burst forth on every side. The +reconciliation was complete; Louis XVI. received the strongest marks of +affection. After approving the choice of the people with respect to the +new magistrates, he returned to Versailles, where some anxiety was +entertained as to the success of his journey, on account of the preceding +troubles. The national assembly met him in the Avenue de Paris; it +accompanied him as far as the château, where the queen and her children +ran to his arms. + +The ministers opposed to the revolution, and all the authors of the +unsuccessful projects, retired from court. The count d'Artois and his two +sons, the prince de Condé, the prince de Conti, and the Polignac family, +accompanied by a numerous train, left France. They settled at Turin, where +the count d'Artois and the prince de Condé were soon joined by Calonne, +who became their agent. Thus began the first emigration. The emigrant +princes were not long in exciting civil war in the kingdom, and forming an +European coalition against France. + +Necker returned in triumph. This was the finest moment of his life; few +men have had such. The minister of the nation, disgraced for it, and +recalled for it, he was welcomed along the road from Bâle to Paris, with +every expression of public gratitude and joy. His entry into Paris was a +day of festivity. But the day that raised his popularity to its height put +a term to it. The multitude, still enraged against all who had +participated in the project of the 14th of July, had put to death, with +relentless cruelty, Foulon, the intended minister, and his nephew, +Berthier. Indignant at these executions, fearing that others might fall +victims, and especially desirous of saving the baron de Besenval, +commander of the army of Paris, under marshal de Broglie, and detained +prisoner, Necker demanded a general amnesty and obtained it from the +assembly of electors. This step was very imprudent, in a moment of +enthusiasm and mistrust. Necker did not know the people; he was not aware +how easily they suspect their chiefs and destroy their idols. They thought +he wished to protect their enemies from the punishment they had incurred; +the districts assembled, the legality of an amnesty pronounced by an +unauthorised assembly was violently attacked, and the electors themselves +revoked it. No doubt, it was advisable to calm the rage of the people, and +recommend them to be merciful; but instead of demanding the liberation of +the accused, the application should have been for a tribunal which would +have removed them from the murderous jurisdiction of the multitude. In +certain cases that which appears most humane is not really so. Necker, +without gaining anything, excited the people against himself, and the +districts against the electors; from that time he began to contend against +the revolution, of which, because he had been for a moment its hero, he +hoped to become the master. But an individual is of slight importance +during a revolution which raises the masses; that vast movement either +drags him on with it, or tramples him under foot; he must either precede +or succumb. At no time is the subordination of men to circumstances more +clearly manifested: revolutions employ many leaders, and when they submit, +it is to one alone. + +The consequences of the 14th of July were immense. The movement of Paris +communicated itself to the provinces; the country population, imitating +that of the capital, organized itself in all directions into +municipalities for purposes of self-government; and into bodies of +national guards for self-defence. Authority and force became wholly +displaced; royalty had lost them by its defeat, the nation had acquired +them. The new magistrates were alone powerful, alone obeyed; their +predecessors were altogether mistrusted. In towns, the people rose against +them and against the privileged classes, whom they naturally supposed +enemies to the change that had been effected. In the country, the châteaux +were fired and the peasantry burned the title-deeds of their lords. In a +moment of victory it is difficult not to make an abuse of power. But to +appease the people it was necessary to destroy abuses, in order that, they +might not, while seeking to get rid of them, confound privilege with +property. Classes had disappeared, arbitrary power was destroyed; with +these, their old accessory, inequality, too, must be suppressed. Thus must +proceed the establishment of the new order of things, and these +preliminaries were the work of a single night. + +The assembly had addressed to the people proclamations calculated to +restore tranquillity. The Châtelet was constituted a court for trying the +conspirators of the 14th of July, and this also contributed to the +restoration of order by satisfying the multitude. An important measure +remained to be executed, the abolition of privileges. On the night of the +4th of August, the viscount de Noailles gave the signal for this. He +proposed the redemption of feudal rights, and the suppression of personal +servitude. With this motion began the sacrifice of all the privileged +classes; a rivalry of patriotism and public offerings arose among them. +The enthusiasm became general; in a few hours the cessation of all abuses +was decreed. The duke du Châtelet proposed the redemption of tithes and +their conversion into a pecuniary tax; the bishop of Chartres, the +abolition of the game-laws; the count de Virieu, that of the law +protecting doves and pigeons. The abolition of seigneurial courts, of the +purchase and sale of posts in the magistracy, of pecuniary immunities, of +favouritism in taxation, of surplice money, first-fruits, pluralities, and +unmerited pensions, were successively proposed and carried. After +sacrifices made by individuals, came those of bodies, of towns and +provinces. Companies and civic freedoms were abolished. The marquis des +Blacons, a deputy of Dauphiné, in the name of his province, pronounced a +solemn renunciation of its privileges. The other provinces followed the +example of Dauphiné, and the towns that of the provinces. A medal was +struck to commemorate the day; and the assembly decreed to Louis XVI. the +title of _Restorer of French Liberty_. + +That night, which an enemy of the revolution designated at the time, the +Saint Bartholomew of property, was only the Saint Bartholomew of abuses. +It swept away the rubbish of feudalism; it delivered persons from the +remains of servitude, properties from seigneurial liabilities; from the +ravages of game, and the exaction of tithes. By destroying the seigneurial +courts, that remnant of private power, it led to the principle of public +power; in putting an end to the purchasing posts in the magistracy, it +threw open the prospect of unbought justice. It was the transition from an +order of things in which everything belonged to individuals, to another in +which everything was to belong to the nation. That night changed the face +of the kingdom; it made all Frenchmen equal; all might now obtain public +employments; aspire to the idea of property of their own, of exercising +industry for their own benefit. That night was a revolution as important +as the insurrection of the 14th of July, of which it was the consequence. +It made the people masters of society, as the other had made them masters +of the government, and it enabled them to prepare the new, while +destroying the old constitution. + +The revolution had progressed rapidly, had obtained great results in a +very short time; it would have been less prompt, less complete, had it not +been attacked. Every refusal became for it the cause of a new success; it +foiled intrigue, resisted authority, triumphed over force; and at the +point of time we have reached, the whole edifice of absolute monarchy had +fallen to the ground, through the errors of its chiefs. The 17th of June +had witnessed the disappearance of the three orders, and the states- +general changed into the national assembly; with the 23rd of June +terminated the moral influence of royalty; with the 14th of July its +physical power; the assembly inherited the one, the people the other; +finally, the 4th of August completed this first revolution. The period we +have just gone over stands prominently out from the rest; in its brief +course force was displaced, and all the preliminary changes were +accomplished. The following period is that in which the new system is +discussed, becomes established, and in which the assembly, after having +been destructive, becomes constructive. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FROM THE NIGHT OF THE 4TH OF AUGUST TO THE 5TH AND 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789 + + +The national assembly, composed of the élite of the nation, was full of +intelligence, pure intentions, and projects for the public good. It was +not, indeed, free from parties, or wholly unanimous; but the mass was not +dominated by any man or idea; and it was the mass which, upon a conviction +ever untrammelled and often entirely spontaneous, decided the +deliberations and bestowed popularity. The following were the divisions of +views and interests it contained within itself:-- + +The court had a party in the assembly, the privileged classes, who +remained for a long time silent, and took but a tardy share in the +debates. This party consisted of those who during the dispute as to the +orders had declared against union. The aristocratic classes, +notwithstanding their momentary agreement with the commons, had interests +altogether contrary to those of the national party; and, accordingly, the +nobility and higher clergy, who formed the Right of the assembly, were in +constant opposition to it, except on days of peculiar excitement. These +foes of the revolution, unable to prevent it by their sacrifices, or to +stop it by their adhesion, systematically contended against all its +reforms. Their leaders were two men who were not the first among them in +birth or rank, but who were superior to the rest in talents. Maury and +Cazalès represented, as it were, the one the clergy, and the other the +nobility. + +These two orators of the privileged classes, according to the intentions +of their party, who put little faith in the duration of these changes, +rather protested than stood on the defensive; and in all their discussions +their aim was not to instruct the assembly, but to bring it into +disrepute. Each introduced into his part the particular turn of his mind +and character: Maury made long speeches, Cazalès lively sallies. The first +preserved at the tribune his habits as a preacher and academician; he +spoke on legislative subjects without understanding them, never seizing +the right view of the subject, nor even that most advantageous to his +party; he gave proofs of audacity, erudition, skill, a brilliant and well- +sustained facility, but never displayed solidity of judgment, firm +conviction, or real eloquence. The abbé Maury spoke as soldiers fight. No +one could contradict oftener or more pertinaciously than he, or more +flippantly substitute quotations and sophisms for reasoning, or rhetorical +phrases for real bursts of feeling. He possessed much talent, but wanted +the faculty which gives it life and truth. Cazalès was the opposite of +Maury: he had a just and ready mind; his eloquence was equally facile, but +more animated; there was candour in his outbursts, and he always gave the +best reasons. No rhetorician, he always took the true side of a question +that concerned his party, and left declamation to Maury. With the +clearness of his views, his ardent character, and the good use he made of +his talents, his only fault was that of his position; Maury, on the other +hand, added the errors of his mind to those which were inseparable from +the cause he espoused. + +Necker and the ministry had also a party; but it was less numerous than +the other, on account of its moderation. France was then divided into the +privileged classes opposed to the revolution, and the people who +strenuously desired it. As yet there was no place for a mediating party +between them. Necker had declared himself in favour of the English +constitution, and those who from ambition or conviction were of his views, +rallied round him. Among these was Mounier, a man of strong mind and +inflexible spirit, who considered that system as the type of +representative governments; Lally-Tollendal, as decided in his views as +the former, and more persuasive; Clermont-Tonnerre, the friend and ally of +Mounier and Lally; in a word, the minority of the nobility, and some of +the bishops, who hoped to become members of the upper chamber, should +Necker's views be adopted. + +The leaders of this party, afterwards called the monarchical party, wished +to affect a revolution by compromise, and to introduce into France a +representative government, ready formed, namely, that of England. At every +point, they besought the powerful to make a compromise with the weak. +Before the 14th of July they asked the court and privileged classes to +satisfy the commons; afterwards, they asked the commons to agree to an +arrangement with the court and the privileged classes. They thought that +each ought to preserve his influence in the state; that deposed parties +are discontented parties, and that a legal existence must be made for +them, or interminable struggles be expected on their part. But they did +not see how little their ideas were appropriate to a moment of exclusive +passions. The struggle was begun, the struggle destined to result in the +triumph of a system, and not in a compromise. It was a victory which had +made the three orders give place to a single assembly, and it was +difficult to break the unity of this assembly in order to arrive at a +government of two Chambers. The moderate party had not been able to obtain +this government from the court, nor were they to obtain it from the +nation: to the one it had appeared too popular; for the other, it was too +aristocratic. + +The rest of the assembly consisted of the national party. As yet there +were not observed in it men who, like Robespierre, Pétion, Buzot, etc., +wished to begin a second revolution when the first was accomplished. At +this period the most extreme of this party were Duport, Barnave, and +Lameth, who formed a triumvirate, whose opinions were prepared by Duport, +sustained by Barnave, and managed by Alexander Lameth. There was something +remarkable and announcing the spirit of equality of the times, in this +intimate union of an advocate belonging to the middle classes, of a +counsellor belonging to the parliamentary class, and a colonel belonging +to the court, renouncing the interests of their order to unite in views of +the public good and popular happiness. This party at first took a more +advanced position than that which the revolution had attained. The 14th of +July had been the triumph of the middle class; the constituent assembly +was its legislature, the national guard its armed force, the mayoralty its +popular power. Mirabeau, Lafayette, Bailly, relied on this class; one was +its tribune, the other its general, and the third its magistrate. Duport, +Barnave, and Lameth's party were of the principles and sustained the +interests of that period of the revolution; but this party, composed of +young men of ardent patriotism, who entered on public affairs with +superior qualities, fine talents, and elevated positions, and who joined +to the love of liberty the ambition of playing a leading part, placed +itself from the first rather in advance of the revolution of July the +14th. Its fulcrum within the assembly was the members of the extreme left +without, in the clubs, in the nation, in the party of the people, who had +co-operated on the 14th of July, and who were unwilling that the +bourgeoisie alone should derive advantage from the victory. By putting +itself at the head of those who had no leaders, and who being a little out +of the government aspired to enter it, it did not cease to belong to this +first period of the revolution; only it formed a kind of democratic +opposition, even in the middle class itself, only differing from its +leaders on a few unimportant points, and voting with them on most +questions. It was, among these popular men, rather a patriotic emulation +than a party dissension. + +Duport, who was strong-minded, and who had acquired premature experience +of the management of political passions, in the struggles which parliament +had sustained against the ministry, and which he had chiefly directed, +knew well that a people reposes the moment it has gained its rights, and +that it begins to grow weak as soon as it reposes. To keep in vigour those +who governed in the assembly, in the mayoralty, in the militia; to prevent +public activity from slackening, and not to disband the people, whose aid +he might one day require, he conceived and executed the famous +confederation of the clubs. This institution, like everything that gives a +great impulse to a nation, caused a great deal of good, and a great deal +of harm. It impeded legal authority, when this of itself was sufficient; +but it also gave an immense energy to the revolution, when, attacked on +all sides, it could only save itself by the most violent efforts. For the +rest, the founders of this association had not calculated all its +consequences. They regarded it simply as a wheel destined to keep or put +in movement the public machine, without danger, when it tended to abate or +to cease its activity; they did not think they were working for the +advantage of the multitude. After the flight of Varennes, this party had +become too exacting and too formidable; they forsook it, and supported +themselves against it with the mass of the assembly and the middle class, +whose direction was left vacant by the death of Mirabeau. At this period, +it was important to them speedily to fix the constitutional revolution; +for to protract it would have been to bring on the republican revolution. + +The mass of the assembly, we have just mentioned, abounded in just, +experienced, and even superior minds. Its leaders were two men, strangers +to the third estate, and adopted by it. Without the abbé Sieyès, the +constituent assembly would probably have had less unity in its operation, +and without Mirabeau, less energy in its conduct. + +Sieyès was one of those men who create sects in an age of enthusiasm, and +who exercise the ascendancy of a powerful reason in an enlightened era. +Solitude and philosophical studies had matured him at an early age. His +views were new, strong, and extensive, but somewhat too systematic. +Society had especially been the subject of his examination; he had watched +its progress, investigated its springs. The nature of government appeared +to him less a question of right than a question of epoch. His vast +intellect ranged the society of our days in its divisions, relations, +powers, and movement. Sieyès, though of cold temperament, had the ardour +which the pursuit of truth inspires, and the passion which its discovery +gives; he was accordingly absolute in his views, disdaining those of +others, because he considered them incomplete, and because, in his +opinion, half truth was error. Contradiction irritated him; he was not +communicative. Desirous of making himself thoroughly known, he could not +do so with every one. His disciples imparted his systems to others, which +surrounded him with a sort of mystery, and rendered him the object of a +species of reverence. He had the authority which complete political +science procures, and the constitution might have emerged from his head +completely armed, like the Minerva of Jupiter, or the legislation of the +ancients, were it not that in our days every one sought to be engaged in +the task, or to criticise it. Yet, with the exception of some +modifications, his plans were generally adopted, and he had in the +committees more disciples than colleagues. + +Mirabeau obtained in the tribune the same ascendancy as Sieyès in the +committees. He was a man who only waited the occasion to become great. At +Rome, in the best days of the republic, he would have been a Gracchus; in +its decline, a Catiline; under the Fronde, a cardinal de Retz; and in the +decrepitude of a monarchy, when such a being could only find scope for his +immense faculties in agitation, he became remarkable for the vehemence of +his passions, and for their punishment, a life passed in committing +excesses, and suffering for them. This prodigious activity required +employment; the revolution provided it. Accustomed to the struggle against +despotism, irritated by the contempt of a nobility who were inferior to +him, and who excluded him from their body; clever, daring, eloquent, +Mirabeau felt that the revolution would be his work, and his life. He +exactly corresponded to the chief wants of his time. His thought, his +voice, his action, were those of a tribune. In perilous circumstances, his +was the earnestness which carries away an assembly; in difficult +discussions, the unanswerable sally which at once puts an end to them; +with a word he prostrated ambition, silenced enmities, disconcerted +rivalries. This powerful being, perfectly at his ease in the midst of +agitation, now giving himself up to the impetuosity, now to the +familiarities of conscious strength, exercised a sort of sovereignty in +the assembly. He soon obtained immense popularity, which he retained to +the last; and he whom, at his first entrance into the legislature, every +eye shunned, was, at his death, received into the Pantheon, amidst the +tears of the assembly; and of all France. Had it not been for the +revolution, Mirabeau would have failed in realizing his destiny, for it is +not enough to be great: one must live at the fitting period. + +The duke of Orleans, to whom a party has been given, had but little +influence in the assembly; he voted with the majority, not the majority +with him. The personal attachment of some of its members, his name, the +fears of the court, the popularity his opinions enjoyed, hopes rather than +conspiracies had increased his reputation as a factious character. He had +neither the qualities nor the defects of a conspirator; he may have aided +with his money and his name popular movements, which would have taken +place just the same without him, and which had another object than his +elevation. It is still a common error to attribute the greatest of +revolutions to some petty private manoeuvring, as if at such an epoch a +whole people could be used as the instrument of one man. + +The assembly had acquired the entire power; the corporations depended on +it; the national guards obeyed it. It was divided into committees to +facilitate its operations, and execute them. The royal power, though +existing of right, was in a measure suspended, since it was not obeyed, +and the assembly had to supply its action by its own. Thus, independently +of committees entrusted with the preparation of its measures, it had +appointed others to exercise a useful superintendence without. A committee +of supply occupied itself with provisions, an important object in a year +of scarcity; a committee of inquiry corresponded with the corporations and +provinces; a committee of researches received informations against the +conspirators of the 14th of July. But finance and the constitution, which +the past crises had adjourned, were the special subjects of attention. + +After having momentarily provided for the necessities of the treasury, the +assembly, although now become sovereign, consulted, by examining the +_cahiers_, the wishes of its constituents. It then proceeded to form its +institutions with a method, a liberal and extensive spirit of discussion, +which was to procure for France a constitution conformable with justice +and suited to its necessities. The United States of America, at the time +of its independence, had set forth in a declaration the rights of man, and +those of the citizen. This will ever be the first step. A people rising +from slavery feels the necessity of proclaiming its rights, even before it +forms its government. Those Frenchmen who had assisted at the American +revolution, and who co-operated in ours, proposed a similar declaration as +a preamble to our laws. This was agreeable to an assembly of legislators +and philosophers, restricted by no limits, since no institutions existed, +and directed by primitive and fundamental ideas of society, since it was +the pupil of the eighteenth century. Though this declaration only +contained general principles, and confined itself to setting forth in +maxims what the constitution was to put into laws, it was calculated to +elevate the mind, and impart to the citizens a consciousness of their +dignity and importance. At Lafayette's suggestion, the assembly had before +commenced this discussion; but the events at Paris, and the decrees of the +4th of August, had interrupted its labours; they were now resumed, and +concluded, by determining the principles which were to form the table of +the new law, and which were the assumption of right in the name of +humanity. + +These generalities being adopted, the assembly turned its attention to the +organization of the legislative power. This was one of its most important +objects; it was to fix the nature of its functions, and establish its +relations with the king. In this discussion the assembly had only to +decide the future condition of the legislative power. Invested as it was +with constituent authority, it was raised above its own decisions, and no +intermediate power could suspend or prevent its mission. But what should +be the form of the deliberative body in future sessions? Should it remain +indivisible, or be divided into two chambers? If the latter form should be +adopted, what should be the nature of the second chamber? Should it be +made an aristocratic assembly, or a moderative senate? And, whatever the +deliberative body might be, was it to be permanent or periodical, and +should the king share the legislative power with it? Such were the +difficulties that agitated the assembly and Paris during the month of +September. + +If we consider the position of the assembly and its ideas of sovereignty, +we shall easily understand the manner in which these questions were +decided. It regarded the king merely as the hereditary agent of the +nation, having neither the right to assemble its representatives nor that +of directing or suspending them. Accordingly, it refused to grant him the +initiative in making laws and dissolving the assembly. It considered that +the legislative body ought not to be dependent on the king. It moreover +feared that by granting the government too strong an influence over the +assembly, or by not keeping the latter always together, the prince might +profit by the intervals in which he would be left alone, to encroach on +the other powers, and perhaps even to destroy the new system. Therefore to +an authority in constant activity, they wished to oppose an always +existing assembly, and the permanence of the assembly was accordingly +declared. The debate respecting its indivisibility, or its division, was +very animated. Necker, Mounier, and Lally-Tollendal desired, in addition +to a representative chamber, a senate, to be composed of members to be +appointed by the king on the nomination of the people. They considered +this as the only means of moderating the power, and even of preventing the +tyranny of a single assembly. They had as partisans such members as +participated in their ideas, or who hoped to form part of the upper +chamber. The majority of the nobility did not wish for a house of peers, +but for an aristocratic assembly, whose members it should elect. They +could not agree; Mounier's party refusing to fall in with a project +calculated to revive the orders, and the aristocracy refusing to accept a +senate, which would confirm the ruin of the nobility. The greater portion +of the deputies of the clergy and of the commons were in favour of the +unity of the assembly. The popular party considered it illegal to appoint +legislators for life; it thought that the upper chamber would become the +instrument of the court and aristocracy, and would then be dangerous, or +become useless by uniting with the commons. Thus the nobility, from +dissatisfaction, and the national party, from a spirit of absolute +justice, alike rejected the upper chamber. + +This determination of the assembly has been the object of many reproaches. +The partisans of the peerage have attributed all the evils of the +revolution to the absence of that order; as if it had been possible for +anybody whatsoever to arrest its progress. It was not the constitution +which gave it the character it has had, but events arising from party +struggles. What would the upper chamber have done between the court and +the nation? If in favour of the first, it would have been unable to guide +or save it; if in favour of the second, it would not have strengthened it; +in either case, its suppression would have infallibly ensued. In such +times, progress is rapid, and all that seeks to check it is superfluous. +In England, the house of lords, although docile, was suspended during the +crisis. These various systems have each their epoch; revolutions are +achieved by one chamber, and end with two. + +The royal sanction gave rise to great debates in the assembly, and violent +clamours without. The question was as to the part of the king in the +making of laws; the deputies were nearly all agreed on one point. They +were determined, in admitting his right to sanction or refuse laws; but +some desired that this right should be unlimited, others that it should be +temporary. This, in reality, amounted to the same thing, for it was not +possible for the king to prolong his refusal indefinitely, and the veto, +though absolute, would only have been suspensive. But this faculty, +bestowed on a single man, of checking the will of the people, appeared +exorbitant, especially out of the assembly, where it was less understood. + +Paris had not yet recovered from the agitation of the 14th of July; the +popular government was but beginning, and the city experienced all its +liberty and disorder. The assembly of electors, who in difficult +circumstances had taken the place of a provisional corporation, had just +been replaced. A hundred and eighty members nominated by the districts, +constituted themselves legislators and representatives of the city. While +they were engaged on a plan of municipal organization, each desired to +command; for in France the love of liberty is almost the love of power. +The committees acted apart from the mayor; the assembly of representatives +arose against the committees, and the districts against the assembly of +representatives. Each of the sixty districts attributed to itself the +legislative power, and gave the executive power to its committees; they +all considered the members of the general assembly as their subordinates, +and themselves as invested with the right of annulling their decrees. This +idea of the sovereignty of the principal over the delegate made rapid +progress. Those who had no share in authority, formed assemblies, and then +gave themselves up to discussion; soldiers debated at the Oratoire, +journeymen tailors at the Colonnade, hairdressers in the Champs Élysées, +servants at the Louvre; but the most animated debates took place in the +Palais Royal. There were inquired into the questions that occupied the +national assembly, and its discussions criticised. The dearth of +provisions also brought crowds together, and these mobs were not the least +dangerous. + +Such was the state of Paris when the debate concerning the veto was begun. +The alarm which this right conferred on the king excited, was extreme. It +seemed as though the fate of liberty depended on the decision of this +question, and that the veto alone would bring back the ancient system. The +multitude, ignorant of the nature and limits of power, wished the +assembly, on which it relied, to do all, and the king, whom it mistrusted, +to do nothing. Every instrument left at the disposal of the court appeared +the means of a counter-revolution. The crowds at the Palais Royal grew +turbulent; threatening letters were sent to those members of the assembly, +who, like Mounier, had declared in favour of the absolute veto. They spoke +of dismissing them as faithless representatives, and of marching upon +Versailles. The Palais Royal sent a deputation to the assembly, and +required the commune to declare that the deputies were revocable, and to +make them at all times dependent on the electors. The commune remained +firm, rejected the demands of the Palais Royal, and took measures to +prevent the riotous assemblies. The national guard supported it; this body +was well disposed; Lafayette had acquired its confidence; it was becoming +organised, it wore a uniform, submitted to discipline after the example of +the French guard, and learned from its chief the love of order and respect +for the law. But the middle class that composed it had not yet taken +exclusive possession of the popular government. The multitude which was +enrolled on the 14th of July, was not as yet entirely disbanded. This +agitation from without rendered the debates upon the veto stormy; in this +way a very simple question acquired great importance, and the ministry, +perceiving how fatal the influence of an absolute decision might prove, +and seeing, also, that the _unlimited veto_ and the _suspensive veto_ were +one and the same thing, induced the king to be satisfied with the latter, +and give up the former. The assembly declared that the refusal of his +sanction could not be prolonged by the prince beyond two sessions; and +this decision satisfied every one. + +The court took advantage of the agitation in Paris to realise other +projects. For some time it had influenced the king's mind. At first, he +had refused to sanction the decrees of the 4th of August, although they +were constitutive, and consequently he could not avoid promulgating them. +After accepting them, on the remonstrances of the assembly, he renewed the +same difficulties relative to the declaration of rights. The object of the +court was to represent Louis XVI. as oppressed by the assembly, and +constrained to submit to measures which he was unwilling to accept; it +endured its situation with impatience and strove to regain its former +authority. Flight was the only means, and it was requisite to legitimate +it; nothing could be done in the presence of the assembly, and in the +neighbourhood of Paris. Royal authority had fallen on the 23rd of June, +military power on the 14th of July; there was no alternative but civil +war. As it was difficult to persuade the king to this course, they waited +till the last moment to induce him to flee; his hesitation caused the +failure of the plan. It was proposed to retire to Metz, to Bouillé, in the +midst of his army; to call around the monarch the nobility, the troops who +continued faithful, the parliaments; to declare the assembly and Paris in +a state of rebellion; to invite them to obedience or to force them to it; +and if the ancient system could not be entirely re-established, at least +to confine themselves to the declaration of the 20th of June. On the other +hand, if the court had an interest in removing the king from Versailles, +that it might effect something, it was the interest of the partisans of +the revolution to bring him to Paris; the Orleans faction, if one existed, +had an interest in driving the king to flight, by intimidating him, in the +hope that the assembly would appoint its leader _lieutenant-general of the +kingdom_; and, lastly, the people, who were in want of bread, wished for +the king to reside at Paris, in the hope that his presence would diminish, +or put a stop to the dearth of provisions. All these causes existing, an +occasion was only wanting to bring about an insurrection; the court +furnished this occasion. On the pretext of protecting itself against the +movements in Paris, it summoned troops to Versailles, doubled the +household guards, and sent for the dragoons and the Flanders regiment. All +this preparation of troops gave rise to the liveliest fears; a report +spread of an anti-revolutionary measure, and the flight of the king, and +the dissolution of the assembly, were announced as at hand. Strange +uniforms, and yellow and black cockades, were to be seen at the +Luxembourg, the Palais Royal, and at the Champs Élysées; the foes of the +revolution displayed a degree of joy they had not manifested for some +time. The behaviour of the court confirmed these suspicions, and disclosed +the object of all these preparations. + +The officers of the Flanders regiment, received with anxiety in the town +of Versailles, were fêted at the château, and even admitted to the queen's +card tables. Endeavours were made to secure their devotion, and a banquet +was given to them by the king's guards. The officers of the dragoons and +the chasseurs, who were at Versailles, those of the Swiss guards, of the +hundred Swiss, of the prevoté, and the staff of the national guard were +invited. The theatre in the château, which was reserved for the most +solemn fêtes of the court, and which, since the marriage of the second +brother of the king, had only been used for the emperor Joseph II., was +selected for the scene of the festival. The king's musicians were ordered +to attend this, the first fête which the guards had given. During the +banquet, toasts to the king and royal family were drunk with enthusiasm, +while the nation was omitted or rejected. At the second course, the +grenadiers of Flanders, the two bodies of Swiss, and the dragoons were +admitted to witness the spectacle, and share the sentiments which animated +the guests. The enthusiasm increased every moment. Suddenly the king was +announced; he entered attired in a hunting dress, the queen leaning on his +arm, and carrying the dauphin. Shouts of affection and devotion arose on +every side. The health of the royal family was drunk, with swords drawn; +and when Louis XVI. withdrew, the music played, "_O Richard! O mon roi! +l'univers t'abandonne_." The scene now assumed a very significant +character; the march of the Hullans, and the profusion of wine, deprived +the guests of all reserve. The charge was sounded; tottering guests +climbed the boxes, as if mounting to an assault; while cockades were +distributed; the tri-coloured cockade, it is said, was trampled on, and +the guests then spread through the galleries of the château, where the +ladies of the court loaded them with congratulations, and decorated them +with ribbons and cockades. + +Such was this famous banquet of the 1st of October, which the court was +imprudent enough to repeat on the third. One cannot help lamenting its +fatal want of foresight; it could neither submit to nor change its +destiny. This assembling of the troops, so far from preventing aggression +in Paris, provoked it; the banquet did not make the devotion of the +soldiers any more sure, while it augmented the ill disposition of the +people. To protect itself there was no necessity for so much ardour, nor +for flight was there needful so much preparation; but the court never took +the measure calculated to make its designs succeed, or else it only half +took it, and, in order to decide, it always waited until there was no +longer any time. + +The news of this banquet, and the appearance of black cockades, produced +the greatest sensation in Paris. From the 4th, suppressed rumours, +counter-revolutionary provocations, the dread of conspiracies, indignation +against the court, and increasing alarm at the dearth of provisions, all +announced an insurrection; the multitude already looked towards +Versailles. On the 5th, the insurrection broke out in a violent and +invincible manner; the entire want of flour was the signal. A young girl, +entering a guardhouse, seized a drum, and rushed through the streets +beating it, and crying, "Bread! Bread!" She was soon surrounded by a crowd +of women. This mob advanced towards the Hôtel de Ville, increasing as it +went. It forced the guard that stood at the door, and penetrated into the +interior, clamouring for bread and arms; it broke open doors, seized +weapons, sounded the tocsin, and marched towards Versailles. The people +soon rose _en masse_, uttering the same demand, till the cry, "To +Versailles!" rose on every side. The women started first, headed by +Maillard, one of the volunteers of the Bastille. The populace, the +national guard, and the French guards requested to follow them. The +commander, Lafayette, opposed their departure a long time, but in vain; +neither his efforts nor his popularity could overcome the obstinacy of the +people. For seven hours he harangued and retained them. At length, +impatient at this delay, rejecting his advice, they prepared to set +forward without him; when, feeling that it was now his duty to conduct as +it had previously been to restrain them, he obtained his authorization +from the corporation, and gave the word for departure about seven in the +evening. + +The excitement at Versailles was less impetuous, but quite as real; the +national guard and the assembly were anxious and irritated. The double +banquet of the household troops, the approbation the queen had expressed, +_J'ai été enchantée de la journée de Jeudi_--the king's refusal to accept +simply the Rights of Man, his concerted temporizings, and the want of +provisions, excited the alarm of the representatives of the people and +filled them with suspicion. Pétion, having denounced the banquets of the +guards, was summoned by a royalist deputy to explain his denunciation, and +make known the guilty parties. "Let it be expressly declared," exclaimed +Mirabeau, "that whosoever is not king is a subject and responsible, and I +will speedily furnish proofs." These words, which pointed to the queen, +compelled the Right to be silent. This hostile discussion was preceded and +succeeded by debates equally animated, concerning the refusal of the +sanction, and the scarcity of provisions in Paris. At length, just as a +deputation was despatched to the king, to require his pure and simple +acceptance of the Rights of Man, and to adjure him to facilitate with all +his power the supplying Paris with provisions, the arrival of the women, +headed by Maillard, was announced. + +Their unexpected appearance, for they had intercepted all the couriers who +might have announced it, excited the terrors of the court. The troops of +Versailles flew to arms and surrounded the château, but the intentions of +the women were not hostile. Maillard, their leader, had recommended them +to appear as suppliants, and in that attitude they presented their +complaints successively to the assembly and to the king. Accordingly, the +first hours of this turbulent evening were sufficiently calm. Yet it was +impossible but that causes of hostility should arise between an excited +mob and the household troops, the objects of so much irritation. The +latter were stationed in the court of the château opposite the national +guard and the Flanders regiment. The space between was filled by women and +volunteers of the Bastille. In the midst of the confusion, necessarily +arising from such a juxtaposition, a scuffle arose; this was the signal +for disorder and conflict. An officer of the guards struck a Parisian +soldier with his sabre, and was in turn shot in the arm. The national +guards sided against the household troops; the conflict became warm, and +would have been sanguinary, but for the darkness, the bad weather, and the +orders given to the household troops first to cease firing and then to +retire. But as these were accused of being the aggressors, the fury of the +multitude continued for some time; their quarters were broken into, two of +them were wounded, and another saved with difficulty. + +During this tumult, the court was in consternation; the flight of the king +was suggested, and carriages prepared; a picket of the national guard saw +them at the gate of the Orangery, and, after closing the gate, compelled +them to go back; moreover, the king, either ignorant of the designs of the +court, or conceiving them impracticable, refused to escape. Fears were +mingled with his pacific intentions, when he hesitated to repel the +aggression or to take flight. Conquered, he apprehended the fate of +Charles I. of England; absent, he feared that the duke of Orleans would +obtain the lieutenancy of the kingdom. But, in the meantime, the rain, +fatigue, and the inaction of the household troops, lessened the fury of +the multitude, and Lafayette arrived at the head of the Parisian army. + +His presence restored security to the court, and the replies of the king +to the deputation from Paris, satisfied the multitude and the army. In a +short time, Lafayette's activity, the good sense and discipline of the +Parisian guard, restored order everywhere. Tranquillity returned. The +crowd of women and volunteers, overcome by fatigue, gradually dispersed, +and some of the national guard were entrusted with the defence of the +château, while others were lodged with their companions in arms at +Versailles. The royal family, reassured after the anxiety and fear of this +painful night, retired to rest about two o'clock in the morning. Towards +five, Lafayette, having visited the outposts which had been confided to +his care, and finding the watch well kept, the town calm, and the crowds +dispersed or sleeping, also took a few moments repose. + +About six, however, some men of the lower class, more enthusiastic than +the rest, and awake sooner than they, prowled round the château. Finding a +gate open, they informed their companions, and entered. Unfortunately, the +interior posts had been entrusted to the household guards, and refused to +the Parisian army. This fatal refusal caused all the misfortunes of the +night. The interior guard had not even been increased; the gates scarcely +visited, and the watch kept as negligently as on ordinary occasions. These +men, excited by all the passions that had brought them to Versailles, +perceiving one of the household troops at a window, began to insult him. +He fired, and wounded one of them. They then rushed on the household +troops who defended the château breast to breast, and sacrificed +themselves heroically. One of them had time to warn the queen, whom the +assailants particularly threatened; and half dressed, she ran for refuge +to the king. The tumult and danger were extreme in the château. + +Lafayette, apprised of the invasion of the royal residence, mounted his +horse, and rode hastily to the scene of danger. On the square he met some +of the household troops surrounded by an infuriated mob, who were on the +point of killing them. He threw himself among them, called some French +guards who were near, and having rescued the household troops, and +dispersed their assailants, he hurried to the château. He found it already +secured by the grenadiers of the French guard, who, at the first noise of +the tumult, had hastened and protected the household troops from the fury +of the Parisians. But the scene was not over; the crowd assembled again in +the marble court under the king's balcony, loudly called for him, and he +appeared. They required his departure for Paris; he promised to repair +thither with his family, and this promise was received with general +applause. The queen was resolved to accompany him; but the prejudice +against her was so strong that the journey was not without danger; it was +necessary to reconcile her with the multitude. Lafayette proposed to her +to accompany him to the balcony; after some hesitation, she consented. +They appeared on it together, and to communicate by a sign with the +tumultuous crowd, to conquer its animosity, and awaken its enthusiasm, +Lafayette respectfully kissed the queen's hand; the crowd responded with +acclamations. It now remained to make peace between them and the household +troops. Lafayette advanced with one of these, placed his own tricoloured +cockade on his hat, and embraced him before the people, who shouted +"_Vivent les gardes-du-corps!_" Thus terminated this scene; the royal +family set out for Paris, escorted by the army, and its guards mixed with +it. + +The insurrection of the 5th and 6th of October was an entirely popular +movement. We must not try to explain it by secret motives, nor attribute +it to concealed ambition; it was provoked by the imprudence of the court. +The banquet of the household troops, the reports of flight, the dread of +civil war, and the scarcity of provisions alone brought Paris upon +Versailles. If special instigators, which the most careful inquiries have +still left doubtful, contributed to produce this movement, they did not +change either its direction or its object. The result of this event was +the destruction of the ancient régime of the court; it deprived it of its +guard, it removed it from the royal residence at Versailles to the capital +of the revolution, and placed it under the surveillance of the people. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FROM THE 6TH OF OCTOBER, 1789, TO THE DEATH OF MIRABEAU, APRIL, 1791 + + +The period which forms the subject of this chapter was less remarkable for +events than for the gradually decided separation of parties. In proportion +as changes were introduced into the state and the laws, those whose +interests or opinions they injured declared themselves against them. The +revolution had had as enemies, from the beginning of the states-general, +the court; from the union of orders and the abolition of privileges, the +nobility; from the establishment of a single assembly and the rejection of +the two chambers, the ministry and the partisans of the English form of +government. It had, moreover, against it since the departmental +organization, the provinces; since the decree respecting the property and +civil constitution of the clergy, the whole ecclesiastical body; since the +introduction of the new military laws, all the officers of the army. It +might seem that the assembly ought not to have effected so many changes at +once, so as to have avoided making so many enemies; but its general plans, +its necessities, and the very plots of its adversaries, required all these +innovations. + +After the 5th and 6th of October, the assembly emigrated as the court had +done after the 14th of July. Mounier and Lally-Tollendal deserted it, +despairing of liberty from the moment their views ceased to be followed. +Too absolute in their plans, they wanted the people, after having +delivered the assembly on the 14th of July, suddenly to cease acting, +which was displaying an entire ignorance of the impetus of revolutions. +When the people have once been made use of, it is difficult to disband +them, and the most prudent course is not to contest, but to regulate +intervention. Lally-Tollendal renounced his title of Frenchman, and +returned to England, the land of his ancestors. Mounier repaired to +Dauphiné, his native province, which he endeavoured to excite to a revolt +against the assembly. It was inconsistent to complain of an insurrection, +and yet to provoke one, especially when it was to the profit of another +party, for his was too weak to maintain itself against the ancient régime +and the revolution. Notwithstanding his influence in Dauphiné, whose +former movements he had directed, Mounier was unable to establish there a +centre of permanent resistance, but the assembly was thereby warned to +destroy the ancient provincial organisation, which might become the frame- +work of a civil war. + +After the 5th and 6th of October, the national representatives followed +the king to the capital, which their common presence had contributed +greatly to tranquillise. The people were satisfied with possessing the +king, the causes which had excited their ebullition had ceased. The duke +of Orleans, who, rightly or wrongly, was considered the contriver of the +insurrection, had just been sent away; he had accepted a mission to +England; Lafayette was resolved to maintain order; the national guard, +animated by a better spirit, acquired every day habits of discipline and +obedience; the corporation, getting over the confusion of its first +establishment, began to have authority. There remained but one cause of +disturbance--the scarcity of provisions. Notwithstanding the zeal and +foresight of the committee entrusted with the task of providing supplies, +daily assemblages of the people threatened the public tranquillity. The +people, so easily deceived when suffering, killed a baker called François, +who was unjustly accused as a monopolist. On the 21st of October a martial +law was proclaimed, authorizing the corporation to employ force to +disperse the mob, after having summoned the citizens to retire. Power was +vested in a class interested in maintaining order; the districts and the +national guard were obedient to the assembly. Submission to the law was +the prevailing passion of that epoch. The deputies on their side only +aspired at completing the constitution and effecting the re-organisation +of the state. They had the more reason for hastening their task, as the +enemies of the assembly made use of what remained of the ancient régime, +to occasion it embarrassment. Accordingly, it replied to each of their +endeavours by a decree, which, changing the ancient order of things, +deprived them of one of their means of attack. + +It began by dividing the kingdom more equally and regularly. The +provinces, which had witnessed with regret the loss of their privileges, +formed small states, the extent of which was too vast, and the +administration too independent. It was essential to reduce their size, +change their names, and subject them to the same government. On the 22nd +of December, the assembly adopted in this respect the project conceived by +Sieyès, and presented by Thouret in the name of the committee, which +occupied itself constantly on this subject for two months. + +France was divided into eighty-three departments, nearly equal in extent +and population; the departments were subdivided into districts and +cantons. Their administration received a uniform and hierarchical form. +The department had an administrative council composed of thirty-six +members, and an executive directory composed of five members: as the names +indicate, the functions of the one were to decide, and of the other to +act. The district was organised in the same way; although on a smaller +scale, it had a council and a directory, fewer in number, and subordinate +to the superior directory and council. The canton composed of five or six +parishes, was an electoral not an administrative division; the active +citizens, and to be considered such it was necessary to pay taxes +amounting to three days' earnings, united in the canton to nominate their +deputies and magistrates. Everything in the new plan was subject to +election, but this had several degrees. It appeared imprudent to confide +to the multitude the choice of its delegates, and illegal to exclude them +from it; this difficult question was avoided by the double election. The +active citizens of the canton named electors intrusted with nominating the +members of the national assembly, the administrators of the department, +those of the district, and the judges of tribunals; a criminal court was +established in each department, a civil court in each district, and a +police-court in each canton. + +Such was the institution of the department. It remained to regulate that +of the corporation: the administration of this was confided to a general +council and a municipality, composed of members whose numbers were +proportioned to the population of the towns. The municipal officers were +named immediately by the people, and could alone authorize the employment +of the armed force. The corporation formed the first step of the +association, the kingdom formed the last; the department was intermediate +between the corporation and the state, between universal interests and +purely local interests. + +The execution of this plan, which organized the sovereignty of the people, +which enabled all citizens to concur in the election of their magistrates, +and entrusted them with their own administration, and distributed them +into a machinery which, by permitting the whole state to move, preserved a +correspondence between its parts, and prevented their isolation, excited +the discontent of some provinces. The states of Languedoc and Brittany +protested against the new division of the kingdom, and on their side the +parliaments of Metz, Rouen, Bordeaux, and Toulouse rose against the +operations of the assembly which suppressed the Chambres de Vacations, +abolished the orders, and declared the commissions of the states +incompetent. The partisans of the ancient régime employed every means to +disturb its progress; the nobility excited the provinces, the parliaments +took resolutions, the clergy issued mandates, and writers took advantage +of the liberty of the press to attack the revolution. Its two principal +enemies were the nobles and the bishops. Parliament, having no root in the +nation, only formed a magistracy, whose attacks were prevented by +destroying the magistracy itself, whereas the nobility and the clergy had +means of action which survived the influence of the body. The misfortunes +of these two classes were caused by themselves. After harassing the +revolution in the assembly, they afterwards attacked it with open force-- +the clergy, by internal insurrections--the nobility, by arming Europe +against it. They had great expectations from anarchy, which, it is true, +caused France many evils, but which was far from rendering their own +position better. Let us now see how the hostilities of the clergy were +brought on; for this purpose we must go back a little. + +The revolution had commenced with the finances, and had not yet been able +to put an end to the embarrassments by which it was caused. More important +objects had occupied the attention of the assembly. Summoned, no longer to +defray the expenses of administration, but to constitute the state, it had +suspended its legislative discussions, from time to time, in order to +satisfy the more pressing necessities of the treasury. Necker had proposed +provisional means, which had been adopted in confidence, and almost +without discussion. Despite this zeal, he did not without displeasure see +the finances considered as subordinate to the constitution, and the +ministry to the assembly. A first loan of thirty millions (1,200,000l.), +voted the 9th of August, had not succeeded; a subsequent loan of eighty +millions (3,200,000l.), voted the 27th of the same month, had been +insufficient. Duties were reduced or abolished, and they yielded scarcely +anything, owing to the difficulty of collecting them. It became useless to +have recourse to public confidence, which refused its aid; and in +September, Necker had proposed, as the only means, an extraordinary +contribution of a fourth of the revenue, to be paid at once. Each citizen +was to fix his proportion himself, making use of that simple form of oath, +which well expressed these first days of honour and patriotism:--"_I +declare with truth._" + +Mirabeau now caused Necker to be invested with a complete financial +dictatorship. He spoke of the urgent wants of the state, of the labours of +the assembly which did not permit it to discuss the plan of the minister, +and which at the same time prevented its examining any other; of Necker's +skill, which ensured the success of his own measure; and urged the +assembly to leave with him the responsibility of its success, by +confidently adopting it. As some did not approve of the views of the +minister, and others suspected the intentions of Mirabeau with respect to +him, he closed his speech, one of the most eloquent he ever delivered, by +displaying bankruptcy impending, and exclaiming, "Vote this extraordinary +subsidy, and may it prove sufficient! Vote it; for if you have doubts +respecting the means, you have none respecting the want, and our inability +to supply it. Vote it, for the public circumstances will not bear delay, +and we shall be accountable for all postponement. Beware of asking for +time; misfortune never grants it. Gentlemen, on the occasion of a +ridiculous motion at the Palais Royal, an absurd incursion, which had +never had any importance, save in feeble imaginations, or the minds of men +of ill designs and bad faith, you once heard these words, '_Catiline is at +the gates of Rome, and yet they deliberate!_' And yet there were around us +neither Catiline, nor perils, nor factions, nor Rome. But now bankruptcy, +hideous bankruptcy, is there; it threatens to consume you, your +properties, your honour, and yet you deliberate!" Mirabeau had carried +away the assembly by his oratory; and the patriotic contribution was voted +with unanimous applause. + +But this resource had only afforded momentary relief. The finances of the +revolution depended on a more daring and more vast measure. It was +necessary not only to support the revolution, but to repair the immense +deficit which stopped its progress, and threatened its future destiny. One +way alone remained--to declare ecclesiastical property national, and to +sell it for the rescue of the state. Public interest prescribed this +course; and it could be done with justice, the clergy not being the +proprietors, but the simple administrators of this property, devoted to +religion, and not to the priests. The nation, therefore, by taking on +itself the expenses of the altar, and the support of its ministers might +procure and appropriate an important financial resource, and obtain a +great political result. + +It was important not to leave an independent body, and especially an +ancient body, any longer in the state; for in a time of revolution +everything ancient is hostile. The clergy, by its formidable hierarchy and +its opulence, a stranger to the new changes, would have remained as a +republic in the kingdom. Its form belonged to another system: when there +was no state, but only bodies, each order had provided for its own +regulation and existence. The clergy had its decretals, the nobility its +law of fiefs, the people its corporations; everything was independent, +because everything was private. But now that functions were becoming +public, it was necessary to make a magistracy of the priesthood as they +had made one of royalty; and, in order to make them dependent on the +state, it was essential they should be paid by it, and to resume from the +monarch his domains, from the clergy its property, by bestowing on each of +them suitable endowments. This great operation, which destroyed the +ancient ecclesiastical régime, was effected in the following manner: + +One of the most pressing necessities was the abolition of tithes. As these +were a tax paid by the rural population to the clergy, the sacrifice would +be for the advantage of those who were oppressed by them. Accordingly, +after declaring they were redeemable, on the night of the 4th of August, +they were suppressed on the 11th, without providing any equivalent. The +clergy opposed the measure at first, but afterwards had the good sense to +consent. The archbishop of Paris gave up tithes in the name of all his +brethren, and by this act of prudence he showed himself faithful to the +line of conduct adopted by the privileged classes on the night of the 4th +of August; but this was the extent of his sacrifices. + +A short time after, the debate respecting the possession of ecclesiastical +property began. Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, proposed to the clergy that +they should renounce it in favour of the nation, which would employ it in +defraying the expenses of worship, and liquidating its debt. He proved the +justice and propriety of this measure; and he showed the great advantages +which would accrue to the state. The property of the clergy amounted to +several thousand millions of francs. After paying its debts, providing for +the ecclesiastical services and that of hospitals, and the endowment of +its ministers, sufficient would still remain to extinguish the public +debt, whether permanent or annuities, and to reimburse the money paid for +judicial offices. The clergy rose against this proposition. The discussion +became very animated; and it was decided, in spite of their resistance, +that they were not proprietors, but simple depositaries of the wealth that +the piety of kings and of the faithful had devoted to religion, and that +the nation, on providing for the service of public worship, had a right to +recall such property. The decree which placed it at its disposal was +passed on the 2nd of December, 1789. + +From that moment the hatred of the clergy to the revolution broke out. At +the commencement of the states-general it had been less intractable than +the nobility, in order to preserve its riches; it now showed itself as +opposed as they to the new régime, of which it became the most tenacious +and furious foe. Yet, as the decree placed ecclesiastical property at the +disposal of the nation, without, as yet, displacing it, it did not break +out into opposition at once. The administration was still confided to it, +and it hoped that the possessions of the church might serve as a mortgage +for the debt, but would not be sold. + +It was, indeed, difficult to effect the sale, which, however, could not be +delayed, the treasury only subsisting on anticipations, and the exchequer, +which supplied it with bills, beginning to lose all credit on account of +the number it had issued. + +They obtained their end, and proceeded with the new financial organisation +in the following manner: The necessities of this and the following year +required a sale of this property to the amount of four hundred millions of +francs; to facilitate it, the corporation of Paris made considerable +subscriptions, and the municipalities of the kingdom followed the example +of Paris. They were to return to the treasury the equivalent of the +property they received from the state to sell to private individuals; but +they wanted money, and they could not deliver the amount since they had +not yet met with purchasers. What was to be done? They supplied municipal +notes intended to reimburse the public creditors, until they should +acquire the funds necessary for withdrawing the notes. Once arrived thus +far, they saw that, instead of municipal notes, it would be better to +create exchequer bills, which would have a compulsory circulation, and +answer the purpose of specie: this was simplifying the operation by +generalising it. In this way the assignats had their origin. + +This invention was of great utility to the revolution, and alone secured +the sale of ecclesiastical property. The assignats, which were a means of +payment for the state, became a pledge to the creditors. The latter by +receiving them were not obliged to accept payment in land for what they +had furnished in money. But sooner or later the assignats would fall into +the hands of men disposed to realise them, and then they were to be +destroyed at the same time that they ceased to be a pledge. In order that +they might fulfil their design, their forced circulation was required; to +render them safe, the quantity was limited to the value of the property +proposed for sale; and that they might not fall by too sudden a change, +they were made to bear interest. The assembly, from the moment of their +issue, wished to give them all the consistency of money. It was hoped that +specie concealed by distrust would immediately re-appear, and that the +assignats would enter into competition with it. Mortgage made them quite +as sure, and interest made them more profitable; but this interest, which +was attended with much inconvenience, disappeared after the first issue. +Such was the origin of the paper money issued under so much necessity, and +with so much prudence, which enabled the revolution to accomplish such +great things, and which was brought into discredit by causes that belonged +less to its nature than to the subsequent use made of it. + +When the clergy saw by a decree of the 29th of December the administration +of church property transferred to the municipalities, the sale they were +about to make of it to the value of four hundred millions of francs, and +the creation of a paper money calculated to facilitate this spoliation, +and render it definitive, it left nothing undone to secure the +intervention of God in the cause of its wealth. It made a last attempt: it +offered to realize in its own name the loan of four hundred millions of +francs, which was rejected, because otherwise, after having decided that +it was not the proprietor of church property, it would thus have again +been admitted to be so. It then sought every means of impeding the +operations of the municipalities. In the south, it raised catholics +against protestants; in the pulpit, it alarmed consciences; in the +confessional, it treated sales as sacrilegious, and in the tribune it +strove to render the sentiments of the assembly suspected. It excited as +much as possible religious questions for the purpose of compromising the +assembly, and confounding the cause of its own interest with that of +religion. The abuses and inutility of monastic vows were at this period +admitted by every one, even by the clergy. At their abolition on the 13th +of February, 1790, the bishop of Nancy proposed incidentally and +perfidiously that the catholic religion alone should have a public +worship. The assembly were indignant at the motives that suggested such a +proposition, and it was abandoned. But the same motion was again brought +forward in another sitting, and after stormy debates the assembly declared +that from respect to the Supreme Being and the catholic religion, the only +one supported at the expense of the state, it conceived it ought not to +decide upon the question submitted to it. + +Such was the disposition of the clergy, when, in the months of June and +July, 1790, the assembly turned its attention to its internal +organization. The clergy waited with impatience for this opportunity of +exciting a schism. This project, the adoption of which caused so much +evil, went to re-establish the church on its ancient basis, and to restore +the purity of its doctrine; it was not the work of philosophers, but of +austere Christians, who wished to support religion by the state, and to +make them concur mutually in promoting its happiness. The reduction of +bishoprics to the same number as the departments, the conformity of the +ecclesiastical circumscription with the civil circumscription, the +nomination of bishops by electors, who also chose deputies and +administrators, the suppression of chapters, and the substitution of +vicars for canons, were the chief features of this plan; there was nothing +in it that attacked the dogmas or worship of the church. For a long time +the bishops and other ecclesiastics had been nominated by the people; as +for diocesan limits, the operation was purely material, and in no respect +religious. It moreover generously provided for the support of the members +of the church, and if the high dignitaries saw their revenues reduced, the +curés, who formed the most numerous portion, had theirs augmented. + +But a pretext was wanting, and the civil constitution of the clergy was +eagerly seized upon. From the outset of the discussion, the archbishop of +Aix protested against the principles of the ecclesiastical committee. In +his opinion, the appointment or suspension of bishops by civil authority +was opposed to discipline; and when the decree was put to the vote, the +bishop of Clermont recapitulated the principles advanced by the archbishop +of Aix, and left the hall at the head of all the dissentient members. The +decree passed, but the clergy declared war against the revolution. From +that moment it leagued more closely with the dissentient nobility. Equally +reduced to the common condition, the two privileged classes employed all +their means to stop the progress of reform. + +The departments were scarcely formed when agents were sent by them to +assemble the electors, and try new nominations. They did not hope to +obtain a favourable choice, but aimed at fomenting divisions between the +assembly and the departments. This project was denounced from the tribune, +and failed as soon as it was made known. Its authors then went to work in +another way. The period allotted to the deputies of the states-general had +expired, their power having been limited to one year, according to the +desire of the districts. The aristocrats availed themselves of this +circumstance to require a fresh election of the assembly. Had they gained +this point, they would have acquired a great advantage, and with this view +they themselves appealed to the sovereignty of the people. "Without +doubt," replied Chapelier, "all sovereignty rests with the people; but +this principle has no application to the present case; it would be +destroying the constitution and liberty to renew the assembly before the +constitution is completed. This is, indeed, the hope of those who wish to +see liberty and the constitution perish, and to witness the return of the +distinction of orders, of prodigality in the public expenditure, and of +the abuses that spring from despotism." At this moment all eyes were +turned to the Right, and rested on the abbé Maury. "_Send those people to +the Châtelet,_" cried the latter, sharply; "_or if you do not know them, +do not speak of them._" "The constitution," continued Chapelier, "can only +be made by one assembly. Besides, the former electors no longer exist; the +bailiwicks are absorbed in the departments, the orders are no longer +separate. The clause respecting the limitation of power is consequently +without value; it will therefore be contrary to the constitution, if the +deputies do not retain their seats in this assembly; their oath commands +them to continue there, and public interest requires it." + +"You entangle us in sophisms," replied the abbé Maury; "how long have we +been a national convention? You talk of the oath we took on the 20th of +June, without considering that it cannot weaken that which we made to our +constituents. Besides, gentlemen, the constitution is completed; you have, +only now to declare that the king enjoys the plenitude of the executive +power. We are here for the sole purpose of securing to the French nation +the right of influencing its legislation, of establishing the principle +that taxation shall be consented to by the people, and of securing our +liberty. Yes, the constitution is made; and I will oppose every decree +calculated to limit the rights of the people over their representatives. +The founders of liberty ought to respect the liberty of the nation; the +nation is above us all, and we destroy our authority by limiting the +national authority." + +The abbé Maury's speech was received with loud applause from the Right. +Mirabeau immediately ascended the tribune. "It is asked," said he, "how +long the deputies of the people have been a national convention? I answer, +from the day when, finding the door of their session-house surrounded by +soldiers, they went and assembled where they could, and swore to perish +rather than betray or abandon the rights of the nation. Whatever our +powers were, that day their nature was changed; and whatever powers we may +have exercised, our efforts and labours have rendered them legitimate, and +the adhesion of the nation has sanctified them. You all remember the +saying of the great man of antiquity, who had neglected legal forms to +save his country. Summoned by a factious tribune to declare whether he had +observed the laws, he replied, 'I swear I have saved my country!' +Gentlemen," he exclaimed, turning to the deputies of the commons, "I swear +that you have saved France!" + +The assembly then rose by a spontaneous movement, and declared that the +session should not close till their task was accomplished. + +Anti-revolutionary efforts were increasing, at the same time, without the +assembly. Attempts were made to seduce or disorganize the army, but the +assembly took prudent measures in this respect. It gained the affections +of the troops by rendering promotion independent of the court, and of +titles of nobility. The count d'Artois and the prince de Condé, who had +retired to Turin after the 14th of July, corresponded with Lyons and the +south; but the emigrants not having yet the external influence they +afterwards acquired at Coblentz, and failing to meet with internal +support, all their efforts were vain. The attempts at insurrection, +originating with the clergy in Languedoc, had as little effect. They +brought on some transient disturbances, but did not effect a religious +war. Time is necessary to form a party; still more is required to induce +it to decide on serious hostilities. A more practicable design was that of +carrying off the king and conveying him to Peronne. The marquis de Favras, +with the support of _Monsieur_, the king's brother, was preparing to +execute it, when it was discovered. The Châtelet condemned to death this +intrepid adventurer, who had failed in his enterprise, through undertaking +it with too much display. The king's flight, after the events of October, +could only be effected furtively, as it subsequently happened at Varennes. + +The position of the court was equivocal and embarrassing. It encouraged +every anti-revolutionary enterprise and avowed none; it felt more than +ever its weakness and dependence on the assembly; and while desirous of +throwing off the yoke, feared to make the attempt because success appeared +difficult. Accordingly, it excited opposition without openly co-operating +in it; with some it dreamed of the restoration of the ancient régìme, with +others it only aimed at modifying the revolution. Mirabeau had been +recently in treaty with it. After having been one of the chief authors of +reform, he sought to give it stability by enchaining faction. His object +was to convert the court to the revolution, not to give up the revolution +to the court. The support he offered was constitutional; he could not +offer any other; for his power depended on his popularity, and his +popularity on his principles. But he was wrong in suffering it to be +bought. Had not his immense necessities obliged him to accept money and +sell his counsels, he would not have been more blameable than the +unalterable Lafayette, the Lameths and the Girondins, who successively +negotiated with it. But none of them gained the confidence of the court; +it only had recourse to them in extremity. By their means it endeavoured +to suspend the revolution, while by the means of the aristocracy it tried +to destroy it. Of all the popular leaders, Mirabeau had perhaps the +greatest ascendancy over the court, because he was the most winning, and +had the strongest mind. + +The assembly worked unceasingly at the constitution, in the midst of these +intrigues and plots. It decreed the new judicial organization of France. +All the new magistracies were temporary. Under the absolute monarchy, all +powers emanated from the throne, and all functionaries were appointed by +the king; under the constitutional monarchy, all powers emanating from the +people, the functionaries were to be appointed by it. The throne alone was +transmissible; the other powers being the property neither of a man nor of +a family, were neither of life-tenure, nor hereditary. The legislation of +that period depended on one sole principle, the sovereignty of the nation. +The judicial functions had themselves that changeable character. Trial by +jury, a democratic institution formerly common to nearly all the +continent, but which in England alone had survived the encroachments of +feudalism and the throne, was introduced into criminal causes. For civil +causes special judges were nominated. Fixed courts were established, two +courts of appeal to prevent error, and a _cour de cassation_ intended to +secure the preservation of the protecting forms of the law. This +formidable power, when it proceeds from the throne, can only be +independent by being fixed; but it must be temporary when it proceeds from +the people; because, while depending on all, it depends upon no one. + +In another matter, quite as important, the right of making peace or war, +the assembly decided a new and delicate question, and this in a sure, +just, and prompt manner, after one of the most luminous and eloquent +discussions that ever distinguished its sittings. As peace and war +belonged more to action than to will, it confided, contrary to the usual +rule, the initiative to the king. He who was best able to judge of its +fitness was to propose the question, but it was left to the legislative +body to decide it. + +The popular torrent, after having burst forth against the ancient regime, +gradually subsided into its bed; new dykes restrained it on all sides. The +government of the revolution was rapidly becoming established. The +assembly had given to the new régime its monarch, its national +representation, its territorial division, its armed force, its municipal +and administrative power, its popular tribunals, its currency, its clergy; +it had made an arrangement with respect to its debt, and it had found +means to reconstruct property without injustice. + +The 14th of July approached: that day was regarded by the nation as the +anniversary of its deliverance, and preparations were made to celebrate it +with a solemnity calculated to elevate the souls of the citizens, and to +strengthen the common bonds of union. A confederation of the whole kingdom +was appointed to take place in the Champ de Mars; and there, in the open +air, the deputies sent by the eighty-three departments, the national +representatives, the Parisian guard, and the monarch, were to take the +oath to the constitution. By way of prelude to this patriotic fête, the +popular members of the nobility proposed the abolition of titles; and the +assembly witnessed another sitting similar to that of the 4th of August. +Titles, armorial bearings, liveries, and orders of knighthood, were +abolished on the 20th of June, and vanity, as power had previously done, +lost its privileges. + +This sitting established equality everywhere, and made things agree with +words, by destroying all the pompous paraphernalia of other times. +Formerly titles had designated functions; armorial bearings had +distinguished powerful families; liveries had been worn by whole armies of +vassals; orders of knighthood had defended the state against foreign foes, +Europe against Islamism; but now, nothing of this remained. Titles had +lost their truth and their fitness; nobility, after ceasing to be a +magistracy, had even ceased to be an ornament; and power, like glory, was +henceforth to spring from plebeian ranks. But whether the aristocracy set +more value on their titles than on their privileges, or whether they only +awaited a pretext for openly declaring themselves, this last measure, more +than any other, decided the emigration and its attacks. It was for the +nobility what the civil constitution had been for the clergy, an occasion, +rather than a cause of hostility. + +The 14th of July arrived, and the revolution witnessed few such glorious +days--the weather only did not correspond with this magnificent fête. The +deputies of all the departments were presented to the king, who received +them with much affability; and he, on his part, met also with the most +touching testimonies of love, but as a constitutional king. "Sire," said +the leader of the Breton deputation, kneeling on one knee, and presenting +his sword, "I place in your hands the faithful sword of the brave Bretons: +it shall only be reddened by the blood of your foes." Louis XVI. raised +and embraced him, and returned the sword. "It cannot be in better hands +than in those of my brave Bretons," he replied; "I have never doubted +their loyalty and affection; assure them that I am the father and brother, +the friend of all Frenchmen." "Sire," returned the deputy, "every +Frenchman loves, and will continue to love you, because you are a citizen- +king." + +The confederation was to take place in the Champ de Mars. The immense +preparations were scarcely completed in time; all Paris had been engaged +for several weeks in getting the arrangements ready by the 14th. At seven +in the morning, the procession of electors, of the representatives of the +corporation, of the presidents of districts, of the national assembly, of +the Parisian guard, of the deputies of the army, and of the federates of +the departments, set out in complete order from the site of the Bastille. +The presence of all these national corps, the floating banners, the +patriotic inscriptions, the varied costumes, the sounds of music, the joy +of the crowd, rendered the procession a most imposing one. It traversed +the city, and crossed the Seine, amidst a volley of artillery, over a +bridge of boats, which had been thrown across it the preceding day. It +entered the Champ de Mars under a triumphal arch, adorned with patriotic +inscriptions. Each body took the station assigned it in excellent order, +and amidst shouts of applause. + +The vast space of the Champ de Mars was inclosed by raised seats of turf, +occupied by four hundred thousand spectators. An antique altar was erected +in the middle; and around it, on a vast amphitheatre, were the king, his +family, the assembly, and the corporation. The federates of the +departments were ranged in order under their banners; the deputies of the +army and the national guards were in their ranks, and under their ensigns. +The bishop of Autun ascended the altar in pontifical robes; four hundred +priests in white copes, and decorated with flowing tricoloured sashes, +were posted at the four corners of the altar. Mass was celebrated amid the +sounds of military music; and then the bishop of Autun blessed the +oriflamme, and the eighty-three banners. + +A profound silence now reigned in the vast inclosure, and Lafayette, +appointed that day to the command in chief of all the national guards of +the kingdom, advanced first to take the civic oath. Borne on the arms of +grenadiers to the altar of the country, amidst the acclamations of the +people, he exclaimed with a loud voice, in his own name, and that of the +federates and troops: "We swear eternal fidelity to the nation, the law, +and the king; to maintain to the utmost of our power the constitution +decreed by the national assembly, and accepted by the king; and to remain +united with every Frenchman by the indissoluble ties of fraternity." +Forthwith the firing of cannon, prolonged cries of "Vive la nation!" "Vive +le roi!" and sounds of music, mingled in the air. The president of the +national assembly took the same oath, and all the deputies repeated it +with one voice. Then Louis XVI. rose and said: "I, king of the French, +swear to employ all the power delegated to me by the constitutional act of +the state, in maintaining the constitution decreed by the national +assembly and accepted by me." The queen, carried away by the enthusiasm of +the moment, rose, lifted up the dauphin in her arms, and showing him to +the people, exclaimed: "Behold my son, he unites with me in the same +sentiments." At that moment the banners were lowered, the acclamations of +the people were heard, and the subjects believed in the sincerity of the +monarch, the monarch in the affection of the subjects, and this happy day +closed with a hymn of thanksgiving. + +The fêtes of the confederation were protracted for some days. +Illuminations, balls, and sports were given by the city of Paris to the +deputies of the departments. A ball took place on the spot where had +stood, a year before, the Bastille; gratings, fetters, ruins, were +observed here and there, and on the door was the inscription, "_Ici on +danse_," a striking contrast with the ancient destination of the spot. A +contemporary observes: "They danced indeed with joy and security on the +ground where so many tears had been shed; where courage, genius, and +innocence had so often groaned; where so often the cries of despair had +been stifled." A medal was struck to commemorate the confederation; and at +the termination of the fêtes the deputies returned to their departments. + +The confederation only suspended the hostility of parties. Petty intrigues +were resumed in the assembly as well as out of doors. The duke of Orleans +had returned from his mission, or, more strictly speaking, from his exile. +The inquiry respecting the events of the 5th and 6th of October, of which +he and Mirabeau were accused as the authors, had been conducted by the +Châtelets inquiry, which had been suspended, was now resumed. By this +attack the court again displayed its want of foresight; for it ought to +have proved the accusation or not to have made it. The assembly having +decided on giving up the guilty parties, had it found any such, declared +there was no ground for proceeding; and Mirabeau, after an overwhelming +outburst against the whole affair, obliged the Right to be silent, and +thus arose triumphantly from an accusation which had been made expressly +to intimidate him. + +They attacked not only a few deputies but the assembly itself. The court +intrigued against it, but the Right drove this to exaggeration. "We like +its decrees," said the abbé Maury; "we want three or four more of them." +Hired libellists sold, at its very doors, papers calculated to deprive it +of the respect of the people; the ministers blamed and obstructed its +progress. Necker, still haunted by the recollection of his former +ascendancy, addressed to it memorials, in which he opposed its decrees and +gave it advice. This minister could not accustom himself to a secondary +part: he would not fall in with the abrupt plans of the assembly, so +entirely opposed to his ideas of gradual reform. At length, convinced or +weary of the inutility of his efforts, he left Paris, after resigning, on +the 4th of September, 1790, and obscurely traversed those provinces which +a year before he had gone through in triumph. In revolutions, men are +easily forgotten, for the nation sees many in its varied course. If we +would not find them ungrateful, we must not cease for an instant to serve +according to their own desire. + +On the other hand, the nobility which had found a new subject of +discontent in the abolition of titles, continued its anti-revolutionary +efforts. As it did not succeed in exciting the people, who, from their +position, found the recent changes very beneficial, it had recourse to +means which it considered more certain; it quitted the kingdom, with the +intention of returning thither with all Europe as its armed ally; but +while waiting till a system of emigration could be organised, while +waiting for the appearance of foreign foes to the revolution, it continued +to arouse enemies to it in the interior of the kingdom. The troops, as we +have before observed, had already for some time been tampered with in +various ways. The new military code was favourable to the soldiers; +promotion formerly granted to the nobility was now granted to seniority. +Most of the officers were attached to the ancient régime, nor did they +conceal the fact. Compelled to take what had become the common oath, the +oath of fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king, some left the army, +and increased the number of emigrants, while others endeavoured to win the +soldiers over to their party. + +General Bouillé was of this number. After having long refused to take the +civic oath, he did so at last with this intention. He had a numerous body +of troops under his command near the northern frontier; he was clever, +resolute, attached to the king, opposed to the revolution, such as it had +then become, though the friend of reform; a circumstance that afterwards +brought him into suspicion at Coblentz. He kept his army isolated from the +citizens, that it might remain faithful, and that it might not be infected +with the spirit of insubordination which they communicated to the troops. +By skilful management, and the ascendancy of a great mind, he also +succeeded in retaining the confidence and attachment of his soldiers. It +was not thus elsewhere. The officers were the objects of a general +dislike; they were accused of diminishing the pay, and having no concern +for the great body of the troops. The prevailing opinions had also +something to do with this dissatisfaction. These combined causes led to +revolts among the men; that of Nancy, in August, 1790, produced great +alarm, and became almost the signal of a civil war. Three regiments, those +of Châteauvieux, Maître-de-camp, and the King's own, rebelled against +their chiefs. Bouillé was ordered to march against them; he did so at the +head of the garrison and national guard of Metz. After an animated +skirmish, he subdued them. The assembly congratulated him; but Paris, +which saw in Bouillé a conspirator, was thrown into fresh agitation at +this intelligence. Crowds collected, and the impeachment of the ministers +who had given orders to Bouillé to march upon Nancy was clamorously +demanded. Lafayette, however, succeeded in allaying this ebullition, +supported by the assembly, which, finding itself placed between a counter- +revolution and anarchy, opposed both with equal wisdom and courage. + +The aristocracy triumphed at the sight of the difficulties which perplexed +the assembly. They imagined that it would be compelled to be dependent on +the multitude, or deprive itself entirely of its support; and in either +case the return to the ancient régime appeared to them short and easy. The +clergy had its share in this work. The sale of church property, which it +took every means to impede, was effected at a higher price than that +fixed. The people, delivered from tithes and reassured as to the national +debt, were far from listening to the angry suggestions of the priests; +they accordingly made use of the civil constitution of the clergy to +excite a schism. We have seen that this decree of the assembly did not +affect either the discipline or the creed of the church. The king +sanctioned it on the 26th of December; but the bishops, who sought to +cover their interests with the mantle of religion, declared that it +encroached on the spiritual authority. The pope, consulted as to this +purely political measure, refused his assent to it, which the king +earnestly sought, and encouraged the opposition of the priests. The latter +decided that they would not concur in the establishment of the civil +constitution; that those of them who might be suppressed would protest +against this uncanonical act, that every bishopric created without the +concurrence of the pope should be null, and that the metropolitans should +refuse institution to bishops appointed according to civil forms. + +The assembly strengthened this league by attempting to frustrate it. If, +contrary to their real desire, it had left the dissentient priests to +themselves, they would not have found the elements of a religious war. But +the assembly decreed that the ecclesiastics should swear fidelity to the +nation, the law, and the king, and to maintain the civil constitution of +the clergy. Refusal to take this oath was to be attended by the +substitution of others in their bishoprics and cures. The assembly hoped +that the higher clergy from interest, and the lower clergy from ambition, +would adopt this measure. + +The bishops, on the contrary, thought that all the ecclesiastics would +follow their example, and that by refusing to swear, they would leave the +state without public worship, and the people without priests. The result +satisfied the expectations of neither party; the majority of the bishops +and curés of the assembly refused to take the oath, but a few bishops and +many curés took it. The dissentient incumbents were deprived, and the +electors nominated successors to them, who received canonical institution +from the bishops of Autun and Lida. But the deprived ecclesiastics refused +to abandon their functions, and declared their successors intruders, the +sacraments administred by them null, and all Christians who should venture +to recognise them excommunicated. They did not leave their dioceses; they +issued charges, and excited the people to disobey the laws; and thus an +affair of private interest became first a matter of religion and then a +matter of party. There were two bodies of clergy, one constitutional, the +other refractory; they had each its partisans, and treated each other as +rebels and heretics. According to passion or interest, religion became an +instrument or an obstacle; and while the priests made fanatics the +revolution made infidels. The people, not yet infected with this malady of +the upper classes, lost, especially in towns, the faith of their fathers, +from the imprudence of those who placed them between the revolution and +their religion. "The bishops," said the marquis de Ferrières, who will not +be suspected, "refused to fall in with any arrangements, and by their +guilty intrigues closed every approach to reconciliation; sacrificing the +catholic religion to an insane obstinacy, and a discreditable attachment +to their wealth." + +Every party sought to gain the people; it was courted as sovereign. After +attempting to influence it by religion, another means was employed, that +of the clubs. At that period, clubs were private assemblies, in which the +measures of government, the business of the state, and the decrees of the +assembly were discussed; their deliberations had no authority, but they +exercised a certain influence. The first club owed its origin to the +Breton deputies, who already met together at Versailles to consider the +course of proceeding they should take. When the national representatives +were transferred from Versailles to Paris, the Breton deputies and those +of the assembly who were of their views held their sittings in the old +convent of the Jacobins, which subsequently gave its name to their +meetings. It did not at first cease to be a preparatory assembly, but as +all things increase in time, the Jacobin club did not confine itself to +the influencing the assembly; it sought also to influence the municipality +and the people, and received as associates members of the municipality and +common citizens. Its organization became more regular, its action more +powerful; its sittings were regularly reported in the papers; it created +branch clubs in the provinces, and raised by the side of legal power +another power which first counselled and then conducted it. + +The Jacobin club, as it lost its primitive character and became a popular +assembly, had been forsaken by part of its founders. The latter +established another society on the plan of the old one, under the name of +the club of '89. Sieyès, Chapelier, Lafayette, La Rochefoucauld directed +it, as Lameth and Barnave directed that of the Jacobins. Mirabeau belonged +to both, and by both was equally courted. These clubs, of which the one +prevailed in the assembly and the other amongst the people, were attached +to the new order of things, though in different degrees. The aristocracy +sought to attack the revolution with its own arms; it opened royalist +clubs to oppose the popular clubs. That first established under the name +of the _Club des Impartiaux_ could not last because it addressed itself to +no class opinion. Reappearing under the name of the _Club Monarchique_, it +included among its members all those whose views it represented. It sought +to render itself popular with the lower classes, and distributed bread; +but far from accepting its overtures, the people considered such +establishments as a counter-revolutionary movement. The people disturbed +their sittings, and obliged them several times to change their place of +meeting. At length, the municipal authority found itself obliged, in +January, 1791, to close this club, which had been the cause of several +riots. + +The distrust of the multitude was extreme; the departure of the king's +aunts, to which it attached an exaggerated importance, increased its +uneasiness, and led it to suppose another departure was preparing. These +suspicions were not unfounded, and they occasioned a kind of rising which +the anti-revolutionists sought to turn to account by carrying off the +king. This project failed, owing to the resolution and skill of Lafayette. +While the crowd went to Vincennes to demolish the dungeon which they said +communicated with the Tuileries, and would favour the flight of the king, +more than six hundred persons armed with swords and daggers entered the +Tuileries to compel the king to flee. Lafayette, who had repaired to +Vincennes to disperse the multitude, returned to quell the anti- +revolutionists of the château, after dissipating the mob of the popular +party, and by this second expedition he regained the confidence which his +first had lost him. + +The attempt rendered the escape of Louis XVI. more feared than ever. +Accordingly, a short time after, when he wished to go to Saint Cloud, he +was prevented by the crowd and even by his own guard, despite the efforts +of Lafayette, who endeavoured to make them respect the law, and the +liberty of the monarch. The assembly on its side, after having decreed the +inviolability of the prince, after having regulated his constitutional +guard, and assigned the regency to the nearest male heir to the crown, +declared that his flight from the kingdom would lead to his dethronement. +The increasing emigration, the open avowal of its objects, and the +threatening attitude of the European cabinets, all cherished the fear that +the king might adopt such a determination. + +Then, for the first time, the assembly sought to stop the progress of +emigration by a decree; but this decree was a difficult question. If they +punished those who left the kingdom, they violated the maxims of liberty, +rendered sacred by the declaration of rights; if they did not raise +obstacles to emigration, they endangered the safety of France, as the +nobles merely quitted it in order to invade it. In the assembly, setting +aside those who favoured emigration, some looked only at the right, others +only at the danger, and every one sided with or opposed the restrictive +law, according to his mode of viewing the subject. Those who desired the +law, wished it to be mild; but only one law could be practicable at such a +moment, and the assembly shrank from enacting it. This law, by the +arbitrary order of a committee of three members, was to pronounce a +sentence of civil death on the fugitive, and the confiscation of his +property. "The horror expressed on the reading of this project," cried +Mirabeau, "proves that this is a law worthy of being placed in the code of +Draco, and cannot find place among the decrees of the national assembly of +France. I proclaim that I shall consider myself released from every oath +of fidelity I have made towards those who may be infamous enough to +nominate a dictatorial commission. The popularity I covet, and which I +have the honour to enjoy, is not a feeble reed; I wish it to take root in +the soil, based on justice and liberty." The exterior position was not yet +sufficiently alarming for the adoption of such a measure of safety and +revolutionary defence. + +Mirabeau did not long enjoy the popularity which he imagined he was so +sure of. That was the last sitting he attended. A few days afterwards he +terminated a life worn out by passions and by toil. His death, which +happened on the 2nd of March, 1791, was considered a public calamity; all +Paris attended his funeral; there was a general mourning throughout +France, and his remains were deposited in the receptacle which had just +been consecrated _aux grands hommes_, in the name of _la patrie +reconnaissante_. No one succeeded him in power and popularity; and for a +long time, in difficult discussions, the eyes of the assembly would turn +towards the seat from whence they had been accustomed to hear the +commanding eloquence which terminated their debates. Mirabeau, after +having assisted the revolution with his daring in seasons of trial, and +with his powerful reasoning since its victory, died seasonably. He was +revolving vast designs; he wished to strengthen the throne, and +consolidate the revolution; two attempts extremely difficult at such a +time. It is to be feared that royalty, if he had made it independent, +would have put down the revolution; or, if he had failed, that the +revolution would have put down royalty. It is, perhaps, impossible to +convert an ancient power into a new order; perhaps a revolution must be +prolonged in order to become legitimate, and the throne, as it recovers, +acquire the novelty of the other institutions. + +From the 5th and 6th of October, 1789, to the month of April, 1791, the +national assembly completed the reorganization of France; the court gave +itself up to petty intrigues and projects of flight; the privileged +classes sought for new means of power, those which they formerly possessed +having been successively taken from them. They took advantage of all the +opportunities of disorder which circumstances furnished them with, to +attack the new régime and restore the old, by means of anarchy. At the +opening of the law courts the nobility caused the Chambres de vacations to +protest; when the provinces were abolished, it made the orders protest. As +soon as the departments were formed, it tried new elections; when the old +writs had expired, it sought the dissolution of the assembly; when the new +military code passed, it endeavoured to excite the defection of the +officers; lastly, all these means of opposition failing to effect the +success of its designs, it emigrated, to excite Europe against the +revolution. The clergy, on its side, discontented with the loss of its +possessions still more than with the ecclesiastical constitution, sought +to destroy the new order by insurrections, and to bring on insurrections +by a schism. Thus it was during this epoch that parties became gradually +disunited, and that the two classes hostile to the revolution prepared the +elements of civil and foreign war. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 3OTH SEPTEMBER. THE END OF THE CONSTITUENT +ASSEMBLY + + +The French revolution was to change the political state of Europe, to +terminate the strife of kings among themselves, and to commence that +between kings and people. This would have taken place much later had not +the kings themselves provoked it. They sought to suppress the revolution, +and they extended it; for by attacking it they were to render it +victorious. Europe had then arrived at the term of the political system +which swayed it. The political activity of the several states after being +internal under the feudal government, had become external under the +monarchical government. The first period terminated almost at the same +time among all the great nations of Europe. Then kings who had so long +been at war with their vassals, because they were in contact with them, +encountered each other on the boundaries of their kingdoms, and fought. As +no domination could become universal, neither that of Charles V. nor that +of Louis XIV., the weak always uniting against the strong, after several +vicissitudes of superiority and alliance, a sort of European equilibrium +was established. In order to appreciate ulterior events, I propose to +consider this equilibrium before the revolution. + +Austria, England, and France had been, from the peace of Westphalia to the +middle of the eighteenth century, the three great powers of Europe. +Interest had leagued the two first against the third. Austria had reason +to dread the influence of France in the Netherlands; England feared it on +the sea. Rivalry of power and commerce often set them at variance, and +they sought to weaken or plunder each other. Spain, since a prince of the +house of Bourbon had been on the throne, was the ally of France against +England. This, however, was a fallen power: confined to a corner of the +continent, oppressed by the system of Philip II., deprived by the Family +Compact of the only enemy that could keep it in action, by sea only had it +retained any of its ancient superiority. But France had other allies on +all sides of Austria: Sweden on the north; Poland and the Porte on the +east; in the south of Germany, Bavaria; Prussia on the west; and in Italy, +the kingdom of Naples. These powers, having reason to dread the +encroachments of Austria, were naturally the allies of her enemy. +Piedmont, placed between the two systems of alliance, sided, according to +circumstances and its interests, with either. Holland was united with +England or with France, as the party of the stadtholders or that of the +people prevailed in the republic. Switzerland was neutral. + +In the last half of the eighteenth century, two powers had risen in the +north, Russia and Prussia. The latter had been changed from a simple +electorate into an important kingdom, by Frederick-William, who had given +it a treasure and an army; and by his son Frederick the Great, who had +made use of these to extend his territory. Russia, long unconnected with +the other states, had been more especially introduced into the politics of +Europe by Peter I. and Catharine II. The accession of these two powers +considerably modified the ancient alliances. In concert with the cabinet +of Vienna, Russia and Prussia had executed the first partition of Poland +in 1772; and after the death of Frederick the Great, the empress Catharine +and the emperor Joseph united in 1785 to effect that of European Turkey. + +The cabinet of Versailles, weakened since the imprudent and unfortunate +Seven Years' War, had assisted at the partition of Poland without opposing +it, had raised no obstacle to the fall of the Ottoman empire, and even +allowed its ally, the republican party in Holland, to sink under the blows +of Prussia and England, without assisting it. The latter powers had in +1787 re-established by force the hereditary, stadtholderate of the United +Provinces. The only act which did honour to French policy, was the support +it had happily given to the emancipation of North America. The revolution +of 1789, while extending the moral influence of France, diminished still +more its diplomatic influence. + +England, under the government of young Pitt, was alarmed in 1788 at the +ambitious projects of Russia, and united with Holland and Prussia to put +an end to them. Hostilities were on the point of commencing when the +emperor Joseph died, in February, 1790, and was succeeded by Leopold, who +in July accepted the convention of Reichenbach. This convention, by the +mediation of England, Russia, and Holland, settled the terms of the peace +between Austria and Turkey, which was signed definitively, on the 4th of +August, 1791, at Sistova; it at the same time provided for the +pacification of the Netherlands. Urged by England and Prussia, Catharine +II. also made peace with the Porte at Jassy, on the 29th of December, +1791. These negotiations, and the treaties they gave rise to, terminated +the political struggles of the eighteenth century, and left the powers +free to turn their attention to the French Revolution. + +The princes of Europe, who had hitherto had no enemies but themselves, +viewed it in the light of a common foe. The ancient relations of war and +of alliance, already overlooked during the Seven Years' War, now ceased +entirely: Sweden united with Russia, and Prussia with Austria. There was +nothing now but the kings on one side, and people on the other, waiting +for the auxiliaries which its example, or the faults of princes might give +it. A general coalition was soon formed against the French revolution. +Austria engaged in it with the hope of aggrandizement, England to avenge +the American war, and to preserve itself from the spirit of the +revolution; Prussia to strengthen the threatened absolute power, and +profitably to engage its unemployed army; the German states to restore +feudal rights to some of their members who had been deprived of them, by +the abolition of the old régime in Alsace; the king of Sweden, who had +constituted himself the champion of arbitrary power, to re-establish it in +France, as he had just done in his own country; Russia, that it might +execute without trouble the partition of Poland, while the attention of +Europe was directed elsewhere; finally, all the sovereigns of the house of +Bourbon, from the interest of power and family attachments. The emigrants +encouraged them in these projects, and excited them to invasion. According +to them, France was without an army, or at least without leaders, +destitute of money, given up to disorder, weary of the assembly, disposed +to the ancient régime, and without either the means or the inclination to +defend itself. They flocked in crowds to take a share in the promised +short campaign, and formed into organized bodies under the prince de +Condé, at Worms, and the count d'Artois, at Coblentz. + +The count d'Artois especially hastened the determination of the cabinets. +The emperor Leopold was in Italy, and the count repaired to him, with +Calonne as minister, and the count Alphonse de Durfort, who had been his +mediator with the court of the Tuileries, and who had brought him the +king's authority to treat with Leopold. The conference took place at +Mantua, and the count de Durfort returned, and delivered to Louis XVI. in +the name of the emperor, a secret declaration, in which was announced to +him the speedy assistance of the coalition. Austria was to advance thirty- +five thousand men on the frontier of Flanders; the German states, fifteen +thousand on Alsace; the Swiss, fifteen thousand on the Lyonese frontier; +the king of Sardinia, fifteen thousand on that of Dauphiné; Spain was to +augment its army in Catalonia to twenty thousand; Prussia was well +disposed in favour of the coalition, and the king of England was to take +part in it as elector of Hanover. All these troops were to move at the +same time, at the end of July; the house of Bourbon was then to make a +protest, and the powers were to publish a manifesto; until then, however, +it was essential to keep the design secret, to avoid all partial +insurrection, and to make no attempt at flight. Such was the result of the +conferences at Mantua on the 20th May, 1791. + +Louis XVI., either from a desire not to place himself entirely at the +mercy of foreign powers, or dreading the ascendency which the count +d'Artois, should he return at the head of the victorious emigrants, would +assume over the government he had established, preferred restoring the +government alone. In general Bouillé he had a devoted and skilful +partisan, who at the same time condemned both emigration and the assembly, +and promised him refuge and support in his army. For some time past, a +secret correspondence had taken place between him and the king. Bouillé +prepared everything to receive him. He established a camp at Montmedy, +under the pretext of a movement of hostile troops on the frontier; he +placed detachments on the route the king was to take, to serve him for +escort, and as a motive was necessary for these arrangements, he alleged +that of protecting the money despatched for the payment of the troops. + +The royal family on its side made every preparation for departure; very +few persons were informed of it, and no measures betrayed it. Louis XVI. +and the queen, on the contrary, pursued a line of conduct calculated to +silence suspicion; and on the night of the 20th of June, they issued at +the appointed hour from the château, one by one, in disguise. In this way +they eluded the vigilance of the guard, reached the Boulevard, where a +carriage awaited them, and took the road to Châlons and Montmedy. + +On the following day the news of this escape threw Paris into +consternation; indignation soon became the prevailing sentiment; crowds +assembled, and the tumult increased. Those who had not prevented the +flight were accused of favouring it. Neither Bailly nor Lafayette escaped +the general mistrust. This event was considered the precursor of the +invasion of France, the triumph of the emigrants; the return of the +ancient régime, and a long civil war. But the conduct of the assembly soon +restored the public mind to calmness and security. It took every measure +which so difficult a conjuncture required. It summoned the ministers and +authorities to its bar; calmed the people by a proclamation; used proper +precautions to secure public tranquillity; seized on the executive power, +commissioned Montmorin, the minister of foreign affairs, to inform the +European powers of its pacific intentions; sent commissioners to secure +the favour of the troops, and receive their oath, no longer made in the +name of the king, but in that of the assembly, and lastly, issued an order +through the departments for the arrest of any one attempting to leave the +kingdom. "Thus, in less than four hours," says the marquis de Ferrières, +"the assembly was invested with every kind of power. The government went +on; public tranquillity did not experience the slightest shock; and Paris +and France learned from this experience, so fatal to royalty, that the +monarch is almost always a stranger to the government that exists in his +name." + +Meantime Louis XVI. and his family were drawing near the termination of +their journey. The success of the first days' journeys, the increasing +distance from Paris, rendered the king less reserved and more confident; +he had the imprudence to show himself, was recognised, and arrested at +Varennes on the 21st. The national guard were under arms instantly; the +officers of the detachments posted by Bouillé sought in vain to rescue the +king; the dragoons and hussars feared or refused to support them. Bouillé, +apprised of this fatal event, hastened himself at the head of a regiment +of cavalry. But it was too late; on reaching Varennes, he found that the +king had left it several hours before; his squadrons were tired, and +refused to advance. The national guard were on all sides under arms, and +after the failure of his enterprise, he had no alternative but to leave +the army and quit France. + +The assembly, on hearing of the king's arrest, sent to him, as +commissioners, three of its members, Pétion, Latour-Maubourg, and Barnave. +They met the royal family at Epernay and returned with them. It was during +this journey, that Barnave, touched by the good sense of Louis XVI., the +fascinations of Marie Antoinette, and the fate of this fallen family, +conceived for it an earnest interest. From that day he gave it his +assiduous counsel and support. On reaching Paris the royal party passed +through an immense crowd, which expressed neither applause nor murmurs, +but observed a reproachful silence. + +The king was provisionally suspended: he had had a guard set over him, as +had the queen; and commissioners were appointed to question him. Agitation +pervaded all parties. Some desired to retain the king on the throne, +notwithstanding his flight; others maintained, that he had abdicated by +condemning, in a manifesto addressed to the French on his departure, both +the revolution, and the acts which had emanated from him during that +period, which he termed a time of captivity. + +The republican party now began to appear. Hitherto it had remained either +dependent or hidden, because it had been without any existence of its own, +or because it wanted a pretext for displaying itself. The struggle, which +lay at first between the assembly and the court, then between the +constitutionalists and the aristocrats, and latterly among the +constitutionalists themselves, was now about to commence between the +constitutionalists and the republicans. In times of revolution such is the +inevitable course of events. The partisans of the order newly established +then met and renounced differences of opinion which were detrimental to +their cause, even while the assembly was all powerful, but which had +become highly perilous, now that the emigration party threatened it on the +one hand, and the multitude on the other. Mirabeau was no more. The +Centre, on which this powerful man had relied, and which constituted the +least ambitious portion of the assembly, the most attached to principles, +might by joining the Lameths, re-establish Louis XVI. and constitutional +monarchy, and present a formidable opposition to the popular ebullition. + +This alliance took place; the Lameth party came to an understanding with +André and the principal members of the Centre, made overtures to the +court, and opened the club of the Feuillants in opposition to that of the +Jacobins. But the latter could not want leaders; under Mirabeau, they had +contended against Mounier; under the Lameths against Mirabeau; under +Pétion and Robespierre, they contended against the Lameths. The party +which desired a second revolution had constantly supported the most +extreme actors in the revolution already accomplished, because this was +bringing within its reach the struggle and the victory. At this period, +from subordinate it had become independent; it no longer fought for others +and for opinions not its own, but for itself, and under its own banner. +The court, by its multiplied faults, its imprudent machinations, and, +lastly, by the flight of the monarch, had given it a sort of authority to +avow its object; and the Lameths, by forsaking it, had left it to its true +leaders. + +The Lameths, in their turn, underwent the reproaches of the multitude, +which saw only their alliance with the court, without examining its +conditions. But supported by all the constitutionalists, they were +strongest in the assembly; and they found it essential to establish the +king as soon as possible, in order to put a stop to a controversy which +threatened the new order, by authorizing the public party to demand the +abolition of the royal power while its suspension lasted. The +commissioners appointed to interrogate Louis XVI. dictated to him a +declaration, which they presented in his name to the assembly, and which +modified the injurious effect of his flight. The reporter declared, in the +name of the seven committees entrusted with the examination of this great +question, that there were no grounds for bringing Louis XVI. to trial, or +for pronouncing his dethronement. The discussion which followed this +report was long and animated; the efforts of the republican party, +notwithstanding their pertinacity, were unsuccessful. Most of their +orators spoke; they demanded deposition or a regency; that is to say, +popular government, or an approach towards it. Barnave, after meeting all +their arguments, finished his speech with these remarkable words: +"Regenerators of the empire, follow your course without deviation. You +have proved that you had courage to destroy the abuses of power; you have +proved that you possessed all that was requisite to substitute wise and +good institutions in their place; prove now that you have the wisdom to +protect and maintain these. The nation has just given a great evidence of +its strength and courage; it has displayed, solemnly and by a spontaneous +movement, all that it could oppose to the attacks which threatened it. +Continue the same precautions; let our boundaries, let our frontiers be +powerfully defended. But while we manifest our power, let us also prove +our moderation; let us present peace to the world, alarmed by the events +which take place amongst us; let us present an occasion for triumph to all +those who in foreign lands have taken an interest in our revolution. They +cry to us from all parts: you are powerful; be wise, be moderate, therein +will lie your highest glory. Thus will you prove that in various +circumstances you can employ various means, talents, and virtues." + +The assembly sided with Barnave. But to pacify the people, and to provide +for the future safety of France, it decreed that the king should be +considered as abdicating, _de facto_, if he retracted the oath he had +taken to the constitution; if he headed an army for the purpose of making +war upon the nation, or permitted any one to do so in his name; and that, +in such case, become a simple citizen, he would cease to be inviolable, +and might be responsible for acts committed subsequent to his abdication. + +On the day that this decree was adopted by the assembly, the leaders of +the republican party excited the multitude against it. But the hall in +which it sat was surrounded by the national guard, and it could not be +assailed or intimidated. The agitators unable to prevent the passing of +the decree, aroused the people against it. They drew up a petition, in +which they denied the competency of the assembly; appealed from it to the +sovereignty of the nation, treated Louis XVI. as deposed since his flight, +and demanded a substitute for him. This petition, drawn up by Brissot, +author of the _Patriote Français_, and president of the _Comité des +Recherches_ of Paris, was carried, on the 17th of July, to the altar of +the country in the Champ de Mars: an immense crowd flocked to sign it. The +assembly, apprized of what was taking place, summoned the municipal +authorities to its bar, and directed them to preserve the public +tranquillity. Lafayette marched against the crowd, and in the first +instance succeeded in dispersing it without bloodshed. The municipal +officers took up their quarters in the Invalides; but the same day the +crowd returned in greater numbers, and with more determination. Danton and +Camille Desmoulins harangued them from the altar of the country. Two +Invalides, supposed to be spies, were massacred and their heads stuck on +pikes. The insurrection became alarming. Lafayette again repaired to the +Champ de Mars, at the head of twelve hundred of the national guard. Bailly +accompanied him, and had the red banner unfurled. The crowd was then +summoned to disperse in the name of the law; it refused to retire, and, +contemning authority, shouted, "Down with the red flag!" and assailed the +national guard with stones. Lafayette ordered his men to fire, but in the +air. The crowd was not intimidated with this, and resumed the attack; +compelled by the obstinacy of the insurgents, Lafayette then ordered +another discharge, a real and effective one. The terrified multitude fled, +leaving many dead on the field. The disturbances now ceased, order was +restored; but blood had flown, and the people never forgave Bailly or +Lafayette the cruel necessity to which the crowd had driven them. This was +a regular combat, in which the republican party, not as yet sufficiently +strong or established, was defeated by the constitutional monarchy party. +The attempt of the Champ de Mars was the prelude of the popular movements +which led to the 10th of August. + +While this was passing in the assembly and at Paris, the emigrants, whom +the flight of Louis XVI. had elated with hope, were thrown into +consternation at his arrest. _Monsieur_, who had fled at the same time as +his brother, and with better fortune, arrived alone at Brussels with the +powers and title of regent. The emigrants thenceforth relied only on the +assistance of Europe; the officers quitted their colours; two hundred and +ninety members of the assembly protested against its decrees; in order to +legitimatize invasion, Bouillé wrote a threatening letter, in the +inconceivable hope of intimidating the assembly, and at the same time to +take upon himself the sole responsibility of the flight of Louis XVI.; +finally, the emperor, the king of Prussia, and the count d'Artois met at +Pilnitz, where they made the famous declaration of the 27th of August, +preparatory to the invasion of France, and which, far from improving the +condition of the king, would have imperilled him, had not the assembly, in +its wisdom, continued to follow out its new designs, regardless at once of +the clamours of the multitude at home, and the foreign powers. + +In the declaration of Pilnitz, the sovereigns considered the cause of +Louis XVI. as their own. They required that he should be free to go where +he pleased, that is to say, to repair to them that he should be restored +to his throne; that the assembly should be dissolved, and that the princes +of the empire having possessions in Alsace, should be reinstated in their +feudal rights In case of refusal, they threatened France with a war in +which all the powers who were guarantees for the French monarchy would +concur. This declaration, so far from discouraging, only served to +irritate the assembly and the people. Men asked only another, what right +the princes of Europe had to interfere in the government of France; by +what right they gave orders to great people, and imposed conditions upon +it; and since the sovereigns appealed to force, the people of France +prepared to resist them. The frontiers were put in a state of defence; the +hundred thousand men of the national guard were enrolled, and they awaited +in calm serenity the attack of the enemy, well convinced that the French +people, on their own soil and in a state of revolution, would be +invincible. + +Meantime, the assembly approached the close of its labours; civil +relations, public taxation, the nature of crimes, their prosecution, and +their punishment, had been by it as wisely regulated as were the public +and constitutional relations of the country. Equality had been introduced +into the laws of inheritance, into taxation, and into punishments; nothing +remained but to unite all the constitutional decrees into a body and +submit them to the king for his approval. The assembly was growing weary +of its labours and of its dissensions; the people itself, who in France +ever become tired of that which continues beyond a certain time, desired a +new national representation; the convocation of the electoral colleges was +therefore fixed for the 5th of August. Unfortunately, the members of the +present assembly could not form part of the succeeding one; this had been +decided before the flight to Varennes. In this important question, the +assembly had been drawn away by the rivalry of some, the disinterestedness +of others, the desire for anarchy on the part of the aristocrats, and of +domination on that of the republicans. Vainly did Duport exclaim: "While +every one is pestering us with new principles of all sorts, how is it +overlooked that stability is also a principle of government? Is France, +whose children are so ardent and changeable, to be exposed every two years +to a revolution in her laws and opinions?" This was the desire of the +privileged classes and the Jacobins, though with different views. In all +such matters, the constituent assembly was deceived or overruled; when the +ministry was in question, it decided, in opposition to Mirabeau, that no +deputy could hold office; on the subject of re-election, it decided, in +opposition to its own members, that it could not take place; in the same +spirit, it prohibited their accepting, for four years, any post offered +them by the prince. This mania of disinterestedness soon induced Lafayette +to divest himself of the command of the national guard, and Bailly to +resign the mayoralty. Thus this remarkable epoch entirely annihilated the +constituent body. + +The collection of the constitutional decrees into one body led to the idea +of revising them. But this idea of revision gave great dissatisfaction, +and was almost of no effect; it was not desirable to render the +constitution more aristocratic by after measures, lest the multitude +should require it to be made more popular. To limit the sovereignty of the +nation, and, at the same time, not to overlook it, the assembly declared +that France had a right to revise its constitution, but that it was +prudent not to exercise this right for thirty years. + +The act of the constitution was presented to the king by sixty deputies; +the suspension being taken off, Louis XVI. resumed the exercise of his +power; and the guard the law had given him was placed under his own +command. Thus restored to freedom, the constitution was submitted to him. +After examining it for several days, "I accept the constitution," he wrote +to the assembly; "I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all +attacks from abroad; and to cause its execution by all the means it places +at my disposal. I declare, that being informed of the attachment of the +great majority of the people to the constitution, I renounce my claim to +assist in the work, and that being responsible to the nation alone, no +other person, now that I have made this renunciation, has a right to +complain." + +This letter excited general approbation. Lafayette demanded and procured +an amnesty in favour of those who were under prosecution for favouring the +king's flight, or for proceedings against the revolution. Next day the +king came in person to accept the constitution in the assembly. The +populace attended him thither with acclamations; he was the object of the +enthusiasm of the deputies and spectators, and he regained that day the +confidence and affection of his subjects. The 29th of September was fixed +for the closing of the assembly; the king was present; his speech was +often interrupted by applause, and when he said, "For you, gentlemen, who +during a long and arduous career have displayed such indefatigable zeal, +there remains one duty to fulfil when you have returned to your homes over +the country: to explain to your fellow-citizens the true meaning of the +laws you have made for them; to counsel those who slight them; to clarify +and unite all opinions by the example you shall afford of your love of +order, and of submission to the laws." Cries of "Yes! yes!" were uttered +by all the deputies with one common voice. "I rely on your being the +interpreters of my sentiments to your fellow-citizens." "Yes! yes!" "Tell +them all that the king will always be their first and most faithful +friend; that he needs their love; that he can only be happy with them and +by their means; the hope of contributing to their happiness will sustain +my courage, as the satisfaction of having succeeded will be my sweetest +recompense" + +"It is a speech worthy of Henry IV.," said a voice, and the king left the +hall amidst the loudest testimonials of love. + +Then Thouret, in a loud voice, and addressing the people, exclaimed: "The +constituent assembly pronounces its mission accomplished, and that its +sittings now terminate." Thus closed this first and glorious assembly of +the nation. It was courageous, intelligent, just, and had but one passion +--a passion for law. It accomplished, in two years, by its efforts, and +with indefatigable perseverance, the greatest revolution ever witnessed by +one generation of men. Amidst its labours, it repressed despotism and +anarchy, by frustrating the conspiracies of the aristocracy and +maintaining the multitude in subordination. Its only fault was that it did +not confide the guidance of the revolution to those who were its authors; +it divested itself of power, like those legislators of antiquity who +exiled themselves from their country after giving it a constitution. A new +assembly did not apply itself to consolidating its work, and the +revolution, which ought to have been finished, was recommenced. + +The constitution of 1791 was based on principles adapted to the ideas and +situation of France. This constitution was the work of the middle class, +then the strongest; for, as is well known, the predominant force ever +takes possession of institutions. When it belongs to one man alone, it is +despotism; when to several, it is privilege; when to all, it is right; +this last state is the limit, as it is the origin, of society. France had +at length attained it, after passing through feudalism, which was the +aristocratic institution, and absolute power, which was the monarchical +institution. Equality was consecrated among the citizens, and delegation +recognised among the powers; such were to be, under the new system, the +condition of men, and the form of government. + +In this constitution the people was the source of all powers, but it +exercised none; it was entrusted only with election in the first instance, +and its magistrates were selected by men chosen from among the enlightened +portions of the community. The latter constituted the assembly, the law +courts, the public offices, the corporations, the militia, and thus +possessed all the force and all the power of the state. It alone was fit +to exercise them, because it alone had the intelligence necessary for the +conduct of government. The people was not yet sufficiently advanced to +participate in power, consequently, it was only by accident, and in the +most casual and evanescent manner, that power fell into its hands; but it +received civic education, and was disciplined to government in the primary +assemblies, according to the true aim of society, which is not to confer +its advantages as a patrimony on one particular class, but to make all +share in them, when all are capable of acquiring them. This was the +leading characteristic of the constitution of 1791; as each, by degrees, +became competent to enjoy the right, he was admitted to it; it extended +its limits with the extension of civilization, which every day calls a +greater number of men to the administration of the state. In this way it +had established true equality, whose real character is admissibility, as +that of inequality is exclusion. In rendering power transferable by +election, it made it a public magistracy; whilst privilege, in rendering +it hereditary by transmission, makes it private property. + +The constitution of 1791 established homogeneous powers which corresponded +among themselves, and thus reciprocally restrained each other; still, it +must be confessed, the royal authority was too subordinate to popular +power. It is never otherwise: sovereignty, from whatever source derived, +gives itself a feeble counterpoise when it limits itself. A constituent +assembly enfeebles royalty; a king who is a legislator limits the +prerogatives of an assembly. + +This constitution was, however, less democratic than that of the United +States, which had been practicable, despite the extent of the territory, +proving that it is not the form of institutions, but the assent which they +obtain, or the dissent which they excite, which permits or hinders their +establishment. In a new country, after a revolution of independence, as in +America, any constitution is possible; there is but one hostile party, +that of the metropolis, and when that is overcome, the struggle ceases, +because defeat leads to its expulsion. It is not so with social +revolutions among nations who have long been in existence. Changes attack +interests, interests form parties, parties enter into contest, and the +more victory spreads the greater grows opposition. This is what happened +in France. The work of the constituent assembly perished less from its +defects than from the attacks of faction. Placed between the aristocracy +and the multitude, it was attacked by the one and invaded by the other. +The latter would not have become sovereign, had not civil war and the +foreign coalition called for its intervention and aid. To defend the +country, it became necessary that it should govern it; then it effected +its revolution, as the middle class had effected its own. It had its 14th +of July in the 10th of August; its constituent assembly, the convention; +its government, which was the committee of public safety; yet, as we shall +see, without emigration there would have been no republic. + + + + +THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + + + + +CHAPTER V + +FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792 + + +The new assembly opened its session on the 1st October, 1791. It declared +itself immediately _the national legislative assembly_. From its first +appearance, it had occasion to display its attachment to the actual state +of things, and the respect it felt for the authors of French liberty. The +book of the constitution was solemnly presented to it by the archivist +Camus, accompanied by twelve of the oldest members of the national +representation. The assembly received the constitutional act standing and +uncovered, and on it took the oath, amidst the acclamations of the people +who occupied the tribunes, "_to live free or perish!_" A vote of thanks +was given by it to the members of the constituent assembly, and it then +prepared to commence its labours. + +But its first relations with the king had not the same character of union +and confidence. The court, doubtless hoping to regain under the +legislative, the superior position which it had lost under the constituent +assembly, did not employ sufficient management towards a susceptible and +anxious popular authority, which was then considered the first of the +state. The assembly sent a deputation of sixty of its members to the king +to announce its opening. The king did not receive them in person, and sent +word by the minister of justice that he could not give them audience till +noon on the following day. This unceremonious dismissal, and the indirect +communication between the national representatives and the prince, by +means of a minister, hurt the deputation excessively. Accordingly, when +the audience took place, Duchastel, who headed the deputation, said to him +laconically: "Sire, the national legislative assembly is sitting; we are +deputed to inform you of this." Louis XVI. replied still more drily: "I +cannot visit you before Friday." This conduct of the court towards the +assembly was impolitic, and little calculated to conciliate the affection +of the people. + +The assembly approved of the cold manner assumed by the deputation, and +soon indulged in an act of reprisal. The ceremony with which the king was +to be received among them was arranged according to preceding laws. A +fauteuil in the form of a throne was reserved for him; they used towards +him the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_, and the deputies, standing and +uncovered on his entrance, were to sit down, put on their hats, and rise +again, following with deference all the movements of the prince. Some +restless and exaggerated minds considered this condescension unworthy of a +sovereign assembly. The deputy Grangeneuve required that the words _sire_ +and _majesty_ should be replaced by the "more constitutional and finer" +title of _king of the French_. Couthon strongly enforced this motion, and +proposed that a simple fauteuil should be assigned to the king, exactly +like the president's. These motions excited some slight disapprobation on +the part of a few members, but the greater number received them eagerly. +"It gives me pleasure to suppose," said Guadet, "that the French people +will always venerate the simple fauteuil upon which sits the president of +the national representatives, much more than the gilded fauteuil where +sits the head of the executive power. I will say nothing, gentlemen, of +the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_. It astonishes me to find the national +assembly deliberating whether they shall be retained. The word _sire_ +signifies seigneur; it belonged to the feudal system, which has ceased to +exist. As for the term _majesty_, it should only be employed in speaking +of God and of the people." + +The previous question was demanded, but feebly; these motions were put to +the vote, and carried by a considerable majority. Yet, as this decree +appeared hostile, the constitutional opinion pronounced itself against it, +and censured this too excessive rigour in the application of principles. +On the following day those who had demanded the previous question moved +that the decisions of the day before should be abandoned. A report was +circulated, at the same time, that the king would not enter the assembly +if the decree were maintained; and the decree was revoked. These petty +skirmishes between two powers who had to fear usurpations, assumptions, +and more especially ill will between them, terminated here on this +occasion, and all recollection of them was effaced by the presence of +Louis XVI. in the legislative body, where he was received with the +greatest respect and the most lively enthusiasm. + +General pacification formed the chief topic of his speech. He pointed out +to the assembly the subjects that ought to attract its attention,-- +finance, civil law, commerce, trade, and the consolidation of the new +government; he promised to employ his influence to restore order and +discipline in the army, to put the kingdom in a state of defence, and to +diffuse ideas respecting the French revolution, calculated to re-establish +a good understanding in Europe. He added the following words, which were +received with much applause: "Gentlemen, in order that your important +labours, as well as your zeal, may produce all the good which may be +expected from them, a constant harmony and unchanging confidence should +reign between the legislative body and the king. The enemies of our peace +seek but too eagerly to disunite us, but let love of country cement our +union, and let public interest make us inseparable! Thus public power may +develop itself without obstacle; government will not be harassed by vain +fears; the possessions and faith of each will be equally protected, and no +pretext will remain for any one to live apart from a country where the +laws are in vigour, and where the rights of all are respected." +Unfortunately there were two classes, without the revolution, that would +not enter into composition with it, and whose efforts in Europe and the +interior of France were to prevent the realization of these wise and +pacific words. As soon as there are displaced parties in a state, a +struggle will result, and measures of hostility must be taken against +them. Accordingly, the internal troubles, fomented by non-juring priests, +the military assemblings of emigrants, and the preparations for the +coalition, soon drove the legislative assembly further than the +constitution allowed, and than it itself had proposed. + +The composition of this assembly was completely popular. The prevailing +ideas being in favour of the revolution, the court, nobility, and clergy +had exercised no influence over the elections. There were not in this +assembly, as in the preceding, partisans of absolute power and of +privilege. The two fractions of the Left who had separated towards the +close of the constituent assembly were again brought face to face; but no +longer in the same proportion of number and strength. The popular minority +of the previous assembly became the majority in this. The prohibition +against electing representatives already tried, the necessity of choosing +deputies from those most distinguished by their conduct and opinions, and +especially the active influence of the clubs, led to this result. Opinions +and parties soon became known. As in the constituent assembly there was a +Right, a Centre, a Left, but of a perfectly different character. + +The Right, composed of firm and absolute constitutionalists, composed the +Feuillant party. Its principal speakers were Dumas, Ramond, Vaublanc, +Beugnot, etc. It had some relations with the court, through Barnave, +Duport, and Alexander Lameth, who were its former leaders; but whose +counsels were rarely followed by Louis XVI., who gave himself up with more +confidence to the advice of those immediately around him. Out of doors, it +supported itself on the club of the Feuillants and upon the bourgeoisie. +The national guard, the army, the directory of the department, and in +general all the constituted authorities, were favourable to it. But this +party, which no longer prevailed in the assembly, soon lost a post quite +as essential, that of the municipality, which was occupied by its +adversaries of the Left. + +These formed the party called Girondist, and which in the revolution only +formed an intermediate party between the middle class and the multitude. +It had then no subversive project; but it was disposed to defend the +revolution in every way, and in this differed from the constitutionalists +who would only defend it with the law. At its head were the brilliant +orators of the Gironde, [Footnote: The name of the river Garonne, after +its confluence with the Dordogne.] who gave their name to the party, +Vergniaud, Guadet, Gensonné, and the Provençal Isnard, who had a style of +still more impassioned eloquence than theirs. Its chief leader was +Brissot, who, a member of the corporation of Paris during the last +session, had subsequently become a member of the assembly. The opinions of +Brissot, who advocated a complete reform; his great activity of mind, +which he developed at once in the journal the _Patriote_, in the tribune +of the assembly, and at the club of the Jacobins; his exact and extensive +knowledge of the position of foreign powers, gave him great ascendancy at +the moment of a struggle between parties, and of a war with Europe. +Condorcet possessed influence of another description; he owed this to his +profound ideas, to his superior reason, which almost procured him the +place of Sieyès in this second revolutionary generation. Pétion, of a calm +and determined character, was the active man of this party. His tranquil +brow, his fluent elocution, his acquaintance with the people, soon +procured for him the municipal magistracy, which Bailly had discharged for +the middle class. + +The Left had in the assembly the nucleus of a party more extreme than +itself, and the members of which, such as Chabot, Bazire, Merlin, were to +the Girondists what Pétion, Buzot, Robespierre, had been to the Left of +the constituent. This was the commencement of the democratic faction +which, without, served as auxiliary to the Gironde, and which managed the +clubs and the multitude. Robespierre in the society of the Jacobins, where +he established his sway after leaving the assembly; Danton, Camille +Desmoulins, and Fabre-d'Eglantine at the Cordeliers, where they had +founded a club of innovators more extreme than the Jacobins, composed of +men of the bourgeoisie; the brewer Santerre in the faubourgs, where the +popular power lay; were the true chiefs of this faction, which depended on +one whole class, and aspired at founding its own régime. + +The Centre of the legislative assembly was sincerely attached to the new +order of things. It had almost the same opinions, the same inclination for +moderation as the Centre of the constituent assembly; but its power was +very different: it was no longer at the head of a class established, and +by the aid of which it could master all the extreme parties. Public +dangers, making the want of exalted opinions and parties from without +again felt, completely annulled the Centre. It was soon won over to the +strongest side, the fate of all moderate parties, and the Left swayed it. + +The situation of the assembly was very difficult. Its predecessor had left +it parties which it evidently could not pacify. From the beginning of the +session it was obliged to turn its attention to these, and that in +opposing them. Emigration was making an alarming progress: the king's two +brothers, the prince de Condé and the duke de Bourbon, had protested +against Louis XVI. accepting the constitutional act, that is, against the +only means of accommodation; they had said that the king could not +alienate the rights of the ancient monarchy; and their protest, +circulating throughout France, had produced a great effect on their +partisans. Officers quitted the armies, the nobility their châteaux, whole +companies deserted to enlist on the frontiers. Distaffs were sent to those +who wavered; and those who did not emigrate were threatened with the loss +of the position when the nobility should return victorious. In the +Austrian Low Countries and the bordering electorates, there was formed +what was called _La France extérieure_. The counterrevolution was openly +preparing at Brussels, Worms, and Coblentz, under the protection and even +with the assistance of foreign courts. The ambassadors of the emigrants +were received, while those of the French government were dismissed, ill +received, or even thrown into prison, as in the case of M. Duveryer. +French merchants and travellers suspected of patriotism and attachment to +the revolution were scouted throughout Europe. Several powers had declared +themselves without disguise: of this number were Sweden, Russia, and +Spain; the latter at that time being governed by the marquis Florida- +Blanca, a man entirely devoted to the emigrant party. At the same time, +Prussia kept its army prepared for war: the lines of the Spanish and +Sardinian troops increased on our Alpine and Pyrenean frontiers, and +Gustavus was assembling a Swedish army. + +The dissentient ecclesiastics left nothing undone which might produce a +diversion in favour of the emigrants at home. "Priests, and especially +bishops," says the marquis de Ferrières, "employed all the resources of +fanaticism to excite the people, in town and country, against the civil +constitution of the clergy." Bishops ordered the priests no longer to +perform divine service in the same church with the constitutional priests, +for fear the people might confound the two. "Independently," he adds, "of +circular letters written to the curés, instructions intended for the +people were circulated through the country. They said that the sacraments +could not be effectually administered by the constitutional priests, whom +they called _Intruders_, and that every one attending their ministrations +became by their presence guilty of a mortal sin; that those who were +married by Intruders, were not married; that they brought a curse upon +themselves and upon their children; that no one should have communication +with them, or with those separated from the church; that the municipal +officers who installed them, like them became apostates; that the moment +of their installation all bell-ringers and sextons ought to resign their +situations.... These fanatical addresses produced the effect which the +bishops expected. Religious disturbances broke out on all sides." + +Insurrection more especially broke out in Calvados, Gevaudan, and La +Vendée. These districts were ill-disposed towards the revolution, because +they contained few of the middle and intelligent classes, and because the +populace, up to that time, had been kept in a state of dependence on the +nobility and clergy. The Girondists, taking alarm, wished to adopt +rigorous measures against emigration and the dissentient priests, who +attacked the new order of things. Brissot proposed putting a stop to +emigration, by giving up the mild system hitherto observed towards it. He +divided the emigrants into three classes:--1st. The principal leaders, and +at their head the brothers of the king. 2ndly. Public functionaries who +forsook their posts and country, and sought to entice their colleagues. +3rdly. Private individuals, who, to preserve life, or from an aversion to +the revolution, or from other motives, left their native land, without +taking arms against it. He required that severe laws should be put in +force against the first two classes; but thought it would be good policy +to be indulgent towards the last. With respect to non-juring +ecclesiastics and agitators, some of the Girondists proposed to confine +themselves to a stricter surveillance; others thought there was only one +safe line of conduct to be pursued towards them: that the spirit of +sedition could only be quelled by banishing them from the country. "All +attempts at conciliation," said the impetuous Isnard, "will henceforth be +in vain. What, I ask, has been the consequence of these reiterated +pardons? The daring of your foes has increased with your indulgence; they +will only cease to injure you when deprived of the means of doing so. They +must be conquerors or conquered. On this point all must agree; the man who +will not see this great truth is, in my opinion, politically blind." + +The constitutionalists were opposed to all these measures; they did not +deny the danger, but they considered such laws arbitrary. They said, +before everything it was necessary to respect the constitution, and from +that time to confine themselves to precautionary measures; that it was +sufficient to keep on the defensive against the emigrants; and to wait, in +order to punish the dissentient priests, till they discovered actual +conspiracies on their part. They recommended that the law should not be +violated even towards enemies, for fear that once engaging in such a +course, it should be impossible to arrest that course, and so the +revolution be lost, like the ancient régime, through its injustice. But +the assembly, which deemed the safety of the state more important than the +strict observance of the law, which saw danger in hesitation, and which, +moreover, was influenced by passions which lead to expeditious measures, +was not stopped by these considerations. With common consent it again, on +the 30th of October, passed a decree relative to the eldest brother of the +king, Louis-Stanislaus-Xavier. This prince was required, in the terms of +the constitution, to return to France in two months, or at the expiration +of that period he would be considered to have forfeited his rights as +regent. But agreement ceased as to the decrees against emigrants and +priests. On the 9th of November the assembly resolved, that the French +gathered together beyond the frontiers were suspected of conspiracy +against their country; that if they remained assembled on the 1st of +January, 1792, they would be treated as conspirators, be punishable by +death, and that after condemnation to death for contumacy, the proceeds of +their estates were to be confiscated to the nation, always without +prejudice to the rights of their wives, children, and lawful creditors. On +the 29th of the same month it passed a similar decree respecting the +dissentient priests. They were obliged to take the civic oath, under pain +of being deprived of their pensions and suspected of revolt against the +law. If they still refused they were to be closely watched; and if any +religious disturbances took place in their parishes, they were to be taken +to the chief town of the department, and if found to have taken any part +in exciting disobedience, they were liable to imprisonment. + +The king sanctioned the first decree respecting his brother; he put his +veto on the other two. A short time before he had disavowed emigration by +public measures, and he had written to the emigrant princes recalling them +to the kingdom. He invited them to return in the name of the tranquillity +of France, and of the attachment and obedience they owed to him as their +brother and their king. "I shall," said he, in concluding the letter, +"always be grateful to you for saving me the necessity of acting in +opposition to you, through the invariable resolution I have made to +maintain what I have announced." These wise invitations had led to no +result: but Louis XVI., while he condemned the conduct of the emigrants, +would not give his consent to the measures taken against them. In refusing +his sanction he was supported by the friends of the constitution and the +directory of the department. This support was not without use to him, at a +time when, in the eyes of the people, he appeared to be an accomplice of +emigration, when he provoked the dissatisfaction of the Girondists, and +separated himself from the assembly. He should have united closely with +it, since he invoked the constitution against the emigrants in his +letters, and against the revolutionist, by the exercise of his +prerogative. His position could only become strong by sincerely falling in +with the first revolution, and making his own cause one with that of the +bourgeoisie. + +But the court was not so resigned; it still expected better times, and was +thus prevented from pursuing an invariable line of conduct, and induced to +seek grounds for hope in every quarter. Now and then disposed to favour +the intervention of foreign powers, it continued to correspond with +Europe; it intrigued with its ministers against the popular party, and +made use of the Feuillants against the Girondists, though with much +distrust. At this period its chief resource was in the petty schemes of +Bertrand de Moleville, who directed the council; who had established a +_French club_, the members of which he paid; who purchased the applause of +the tribunes of the assembly, hoping by this imitation of the revolution +to conquer the true revolution, his object being to deceive parties, and +annul the effects of the constitution by observing it literally. + +By this line of conduct the court had even the imprudence to weaken the +constitutionalists, whom it ought to have reinforced; at their expense it +favoured the election of Pétion to the mayoralty. Through the +disinterestedness with which the preceding assembly had been seized, all +who had held popular posts under it successively gave them up. On the 18th +of October, Lafayette resigned the command of the national guard, and +Bailly had just retired from the mayoralty. The constitutional party +proposed that Lafayette should replace him in this first post of the +state, which, by permitting or restraining insurrections, delivered Paris +into the power of him who occupied it. Till then it had been in the hands +of the constitutionalists, who, by this means, had repressed the rising of +the Champ de Mars. They had lost the direction of the assembly, the +command of the national guard; they now lost the corporation. The court +gave to Pétion, the Girondist candidate, all the votes at its disposal. +"M. de Lafayette," observed the queen to Bertrand de Moleville, "only +wishes to be mayor of Paris in order to become mayor of the palace. Pétion +is a jacobin, a republican, but he is a fool, incapable of ever leading a +party." On the 4th of November, Pétion was elected mayor by a majority of +6708 votes in a total of 10,632. + +The Girondists, in whose favour this nomination became decisive, did not +content themselves with the acquisition of the mayoralty. France could not +remain long in this dangerous and provisional state. The decrees which, +justly or otherwise, were to provide for the defence of the revolution, +and which had been rejected by the king, were not replaced by any +government measure; the ministry manifested either unwillingness or sheer +indifference. The Girondists, accordingly, accused Delessart, the minister +for foreign affairs, of compromising the honour and safety of the nation +by the tone of his negotiations with foreign powers, by his +procrastination, and want of skill. They also warmly attacked Duportail, +the war minister, and Bertrand de Moleville, minister of the marine, for +neglecting to put the coasts and frontiers in a state of defence. The +conduct of the Electors of Trèves, Mayence, and the bishop of Spires, who +favoured the military preparations of the emigrants, more especially +excited the national indignation. The diplomatic committee proposed a +declaration to the king, that the nation would view with satisfaction a +requisition by him to the neighbouring princes to disperse the military +gatherings within three weeks, and his assembling the forces necessary to +make them respect international law. By this important measure, they also +wished to make Louis XVI. enter into a solemn engagement, and signify to +the diet of Ratisbon, as well as to the other courts of Europe, the firm +intentions of France. + +Isnard ascended the tribune to support this proposition. "Let us," said +he, "in this crisis, rise to the full elevation of our mission; let us +speak to the ministers, to the king, to all Europe, with the firmness that +becomes us. Let us tell our ministers, that hitherto the nation is not +well satisfied with the conduct of any of them; that henceforth they will +have no choice but between public gratitude and the vengeance of the laws; +and that by the word responsibility we understand death. Let us tell the +king that it is his interest to defend the constitution; that he only +reigns by the people and for the people; that the nation is his sovereign, +and that he is subject to the law. Let us tell Europe, that if the French +people once draw the sword, they will throw away the scabbard, and will +not raise it again till it may be crowned with the laurels of victory; +that if cabinets engage kings in a war against the people, we will engage +the people in a mortal warfare against kings. Let us tell them, that all +the fights the people shall fight at the order of despots"--here he was +interrupted by loud applause--"Do not applaud," he cried--"do not applaud; +respect my enthusiasm; it is that of liberty! Let us say to Europe, that +all the fights which the people shall fight at the command of despots, +resemble the blows that two friends, excited by a perfidious instigator, +inflict on each other in darkness. When light arrives, they throw down +their arms, embrace, and chastise their deceiver. So will it be if, when +foreign armies are contending with ours, the light of philosophy shine +upon them. The nations will embrace in the presence of dethroned tyrants-- +of the earth consoled, of Heaven satisfied." + +The assembly unanimously, and with transport, passed the proposed measure, +and, on the 29th of November, sent a message to the king. Vaublanc was the +leader of the deputation. "Sire," said he to Louis XVI., "the national +assembly had scarcely glanced at the state of the nation ere it saw that +the troubles which still agitate it arise from the criminal preparations +of French emigrants. Their audacity is encouraged by German princes, who +trample under foot the treaties between them and France, and affect to +forget that they are indebted to this empire for the treaty of Westphalia, +which secured their rights and their safety. These hostile preparations, +these threats of invasion, will require armaments absorbing immense sums, +which the nation would joyfully pay over to its creditors. It is for you, +sire, to make them desist; it is for you to address to foreign powers the +language befitting the king of the French. Tell them, that wherever +preparations are permitted to be made against France, there France +recognises only foes; that we will religiously observe our oath to make no +conquests; that we offer them the good neighbourship, the inviolable +friendship of a free and powerful people; that we will respect their laws, +their customs, and their constitutions; but that we will have our own +respected! Tell them, that if princes of Germany continue to favour +preparations directed against the French, the French will carry into their +territories, not indeed fire and sword, but liberty. It is for them to +calculate the consequences of this awakening of nations." + +Louis XVI. replied, that he would give the fullest consideration to the +message of the assembly; and in a few days he came in person to announce +his resolutions on the subject. They were conformable with the general +wish. The king said, amidst vehement applause, that he would cause it to +be declared to the elector of Trèves and the other electors, that, unless +all gatherings and hostile preparations on the part of the French +emigrants in their states ceased before the 15th of January, he would +consider them as enemies. He added, that he would write to the emperor to +engage him, as chief of the empire, to interpose his authority for the +purpose of averting the calamities which the lengthened resistance of a +few members of the Germanic body would occasion. "If these declarations +are not heeded, then, gentlemen," said he, "it will only remain for me to +propose war--war, which a people who have solemnly renounced conquest, +never declares without necessity, but which a free and generous nation +will undertake and carry on when its honour and safety require it." + +The steps taken by the king with the princes of the empire were supported +by military preparations. On the 6th of December a new minister of war +replaced Duportail; Narbonne, taken from the Feuillants, young, active, +ambitious of distinguishing himself by the triumph of his party and the +defence of the revolution, repaired immediately to the frontiers. A +hundred and fifty thousand men were placed in requisition; for this object +the assembly voted an extraordinary supply of twenty millions of francs; +three armies were formed under the command of Rochambeau, Luckner, and +Lafayette; finally, a decree was passed impeaching _Monsieur_, the count +d'Artois, and the prince de Condé as conspirators against the general +safety of the state and of the constitution. Their property was +sequestrated, and the period previously fixed on for _Monsieur's_ return +to the kingdom having expired, he was deprived of his claim to the +regency. + +The elector of Trèves engaged to disperse the gatherings, and not to allow +them in future. It was, however, but the shadow of a dispersion. Austria +ordered marshal Bender to defend the elector if he were attacked, and +ratified the conclusions of the diet of Ratisbon, which required the +restoration of the princes' possessions; refused to sanction any pecuniary +indemnity for the loss of their rights, and only left France the +alternative of restoring feudalism in Alsace, or war. These two measures +of the cabinet of Vienna were by no means pacific. Its troops advanced +towards the frontiers of France, and gave further proof that it would not +be safe to trust to its neutrality. It had fifty thousand men in the +Netherlands; six thousand posted in Breisgau; and thirty thousand men on +their way from Bohemia. This powerful army of observation might at any +moment be converted into an army of attack. + +The assembly felt that it was urgently necessary to bring the emperor to a +decision. It looked on the electors as merely his agents, and on the +emigrants as his instruments; for the prince von Kaunitz recognised as +legitimate "the league of sovereigns united for the safety and honour of +crowns." The Girondists, therefore, wished to anticipate this dangerous +adversary, in order not to give him time for more mature preparations. +They required from him, before the 10th of February, a definite and +precise explanation of his real intentions with regard to France. They at +the same time proceeded against those ministers on whom they could not +rely in the event of war. The incapacity of Delessart, and the intrigues +of Moleville especially, gave room for attack; Narbonne was alone spared. +They were aided by the divisions of the council, which was partly +aristocratic in Bertrand de Moleville, Delessart, etc., and partly +constitutional, in Narbonne, and Cahier de Gerville, minister of the +interior. Men so opposed in character and intentions could scarcely be +expected to agree; Bertrand de Moleville had warm contests with Narbonne, +who wished his colleagues to adopt a frank, decided line of conduct, and +to make the assembly the fulcrum of the throne. Narbonne succumbed in this +struggle, and his dismissal involved the disorganization of the ministry. +The Girondists threw the blame upon Bertrand de Moleville and Delessart; +the former had the address to exonerate himself; but the latter was +brought before the high court of Orleans. + +The king, intimidated by the assaults of the assembly upon the members of +his council, and more especially by the impeachment of Delessart, had no +resource but to select his new ministers from amongst the victorious +party. An alliance with the actual rulers of the revolution could alone +save liberty and the throne, by restoring concord between the assembly, +the supreme authority, and the municipality; and if this union had been +maintained, the Girondists would have effected with the court that which, +after the rupture itself, they considered they could only effect without +it. The members of the new ministry were:--minister of the marine, +Lacoste; of finance, Clavière; of justice, Duranton; of war, de Grave, +soon afterwards replaced by Servan; of foreign affairs, Dumouriez; of the +interior, Roland. The two latter were the most important and most +remarkable men in the cabinet. + +Dumouriez was forty-seven years of age when the revolution began; he had +lived till then immersed in intrigue, and he retained his old habits too +closely at an epoch when he should have employed small means only to aid +great ones, instead of supplying their place. The first part of his +political life was spent in seeking those by whom he might rise: the +second, those by whom he might maintain his position. A courtier up to +1789, a constitutionalist under the first assembly, a Girondist under the +second, a Jacobin under the republic, he was eminently a man of +circumstances. But he had all the resources of great men; an enterprising +character, indefatigable activity, a ready, sure, and extensive +perception, impetuosity of action, and an extraordinary confidence of +success; he was, moreover, open, easy, witty, daring; adapted alike for +arms and for factions, full of expedients, wonderfully ready, and, in +difficult positions, versed in the art of stooping to conquer. It is true +that his great qualities were weakened by defects; he was rash, flighty, +full of inconsistency of thought and action, owing to his continual thirst +for movement and machination. But his great defect was the total absence +of a political conviction. In times of revolution, nothing can be done for +liberty or power by him who is not decidedly of one party or another, and +when he is ambitious, unless he see further than the immediate objects of +that party, and have a stronger will than his colleagues. This it was made +Cromwell; this it was made Buonaparte; while Dumouriez, the employed of +all parties, thought he could get the better of them all by intriguing. He +wanted the passion of his time: that which completes a man, and alone +enables him to sway. + +Roland was the opposite of Dumouriez; his was a character which Liberty +found ready formed, as if moulded by herself. Roland had simple manners, +austere morals, tried opinions; enthusiastically attached to liberty, he +was capable of disinterestedly devoting to her cause his whole life, or of +perishing for her, without ostentation and without regret. A man worthy of +being born in a republic, but out of place in a revolution, and ill +adapted for the agitation and struggle of parties; his talents were not +superior, his temper somewhat uncompliant; he was unskilled in the +knowledge and management of men; and though laborious, well informed, and +active, he would have produced little effect but for his wife. All he +wanted she had for him; force, ability, elevation, foresight. Madame +Roland was the soul of the Gironde; it was at her house that those +brilliant and courageous men assembled to discuss the necessities and +dangers of their country; it was she who stimulated to action those whom +she saw were qualified for action, and who encouraged to the tribune those +whom she knew to be eloquent. + +The court named this ministry, which was appointed during the month of +March, _le Ministère Sans-Culotte_. The first time Roland appeared at the +château with strings in his shoes and a round hat, contrary to etiquette, +the master of the ceremonies refused to admit him. Obliged, however, to +give way, he said, despairingly, to Dumouriez, pointing to Roland: "_Ah, +sir--no buckles in his shoes_." "Ah, sir, all is lost," replied Dumouriez, +with an air of the most sympathising gravity. Such were the trifles which +still occupied the attention of the court. The first step of the new +ministry was war. The position of France was becoming more and more +dangerous; everything was to be feared from the enmity of Europe. Leopold +was dead, and this event was calculated to accelerate the decision of the +cabinet of Vienna. His young successor, Francis II., was likely to be less +pacific or less prudent than he. Moreover, Austria was assembling its +troops, forming camps, and appointing generals; it had violated the +territory of Bâle, and placed a garrison in Porentruy, to secure for +itself the entry of the department of Doubs. There could be no doubt as to +its projects. The gatherings at Coblenz had recommenced to a greater +extent than before; the cabinet of Vienna had only temporarily dispersed +the emigrants assembled in the Belgian provinces, in order to prevent the +invasion of that country, at a time when it was not yet ready to repel +invasion; it had, however, merely sought to save appearances, and had +allowed a staff of general officers, in full uniform, and with the white +cockade, to remain at Brussels. Finally, the reply of the prince von +Kaunitz to the required explanations was by no means satisfactory. He even +refused to negotiate directly, and the baron von Cobenzl was commissioned +to reply, that Austria would not depart from the required conditions +already set forth. The re-establishment of the monarchy on the basis of +the royal sitting of the 23rd of June; the restitution of its property to +the clergy; of the territory of Alsace, with all their rights, to the +German princes; of Avignon and the Venaissin to the pope; such was the +_ultimatum_ of Austria. All accord was now impossible; peace could no +longer be maintained. France was threatened with the fate which Holland +had just experienced, and perhaps with that of Poland. The sole question +now was whether to wait for or to initiate war, whether to profit by the +enthusiasm of the people or to allow that enthusiasm to cool. The true +author of war is not he who declares it, but he who renders it necessary. + +On the 20th of April, Louis XVI. went to the assembly, attended by all his +ministers. "I come, gentlemen," said he, "to the national assembly for one +of the most important objects that can occupy the representatives of the +nation. My minister for foreign affairs will read to you the report drawn +up in our council, as to our political situation." Dumouriez then rose. He +set forth the grounds of complaint that France had against the house of +Austria; the object of the conferences of Mantua, Reichenbach and Pilnitz; +the coalition it had formed against the French revolution; its armaments +becoming more and more considerable; the open protection it afforded to +bodies of emigrants; the imperious tone and the undisguised +procrastination of its negotiations, lastly, the intolerable conditions of +its _ultimatum_; and, after a long series of considerations, founded on +the hostile conduct of the king of Hungary and Bohemia (Francis II. was +not yet elected emperor); on the urgent circumstances of the nation; on +its formally declared resolution to endure no insult, no encroachment on +its rights; on the honour and good faith of Louis XVI., the depositary of +the dignity and safety of France; he demanded war against Austria. Louis +XVI. then said, in a voice slightly tremulous: "You have heard, gentlemen, +the result of my negotiations with the court of Vienna. The conclusions of +the report are based upon the unanimous opinion of my council; I have +myself adopted them. They are conformable with the wishes often expressed +to me by the national assembly, and with the sentiments frequently +testified by bodies of citizens in different parts of the kingdom; all +prefer war, to witnessing the continuance of insult to the French people, +and danger threatening the national existence. It was my duty first to try +every means of maintaining peace. Having failed in these efforts, I now +come, according to the terms of the constitution, to propose to the +national assembly war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia." The king's +address was received with some applause, but the solemnity of the +circumstances, and the grandeur of the decision, filled every bosom with +silent and concentrated emotion. As soon as the king had withdrawn, the +assembly voted an extraordinary sitting for the evening. In that sitting +war was almost unanimously decided upon. Thus was undertaken, against the +chief of the confederate powers, that war which was protracted throughout +a quarter of a century, which victoriously established the revolution, and +which changed the whole face of Europe. + +All France received the announcement with joy. War gave a new movement to +the people already so much excited. Districts, municipalities, popular +societies, wrote addresses; men were enrolled, voluntary gifts offered, +pikes forged, and the nation seemed to rise up to await Europe, or to +attack it. But enthusiasm, which ensures victory in the end, does not at +first supply the place of organization. Accordingly, at the opening of the +campaign, the regular troops were all that could be relied upon until the +new levies were trained. This was the state of the forces. The vast +frontier, from Dunkirk to Huninguen, was divided into three great military +districts. On the left, from Dunkirk to Philippeville, the army of the +north, of about forty thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, was under +the orders of marshal de Rochambeau. Lafayette commanded the army of the +centre, composed of forty-five thousand foot, and seven thousand horse, +and occupying the district between Philippeville and the lines of +Weissemberg. Lastly, the army of the Rhine, consisting of thirty-five +thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, extending from the lines of +Weissemberg to Bâle, was under the command of marshal Luckner. The +frontier of the Alps and Pyrenees was confided to general Montesquiou, +whose army was inconsiderable; but this part of France was not as yet in +danger. + +The marshal de Rochambeau was of opinion that it would be prudent to +remain on the defensive, and simply to guard the frontiers. Dumouriez, on +the contrary, wished to take the initiative in action, as they had done in +declaring war, so as to profit by the advantage of being first prepared. +He was very enterprising, and as, although minister of foreign affairs, he +directed the military operations, his plan was adopted. It consisted of a +rapid invasion of Belgium. This province had, in 1790, essayed to throw +off the Austrian yoke, but, after a brief victory, was subdued by superior +force. Dumouriez imagined that the Brabant patriots would favour the +attack of the French, as a means of freedom for themselves. With this +view, he combined a triple invasion. The two generals, Theobald Dillon, +and Biron, who commanded in Flanders under Rochambeau, received orders to +advance, the one with four thousand men from Lille upon Tournai--the +other, with ten thousand, from Valenciennes upon Mons. At the same time, +Lafayette, with a part of his army, quitted Metz, and advanced by forced +marches upon Namur, by Stenai, Sedan, Mézières, and Givet. But this plan +implied in the soldiers a discipline which they had not of course as yet +acquired, and on the part of the chiefs a concert very difficult to +obtain; besides, the invading columns were not strong enough for such an +enterprise. Theobald Dillon had scarcely passed the frontier, when, on +meeting the first enemy on the 28th of April, a panic terror seized upon +the troops. The cry of _sauve qui peut_ ran through the ranks, and the +general was carried off, and massacred by his troops. Much the same thing +took place, under the same circumstances, in the corps of Biron, who was +obliged to retreat in disorder to his previous position. The sudden and +concurrent flight of these two columns must be attributed either to fear +of the enemy, on the part of troops who had never before stood fire, or to +a distrust of their leaders, or to traitors who sounded the alarm of +treachery. + +Lafayette, on arriving at Bouvines, after travelling fifty leagues of bad +roads in two or three days, learnt the disasters of Valenciennes and +Lille; he at once saw that the object of the invasion had failed; and he +justly thought that the best course would be to effect a retreat. +Rochambeau complained of the precipitate and incongruous nature of the +measures which had been in the most absolute manner prescribed to him. As +he did not choose to remain a passive machine, obliged to fill, at the +will of the ministers, a post which he himself ought to have the full +direction of, he resigned. From that moment the French army resumed the +defensive. The frontier was divided into two general commands only, the +one intrusted to Lafayette, extending from the sea to Longwy, and the +other, from the Moselle to the Jura, being confided to Luckner. Lafayette +placed his left under the command of Arthur Dillon, and with his right +reached to Luckner, who had Biron as his lieutenant on the Rhine. In this +position they awaited the allies. + +Meantime, the first checks increased the rupture between the Feuillants +and the Girondists. The generals ascribed them to the plans of Dumouriez, +the ministry attributed them to the manner in which its plans had been +executed by the generals, who, having been appointed by Narbonne, were of +the constitutional party. The Jacobins, on the other hand, accused the +anti-revolutionists of having occasioned the flight by the cry of _sauve +qui peut!_ Their joy, which they did not conceal, the declared hope of +soon seeing the confederates in Paris, the emigrants returned, and the +ancient regime restored, confirmed these suspicions. It was thought that +the court, which had increased the household troops from eighteen hundred +to six thousand men, and these carefully selected anti-revolutionists, +acted in concert with the coalition. The public denounced, under the name +of _comité Autrichien_, a secret committee, the very existence of which +could not be proved, and mistrust was at its height. + +The assembly at once took decided measures. It had entered upon the career +of war, and it was thenceforth condemned to regulate its conduct far more +with reference to the public safety than with regard to the mere justice +of the case. It resolved upon sitting permanently; it discharged the +household troops; on account of the increase of religious disturbances, it +passed a decree exiling refractory priests, so that it might not have at +the same time to combat a coalition and to appease revolts. To repair the +late defeats, and to have an army of reserve near the capital, it voted on +the 8th of June, and on the motion of the minister for war, Servan, the +formation of a camp outside Paris of twenty thousand men drawn from the +provinces. It also sought to excite the public mind by revolutionary +fêtes, and began to enroll the multitude and arm them with pikes, +conceiving that no assistance could be superfluous in such a moment of +peril. + +All these measures were not carried without opposition from the +constitutionalists. They opposed the establishment of the camp of twenty +thousand men, which they regarded as the army of a party directed against +the national guard and the throne. The staff of the former protested, and +the recomposition of this body was immediately effected in accordance with +the views of the dominant party. Companies armed with pikes were +introduced into the new national guard. The constitutionalists were still +more dissatisfied with this measure, which introduced a lower class into +their ranks, and which seemed to them to aim at superseding the +bourgeoisie by the populace. Finally, they openly condemned the banishment +of the priests, which in their opinion was nothing less than proscription. + +Louis XVI. had for some time past manifested a coolness towards his +ministers, who on their part had been more exacting with him. They urged +him to admit about him priests who had taken the oath, in order to set an +example in favour of the constitutional religion, and to remove pretexts +for religious agitation; he steadily refused this, determined as he was to +make no further religious concession. These last decrees had put an end to +his concord with the Gironde; for several days he did not mention the +subject, much less make known his intentions respecting it. It was on this +occasion that Roland addressed to him his celebrated letter on his +constitutional duties, and entreated him to calm the public mind, and to +establish his authority, by becoming frankly the king of the revolution. +This letter still more highly irritated Louis XVI., already disposed to +break with the Girondists. He was supported in this by Dumouriez, who, +forsaking his party, had formed with Duranton and Lacoste, a division in +the ministry against Roland, Servan, and Clavière. But, able as well as +ambitious, Dumouriez advised Louis, while dismissing the ministers of whom +he had to complain, to sanction their decrees, in order to make himself +popular. He described that against the priests as a precaution in their +favour, exile probably removing them from a proscription still more fatal; +he undertook to prevent any revolutionary consequences from the camp of +twenty thousand men, by marching off each battalion to the army +immediately upon its arrival at the camp. On these conditions, Dumouriez +took upon himself the post of minister for war, and sustained the attacks +of his own party. The king dismissed his ministers on the 13th of June, +rejected the decrees on the 29th, and Dumouriez set out for the army, +after having rendered himself an object of suspicion. The assembly +declared that Roland, Servan, and Clavière carried with them the regrets +of the nation. + +The king selected his new ministers from among the Feuillants. Scipio +Chambonnas was appointed minister of foreign affairs; Terrier de Monceil, +of the interior; Beaulieu, of finance; Lajarre, of war; Lacoste and +Duranton remained provisionally ministers of justice and of the marine. +All these men were without reputation or credit, and their party itself +was approaching the term of its existence. The constitutional situation, +during which it was to sway, was changing more and more decidedly into a +revolutionary situation. How could a legal and moderate party maintain +itself between two extreme and belligerent parties, one of which was +advancing from without to destroy the revolution, while the other was +resolved to defend it at any cost? The Feuillants became superfluous in +such a conjuncture. The king, perceiving their weakness, now seemed to +place his reliance upon Europe alone, and sent Mallet-Dupan on a secret +mission to the coalition. + +Meantime, all those who had been outstripped by the popular tide, and who +belonged to the first period of the revolution, united to second this +slight retrograde movement. The monarchists, at whose head were Lally- +Tollendal and Malouet, two of the principal members of the Mounier and +Necker party; Feuillants, directed by the old triumvirate, Duport, Lameth, +and Barnave; lastly, Lafayette, who had immense reputation as a +constitutionalist, tried to put down the clubs, and to re-establish legal +order and the power of the king. The Jacobins made great exertions at this +period; their influence was becoming enormous; they were at the head of +the party of the populace. To oppose them, to check them, the old party of +the bourgeoisie was required; but this was disorganised, and its influence +grew daily weaker and weaker. In order to revive its courage and strength, +Lafayette, on the 16th of June, addressed from the camp at Maubeuge a +letter to the assembly, in which he denounced the Jacobin faction, +required the cessation of the clubs, the independence and confirmation of +the constitutional throne, and urged the assembly in his own name, in that +of his army, in that of all the friends of liberty, only to adopt such +measures for the public welfare as were sanctioned by law. This letter +gave rise to warm debates between the Right and Left in the assembly. +Though dictated only by pure and disinterested motives, it appeared, +coming as it did from a young general at the head of his army, a +proceeding _à la Cromwell_, and from that moment Lafayette's reputation, +hitherto respected by his opponents, became the object of attack. In fact, +considering it merely in a political point of view, this step was +imprudent. The Gironde, driven from the ministry, stopped in its measures +for the public good, needed no further goading; and, on the other hand, it +was quite undesirable that Lafayette, even for the benefit of his party, +should use his influence. + +The Gironde wished, for its own safety and that of the nation, to recover +power, without, however, departing from constitutional means. Its object +was not, as at a later period, to dethrone the king, but to bring him back +amongst them. For this purpose it had recourse to the imperious petitions +of the multitude. Since the declaration of war, petitioners had appeared +in arms at the bar of the national assembly, had offered their services in +defence of the country, and had obtained permission to march armed through +the house. This concession was blameable, neutralizing all the laws +against military gatherings; but both parties found themselves in an +extraordinary position, and each employed illegal means; the court having +recourse to Europe, and the Gironde to the people. The latter was in a +state of great agitation. The leaders of the Faubourgs, among whom were +the deputy Chabot, Santerre, Legendre, a butcher, Gonchon, the marquis de +Saint Hurugue, prepared them, during several days, for a revolutionary +outbreak, similar to the one which failed at the Champ de Mars. The 20th +of June was approaching, the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis-court. +Under the pretext of celebrating this memorable day by a civic fête, and +of planting a May-pole in honour of liberty, an assemblage of about eight +thousand men left the Faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau, on the +20th of June, and took their way to the assembly. + +Roederer, the recorder, brought the tidings to the assembly, but in the +meantime the mob had reached the doors of the hall. Their leaders asked +permission to present a petition, and to defile before the assembly. A +violent debate arose between the Right, who were unwilling to admit the +armed petitioners, and the Left, who, on the ground of custom, wished to +receive them, Vergniaud declared that the assembly would violate every +principle by admitting armed bands among them; but, considering actual +circumstances, he also declared that it was impossible to deny a request +in the present case, that had been granted in so many others. It was +difficult not to yield to the desires of an enthusiastic and vast +multitude, when seconded by a majority of the representatives. The crowd +already thronged the passages, when the assembly decided that the +petitioners should be admitted to the bar. The deputation was introduced. +The spokesman expressed himself in threatening language. He said that the +people were astir; that they were ready to make use of great means--the +means comprised in the declaration of rights, _resistance of oppression_; +that the dissentient members of the assembly, if there were any, _would +purge the world of liberty_, and would repair to Coblentz; then returning +to the true design of this insurrectional petition, he added: "The +executive power is not in union with you; we require no other proof of it +than the dismissal of the patriot ministers. It is thus, then, that the +happiness of a free nation shall depend on the caprice of a king! But +should this king have any other will than that of the law? The people will +have it so, and the life of the people is as valuable as that of crowned +despots. That life is the genealogical tree of the nation, and the feeble +reed must bend before this sturdy oak! We complain, gentlemen, of the +inactivity of our armies; we require of you to penetrate into the cause of +this; if it spring from the executive power, let that power be destroyed!" + +The assembly answered the petitioners that it would take their request +into consideration; it then urged them to respect the law and legal +authorities, and allowed them to defile before it. This procession, +amounting to thirty thousand persons, comprising women, children, national +guards, and men armed with pikes, among whom waved revolutionary banners +and symbols, sang, as they traversed the hall, the famous chorus, _Ca +ira_, and cried: "Vive la nation!" "Vivent les sans-culottes!" "A bas le +veto!" It was led by Santerre and the marquis de Saint Hurugue. On leaving +the assembly, it proceeded to the château, headed by the petitioners. + +The outer doors were opened at the king's command; the multitude rushed +into the interior. They ascended to the apartments, and while forcing the +doors with hatchets, the king ordered them to be opened, and appeared +before them, accompanied by a few persons. The mob stopped a moment before +him; but those who were outside, not being awed by the presence of the +king, continued to advance. Louis XVI. was prudently placed in the recess +of a window. He never displayed more courage than on this deplorable day. +Surrounded by national guards, who formed a barrier against the mob, +seated on a chair placed on a table, that he might breathe more freely and +be seen by the people, he preserved a calm and firm demeanour. In reply to +the cries that arose on all sides for the sanction of the decrees, he +said: "This is neither the mode nor the moment to obtain it of me." Having +the courage to refuse the essential object of the meeting, he thought he +ought not to reject a symbol, meaningless for him, but in the eyes of the +people, that of liberty; he placed on his head a red cap presented to him +on the top of a pike. The multitude were quite satisfied with this +condescension. A moment or two afterwards, they loaded him with applause, +as, almost suffocated with hunger and thirst, he drank off, without +hesitation, a glass of wine presented to him by a half-drunken workman. In +the meantime, Vergniaud, Isnard, and a few deputies of the Gironde, had +hastened thither to protect the king, to address the people, and put an +end to these indecent scenes. The assembly, which had just risen from a +sitting, met again in haste, terrified at this outbreak, and despatched +several successive deputations to Louis XVI. by way of protection. At +length, Pétion, the mayor, himself arrived; he mounted a chair, harangued +the people, urged them to retire without tumult, and the people obeyed. +These singular insurgents, whose only aim was to obtain decrees and +ministers, retired without having exceeded their mission, but without +discharging it. + +The events of the 20th of June excited the friends of the constitution +against its authors. The violation of the royal residence, the insults +offered to Louis XVI., the illegality of a petition presented amidst the +violence of the multitude, and the display of arms, were subjects of +serious censure against the popular party. The latter saw itself reduced +for a moment to the defensive; besides being guilty of a riot, it had +undergone a complete check. The constitutionalists assumed the tone and +superiority of an offended and predominant party; but this lasted only a +short time, for they were not seconded by the court. The national guard +offered to Louis XVI. to remain assembled round his person; the duc de la +Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, who commanded at Rouen, wished to convey him to +his troops, who were devoted to his cause. Lafayette proposed to take him +to Compiègne, and place him at the head of his army; but Louis XVI. +declined all these offers. He conceived that the agitators would be +disgusted at the failure of their last attempt; and, as he hoped for +deliverance from the coalition of European powers, rendered more active by +the events of the 20th of June, he was unwilling to make use of the +constitutionalists, because he would have been obliged to treat with them. + +Lafayette, however, attempted to make a last effort in favour of legal +monarchy. After having provided for the command of his army, and collected +addresses protesting against the late events, he started for Paris, and on +the 28th of June he unexpectedly presented himself at the bar of the +assembly. He required in his name, as well as in that of his army, the +punishment of the insurrectionists of the 20th of June, and the +destruction of the Jacobin party. His proceeding excited various +sentiments in the assembly. The Right warmly applauded it, but the Left +protested against his conduct. Guadet proposed that an inquiry should be +made as to his culpability in leaving his army and coming to dictate laws +to the assembly. Some remains of respect prevented the latter from +following Guadet's advice; and after tumultuous debates, Lafayette was +admitted to the honours of the sitting, but this was all on the part of +the assembly. Lafayette then turned to the national guard, that had so +long been devoted to him, and hoped with its aid to close the clubs, +disperse the Jacobins, restore to Louis XVI. the authority which the law +gave him, and again establish the constitution. The revolutionists were +astounded, and dreaded everything from the daring and activity of this +adversary of the Champ de Mars. But the court, which feared the triumph of +the constitutionalists, caused Lafayette's projects to fail; he had +appointed a review, which it contrived to prevent by its influence over +the officers of the royalist battalions. The grenadiers and chasseurs, +picked companies still better disposed than the rest, were to assemble at +his residence and proceed against the clubs; scarcely thirty men came. +Having thus vainly attempted to rally in the cause of the constitution, +and the common defence, the court and the national guard, and finding +himself deserted by those he came to assist, Lafayette returned to his +army, after having lost what little influence and popularity remained to +him. This attempt was the last symptom of life in the constitutional +party. + +The assembly naturally returned to the situation of France, which had not +changed. The extraordinary commission of twelve presented, through +Pastoret, an unsatisfactory picture of the state and divisions of party. +Jean Debry, in the name of the same commission, proposed that the assembly +should secure the tranquillity of the people, now greatly disturbed, by +declaring that when the crisis became imminent, the assembly would declare +_the country is in danger_; and that it would then take measures for the +public safety. The debate opened upon this important subject. Vergniaud, +in a speech which deeply moved the assembly, drew a vivid picture of all +the perils to which the country was at that moment exposed. He said that +it was in the name of the king that the emigrants were assembled, that the +sovereigns of Europe had formed a coalition, that foreign armies were +marching on our frontiers, and that internal disturbances were taking +place. He accused him of checking the national zeal by his refusals, and +of giving France up to the coalition. He quoted the article of the +constitution by which it was declared that "if the king placed himself at +the head of an army and directed its force against the nation, or if he +did not formally oppose such an enterprise, undertaken in his name, he +should be considered as having abdicated the throne." Supposing, then, +that Louis XVI. voluntarily opposed the means of defending the country, in +that case, said he: "have we not a right to say to him: 'O king, who +thought, no doubt, with the tyrant Lysander, that truth was of no more +worth than falsehood, and that men were to be amused by oaths, as children +are diverted by toys; who only feigned obedience to the laws that you +might better preserve the power that enables you to defy them; and who +only feigned love for the constitution that it might not precipitate you +from the throne on which you felt bound to remain in order to destroy the +constitution, do you expect to deceive us by hypocritical protestations? +Do you think to deceive us as to our misfortunes by the art of your +excuses? Was it defending us to oppose to foreign soldiers forces whose +known inferiority admitted of no doubt as to their defeat? To set aside +projects for strengthening the interior? Was it defending us not to check +a general who was violating the constitution, while you repressed the +courage of those who sought to serve it? Did the constitution leave you +the choice of ministers for our happiness or our ruin? Did it place you at +the head of our army for our glory or our shame? Did it give you the right +of sanction, a civil list and so many prerogatives, constitutionally to +lose the empire and the constitution? No! no! man! whom the generosity of +the French could not affect, whom the love of despotism alone actuates, +you are now nothing to the constitution you have so unworthily violated, +and to the people you have so basely betrayed!'" + +The only resource of the Gironde, in its present situation, was the +abdication of the king; Vergniaud, it is true, as yet only expressed +himself ambiguously, but all the popular party attributed to Louis XVI. +projects which Vergniaud had only expressed in the form of suppositions. +In a few days, Brissot expressed himself more openly. "Our peril," said +he, "exceeds all that past ages have witnessed. The country is in danger, +not because we are in want of troops, not because those troops want +courage, or that our frontiers are badly fortified, and our resources +scanty. No, it is in danger, because its force is paralysed. And who has +paralysed it? A man--one man, the man whom the constitution has made its +chief, and whom perfidious advisers have made its foe. You are told to +fear the kings of Hungary and Prussia; I say, the chief force of these +kings is at the court, and it is there that we must first conquer them. +They tell you to strike the dissentient priests throughout the kingdom. I +tell you to strike at the Tuileries, that is, to fell all the priests with +a single blow; you are told to prosecute all factious and intriguing +conspirators; they will all disappear if you once knock loud enough at the +door of the cabinet of the Tuileries, for that cabinet is the point to +which all these threads tend, where every scheme is plotted, and whence +every impulse proceeds. The nation is the plaything of this cabinet. This +is the secret of our position, this is the source of the evil, and here +the remedy must be applied." + +In this way the Gironde prepared the assembly for the question of +deposition. But the great question concerning the danger of the country +was first terminated. The three united committees declared that it was +necessary to take measures for the public safety, and on the 5th July the +assembly pronounced the solemn declaration: _Citizens, the country is in +danger!_ All the civil authorities immediately established themselves _en +surveillance permanente_. All citizens able to bear arms, and having +already served in the national guard, were placed in active service; every +one was obliged to make known what arms and ammunition he possessed; pikes +were given to those who were unable to procure guns; battalions of +volunteers were enrolled on the public squares, in the midst of which +banners were placed, bearing the words--"Citizens, the country is in +danger!" and a camp was formed at Soissons. These measures of defence, now +become indispensable, raised the revolutionary enthusiasm to the highest +pitch. It was especially observable on the anniversary of the 14th of +July, when the sentiments of the multitude and the federates from the +departments were manifested without reserve. Pétion was the object of the +people's idolatry, and had all the honours of the federation. A few days +before, he had been dismissed, on account of his conduct on the 20th of +June by the directory of the department and the council; but the assembly +had restored him to his functions, and the only cry on the day of the +federation was: "_Pétion or death!_" A few battalions of the national +guard, such as that of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, still betrayed attachment +to the court; they became the object of popular resentment and mistrust. A +disturbance was excited in the Champs Élysées between the grenadiers of +the Filles-Saint-Thomas and the federates of Marseilles, in which some +grenadiers were wounded. Every day the crisis became more imminent; the +party in favour of war could no longer endure that of the constitution. +Attacks against Lafayette multiplied; he was censured in the journals, +denounced in the assembly. At length hostilities began. The club of the +Feuillants was closed; the grenadier and chasseur companies of the +national guard which formed the force of the bourgeoisie were disbanded; +the soldiers of the line, and a portion of the Swiss, were sent away from +Paris, and open preparations were made for the catastrophe of the 10th of +August. + +The progress of the Prussians and the famous manifesto of Brunswick +contributed to hasten this movement. Prussia had joined Austria and the +German princes against France. This coalition, to which the court of Turin +joined itself, was formidable, though it did not comprise all the powers +that were to have joined it at first. The death of Gustavus, appointed at +first commander of the invading army, detached Sweden; the substitution of +the count d'Aranda, a prudent and moderate man, for the minister Florida- +Blanca, prevented Spain from entering it; Russia and England secretly +approved the attacks of the European league, without as yet co-operating +with it. After the military operations already mentioned, they watched +each other rather than fought. During the interval, Lafayette had inspired +his army with good habits of discipline and devotedness; and Dumouriez, +stationed under Luckner at the camp of Maulde, had inured the troops +confided to him by petty engagements and daily successes. In this way they +had formed the nucleus of a good army; a desirable thing, as they required +organization and confidence to repel the approaching invasion of the +coalesced powers. + +The duke of Brunswick directed it. He had the chief command of the enemy's +army, composed of seventy thousand Prussians, and sixty-eight thousand +Austrians, Hessians, or emigrants. The plan of invasion was as follows:-- +The duke of Brunswick with the Prussians, was to pass the Rhine at +Coblentz, ascend the left bank of the Moselle, attack the French frontier +by its central and most accessible point, and advance on the capital by +way of Longwy, Verdun, and Châlons. The prince von Hohenlohe on his left, +was to advance in the direction of Metz and Thionville, with the Hessians +and a body of emigrants; while general Clairfayt, with the Austrians and +another body of emigrants, was to overthrow Lafayette, stationed before +Sedan and Mézieres, cross the Meuse, and march upon Paris by Rheims and +Soissons. Thus the centre and two wings were to make a concentrated +advance on the capital from the Moselle, the Rhine, and the Netherlands. +Other detachments stationed on the frontier of the Rhine and the extreme +northern frontier, were to attack our troops on these sides and facilitate +the central invasion. + +On the 26th of July, when the army began to move from Coblentz, the duke +of Brunswick published a manifesto in the name of the emperor and the king +of Prussia. He reproached _those who had usurped the reins of +administration in France_, with having disturbed order and overturned the +legitimate government; with having used daily-renewed violence against the +king and his family; with having arbitrarily suppressed the rights and +possessions of the German princes in Alsace and Lorraine; and, finally, +with having crowned the measure by declaring an unjust war against his +majesty the emperor, and attacking his provinces in the Netherlands. He +declared that the allied sovereigns were advancing to put an end to +anarchy in France, to arrest the attacks made on the altar and the throne; +to restore to the king the security and liberty he was deprived of, and to +place him in a condition to exercise his legitimate authority. He +consequently rendered the national guard and the authorities responsible +for all the disorders that should arise until the arrival of the troops of +the coalition. He summoned them to return to their ancient fidelity. He +said that the inhabitants of towns, _who dared to stand on the defensive_, +should instantly be punished as rebels, with the rigour of war, and their +houses demolished or burned; that if the city of Paris did not restore the +king to full liberty, and render him due respect, the princes of the +coalition would make the members of the national assembly, of the +department, of the district, the corporation, and the national guard, +personally responsible with their heads, to be tried by martial-law, and +without hope of pardon; and that if the château were attacked or insulted, +the princes would inflict an exemplary and never-to-be-forgotten +vengeance, by delivering Paris over to military execution, and total +subversion. He promised, on the other hand, if the inhabitants of Paris +would promptly obey the orders of the coalition, to secure for them the +mediation of the allied princes with Louis XVI. for the pardon of their +offences and errors. + +This fiery and impolitic manifesto, which disguised neither the designs of +the emigrants nor those of Europe, which treated a great nation with a +truly extraordinary tone of command and contempt, which openly announced +to it all the miseries of an invasion, and, moreover, vengeance and +despotism, excited a national insurrection. It more than anything else +hastened the fall of the throne, and prevented the success of the +coalition. There was but one wish, one cry of resistance, from one end of +France to the other; and whoever had not joined in it, would have been +looked on as guilty of impiety towards his country and the sacred cause of +its independence. The popular party, placed in the necessity of +conquering, saw no other way than that of annihilating the power of the +king, and in order to annihilate it, than that of dethroning him. But in +this party, every one wished to attain the end in his own way: the Gironde +by a decree of the assembly; the leaders of the multitude by an +insurrection. Danton, Robespierre, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre-d'Eglantine, +Marat, etc., were a displaced faction requiring a revolution that would +raise it from the midst of the people to the assembly and the corporation. +They were the true leaders of the new movement about to take place by the +means of the lower class of society against the middle class, to which the +Girondists belonged by their habits and position. A division arose from +that day between those who only wished to suppress the court in the +existing order of things, and those who wished to introduce the multitude. +The latter could not fall in with the tardiness of discussion. Agitated by +every revolutionary passion, they disposed themselves for an attack by +force of arms, the preparations for which were made openly, and a long +time beforehand. + +Their enterprise had been projected and suspended several times. On the +26th of July, an insurrection was to break out; but it was badly +contrived, and Pétion prevented it. When the federates from Marseilles +arrived, on their way to the camp at Soissons, the faubourgs were to meet +them, and then repair, unexpectedly, to the château. This insurrection +also failed. Yet the arrival of the Marseillais encouraged the agitators +of the capital, and conferences were held at Charenton between them and +the federal leaders for the overthrow of the throne. The sections were +much agitated; that of Mauconseil was the first to declare itself in a +state of insurrection, and notified this to the assembly. The dethronement +was discussed in the clubs, and on the 3rd of August, the mayor Pétion +came to solicit it of the legislative body, in the name of the commune and +of the sections. The petition was referred to the extraordinary commission +of twelve. On the 8th, the accusation of Lafayette was discussed. Some +remains of courage induced the majority to support him, and not without +danger. He was acquitted; but all who had voted for him were hissed, +pursued, and ill treated by the people at the breaking up of the sitting. + +The following day the excitement was extreme. The assembly learned by the +letters of a large number of deputies, that the day before on leaving the +house they had been ill used, and threatened with death, for voting the +acquittal of Lafayette. Vaublanc announced that a crowd had invested and +searched his house in pursuit of him. Girardin exclaimed: "Discussion is +impossible, without perfect liberty of opinion; I declare to my +constituents that I cannot deliberate if the legislative body does not +secure me liberty and safety." Vaublanc earnestly urged that the assembly +should take the strongest measures to secure respect to the law. He also +required that the federates, who were defended by the Girondists, should +be sent without delay to Soissons. During these debates the president +received a message from de Joly, minister of justice. He announced that +the mischief was at its height, and the people urged to every kind of +excess. He gave an account of those committed the evening before, not only +against the deputies, but against many other persons. "I have," said the +minister, "denounced these attacks in the criminal court; but law is +powerless; and I am impelled by honour and probity to inform you, that +without the promptest assistance of the legislative body, the government +can no longer be responsible." In the meantime, it was announced that the +section of the Quinze-vingts had declared that, if the dethronement were +not pronounced that very day, at midnight they would sound the tocsin, +would beat the générale and attack the château. This decision had been +transmitted to the forty-eight sections, and all had approved it, except +one. The assembly summoned the recorder of the department, who assured +them of his good-will, but his inability; and the mayor, who replied that, +at a time when the sections had resumed their sovereignty, he could only +exercise over the people the influence of persuasion. The assembly broke +up without adopting any measures. + +The insurgents fixed the attack on the château for the morning of the 10th +of August. On the 8th, the Marseillais had been transferred from their +barracks in the Rue Blanche to the Cordeliers, with their arms, cannon, +and standard. They had received five thousand ball cartridges, which had +been distributed to them by command of the commissioner of police. The +principal scene of the insurrection was the Faubourg Saint Antoine. In the +evening, after a very stormy sitting, the Jacobins repaired thither in +procession; the insurrection was then organized. It was decided to +dissolve the department; to dismiss Pétion, in order to withdraw him from +the duties of his place, and all responsibility; and, finally, to replace +the general council of the present commune by an insurrectional +municipality. Agitators repaired at the same time to the sections of the +faubourgs and to the barracks of the federate Marseillais and Bretons. + +The court had been apprised of the danger for some time, and had placed +itself in a state of defence. At this juncture, it probably thought it was +not only able to resist, but also entirely to re-establish itself. The +interior of the château was occupied by Swiss, to the number of eight or +nine hundred, by officers of the disbanded guard, and by a troop of +gentlemen and royalists, who had offered their services, armed with +sabres, swords, and pistols. Mandat, the general-in-chief of the national +guard, had repaired to the château, with his staff, to defend it; he had +given orders to the battalions most attached to the constitution to take +arms. The ministers were also with the king; the recorder of the +department had gone thither in the evening at the command of the king, who +had also sent for Pétion, to ascertain from him the state of Paris, and +obtain an authorization to repel force by force. + +At midnight, the tocsin sounded; the générale was beaten. The insurgents +assembled, and fell into their ranks; the members of the sections broke up +the municipality, and named a provisional council of the commune, which +proceeded to the Hôtel de Ville to direct the insurrection. The battalions +of the national guard, on their side, took the route to the château, and +were stationed in the court, or at the principal posts, with the mounted +gendarmerie; artillerymen occupied the avenues of the Tuileries, with +their pieces; while the Swiss and volunteers guarded the apartments. The +defence was in the best condition. + +Some deputies, meanwhile, aroused by the tocsin, had hurried to the hall +of the legislative body, and had opened the sitting under the +presidentship of Vergniaud. Hearing that Pétion was at the Tuileries, and +presuming he was detained there, and wanted to be released, they sent for +him to the bar of the assembly, to give an account of the state of Paris. +On receiving this order, he left the château; he appeared before the +assembly, where a deputation again inquired for him, also supposing him to +be a prisoner at the Tuileries. With this deputation he returned to the +Hôtel de Ville, where he was placed under a guard of three hundred men by +the new commune. The latter, unwilling to allow any other authority on +this day of disorder than the insurrectional authorities, early in the +morning sent for the commandant Mandat, to know what arrangements were +made at the château. Mandat hesitated to obey; yet, as he did not know +that the municipality had been changed, and as his duty required him to +obey its orders, on a second call which he received from the commune, he +proceeded to the Hôtel de Ville. On perceiving new faces as he entered, he +turned pale. He was accused of authorizing the troops to fire on the +people. He became agitated, and was ordered to the Abbaye, and the mob +murdered him as he was leaving, on the steps of the Hôtel de Ville. The +commune immediately conferred the command of the national guard on +Santerre. + +The court was thus deprived of its most determined and influential +defender. The presence of Mandat, and the order he had received to employ +force in case of need, were necessary to induce the national guard to +fight. The sight of the nobles and royalists had lessened its zeal. Mandat +himself, previous to his departure, had urged the queen in vain to dismiss +this troop, which the constitutionalists considered as a troop of +aristocrats. + +About four in the morning the queen summoned Roederer, the recorder of the +department, who had passed the night at the Tuileries, and inquired what +was to be done under these circumstances? Roederer replied, that he +thought it necessary that the king and the royal family should proceed to +the national assembly. "You propose," said Dubouchage, "to take the king +to his foes." Roederer replied, that, two days before, four hundred +members of that assembly out of six hundred, had pronounced in favour of +Lafayette; and that he had only proposed this plan as the least dangerous. +The queen then said, in a very positive tone: "Sir, we have forces here: +it is at length time to know who is to prevail, the king and the +constitution, or faction?" "In that case, madam," rejoined Roederer, "let +us see what arrangements have been made for resistance." Laschenaye, who +commanded in the absence of Mandat, was sent for. He was asked if he had +taken measures to prevent the crowd from arriving at the château? If he +had guarded the Carrousel? He replied in the affirmative; and, addressing +the queen, he said, in a tone of anger: "I must not allow you to remain in +ignorance, madam, that the apartments are filled with people of all kinds, +who very much impede the service, and prevent free access to the king, a +circumstance which creates dissatisfaction among the national guard." +"This is out of season," replied the queen; "I will answer for those who +are here; they will advance first or last, in the ranks, as you please; +they are ready for all that is necessary; they are sure men." They +contented themselves with sending the two ministers, Joly and Champion to +the assembly to apprise it of the danger, and ask for its assistance and +for commissioners. [Footnote: _Chronique des Cinquante Jours_, par P. L. +Roederer, a writer of the most scrupulous accuracy.] + +Division already existed between the defenders of the château, when Louis +XVI. passed them in review at five o'clock in the morning. He first +visited the interior posts, and found them animated by the best +intentions. He was accompanied by some members of his family, and appeared +extremely sad. "I will not," he said, "separate my cause from that of good +citizens; we will save ourselves or perish together." He then descended +into the yard, accompanied by some general officers. As soon as he +arrived, they beat to arms. The cry of "Vive le roi!" was heard, and was +repeated by the national guard; but the artillerymen, and the battalion of +the Croix Rouge replied by the cry of "Vive la nation!" At the same +instant, new battalions, armed with guns and pikes, defiled before the +king, and took their places upon the terrace of the Seine, crying; "Vive +la nation!" "Vive Pétion!" The king continued the review, not, however, +without feeling saddened by this omen. He was received with the strongest +evidences of devotion by the battalions of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, and +Petits-Pères, who occupied the terrace, extending the length of the +château. As he crossed the garden to visit the ports of the Pont Tournant, +the pike battalions pursued him with the cry of: "Down with the veto!" +"Down with the traitor!" and as he returned, they quitted their position, +placed themselves near the Pont Royal, and turned their cannon against the +château. Two other battalions stationed in the courts imitated them, and +established themselves on the Place du Carrousel in an attitude of attack. +On re-entering the château, the king was pale and dejected; and the queen +said, "All is lost! This kind of review has done more harm than good." + +While all this was passing at the Tuileries, the insurgents were advancing +in several columns; they had passed the night in assembling, and becoming +organized. In the morning, they had forced the arsenal, and distributed +the arms. The column of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, about fifteen thousand +strong, and that of the Faubourg Saint Marceau, amounting to five +thousand, began to march about six. The crowd increased as they advanced. +Artillerymen had been placed on the Pont Neuf by the directory of the +department, in order to prevent the union of the insurgents from the two +sides of the river. But Manuel, the town clerk, had ordered them to be +withdrawn, and the passage was accordingly free. The vanguard of the +Faubourgs, composed of Marseillais and Breton federates, had already +arrived by the Rue Saint Honoré, stationed themselves in battle array on +the Carrousel, and turned their cannon against the château. De Joly and +Champion returned from the assembly, stating that the attendance was not +sufficient in number to debate; that it scarcely amounted to sixty or +eighty members, and that their proposition had not been heard. Then +Roederer, the recorder of the department, with the members of the +department, presented himself to the crowd, observing that so great a +multitude could not have access to the king, or to the national assembly, +and recommending them to nominate twenty deputies, and entrust them with +their requests. But they did not listen to him. He turned to the national +guard, reminded them of the article of the law, which enjoined them when +attacked, to repel force by force. A very small part of the national guard +seemed disposed to do so; and a discharge of cannon was the only reply of +the artillerymen. Roederer, seeing that the insurgents were everywhere +triumphant, that they were masters of the field, and that they disposed of +the multitude, and even of the troops, returned hastily to the château, at +the head of the executive directory. + +The king held a council with the queen and ministers. A municipal officer +had just given the alarm by announcing that the columns of the insurgents +were advancing upon the Tuileries. "Well, and what do they want?" asked +Joly, keeper of the seals. "Abdication," replied the officer. "To be +pronounced by the assembly," added the minister. "And what will follow +abdication?" inquired the queen. The municipal officer bowed in silence. +At this moment Roederer arrived, and increased the alarm of the court by +announcing that the danger was extreme; that the insurgents would not be +treated with, and that the national guard could not be depended upon. +"Sire," said he, urgently, "your majesty has not five minutes to lose: +your only safety is in the national assembly; it is the opinion of the +department that you ought to repair thither without delay. There are not +sufficient men in the court to defend the château; nor are we sure of +them. At the mention of defence, the artillerymen discharged their +cannon." The king replied, at first, that he had not observed many people +on the Carrousel; and the queen rejoined with vivacity, that the king had +forces to defend the château. But, at the renewed urgency of Roederer, the +king after looking at him attentively for a few minutes, turned to the +queen, and said, as he rose: "Let us go." "Monsieur Roederer," said Madame +Elizabeth, addressing the recorder, "you answer for the life of the king?" +"Yes, madame, with my own," he replied. "I will walk immediately before +him." + +Louis XVI. left his chamber with his family, ministers, and the members of +the department, and announced to the persons assembled for the defence of +the château that he was going to the national assembly. He placed himself +between two ranks of national guards, summoned to escort him, and crossed +the apartments and garden of the Tuileries. A deputation of the assembly, +apprised of his approach, came to meet him: "Sire," said the president of +this deputation, "the assembly, eager to provide for your safety, offers +you and your family an asylum in its bosom." The procession resumed its +march, and had some difficulty in crossing the terrace of the Tuileries, +which was crowded with an animated mob, breathing forth threats and +insults. The king and his family had great difficulty in reaching the hall +of the assembly, where they took the seats reserved for the ministers. +"Gentlemen," said the king, "I come here to avoid a great crime; I think I +cannot be safer than with you." "Sire," replied Vergniaud, who filled the +chair, "you may rely on the firmness of the national assembly. Its members +have sworn to die in maintaining the rights of the people, and the +constituted authorities." The king then took his seat next the president. +But Chabot reminded him that the assembly could not deliberate in the +presence of the king, and Louis XVI. retired with his family and ministers +into the reporter's box behind the president, whence all that took place +could be seen and heard. + +All motives for resistance ceased with the king's departure. The means of +defence had also been diminished by the departure of the national guards +who escorted the king. The gendarmerie left their posts, crying "Vive la +nation!" The national guard began to move in favour of the insurgents. But +the foes were confronted, and, although the cause was removed, the combat +nevertheless commenced. The column of the insurgents surrounded the +château. The Marseillais and Bretons who occupied the first rank had just +forced the Porte Royale on the Carrousel, and entered the court of the +château. They were led by an old subaltern, called Westermann, a friend of +Danton, and a very daring man. He ranged his force in battle array, and +approaching the artillerymen, induced them to join the Marseillais with +their pieces. The Swiss filled the windows of the château, and stood +motionless. The two bodies confronted each other for some time without +making an attack. A few of the assailants advanced amicably, and the Swiss +threw some cartridges from the windows in token of peace. They penetrated +as far as the vestibule, where they were met by other defenders of the +château. A barrier separated them. Here the combat began, but it is +unknown on which side it commenced. The Swiss discharged a murderous fire +on the assailants, who were dispersed. The Place du Carrousel was cleared. +But the Marseillais and Bretons soon returned with renewed force; the +Swiss were fired on by the cannon, and surrounded. They kept their posts +until they received orders from the king to cease firing. The exasperated +mob did not cease, however, to pursue them, and gave itself up to the most +sanguinary reprisals. It now became a massacre rather than a combat; and +the crowd perpetrated in the château all the excesses of victory. + +All this time the assembly was in the greatest alarm. The first cannonade +filled them with consternation. As the firing became more frequent, the +agitation increased. At one moment, the members considered themselves +lost. An officer entering the hall, hastily exclaimed: "To your places, +legislators; we are forced!" A few rose to go out. "No, no," cried others, +"this is our post." The spectators in the gallery exclaimed instantly, +"Vive l'assemblée nationale!" and the assembly replied, "Vive la nation!" +Shouts of victory were then heard without, and the fate of monarchy was +decided. + +The assembly instantly made a proclamation to restore tranquillity, and +implore the people to respect justice, their magistrates, the rights of +man, liberty, and equality. But the multitude and their chiefs had all the +power in their hands, and were determined to use it. The new municipality +came to assert its authority. It was preceded by three banners, inscribed +with the words, "Patrie, liberté, egalité." Its address was imperious, and +concluded by demanding the deposition of the king, and a national +convention. Deputations followed, and all expressed the same desire, or +rather issued the same command. + +The assembly felt itself compelled to yield; it would not, however, take +upon itself the deposition of the king. Vergniaud ascended the tribune, in +the name of the commission of twelve, and said: "I am about to propose to +you a very rigorous measure; I appeal to the affliction of your hearts to +judge how necessary it is to adopt it immediately." This measure consisted +of the convocation of a national assembly, the dismissal of the ministers, +and the suspension of the king. The assembly adopted it unanimously. The +Girondist ministers were recalled; the celebrated decrees were carried +into execution, about four thousand non-juring priests were exiled, and +commissioners were despatched to the armies to make sure of them. Louis +XVI., to whom the assembly had at first assigned the Luxembourg as a +residence, was transferred as a prisoner to the Temple, by the all- +powerful commune, under the pretext that it could not otherwise be +answerable for the safety of his person. Finally, the 23rd of September +was appointed for opening the extraordinary assembly, destined to decide +the fate of royalty. But royalty had already fallen on the 10th of August, +that day marked by the insurrection of the multitude against the middle +classes and the constitutional throne, as the 14th of July had seen the +insurrection of the middle class against the privileged class and the +absolute power of the crown. On the 10th of August began the dictatorial +and arbitrary epoch of the revolution. Circumstances becoming more and +more difficult to encounter, a vast warfare arose, requiring still greater +energy than ever, and that energy irregular, because popular, rendered the +domination of the lower class restless, cruel, and oppressive. The nature +of the question was then entirely changed; it was no longer a matter of +liberty, but of public safety; and the conventional period, from the end +of the constitution of 1791, to the time when the constitution of the year +III. established the directory, was only a long campaign of the revolution +against parties and against Europe. It was scarcely possible it should be +otherwise. "The revolutionary movement once established," says M. de +Maîstre, in his _Considerations sur la France._ [Footnote: Lausanne, +1796.] "France and the monarchy could only be saved by Jacobinism. Our +grandchildren, who will care little for our sufferings, and will dance on +our graves, will laugh at our present ignorance; they will easily console +themselves for the excesses we have witnessed, and which will have +preserved the integrity of the finest of kingdoms." + +The departments adhered to the events of the 10th of August. The army, +which shortly afterwards came under the influence of the revolution, was +at yet of constitutional royalist principles; but as the troops were +subordinate to parties, they would easily submit to the dominant opinion. +The generals, second in rank, such as Dumouriez, Custines, Biron, +Kellermann, and Labourdonnaie, were disposed to adopt the last changes. +They had not yet declared for any particular party, looking to the +revolution as a means of advancement. It was not the same with the two +generals in chief. Luckner floated undecided between the insurrection of +the 10th of August, which he termed, "a little accident that had happened +to Paris and his friend, Lafayette." The latter, head of the +constitutional party, firmly adhering to his oaths, wished still to defend +the overturned throne, and a constitution which no longer existed. He +commanded about thirty thousand men, who were devoted to his person and +his cause. His head-quarters were near Sedan. In his project of resistance +in favour of the constitution, he concerted with the municipality of that +town, and the directory of the department of Ardennes, to establish a +civil centre round which all the departments might rally. The three +commissioners, Kersaint, Antonelle, and Péraldy, sent by the legislature +to his army, were arrested and imprisoned in the tower of Sedan. The +reason assigned for this measure was, that the assembly having been +intimidated, the members who had accepted such a mission were necessarily +but the leaders or instruments of the faction which had subjugated the +national assembly and the king. The troops and the civil authorities then +renewed their oath to the constitution, and Lafayette endeavoured to +enlarge the circle of the insurrection of the army against the popular +insurrection. + +General Lafayette at that moment thought, possibly, too much on the past, +on the law, and the common oath, and not enough on the really +extraordinary position in which France then was. He only saw the dearest +hopes of the friends of liberty destroyed, the usurpation of the state by +the multitude, and the anarchical reign of the Jacobins; he did not +perceive the fatality of a situation which rendered the triumph of the +latest comer in the revolution indispensable. It was scarcely possible +that the bourgeoisie, which had been strong enough to overthrow the old +system and the privileged classes, but which had reposed after that +victory, could resist the emigrants and all Europe. For this a new shock, +a new faith were necessary; there was need of a numerous, ardent, +inexhaustible class, as enthusiastic for the 10th of August, as the +bourgeoisie had been for the 14th of July. Lafayette could not associate +with this party; he had combated it, under the constituent assembly, at +the Champ de Mars, before and after the 20th of June. He could not +continue to play his former part, nor defend a cause just in itself, but +condemned by events, without compromising his country, and the results of +a revolution to which he was sincerely attached. His resistance, if +continued, would have given rise to a civil war between the people and the +army, at a time when it was not certain that the combination of all +parties would suffice against a foreign war. + +It was the 19th of August, and the army of invasion having left Coblentz +on the 30th of July, was ascending the Moselle, and advancing on that +frontier. In consideration of the common danger, the troops were disposed +to resume their obedience to the assembly; Luckner, who at first approved +of Lafayette's views, retracted, weeping and swearing, before the +municipality of Metz; and Lafayette himself saw the necessity of yielding +to a more powerful destiny. He left his army, taking upon himself all the +responsibility of the whole insurrection. He was accompanied by Bureau-de- +Pusy, Latour-Maubourg, Alexander Lameth, and some officers of his staff. +He proceeded through the enemy's posts towards Holland, intending to go to +the United States, his adopted country. But he was discovered and arrested +with his companions. In violation of the rights of nations, he was treated +as a prisoner of war, and confined first in the dungeons of Magdeburg, and +then by the Austrians at Olmütz. The English parliament itself took steps +in his favour; but it was not until the treaty of Campo-Formio that +Bonaparte released him from prison. During four years of the hardest +captivity, subject to every description of privation, kept in ignorance of +the state of his country and of liberty, with no prospect before him but +that of perpetual and harsh imprisonment, he displayed the most heroic +courage. He might have obtained his liberty by making certain +retractations, but he preferred remaining buried in his dungeon to +abandoning in the least degree the sacred cause he had embraced. + +There have been in our day few lives more pure than Lafayette's; few +characters more beautiful; few men whose popularity has been more justly +won and longer maintained. After defending liberty in America at the side +of Washington, he desired to establish it in the same manner in France; +but this noble part was impossible in our revolution. When a people in the +pursuit of liberty has no internal dissension, and no foes but foreigners, +it may find a deliverer; may produce, in Switzerland a William Tell, in +the Netherlands a prince of Orange, in America a Washington; but when it +pursues it against its own countrymen and foreigners, at once amidst +factions and battles, it can only produce a Cromwell or a Bonaparte, who +become the dictators of revolutions when the struggle subsides and parties +are exhausted. Lafayette, an actor in the first epoch of the crisis, +enthusiastically declared for its results. He became the general of the +middle class, at the head of the national guard under the constituent +assembly, in the army under the legislative assembly. He had risen by it, +and he would end with it. It may be said of him, that if he committed some +faults of position, he had ever but one object, liberty, and that he +employed but one means, the law. The manner in which, when yet quite +young, he devoted himself to the deliverance of the two worlds, his +glorious conduct and his invariable firmness, will transmit his name with +honour to posterity, with whom a man cannot have two reputations, as in +the time of party, but his own alone. + +The authors of the events of the 10th of August became more and more +divided, having no common views as to the results which should arise from +that revolution. The more daring party, which had got hold of the commune +or municipality, wished by means of that commune to rule Paris; by means +of Paris, the national assembly; and by means of the assembly, France. +After having effected the transference of Louis XVI. to the Temple, it +threw down all the statues of the kings, and destroyed all the emblems of +the monarchy. The department exercised a right of superintendence over the +municipality; to be completely independent, it abrogated this right. The +law required certain conditions to constitute a citizen; it decreed the +cessation of these, in order that the multitude might be introduced into +the government of the state. At the same time, it demanded the +establishment of an extraordinary tribunal to try _the conspirators of the +10th of August_. As the assembly did not prove sufficiently docile, and +endeavoured by proclamations to recall the people to more just and +moderate sentiments, it received threatening messages from the Hôtel de +Ville. "As a citizen," said a member of the commune, "as a magistrate of +the people, I come to announce to you that this evening, at midnight, the +tocsin will sound, the drum beat to arms. The people are weary of not +being avenged; tremble lest they administer justice themselves." "If, +before two or three hours pass, the foreman of the jury be not named," +said another, "and if the jury be not itself in a condition to act, great +calamities will befall Paris." To avert the threatened outbreaks, the +assembly was obliged to appoint an extraordinary criminal tribunal. This +tribunal condemned a few persons, but the commune having conceived the +most terrible projects, did not consider it sufficiently expeditious. + +At the head of the commune were Marat, Panis, Sergent, Duplain, Lenfent, +Lefort, Jourdeuil, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, Tallien, etc.; but +the chief leader of the party at that time was Danton. He, more than any +other person, had distinguished himself on the 10th of August. During the +whole of that night he had rushed about from the sections to the barracks +of the Marseillais and Bretons, and from these to the Faubourgs. A member +of the revolutionary commune, he had directed its operations, and had +afterwards been appointed minister of justice. + +Danton was a gigantic revolutionist; he deemed no means censurable so they +were useful, and, according to him, men could do whatever they dared +attempt. Danton, who has been termed the Mirabeau of the populace bore a +physical resemblance to that tribune of the higher classes; he had +irregular features, a powerful voice, impetuous gesticulation, a daring +eloquence, a lordly brow. Their vices, too, were the same; only Mirabeau's +were those of a patrician, Danton's those of a democrat; that which there +was of daring in the conceptions of Mirabeau, was to be found in Danton, +but in another way, because, in the revolution, he belonged to another +class and another epoch. Ardent, overwhelmed with debts and wants, of +dissolute habits, given up now to his passions, now to his party, he was +formidable while in the pursuit of an object, but became indifferent as +soon as he had obtained it. This powerful demagogue presented a mixture of +the most opposite vices and qualities. Though he had sold himself to the +court, he did not seem sordid; he was one of those who, so to speak, give +an air of freedom even to baseness. He was an absolute exterminator, +without being personally ferocious; inexorable towards masses, humane, +generous even towards individuals. [Footnote: At the time the commune was +arranging the massacre of the 2nd September, he saved all who applied to +him; he, of his own accord, released from prison Duport, Barnave, and Ch. +Lameth, his personal antagonists.] Revolution, in his opinion, was a game +at which the conqueror, if he required it, won the life of the conquered. +The welfare of his party was, in his eyes, superior to law and even to +humanity; this will explain his endeavours after the 10th of August, and +his return to moderation when he considered the republic established. + +At this period the Prussians, advancing on the plan of invasion described +above, passed the frontier, after a march of twenty days. The army of +Sedan was without a leader, and incapable of resisting a force so superior +in numbers and so much better organised. On the 20th of August, Longwy was +invested by the Prussians; on the 21st it was bombarded, and on the 24th +it capitulated. On the 30th the hostile army arrived before Verdun, +invested it, and began to bombard it. Verdun taken, the road to the +capital was open. The capture of Longwy, and the approach of so great a +danger, threw Paris into the utmost agitation and alarm. The executive +council, composed of the ministers, was summoned by the committee of +general defence, to deliberate on the best measures to be adopted in this +perilous conjuncture. Some proposed to wait for the enemy under the walls +of the capital, others to retire to Saumur. "You are not ignorant," said +Danton, when his turn to speak arrived, "that France is Paris; if you +abandon the capital to the foreigner, you surrender yourselves, and you +surrender France. It is in Paris that we must defend ourselves by every +possible means. I cannot sanction any plan tending to remove you from it. +The second project does not appear to me any better. It is impossible to +think of fighting under the walls of the capital. The 10th of August has +divided France into two parties, the one attached to royalty, the other +desiring a republic. The latter, the decided minority of which in the +state cannot be concealed, is the only one on which you can rely to fight; +the other will refuse to march; it will excite Paris in favour of the +foreigner, while your defenders, placed between two fires, will perish in +repelling him. Should they fall, which seems to me beyond a doubt, your +ruin and that of France are certain; if, contrary to all expectation, they +return victorious over the coalition, this victory will still be a defeat +for you; for it will have cost you thousands of brave men, while the +royalists, more numerous than you, will have lost nothing of their +strength and influence. It is my opinion, that to disconcert their +measures and stop the enemy, we must make the royalists fear." The +committee, at once understanding the meaning of these words, were thrown +into a state of consternation. "Yes, I tell you," resumed Danton, "we must +make them fear." As the committee rejected this proposition by a silence +full of alarm, Danton concerted with the commune. His aim was to put down +its enemies by terror, to involve the multitude more and more by making +them his accomplices, and to leave the revolution no other refuge than +victory. + +Domiciliary visits were made with great and gloomy ceremony; a large +number of persons whose condition, opinions, or conduct rendered them +objects of suspicion, were thrown into prison. These unfortunate persons +were taken especially from the two dissentient classes, the nobles and the +clergy, who were charged with conspiracy under the legislative assembly. +All citizens capable of bearing arms were enrolled in the Champ de Mars, +and departed on the first of September for the frontier. The générale was +beat, the tocsin sounded, cannon were fired, and Danton, presenting +himself to the assembly to report the measures taken to save the country, +exclaimed: "The cannon you hear are no alarm cannon, but the signal for +attacking the enemy! To conquer them, to prostrate them, what is +necessary? Daring, again daring, and still again and ever daring!" +Intelligence of the taking of Verdun arrived during the night of the 1st +of September. The commune availed themselves of this moment, when Paris, +filled with terror, thought it saw the enemy already at its gates, to +execute their fearful projects. The cannon were again fired, the tocsin +sounded, the barriers were closed, and the massacre began. + +During three days, the prisoners confined in the Carmes, the Abbaye, the +Conciergérie, the Force, etc., were slaughtered by a band of about three +hundred assassins, directed and paid by the commune. This body, with a +calm fanaticism, prostituting to murder the sacred forms of justice, now +judges, now executioners, seemed rather to be practising a calling than to +be exercising vengeance; they massacred without question, without remorse, +with the conviction of fanatics and the obedience of executioners. If some +peculiar circumstances seemed to move them, and to recall them to +sentiments of humanity, to justice, and to mercy, they yielded to the +impression for a moment, and then began anew. In this way a few persons +were saved; but they were very few. The assembly desired to prevent the +massacres, but were unable to do so. The ministry were as incapable as the +assembly; the terrible commune alone could order and do everything; +Pétion, the mayor, had been cashiered; the soldiers placed in charge of +the prisoners feared to resist the murderers, and allowed them to take +their own course; the crowd seemed indifferent, or accomplices; the rest +of the citizens dared not even betray their consternation. We might be +astonished that so great a crime should, with such deliberation, have been +conceived, executed, and endured, did we not know what the fanaticism of +party will do, and what fear will suffer. But the chastisement of this +enormous crime fell at last upon the heads of its authors. The majority of +them perished in the storm they had themselves raised, and by the same +violent means that they had themselves employed. Men of party seldom +escape the fate they have made others undergo. + +The executive council, directed, as to military operations by general +Servan, advanced the newly-levied battalions towards the frontier. As a +man of judgment, he was desirous of placing a general at the threatened +point; but the choice was difficult. Among the generals who had declared +in favour of the late political events, Kellermann seemed only adapted for +a subordinate command, and the authorities had therefore merely placed him +in the room of the vacillative and incompetent Luckner. Custine was but +little skilled in his art; he was fit for any dashing _coup de main_, but +not for the conduct of a great army intrusted with the destiny of France. +The same military inferiority was chargeable upon Biron, Labourdonnaie, +and the rest, who were therefore left at their old stations, with the +corps under their command. Dumouriez alone remained, against whom the +Girondists still retained some rancour, and in whom they, moreover, +suspected the ambitious views, the tastes, and character of an adventurer, +while they rendered justice to his superior talents. However, as he was +the only general equal to so important a position, the executive council +gave him the command of the army of the Moselle. + +Dumouriez repaired in all haste from the camp at Maulde to that of Sedan. +He assembled a council of war, in which the general opinion was in favour +of retiring towards Châlons or Rheims, and covering themselves with the +Marne. Far from adopting this dangerous plan, which would have discouraged +the troops, given up Lorraine, Trois Evêchés, and a part of Champagne, and +thrown open the road to Paris, Dumouriez conceived a project full of +genius. He saw that it was necessary, by a daring march, to advance on the +forest of Argonne, where he might infallibly stop the enemy. This forest +had four issues; that of the Chêne-Populeux on the left; those of the +Croix-au-Bois and of Grandpré in the centre, and that of Les Islettes on +the right, which opened or closed the passage into France. The Prussians +were only six leagues from the forest, and Dumouriez had twelve to pass +over, and his design of occupying it to conceal, if he hoped for success. +He executed his project skilfully and boldly. General Dillon, advancing on +the Islettes, took possession of them with seven thousand men; he himself +reached Grandpré, and there established a camp of thirteen thousand men. +The Croix-au-Bois, and the Chêne-Populeux were in like manner occupied and +defended by some troops. It was here that he wrote to the minister of war, +Servan:--"Verdun is taken; I await the Prussians. The camps of Grandpré +and Les Islettes are the Thermopylae of France; but I shall be more +fortunate than Leonidas." + +In this position, Dumouriez might have stopped the enemy, and himself have +securely awaited the succours which were on their road to him from every +part of France. The various battalions of volunteers repaired to the camps +in the interior, whence they were despatched to his army, as soon as they +were at all in a state of discipline. Beurnonville, who was on the Flemish +frontier, had received orders to advance with nine thousand men, and to be +at Rhétel, on Dumouriez's left, by the 13th of September. Duval was also +on the 7th to march with seven thousand men to the Chêne-Populeux; and +Kellermann was advancing from Metz, on his right, with a reinforcement of +twenty-two thousand men. Time, therefore, was all that was necessary. + +The duke of Brunswick, after taking Verdun, passed the Meuse in three +columns. General Clairfait was operating on his right, and prince +Hohenlohe on his left. Renouncing all hope of driving Dumouriez from his +position by attacking him in front, he tried to turn him. Dumouriez had +been so imprudent as to place nearly his whole force at Grandpré and the +Islettes, and to put only a small corps at Chêne-Populeux and Coix-au- +Bois--posts, it is true, of minor importance. The Prussians, accordingly, +seized upon these, and were on the point of turning him in his camp at +Grandpré, and of thus compelling him to lay down his arms. After this +grand blunder, which neutralized his first manoeuvres, he did not despair +of his situation. He broke up his camp secretly during the night of the +14th September, passed the Aisne, the approach to which might have been +closed to him, made a retreat as able as his advance on the Argonne had +been, and concentrated his forces in the camp at Sainte-Menehould. He had +already delayed the advance of the Prussians at Argonne. The season, as it +advanced, became bad. He had now only to maintain his post till the +arrival of Kellermann and Beurnonville, and the success of the campaign +would be certain. The troops had become disciplined and inured, and the +army amounted to about seventy thousand men, after the arrival of +Beurnonville and Kellermann, which took place on the 17th. + +The Prussian army had followed the movements of Dumouriez. On the 20th, it +attacked Kellermann at Valmy, in order to cut off from the French army the +retreat on Châlons. There was a brisk cannonade on both sides. The +Prussians advanced in columns towards the heights of Valmy, to carry them. +Kellermann also formed his infantry in columns, enjoined them not to fire, +but to await the approach of the enemy, and charge them with the bayonet. +He gave this command, with the cry of _Vive la nation!_ and this cry, +repeated from one end of the line to the other, startled the Prussians +still more than the firm attitude of our troops. The duke of Brunswick +made his somewhat shaken battalions fall back; the firing continued till +the evening; the enemy attempted a fresh attack, but were repulsed. The +day was ours; and the success of Valmy, almost insignificant in itself, +produced on our troops, and upon opinion in France, the effect of the most +complete victory. + +From the same epoch may be dated the discouragement and retreat of the +enemy. The Prussians had entered upon this campaign on the assurance of +the emigrants that it would be a mere military promenade. They were +without magazines or provisions; in the midst of a perfectly open country, +they encountered a resistance each day more energetic; the incessant rains +had broken up the roads; the soldiers marched knee-deep in mud, and, for +four days past, boiled corn had been their only food. Diseases, produced +by the chalky water, want of clothing, and damp, had made great ravages in +the army. The duke of Brunswick advised a retreat, contrary to the opinion +of the king of Prussia and the emigrants, who wished to risk a battle, and +get possession of Châlons. But as the fate of the Prussian monarchy +depended on its army, and the entire ruin of that army would be the +inevitable consequence of a defeat, the duke of Brunswick's opinion +prevailed. Negotiations were opened, and the Prussians, abating their +first demands, now only required the restoration of the king upon the +constitutional throne. But the convention had just assembled; the republic +had been proclaimed, and the executive council replied, "that the French +republic could listen to no proposition until the Prussian troops had +entirely evacuated the French territory." The Prussians, upon this, +commenced their retreat on the evening of the 30th of September. It was +slightly disturbed by Kellermann, whom Dumouriez sent in pursuit, while he +himself proceeded to Paris to enjoy his triumph, and concert measures for +the invasion of Belgium. The French troops re-entered Verdun and Longwy; +and the enemy, after having crossed the Ardennes and Luxembourg, repassed +the Rhine at Coblentz, towards the end of October. This campaign had been +marked by general success. In Flanders, the duke of Saxe-Teschen had been +compelled to raise the siege of Lille, after seven days of a bombardment, +contrary, both in its duration and in its useless barbarity, to all the +usages of war. On the Rhine, Custine had taken Trèves, Spires, and +Mayence. In the Alps, general Montesquiou had invaded Savoy, and general +Anselme the territory of Nice. Our armies, victorious in all directions, +had everywhere assumed the offensive, and the revolution was saved. + +If we were to present the picture of a state emerging from a great crisis, +and were to say: "There were in this state an absolute government whose +authority has been restricted; two privileged classes which have lost +their supremacy; a vast population, already freed by the effect of +civilization and intelligence, but without political rights, and who have +been obliged, by reason of repeated refusals, to gain these for +themselves"; if we were to add: "The government, after opposing this +revolution, submitted to it, but the privileged classes constantly opposed +it,"--the following would probably be concluded from these data: + +"The government will be full of regret, the people will exhibit distrust, +and the privileged classes will attack the new order of things, each in +its own way. The nobility, unable to do so at home, from its weakness +there, will emigrate, in order to excite foreign powers, who will make +preparations for attack; the clergy, who would lose its means of action +abroad, will remain at home, where it will seek out foes to the +revolution. The people, threatened from without, in danger at home, +irritated against the emigrants who seek to arm foreign powers, against +foreign powers about to attack its independence, against the clergy, who +excite the country to insurrection, will treat as enemies clergy, +emigrants, and foreign powers. It will require first surveillance over, +then the banishment of the refractory priests; confiscation of the +property of the emigrants; war against allied Europe, in order to +forestall it. The first authors of the revolution will condemn such of +these measures as shall violate the law; the continuators of the +revolution will, on the contrary, regard them as the salvation of the +country; and discord will arise between those who prefer the constitution +to the state, and those who prefer the state to the constitution. The +monarch, induced by his interests as king, his affections and his +conscience, to reject such a course of policy, will pass for an accomplice +of the counter-revolution, because he will appear to protect it. The +revolutionists will then seek to gain over the king by intimidation, and +failing in this, will overthrow his authority." + +Such was the history of the legislative assembly. Internal disturbances +led to the decree against the priests; external menaces to that against +the emigrants; the coalition of foreign powers to war against Europe; the +first defeat of our armies, to the formation of the camp of twenty +thousand. The refusal of Louis XVI. to adopt most of these decrees, +rendered him an object of suspicion to the Girondists; the dissensions +between the latter and the constitutionalists, who desired some of them to +be legislators, as in time of peace, others, enemies, as in time of war, +disunited the partisans of the revolution. With the Girondists the +question of liberty was involved in victory, and victory in the decrees. +The 20th of June was an attempt to force their acceptance; but having +failed in its effect, they deemed that either the crown or the revolution +must be renounced, and they brought on the 10th of August. Thus, but for +emigration which induced the war, but for the schism which induced the +disturbances, the king would probably have agreed to the constitution, and +the revolutionists would not have dreamed of the republic. + + + + +THE NATIONAL CONVENTION + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FROM THE 20TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1792, TO THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793 + + +The convention was constituted on the 20th of September, 1792, and +commenced its deliberations on the 21st. In its first sitting it abolished +royalty, and proclaimed the republic. On the 22nd, it appropriated the +revolution to itself, by declaring it would not date from _year IV. of +Liberty_; but from _year I. of the French Republic_. After these first +measures, voted by acclamation, with a sort of rivalry in democracy and +enthusiasm in the two parties, which had become divided at the close of +the legislative assembly, the convention, instead of commencing its +labours, gave itself up to intestine quarrels. The Girondists and the +Mountain, before they established the new revolution, desired to know to +which of them it was to belong, and the enormous dangers of their position +did not divert them from this contest. They had more than ever to fear the +efforts of Europe. Austria, Prussia, and some of the German princes having +attacked France before the 10th of August, there was every reason to +believe that the other sovereigns of Europe would declare against it after +the fall of the monarchy, the imprisonment of the king, and the massacres +of September. Within, the enemies of the revolution had increased. To the +partisans of the ancient regime, of the aristocracy and clergy, were now +to be added the friends of constitutional monarchy, with whom the fate of +Louis XVI. was an object of earnest solicitude, and those who imagined +liberty impossible without order, or under the empire of the multitude. +Amidst so many obstacles and adversaries, at a moment when their strictest +union was requisite, the Gironde and the Mountain attacked each other with +the fiercest animosity. It is true that these two parties were wholly +incompatible, and that their respective leaders could not combine, so +strong and varied were the grounds of separation in their rivalry for +power, and in their designs. + +Events had compelled the Girondists to become republicans. It would have +suited them far better to have remained constitutionalists. The integrity +of their purposes, their distaste for the multitude, their aversion for +violent measures, and especially the prudence which counselled them only +to attempt that which seemed possible--every circumstance made this +imperative upon them; but they had not been left free to remain what they +at first were. They had followed the bias which led them onward to the +republic, and they had gradually habituated themselves to this form of +government. They now desired it ardently and sincerely, but they felt how +difficult it would be to establish and consolidate it. They deemed it a +great and noble thing; but they felt that the men for it were wanting. The +multitude had neither the intelligence nor the virtue proper for this kind +of government. The revolution effected by the constituent assembly was +legitimate, still more because it was possible than because it was just; +it had its constitution and its citizens. But a new revolution, which +should call the lower classes to the conduct of the state, could not be +durable. It would injuriously affect too many interests, and have but +momentary defenders, the lower class being capable of sound action and +conduct in a crisis, but not for a permanency. Yet, in consenting to this +second revolution, it was this inferior class which must be looked to for +support. The Girondists did not adopt this course, and they found +themselves placed in a position altogether false; they lost the assistance +of the constitutionalists without procuring that of the democrats; they +had a hold upon neither extreme of society. Accordingly, they only formed +a half party, which was soon overthrown, because it had no root. The +Girondists, after the 10th of August, were, between the middle class and +the multitude, what the monarchists, or the Mounier and Necker party, had +been after the 24th of July, between the privileged classes and the +bourgeoisie. + +The Mountain, on the contrary, desired a republic of the people. The +leaders of this party, annoyed at the credit of the Girondists, sought to +overthrow and to supersede them. They were less intelligent, and less +eloquent, but abler, more decided, and in no degree scrupulous as to +means. The extremest democracy seemed to them the best of governments, and +what they termed the people, that is, the lowest populace, was the object +of their constant adulation, and most ardent solicitude. No party was more +dangerous; most consistently it laboured for those who fought its battle. + +Ever since the opening of the convention, the Girondists had occupied the +right benches, and the Mountain party the summit of the left, whence the +name by which they are designated. The Girondists were the strongest in +the assembly; the elections in the departments had generally been in their +favour. A great number of the deputies of the legislative assembly had +been re-elected, and as at that time connexion effected much, the members +who had been united with the deputation of the Gironde and the commune of +Paris before the 10th of August, returned with the same opinions. Others +came without any particular system or party, without enmities or +attachments: these formed what was then called the _Plaine_ or the +_Marais_. This party, taking no interest in the struggles between the +Gironde and the Mountain, voted with the side they considered the most +just, so long as they were allowed to be moderate; that is to say, so long +as they had no fears for themselves. + +The Mountain was composed of deputies of Paris, elected under the +influence of the commune of the 10th of August, and of some very decided +republicans from the provinces; it, from time to time, increased its ranks +with those who were rendered enthusiastic by circumstances, or who were +impelled by fear. But though inferior in the convention in point of +numbers, it was none the less very powerful, even at this period. It +swayed Paris; the commune was devoted to it, and the commune had managed +to constitute itself the supreme authority in the state. The Mountain had +sought to master the departments, by endeavouring to establish an identity +of views and conduct between the municipality of Paris and the provincial +municipalities; they had not, however, completely succeeded in this, and +the departments were for the most part favourable to their adversaries, +who cultivated their good will by means of pamphlets and journals sent by +the minister Roland, whose house the Mountain called a _bureau d'esprit +public_, and whose friends they called _intrigants_. But besides this +junction of the communes, which sooner or later would take place, they +were adopted by the Jacobins. This club, the most influential as well as +the most ancient and extensive, changed its views at every crisis without +changing its name; it was a framework ready for every dominating power, +excluding all dissentients. That at Paris was the metropolis of +Jacobinism, and governed the others almost imperiously. The Mountain had +made themselves masters of it; they had already driven the Girondists from +it, by denunciation and disgust, and replaced the members taken from the +bourgeoisie by sans-culottes. Nothing remained to the Girondists but the +ministry, who, thwarted by the commune, were powerless in Paris. The +Mountain, on the contrary, disposed of all the effective force of the +capital, of the public mind by the Jacobins, of the sections and faubourgs +by the sans-culottes, of the insurrectionists by the municipality. + +The first measure of parties after having decreed the republic, was to +contend with each other. The Girondists were indignant at the massacres of +September, and they beheld with horror on the benches of the convention +the men who had advised or ordered them. Above all others, two inspired +them with antipathy and disgust; Robespierre, whom they suspected of +aspiring to tyranny; and Marat, who from the commencement of the +revolution had in his writings constituted himself the apostle of murder. +They denounced Robespierre with more animosity than prudence; he was not +yet sufficiently formidable to incur the accusation of aspiring to the +dictatorship. His enemies by reproaching him with intentions then +improbable, and at all events incapable of proof, themselves augmented his +popularity and importance. + +Robespierre, who played so terrible a part in our revolution, was +beginning to take a prominent position. Hitherto, despite his efforts, he +had had superiors in his own party: under the constituent assembly, its +famous leaders; under the legislative, Brissot and Pétion; on the 10th of +August, Danton. At these different periods he had declared himself against +those whose renown or popularity offended him. Only able to distinguish +himself among the celebrated personages of the first assembly by the +singularity of his opinions, he had shown himself an exaggerated reformer; +during the second, he became a constitutionalist, because his rivals were +innovators, and he had talked in favour of peace to the Jacobins, because +his rivals advocated war. From the 10th of August he essayed in that club +to ruin the Girondists, and to supplant Danton, always associating the +cause of his vanity with that of the multitude. This man, of ordinary +talents and vain character, owed it to his inferiority to rank with the +last, a great advantage in times of revolution; and his conceit drove him +to aspire to the first rank, to do all to reach it, to dare all to +maintain himself there. + +Robespierre had the qualifications for tyranny; a soul not great, it is +true, but not common; the advantage of one sole passion, the appearance of +patriotism, a deserved reputation for incorruptibility, an austere life, +and no aversion to the effusion of blood. He was a proof that amidst civil +troubles it is not mind but conduct that leads to political fortune, and +that persevering mediocrity is more powerful than wavering genius. It must +also be observed that Robespierre had the support of an immense and +fanatical sect, whose government he had solicited, and whose principles he +had defended since the close of the constituent assembly. This sect +derived its origin from the eighteenth century, certain opinions of which +it represented. In politics, its symbol was the absolute sovereignty of +the _Contrat social_ of J.J. Rousseau, and for creed, it held the deism of +_la Profession de foi du Vicaire Savoyard_; at a later period it succeeded +in realizing these for a moment in the constitution of '93, and the +worship of the Supreme Being. More fanaticism and system existed in the +different epochs of the revolution than is generally supposed. + +Whether the Girondists distinctly foresaw the dominion of Robespierre, or +whether they suffered themselves to be carried away by their indignation, +they accused him, with republicans, of the most serious of crimes. Paris +was agitated by the spirit of faction; the Girondists wished to pass a law +against those who excited disorders and violence, and at the same time to +give the convention an independent force derived from the eighty-three +departments. They appointed a commission to present a report on this +subject. The Mountain attacked this measure as injurious to Paris; the +Gironde defended it, by pointing out the project of a triumvirate formed +by the deputation of Paris. "I was born in Paris," said Osselin; "I am +deputy for that town. It is announced that a party is formed in the very +heart of it, desiring a dictatorship, triumvirs, tribunes, etc. I declare +that extreme ignorance or profound wickedness alone could have conceived +such a project. Let the member of the deputation of Paris who has +conceived such an idea be anathematized!" "Yes," exclaimed Rebecqui of +Marseilles, "yes, there exists in this assembly a party which aspires at +the dictatorship, and I will name the leader of this party; Robespierre. +That is the man whom I denounce." Barbaroux supported this denunciation by +his evidence; he was one of the chief authors of the 10th of August; he +was the leader of the Marseillais, and he possessed immense influence in +the south. He stated that about the 10th of August, the Marseillais were +much courted by the two parties who divided the capital; he was brought to +Robespierre's, and there he was told to ally himself to those citizens who +had acquired most popularity, and that Paris expressly named to him, +_Robespierre, as the virtuous man who was to be dictator of France_. +Barbaroux was a man of action. There were some members of the Right who +thought with him, that they ought to conquer their adversaries, in order +to avoid being conquered by them. They wished, making use of the +convention against the commune, to oppose the departments to Paris, and +while they remained weak, by no means to spare enemies, to whom they would +otherwise be granting time to become stronger. But the greater number +dreaded a rupture, and trembled at the idea of energetic measures. + +This accusation against Robespierre had no immediate consequences; but it +fell back on Marat, who had recommended a dictatorship, in his journal +"L'Ami du Peuple," and had extolled the massacres. When he ascended the +tribune to justify himself, the assembly shuddered. "_A bas! à bas_!" +resounded from all sides. Marat remained imperturbable. In a momentary +pause, he said: "I have a great number of personal enemies in this +assembly. (_Tous! tous!_) I beg of them to remember decorum; I exhort them +to abstain from all furious clamours and indecent threats against a man +who has served liberty and themselves more than they think. For once let +them learn to listen." And this man delivered in the midst of the +convention, astounded at his audacity and sangfroid, his views of the +proscriptions and of the dictatorship. For some time he had fled from +cellar to cellar to avoid public anger, and the warrants issued against +him. His sanguinary journal alone appeared; in it he demanded heads, and +prepared the multitude for the massacres of September. There is no folly +which may not enter a man's head, and what is worse, which may not be +realized for a moment. Marat was possessed by certain fixed ideas. The +revolution had enemies, and, in his opinion, it could not last unless +freed from them; from that moment he deemed nothing could be more simple +than to exterminate them, and appoint a dictator, whose functions should +be limited to proscribing; these two measures he proclaimed aloud, with a +cynical cruelty, having no more regard for propriety than for the lives of +men, and despising as weak minds all those who called his projects +atrocious, instead of considering them profound. The revolution had actors +really more sanguinary than he, but none exercised a more fatal influence +over his times. He depraved the morality of parties already sufficiently +corrupt; and he had the two leading ideas which the committee of public +safety subsequently realized by its commissioners or its government-- +extermination in mass, and the dictatorship. + +Marat's accusation was not attended with any results; he inspired more +disgust, but less hatred than Robespierre; some regarded him as a madman; +others considered these debates as the quarrels of parties, and not as an +object of interest for the republic. Moreover, it seemed dangerous to +attempt to purify the convention, or to dismiss one of its members, and it +was a difficult step to get over, even for parties. Danton did not +exonerate Marat. "I do not like him," said he; "I have had experience of +his temperament; it is volcanic, crabbed and unsociable. But why seek for +the language of a faction in what he writes? Has the general agitation any +other cause than that of the revolutionary movement itself?" Robespierre, +on his part, protested that he knew very little of Marat; that, previous +to the 10th of August, he had only had one conversation with him, after +which Marat, whose violent opinions he did not approve, had considered his +political views so narrow, that he had stated in his journal, _that he had +neither the higher views nor the daring of a statesman_. + +But he was the object of much greater indignation because he was more +dreaded. The first accusation of Rebecqui and Barbaroux had not succeeded. +A short time afterwards, the Minister Roland made a report on the state of +France and Paris; in it he denounced the massacres of September, the +encroachments of the commune, and the proceedings of the agitators. +"When," said he, "they render the wisest and most intrepid defenders of +liberty odious or suspected, when principles of revolt and slaughter are +boldly professed and applauded in the assemblies, and clamours arise +against the convention itself, I can no longer doubt that partisans of the +ancient regime, or false friends of the people, concealing their +extravagance or wickedness under a mask of patriotism, have conceived the +plan of an overthrow in which they hope to raise themselves on ruins and +corpses, and gratify their thirst for blood, gold, and atrocity." + +He cited, in proof of his report, a letter in which the vice-president of +the second section of the criminal tribunal informed him, that he and the +most distinguished Girondists were threatened; that, in the words of their +enemies, _another bleeding was wanted_; and that these men would hear of +no one but Robespierre. + +At these words the latter hastened to the tribune to justify himself. "No +one," he cried, "dare accuse me to my face!" "I dare!" exclaimed Louvet, +one of the most determined men of the Gironde. "Yes, Robespierre," he +continued, fixing his eye upon him; "I accuse you!" Robespierre, hitherto +full of assurance, became moved. He had once before, at the Jacobins, +measured his strength with this formidable adversary, whom he knew to be +witty, impetuous, and uncompromising. Louvet now spoke, and in a most +eloquent address spared neither acts nor names. He traced the course of +Robespierre to the Jacobins, to the commune, to the electoral assembly: +"calumniating the best patriots; lavishing the basest flatteries on a few +hundred citizens, at first designated as the people of Paris, afterwards +as the people absolutely, and then as the sovereign; repeating the eternal +enumeration of his own merits, perfections, and virtues; and never +failing, after he had dwelt on the strength, grandeur, and sovereignty of +the people, to protest that he was the people too." He then described him +concealing himself on the 10th of August, and afterwards swaying the +conspirators of the commune. Then he came to the massacres of September, +and exclaimed: "The revolution of the 10th of August belongs to all!" he +added, pointing out a few of the members of the Mountain in the commune, +"but that of the 2nd of September, that belongs to them--and to none but +them! Have they not glorified themselves by it? They themselves, with +brutal contempt, only designated us as the patriots of the 10th of August. +With ferocious pride they called themselves the patriots of the 2nd of +September! Ah, let them retain this distinction worthy of the courage +peculiar to them; let them retain it as our justification, and for their +lasting shame! These pretended friends of the people wish to cast on the +people of Paris the horrors that stained the first week of September. They +have basely slandered them. The people of Paris can fight; they cannot +murder! It is true, they were assembled all the day long before the +château of the Tuileries on the glorious 10th of August; it is false that +they were seen before the prisons on the horrible 2nd of September. How +many executioners were there within? Two hundred; probably not two +hundred. And without, how many spectators could be reckoned drawn thither +by truly incomprehensible curiosity? At most, twice the number. But, it is +asked, why, if the people did not assist in these murders, did they not +hinder them? Why? Because Pétion's tutelary authority was fettered; +because Roland spoke in vain; because Danton, the minister of justice, did +not speak at all,... because the presidents of the forty-eight sections +waited for orders which the general in command did not give; because +municipal officers, wearing their scarfs, presided at these atrocious +executions. But the legislative assembly? The legislative assembly! +representatives of the people, you will avenge it! The powerless state +into which your predecessors were reduced is, in the midst of such crimes, +the greatest for which these ruffians, whom I denounce, must be punished." +Returning to Robespierre, Louvet pointed out his ambition, his efforts, +his extreme ascendancy over the people, and terminated his fiery philippic +by a series of facts, each one of which was preceded by this terrible +form: "_Robespierre, I accuse thee!_" + +Louvet descended from the tribune amidst applause, Robespierre mounted it +to justify himself; he was pale, and was received with murmurs. Either +from agitation or fear of prejudice, he asked for a week's delay. The time +arrived; he appeared less like one accused than as a triumpher; he +repelled with irony Louvet's reproaches, and entered into a long apology +for himself. It must be admitted that the facts were vague, and it +required little trouble to weaken or overturn them. Persons were placed in +the gallery to applaud him; even the convention itself, who regarded this +quarrel as the result of a private pique, and, as Barrère said, did not +fear _a man of a day, a petty leader of riots_, was disposed to close +these debates. Accordingly, when Robespierre observed, as he finished: +"For my part, I will draw no personal conclusions; I have given up the +easy advantage of replying to the calumnies of my adversaries by more +formidable denunciations; I wished to suppress the offensive part of my +justification. I renounce the just vengeance I have a right to pursue +against my calumniators; I ask for no other than the return of peace and +triumph of liberty!" he was applauded, and the convention passed to the +order of the day. Louvet in vain sought to reply; he was not allowed. +Barbaroux as vainly presented himself as accuser and Lanjuinais opposed +the motion for the order without obtaining the renewal of the discussion. +The Girondists themselves supported it: they committed one fault in +commencing the accusation, and another in not continuing it. The Mountain +carried the day, since they were not conquered, and Robespierre was +brought nearer the assumption of the part he had been so far removed from. +In times of revolution, men very soon become what they are supposed to be, +and the Mountain adopted him for their leader because the Girondists +pursued him as such. + +But what was much more important than personal attacks, were the +discussions respecting the means of government, and the management of +authorities and parties. The Girondists struck, not only against +individuals but against the commune. Not one of their measures succeeded; +they were badly proposed or badly sustained. They should have supported +the government, replaced the municipality, maintained their post among the +Jacobins and swayed them, gained over the multitude, or prevented its +acting; and they did nothing of all this. One among them, Buzot, proposed +giving the convention a guard of three thousand men, taken from the +departments. This measure, which would at least have made the assembly +independent, was not supported with sufficient vigour to be adopted. Thus +the Girondists attacked the Mountain without weakening them, the commune +without subduing it, the Faubourgs without suppressing them. They +irritated Paris by invoking the aid of the departments, without procuring +it; thus acting in opposition to the most common rules of prudence, for it +is always safer to do a thing than to threaten to do it. + +Their adversaries skilfully turned this circumstance to advantage. They +secretly circulated a report which could not but compromise the +Girondists; it was, that they wished to remove the republic to the south, +and give up the rest of the empire. Then commenced that reproach of +federalism, which afterwards became so fatal. The Girondists disdained it +because they did not see the consequences; but it necessarily gained +credit in proportion as they became weak and their enemies became daring. +What had given rise to the report was the project of defending themselves +behind the Loire, and removing the government to the south, if the north +should be invaded and Paris taken, and the predilection they manifested +for the provinces, and their indignation against the agitators of the +capital. Nothing is more easy than to change the appearance of a measure +by changing the period in which the measure was adopted, and discover in +the disapprobation expressed at the irregular acts of a city, an intention +to form the other cities of the state into a league against it. +Accordingly, the Girondists were pointed out to the multitude as +federalists. While they denounced the commune, and accused Robespierre and +Marat, the Mountain decreed _the unity and indivisibility of the +republic_. This was a way of attacking them and bringing them into +suspicion, although they themselves adhered so eagerly to these +propositions that they seemed to regret not having made them. + +But a circumstance, apparently unconnected with the disputes of these two +parties, served still better the cause of the Mountain. Already emboldened +by the unsuccessful attempts which had been directed against them, they +only waited for an opportunity to become assailants in their turn. The +convention was fatigued by these long discussions. Those members who were +not interested in them, and even those of the two parties who were not in +the first rank, felt the need of concord, and wished to see men occupy +themselves with the republic. There was an apparent truce, and the +attention of the assembly was directed for a moment to the new +constitution, which the Mountain caused it to abandon, in order to decide +on the fate of the fallen prince. The leaders of the extreme Left were +driven to this course by several motives: they did not want the +Girondists, and the moderate members of the Plain, who directed the +committee of the constitution, the former by Pétion, Condorcet, Brissot, +Vergniaud, Gensonné, the others by Barrère, Sieyès, and Thomas Paine, to +organize the republic. They would have established the system of the +bourgeoisie, rendering it a little more democratic than that of 1791, +while they themselves aspired at constituting the people. But they could +only accomplish their end by power, and they could only obtain power by +protracting the revolutionary state in France. Besides the necessity of +preventing the establishment of legal order by a terrible coup d'état, +such as the condemnation of Louis XVI., which would arouse all passions, +rally round them the violent parties, by proving them to be the inflexible +guardians of the republic, they hoped to expose the sentiments of the +Girondists, who did not conceal their desire to save Louis XVI., and thus +ruin them in the estimation of the multitude. There were, without a doubt, +in this conjuncture, a great number of the Mountain, who, on this +occasion, acted with the greatest sincerity and only as republicans, in +whose eyes Louis XVI. appeared guilty with respect to the revolution; and +a dethroned king was dangerous to a young democracy. But this party would +have been more clement, had it not had to ruin the Gironde at the same +time with Louis XVI. + +For some time past, the public mind had been prepared for his trial. The +Jacobin club resounded with invectives against him; the most injurious +reports were circulated against his character; his condemnation was +required for the firm establishment of liberty. The popular societies in +the departments addressed petitions to the convention with the same +object. The sections presented themselves at the bar of the assembly, and +they carried through it, on litters, the men wounded on the 10th of +August, who came to cry for vengeance on Louis Capet. They now only +designated Louis XVI. by this name of the ancient chief of his race, +thinking to substitute his title of king by his family name. + +Party motives and popular animosities combined against this unfortunate +prince. Those who, two months before, would have repelled the idea of +exposing him to any other punishment than that of dethronement, were +stupefied; so quickly does man lose in moments of crisis the right to +defend his opinions! The discovery of the iron chest especially increased +the fanaticism of the multitude, and the weakness of the king's defenders. +After the 10th of August, there were found in the offices of the civil +list documents which proved the secret correspondence of Louis XVI. with +the discontented princes, with the emigration, and with Europe. In a +report, drawn up at the command of the legislative assembly, he was +accused of intending to betray the state and overthrow the revolution. He +was accused of having written, on the 16th April, 1791, to the bishop of +Clermont, that if he regained his power he would restore the former +government and the clergy to the state in which they previously were; of +having afterwards proposed war, merely to hasten the approach of his +deliverers; of having been in correspondence with men who wrote to him-- +"War will compel all the powers to combine against the seditious and +abandoned men who tyrannize over France, in order that their punishment +may speedily serve as an example to all who shall be induced to trouble +the peace of empires. You may rely on a hundred and fifty thousand men, +Prussians, Austrians, and Imperialists, and on an army of twenty thousand +emigrants;" of having been on terms with his brothers, whom his public +measures had discountenanced: and, lastly, of having constantly opposed +the revolution. + +Fresh documents were soon brought forward in support of this accusation. +In the Tuileries, behind a panel in the wainscot, there was a hole wrought +in the wall, and closed by an iron door. This secret closet was pointed +out by the minister, Roland, and there were discovered proofs of all the +conspiracies and intrigues of the court against the revolution; projects +with the popular leaders to strengthen the constitutional power of the +king, to restore the ancient régime and the aristocrats; the manoeuvres of +Talon, the arrangements with Mirabeau, the proposition accepted by +Bouillé, under the constituent assembly, and some new plots under the +legislative assembly. This discovery increased the exasperation against +Louis XVI. Mirabeau's bust was broken by the Jacobins, and the convention +covered the one which stood in the hall where it held its sittings. + +For some time there had been a question in the assembly as to the trial of +this prince, who, having been dethroned, could no longer be proceeded +against. There was no tribunal empowered to pronounce his sentence, no +punishment which could be inflicted on him: accordingly, they plunged into +false interpretations of the inviolability granted to Louis XVI., in order +to condemn him legally. The greatest error of parties, next to being +unjust, is the desire not to appear so. The committee of legislation, +commissioned to draw up a report on the question as to whether Louis XVI. +could be tried, and whether he could be tried by the convention, decided +in the affirmative. The deputy Mailhe opposed, in its name, the dogma of +inviolability; but as this dogma had influenced the preceding epoch of the +revolution, he contended that Louis XVI. was inviolable as king, but not +as an individual. He maintained that the nation, unable to give up its +guarantee respecting acts of power, had supplied the inviolability of the +monarch by the responsibility of his ministers; and that, when Louis XVI. +had acted as a simple individual, his responsibility devolving on no one, +he ceased to be inviolable. Thus Mailhe limited the constitutional +safeguard given to Louis XVI. to the acts of the king. He concluded that +Louis XVI. could be tried, the dethronement not being a punishment, but a +change of government; that he might be brought to trial, by virtue of the +penal code relative to traitors and conspirators; that he could be tried +by the convention, without observing the process of other tribunals, +because, the convention representing the people--the people including all +interests, and all interests constituting justice--it was impossible that +the national tribunal could violate justice, and that, consequently, it +was useless to subject it to forms. Such was the chain of sophistry, by +means of which the committee transformed the convention into a tribunal. +Robespierre's party showed itself much more consistent, dwelling only on +state reasons, and rejecting forms as deceptive. + +The discussion commenced on the 13th of November, six days after the +report of the committee. The partisans of inviolability, while they +considered Louis XVI. guilty, maintained that he could not be tried. The +principal of these was Morrison. He said, that inviolability was general; +that the constitution had anticipated more than secret hostility on the +part of Louis XVI., an open attack, and even in that case had only +pronounced his deposition; that in this respect the nation had pledged its +sovereignty; that the mission of the convention was to change the +government, not to judge Louis XVI.; that, restrained by the rules of +justice, it was so also by the usages of war, which only permitted an +enemy to be destroyed during the combat--after a victory, the law +vindicates him; that, moreover, the republic had no interest in condemning +Louis; that it ought to confine itself with respect to him, to measures of +general safety, detain him prisoner, or banish him from France. This was +the opinion of the Right of the convention. The Plain shared the opinion +of the committee; but the Mountain repelled, at the same time, the +inviolability and the trial of Louis XVI. + +"Citizens," said Saint-Just, "I engage to prove that the opinion of +Morrison, who maintains the king's inviolability, and that of the +committee which requires his trial as a citizen, are equally false; I +contend that we should judge the king as an enemy; that we have less to do +with trying than with opposing him: that having no place in the contract +which unites Frenchmen, the forms of the proceeding are not in civil law, +but in the law of the right of nations; thus, all delay or reserve in this +case are sheer acts of imprudence, and next to the imprudence which +postpones the moment that should give us laws, the most fatal will be that +which makes us temporize with the king." Reducing everything to +considerations of enmity and policy, Saint-Just added, "The very men who +are about to try Louis have a republic to establish: those who attach any +importance to the just chastisement of a king, will never found a +republic. Citizens, if the Roman people, after six hundred years of virtue +and of hatred towards kings; if Great Britain after the death of Cromwell, +saw kings restored in spite of its energy, what ought not good citizens, +friends of liberty, to fear among us, when they see the axe tremble in +your hands, and a people, from the first day of their freedom, respect the +memory of their chains?" + +This violent party, who wished to substitute a coup d'état for a sentence, +to follow no law, no form, but to strike Louis XVI. like a conquered +prisoner, by making hostilities even survive victory, had but a very +feeble majority in the convention; but without, it was strongly supported +by the Jacobins and the commune. Notwithstanding the terror which it +already inspired, its murderous suggestions were repelled by the +convention; and the partisans of inviolability, in their turn, +courageously asserted reasons of public interest at the same time as rules +of justice and humanity. They maintained that the same men could not be +judges and legislators, the jury and the accusers. They desired also to +impart to the rising republic the lustre of great virtues, those of +generosity and forgiveness; they wished to follow the example of the +people of Rome, who acquired their freedom and retained it five hundred +years, because they proved themselves magnanimous; because they banished +the Tarquins instead of putting them to death. In a political view, they +showed the consequences of the king's condemnation, as it would affect the +anarchical party of the kingdom, rendering it still more insolent; and +with regard to Europe, whose still neutral powers it would induce to join +the coalition against the republic. + +But Robespierre, who during this long debate displayed a daring and +perseverance that presaged his power, appeared at the tribune to support +Saint-Just, to reproach the convention with involving in doubt what the +insurrection had decided, and with restoring, by sympathy and the +publicity of a defence, the fallen royalist party. "The assembly," said +Robespierre, "has involuntarily been led far away from the real question. +Here we have nothing to do with trial: Louis is not an accused man; you +are not judges, you are, and can only be, statesmen. You have no sentence +to pronounce for or against a man, but you are called on to adopt a +measure of public safety; to perform an act of national precaution. A +dethroned king is only fit for two purposes, to disturb the tranquillity +of the state, and shake its freedom, or to strengthen one or the other of +them. + +"Louis was king; the republic is founded; the famous question you are +discussing is decided in these few words. Louis cannot be tried; he is +already tried, he is condemned, or the republic is not absolved." He +required that the convention should declare Louis XVI. a traitor towards +the French, criminal towards humanity, and sentence him at once to death, +by virtue of the insurrection. + +The Mountain by these extreme propositions, by the popularity they +attained without, rendered condemnation in a measure inevitable. By +gaining an extraordinary advance on the other parties, it obliged them to +follow it, though at a distance. The majority of the convention, composed +in a large part of Girondists, who dared not pronounce Louis XVI. +inviolable, and of the Plain, decided, on Pétion's proposition, against +the opinion of the fanatical Mountain and against that of the partisans of +inviolability, that Louis XVI. should be tried by the convention. Robert +Lindet then made, in the name of the commission of the twenty-one, his +report respecting Louis XVI. The arraignment, setting forth the offences +imputed to him, was drawn up, and the convention summoned the prisoner to +its bar. + +Louis had been confined in the Temple for four months. He was not at +liberty, as the assembly at first wished him to be in assigning him the +Luxembourg for a residence. The suspicious commune guarded him closely; +but, submissive to his destiny, prepared for everything, he manifested +neither impatience, regret, nor indignation. He had only one servant about +his person, Cléry, who at the same time waited on his family. During the +first months of his imprisonment, he was not separated from his family; +and he still found solace in meeting them. He comforted and supported his +two companions in misfortune, his wife and sister; he acted as preceptor +to the young dauphin, and gave him the lessons of an unfortunate man, of a +captive king. He read a great deal, and often turned to the History of +England, by Hume; there he read of many dethroned kings, and one of them +condemned by the people. Man always seeks destinies similar to his own. +But the consolation he found in the sight of his family did not last long; +as soon as his trial was decided, he was separated from them. The commune +wished to prevent the prisoners from concerting their justification; the +surveillance it exercised over Louis XVI. became daily more minute and +severe. + +In this state of things, Santerre received the order to conduct Louis XVI. +to the bar of the convention. He repaired to the Temple, accompanied by +the mayor, who communicated his mission to the king, and inquired if he +was willing to descend. Louis hesitated a moment, then said: "This is +another violence. I must yield!" and he decided on appearing before the +convention; not objecting to it, as Charles I. had done with regard to his +judges. "Representatives," said Barrère, when his approach was announced, +"you are about to exercise the right of national justice. Let your +attitude be suited to your new functions;" and turning to the gallery, he +added, "Citizens, remember the terrible silence which accompanied Louis on +his return from Varennes; a silence which was the precursor of the trial +of kings by nations." Louis XVI. appeared firm as he entered the hall, and +he took a steady glance round the assembly. He was placed at the bar, and +the president said to him in a voice of emotion: "Louis, the French nation +accuses you. You are about to hear the charges of the indictment. Louis, +be seated." A seat had been prepared for him; he sat in it. During a long +examination, he displayed much calmness and presence of mind, he replied +to each question appropriately, often in an affecting and triumphant +manner. He repelled the reproaches addressed to him respecting his conduct +before the 14th of July, reminding them that his authority was not then +limited; before the journey to Varennes, by the decree of the constituent +assembly, which had been satisfied with his replies; and after the 10th of +August, by throwing all public acts on ministerial responsibility, and by +denying all the secret measures which were personally attributed to him. +This denial did not, however, in the eyes of the convention, overthrow +facts, proved for the most part by documents written or signed by the hand +of Louis XVI. himself; he made use of the natural right of every accused +person. Thus he did not admit the existence of the iron chest, and the +papers that were brought forward. Louis XVI. invoked a law of safety, +which the convention did not admit, and the convention sought to protect +itself from anti-revolutionary attempts, which Louis XVI. would not admit. + +When Louis had returned to the Temple, the convention considered the +request he had made for a defender. A few of the Mountain opposed the +request in vain. The convention determined to allow him the services of a +counsel. It was then that the venerable Malesherbes offered himself to the +convention to defend Louis XVI. "Twice," he wrote, "have I been summoned +to the council of him who was my master, at a time when that function was +the object of ambition to every man; I owe him the same service now, when +many consider it dangerous." His request was granted, Louis XVI. in his +abandonment, was touched by this proof of devotion. When Malesherbes +entered his room, he went towards him, pressed him in his arms, and said +with tears:--"Your sacrifice is the more generous, since you endanger your +own life without saving mine." Malesherbes and Tronchet toiled +uninterruptedly at his defence, and associated M. Desèze with them; they +sought to reanimate the courage of the king, but they found the king +little inclined to hope. "I am sure they will take my life; but no matter, +let us attend to my trial as if I were about to gain it. In truth, I shall +gain it, for I shall leave no stain on my memory." + +At length the day for the defence arrived; it was delivered by M. Desèze; +Louis was present. The profoundest silence pervaded the assembly and the +galleries. M. Desèze availed himself of every consideration of justice and +innocence in favour of the royal prisoner. He appealed to the +inviolability which had been granted him; he asserted that as king he +could not be tried; that as accusers, the representatives of the people +could not be his judges. In this he advanced nothing which had not already +been maintained by one party of the assembly. But he chiefly strove to +justify the conduct of Louis XVI. by ascribing to him intentions always +pure and irreproachable. He concluded with these last and solemn words:-- +"Listen, in anticipation, to what History will say to Fame; Louis +ascending the throne at twenty, presented an example of morals, justice, +and economy; he had no weakness, no corrupting passion: he was the +constant friend of the people. Did the people desire the abolition of an +oppressive tax? Louis abolished it: did the people desire the suppression +of slavery? Louis suppressed it: did the people solicit reforms? he made +them: did the people wish to change its laws? he consented to change them: +did the people desire that millions of Frenchmen should be restored to +their rights? he restored them: did the people wish for liberty? he gave +it them. Men cannot deny to Louis the glory of having anticipated the +people by his sacrifices; and it is he whom it is proposed to slay. +Citizens, I will not continue, I leave it to History; remember, she will +judge your sentence, and her judgment will be that of ages." But passion +proved deaf and incapable of foresight. + +The Girondists wished to save Louis XVI., but they feared the imputation +of royalism, which was already cast upon them by the Mountain. During the +whole transaction, their conduct was rather equivocal; they dared not +pronounce themselves in favour of or against the accused; and their +moderation ruined them without serving him. At that moment his cause, not +only that of his throne, but of his life, was their own. They were about +to determine, by an act of justice or by a coup d'état, whether they +should return to the legal regime, or prolong the revolutionary regime. +The triumph of the Girondists or of the Mountain was involved in one or +the other of these solutions. The latter became exceedingly active. They +pretended that, while following forms, men were forgetful of republican +energy, and that the defence of Louis XVI. was a lecture on monarchy +addressed to the nation. The Jacobins powerfully seconded them, and +deputations came to the bar demanding the death of the king. + +Yet the Girondists, who had not dared to maintain the question of +inviolability, proposed a skilful way of saving Louis XVI. from death, by +appealing from the sentence of the convention to the people. The extreme +Right still protested against the erection of the assembly into a +tribunal; but the competence of the assembly having been previously +decided, all their efforts were turned in another direction. Salles +proposed that the king should be pronounced guilty, but that the +application of the punishment should be left to the primary assembly. +Buzot, fearing that the convention would incur the reproach of weakness, +thought that it ought to pronounce the sentence, and submit the judgment +it pronounced to the decision of the people. This advice was vigorously +opposed by the Mountain, and even by a great number of the more moderate +members of the convention, who saw, in the convocation of the primary +assemblies, the germ of civil war. + +The assembly had unanimously decided that Louis was guilty, when the +appeal to the people was put to the question. Two hundred and eighty-four +voices voted for, four hundred and twenty-four against it; ten declined +voting. Then came the terrible question as to the nature of the +punishment. Paris was in a state of the greatest excitement: deputies were +threatened at the very door of the assembly; fresh excesses on the part of +the populace were dreaded; the Jacobin clubs resounded with extravagant +invectives against Louis XVI., and the Right. The Mountain, till then the +weakest party in the convention, sought to obtain the majority by terror, +determined, if it did not succeed, none the less to sacrifice Louis XVI. +Finally, after four hours of nominal appeal, the president, Vergniaud, +said: "Citizens, I am about to proclaim the result of the scrutiny. When +justice has spoken, humanity should have its turn." There were seven +hundred and twenty-one voters. The actual majority was three hundred and +sixty-one. The death of the king was decided by a majority of twenty-six +votes. Opinions were very various: Girondists voted for his death, with a +reservation, it is true; most of the members of the Right voted for +imprisonment or exile; a few of the Mountain voted with the Girondists. As +soon as the result was known, the president said, in a tone of grief: "In +the name of the convention, I declare the punishment, to which it condemns +Louis Capet, to be death." Those who had undertaken the defence appeared +at the bar; they were deeply affected. They endeavoured to bring back the +assembly to sentiments of compassion, in consideration of the small +majority in favour of the sentence. But this subject had already been +discussed and decided. "Laws are only made by a simple majority," said one +of the Mountain. "Yes," replied a voice, "but laws may be revoked; you +cannot restore the life of a man." Malesherbes wished to speak, but could +not. Sobs prevented his utterance; he could only articulate a few +indistinct words of entreaty. His grief moved the assembly. The request +for a reprieve was received by the Girondists as a last resource; but this +also failed them, and the fatal sentence was pronounced. + +Louis expected it. When Malesherbes came in tears to announce the +sentence, he found him sitting in the dark, his elbows resting on a table, +his face hid in his hands, and in profound meditation. At the noise of his +entrance, Louis rose and said: "For two hours I have been trying to +discover if, during my reign, I have deserved the slightest reproach from +my subjects. Well, M. de Malesherbes, I swear to you, in the truth of my +heart, as a man about to appear before God, that I have constantly sought +the happiness of my people, and never indulged a wish opposed to it." +Malesherbes urged that a reprieve would not be rejected, but this Louis +did not expect. As he saw Malesherbes go out, Louis begged him not to +forsake him in his last moments; Malesherbes promised to return; but he +came several times, and was never able to gain access to him. Louis asked +for him frequently, and appeared distressed at not seeing him. He received +without emotion the formal announcement of his sentence from the minister +of justice. He asked three days to prepare to appear before God; and also +to be allowed the services of a priest, and permission to communicate +freely with his wife and children. Only the last two requests were +granted. + +The interview was a distressing scene to this desolate family; but the +moment of separation was far more so. Louis, on parting with his family, +promised to see them again the next day; but, on reaching his room, he +felt that the trial would be too much, and, pacing up and down violently, +he exclaimed, "I will not go!" This was his last struggle; the rest of his +time was spent in preparing for death. The night before the execution he +slept calmly. Cléry awoke him, as he had been ordered, at five, and +received his last instructions. He then communicated, commissioned Cléry +with his dying words, and all he was allowed to bequeath, a ring, a seal, +and some hair. The drums were already beating, and the dull sound of +travelling cannon, and of confused voices, might be heard. At length +Santerre arrived. "You are come for me," said Louis; "I ask one moment." +He deposited his will in the hands of the municipal officer, asked for his +hat, and said, in a firm tone: "Let us go." + +The carriage was an hour on its way from the Temple to the Place de la +Revolution. A double row of soldiers lined the road; more than forty +thousand men were under arms. Paris presented a gloomy aspect. The +citizens present at the execution manifested neither applause nor regret; +all were silent. On reaching the place of execution, Louis alighted from +the carriage. He ascended the scaffold with a firm step, knelt to receive +the benediction of the priest, who is recorded to have said, "Son of Saint +Louis, ascend to heaven!" With some repugnance he submitted to the binding +of his hands, and walked hastily to the left of the scaffold; "I die +innocent," said he; "I forgive my enemies; and you, unfortunate people..." +Here, at a signal, the drums and trumpets drowned his voice, and the three +executioners seized him. At ten minutes after ten he had ceased to live. + +Thus perished, at the age of thirty-nine, after a reign of sixteen years +and a half, spent in endeavouring to do good, the best but weakest of +monarchs. His ancestors bequeathed to him a revolution. He was better +calculated than any of them to prevent and terminate it; for he was +capable of becoming a reformer-king before it broke out, or of becoming a +constitutional king afterwards. He is, perhaps, the only prince who, +having no other passion, had not that of power, and who united the two +qualities which make good kings, fear of God and love of the people. He +perished, the victim of passions which he did not share; of those of the +persons about him, to which he was a stranger, and to those of the +multitude, which he had not excited. Few memories of kings are so +commendable. History will say of him, that, with a little more strength of +mind, he would have been an exemplary king. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +FROM THE 21ST OF JANUARY, 1793, TO THE 2ND OF JUNE + + +The death of Louis XVI. rendered the different parties irreconcilable, and +increased the external enemies of the revolution. The republicans had to +contend with all Europe, with several classes of malcontents, and with +themselves. But the Mountain, who then directed the popular movement, +imagined that they were too far involved not to push matters to extremity. +To terrify the enemies of the revolution, to excite the fanaticism of the +people by harangues, by the presence of danger, and by insurrections; to +refer everything to it, both the government and the safety of the +republic; to infuse into it the most ardent enthusiasm, in the name of +liberty, equality, and fraternity; to keep it in this violent state of +crisis for the purpose of making use of its passions and its power; such +was the plan of Danton and the Mountain, who had chosen him for their +leader. It was he who augmented the popular effervescence by the growing +dangers of the republic, and who, under the name of revolutionary +government, established the despotism of the multitude, instead of legal +liberty. Robespierre and Marat went even much further than he. They sought +to erect into a permanent government what Danton considered as merely +transitory. The latter was only a political chief, while the others were +true sectarians; the first, more ambitious, the second, more fanatical. + +The Mountain had, by the catastrophe of the 21st of January, gained a +great victory over the Girondists, whose politics were much more moral +than theirs, and who hoped to save the revolution, without staining it +with blood. But their humanity, their spirit of justice, proved of no +service, and even turned against them. They were accused of being the +enemies of the people, because they opposed their excesses; of being the +accomplices of the tyrant, because they had sought to save Louis XVI.; and +of betraying the republic, because they recommended moderation. It was +with these reproaches that the Mountain persecuted them with constant +animosity in the bosom of the convention, from the 21st of January till +the 31st of May and the 2nd of June. The Girondists were for a long time +supported by the Centre, which sided with the Right against murder and +anarchy, and with the Left for measures of public safety. This mass, +which, properly speaking, formed the spirit of the convention, displayed +some courage, and balanced the power of the Mountain and the Commune as +long as it possessed those intrepid and eloquent Girondists, who carried +with them to prison and to the scaffold all the generous resolutions of +the assembly. + +For a moment, union existed among the various parties of the assembly. +Lepelletier Saint Fargeau was stabbed by a retired member of the household +guard, named Pâris, for having voted the death of Louis XVI. The members +of the convention, united by common danger, swore on his tomb to forget +their enmities; but they soon revived them. Some of the murderers of +September, whose punishment was desired by the more honourable +republicans, were proceeded against at Meaux. The Mountain, apprehensive +that their past conduct would be inquired into, and that their adversaries +would take advantage of a condemnation to attack them more openly +themselves, put a stop to these proceedings. This impunity further +emboldened the leaders of the multitude; and Marat, who at that period had +an incredible influence over the multitude, excited them to pillage the +dealers, whom he accused of monopolizing provisions. He wrote and spoke +violently, in his pamphlets and at the Jacobins, against the aristocracy +of the burghers, merchants, and _statesmen_ (as he designated the +Girondists), that is to say, against those who, in the assembly or the +nation at large, still opposed the reign of the Sans-culottes and the +Mountain. There was something frightful in the fanaticism and invincible +obstinacy of these sectaries. The name given by them to the Girondists +from the beginning of the convention, was that of Intrigants, on account +of the ministerial and rather stealthy means with which they opposed in +the departments the insolent and public conduct of the Jacobins. + +Accordingly, they denounced them regularly in the club. "At Rome, an +orator cried daily: 'Carthage must be destroyed!' well, let a Jacobin +mount this tribune every day, and say these single words, 'The intrigants +must be destroyed!' Who could withstand us? We oppose crime, and the +ephemeral power of riches; but we have truth, justice, poverty, and virtue +in our cause. With such arms, the Jacobins will soon have to say: 'We had +only to pass on, they were already extinct.'" Marat, who was much more +daring than Robespierre, whose hatred and projects still concealed +themselves under certain forms, was the patron of all denouncers and +lovers of anarchy. Several of the Mountain reproached him with +compromising their cause by his extreme counsels, and by unseasonable +excesses; but the entire Jacobin people supported him even against +Robespierre, who rarely obtained the advantage in his disputes with him. +The pillage recommended in February, in _L'Ami du Peuple_, with respect to +some dealers, "by way of example," took place, and Marat was denounced to +the convention, who decreed his accusation after a stormy sitting. But +this decree had no result, because the ordinary tribunals had no +authority. This double effort of force on one side, and weakness on the +other, took place in the month of February. More decisive events soon +brought the Girondists to ruin. + +Hitherto, the military position of France had been satisfactory. Dumouriez +had just crowned the brilliant campaign of Argonne by the conquest of +Belgium. After the retreat of the Prussians, he had repaired to Paris to +concert measures for the invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. Returning +to the army on the 20th of October, 1792, he began the attack on the 28th. +The plan attempted so inappropriately, with so little strength and +success, at the commencement of the war, was resumed and executed with +superior means. Dumouriez, at the head of the army of Belgium, forty +thousand strong, advanced from Valenciennes upon Mons, supported on the +right by the army of the Ardennes, amounting to about sixteen thousand +men, under general Valence, who marched from Givet upon Namur; and on his +left, by the army of the north, eighteen thousand strong, under general +Labourdonnaie, who advanced from Lille upon Tournai. The Austrian army, +posted before Mons, awaited battle in its intrenchments. Dumouriez +completely defeated it; and the victory of Jemappes opened Belgium to the +French, and again gave our arms the ascendancy in Europe. A victor on the +6th of November, Dumouriez entered Mons on the 7th, Brussels on the 14th, +and Liége on the 28th. Valence took Namur, Labourdonnaie Antwerp; and by +the middle of December, the invasion of the Netherlands was completely +achieved. The French army, masters of the Meuse and the Scheldt, went into +their winter quarters, after driving beyond the Roër the Austrians, whom +they might have pushed beyond the Lower Rhine. + +From this moment hostilities began between Dumouriez and the Jacobins. A +decree of the convention, dated the 15th of September, abrogated the +Belgian customs, and democratically organized that country. The Jacobins +sent agents to Belgium to propagate revolutionary principles, and +establish clubs on the model of the parent society; but the Flemings, who +had received us with enthusiasm, became cool at the heavy demands made +upon them, and at the general pillage and insupportable anarchy which the +Jacobins brought with them. All the party that had opposed the Austrian +army, and hoped to be free under the protection of France, found our rule +too severe, and regretted having sought our aid, or supported us. +Dumouriez, who had projects of independence for the Flemings, and of +ambition for himself, came to Paris to complain of this impolitic conduct +with regard to the conquered countries. He changed his hitherto equivocal +course; he had employed every means to keep on terms with the two +factions; he had ranged himself under the banner of neither, hoping to +make use of the Right through his friend Gensonné, and the Mountain +through Danton and Lacroix, whilst he awed both by his victories. But in +this second journey he tried to stop the Jacobins and save Louis XVI.; not +having been able to attain his end, he returned to the army to begin the +second campaign, very dissatisfied, and determined to make his new +victories the means of suspending the revolution and changing its +government. + +This time all the frontiers of France were to be attacked by the European +powers. The military successes of the revolution, and the catastrophe of +the 21st of January, had made most of the undecided or neutral governments +join the coalition. + +The court of St. James', on learning the death of Louis XVI., dismissed +the ambassador Chauvelin, whom it had refused to acknowledge since the +10th of August and the dethronement of the king. The convention, finding +England already leagued with the coalition, and consequently all its +promises of neutrality vain and elusive, on the 1st of February, 1793, +declared war against the king of Great Britain and the stadtholder of +Holland, who had been entirely guided by the English cabinet since 1788. +England had hitherto preserved the appearances of neutrality, but it took +advantage of this opportunity to appear on the scene of hostilities. For +some time disposed for a rupture, Pitt employed all his resources, and in +the space of six months concluded seven treaties of alliance, and six +treaties of subsidies. [Footnote: These treaties were as follows: the 4th +March, articles between Great Britain and Hanover; 25th March, treaty of +alliance at London between Russia and Great Britain; 10th April, treaty of +subsidies with the landgrave of Hesse Cassel; 25th April, treaty of +subsidies with Sardinia; 25th May, treaty of alliance at Madrid with +Spain; 12th July, treaty of alliance with Naples, the kingdom of the Two +Sicilies; 14th July, treaty of alliance at the camp before Mayence with +Prussia; 30th August, treaty of alliance at London with the emperor; 21st +September, treaty of subsidies with the margrave of Baden; 26th September, +treaty of alliance at London with Portugal. By these treaties England gave +considerable subsidies, more especially to Austria and Prussia.] England +thus became the soul of the coalition against France; her fleets were +ready to sail; the minister had obtained 3,200,000l. extraordinary, and +Pitt designed to profit by our revolution by securing the preponderance of +Great Britain, as Richelieu and Mazarin had taken advantage of the crisis +in England in 1640, to establish the French domination in Europe. The +court of St. James' was only influenced by motives of English interests; +it desired at any cost to effect the consolidation of the aristocratical +power at home, and the exclusive empire in the two Indies, and on the +seas. + +The court of St. James' then made the second levy of the coalition. Spain +had just undergone a ministerial change; the famous Godoy, duke of +Alcudia, afterwards Prince of the Peace, had been placed at the head of +the government by means of an intrigue of England and the emigrants. This +power came to a rupture with the republic, after having interceded in vain +for Louis XVI., and made its neutrality the price of the life of the king. +The German empire entirely adopted the war; Bavaria, Suabia, and the +elector palatine joined the hostile circles of the empire. Naples followed +the example of the Holy See; and the only neutral powers were Venice, +Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey. Russia was still engaged with +the second partition of Poland. + +The republic was threatened on all sides by the most warlike troops of +Europe. It would soon have to face forty-five thousand Austro-Sardinians +in the Alps; fifty thousand Spaniards on the Pyrenees; seventy thousand +Austrians or Imperialists, reinforced by thirty-eight thousand English and +Dutch troops, on the Lower Rhine and in Belgium; thirty-three thousand +four hundred Austrians between the Meuse and the Moselle; a hundred and +twelve thousand six hundred Prussians, Austrians and Imperialists on the +Middle and Upper Rhine. In order to confront so many enemies, the +convention decreed a levy of three hundred thousand men. This measure of +external defence was accompanied by a party measure for the interior. At +the moment the new battalions, about to quit Paris, presented themselves +to the assembly, the Mountain demanded the establishment of an +extraordinary tribunal to maintain the revolution at home, which the +battalions were going to defend on the frontiers. This tribunal, composed +of nine members, was to try without jury or appeal. The Girondists arose +with all their power against so arbitrary and formidable an institution, +but it was in vain; for they seemed to be favouring the enemies of the +republic by rejecting a tribunal intended to punish them. All they +obtained was the introduction of juries into it, the removal of some +violent men, and the power of annulling its acts, as long as they +maintained any influence. + +The principal efforts of the coalition were directed against the vast +frontier extending from the north sea to Huninguen. The prince of Coburg, +at the head of the Austrians, was to attack the French army on the Roër +and the Meuse, to enter Belgium; while the Prussians, on the other point, +should march against Custine, give him battle, surround Mayence, and after +taking it, renew the preceding invasion. These two armies of operation +were sustained in the intermediate position by considerable forces. +Dumouriez, engrossed by ambitious and reactionary designs, at a moment +when he ought only to have thought of the perils of France, proposed to +himself to re-establish the monarchy of 1791, in spite of the convention +and Europe. What Bouillé could not do for an absolute, nor Lafayette for a +constitutional throne, Dumouriez, at a less propitious time, hoped alone +to carry through in the interest of a destroyed constitution and a +monarchy without a party. Instead of remaining neutral among factions, as +circumstances dictated to a general, and even to an ambitious man, +Dumouriez preferred a rupture, in order to sway them. He conceived a +design of forming a party out of France; of entering Holland by means of +the Dutch republicans opposed to the stadtholdership, and to English +influence; to deliver Belgium from the Jacobins; to unite these countries +in a single independent state, and secure for himself their political +protectorate after having acquired all the glory of a conqueror. To +intimidate parties, he was to gain over his troops, march on the capital, +dissolve the convention, put down popular meetings, re-establish the +constitution of 1791, and give a king to France. + +This project, impracticable amidst the great shock between the revolution +and Europe, appeared easy to the fiery and adventurous Dumouriez. Instead +of defending the line, threatened from Mayence to the Roër, he threw +himself on the left of the operations, and entered Holland at the head of +twenty thousand men. By a rapid march he was to reach the centre of the +United Provinces, attack the fortresses from behind, and be joined at +Nymegen by twenty-five thousand men under General Miranda, who would +probably have made himself master of Maestricht. An army of forty thousand +men was to observe the Austrians and protect his right. + +Dumouriez vigorously prosecuted his expedition into Holland; he took Breda +and Gertruydenberg, and prepared to pass the Biesbos, and capture +Dordrecht. But the army of the right experienced in the meantime the most +alarming reverses on the Lower Meuse. The Austrians assumed the offensive, +passed the Roër, beat Miazinski at Aix-la-Chapelle; made Miranda raise the +blockade of Maestricht, which he had uselessly bombarded; crossed the +Meuse, and at Liège put our army, which had fallen back between Tirlemont +and Louvain, wholly to the rout. Dumouriez received from the executive +council orders to leave Holland immediately, and to take the command of +the troops in Belgium; he was compelled to obey, and to renounce in part +his wildest but dearest hopes. + +The Jacobins, at the news of these reverses, became much more intractable; +unable to conceive a defeat without treachery, especially after the +brilliant and unexpected victories of the last campaign, they attributed +these military disasters to party combinations. They denounced the +Girondists, the ministers, and generals who, they supposed, had combined +to abandon the republic, and clamoured for their destruction. Rivalry +mingled with suspicion, and they desired as much to acquire an exclusive +domination, as to defend the threatened territory; they began with the +Girondists. As they had not yet accustomed the multitude to the idea of +the proscription of representatives, they at first had recourse to a plot +to get rid of them; they resolved to strike them in the convention, where +they would all be assembled, and the night of the 10th of March was fixed +on for the execution of the plot. The assembly sat permanently on account +of the public danger. It was decided on the preceding day at the Jacobins +and Cordeliers to shut the barriers, sound the tocsin, and march in two +bands on the convention and the ministers. They started at the appointed +hour, but several circumstances prevented the conspirators from +succeeding. The Girondists, apprised, did not attend the evening sitting; +the sections declared themselves opposed to the plot, and Beurnonville, +minister for war, advanced against them at the head of a battalion of +Brest federalists; these unexpected obstacles, together with the ceaseless +rain, obliged the conspirators to disperse. The next day Vergniaud +denounced the insurrectional committee who had projected these murders, +demanded that the executive council should be commissioned to make +inquiries respecting the conspiracy of the 10th of March, to examine the +registers of the clubs, and to arrest the members of the insurrectional +committee. "We go," said he, "from crimes to amnesties, from amnesties to +crimes. Numbers of citizens have begun to confound seditious insurrections +with the great insurrection of liberty; to look on the excitement of +robbers as the outburst of energetic minds, and robbery itself as a +measure of general security. We have witnessed the development of that +strange system of liberty, in which we are told: 'you are free; but think +with us, or we will denounce you to the vengeance of the people; you are +free, but bow down your head to the idol we worship, or we will denounce +you to the vengeance of the people; you are free, but join us in +persecuting the men whose probity and intelligence we dread, or we will +denounce you to the vengeance of the people.' Citizens, we have reason to +fear that the revolution, like Saturn, will devour successively all its +children, and only engender despotism and the calamities which accompany +it." These prophetic words produced some effect in the assembly; but the +measures proposed by Vergniaud led to nothing. + +The Jacobins were stopped for a moment by the failure of their first +enterprise against their adversaries; but the insurrection of La Vendée +gave them new courage. The Vendéan war was an inevitable event in the +revolution. This country, bounded by the Loire and the sea, crossed by few +roads, sprinkled with villages, hamlets, and manorial residences, had +retained its ancient feudal state. In La Vendée there was no civilization +or intelligence, because there was no middle class; and there was no +middle class because there were no towns, or very few. At that time the +peasants had acquired no other ideas than those few communicated to them +by the priests, and had not separated their interests from those of the +nobility. These simple and sturdy men, devotedly attached to the old state +of things, did not understand a revolution, which was the result of a +faith and necessities entirely foreign to their situation. The nobles and +priests, being strong in these districts, had not emigrated; and the +ancient regime really existed there, because there were its doctrines and +its society. Sooner or later, a war between France and La Vendée, +countries so different, and which had nothing in common but language, was +inevitable. It was inevitable that the two fanaticisms of monarchy and of +popular sovereignty, of the priesthood and human reason, should raise +their banners against each other, and bring about the triumph of the old +or of the new civilization. + +Partial disturbances had taken place several times in La Vendée. In 1792 +the count de la Rouairie had prepared a general rising, which failed on +account of his arrest; but all yet remained ready for an insurrection, +when the decree for raising three hundred thousand men was put into +execution. This levy became the signal of revolt. The Vendéans beat the +gendarmerie at Saint Florent, and took for leaders, in different +directions, Cathelineau, a waggoner, Charette, a naval officer, and +Stofflet, a gamekeeper. Aided by arms and money from England, the +insurrection soon overspread the country; nine hundred communes flew to +arms at the sound of the tocsin; and then the noble leaders Bonchamps, +Lescure, La Rochejaquelin, d'Elbée, and Talmont, joined the others. The +troops of the line and the battalions of the national guard who advanced +against the insurgents were defeated. General Marcé was beaten at Saint +Vincent by Stofflet; general Gauvilliers at Beaupréau, by d'Elbée and +Bonchamps; general Quetineau at Aubiers, by La Rochejaquelin; and general +Ligonnier at Cholet. The Vendéans, masters of Châtillon, Bressuire, and +Vihiers, considered it advisable to form some plan of organization before +they pushed their advantages further. They formed three corps, each from +ten to twelve thousand strong, according to the division of La Vendée, +under three commanders; the first, under Bonchamps, guarded the banks of +the Loire, and was called the _Armée d'Anjou_; the second, stationed in +the centre, formed the _Grande armée_ under d'Elbée; the third, in Lower +Vendée, was styled the _Armée du Marais_, under Charette. The insurgents +established a council to determine their operations, and elected +Cathelineau generalissimo. These arrangements, with this division of the +country, enabled them to enrol the insurgents, and to dismiss them to +their fields, or call them to arms. + +The intelligence of this formidable insurrection drove the convention to +adopt still more rigorous measures against priests and emigrants. It +outlawed all priests and nobles who took part in any gathering, and +disarmed all who had belonged to the privileged classes. The former +emigrants were banished for ever; they could not return, under penalty of +death; their property was confiscated. On the door of every house, the +names of all its inmates were to be inscribed; and the revolutionary +tribunal, which had been adjourned, began its terrible functions. + +At the same time, tidings of new military disasters arrived, one after the +other. Dumouriez, returned to the army of Belgium, concentrated all his +forces to resist the Austrian general, the prince of Coburg. His troops +were greatly discouraged, and in want of everything; he wrote to the +convention a threatening letter against the Jacobins, who denounced him. +After having again restored to his army a part of its former confidence by +some minor advantages, he ventured a general action at Neerwinden, and +lost it. Belgium was evacuated, and Dumouriez, placed between the +Austrians and Jacobins, beaten by the one and assailed by the other, had +recourse to the guilty project of defection, in order to realize his +former designs. He had conferences with Colonel Mack, and agreed with the +Austrians to march upon Paris for the purpose of re-establishing the +monarchy, leaving them on the frontiers, and having first given up to them +several fortresses as a guarantee. It is probable that Dumouriez wished to +place on the constitutional throne the young duc de Chartres, who had +distinguished himself throughout this campaign; while the prince of Coburg +hoped that if the counter-revolution reached that point, it would be +carried further and restore the son of Louis XVI. and the ancient +monarchy. A counter-revolution will not halt any more than a revolution; +when once begun, it must exhaust itself. The Jacobins were soon informed +of Dumouriez's arrangements; he took little precaution to conceal them; +whether he wished to try his troops, or to alarm his enemies, or whether +he merely followed his natural levity. To be more sure of his designs, the +Jacobin club sent to him a deputation, consisting of Proly, Péreira, and +Dubuisson, three of its members. Taken to Dumouriez's presence, they +received from him more admissions than they expected: "The convention," +said he, "is an assembly of seven hundred and thirty-five tyrants. While I +have four inches of iron I will not suffer it to reign and shed blood with +the revolutionary tribunal it has just created; as for the republic," he +added, "it is an idle word. I had faith in it for three days. Since +Jemappes, I have deplored all the successes I obtained in so bad a cause. +There is only one way to save the country--that is, to re-establish the +constitution of 1791, and a king." "Can you think of it, general?" said +Dubuisson; "the French view royalty with horror--the very name of Louis--" +"What does it signify whether the king be called Louis, Jacques, or +Philippe?" "And what are your means?" "My army--yes, my army will do it, +and from my camp, or the stronghold of some fortress, it will express its +desire for a king." "But your project endangers the safety of the +prisoners in the Temple." "Should the last of the Bourbons be killed, even +those of Coblentz, France shall still have a king, and if Paris were to +add this murder to those which have already dishonoured it, I would +instantly march upon it." After thus unguardedly disclosing his +intentions, Dumouriez proceeded to the execution of his impracticable +design. He was really in a very difficult position; the soldiers were very +much attached to him, but they were also devoted to their country. He was +to surrender some fortresses which he was not master of, and it was to be +supposed that the generals under his orders, either from fidelity to the +republic, or from ambition, would treat him as he had treated Lafayette. +His first attempt was not encouraging; after having established himself at +Saint Amand, he essayed to possess himself of Lille, Condé, and +Valenciennes; but failed in this enterprise. The failure made him +hesitate, and prevented his taking the initiative in the attack. + +It was not so with the convention; it acted with a promptitude, a +boldness, a firmness, and, above all, with a precision in attaining its +object, which rendered success certain. When we know what we want, and +desire it strongly and speedily, we nearly always attain our object. This +quality was wanting in Dumouriez, and the want impeded his audacity and +deterred his partisans. As soon as the convention was informed of his +projects, it summoned him to its bar. He refused to obey; without, +however, immediately raising the standard of revolt. The convention +instantly despatched four representatives: Camus, Quinette, Lamarque, +Bancal, and Beurnonville, the war minister, to bring him before it, or to +arrest him in the midst of his army. Dumouriez received the commissioners +at the head of his staff. They presented to him the decree of the +convention; he read it and returned it to them, saying that the state of +his army would not admit of his leaving it. He offered to resign, and +promised in a calmer season to demand judges himself, and to give an +account of his designs and of his conduct. The commissioners tried to +induce him to submit, quoting the example of the ancient Roman generals. +"We are always mistaken in our quotations," he replied; "and we disfigure +Roman history by taking as an excuse for our crimes the example of their +virtues. The Romans did not kill Tarquin; the Romans had a well ordered +republic and good laws; they had neither a Jacobin club nor a +revolutionary tribunal. We live in a time of anarchy. Tigers wish for my +head; I will not give it them." "Citizen general," said Camus then, "will +you obey the decree of the national convention, and repair to Paris?" "Not +at present." "Well, then, I declare that I suspend you; you are no longer +a general; I order your arrest." "This is too much," said Dumouriez; and +he had the commissioners arrested by German hussars, and delivered them as +hostages to the Austrians. After this act of revolt he could no longer +hesitate. Dumouriez made another attempt on Condé, but it succeeded no +better than the first. He tried to induce the army to join him, but was +forsaken by it. The soldiers were likely for a long time to prefer the +republic to their general; the attachment to the revolution was in all its +fervour, and the civil power in all its force. Dumouriez experienced, in +declaring himself against the convention, the fate which Lafayette +experienced when he declared himself against the legislative assembly, and +Bouillé when he declared against the constituent assembly. At this period, +a general, combining the firmness of Bouillé with the patriotism and +popularity of Lafayette, with the victories and resources of Dumouriez, +would have failed as they did. The revolution, with the movement imparted +to it, was necessarily stronger than parties, than generals, and than +Europe. Dumouriez went over to the Austrian camp with the duc de Chartres, +colonel Thouvenot, and two squadrons of Berchiny. The rest of his army +went to the camp at Famars, and joined the troops commanded by Dampierre. + +The convention, on learning the arrest of the commissioners, established +itself as a permanent assembly, declared Dumouriez a traitor to his +country, authorized any citizen to attack him, set a price on his head, +decreed the famous committee of public safety, and banished the duke of +Orleans and all the Bourbons from the republic. Although the Girondists +had assailed Dumouriez as warmly as the Mountain, they were accused of +being his accomplices, and this was a new cause of complaint added to the +rest. Their enemies became every day more powerful; and it was in moments +of public danger that they were especially dangerous. Hitherto, in the +struggle between the two parties, they had carried the day on every point. +They had stopped all inquiries into the massacres of September; they had +maintained the usurpation of the commune; they had obtained, first the +trial, then the death of Louis XVI.; through their means the plunderings +of February and the conspiracy of the 10th of March, had remained +unpunished; they had procured the erection of the revolutionary tribunal +despite the Girondists; they had driven Roland from the ministry, in +disgust; and they had just defeated Dumouriez. It only remained now to +deprive the Girondists of their last asylum--the assembly; this they set +about on the 10th of April, and accomplished on the 2nd of June. + +Robespierre attacked by name Brissot, Guadet, Vergniaud, Pétion, and +Gensonné, in the convention; Marat denounced them in the popular +societies. As president of the Jacobins, he wrote an address to the +departments, in which he invoked the thunder of petitions and accusations +against the traitors and faithless delegates who had sought to save the +tyrant by an appeal to the public or his imprisonment. The Right and the +Plain of the convention felt that it was necessary to unite. Marat was +sent before the revolutionary tribunal. This news set the clubs in motion, +the people, and the commune. By way of reprisal, Pache, the mayor, came in +the name of the thirty-five sections and of the general council, to demand +the expulsion of the principal Girondists. Young Boyer Fonfrède required +to be included in the proscription of his colleagues, and the members of +the Right and the Plain rose, exclaiming, "All! all!" This petition, +though declared calumnious, was the first attack upon the convention from +without, and it prepared the public mind for the destruction of the +Gironde. + +The accusation of Marat was far from intimidating the Jacobins who +accompanied him to the revolutionary tribunal. Marat was acquitted, and +borne in triumph to the assembly. From that moment the approaches to the +hall were thronged with daring sans-culottes, and the partisans of the +Jacobins filled the galleries of the convention. The clubists and +Robespierre's _tricoteuses_ (knitters) constantly interrupted the speakers +of the Right, and disturbed the debate; while without, every opportunity +was sought to get rid of the Girondists. Henriot, commandant of the +section of sans-culottes, excited against them the battalions about to +march for La Vendée. Gaudet then saw that it was time for something more +than complaints and speeches; he ascended the tribune. "Citizens," said +he, "while virtuous men content themselves with bewailing the misfortunes +of the country, conspirators are active for its ruin. With Caesar they +say: 'Let them talk, we will act.' Well, then, do you act also. The evil +consists in the impunity of the conspirators of the 10th of March; the +evil is in anarchy; the evil is in the existence of the authorities of +Paris--authorities striving at once for gain and dominion. Citizens, there +is yet time; you may save the republic and your compromised glory. I +propose to abolish the Paris authorities, to replace within twenty-four +hours the municipality by the presidents of the sections, to assemble the +convention at Bourges with the least possible delay, and to transmit this +decree to the departments by extraordinary couriers." The Mountain was +surprised for a moment by Guadet's motion. Had his measures been at once +adopted, there would have been an end to the domination of the commune, +and to the projects of the conspirators; but it is also probable that the +agitation of parties would have brought on a civil war, that the +convention would have been dissolved by the assembly at Bourges, that all +centre of action would have been destroyed, and that the revolution would +not have been sufficiently strong to contend against internal struggles +and the attacks of Europe. This was what the moderate party in the +assembly feared. Dreading anarchy if the career of the commune was not +stopped, and counter-revolution if the multitude were too closely kept +down, its aim was to maintain the balance between the two extremes of the +convention. This party comprised the committees of general safety and of +public safety. It was directed by Barrère, who, like all men of upright +intentions but weak characters, advocated moderation so long as fear did +not make him an instrument of cruelty and tyranny. Instead of Guadet's +decisive measures, he proposed to nominate an extraordinary commission of +twelve members, deputed to inquire into the conduct of the municipality; +to seek out the authors of the plots against the national representatives, +and to secure their persons. This middle course was adopted; but it left +the commune in existence, and the commune was destined to triumph over the +convention. + +The Commission of Twelve threw the members of the commune into great alarm +by its inquiries. It discovered a new conspiracy, which was to be put into +execution on the 22nd of May, and arrested some of the conspirators, and +among others, Hébert, the deputy recorder, author of _Père Duchesne_, who +was taken in the very bosom of the municipality. The commune, at first +astounded, began to take measures of defence. From that moment, not +conspiracy, but insurrection was the order of the day. The general +council, encouraged by the Mountain, surrounded itself with the agitators +of the capital; it circulated a report that the Twelve wished to purge the +convention, and to substitute a counter-revolutionary tribunal for that +which had acquitted Marat. The Jacobins, the Cordeliers, the sections sat +permanently. On the 26th of May, the agitation became perceptible; on the +27th; it was sufficiently decided to induce the commune to open the +attack. It accordingly appeared before the convention and demanded the +liberation of Hébert and the suppression of the Twelve; it was accompanied +by the deputies of the sections, who expressed the same desire, and the +hall was surrounded by a large mob. The section of the City even presumed +to require that the Twelve should be brought before the revolutionary +tribunal. Isnard, president of the assembly, replied in a solemn tone: +"Listen to what I am about to say. If ever by one of those insurrections, +of such frequent recurrence since the 10th of March, and of which the +magistrates have never apprised the assembly, a hostile hand be raised +against the national representatives, I declare to you in the name of all +France, Paris will be destroyed. Yes, universal France would rise to +avenge such a crime, and soon it would be matter of doubt on which side of +the Seine Paris had stood." This reply became the signal for great tumult. +"And I declare to you," exclaimed Danton, "that so much impudence begins +to be intolerable; we will resist you." Then turning to the Right, he +added: "No truce between the Mountain and the cowards who wished to save +the tyrant." + +The utmost confusion now reigned in the hall. The strangers' galleries +vociferated denunciations of the Right; the Mountain broke forth into +menaces; every moment deputations arrived without, and the convention was +surrounded by an immense multitude. A few sectionaries of the Mail and of +the Butte-des-Moulins, commanded by Raffet, drew up in the passages and +avenues to defend it. The Girondists withstood, as long as they could, the +deputations and the Mountain. Threatened within, besieged without, they +would have availed themselves of this violence to arouse the indignation +of the assembly. But the minister of the interior, Garat, deprived them of +this resource. Called upon to give an account of the state of Paris, he +declared that the convention had nothing to fear; and the opinion of +Garat, who was considered impartial, and whose conciliatory turn of mind +involved him in equivocal proceedings, emboldened the members of the +Mountain. Isnard was obliged to resign the chair, which was taken by +Hérault de Séchelles, a sign of victory for the Mountain. The new +president replied to the petitioners, whom Isnard had hitherto kept in the +background. "The power of reason and the power of the people are the same +thing. You demand from us a magistrate and justice. The representatives of +the people will give you both." It was now very late; the Right was +discouraged, some of its members had left. The petitioners had moved from +the bar to the seats of the representatives, and there, mixed up with the +Mountain, with outcry and disorder, they voted, all together, for the +dismissal of the Twelve, and the liberation of the prisoners. It was at +half-past twelve, amidst the applause of the galleries and the people +outside, that this decree was passed. + +It would, perhaps, have been wise on the part of the Girondists, since +they were really not the strongest party, to have made no recurrence to +this matter. The movement of the preceding day would have had no other +result than the suppression of the Twelve, if other causes had not +prolonged it. But animosity had attained such a height, that it had become +necessary to bring the quarrel to an issue; since the two parties could +not endure each other, the only alternative was for them to fight; they +must needs go on from victory to defeat, and from defeat to victory, +growing more and more excited every day, until the stronger finally +triumphed over the weaker party. Next day, the Right regained its position +in the convention, and declared the decree of the preceding day illegally +passed, in tumult and under compulsion, and the commission was re- +established. "You yesterday," said Danton, "did a great act of justice; +but I declare to you, if the commission retains the tyrannical power it +has hitherto exercised; if the magistrates of the people are not restored +to their functions; if good citizens are again exposed to arbitrary +arrest; then, after having proved to you that we surpass our enemies in +prudence, in wisdom, we shall surpass them in audacity and revolutionary +vigour." Danton feared to commence the attack; he dreaded the triumph of +the Mountain as much as he did that of the Girondists: he accordingly +sought, by turns, to anticipate the 31st of May, and to moderate its +results. But he was reduced to join his own party during the conflict, and +to remain silent after the victory. + +The agitation, which had been a little allayed by the suppression of the +Twelve, became threatening at the news of their restoration. The benches +of the sections and popular societies resounded with invectives, with +cries of danger, with calls to insurrection. Hébert, having quitted his +prison, reappeared at the commune. A crown was placed on his brow, which +he transferred to the bust of Brutus, and then rushed to the Jacobins to +demand vengeance on the Twelve. Robespierre, Marat, Danton, Chaumette, and +Pache then combined in organising a new movement. The insurrection was +modelled on that of the 10th of August. The 29th of May was occupied in +preparing the public mind. On the 30th, members of the electoral college, +commissioners of the clubs, and deputies of sections assembled at the +Evêché, declared themselves in a state of insurrection, dissolved the +general council of the commune, and immediately reconstituted it, making +it take a new oath; Henriot received the title of commandant-general of +the armed force, and the sans-culottes were assigned forty sous a day +while under arms. These preparations made, early on the morning of the +31st the tocsin rang, the drums beat to arms, the troops were assembled, +and all marched towards the convention, which for some time past had held +its sittings at the Tuileries. + +The assembly had met at the sound of the tocsin. The minister of the +interior, the administrators of the department, and the mayor of Paris had +been summoned, in succession, to the bar. Garat had given an account of +the agitated state of Paris, but appeared to apprehend no dangerous +result. Lhuillier, in the name of the department, declared it was only a +_moral_ insurrection. Pache, the mayor, appeared last, and informed them, +with an hypocritical air, of the operations of the insurgents; he +pretended that he had employed every means to maintain order; assured them +that the guard of the convention had been doubled, and that he had +prohibited the firing of the alarm cannon; yet, at the same moment, the +cannon was heard in the distance. The surprise and excitement of the +assembly were extreme. Cambon exhorted the members to union, and called +upon the people in the strangers' gallery to be silent. "Under these +extraordinary circumstances," said he, "the only way of frustrating the +designs of the malcontents is to make the national convention respected." +"I demand," said Thuriot, "the immediate abolition of the Commission of +Twelve." "And I," cried Tallien, "that the sword of the law may strike the +conspirators who profane the very bosom of the convention." The +Girondists, on their part, required that the audacious Henriot should be +called to the bar, for having fired the alarm cannon without the +permission of the convention. "If a struggle take place," said Vergniaud, +"be the success what it may, it will be the ruin of the republic. Let +every member swear to die at his post." The entire assembly rose, +applauding the proposition. Danton rushed to the tribune: "Break up the +Commission of Twelve! you have heard the thunder of the cannon. If you are +politic legislators, far from blaming the outbreak of Paris, you will turn +it to the profit of the republic, by reforming your own errors, by +dismissing your commission.--I address those," he continued, on hearing +murmurs around him, "who possess some political talent, not dullards, who +can only act and speak in obedience to their passions.--Consider the +grandeur of your aim; it is to save the people from their foes, from the +aristocrats, to save them from their own blind fury. If a few men, really +dangerous, no matter to what party they belong, should then seek to +prolong a movement, become useless, by your act of justice, Paris itself +will hurl them back into their original insignificance. I calmly, simply, +and deliberately demand the suppression of the commission, on political +grounds." The commission was violently attacked on one side, feebly +defended on the other; Barrère and the committee of public safety, who +were its creators proposed its suppression, in order to restore peace, and +to save the assembly from being left to the mercy of the multitude. The +moderate portion of the Mountain were about to adopt this concession, when +the deputations arrived. The members of the department, those of the +municipality, and the commissaries of sections, being admitted to the bar, +demanded not merely the suppression of the Twelve, but also the punishment +of the moderate members, and of all the Girondist chiefs. + +The Tuileries was completely blockaded by the insurgents; and the presence +of their commissaries in the convention emboldened the extreme Mountain, +who were desirous of destroying the Girondist party. Robespierre, their +leader and orator, spoke: "Citizens, let us not lose this day in vain +clamours and unnecessary measures; this is, perhaps, the last day in which +patriotism will combat with tyranny. Let the faithful representatives of +the people combine to secure their happiness." He urged the convention to +follow the course pointed out by the petitioners, rather than that +proposed by the committee of public safety. He was thundering forth a +lengthened declamation against his adversaries, when Vergniaud interfered: +"Conclude this!"--"I am about to conclude, and against you! Against you, +who, after the revolution of the 10th of August, sought to bring to the +scaffold those who had effected it. Against you, who have never ceased in +a course which involved the destruction of Paris. Against you, who desired +to save the tyrant. Against you, who conspired with Dumouriez. Against +you, who fiercely persecuted the same patriots whose heads Dumouriez +demanded. Against you, whose criminal vengeance provoked those cries of +vengeance which you seek to make a crime in your victims. I conclude my +conclusion is--I propose a decree of accusation against all the +accomplices of Dumouriez, and against those who are indicated by the +petitioners." Notwithstanding the violence of this outbreak, Robespierre's +party were not victorious. The insurrection had only been directed against +the Twelve, and the committee of public safety, who proposed their +suppression prevailed over the commune. The assembly adopted the decree of +Barrère, which dissolved the Twelve, placed the public force in permanent +requisition, and, to satisfy the petitioners, directed the committee of +public safety to inquire into the conspiracies which they denounced. As +soon as the multitude surrounding the assembly was informed of these +measures, it received them with applause, and dispersed. + +But the conspirators were not disposed to rest content with this half +triumph: they had gone further on the 30th of May than on the 29th; and on +the 2nd of June they went further than on the 31st of May. The +insurrection, from being moral, as they termed it, became personal; that +is to say, it was no longer directed against a power, but against the +deputies; it passed from Danton and the Mountain, to Robespierre, Marat, +and the commune. On the evening of the 31st, a Jacobin deputy said: "We +have had but half the game yet; we must complete it, and not allow the +people to cool." Henriot offered to place the armed force at the +disposition of the club. The insurrectional committee openly took up its +quarters near the convention. The whole of the 1st of June was devoted to +the preparation of a great movement. The commune wrote to the sections: +"Citizens, remain under arms: the danger of the country renders this a +supreme law." In the evening, Marat, who was the chief author of the 2nd +of June, repaired to the Hôtel de Ville, ascended the clock-tower himself, +and rang the tocsin; he called upon the members of the council not to +separate till they had obtained a decree of accusation against the +traitors and the "statesmen." A few deputies assembled at the convention, +and the conspirators came to demand the decree against the proscribed +parties; but they were not yet sufficiently strong to enforce it from the +convention. + +The whole night was spent in making preparations; the tocsin rang, drums +beat to arms, the people gathered together. On Sunday morning, about eight +o'clock, Henriot presented himself to the general council, and declared to +his accomplices, in the name of the insurrectionary people, that they +would not lay down their arms until they had obtained the arrest of the +conspiring deputies. He then placed himself at the head of the vast crowd +assembled in the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, harangued them, and gave the +signal for their departure. It was nearly ten o'clock when the insurgents +reached the Place du Carrousel. Henriot posted round the château bands of +the most devoted men, and the convention was soon surrounded by eighty +thousand men, the greater part ignorant of what was required of them and +more disposed to defend than to attack the deputation. + +The majority of the proscribed members had not proceeded to the assembly. +A few, courageous to the last, had come to brave the storm for the last +time. As soon as the sitting commenced, the intrepid Lanjuinais ascended +the tribune. "I demand," said he, "to speak respecting the general call to +arms now beating throughout Paris." He was immediately interrupted by +cries of "Down! down! He wants civil war! He wants a counter-revolution! +He calumniates Paris! He insults the people." Despite the threats, the +insults, the clamours of the Mountain and the galleries, Lanjuinais +denounced the projects of the commune and of the malcontents; his courage +rose with the danger. "You accuse us," he said, "of calumniating Paris! +Paris is pure; Paris is good; Paris is oppressed by tyrants who thirst for +blood and dominion." These words were the signal for the most violent +tumult; several Mountain deputies rushed to the tribune to tear Lanjuinais +from it; but he, clinging firmly to it, exclaimed, in accents of the most +lofty courage, "I demand the dissolution of all the revolutionist +authorities in Paris. I demand that all they have done during the last +three days may be declared null. I demand that all who would arrogate to +themselves a new authority contrary to law, be placed without the law, and +that every citizen be at liberty to punish them." He had scarcely +concluded, when the insurgent petitioners came to demand his arrest, and +that of his colleagues. "Citizens," said they, "the people are weary of +seeing their happiness still postponed; they leave it once more in your +hands; save them, or we declare that they will save themselves." + +The Right moved the order of the day on the petition of the insurgents, +and the convention accordingly proceeded to the previous question. The +petitioners immediately withdrew in a menacing attitude; the strangers +quitted the galleries; cries to arms were shouted, and a great tumult was +heard without: "Save the people!" cried one of the Mountain. "Save your +colleagues, by decreeing their provisional arrest." "No, no!" replied the +Right, and even a portion of the Left. "We will all share their fate!" +exclaimed La Réveillère-Lépaux. The committee of public safety, called +upon to make a report, terrified at the magnitude of the danger, proposed, +as on the 31st of May, a measure apparently conciliatory, to satisfy the +insurgents, without entirely sacrificing the proscribed members. "The +committee," said Barrère, "appeal to the generosity and patriotism of the +accused members. It asks of them the suspension of their power, +representing to them that this alone can put an end to the divisions which +afflict the republic, can alone restore to it peace." A few among them +adopted the proposition. Isnard at once gave in his resignation; +Lanthénas, Dussaulx, and Fauchet followed his example; Lanjuinais would +not. He said: "I have hitherto, I believe, shown some courage; expect not +from me either suspension or resignation. When the ancients," he +continued, amidst violent interruption, "prepared a sacrifice, they +crowned the victim with flowers and chaplets, as they conducted it to the +altar; but they did not insult it." Barbaroux was as firm as Lanjuinais. +"I have sworn," he said, "to die at my post; I will keep my oath." The +conspirators of the Mountain themselves protested against the proposition +of the committee. Marat urged that those who make sacrifices should be +pure; and Billaud-Varennes demanded the trial of the Girondists, not their +suspension. + +While this was going on, Lacroix, a deputy of the Mountain, rushed into +the house, and to the tribune, and declared that he had been insulted at +the door, that he had been refused egress, and that the convention was no +longer free. Many of the Mountain expressed their indignation at Henriot +and his troops. Danton said it was necessary vigorously to avenge this +insult to the national majesty. Barrère proposed to the convention to +present themselves to the people. "Representatives," said he, "vindicate +your liberty; suspend your sitting; cause the bayonets that surround you +to be lowered." The whole convention arose, and set forth in procession, +preceded by its sergeants, and headed by the president, who was covered, +in token of his affliction. On arriving at a door on the Place du +Carrousel, they found there Henriot on horseback, sabre in hand. "What do +the people require?" said the president, Hérault de Séchelles; "the +convention is wholly engaged in promoting their happiness." "Hérault," +replied Henriot, "the people have not risen to hear phrases; they require +twenty-four traitors to be given up to them." "Give us all up!" cried +those who surrounded the president. Henriot then turned to his people, and +exclaimed: "Cannoneers, to your guns." Two pieces were directed upon the +convention, who, retiring to the gardens, sought an outlet at various +points, but found all the issues guarded. The soldiers were everywhere +under arms. Marat ran through the ranks, encouraging and exciting them. +"No weakness," said he; "do not quit your posts till they have given them +up." The convention then returned within the house, overwhelmed with a +sense of their powerlessness, convinced of the inutility of their efforts, +and entirely subdued. The arrest of the proscribed members was no longer +opposed. Marat, the true dictator of the assembly, imperiously decided the +fate of its members. "Dussaulx," said he, "is an old twaddler, incapable +of leading a party; Lathénas is a poor creature, unworthy of a thought; +Ducos is merely chargeable with a few absurd notions, and is not at all a +man to become a counter-revolutionary leader. I require that these be +struck out of the list, and their names replaced by that of Valazé." These +names were accordingly struck out, and that of Valazé substituted, and the +list thus altered was agreed to, scarcely one half of the assembly taking +part in the vote. + +These are the names of the illustrious men proscribed: the Girondists +Gensonné, Guadet, Brissot, Gorsas, Pétion, Vergniaud, Salles, Barbaroux, +Chambon, Buzot, Birotteau, Lidon, Rabaud, Lasource, Lanjuinais, +Grangeneuve, Lehardy, Lesage, Louvet, Valazé, Lebrun, minister of foreign +affairs, Clavières, minister of taxes; and the members of the Council of +Twelve, Kervelegan, Gardien, Rabaud Saint-Etienne, Boileau, Bertrand, +Vigée, Molleveau, Henri La Rivière, Gomaire, and Bergoing. The convention +placed them under arrest at their own houses, and under the protection of +the people. The order for keeping the assembly itself prisoners was at +once withdrawn, and the multitude dispersed, but from that moment the +convention ceased to be free. + +Thus fell the Gironde party, a party rendered illustrious by great talents +and great courage, a party which did honour to the young republic by its +horror of bloodshed, its hatred of crime and anarchy, its love of order, +justice, and liberty; a party unfitly placed between the middle class, +whose revolution it had combated, and the multitude, whose government it +rejected. Condemned to inaction, it could only render illustrious certain +defeat, by a courageous struggle and a glorious death. At this period, its +fate might readily be foreseen; it had been driven from post to post; from +the Jacobins by the invasion of the Mountain; from the commune by the +outbreak of Pétion; from the ministry by the retirement of Roland and his +colleagues; from the army by the defection of Dumouriez. The convention +alone remained to it, there it threw up its intrenchments, there it +fought, and there it fell. Its enemies employed against it, in turn, +insurrection and conspiracy. The conspiracies led to the creation of the +Commission of Twelve, which seemed to give a momentary advantage to the +Gironde, but which only excited its adversaries the more violently against +it. These aroused the people, and took from the Girondists, first, their +authority, by destroying the Twelve; then, their political existence, by +proscribing their leaders. + +The consequences of this disastrous event did not answer the expectations +of any one. The Dantonists thought that the dissensions of parties were at +an end: civil war broke out. The moderate members of the committee of +public safety thought that the convention would resume all its power: it +was utterly subdued. The commune thought that the 31st of May would secure +to it domination; domination fell to Robespierre, and to a few men devoted +to his fortune, or to the principle of extreme democracy. Lastly, there +was another party to be added to the parties defeated, and thenceforth +hostile; and as after the 10th of August the republic had been opposed to +the constitutionalists, after the 31st of May the Reign of Terror was +opposed to the moderate party of the republic. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE 2ND OF JUNE, 1793, TO APRIL, 1794 + + +It was to be presumed that the Girondists would not bow to their defeat, +and that the 31st of May would be the signal for the insurrection of the +departments against the Mountain and the commune of Paris. This was the +last trial left them to make, and they attempted it. But, in this decisive +measure, there was seen the same want of union which had caused their +defeat in the assembly. It is doubtful whether the Girondists would have +triumphed, had they been united, and especially whether their triumph +would have saved the revolution. How could they have done with just laws +what the Mountain effected by violent measures? How could they have +conquered foreign foes without fanaticism, restrained parties without the +aid of terror, fed the multitude without a _maximum_, and supplied the +armies without requisition. If the 31st of May had had a different result, +what happened at a much later period would probably have taken place +immediately, namely, a gradual abatement of the revolutionary movement, +increased attacks on the part of Europe, a general resumption of +hostilities by all parties, the days of Prairial, without power to drive +back the multitude; the days of Vendémiaire, without power to repel the +royalists; the invasion of the allies, and, according to the policy of the +times, the partition of France. The republic was not sufficiently powerful +to meet so many attacks as it did after the reaction of Thermidor. + +However this may be, the Girondists who ought to have remained quiet or +fought all together, did not do so, and, after the 2nd of June, all the +moderate men of the party remained under the decree of arrest: the others +escaped. Vergniaud, Gensonné, Ducos, Fonfrède, etc., were among the first; +Pétion, Barbaroux, Guadet, Louvet, Buzot, and Lanjuinais, among the +latter. They repaired to Evreux, in the department de l'Eure, where Buzot +had much influence, and thence to Caen, in Calvados. These made this town +the centre of the insurrection. Brittany soon joined them. The insurgents, +under the name of the _assembly of the departments assembled at Caen_, +formed an army, appointed general Wimpfen commander, arrested Romme and +Prieur de la Marne, who were members of the Mountain and commissaries of +the convention, and prepared to march on Paris. From there, a young, +beautiful, and courageous woman, Charlotte Corday, went to punish Marat, +the principal author of the 31st of May, and the 2nd of June. She hoped to +save the republic by sacrificing herself to its cause. But tyranny did not +rest with one man; it belonged to a party, and to the violent situation of +the republic. Charlotte Corday, after executing her generous but vain +design, died with unchanging calmness, modest courage, and the +satisfaction of having done well. [Footnote: The following are a few of +the replies of this heroic girl before the revolutionary tribunal:--"What +were your intentions in killing Marat?"--"To put an end to the troubles of +France."--"Is it long since you conceived this project?"--"Since the +proscription of the deputies of the people on the 31st of May."--"You +learned then by the papers that Marat was a friend of anarchy?"--"Yes, I +knew he was perverting France. I have killed," she added, raising her +voice, "a man to save a thousand; a villain, to save the innocent; a wild +beast, to give tranquility to my country. I was a republican before the +revolution, and I have never been without energy."] But Marat, after his +assassination, became a greater object of enthusiasm with the people than +he had been while living. He was invoked on all the public squares; his +bust was placed in all the popular societies, and the convention was +obliged to grant him the honours of the Panthéon. + +At the same time Lyons arose, Marseilles and Bordeaux took arms, and more +than sixty departments joined the insurrection. This attack soon led to a +general rising among all parties, and the royalists for the most part took +advantage of the movement which the Girondists had commenced. They sought, +especially, to direct the insurrection of Lyons, in order to make it the +centre of the movement in the south. This city was strongly attached to +the ancient order of things. Its manufactures of silver and gold and +silken embroidery, and its trade in articles of luxury, made it dependent +on the upper classes. It therefore declared at an early period against a +social change, which destroyed its former connexions, and ruined its +manufactures, by destroying the nobility and clergy. Lyons, accordingly, +in 1790, even under the constituent assembly, when the emigrant princes +were in that neighbourhood, at the court of Turin, had made attempts at a +rising. These attempts, directed by priests and nobles, had been +repressed, but the spirit remained the same. There, as elsewhere, after +the 10th of August, men had wished to bring about the revolution of the +multitude, and to establish its government. Châlier, the fanatical +imitator of Marat, was at the head of the Jacobins, the sans-culottes, and +the municipality of Lyons. His audacity increased after the massacres of +September and the 21st of January. Yet nothing had as yet been decided +between the lower republican class, and the middle royalist class, the one +having its seat of power in the municipality, and the other in the +sections. But the disputes became greater towards the end of May; they +fought, and the sections carried the day. The municipality was besieged, +and taken by assault. Châlier, who had fled, was apprehended and executed. +The sections, not as yet daring to throw off the yoke of the convention, +endeavoured to excuse themselves on the score of the necessity of arming +themselves, because the Jacobins and the members of the corporation had +forced them to do so. The convention, which could only save itself by +means of daring, losing everything if it yielded, would listen to nothing. +Meanwhile the insurrection of Calvados became known, and the people of +Lyons, thus encouraged, no longer feared to raise the standard of revolt. +They put their town in a state of defence; they raised fortifications, +formed an army of twenty thousand men, received emigrants among them, +entrusted the command of their forces to the royalist Précy and the +marquis de Virieux, and concerted their operations with the king of +Sardinia. + +The revolt of Lyons was so much the more to be feared by the convention, +as its central position gave it the support of the south, which was in +arms, while there was also a rising in the west. At Marseilles, the news +of the 31st of May had aroused the partisans of the Girondists: Rebecqui +repaired thither in haste. The sections were assembled; the members of the +revolutionary tribunal were outlawed; the two representatives, Baux and +Antiboul, were arrested, and an army of ten thousand men raised to advance +on Paris. These measures were the work of the royalists, who, there as +elsewhere, only waiting for an opportunity to revive their party, had at +first assumed a republican appearance, but now acted in their own name. +They had secured the sections; and the movement was no longer effected in +favour of the Girondists, but for the counter-revolutionists. Once in a +state of revolt, the party whose opinions are the most violent, and whose +aim is the clearest, supplants its allies. Rebecqui, perceiving this new +turn of the insurrection, threw himself in despair into the port of +Marseilles. The insurgents took the road to Lyons; their example was +rapidly imitated at Toulon, Nîmes, Montauban, and the principal towns in +the south. In Calvados, the insurrection had had the same royalist +character, since the marquis de Puisaye, at the head of some troops, had +introduced himself into the ranks of the Girondists. The towns of +Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest, and L'Orient, were favourable to the persons +proscribed on the 2nd of June, and a few openly joined them; but they were +of no great service, because they were restrained by the Jacobin party, or +by the necessity of fighting the royalists of the west. + +The latter, during this almost general rising of the departments, +continued to extend their enterprises. After their first victories, the +Vendéans seized on Bressuire, Argenton, and Thouars. Entirely masters of +their own country, they proposed getting possession of the frontiers, and +opening a way into revolutionary France, as well as communications with +England. On the 6th of June, the Vendéan army, composed of forty thousand +men, under Cathelineau, Lescure, Stofflet, and La Rochejaquelin, marched +on Saumur, which it took by storm. It then prepared to attack and capture +Nantes, to secure the possession of its own country, and become master of +the course of the Loire. Cathelineau, at the head of the Vendéan troops, +left a garrison in Saumur, took Angers, crossed the Loire, pretended to +advance upon Tours and Le Mans, and then rapidly threw himself upon +Nantes, which he attacked on the right bank, while Charette was to attack +it on the left. + +Everything seemed combined for the overthrow of the convention. Its armies +were beaten on the north and on the Pyrenees, while it was threatened by +the people of Lyons in the centre, those of Marseilles in the south, the +Girondists in one part of the west, the Vendéans in the other, and while +twenty thousand Piedmontese were invading France. The military reaction +which, after the brilliant campaigns of Argonne and Belgium, had taken +place, chiefly owing to the disagreement between Dumouriez and the +Jacobins, between the army and the government, had manifested itself in a +most disastrous manner since the defection of the commander-in-chief. +There was no longer unity of operation, enthusiasm in the troops, or +agreement between the convention, occupied with its quarrels, and the +discouraged generals. The remains of Dumouriez's army had assembled at the +camp at Famars, under the command of Dampierre; but they had been obliged +to retire, after a defeat, under the cannon of Bouchain. Dampierre was +killed. The frontier from Dunkirk to Givet was threatened by superior +forces. Custine was promptly called from the Moselle to the army of the +north, but his presence did not restore affairs. Valenciennes, the key to +France, was taken; Condé shared the same fate; the army, driven from +position to position, retired beyond the Scarpe, before Arras, the last +post between the Scarpe and Paris. Mayence, on the other side, sorely +pressed by the enemy and by famine, gave up all hope of being assisted by +the army of the Moselle, reduced to inaction; and despairing of being able +to hold out long, capitulated. Lastly, the English Government, seeing that +Paris and the departments were distressed by famine, after the 31st of May +and the 2nd of June, pronounced all the ports of France in a state of +blockade, and that all neutral ships attempting to bring a supply of +provisions would be confiscated. This measure, new to the annals of +history, and destined to starve an entire people, three months afterwards +originated the law of the _maximum_. The situation of the republic could +not be worse. + +The convention was, as it were, taken by surprise. It was disorganized, +because emerging from a struggle, and because the conquerors had not had +time to establish themselves. After the 2nd of June, before the danger +became so pressing both on the frontiers and in the departments, the +Mountain had sent commissioners in every direction, and immediately turned +its attention to the constitution, which had so long been expected, and +from which it entertained great hopes. The Girondists had wished to decree +it before the 21st of January, in order to save Louis XVI., by +substituting legal order for the revolutionary state of things; they +returned to the subject previous to the 31st of May, in order to prevent +their own ruin. But the Mountain, on two occasions, had diverted the +assembly from this discussion by two coups d'état, the trial of Louis +XVI., and the elimination of the Gironde. Masters of the field, they now +endeavoured to secure the republicans by decreeing the constitution. +Hérault de Séchelles was the legislator of the Mountain, as Condorcet had +been of the Gironde. In a few days, this new constitution was adopted in +the convention, and submitted to the approval of the primary assemblies. +It is easy to conceive its nature, with the ideas that then prevailed +respecting democratic government. The constituent assembly was considered +as aristocratical: the law it had established was regarded as a violation +of the rights of the people, because it imposed conditions for the +exercise of political rights; because it did not recognise the most +absolute equality; because it had deputies and magistrates appointed by +electors, and these electors by the people; because, in some cases, it put +limits to the national sovereignty, by excluding a portion of active +citizens from high public functions, and the proletarians from the +functions of acting citizens; finally, because, instead of fixing on +population as the only basis of political rights, it combined it, in all +its operations, with property. The constitutional law of 1793 established +the pure régime of the multitude: it not only recognised the people as the +source of all power, but also delegated the exercise of it to the people; +an unlimited sovereignty; extreme mobility in the magistracy; direct +elections, in which every one could vote; primary assemblies, that could +meet without convocation, at given times, to elect representatives and +control their acts; a national assembly, to be renewed annually, and +which, properly speaking, was only a committee of the primary assemblies; +such was this constitution. As it made the multitude govern, and as it +entirely disorganized authority, it was impracticable at all times; but +especially in a moment of general war. The Mountain, instead of extreme +democracy, needed a stern dictatorship. The constitution was suspended as +soon as made, and the revolutionary government strengthened and maintained +until peace was achieved. + +Both during the discussion of the constitution and its presentation to the +primary assemblies, the Mountain learned the danger which threatened them. +These daring men, having three or four parties to put down in the +interior, several kinds of civil war to terminate, the disasters of the +armies to repair, and all Europe to repel, were not alarmed at their +position. The representatives of the forty-four thousand municipalities +came to accept the constitution. Admitted to the bar of the assembly, +after making known the assent of the people, they required _the arrest of +all suspected persons, and a levy en masse of the people_. "Well," +exclaimed Danton, "let us respond to their wishes. The deputies of the +primary assemblies have just taken the initiative among us, in the way of +inspiring terror! I demand that the convention, which ought now to be +penetrated with a sense of its dignity, for it has just been invested with +the entire national power, I demand that it do now, by a decree, invest +the primary assemblies with the right of supplying the state with arms, +provisions, and ammunition; of making an appeal to the people, of exciting +the energy of citizens, and of raising four hundred thousand men. It is +with cannon-balls that we must declare the constitution to our foes! Now +is the time to take the last great oath, that we will destroy tyranny, or +perish!" This oath was immediately taken by all the deputies and citizens +present. A few days after, Barrère, in the name of the committee of public +safety, which was composed of revolutionary members, and which became the +centre of operations and the government of the assembly, proposed measures +still more general: "Liberty," said he, "has become the creditor of every +citizen; some owe her their industry; others their fortune; these their +counsel; those their arms; all owe her their blood. Accordingly, all the +French, of every age and of either sex, are summoned by their country to +defend liberty; all faculties, physical or moral; all means, political or +commercial; all metal, all the elements are her tributaries. Let each +maintain his post in the national and military movement about to take +place. The young men will fight; the married men will forge arms, +transport the baggage and artillery, and prepare provisions; the women +will make tents and clothes for the soldiers, and exercise their +hospitable care in the asylums of the wounded; children will make lint +from old linen; and the aged, resuming the mission they discharged among +the ancients, shall cause themselves to be carried to the public places, +where they shall excite the courage of the young warriors, and propagate +the doctrine of hatred to kings, and the unity of the republic. National +buildings shall be converted into barracks, public squares into workshops; +the ground of the cellars will serve for the preparation of saltpetre; all +saddle horses shall be placed in requisition for the cavalry; all draught +horses for the artillery; fowling-pieces, pistols, swords and pikes, +belonging to individuals, shall be employed in the service of the +interior. The republic being but a large city, in a state of necessity, +France must be converted into a vast camp." + +The measures proposed by Barrère were at once decreed. All Frenchmen, from +eighteen to five-and-twenty, took arms, the armies were recruited by +levies of men, and supported by levies of provisions. The republic had +very soon fourteen armies, and twelve hundred thousand soldiers. France, +while it became a camp and a workshop for the republicans, became at the +same time a prison for those who did not accept the republic. While +marching against avowed enemies, it was thought necessary to make sure of +secret foes, and the famous law, _des suspects_, was passed. All +foreigners were arrested, on the ground of their hostile machinations, and +the partisans of constitutional monarchy and a limited republic were +imprisoned, to be kept close, until the peace was effected. At the time, +this was so far only a reasonable measure of precaution. The bourgeoisie, +the mercantile people, and the middle classes, furnished prisoners after +the 31st of May, as the nobility and clergy had done after the 10th of +August. A revolutionary army of six thousand soldiers and a thousand +artillerymen was formed for the interior. Every indigent citizen was +allowed forty sous a day, to enable him to be present at the sectionary +meetings. Certificates of citizenship were delivered, in order to make +sure of the opinions of all who co-operated in the revolutionary movement. +The functionaries were placed under the surveillance of the clubs, a +revolutionary committee was formed in each section, and thus they prepared +to face the enemy on all sides, both abroad and at home. + +The insurgents in Calvados were easily suppressed; at the very first +skirmish at Vernon, the insurgent troops fled. Wimpfen endeavoured to +rally them in vain. The moderate class, those who had taken up the defence +of the Girondists, displayed little ardour or activity. When the +constitution was accepted by the other departments, it saw the opportunity +for admitting that it had been in error, when it thought it was taking +arms against a mere factious minority. This retractation was made at Caen, +which had been the headquarters of the revolt. The Mountain commissioners +did not sully this first victory with executions. General Carteaux, on the +other hand, marched at the head of some troops against the sectionary army +of the south; he defeated its force, pursued it to Marseilles, entered the +town after it, and Provence would have been brought into subjection like +Calvados, if the royalists, who had taken refuge at Toulon, after their +defeat, had not called in the English to their aid, and placed in their +hands this key to France. Admiral Hood entered the town in the name of +Louis XVII., whom he proclaimed king, disarmed the fleet, sent for eight +thousand Spaniards by sea, occupied the surrounding forts, and forced +Carteaux, who was advancing against Toulon, to fall back on Marseilles. + +Notwithstanding this check, the conventionalists succeeded in isolating +the insurrection, and this was a great point. The Mountain commissioners +had made their entry into the rebel capitals; Robert Lindet into Caen; +Tallien into Bordeaux; Barras and Fréron into Marseilles. Only two towns +remained to be taken--Toulon and Lyons. + +A simultaneous attack from the south, west, and centre was no longer +apprehended, and in the interior the enemy was only on the defensive. +Lyons was besieged by Kellermann, general of the army of the Alps; three +corps pressed the town on all sides. The veteran soldiers of the Alps, the +revolutionary battalions and the newly-levied troops, reinforced the +besiegers every day. The people of Lyons defended themselves with all the +courage of despair. At first, they relied on the assistance of the +insurgents of the south; but these having been repulsed by Carteaux, the +Lyonnais placed their last hope in the army of Piedmont, which attempted a +diversion in their favour, but was beaten by Kellermann. Pressed still +more energetically, they saw their first positions carried. Famine began +to be felt, and courage forsook them. The royalist leaders, convinced of +the inutility of longer resistance, left the town, and the republican army +entered the walls, where they awaited the orders of the convention. A few +months after, Toulon itself, defended by veteran troops and formidable +fortifications, fell into the power of the republicans. The battalions of +the army of Italy, reinforced by those which the taking of Lyons left +disposable, pressed the place closely. After repeated attacks and +prodigies of skill and valour, they made themselves masters of it, and the +capture of Toulon finished what that of Lyons had begun. + +Everywhere the convention was victorious. The Vendéans had failed in their +attempt upon Nantes, after having lost many men, and their general-in- +chief, Cathelineau. This attack put an end to the aggressive and +previously promising movement of the Vendéan insurrection. The royalists +repassed the Loire, abandoned Saumur, and resumed their former +cantonments. They were, however, still formidable; and the republicans, +who pursued them, were again beaten in La Vendée. General Biron, who had +succeeded general Berruyer, unsuccessfully continued the war with small +bodies of troops; his moderation and defective system of attack caused him +to be replaced by Canclaux and Rossignol, who were not more fortunate than +he. There were two leaders, two armies, and two centres of operation--the +one at Nantes, and the other at Saumur, placed under contrary influences. +General Canclaux could not agree with general Rossignol, nor the moderate +Mountain commissioner Philippeaux with Bourbotte, the commissioner of the +committee of public safety; and this attempt at invasion failed like the +preceding attempts, for want of concert in plan and action. The committee +of public safety soon remedied this, by appointing one sole general-in- +chief, Lechelle, and by introducing war on a large scale into La Vendée. +This new method, aided by the garrison of Mayence, consisting of seventeen +thousand veterans, who, relieved from operations against the allied +nations after the capitulation, were employed in the interior, entirely +changed the face of the war. The royalists underwent four consecutive +defeats, two at Châtillon, two at Cholet. Lescure, Bonchamps, and d'Elbée +were mortally wounded, and the insurgents, completely beaten in Upper +Vendée, and fearing that they should be exterminated if they took refuge +in Lower Vendée, determined to leave their country to the number of eighty +thousand persons. This emigration through Brittany, which they hoped to +arouse to insurrection, became fatal to them. Repulsed before Granville, +utterly routed at Mans, they were destroyed at Savenay, and barely a few +thousand men, the wreck of this vast emigration, returned to Vendée. These +disasters, irreparable for the royalist cause, the taking of the island of +Noirmoutiers from Charette, the dispersion of the troops of that leader, +the death of La Rochejaquelin, rendered the republicans masters of the +country. The committee of public safety, thinking, not without reason, +that its enemies were beaten but not subjugated, adopted a terrible system +of extermination to prevent them from rising again. General Thurreau +surrounded Vendée with sixteen entrenched camps; twelve moveable columns, +called the _infernal columns_, overran the country in every direction, +sword and fire in hand, scoured the woods, dispersed the assemblies, and +diffused terror throughout this unhappy country. + +The foreign armies had also been driven back from the frontiers they had +invaded. After having taken Valenciennes and Condé, blockaded Maubeuge and +Le Quesnoy, the enemy advanced on Cassel, Hondschoote, and Furnes, under +the command of the duke of York. The committee of public safety, +dissatisfied with Custine, who was further regarded with suspicion as a +Girondist, superseded him by general Houchard. The enemy, hitherto +successful, was defeated at Hondschoote, and compelled to retreat. The +military reaction began with the daring measures of the committee of +public safety. Houchard himself was dismissed. Jourdan took the command of +the army of the north, gained the important victory of Watignies over the +prince of Coburg, raised the siege of Maubeuge, and resumed the offensive +on that frontier. Similar successes took place on all the others. The +immortal campaign of 1793-1794 opened. What Jourdan had done with the army +of the north, Hoche and Pichegru did with the army of the Moselle, and +Kellermann with that of the Alps. The enemy was repulsed, and kept in +check on all sides. Then took place, after the 31st of May, that which had +followed the 10th of August. The want of union between the generals and +the leaders of the assembly was removed; the revolutionary movement, which +had slackened, increased; and victories recommenced. Armies have had their +crises, as well as parties, and these crises have brought about successes +or defeat, always by the same law. + +In 1792, at the beginning of the war, the generals were +constitutionalists, and the ministers Girondists. Rochambeau, Lafayette, +and Luckner, did not at all agree with Dumouriez, Servan, Clavière, and +Roland. There was, besides, little enthusiasm in the army; it was beaten. +After the 10th of August, the Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, +Kellermann, and Dillon, replaced the constitutionalist generals. There was +unity of views, confidence, and co-operation, between the army and the +government. The catastrophe of the 10th of August augmented this energy, +by increasing the necessity for victory; and the results were the plan of +the campaign of Argonne, the victories of Valmy and Jemappes, and the +invasion of Belgium. The struggle between the Mountain and the Gironde, +between Dumouriez and the Jacobins, again created discord between the army +and government, and destroyed the confidence of the troops, who +experienced immediate and numerous reverses. There was defection on the +part of Dumouriez, as there had been withdrawal on the part of Lafayette. +After the 31st of May, which overthrew the Gironde party, after the +committee of public safety had become established, and had replaced the +Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, Houchard, and Dillon, by the +Mountain generals, Jourdan, Hoche, Pichegru, and Moreau; after it had +restored the revolutionary movement by the daring measures we have +described, the campaign of Argonne and of Belgium was renewed in that of +1794, and the genius of Carnot equalled that of Dumouriez, if it did not +surpass it. + +During this war, the committee of public safety permitted a frightful +number of executions. Armies confine themselves to slaughter in battle; it +is not so with parties, who, under violent circumstances, fearing to see +the combat renewed after the victory, secure themselves from new attacks +by inexorable rigour. The usage of all governments being to make their own +preservation a matter of right, they regard those who attack them as +enemies so long as they fight, as conspirators when they are defeated; and +thus destroy them alike by means of war and of law. + +All these views at once guided the policy of the committee of public +safety, a policy of vengeance, of terror, and of self-preservation. This +was the maxim upon which it proceeded in reference to insurgent towns: +"The name of Lyons," said Barrère, "must no longer exist. You will call it +_Ville Affranchie_, and upon the ruins of that famous city there shall be +raised a monument to attest the crime and the punishment of the enemies of +liberty. Its history shall be told in these words: '_Lyons warred against +liberty; Lyons exists no more_.'" To realise this terrible anathema, the +committee sent to this unfortunate city Collot-d'Herbois, Fouché, and +Couthon, who slaughtered the inhabitants with grape shot and demolished +its buildings. The insurgents of Toulon underwent at the hands of the +representatives, Barras and Fréron, a nearly similar fate. At Caen, +Marseilles, and Bordeaux, the executions were less general and less +violent, because they were proportioned to the gravity of the +insurrection, which had not been undertaken in concert with foreign foes. + +In the interior, the dictatorial government struck at all the parties with +which it was at war, in the persons of their greatest members. The +condemnation of queen Marie-Antoinette was directed against Europe; that +of the twenty-two against the Girondists; of the wise Bailly against the +old constitutionalists; lastly, that of the duke of Orleans against +certain members of the Mountain who were supposed to have plotted his +elevation. The unfortunate widow of Louis XVI. was first sentenced to +death by this sanguinary revolutionary tribunal. The proscribed of the 2nd +of June soon followed her. She perished on the 16th of October, and the +Girondist deputies on the 31st. They were twenty-one in number: Brissot, +Vergniaud, Gensonné, Fonfrède, Ducos, Valazé, Lasource, Silléry, Gardien, +Carra, Duperret, Duprat, Fauchet, Beauvais, Duchâtel, Mainvielle, Lacaze, +Boileau, Lehardy, Antiboul, and Vigée. Seventy-three of their colleagues, +who had protested against their arrest, were also imprisoned, but the +committee did not venture to inflict death upon them. + +During the debates, these illustrious prisoners displayed uniform and +serene courage. Vergniaud raised his eloquent voice for a moment, but in +vain. Valazé stabbed himself with a poignard on hearing the sentence, and +Lasource said to the judges: "I die at a time when the people have lost +their senses; you will die when they recover them." They went to execution +displaying all the stoicism of the times, singing the _Marseillaise_, and +applying it to their own case: + + "Allons, enfants de la patrie, + Le jour de gloire est arrivé: + Contre nous de la tyrannie + Le couteau sanglant est levé," etc. + +Nearly all the other leaders of this party had a violent end. Salles, +Guadet, and Barbaroux, were discovered in the grottos of Saint-Emilion, +near Bordeaux, and died on the scaffold. Pétion and Buzot, after wandering +about some time, committed suicide; they were found, dead in a field, half +devoured by wolves. Rabaud-Saint-Etienne was betrayed by an old friend; +Madame Roland was also condemned to death, and displayed the courage of a +Roman matron. Her husband, on hearing of her death, left his place of +concealment, and killed himself on the high road. Condorcet, outlawed soon +after the 2nd of June, was taken while endeavouring to escape, and saved +himself from the executioner's knife only by poison. Louvet, Kervelegan, +Lanjuinais, Henri La Rivière, Lesage, La Réveillère-Lépeaux, were the only +leading Girondists who, in secure retreat, awaited the end of the furious +storm. + +The revolutionary government was formed; it was proclaimed by the +convention on the 10th of October. Before the 31st of May, power had been +nowhere, neither in the ministry, nor in the commune, nor in the +convention. It was natural that power should become concentrated in this +extreme situation of affairs, and at a moment when the need for unity and +promptitude of action was deeply felt. The assembly being the most central +and extensive power, the dictatorship would as naturally become placed in +its bosom, be exercised there by the dominant faction, and in that faction +by a few men. The committee of public safety of the convention created on +the 6th of April, in order, as the name indicates, to provide for the +defence of the revolution by extraordinary measures, was in itself a +complete framework of government. Formed during the divisions of the +Mountain and the Gironde, it was composed of neutral members of the +convention till the 31st of May; and at its first renewal, of members of +the extreme Mountain. Barrère remained in it; but Robespierre acceded, and +his party dominated in it by Saint-Just, Couthon, Collot-d'Herbois, and +Billaud-Varennes. He set aside some Dantonists who still remained in it, +such as Hérault de Séchelles and Robert Lindet, gained over Barrère, and +usurped the lead by assuming the direction of the public mind and of +police. His associates divided the various departments among themselves. +Saint-Just undertook the surveillance and denouncing of parties; Couthon, +the violent propositions which required to be softened in form; Billaud- +Varennes and Collot-d'Herbois directed the missions into the departments; +Carnot took the war department; Cambon, the exchequer; Prieur de la Côte- +d'Or, Prieur de la Marne, and several others, the various branches of +internal administration; and Barrère was the daily orator, the panegyrist +ever prepared, of the dictatorial committee. Below these, assisting in the +detail of the revolutionary administration, and of minor measures, was +placed the committee of general safety, composed in the same spirit as the +great committee, having, like it, twelve members, who were re-eligible +every three months, and always renewed in their office. + +The whole revolutionary power was lodged in the hands of these men. Saint- +Just, in proposing the establishment of the decemviral power until the +restoration of peace, did not conceal the motives nor the object of this +dictatorship. "You must no longer show any lenity to the enemies of the +new order of things," said he. "Liberty must triumph at any cost. In the +present circumstances of the republic, the constitution cannot be +established; it would guarantee impunity to attacks on our liberty, +because it would be deficient in the violence necessary to restrain them. +The present government is not sufficiently free to act. You are not near +enough to strike in every direction at the authors of these attacks; the +sword of the law must extend everywhere; your arm must be felt +everywhere." Thus was created that terrible power, which first destroyed +the enemies of the Mountain, then the Mountain and the Commune, and, +lastly, itself. The committee did everything in the name of the +convention, which it used as an instrument. It nominated and dismissed +generals, ministers, representatives, commissioners, judges, and juries. +It assailed factions; it took the initiative in all measures. Through its +commissioners, armies and generals were dependent upon it, and it ruled +the departments with sovereign sway. By means of the law touching +suspected persons, it disposed of men's liberties; by the revolutionary +tribunal, of men's lives; by levies and the _maximum_, of property; by +decrees of accusation in the terrified convention, of its own members. +Lastly, its dictatorship was supported by the multitude, who debated in +the clubs, ruled in the revolutionary committees: whose services it paid +by a daily stipend, and whom it fed with the _maximum_. The multitude +adhered to a system which inflamed its passions, exaggerated its +importance, assigned it the first place, and appeared to do everything +for it. + +The innovators, separated by war and by their laws from all states and +from all forms of government, determined to widen the separation. By an +unprecedented revolution they established an entirely new era; they +changed the divisions of the year, the names of the months and days; they +substituted a republican for the Christian calendar, the decade for the +week, and fixed the day of rest not on the sabbath, but on the tenth day. +The new era dated from the 22nd of September, 1792, the epoch of the +foundation of the republic. There were twelve equal months of thirty days, +which began on the 22nd of September, in the following order:-- +_Vendémiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire_, for the autumn; _Nivôse, Pluviôse, +Ventôse_, for the winter; _Germinal, Floréal, Prairial_, for the spring; +_Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor_, for the summer. Each month had three +décades, each décade ten days, and each day was named from its order in +the décade:--_Primidi, Duodi, Tridi, Quartidi, Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, +Octidi, Nonidi, Decadi_. The surplus five days were placed at the end of +the year; they received the name of _Sans-culottides_, and were +consecrated, the first, to the festival of genius; the second, to that of +labour; the third, to that of actions; the fourth, to that of rewards; the +fifth, to that of opinion. The constitution of 1793 led to the +establishment of the republican calendar, and the republican calendar to +the abolition of Christian worship. We shall soon see the commune and the +committee of public safety each proposing a religion of its own; the +commune, the worship of reason; the committee of public safety, the +worship of the Supreme Being. But we must first mention a new struggle +between the authors of the catastrophe of the 31st of May themselves. + +The Commune and the Mountain had effected this revolution against the +Gironde, and the committee alone had benefited by it. During the five +months from June to November, the committee, having taken all the measures +of defence, had naturally become the first power in the republic. The +actual struggle being, as it were, over, the commune sought to sway the +committee, and the Mountain to throw off its yoke. The most intense +manifestation of the revolution was found in the municipal faction. With +an aim opposed to that of the committee of public safety, it desired +instead of the conventional dictatorship, the most extreme local +democracy; and instead of religion, the consecration of materialism. +Political anarchy and religious atheism were the symbols of this party, +and the means by which it aimed at establishing its own rule. A revolution +is the effect of the different systems which have agitated the age which +has originated it. Thus, during the continuance of the crisis in France, +ultra-montane catholicism was represented by the nonjuring clergy; +Jansenism by the constitutionist clergy; philosophical deism by the +worship of the Supreme Being, instituted by the committee of public +safety; and the materialism of Holbach's school by the worship of Reason +and of Nature, decreed by the commune. It was the same with political +opinions, from the royalty of the _Ancien Régime_ to the unlimited +democracy of the municipal faction. The latter had lost, in Marat, its +principal support, its true leader, while the committee of public safety +still retained Robespierre. It had at its head men who enjoyed great +popularity with the lower classes; Chaumette, and his substitute Hébert, +were its political leaders; Ronsin, commandant of the revolutionary army, +its general; the atheist, Anacharsis Clootz, its apostle. In the sections +it relied on the revolutionary committees, in which there were many +obscure foreigners, supposed, and not without probability, to be agents of +England, sent to destroy the republic by driving it into anarchy and +excess. The club of the Cordeliers was composed entirely of its partisans. +The _Vieux Cordeliers_ of Danton, who had contributed so powerfully to the +10th of August, and who constituted the commune of that period, had +entered the government and the convention, and had been replaced in the +club by members whom they contemptuously designated the _patriotes de la +troisième réquisition_. + +Hébert's faction, which, in a work entitled _Père Duchêsne_, popularised +obscene language and low and cruel sentiments, and which added derision of +the victims to the executions of party, in a short time made terrible +progress. It compelled the bishop of Paris and his vicars to abjure +Christianity at the bar of the convention, and forced the convention to +decree, that _the worship of Reason should be substituted for the catholic +religion_. The churches were shut up or converted into temples of reason, +and fêtes were established in every town, which became scandalous scenes +of atheism. The committee of public safety grew alarmed at the power of +this ultra-revolutionary faction, and hastened to stop and to destroy it. +Robespierre soon attacked it in the assembly, (15th Frimaire, year II., +5th Dec., 1793). "Citizens, representatives of the people," said he, "the +kings in alliance against the republic are making war against us with +armies and intrigues; we will oppose their armies by braver ones; their +intrigues, by vigilance and the terror of national justice. Ever intent on +renewing their secret plots, in proportion as they are destroyed by the +hand of patriotism, ever skilful in directing the arms of liberty against +liberty itself, the emissaries of the enemies of France are now labouring +to overthrow the republic by republicanism, and to rekindle civil war by +philosophy." He classed the ultra-revolutionists of the commune with the +external enemies of the republic. "It is your part," said he to the +convention, "to prevent the follies and extravagancies which coincide with +the projects of foreign conspiracy. I require you to prohibit particular +authorities (the commune) from serving our enemies by rash measures, and +that no armed force be allowed to interfere in questions of religious +opinions." And the convention, which had applauded the abjurations at the +demand of the commune, decreed, on Robespierre's motion, that _all +violence and all measures opposed to the liberty of religion are +prohibited_. + +The committee of public safety was too strong not to triumph over the +commune; but, at the same time, it had to resist the moderate party of the +Mountain, which demanded the cessation of the revolutionary government and +the dictatorship of the committees. The revolutionary government had only +been created to restrain, the dictatorship to conquer; and as Danton and +his party no longer considered restraint and victory essential, they +sought to establish legal order, and the independence of the convention; +they wished to throw down the faction of the commune, to stop the +operation of the revolutionary tribunal, to empty the prisons now filled +with suspected persons, to reduce or destroy the powers of the committees. +This project in favour of clemency, humanity, and legal government, was +conceived by Danton, Philippeaux, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre-d'Eglantine, +Lacroix, general Westermann, and all the friends of Danton. Before all +things they wanted _that the republic should secure the field of battle_; +but after conquest, they wished to conciliate. + +This party, become moderate, had renounced power; it had withdrawn from +the government, or suffered itself to be excluded by Robespierre's party. +Moreover, since the 31st of May, zealous patriots had considered Danton's +conduct equivocal. He had acted mildly on that day, and had subsequently +disapproved the condemnation of the twenty-two. They began to reproach him +with his disorderly life, his venal passions, his change of party, and +untimely moderation. To avoid the storm, he had retired to his native +place, Arcis-sur-Aube, and there he seemed to have forgotten all in +retirement. During his absence, the Hébert faction made immense progress; +and the friends of Danton hastily summoned him to their aid. He returned +at the beginning of Frimaire (December). Philippeaux immediately denounced +the manner in which the Vendéan war had been carried on; general +Westermann, who had greatly distinguised himself in that war, and who had +just been dismissed by the committee of public safety, supported +Philippeaux, and Camille Desmoulins published the first numbers of his +_Vieux Cordelier_. This brilliant and fiery young man had followed all the +movements of the revolution, from the 14th of July to the 31st of May, +approving all its exaggerations and all its measures. His heart, however, +was gentle and tender, though his opinions were violent, and his humour +often bitter. He had praised the revolutionary régime because he believed +it indispensable for the establishment of the republic; he had co-operated +in the ruin of the Gironde, because he feared the dissensions of the +republic. For the republic he had sacrificed even his scruples and the +desires of his heart, even justice and humanity; he had given all to his +party, thinking that he gave it to the republic; but now he was able +neither to praise nor to keep silent; his energetic activity, which he had +employed for the republic, he now directed against those who were ruining +it by bloodshed. In his _Vieux Cordelier_ he spoke of liberty with the +depth of Machiavelli, and of men with the wit of Voltaire. But he soon +raised the fanatics and dictators against him, by calling the government +to sentiments of moderation, compassion, and justice. + +He drew a striking picture of present tyranny, under the name of a past +tyranny. He selected his examples from Tacitus. "At this period," said he, +"words became state crimes: there wanted but one step more to render mere +glances, sadness, pity, sighs--even silence itself criminal. It soon +became high-treason, or an anti-revolutionary crime, for Cremutius Cordus +to call Brutus and Cassius the last of the Romans; a counter-revolutionary +crime in a descendant of Cassius to possess a portrait of his ancestor; a +counter-revolutionary crime in Mamercus Scaurus to write a tragedy in +which there were lines capable of a double meaning; a counter- +revolutionary crime in Torquatus Silanus to be extravagant; a counter- +revolutionary crime in Pomponius, because a friend of Sejanus had sought +an asylum in one of his country houses; a counter-revolutionary crime to +bewail the misfortunes of the time, for this was accusing the government; +a counter-revolutionary crime for the consul Fusius Geminus to bewail the +sad death of his son. + +"If a man would escape death himself, it became necessary to rejoice at +the death of his friend or relative. Under Nero, many went to return +thanks to the gods for their relatives whom he had put to death. At least, +an assumed air of contentment was necessary; for even fear was sufficient +to render one guilty. Everything gave the tyrant umbrage. If a citizen was +popular, he was considered a rival to the prince, and capable of exciting +a civil war, and he was suspected. Did he, on the contrary, shun +popularity, and keep by his fireside; his retired mode of life drew +attention, and he was suspected. Was a man rich; it was feared the people +might be corrupted by his bounty, and he was suspected. Was he poor; it +became necessary to watch him closely, as none are so enterprising as +those who have nothing, and he was suspected. If his disposition chanced +to be sombre and melancholy, and his dress neglected, his distress was +supposed to be occasioned by the state of public affairs, and he was +suspected. If a citizen indulged in good living to the injury of his +digestion, he was said to do so because the prince lived ill, and he was +suspected. If virtuous and austere in his manners, he was thought to +censure the court, and he was suspected. Was he philosopher, orator, or +poet; it was unbecoming to have more celebrity than the government, and he +was suspected. Lastly, if any one had obtained a reputation in war, his +talent only served to make him dangerous; it became necessary to get rid +of the general, or to remove him speedily from the army; he was suspected. + +"The natural death of a celebrated man, or of even a public official, was +so rare, that historians handed it down to posterity as an event worthy to +be remembered in remote ages. The death of so many innocent and worthy +citizens seemed less a calamity than the insolence and disgraceful +opulence of their murderers and denouncers. Every day the sacred and +inviolable informer made his triumphant entry into the palace of the dead, +and received some rich heritage. All these denouncers assumed illustrious +names, and called themselves Cotta, Scipio, Regulus, Saevius, Severus. To +distinguish himself by a brilliant début, the marquis Serenus brought an +accusation of anti-revolutionary practices against his aged father, +already in exile, after which he proudly called himself Brutus. Such were +the accusers, such the judges; the tribunals, the protectors of life and +property, became slaughter-houses, in which theft and murder bore the +names of punishment and confiscation." + +Camille Desmoulins did not confine himself to attacking the revolutionary +and dictatorial regime; he required its abolition. He demanded the +establishment of a committee of mercy, as the only way of terminating the +revolution and pacifying parties. His journal produced a great effect upon +public opinion; it inspired some hope and courage: Have you read the +_Vieux Cordelier_? was asked on all sides. At the same time Fabre- +d'Eglantine, Lacroix, and Bourdon de l'Oise, excited the convention to +throw off the yoke of the committee; they sought to unite the Mountain and +the Right, in order to restore the freedom and power of the assembly. As +the committees were all powerful, they tried to ruin them by degrees, the +best course to follow. It was important to change public opinion, and to +encourage the assembly, in order to support themselves by a moral force +against revolutionary force, by the power of the convention against the +power of the committees. The Dantonist in the Mountain endeavoured to +detach Robespierre from the other Decemvirs; Billaud-Varennes, Collot- +d'Herbois and Saint-Just, alone appeared to them invincibly attached to +the Reign of Terror. Barrère adhered to it through weakness--Couthon from +his devotion to Robespierre. They hoped to gain over the latter to the +cause of moderation, through his friendship for Danton, his ideas of +order, his austere habits, his profession of public virtue, and his pride. +He had defended seventy-three imprisoned Girondist deputies against the +committees and the Jacobins; he had dared to attack Clootz and Hébert as +ultra-revolutionists; and he had induced the convention to decree the +existence of the Supreme Being. Robespierre was the most popularly +renowned man of that time; he was, in a measure, the moderator of the +republic and the dictator of opinion: by gaining him, they hoped to +overcome both the committees and the commune, without compromising the +cause of the revolution. + +Danton saw him on his return from Arcis-sur-Aube, and they seemed to +understand one another; attacked at the Jacobins, he was defended by him. +Robespierre himself read and corrected the _Vieux Cordelier_, and approved +of it. At the same time he professed some principles of moderation; but +then all those who exercised the revolutionary government, or who thought +it indispensable, became aroused. Billaud-Varennes and Saint-Just openly +maintained the policy of the committees. Desmoulins had said of the +latter: "He so esteems himself, that he carries his head on his shoulders +with as much respect as if it were the holy sacrament." "And I," replied +Saint-Just, "will make him carry his like another Saint Denis." Collot- +d'Herbois, who was on a mission, arrived while matters were in this state. +He protected the faction of the anarchists, who had been intimidated for a +moment, and who derived fresh audacity from his presence. The Jacobins +expelled Camille Desmoulins from their society, and Barrère attacked him +at the convention in the name of the government. Robespierre himself was +not spared; he was accused of _moderatism_, and murmurs began to circulate +against him. + +However, his credit being immense, as they could not attack or conquer +without him, he was sought on both sides. Taking advantage of this +superior position, he adopted neither party, and sought to put down the +leaders of each, one after the other. + +Under these circumstances, he wished to sacrifice the commune and the +anarchists; the committees wished to sacrifice the Mountain and the +Moderates. They came to an understanding: Robespierre gave up Danton, +Desmoulins, and their friends to the members of the committee; and the +members of the committee gave up Hébert, Clootz, Chaumette, Ronsin, and +their accomplices. By favouring the Moderates at first, he prepared the +ruin of the anarchists, and he attained two objects favourable to his +domination or to his pride--he overturned a formidable faction, and he got +rid of a revolutionary reputation, the rival of his own. + +Motives of public safety, it must be admitted, mingled with these +combinations of party. At this period of general fury against the +republic, and of victories not yet definitive on its part, the committees +did not think the moment for peace with Europe and the internal +dissentients had arrived; and they considered it impossible to carry on +the war without a dictatorship. They, moreover, regarded the Hébertists as +an obscene faction, which corrupted the people, and served the foreign foe +by anarchy; and the Dantonists as a party whose political moderation and +private immorality compromised and dishonoured the republic. The +government accordingly proposed to the assembly, through the medium of +Barrère, the continuation of the war, with additional activity in its +pursuit; while Robespierre, a few days afterwards, demanded the +continuance of the revolutionary government. In the Jacobins he had +already expressed himself opposed to the _Vieux Cordelier_, which he had +hitherto supported. He rejected legal government in the following terms:-- + +"Without," said he, "all the tyrants surround us; within, all the friends +of tyranny conspire against us; they will continue to conspire till crime +is left without hope. We must destroy the infernal and external enemies of +the republic or perish with it. Now, in such a situation, the first maxim +of your policy should be, to lead the people by reason, and the enemies of +the people by terror. If, during peace, virtue be the mainspring of a +popular government, its mainspring in the times of revolution is both +virtue and terror; virtue, without which terror becomes fatal, terror, +without which virtue is powerless. Subdue, then, the enemies of liberty by +terror; and, as the founders of the republic, you will act rightly. The +government of the revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny." + +In this speech he denounced the _moderates_ and the _ultra- +revolutionists_, as both of them desiring the downfall of the republic. +"They advance," said he, "under different banners and by different roads, +but they advance towards the same goal; that goal is the disorganization +of the popular government, the ruin of the convention, and the triumph of +tyranny. One of these two factions reduces us to weakness, the other +drives us to excesses." He prepared the public mind for their +proscription; and his speech, adopted without discussion, was sent to all +the popular societies, to all the authorities, and to all the armies. + +After this beginning of hostilities, Danton, who had not given up his +connexion with Robespierre, asked for an interview with him. It took place +at the residence of Robespierre himself. They were cold and bitter; Danton +complained violently, and Robespierre was reserved. "I know," said Danton, +"all the hatred the committee bear me; but I do not fear it." "You are +wrong," replied Robespierre; "it entertains no ill designs against you; +but you would do well to have an explanation." "An explanation?" rejoined +Danton, "an explanation? That requires good faith!" Seeing that +Robespierre looked grave at these words, he added: "No doubt it is +necessary to put down the royalists, but we ought only to strike blows +which will benefit the republic; we must not confound the innocent with +the guilty." "And who says," exclaimed Robespierre, sharply, "that an +innocent person has been put to death?" Danton turned to one of his +friends who had accompanied him, and said, with a bitter smile: "What do +you say to this? Not one innocent person has perished!" They then +separated, and all friendship ceased between them. + +A few days afterwards, Saint-Just ascended the tribune, and threatened +more openly than had yet been done all dissentients, moderates, or +anarchists. "Citizens," said he, "you wished for a republic; if you do not +at the same time desire all that constitutes it, you will overwhelm the +people in its ruins. What constitutes a republic is the destruction of all +that is opposed to it. We are guilty towards the republic because we pity +the prisoners; we are guilty towards the republic because we do not desire +virtue; we are guilty to the republic because we do not desire terror. +What is it you want, those of you who do not wish for virtue, that you may +be happy? (The Anarchists.) What is it you want, those of you who do not +wish to employ terror against the wicked? (The Moderates.) What is it you +want, those of you who haunt public places to be seen, and to have it said +of you: 'Do you see such a one pass?' (Danton.) You will perish, those of +you who seek fortune, who assume haggard looks, and affect the patriot +that the foreigner may buy you up, or the government give you a place; you +of the indulgent faction, who seek to save the guilty; you of the foreign +faction, who direct severity against the defenders of the people. Measures +are already taken to secure the guilty; they are hemmed in on all sides. +Let us return thanks to the genius of the French people, that liberty has +triumphed over one of the most dangerous attacks ever meditated against +it. The development of this vast plot, the panic it will create, and the +measures about to be proposed to you, will free the republic and the world +of all the conspirators." + +Saint-Just caused the government to be invested with the most extensive +powers against the conspirators of the commune. He had it decreed that +justice and probity were the order of the day. The anarchists were unable +to adopt any measure of defence; they veiled for a moment the Rights of +Man at the club of the Cordeliers, and they made an attempt at +insurrection, but without vigour or union. The people did not stir, and +the committee caused its commandant, Henriot, to seize the substitute +Hébert, Ronsin, the revolutionary general, Anacharsis Clootz, Monmoro the +orator of the human race, Vincent, etc. They were brought before the +revolutionary tribunal, as _the agents of foreign powers, and, as having +conspired to place a tyrant over the state_. That tyrant was to have been +Pache, under the title of _Grand Juge_. The anarchist leaders lost their +audacity as soon as they were arrested; they defended themselves, and, for +the most part, died, without any display of courage. The committee of +public safety disbanded the revolutionary army, diminished the power of +the sectionary committees, and obliged the commune to appear at the bar of +the convention, and give thanks for the arrest and punishment of the +conspirators, its accomplices. + +It was now time for Danton to defend himself; the proscription, after +striking the commune, threatened him. He was advised to be on his guard, +and to take immediate steps; but not having been able to overturn the +dictatorial power, by arousing public opinion and the assembly by the +means of the public journals, and his friends of the Mountain, on what +could he depend for support? The convention, indeed, was inclined to +favour him and his cause; but it was wholly subject to the revolutionary +power of the committee. Danton having to support him, neither the +government, nor the assembly, nor the commune, nor the clubs, awaited +proscription, without making any effort to avoid it. + +His friends implored him to defend himself. "I would rather," said he, "be +guillotined, than be a guillotiner; besides, my life is not worth the +trouble; and I am sick of the world." "The members of the committee seek +thy death." "Well," he exclaimed, impatiently, "should Billaud, should +Robespierre kill me, they will be execrated as tyrants; Robespierre's +house will be razed to the ground; salt will be strewn upon it; a gallows +will be erected on it, devoted to the vengeance of crime! But my friends +will say of me, that I was a good father, a good friend, a good citizen; +they will not forget me." "Thou mayst avert..." "I would rather be +guillotined than be a guillotiner." "Well, then, thou shouldst depart." +"Depart!" he repeated, curling his lip disdainfully, "depart! Can we carry +our country away on the sole of our shoe?" + +Danton's only resource now was to make trial of his so well known and +potent eloquence, to denounce Robespierre and the committee, and to arouse +the convention against their tyranny. He was earnestly entreated to do +this; but he knew too well how difficult a thing it is to overthrow an +established domination, he knew too well the complete subjection and +terror of the assembly, to rely on the efficacy of such means. He +accordingly waited, thinking, he who had dared so much, that his enemies +would shrink from proscribing him. + +On the 10th of Germinal, he was informed that his arrest was being +discussed in the committee of public safety, and he was again entreated to +save himself by flight. After a moment's reflection, he exclaimed, "They +dare not." During the night his house was surrounded, and he was taken to +the Luxembourg with Camille Desmoulins, Philippeaux, Lacroix, and +Westermann. On his arrival, he accosted with cordiality the prisoners who +crowded round him. "Gentlemen," said he, "I had hoped in a short time to +liberate you, but here I am come to join you, and I know not how the +matter may end." In about an hour he was placed in solitary confinement in +the cell in which Hébert had been imprisoned, and which Robespierre was so +soon to occupy. There, giving way to reflection and regret, he exclaimed: +"It was at this time I instituted the revolutionary tribunal. I implore +forgiveness from God and man for having done so; but I designed it not for +the scourge of humanity." + +His arrest gave rise to general excitement, to a sombre anxiety. The +following day, at the opening of the sittings in the assembly, men spoke +in whispers; they inquired with alarm, what was the pretext for this new +proceeding against the representatives of the people. "Citizens," at +length exclaimed Legendre, "four members of this assembly have been +arrested during the night. Danton is one, I know not the others. Citizens, +I declare that I believe Danton to be as pure as myself, yet he is in a +dungeon. They feared, no doubt, that his replies would overturn the +accusations brought against him: I move, therefore, that before you listen +to any report, you send for the prisoners, and hear them." This motion was +favourably received, and inspired the assembly with momentary courage: a +few members desired it might be put to the vote, but this state of things +did not last long. Robespierre ascended the tribune. "By the excitement, +such as for a long time has been unknown in this the assembly," said he, +"by the sensation the words of the speaker you have just heard have +produced, it is easy to see that a question of great interest is before +us; a question whether two or three individuals shall be preferred to the +country. We shall see to-day whether the convention can crush to atoms a +mock idol, long since decayed, or whether its fall shall overwhelm both +the convention and the French people." And a few words from him sufficed +to restore silence and subordination to the assembly, to restrain the +friends of Danton, and to make Legendre himself retract. Soon after, +Saint-Just entered the house, followed by other members of the committees. +He read a long report against the members under arrest, in which he +impugned their opinions, their political conduct, their private life, +their projects; making them appear, by improbable and subtle combinations, +accomplices in every conspiracy, and the servants of every party. The +assembly, after listening without a murmur, with a bewildered sanction +unanimously decreed, and with applause even, the impeachment of Danton and +his friends. Every one sought to gain time with tyranny, and gave up +others' heads to save his own. + +The accused were brought before the revolutionary tribunal; their attitude +was haughty, and full of courage. They displayed an audacity of speech, +and a contempt of their judges, wholly unusual: Danton replied to the +president Dumas, who asked him the customary questions as to his name, his +age, his residence: "I am Danton, tolerably well known in the revolution; +I am thirty-five years old. My residence will soon be nothing. My name +will live in the Panthéon of history." His disdainful or indignant +replies, the cold and measured answers of Lacroix, the austere dignity of +Philippeaux, the vigour of Desmoulins, were beginning to move the people. +But the accused were silenced, under the pretext that they were wanting in +respect to justice, and were immediately condemned without a hearing. "We +are immolated," cried Danton, "to the ambition of a few miserable +brigands, but they will not long enjoy the fruit of their criminal +victory. I draw Robespierre after me--Robespierre will follow me." They +were taken to the Conciergerie, and thence to the scaffold. + +They went to death with the intrepidity usual at that epoch. There were +many troops under arms, and their escort was numerous. The crowd, +generally loud in its applause, was silent. Camille Desmoulins, when in +the fatal cart, was still full of astonishment at his condemnation, which +he could not comprehend. "This, then," said he, "is the reward reserved +for the first apostle of liberty." Danton stood erect, and looked proudly +and calmly around. At the foot of the scaffold he betrayed a momentary +emotion. "Oh, my best beloved--my wife!" he cried, "I shall not see thee +again." Then suddenly interrupting himself: "No weakness, Danton!" Thus +perished the last defenders of humanity and moderation; the last who +sought to promote peace among the conquerors of the revolution and pity +for the conquered. For a long time after them no voice was raised against +the dictatorship of terror; and from one end of France to the other it +struck silent and redoubled blows. The Girondists had sought to prevent +this violent reign,--the Dantonists to stop it; all perished, and the +conquerors had the more victims to strike the more foes arose around them. +In so sanguinary a career, there is no stopping until the tyrant is +himself slain. The Decemvirs, after the definitive fall of the Girondists, +had made _terror_ the order of the day; after the fall of the Hébertists, +_justice_ and _probity_, because these were _impure men of faction_; after +the fall of the Dantonists, _terror_ and _all virtues_, because these +Dantonists were, according to their phraseology, _indulgents and +immorals_. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE DEATH OF DANTON, APRIL, 1794, TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR, +(27TH JULY, 1794) + + +During the four months following the fall of the Danton party, the +committees exercised their authority without opposition or restraint. +Death became the only means of governing, and the republic was given up to +daily and systematic executions. It was then were invented the alleged +conspiracies of the inmates of the prisons, crowded under the law _des +suspects_, or emptied by that of the 22nd Prairial, which might be called +the law _des condamnés;_ then the emissaries of the committee of public +safety entirely replaced in the departments those of the Mountain; and +Carrier, the protégé of Billaud, was seen in the west; Maigret, the +protégé of Couthon, in the south; and Joseph Lebon, the protégé of +Robespierre, in the north. The extermination _en masse_ of the enemies of +the democratic dictatorship, which had already been effected at Lyons and +Toulon by grape-shot, became still more horrible, by the noyades of +Nantes, and the scaffolds of Arras, Paris, and Orange. + +May this example teach men a truth, which for their good ought to be +generally known, that in a revolution all depends on a first refusal and a +first struggle. To effect a pacific innovation, it must not be contested; +otherwise war is declared and the revolution spreads, because the whole +nation is aroused to its defence. When society is thus shaken to its +foundations, it is the most daring who triumph, and instead of wise and +temperate reformers, we find only extreme and inflexible innovators. +Engendered by contest, they maintain themselves by it; with one hand they +fight to maintain their sway, with the other they establish their system +with a view to its consolidation; they massacre in the name of their +doctrines: virtue, humanity, the welfare of the people, all that is +holiest on earth, they use to sanction their executions, and to protect +their dictatorship. Until they become exhausted and fall, all perish +indiscriminately, both the enemies and the partisans of reform. The +tempest dashes a whole nation against the rock of revolution. Inquire what +became of the men of 1789 in 1794, and it will be found that they were all +alike swept away in this vast shipwreck. As soon as one party appeared on +the field of battle, it summoned all the others thither, and all like it +were in turn conquered and exterminated; constitutionalists, Girondists, +the Mountain, and the Decemvirs themselves. At each defeat, the effusion +of blood became greater, and the system of tyranny more violent. The +Decemvirs were the most cruel, because they were the last. + +The committee of public safety, being at once the object of the attacks of +Europe, and of the hatred of so many conquered parties, thought that any +abatement of violence would occasion its destruction; it wished at the +same time to subdue its foes, and to get rid of them. "The dead alone do +not return," said Barrère. "The more freely the social body perspires, the +more healthy it becomes," added Collot-d'Herbois. But the Decemvirs, not +suspecting their power to be ephemeral, aimed at founding a democracy, and +sought in institutions a security for its permanence in the time when they +should cease to employ executions. They possessed in the highest degree +the fanaticism of certain social theories, as the millenarians of the +English revolution, with whom they may be compared, had the fanaticism of +certain religious ideas. The one originated with the people, as the other +looked to God; these desired the most absolute political equality, as +those sought evangelical equality; these aspired to the reign of virtue, +as those to the reign of the saints. Human nature flies to extremes in all +things, and produces, in a religious epoch, democratic Christians--in a +philosophical epoch, political democrats. + +Robespierre and Saint-Just had produced the plan of that democracy, whose +principles they professed in all their speeches; they wished to change the +manners, mind, and customs of France, and to make it a republic after the +manner of the ancients; they sought to establish the dominion of the +people; to have magistrates free from pride; citizens free from vice; +fraternity of intercourse, simplicity of manners, austerity of character, +and the worship of virtue. The symbolical words of the sect may be found +in the speeches of all the reporters of the committee, and especially in +those of Robespierre and Saint-Just. _Liberty and equality_ for the +government of the republic; _indivisibility_ for its form; _public safety_ +for its defence and preservation; _virtue_ for its principle; _the Supreme +Being_ for its religion; as for the citizens, _fraternity_ for their daily +intercourse; _probity_ for their conduct; _good sense_ for their mental +qualities; _modesty_ for their public actions, which were to have for +object the welfare of the state, and not their own: such was the symbol of +this democracy. Fanaticism could not go further. The authors of this +system did not inquire into its practicability; they thought it just and +natural; and having power, they tried to establish it by violence. Not one +of these words but served to condemn a party or individuals. The royalists +and aristocrats were hunted down in the name of _liberty and equality_; +the Girondists in the name of _indivisibility_; Philippeaux, Camille +Desmoulins, and the moderate party, in the name of _public safety_; +Chaumette, Anacharsis Clootz, Gobet, Hébert, all the anarchical and +atheistical party, in the name of _virtue and the Supreme Being_; Chabot, +Bazire, Fabre-d'Eglantine, in the name of _probity_; Danton in the name of +_virtue and modesty_. In the eyes of fanatics, these _moral crimes_ +necessitated their destruction, as much as the conspiracies which they +were accused of. + +Robespierre was the patron of this sect, which had in the committee a more +zealous, disinterested, and fanatic partisan than himself, in the person +of Saint-Just, who was called the Apocalyptic. His features were bold but +regular, and marked by an expression determined, but melancholy. His eye +was steady and piercing; his hair black, straight, and long. His manners +cold, though his character was ardent; simple in his habits, austere and +sententious, he advanced without hesitation towards the completion of his +system. Though scarcely twenty-five years old, he was the boldest of the +Decemvirs, because his convictions were the deepest. Passionately devoted +to the republic, he was indefatigable in the committees, intrepid on his +missions to the armies, where he set an example of courage, sharing the +marches and dangers of the soldiers. His predilection for the multitude +did not make him pay court to their propensities; and far from adopting +their dress and language with Hébert, he wished to confer on them ease, +gravity, and dignity. But his policy made him more terrible than his +popular sentiments. He had much daring, coolness, readiness, and decision. +Rarely susceptible to pity, he reduced to form his measures for the public +safety, and put them into execution immediately. If he considered victory, +proscription, the dictatorship necessary, he at once demanded them. Unlike +Robespierre, he was completely a man of action. The latter, comprehending +all the use he might make of him, early gained him over in the convention. +Saint-Just, on his part, was drawn towards Robespierre by his reputation +for incorruptibility, his austere life, and the conformity of their ideas. + +The terrible effects of their association may be conceived when we +consider their popularity, the envious and tyrannical passions of the one, +and the inflexible character and systematic views of the other. Couthon +had joined them; he was personally devoted to Robespierre. Although he had +a mild look and a partially paralysed frame, he was a man of merciless +fanaticism. They formed, in the committee, a triumvirate which soon sought +to engross all power. This ambition alienated the other members of the +committee, and caused their own destruction. In the meantime, the +triumvirate imperiously governed the convention and the committee itself. +When it was necessary to intimidate the assembly, Saint-Just was intrusted +with the task; when they wished to take it by surprise, Couthon was +employed. If the assembly murmured or hesitated, Robespierre rose, and +restored silence and terror by a single word. + +During the first two months after the fall of the commune and the Danton +party, the Decemvirs, who were not yet divided, laboured to secure their +domination: their commissioners kept the departments in restraint, and the +armies of the republic were victorious on all the frontiers. The committee +took advantage of this moment of security and union to lay the foundation +of new manners and new institutions. It must never be forgotten, that in a +revolution men are moved by two tendencies, attachment to their ideas, and +a thirst for command. The members of the committee, at the beginning, +agreed in their democratic sentiments; at the end, they contended for +power. + +Billaud-Varennes presented the theory of popular government and the means +of rendering the army always subordinate to the nation. Robespierre +delivered a discourse on the moral sentiments and solemnities suited to a +republic: he dedicated festivals _to the Supreme Being, to Truth, Justice, +Modesty, Friendship, Frugality, Fidelity, Immortality, Misfortune, etc._, +in a word, to all the moral and republican virtues. In this way he +prepared the establishment of the new worship _of the Supreme Being_. +Barrère made a report on the extirpation of mendicity, and the assistance +the republic owed to indigent citizens. All these reports passed into +decrees, agreeably to the wishes of the democrats. Barrère, whose habitual +speeches in the convention were calculated to disguise his servitude from +himself, was one of the most supple instruments of the committee; he +belonged to the régime of terror, neither from cruelty nor from +fanaticism. His manners were gentle, his private life blameless, and he +possessed great moderation of mind. But he was timid; and after having +been a constitutional royalist before the 10th of August, a moderate +republican prior to the 31st of May, he became the panegyrist and the co- +operator of the decemviral tyranny. This shows that, in a revolution, no +one should become an actor without decision of character. Intellect alone +is not inflexible enough; it is too accommodating; it finds reasons for +everything, even for what terrifies and disgusts it; it never knows when +to stop, at a time when one ought always to be prepared to die, and to end +one's part or end one's opinions. + +Robespierre, who was considered the founder of this moral democracy, now +attained the highest degree of elevation and of power. He became the +object of the general flattery of his party; he was _the great man_ of the +republic. Men spoke of nothing but _of his virtue, of his genius, and of +his eloquence_. Two circumstances contributed to augment his importance +still further. On the 3rd Prairial, an obscure but intrepid man, named +l'Admiral, was determined to deliver France from Robespierre and Collot- +d'Herbois. He waited in vain for Robespierre all day, and at night he +resolved to kill Collot. He fired twice at him with pistols, but missed +him. The following day, a young girl, name Cécile Renaud, called at +Robespierre's house, and earnestly begged to speak with him. As he was +out, and as she still insisted upon being admitted, she was detained. She +carried a small parcel, and two knives were found on her person. "What +motive brought you to Robespierre's?" inquired her examiners. "I wanted to +speak to him." "On what business?" "That depended on how I might find +him." "Do you know citizen Robespierre?" "No, I sought to know him; I went +to his house to see what a tyrant was like." "What did you propose doing +with your two knives?" "Nothing, having no intention to injure any one." +"And your parcel?" "Contains a change of linen for my use in the place I +shall be sent to." "Where is that?" "To prison; and from thence to the +guillotine." The unfortunate girl was ultimately taken there, and her +family shared her fate. + +Robespierre received marks of the most intoxicating adulation. At the +Jacobins and in the convention his preservation was attributed to the +_good genius of the republic_, and to _the Supreme Being_, whose existence +he had decreed on the 18th Floréal. The celebration of the new religion +had been fixed for the 20th Prairial throughout France. On the 16th, +Robespierre was unanimously appointed president of the convention, in +order that he might officiate as the pontiff at the festival. At that +ceremony he appeared at the head of the assembly, his face beaming with +joy and confidence, an unusual expression with him. He advanced alone, +fifteen feet in advance of his colleagues, attired in a magnificent dress, +holding flowers and ears of corn in his hand, the object of general +attention. Expectation was universally raised on this occasion: the +enemies of Robespierre foreboded attempts at usurpation, the persecuted +looked forward to a milder régime. He disappointed every one. He harangued +the people in his capacity of high priest, and concluded his speech, in +which all expected to find a hope of happier prospects, with these +discouraging words:--"_People, let us to-day give ourselves up to the +transports of pure delight! To-morrow we will renew our struggle against +vices and against tyrants._" + +Two days after, on the 22nd Prairial, Couthon presented a new law to the +convention. The revolutionary tribunal had dutifully struck all those who +had been pointed out to it: royalists, constitutionalists, Girondists, +anarchists, and Mountain, had been all alike despatched to execution. But +it did not proceed expeditiously enough to satisfy the systematic +exterminators, who wished promptly, and at any cost, to get rid of all +their prisoners. It still observed some forms; these were suppressed. "All +tardiness," said Couthon, "is a crime, all indulgent formality a public +danger; there should be no longer delay in punishing the enemies of the +state than suffices to recognise them." Hitherto the prisoners had +counsel; they had them no longer:--_The law furnishes patriot jurymen for +the defence of calumniated patriots; it grants none to conspirators_. They +tried them, at first, individually; now they tried them _en masse_. There +had been some precision in the crimes, even when revolutionary; now _all +the enemies of the people_ were declared guilty, and all were pronounced +enemies of the people _who sought to destroy liberty by force or +stratagem_. The jury before had the law to guide their determinations, +they _now only had their conscience_. A single tribunal, Fouquier-Tinville +and a few jurymen, were not sufficient for the increase of victims the new +law threatened to bring before it; the tribunal was divided into four +sections, the number of judges and juries was increased, and the public +accuser had four substitutes appointed to assist him. Lastly, the deputies +of the people could not before be brought to trial without a decree of the +convention; but the law was now so drawn up that they could be tried on an +order from the committees. The law respecting suspected persons gave rise +to that of Prairial. + +As soon as Couthon had made his report, a murmur of astonishment and alarm +pervaded the assembly. "If this law passes," cried Ruamps, "all we have to +do is to blow our brains out. I demand an adjourment." This motion was +supported; but Robespierre ascended the tribunal. "For a long time," said +he, "the national assembly has been accustomed to discuss and decree at +the same time, because it has long been delivered from the thraldom of +faction. I move that without considering the question of adjournment, the +convention debate, till eight in the evening if necessary, on the proposed +law." The discussion was immediately begun, and in thirty minutes after +the second reading, the decree was carried. But the following day, a few +members, more afraid of the law than of the committee, returned to the +debate of the day before. The Mountain, friends of Danton, fearing, for +their own sakes, the new provisions, which left the representatives at the +mercy of the Decemvirs, proposed to the convention to provide for the +safety of its members. Bourdon de l'Oise was the first to speak on this +subject; he was supported. Merlin, by a skilful amendment, restored the +old safeguard of the conventionalists, and the assembly adopted Merlin's +measure. Gradually, objections were made to the decree; the courage of the +Mountain increased, and the discussion became very animated. Couthon +attacked the Mountain. "Let them know," replied Bourdon de l'Oise--"let +the members of the committee know that if they are patriots, we are +patriots too. Let them know that I shall not reply with bitterness to +their reproaches. I esteem Couthon, I esteem the committee; but I also +esteem the unshaken Mountain which has saved our liberty." Robespierre, +surprised at this unexpected resistance, hurried to the tribune. "The +convention," said he, "the Mountain, and the committee are the same thing! +Every representative of the people who sincerely loves liberty, every +representative of the people who is ready to die for his country, belongs +to the Mountain! We should insult our country, assassinate the people, did +we allow a few intriguing persons, more contemptible than others, because +they are more hypocritical, to draw off a portion of the Mountain, and +make themselves the leaders of a party." "If was never my intention," said +Bourdon, "to make myself leader of a party." "It would be the height of +opprobrium," continued Robespierre, "if a few of our colleagues, led away +by calumny respecting our intentions and the object of our labours...." "I +insist on your proving what you assert," rejoined Bourdon. "I have been +very plainly called a scoundrel." "I did not name Bourdon. Woe to the man +who names himself! Yes, the Mountain is pure, it is sublime; intriguers do +not belong to the Mountain!" "Name them!" "I will name them when it is +necessary." The threats and the imperious tone of Robespierre, the support +of the other Decemvirs, and the feeling of fear which went round caused +profound silence. The amendment of Merlin was revoked as insulting to the +committee of public safety, and the whole law was adopted. From that time +executions took place in batches; and fifty persons were sent to death +daily. This _Terror_ within terror lasted about two months. + +But the end of this system drew near. The sittings of Prairial were the +term of union for the member of the committees. From that time, silent +dissensions existed among them. They had advanced together, so long as +they had to contend together; but this ceased to be the case when they +found themselves alone in the arena, with habits of contest and the desire +for dominion. Moreover, their opinions were no longer entirely the same: +the democratic party were divided by the fall of the old commune; Billaud- +Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, and the principal members of the committee of +general safety, Vadier, Amar, Vouland, clung to this overthrown faction, +and preferred _the worship of Reason_ to that of _the Supreme Being_. They +were also jealous of the fame, and anxious at the power of Robespierre, +who, in his turn, was irritated at their secret disapprobation and the +obstacles they opposed to his will. At this period, the latter conceived +the design of putting down the most enterprising members of the Mountain, +Tallien, Bourdon, Legendre, Fréron, Rovère, etc., and his rivals of the +committee. + +Robespierre had a prodigious force at his disposal, the common people, who +considered the revolution as depending on him, supported him as the +representative of its doctrines and interests; the armed force of Paris, +commanded by Henriot, was at his command. He had entire sway over the +Jacobins, whom he admitted and ejected at pleasure; all important posts +were occupied by his creatures; he had formed the revolutionary tribunal +and the new committee himself, substituting Payan, the national agent, for +Chaumette, the attorney-general; and Fleuriot for Pache, in the office of +mayor. But what was his design in granting the most influential places to +new men, and in separating himself from the committees? Did he aspire to +the dictatorship? Did he only seek to establish his democracy _of virtue_ +by the ruin of the remaining _immoral_ members of the Mountain, and the +_factious_ of the committee? Each party had lost its leaders: the Gironde +had lost the _twenty-two_; the commune, Hébert, Chaumette, and Ronsin; the +Mountain, Danton, Chabot, Lacroix, and Camille Desmoulins. But while thus +proscribing the leaders, Robespierre had carefully protected the sects. He +had defended the _seventy-three prisoners_ against the denunciations of +the Jacobins and the hatred of the committees; he had placed himself at +the head of the new commune; he had no longer reason to fear opposition to +his projects, whatever they might be, except from a few of the Mountain +and the members of the conventional government. It was against this double +obstacle that he directed his efforts during the last moments of his +career. It is probable that he did not separate the republic from his +protectorate, and that he thought to establish both on the overthrow of +the other parties. + +The committees opposed Robespierre in their own way. They secretly strove +to bring about his fall by accusing him of tyranny; they caused the +establishment of his religion to be considered as the presage of his +usurpation; they recalled the haughty attitude he assumed on the 20th +Priarial, and the distance at which he kept even the national convention. +Among themselves, they called him _Pisistratus_, and this name already +passed from mouth to mouth. A circumstance, insignificant enough at any +other time, gave them an opportunity of attacking him indirectly. An old +woman, called _Catherine Théot_, played the prophetess in an obscure +habitation, surrounded by a few mystic sectaries: they styled her _the +Mother of God_, and she announced the immediate coming of a _Messiah_. +Among her followers there was on old associate of Robespierre in the +constituent assembly, the Chartreux Dom Gerle, who had a civic certificate +from Robespierre himself. When the committees discovered _the mysteries of +the Mother of God_, and her predictions, they believed or pretended to +believe, that Robespierre made use of her instrumentality to gain over the +fanatics, or to announce his elevation. They altered her name of _Théot_ +into that of _Théos_, signifying God; and they craftily insinuated that +Robespierre was the Messiah she announced. The aged Vadier, in the name of +the committee of general safety, was deputed to bring forward a motion +against this new sect. He was vain and subtle; he denounced those who were +initiated into these mysteries, turned the worship into derision, +implicated Robespierre in it without naming him, and had the fanatics sent +to prison. Robespierre wished to save them. The conduct of the committee +of general safety greatly irritated him, and in the Jacobin club he spoke +of the speech of Vadier with contempt and anger. He experienced fresh +opposition from the committee of public safety, which refused to proceed +against the persons he pointed out to them. From that time he ceased to +join his colleagues in the government, and was rarely present at the +sittings of the convention. But he attended the Jacobins regularly; and +from the tribune of that club he hoped to overthrow his enemies as he had +hitherto done. + +Naturally sad, suspicious and timid, he became more melancholy and +mistrustful than ever. He never went out without being accompanied by +several Jacobins armed with sticks, who were called his body-guard. He +soon commenced his denunciations in the popular assembly. "_All corrupt +men_," said he, "_must be expelled the convention._" This was designating +the friends of Danton. Robespierre had them watched with the most minute +anxiety. Every day spies followed all their motions, observing their +actions, haunts, and conversation. Robespierre not only attacked the +Dantonists at the Jacobins, he even arose against the committee itself, +and for that purpose he chose a day when Barrère presided in the popular +assembly. At the close of the sitting, the latter returned home +discouraged; "I am disgusted with men," said he to Villate. "What could be +his motive for attacking you?" inquired the other. "Robespierre is +insatiable," rejoined Barrère; "because we will not do all he wishes, he +must break with us. If he talked to us about Thuriot, Guffroi, Rovère +Lecointre, Panis, Cambon, Monestier, and the rest of the Dantonists, we +might agree with him; let him even require Tallien, Bourdon de l'Oise, +Legendre, Fréron, well; but Duval, Audoin, Leonard Bourdon, Vadier, +Vouland--it is impossible to consent." To give up members of the +committee of general safety, was to expose themselves; accordingly, while +fearing, they firmly awaited the attack. Robespierre was very formidable, +with respect to his power, his hatred, and his designs; it was for him to +begin the combat. + +But how could he set about it? For the first time he was the author of a +conspiracy; hitherto he had taken advantage of all popular movements. +Danton, the Cordeliers, and the faubourgs had made the insurrection of the +10th of August against the throne; Marat, the Mountain, and the commune +had made that of the 31st of May against the Gironde; Billaud, Saint-Just, +and the committees had effected the ruin of the commune, and weakened the +Mountain. Robespierre remained alone. Unable to procure assistance from +the government, since he had declared against the committees, he had +recourse to the populace and the Jacobins. The principal conspirators were +Saint-Just, and Couthon in the committee; Fleuriot the mayor, and Payan +the national agent in the commune; Dumas the president, and Coffinhal the +vice-president, in the revolutionary tribunal; Henriot, the commander of +the armed force, and the popular society. On the 15th Messidor, three +weeks after the law of Prairial, and twenty-four days before the 9th +Thermidor, the resolution was already taken; at that time, and under that +date, Henriot wrote to the mayor: "You shall be satisfied with me, +comrade, and with the way in which I shall proceed; trust me, men who love +their country, easily agree in directing all their steps to the benefit of +public affairs. I would have wished, and I do wish, that the _secret of +the operation_ rested with us two; the wicked should know nothing of it. +Health and brotherhood." + +Saint-Just was on a mission to the army of the north; Robespierre hastily +recalled him. While waiting his return, he prepared the public mind at the +Jacobins. In the sitting of the 3rd Thermidor, he complained of the +conduct of the committees, and of the _persecution of the patriots_, whom +he swore to defend. "There must no longer be traces of crime or faction," +said he, "in any place whatever. A few scoundrels disgrace the convention; +but it will not allow itself to be swayed by them." He then urged his +colleagues, the Jacobins, to prevent _their reflections_ to the national +assembly. This was the transaction of the 31st of May. On the 4th, he +received a deputation from the department of l'Aisne, who came to complain +to him of the operations of the government, to which, for a month past, he +had been a stranger. "The convention," said Robespierre, in his reply to +the deputation, "in the situation in which it now stands, gangrened by +corruption, and being wholly unable to recover itself, cannot save the +republic-both must perish. The proscription of patriots is the order of +the day. As for me I have one foot in the tomb; in a few days the other +will follow it. The rest is in the hands of Providence." He was then +slightly indisposed, and he purposely exaggerated his discouragement, his +fears, and the dangers of the republic, in order to inflame the patriots, +and again bind the fate of the revolution with his own. + +In the meantime. Saint-Just arrived from the army. He ascertained the +state of affairs from Robespierre. He presented himself to the committees, +the members of which received him coldly; every time he entered, they +ceased to deliberate. Saint-Just, who, from their silence, a few chance +words, and the expression of perplexity or hostility on their +countenances, saw there was no time to be lost, pressed Robespierre to +act. His Maxim was to strike at once, and resolutely. "Dare," said he, +"that is the secret of revolutions." But he wished to prevail on +Robespierre to take a measure, which was impossible, by urging him to +strike his foes, without apprising them. The force at his disposal was a +force of revolutionary opinion, and not an organized force. It was +necessary for him to seek the assistance of the convention or of the +commune, the legal authority of government, or the extraordinary authority +of insurrection. Such was the custom, and such must be all coups-d'état. +They could not even have recourse to insurrection, until after they had +received the refusal of the assembly, otherwise a pretext was wanting for +the rising. Robespierre was therefore obliged to commence the attack in +the convention itself. He hoped to obtain everything from it by his +ascendancy, or if, contrary to its custom, it resisted, he reckoned on the +people, urged by the commune, rising on the 9th Thermidor against the +proscribed of the Mountain, and the committee of public safety, as it had +risen on the 31st of May against the proscribed of the Gironde and the +Commission of Twelve. It is almost always by the past that man regulates +his conduct and his hopes. + +On the 8th Thermidor, he entered the convention at an early hour. He +ascended the tribunal and denounced the committee in a most skilful +speech. "I am come," said he, "to defend before you your authority +insulted, and liberty violated. I will also defend myself; you will not be +surprised at this; you do not resemble the tyrants you contend with. The +cries of outraged innocence do not importune your ears, and you know that +this cause is not foreign to your interests." After this opening, he +complained of those who had calumniated him; he attacked those who sought +the ruin of the republic, either by excesses or moderation; those who +persecuted pacific citizens, meaning the committees, and those who +persecuted true patriots, meaning the Mountain. He associated himself with +the intentions, past conduct, and spirit of the convention; he added that +its enemies were his: "What have I done to merit persecution, if it +entered not into the general system of their conspiracy against the +convention? Have you not observed that, to isolate you from the nation, +they have given out that you are dictators, reigning by means of terror, +and disavowed by the silent wishes of all Frenchmen? For myself, what +faction do I belong to? To yourselves. What is that faction that, from the +beginning of the revolution, has overthrown all factions, and got rid of +acknowledged traitors. It is you, it is the people, it is principles. That +is the faction to which I am devoted, and against which all crimes are +leagued. For at least six weeks, my inability to do good and to check evil +has obliged me absolutely to renounce my functions as a member of the +committee of public safety. Has patriotism been better protected? Have +factions been more timid? Or the country more happy? At all times my +influence has been confined to pleading the cause of my country before the +national representation, and at the tribunal of public opinion." After +having attempted to confound his cause with that of the convention, he +tried to excite it against the committees by dwelling on the idea of its +independence. "Representatives of the people," said he, "it is time to +resume the pride and elevation of character which befits you. You are not +made to be ruled, but to rule the depositaries of your confidence." + +While he thus endeavoured to tempt the assembly by the return of its power +and the end of its slavery, he addressed the moderate party, by reminding +them that they were indebted to him for the lives of the Seventy-Three, +and by holding forth hopes of returning order, justice, and clemency. He +spoke of changing the devouring and trickster system of finance, of +softening the revolutionary government, of guiding its influence, and +punishing its prevaricating agents. Lastly, he invoked the people, talked +of their necessities, and of their power. And when he had recalled all +that could act upon the interests, hopes, or fears of the convention, he +added: "We say, then, that there exists a conspiracy against public +liberty; that it owes its strength to a criminal coalition which intrigues +in the very heart of the convention; that this coalition has accomplices +in the committee of general safety; that the enemies of the republic have +opposed this committee to the committee of public safety, and have thus +constituted two governments; that members of the committee of public +safety are concerned in this plot; that the coalition thus formed seeks +the ruin both of patriots and of the country; What remedy is there for +this evil? Punish the traitors; compose anew the committee of general +safety; purify this committee, and make it subordinate to the committee of +public safety; purify the latter committee itself; constitute the unity of +the government under the supreme authority of the convention; crush every +faction under the weight of national authority, and establish on their +ruins the power of justice and liberty." + +Not a murmur, not a mark of applause welcomed this declaration of war. The +silence with which Robespierre was heard continued long after he had +ceased speaking. Anxious looks were exchanged in all parts of the doubting +assembly. At length Lecointre of Versailles arose and proposed that the +speech should be printed. This motion was the signal for agitation, +discussion, and resistance. Bourdon de l'Oise opposed the motion for +printing the speech, as a dangerous measure. He was applauded. But +Barrère, in his ambiguous manner, having maintained that all speeches +ought to be published, and Couthon having moved that it should be sent to +all the communes of the republic, the convention, intimidated by this +apparent concord of the two opposite factions, decreed both the printing +and circulation of the speech. + +The members of the two committees thus attacked, who had hitherto remained +silent, seeing the Mountain thwarted, and the majority undecided, thought +it time to speak. Vadier first opposed Robespierre's speech and +Robespierre himself. Cambon went further. "It is time," he cried, "to +speak the whole truth: one man paralyzed the resolution of the national +assembly; that man is Robespierre." "The mask must be torn off," added +Billaud-Varennes, "whatever face it may cover; I would rather my corpse +should serve an ambitious man for his throne, than by my silence to become +the accomplice of his crimes." Panis, Bentabole, Charlier, Thirion, Amar, +attacked him in turn. Fréron proposed to the convention to throw off the +fatal yoke of the committees. "The time is come," said he, "to revive +liberty of opinion; I move that the assembly revoke the decree which gives +the committee power to arrest the representatives of the people. Who can +speak freely while he fears an arrest?" Some applause was heard; but the +moment for the entire deliverance of the convention was not yet arrived. +It was necessary to contend with Robespierre from behind the committees, +in order subsequently to attack the committees more easily. Fréron's +motion was accordingly rejected. "The man who is prevented by fear from +delivering his opinion," said Billaud-Varennes, looking at him, "is not +worthy the title of a representative of the people." Attention was again +drawn to Robespierre. The decree ordering his speech to be printed was +recalled, and the convention submitted the speech to the examination of +the committees. Robespierre who had been surprised at this fiery +resistance, then said: "What! I had the courage to place before the +assembly truths which I think necessary to the safety of the country, and +you send my discourse for the examination of the members whom I accuse." +He retired, a little discouraged, but hoping to bring back the assembly to +his views, or rather, bring it into subjection with the aid of the +conspirators of the Jacobins and the commune. + +In the evening he repaired to the popular society. He was received with +enthusiasm. He read the speech which the assembly had just condemned, and +the Jacobins loaded him with applause. He then recounted to them the +attacks which had been directed against him, and to increase their +excitement he added: "If necessary, I am ready to drink the cup of +Socrates." "Robespierre," cried a deputy, "I will drink it with you." "The +enemies of Robespierre," cried numbers on all sides, "are the enemies of +the country; let them be named, and they shall cease to live." During the +whole night Robespierre prepared his partisans for the following day. It +was agreed that they should assemble at the commune and the Jacobins, in +order to be ready for every event, while he, accompanied by his friends, +repaired to the assembly. + +The committees had also spent the night in deliberation. Saint-Just had +appeared among them. His colleagues tried to disunite him from the +triumvirate; they deputed him to draw up a report on the events of the +preceding day, and submit it to them. But, instead of that, he drew up an +act of accusation, which he would not communicate to them, and said, as he +withdrew: "You have withered my heart; I am going to open it to the +convention." The committees placed all their hope in the courage of the +assembly and the union of parties. The Mountain had omitted nothing to +bring about this salutary agreement. They had addressed themselves to the +most influential members of the Right and of the Marais. They had +entreated Boissy d'Anglas and Durand de Maillane, who were at their head, +to join them against Robespierre. They hesitated at first: they were so +alarmed at his power, so full of resentment against the Mountain, that +they dismissed the Dantonists twice without listening to them. At last the +Dantonists returned to the charge a third time, and then the Right and the +Plain engaged to support them. There was thus a conspiracy on both sides. +All the parties of the assembly were united against Robespierre, all the +accomplices of the triumvirs were prepared to act against the convention. +In this state of affairs the sitting of the ninth Thermidor began. + +The members of the assembly repaired there earlier than usual. About half- +past eleven they gathered in the passages, encouraging each other. The +Bourdon de l'Oise, one of the Mountain, approached Durand de Maillane, a +moderate, pressed his hand, and said--"The people of the Right are +excellent men." Rovère and Tallien came up and mingled their +congratulations with those of Bourdon. At twelve they saw, from the door +of the hall, Saint-Just ascend the tribune. "_Now is the time_," said +Tallien, and they entered the hall. Robespierre occupied a seat in front +of the tribune, doubtless in order to intimidate his adversaries with his +looks. Saint-Just began: "I belong," he said, "to no faction; I will +oppose them all. The course of things has perhaps made this tribune the +Tarpeian rock for him who shall tell you that the members of the +government have quitted the path of prudence." Tallien then interrupted +Saint-Just, and exclaimed violently: "No good citizen can restrain his +tears at the wretched state of public affairs. We see nothing but +divisions. Yesterday a member of the government separated himself from it +to accuse it. To-day another does the same. Men still seek to attack each +other, to increase the woes of the country, to precipitate it into the +abyss. Let the veil be wholly torn asunder." "It must! it must!" resounded +on every side. + +Billaud-Varennes spoke from his seat--"Yesterday," said he, "the society +of Jacobins was filled with hired men, for no one had a card; yesterday +the design of assassinating the members of the national assembly was +developed in that society; yesterday I saw men uttering the most atrocious +insults against those who have never deviated from the revolution. I see +on the Mountain one of those men who threatened the republic; there he +is." "Arrest him! arrest him!" was the general cry. The serjeant seized +him, and took him to the committee of general safety. "The time is come +for speaking the truth," said Billaud. "The assembly would form a wrong +judgment of events and of the position in which it is placed, did it +conceal from itself that it is placed between two massacres. It will +perish, if feeble." "No! no! It will not perish!" exclaimed all the +members, rising from their seats. They swore to save the republic. The +spectators in the gallery applauded, and cried--"Vive la Convention +Rationale!" The impetuous Lebas attempted to speak in defence of the +triumvirs; he was not allowed to do so, and Billaud continued. He warned +the convention of its dangers, attacked Robespierre, pointed out his +accomplices, denounced his conduct and his plans of dictatorship. All eyes +were directed towards him. He faced them firmly for some time; but at +length, unable to contain himself, he rushed to the tribune. The cry of +"Down with the tyrant," instantly became general, and drowned his voice. + +"Just now," said Tallien, "I required that the veil should be torn +asunder. It gives me pleasure to see that it is wholly sundered. The +conspirators are unmasked; they will soon be destroyed, and liberty will +triumph. I was present yesterday at the sitting of the Jacobins; I +trembled for my country. I saw the army of this new Cromwell forming, and +I armed myself with a poignard to stab him to the heart, if the national +convention wanted courage to decree his impeachment." He drew out his +poignard, brandished it before the indignant assembly, and moved before +anything else, the arrest of Henriot, the permanent sitting of the +assembly; and both motions were carried, in the midst of cries of--"Vive +la république!" Billaud also moved the arrest of three of Robespierre's +most daring accomplices, Dumas, Boulanger, and Dufrèse. Barrère caused the +convention to be placed under the guard of the armed sections, and drew up +a proclamation to be addressed to the people. Every one proposed a measure +of precaution. Vadier diverted the assembly for a moment, from the danger +which threatened it, to the affair of Catherine Théos. "Let us not be +diverted from the true object of debate," said Tallien. "I will undertake +to bring you back to it," said Robespierre. "Let us turn our attention to +the tyrant," rejoined Tallien, attacking him more warmly than before. + +Robespierre, after attempting to speak several times, ascending and +descending the stairs of the tribune, while his voice was drowned by cries +of "Down with the tyrant!" and the bell which the president Thuriot +continued ringing, now made a last effort to be heard. "President of +assassins," he cried, "for the last time, will you let me speak?" But +Thuriot continued to ring his bell. Robespierre, after glancing at the +spectators in the public gallery, who remained motionless, turned towards +the Right. "Pure and virtuous men," said he, "I have recourse to you; give +me the hearing which these assassins refuse." No answer was returned; +profound silence prevailed. Then, wholly dejected, he returned to his +place, and sank on his seat exhausted by fatigue and rage. He foamed at +the mouth, and his utterance was choked. "Wretch!" said one of the +Mountain, "the blood of Danton chokes thee." His arrest was demanded and +supported on all sides. Young Robespierre now arose: "I am as guilty as my +brother," said he. "I share his virtues, and I will share his fate." "I +will not be involved in the opprobrium of this decree," added Lebas; "I +demand my arrest too." The assembly unanimously decreed the arrest of the +two Robespierres, Couthon, Lebas, and Saint-Just. The latter, after +standing for some time at the tribune with unchanged countenance, +descended with composure to his place. He had faced this protracted storm +without any show of agitation. The triumvirs were delivered to the +gendarmerie, who removed them amidst general applause. Robespierre +exclaimed, as he went out--"The republic is lost, the brigands triumph." +It was now half-past five, and the sitting was suspended till seven. + +During this stormy contest the accomplices of the triumvirs had assembled +at the Commune and the Jacobins. Fleuriot the mayor, Payan the national +agent, and Henriot the commandant, had been at the Hôtel de Ville since +noon. They had assembled the municipal officers by the sound of the drum, +hoping that Robespierre would be triumphant in the assembly, and that they +should not require the general council to decree the insurrection, or the +sections to sustain it. A few hours after, a serjeant of the convention +arrived to summon the mayor to the bar of the assembly to give a report of +the state of Paris. "Go, and tell your scoundrels," said Henriot, "that we +are discussing how to purge them. Do not forget to tell Robespierre to be +firm, and to fear nothing." About half-past four they learned of the +arrest of the triumvirs, and the decree against their accomplices. The +tocsin was immediately sounded, the barriers closed, the general council +assembled, and the sectionaries called together. The cannoneers were +ordered to bring their pieces to the commune, and the revolutionary +committees to take the oath of insurrection. A message was sent to the +Jacobins, who sat permanently. The municipal deputies were received with +the greatest enthusiasm. "The society watches over the country," they were +told. "It has sworn to die rather than live under crime." At the same time +they concerted together, and established rapid communications between +these two centres of the insurrection. Henriot, on his side, to arouse the +people, ran through the streets, pistol in hand, at the head of his staff, +crying "to arms!" haranguing the multitude, and instigating all he met to +repair to the commune to _save the country_. While on this errand, two +members of the convention perceived him in the Rue Saint Honoré. They +summoned, in the name of the law, a few gendarmes to execute the order for +his arrest; they obeyed, and Henriot was pinioned and conveyed to the +committee of general safety. + +Nothing, however, was decided as yet on either side. Each party made use +of its means of power; the convention of its decrees, the commune of the +insurrection; each party knew what would be the consequences of defeat, +and this rendered them both so active, so full of foresight and decision. +Success was long uncertain. From noon till five the convention had the +upper hand; it caused the arrest of the triumvirs, Payan the national +agent, and Henriot the commandant. It was already assembled, and the +commune had not yet collected its forces; but from six to eight the +insurgents regained their position, and the cause of the convention was +nearly lost. During this interval, the national representatives had +separated, and the commune had redoubled its efforts and audacity. + +Robespierre had been transferred to the Luxembourg, his brother to Saint- +Lazare, Saint-Just to the Écossais, Couthon to La Bourbe, Lebas to the +Conciergerie. The commune, after having ordered the gaolers not to receive +them, sent municipal officers with detachments to bring them away. +Robespierre was liberated first, and conducted in triumph to the Hôtel de +Ville. On arriving, he was received with the greatest enthusiasm; "Long +live Robespierre! Down with the traitors!" resounded on all sides. A +little before, Coffinhal had departed, at the head of two hundred +cannoneers, to release Henriot, who was detained at the committee of +general safety. It was now seven o'clock, and the convention had resumed +its sitting. Its guard, at the most, was a hundred men. Coffinhal arrived, +made his way through the outer courts, entered the committee chamber, and +delivered Henriot. The latter repaired to the Place du Carrousel, +harangued the cannoneers, and ordered them to point their pieces on the +convention. + +The assembly was just then discussing the danger to which it was exposed. +It had just heard of the alarming success of the conspirators, of the +insurrectional orders of the commune, the rescue of the triumvirs, their +presence at the Hôtel de Ville, the rage of the Jacobins, the successive +convocation of the revolutionary council and of the sections. It was +dreading a violent invasion every moment, when the terrified members of +the committees rushed in, fleeing from Coffinhal. They learned that the +committees were surrounded, and Henriot released. This news caused great +agitation. The next moment Amar entered precipitately, and announced that +the cannoneers, acted upon by Henriot, had turned their pieces upon the +convention. "Citizens," said the president, putting on his hat, in token +of distress, "the hour is come to die at our posts!" "Yes, yes! we will +die there!" exclaimed all the members. The people in the galleries rushed +out, crying, "To arms! Let us drive back the scoundrels!" And the assembly +courageously outlawed Henriot. + +Fortunately for the assembly, Henriot could not prevail upon the +cannoneers to fire. His influence was limited to inducing them to +accompany him, and he turned his steps to the Hôtel de Ville. The refusal +of the cannoneers decided the fate of the day. From that moment the +commune, which had been on the point of triumphing, saw its affairs +decline. Having failed in a surprise by main force, it was reduced to the +slow measures of the insurrection; the point of attack was changed, and +soon it was no longer the commune which besieged the Tuileries, but the +convention which marched upon the Hôtel de Ville. The assembly instantly +outlawed the conspiring deputies and the insurgent commune. It sent +commissioners to the sections, to secure their aid, named the +representative Barras commandant of the armed force, joining with him +Fréron, Rovère, Bourdon de l'Oise, Féraud, Leonard Bourdon, Legendre, all +men of decision: and made the committees the centre of operation. + +The sections, on the invitation of the commune, had assembled about nine +o'clock; the greater part of the citizens, in repairing thither, were +anxious, uncertain, and but vaguely informed of the quarrels between the +commune and the convention. The emissaries of the insurgents urged them to +join them and to march their battalions to the Hôtel de Ville. The +sections confined themselves to sending a deputation, but as soon as the +commissioners of the convention arrived among them, had communicated to +them the decrees and invitations of the assembly, and informed them that +there was a leader and a rallying point, they hesitated no longer. Their +battalions presented themselves in succession to the assembly; they swore +to defend it, and they passed in files through the hall, amid shouts of +enthusiasm and sincere applause. "The moments are precious," said Fréron; +"we must act; Barras is gone to take the orders of the committees; we will +march against the rebels; we will summon them in the name of the +convention to deliver up the traitors, and if they refuse, we will reduce +the building in which they are to ashes." "Go," said the president, "and +let not day appear before the heads of the conspirators have fallen." A +few battalions and some pieces of artillery were placed round the +assembly, to guard it from attack, and the sections then marched in two +columns against the commune. It was now nearly midnight. + +The conspirators were still assembled. Robespierre, after having been +received with cries of enthusiasm, promises of devotedness and victory, +had been admitted into the general council between Payan and Fleuriot. The +Place de Grève was filled with men, and glittered with bayonets, pikes, +and cannon. They only waited the arrival of the sections to proceed to +action. The presence of their deputies, and the sending of municipal +commissioners in their midst, had inspired reliance on their aid. Henriot +answered for everything. The conspirators looked for certain victory; they +appointed an executive commission, prepared addresses to the armies, and +drew up various lists. Half-past midnight, however, arrived, and no +section had yet appeared, no order had yet been given, the triumvirs were +still sitting, and the crowd on the Place de Grève became discouraged by +this tardiness and indecision. A report spread in whispers that the +sections had declared in favour of the convention, that the commune was +outlawed, and that the troops of the convention were advancing. The +eagerness of the armed multitude had already abated, when a few emissaries +of the assembly glided among them, and raised the cry, "Vive la +convention!" Several voices repeated it. They then read the proclamation +of outlawry against the commune; and after hearing it, the whole crowd +dispersed. The Place de Grève was deserted in a moment. Henriot came down +a few minutes after, sabre in hand, to excite their courage; but finding +no one: "What!" cried he; "is it possible? Those rascals of cannoneers, +who saved my life five hours ago, now forsake me." He went up again. At +that moment, the columns of the convention arrived, surrounded the Hôtel +de Ville, silently took possession of all its outlets, and then shouted, +"Vive la convention nationale!" + +The conspirators, finding they were lost, sought to escape the violence of +their enemies. A gendarme named Méda, who first entered the room where the +conspirators were assembled, fired a pistol at Robespierre and shattered +his jaw; Lebas wounded himself fatally; Robespierre the younger jumped +from a window on the third story, and survived his fall; Couthon hid +himself under a table; Saint-Just awaited his fate; Coffinhal, after +reproaching Henriot with cowardice, threw him from a window into a drain +and fled. Meantime, the conventionalists penetrated into the Hôtel de +Ville, traversed the desolate halls, seized the conspirators, and carried +them in triumph to the assembly. Bourdon entered the hall crying "Victory! +victory! the traitors are no more!" "The wretched Robespierre is there," +said the president; "they are bringing him on a litter. Doubtless you +would not have him brought in." "No! no!" they cried; "carry him to the +Place de la Révolution!" He was deposited for some time at the committee +of general safety before he was transferred to the Conciergerie; and here, +stretched on a table, his face disfigured and bloody, exposed to the +looks, the invectives, the curses of all, he beheld the various parties +exulting in his fall, and charging upon him all the crimes that had been +committed. He displayed much insensibility during his last moments. He was +taken to the Conciergerie, and afterwards appeared before the +revolutionary tribunal, which, after identifying him and his accomplices, +sent them to the scaffold. On the 10th Thermidor, about five in the +evening, he ascended the death cart, placed between Henriot and Couthon, +mutilated like himself. His head was enveloped in linen saturated with +blood; his face was livid, his eyes almost visionless. An immense crowd +thronged around the cart, manifesting the most boisterous and exulting +joy. They congratulated and embraced each other, loading him with +imprecations, and pressed near to view him more closely. The gendarmes +pointed him out with their sabres. As to him, he seemed to regard the +crowd with contemptuous pity; Saint-Just looked calmly at them; the rest, +in number twenty-two, were dejected. Robespierre ascended the scaffold +last; when his head fell, shouts of applause arose in the air, and lasted +for some minutes. + +With him ended the reign of terror, although he was not the most zealous +advocate of that system in his party. If he sought for supremacy, after +obtaining it, he would have employed moderation; and the reign of terror, +which ceased at his fall, would also have ceased with his triumph. I +regard his ruin to have been inevitable; he had no organized force; his +partisans, though numerous, were not enrolled; his instrument was the +force of opinion and of terror; accordingly, not being able to surprise +his foes by a strong hand, after the fashion of Cromwell, he sought to +intimidate them. Terror not succeeding, he tried insurrection. But as the +convention with the support of the committees had become courageous, so +the sections, relying on the courage of the convention, would naturally +declare against the insurgents. By attacking the government, he aroused +the assembly; by arousing the assembly, he aroused the people, and this +coalition necessarily ruined him. The convention on the 9th of Thermidor +was no longer, as on the 31st of May, divided, undecided, opposed to a +compact, numerous, and daring faction. All parties were united by defeat, +misfortune, and the proscription ever threatening them, and would +naturally cooperate in the event of a struggle. It did not, therefore, +depend on Robespierre himself to escape defeat; and it was not in his +power to secede from the committees. In the position to which he had +attained, one is consumed by one's passions, deceived by hopes and by +fortune, hitherto good; and when once the scaffolds have been erected, +justice and clemency are as impossible as peace, tranquillity, and the +dispensing of power when war is declared. One must then fall by the means +by which one has arisen; the man of faction must perish by the scaffold, +as conquerors by war. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). +EPOCH OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY + + +The 9th of Thermidor was the first day of the revolution in which those +fell who attacked. This indication alone manifested that the ascendant +revolutionary movement had reached its term. From that day the contrary +movement necessarily began. The general rising of all parties against one +man was calculated to put an end to the compression under which they +laboured. In Robespierre the committees subdued each other, and the +decemviral government lost the prestige of terror which had constituted +its strength. The committees liberated the convention, which gradually +liberated the entire republic. Yet they thought they had been working for +themselves, and for the prolongation of the revolutionary government, +while the greater part of those who had supported them had for their +object the overthrow of the dictatorship, the independence of the +assembly, and the establishment of legal order. From the day after the 9th +of Thermidor there were, therefore, two opposite parties among the +conquerors, that of the committees, and that of the Mountain, which was +called the Thermidorian party. + +The former was deprived of half its forces; besides the loss of its chief, +it no longer had the commune, whose insurgent members, to the number of +seventy-two, had been sent to the scaffold, and, which, after its double +defeat under Hébert and under Robespierre, was not again re-organized, and +remained without direct influence. But this party retained the direction +of affairs through the committees. All its members were attached to the +revolutionary system; some, such as Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, +Barrère, Vadier, Amar, saw it was their only safety; others, such as +Carnot, Cambon, the two Prieurs, de la Marne, and de la Côte-d'Or, etc., +feared the counter-revolution, and the punishment of their colleagues. In +the convention it reckoned all the commissioners hitherto sent on +missions, several of the Mountain who had signalized themselves on the 9th +Thermidor, and the remnant of Robespierre's party. Without, the Jacobins +were attached to it; and it still had the support of the faubourgs and of +the lower class. + +The Thermidorian party was composed of the greater number of the +conventionalists. All the centre of the assembly, and what remained of the +Right, joined the Mountain, who had abated their former exaggeration of +views. The coalition of the Moderates, Boissy d'Anglas, Sieyès, +Cambacérès, Chénier, Thibeaudeau, with the Dantonists, Tallien, Fréron, +Legendre, Barras, Bourdon de l'Oise, Rovère, Bentabole, Dumont, and the +two Merlins, entirely changed the character of the assembly. After the 9th +of Thermidor, the first step of this party was to secure its empire in the +convention. Soon it found its way into the government, and succeeded in +excluding the previous occupants. Sustained by public opinion, by the +assembly, by the committees, it advanced openly towards its object; it +proceeded against the principal decemvirs, and some of their agents. As +these had many partisans in Paris, it sought the aid of the young men +against the Jacobins, of the sections against the faubourgs. At the same +time, to strengthen it, it recalled to the assembly all the deputies whom +the committee of public safety had proscribed; first, the seventy-three +who had protested against the 31st of May, and then the surviving victims +of that day themselves. The Jacobins exhibited excitement: it closed their +club; the faubourgs raised an insurrection: it disarmed them. After +overthrowing the revolutionary government, it directed its attention to +the establishment of another, and to the introduction, under the +constitution of the year III., of a feasible, liberal, regular, and stable +order of things, in place of the extraordinary and provisional state in +which the convention had been from its commencement until then. But all +this was accomplished gradually. + +The two parties were not long before they began to differ, after their +common victory. The revolutionary tribunal was an especial object of +general horror. On the 11th Thermidor it was suspended; but Billaud- +Varennes, in the same sitting, had the decree of suspension rescinded. He +maintained that the accomplices of Robespierre alone were guilty, that the +majority of the judges and jurors being men of integrity, it was desirable +to retain them in their offices. Barrère presented a decree to that +effect: he urged that the triumvirs had done nothing for the revolutionary +government; that they had often even opposed its measures; that their only +care had been to place their creatures in it, and to give it a direction +favourable to their own projects; he insisted, in order to strengthen that +government, upon retaining the law _des suspects_ and the tribunal, with +its existing members, including Fouquier-Tinville. At this name a general +murmur rose in the assembly. Fréron, rendering himself the organ of the +general indignation, exclaimed: "I demand that at last the earth be +delivered from that monster, and that Fouquier be sent to hell, there to +wallow in the blood he has shed." His proposition was applauded, and +Fouquier's accusation decreed. Barrère, however, did not regard himself as +defeated; he still retained toward the convention the imperious language +which the old committee had made use of with success; this was at once +habit and calculation on his part; for he well knew that nothing is so +easily continued as that which has been successful. + +But the political tergiversations of Barrère, a man of noble birth, and +who was a royalist Feuillant before the 10th of August, did not +countenance his assuming this imperious and inflexible tone. "Who is this +president of the Feuillants," said Merlin de Thionville, "who assumes to +dictate to us the law?" The hall resounded with applause. Barrère became +confused, left the tribune, and this first check of the committees +indicated their decline in the convention. The revolutionary tribunal +continued to exist, but with other members and another organization. The +law of the 22nd Prairial was abolished, and there were now as much +deliberation and moderation, as many protecting forms in trials, as before +there had been precipitation and inhumanity. This tribunal was no longer +made use of against persons formerly suspected, who were still detained in +prison, though under milder treatment, and who, by degrees, were restored +to liberty on the plan proposed by Camille Desmoulins for his Committee of +Clemency. + +On the 13th of Thermidor the government itself became the subject of +discussion. The committee of public safety was deficient in many members; +Hérault de Séchelles had never been replaced; Jean-Bon-Saint-André and +Prieur de la Marne were on missions; Robespierre, Couthon, and Saint-Just +had perished on the scaffold. In the places of these were appointed +Tallien, Bréard, Echassériaux, Treilhard, Thuriot, and Laloi, whose +accession lessened still more the influence of the old members. At the +same time, were reorganized the two committees, so as to render them more +dependent on the assembly, and less so on one another. The committee of +public safety was charged with military and diplomatic operations; that of +general safety with internal administration. As it was desired, by +limiting the revolutionary power, to calm the fever which had excited the +multitude; and gradually to disperse them, the daily meetings of the +sections were reduced to one in every ten days; and the pay of forty sous +a day, lately given to every indigent citizen who attended them, was +discontinued. + +These measures being carried into effect, on the 11th of Fructidor, one +month after the death of Robespierre, Lecointre of Versailles denounced +Billaud, Collot, Barrère, of the committee of public safety; and Vadier, +Amar, and Vouland, of the committee of general safety. The evening before, +Tallien had vehemently assailed the reign of terror, and Lecointre was. +encouraged to his attack by the sensation which Tallien's speech had +produced. He brought twenty-three charges against the accused; he imputed +to them all the measures of cruelty or tyranny which they threw on the +triumvirs, and called them the successors of Robespierre. This +denunciation agitated the assembly, and more especially those who +supported the committees, or who wished that divisions might cease in the +republic. "If the crimes Lecointre reproaches us with were proved," said +Billaud-Varennes--"if they were as real as they are absurd and chimerical, +there is, doubtless, not one of us but would deserve to lose his head on +the scaffold. But I defy Lecointre to prove, by documents or any evidence +worthy of belief, any of the facts he has charged us with." He repelled +the charges brought against him by Lecointre; he reproached his enemies +with being corrupt and intriguing men, who wished to sacrifice him to the +memory of Danton, _an odious conspirator, the hope of all parricidal +factions_. "What seek these men," he continued--"what seek these men who +call us the successors of Robespierre? Citizens, know you what they seek? +To destroy liberty on the tomb of the tyrant." Lecointre's denunciation +was premature; almost all the convention pronounced it calumnious. The +accused and their friends gave way to outbursts of unrestrained and still +powerful indignation, for they were now attacked for the first time; the +accuser, scarcely supported by any one, was silenced. Billaud-Varennes and +his friends triumphed for the time. + +A few days after, the period for renewing a third of the committee +arrived. The following members were fixed on by lot to retire: Barrère, +Carnot, Robert Lindet, in the committee of public safety; Vadier, Vouland, +Moise Baile in the committee of general safety. They were replaced by +Thermidorians; and Collot-d'Herbois, as well as Billaud-Varennes, finding +themselves too weak, resigned. Another circumstance contributed still more +to the fall of their party, by exciting public opinion against it; this +was the publicity given to the crimes of Joseph Lebon and Carrier, two of +the proconsuls of the committee. They had been sent, the one to Arras and +to Cambrai, the frontier exposed to invasion; the other to Nantes, the +limit of the Vendéan war. They had signalized their mission by, beyond all +others, displaying a cruelty and a caprice of tyranny, which are, however, +generally found in those who are invested with supreme human power. Lebon, +young and of a weak constitution, was naturally mild. On a first mission, +he had been humane; but he was censured for this by the committee, and +sent to Arras, with orders to show himself _somewhat more revolutionary_. +Not to fall short of the inexorable policy of the committee, he gave way +to unheard of excesses; he mingled debauchery with extermination; he had +the guillotine always in his presence, and called it holy. He associated +with the executioner, and admitted him to his table. Carrier, having more +victims to strike, surpassed even Lebon; he was bilious, fanatical, and +naturally blood-thirsty. He had only awaited the opportunity to execute +enormities that the imagination even of Marat would not have dared to +conceive. Sent to the borders of an insurgent country, he condemned to +death the whole hostile population--priests, women, children, old men, and +girls. As the scaffold did not suffice for his cruelty, he substituted a +company of assassins, called Marat's company, for the revolutionary +tribune, and, for the guillotine, boats, with false bottoms, by means of +which he drowned his victims in the Loire. Cries of vengeance and justice +were raised against these enormities. After the 9th of Thermidor, Lebon +was attacked first, because he was more especially the agent of +Robespierre. Carrier, who was that of the committee of public safety, and +of whose conduct Robespierre had disapproved, was prosecuted subsequently. + +There were in the prisons of Paris ninety-four people of Nantes, sincerely +attached to the revolution, and who had defended their town with courage +during the attack made on it by the Vendéans. Carrier had sent them to +Paris as federalists. It had not been deemed safe to bring them before the +revolutionary tribunal until the ninth of Thermidor; they were then taken +there for the purpose of unmasking, by their trial, the crimes of Carrier. +They were tried purposely with prolonged solemnity; their trial lasted +nearly a month; there was time given for public opinion to declare itself; +and on their acquittal, there was a general demand for justice on the +revolutionary committee of Nantes, and on the proconsul Carrier. Legendre +renewed Lecointre's impeachment of Billaud, Barrère, Collot, and Vadier, +who were generously defended by Carnot, Prieur, and Cambon, their former +colleagues, who demanded to share their fate. Lecointre's motion was not +attended with any result; and, for the present, they only brought to trial +the members of the revolutionary committee of Nantes; but we may observe +the progress of the Thermidorian party. This time the members of the +committee were obliged to have recourse to defence, and the convention +simply passed to the order of the day, on the question of the denunciation +made by Legendre, without voting it calumnious, as they had done that of +Lecointre. + +The revolutionary democrats were, however, still very powerful in Paris: +if they had lost the commune, the tribunal, the convention, and the +committee, they yet retained the Jacobins and the faubourgs. It was in +these popular societies that their party concentrated, especially for the +purpose of defending themselves. Carrier attended them assiduously, and +invoked their assistance; Billaud-Varennes, and Collot-d'Herbois also +resorted to them; but these being somewhat less threatened were +circumspect. They were accordingly censured for their silence. "_The lion +sleeps_," replied Billaud-Varennes, "_but his waking will be terrible_." +This club had been expurgated after the 10th Thermidor, and it had +congratulated the convention in the name of the regenerated societies, on +the fall of Robespierre and of tyranny. About this time, as many of its +leaders were proceeded against, and many Jacobins were imprisoned in the +departments, it came in the name of the united societies "_to give +utterance to the cry of grief that resounded from every part of the +republic, and to the voice of oppressed patriots, plunged in the dungeons +which the aristocrats had just left_." + +The convention, far from yielding to the Jacobins, prohibited, for the +purpose of destroying their influence, all collective petitions, branch- +associations, correspondence, etc., between the parent society and its +off-sets, and in this way disorganized the famous confederation of the +clubs. The Jacobins, rejected from the convention, began to agitate Paris, +where they were still masters. Then the Thermidorians also began to +convoke their people, by appealing to the support of the sections. At the +same time Fréron called the young men at arms, in his journal _l'Orateur +du Peuple_, and placed himself at their head. This new and irregular +militia called itself _La jeunesse dorée de Fréron_. All those who +composed it belonged to the rich and the middle class; they had adopted a +particular costume, called _Costume à la victime_. Instead of the blouse +of the Jacobins, they wore a square open coat and very low shoes; the +hair, long at the sides, was turned up behind, with tresses called +_cadenettes_; they were armed with short sticks, leadened and formed like +bludgeons. Some of these young men and some of the sectionaries were +royalists; others followed the impulse of the moment, which was anti- +revolutionary. The latter acted without object or ambition, declaring in +favour of the strongest party, especially when the triumph of that party +promised to restore order, the want of which was generally felt. The other +contended under the Thermidorians against the old committees, as the +Thermidorians had contended under the old committees against Robespierre; +it waited for an opportunity of acting on its own account, which occurred +after the entire downfall of the revolutionary party. In the violent +situation of the two parties, actuated by fear and resentment, they +pursued each other ruthlessly and often came to blows in the streets to +the cry of "Vive la Montagne!" or "Vive la Convention!" The _jeunesse +dorée_ were powerful in the Palais Royal, where they were supported by the +shopkeepers; but the Jacobins were the strongest in the garden of the +Tuileries, which was near their club. + +These quarrels became more animated every day; and Paris was transformed +into a field of battle, where the fate of the parties was left to the +decision of arms. This state of war and disorder would necessarily have an +end; and since the parties had not the wisdom to come to an understanding, +one or the other must inevitably carry the day. The Thermidorians were the +growing party, and victory naturally fell to them. On the day following +that on which Billaud had spoken of the _waking of the lion_ in the +popular society, there was great agitation throughout Paris. It was wished +to take the Jacobin club by assault. Men shouted in the streets--"The +great Jacobin conspiracy! Outlaw the Jacobins!" At this period the +revolutionary committee of Nantes were being tried. In their defence they +pleaded that they had received from Carrier the sanguinary orders they had +executed; which led the convention to enter into an examination of his +conduct. Carrier was allowed to defend himself before the decree was +passed against him. He justified his cruelty by the cruelty of the +Vendéans, and the maddening; fury of civil war. "When I acted," he said, +"the air still seemed to resound with the civic songs of twenty thousand +martyrs, who had shouted 'Vive la république!' in the midst of tortures. +How could the voice of humanity, which had died in this terrible crisis, +be heard? What would my adversaries have done in my place? I saved the +republic at Nantes; my life has been devoted to my country, and I am ready +to die for it." Out of five hundred voters, four hundred and ninety-eight +were for the impeachment; the other two voted for it, but conditionally. + +The Jacobins finding their opponents were going from subordinate agents to +the representatives themselves, regarded themselves as lost. They +endeavoured to rouse the multitude, less to defend Carrier than for the +support of their party, which was threatened more and more. But they were +kept in check by the _jeunesse dorée_ and the sectionaries, who eventually +proceeded to the place of their sittings to dissolve the club. A sharp +conflict ensued. The besiegers broke the windows with stones, forced the +doors, and dispersed the Jacobins after some resistance on their part. The +latter complained to the convention of this violence. Rewbell, deputed to +make a report on the subject, was not favourable to them. "Where was +tyranny organized?" said he. "At the Jacobin club. Where had it its +supports and its satellites? At the Jacobin club. Who covered France with +mourning, threw families into despair, filled the republic with bastilles, +made the republican system so odious, that a slave laden with fetters +would have refused to live under it? The Jacobins. Who regret the terrible +reign we have lived under? The Jacobins. If you have not courage to decide +in a moment like this, the republic is at an end, because you have +Jacobins." The convention suspended them provisionally, in order to +expurgate and reorganize them, not daring to destroy them at once. The +Jacobins, setting the decree at defiance, assembled in arms at their usual +place of meeting; the Thermidorian troop who had already besieged them +there, came again to assail them. It surrounded the club with cries of +"Long live the convention! Down with the Jacobins!" The latter prepared +for defence; they left their seats, shouting, "Long live the republic!" +rushed to the doors, and attempted a sortie. At first they made a few +prisoners; but soon yielding to superior numbers, they submitted, and +traversed the ranks of the victors, who, after disarming them, covered +them with hisses, insults, and even blows. These illegal expeditions were +accompanied by all the excesses which attend party struggles. + +The next day commissioners of the convention came to close the club, and +put seals on its registers and papers, and from that moment the society of +the Jacobins ceased to exist. This popular body had powerfully served the +revolution, when, in order to repel Europe, it was necessary to place the +government in the multitude, and to give the republic all the energy of +defence; but now it only obstructed the progress of the new order of +things. + +The situation of affairs was changed; liberty was to succeed the +dictatorship, now that the salvation of the revolution had been effected, +and that it was necessary to revert to legal order, in order to preserve +it. An exorbitant and extraordinary power, like the confederation of the +clubs, would necessarily terminate with the defeat of the party which had +supported it, and that party itself expire with the circumstances which +had given it rise. + +Carrier, brought before the revolutionary tribunal, was tried without +interruption, and condemned with the majority of his accomplices. During +the trial, the seventy-three deputies, whose protest against the 31st of +May had excluded them from the assemblies, were reinstated. Merlin de +Douai moved their recall in the name of the committee of public safety; +his motion was received with applause, and the seventy-three resumed their +seats in the convention. The seventy-three, in their turn, tried to obtain +the return of the outlawed deputies; but they met with warm opposition. +The Thermidorians and the members of the new committees feared that such a +measure would be calling the revolution itself into question. They were +also afraid of introducing a new party into the convention, already +divided, and of recalling implacable enemies, who might cause, with regard +to themselves, a reaction similar to that which had taken place against +the old committees. Accordingly they vehemently opposed the motion, and +Merlin de Douai went so far as to say: "Do you want to throw open the +doors of the Temple?" The young son of Louis XVI. was confined there, and +the Girondists, on account of the results of the 31st of May, were +confounded with the Royalists; besides, the 31st of May still figured +among the revolutionary dates beside the 10th of August and the 14th of +July. The retrograde movement had yet some steps to take before it reached +that period. The republican counter-revolution had turned back from the +9th Thermidor, 1794, to the 3rd of October, 1793, the day on which the +seventy-three had been arrested, but not to the 2nd of June, 1793, when +the twenty-two were arrested. After overthrowing Robespierre, and the +committee, it had to attack Marat and the Mountain. In the almost +geometrical progression of popular movement, a few months were still +necessary to effect this. + +They went on to abolish the decemviral system. The decree against the +priests and nobles, who had formed two proscribed classes under the reign +of terror, was revoked; the _maximum_ was abolished, in order to restore +confidence by putting an end to commercial tyranny; the general and +earnest effort was to substitute the most elevated liberty for the +despotic pressure of the committee of public safety. This period was also +marked by the independence of the press, the restoration of religious +worship, and the return of the property confiscated from the federalists +during the reign of the committees. + +Here was a complete reaction against the revolutionary government; it soon +reached Marat and the Mountain. After the 9th of Thermidor, it had been +considered necessary to oppose a great revolutionary reputation to that of +Robespierre, and Marat had been selected for this purpose. To him were +decreed the honours of the Panthéon, which Robespierre, while in power, +had deferred granting him. He, in his turn, was now attacked. His bust was +in the convention, the theatres, on the public squares, and in the popular +assemblies. The _jeunesse dorée_ broke that in the Théâtre Feydeau. The +Mountain complained, but the convention decreed that no citizen could +obtain the honours of the Panthéon, nor his bust be placed in the +convention, until he had been dead ten years. The bust of Marat +disappeared from the hall of the convention, and as the excitement was +very great in the faubourgs, the sections, the usual support of the +assembly, defiled through it. There was, also, opposite the Invalides, an +elevated mound, a _Mountain_, surmounted by a colossal group, representing +Hercules crushing a hydra. The section of the Halle-au-blé demanded that +this should be removed. The left of the assembly murmured. "The giant," +said a member, "is an emblem of the people." "All I see in it is a +mountain," replied another, "and what is a Mountain but an eternal protest +against equality." These words were much applauded, and sufficed to carry +the petition and overthrow the monument of the victory and domination of a +party. + +Next were recalled the proscribed conventionalists; already, some time +since, their outlawry had been reversed. Isnard and Louvet wrote to the +assembly to be reinstated in their rights; they were met by the objection +as to the consequences of the 31st of May, and the insurrections of the +departments. "I will not," said Chénier, who spoke in their favour, "I +will not so insult the national convention as to bring before them the +phantom of federalism, which has been preposterously made the chief charge +against your colleagues. They fled, it will be said; they hid themselves. +This, then, is their crime! would that this, for the welfare of the +republic, had been the crime of all! Why were there not caverns deep +enough to preserve to the country the meditations of Condorcet, the +eloquence of Vergniaud? Why did not some hospitable land, on the 10th +Thermidor, give back to light that colony of energetic patriots and +virtuous republicans? But projects of vengeance are apprehended from these +men, soured by misfortune. Taught in the school of suffering, they have +learnt only to lament human errors. No, no, Condorcet, Rabaud-Saint- +Etienne, Vergniaud, Camille Desmoulins seek not holocausts of blood; their +manes are not to be appeased by hecatombs." The Left opposed Chénier's +motion. "You are about," cried Bentabole, "to rouse every passion; if you +attack the insurrection of the 31st of May, you attack the eighty thousand +men who concurred in it." "Let us take care," replied Sieyès, "not to +confound the work of tyranny with that of principles. When men, supported +by a subordinate authority, the rival of ours, succeeded in organizing the +greatest of crimes, on the fatal 31st of May, and 2nd of June, it was not +a work of patriotism, but an outrage of tyranny; from that time you have +seen the convention domineered over, the majority oppressed, the minority +dictating laws. The present session is divided into three distinct +periods; till the 31st of May, there was oppression of the convention by +the people; till the 9th Thermidor, oppression of the people by the +convention, itself the object of tyranny; and lastly, since the 9th of +Thermidor, justice, as regards the convention, has resumed its rights." He +demanded the recall of the proscribed members, as a pledge of union in the +assembly, and of security for the republic. Merlin de Douai immediately +proposed their return in the name of the committee of public safety; it +was granted, and after eighteen months' proscription, the twenty-two +conventionalists resumed their seats; among them were Isnard, Louvet, +Lanjuinais, Kervelegan, Henri La Rivière, La Réveillère-Lépaux, and +Lesage, all that remained of the brilliant but unfortunate Gironde. They +joined the moderate party, which was composed daily more and more of the +remains of different parties. For old enemies, forgetting their +resentments and their contest for domination, because they had now the +same interests and the same object, became allies. It was the commencement +of pacification between those who wished for a republic against the +royalists, and a practicable constitution, in opposition to the +revolutionists. At this period all measures against the federalists were +rescinded, and the Girondists assumed the lead of the republican counter- +revolution. + +The convention was, however, carried much too far by the partisans of +reaction; in its desire to repair all and to punish all, it fell into +excesses of justice. After the abolition of the decemviral régime, the +past should have been buried in oblivion, and the revolutionary abyss +closed after a few expiatory victims had been thrown into it. Security +alone brings about pacification; and pacification only admits of liberty. +By again entering upon a course characterized by passion, they only +effected a transference of tyranny, violence, and calamity. Hitherto the +bourgeoisie had been sacrificed to the multitude, to the consumers now it +was just the reverse. Stock-jobbing was substituted for the _maximum_, and +informers of the middle class altogether surpassed the popular informers. +All who had taken part in the dictatorial government were proceeded +against with the fiercest determination. The sections, the seat of the +middle class, required the disarming and punishment of the members of +their revolutionary committees, composed of sans-culottes. There was a +general hue and cry against the _terrorists_, who increased in number +daily. The departments denounced all the former proconsuls, thus rendering +desperate a numerous party, in reality no longer to be feared, since it +had lost all power, by thus threatening it with great and perpetual +reprisals. + +Dread of proscription, and several other reasons, disposed them for +revolt. The general want was terrible. Labour and its produce had been +diminished ever since the revolutionary period, during which the rich had +been imprisoned and the poor had governed; the suppression of the +_maximum_ had occasioned a violent crisis, which the traders and farmers +turned to account, by disastrous monopoly and jobbing. To increase the +difficulty, the assignats were falling into discredit, and their value +diminished daily. More than eight milliards worth of them had been issued. +The insecurity of this paper money, by reason of the revolutionary +confiscations, which had depreciated the national property, the want of +confidence on the part of the merchants, tradesmen, etc., in the stability +of the revolutionary government, which they considered merely provisional, +all this had combined to reduce the real value of the assignats to one- +fifteenth of their nominal value. They were received reluctantly, and +specie was hoarded up with all the greater care, in proportion to the +increasing demand for it, and the depreciation of paper money. The people, +in want of food, and without the means of buying it, even when they held +assignats, were in utter distress. They attributed this to the merchants, +the farmers, the landed and other proprietors, to the government, and +dwelt with regret upon the fact that before, under the committee of public +safety, they had enjoyed both power and food. The convention had indeed +appointed a committee of subsistence to supply Paris with provisions, but +this committee had great difficulty and expense in procuring from day to +day the supply of fifteen hundred sacks of flour necessary to support this +immense city; and the people, who waited in crowds for hours together +before the bakers' shops, for the pound of bad bread, distributed to each +inhabitant, were loud in their complaints, and violent in their murmurs. +They called Boissy d'Anglas, president of the committee of subsistence, +_Boissy-Famine_. Such was the state of the fanatical and exasperated +multitude, when its former leaders were brought to trial. + +On the 12th Ventôse, a short time after the return of the remaining +Girondists, the assembly had decreed the arrest of Billaud-Varennes, +Collot-d'Herbois, Barrère and Vadier. Their trial before the convention +was appointed to commence on the 3rd Germinal. On the 1st (20th of March, +1795), the Décade day, and that on which the sections assembled, their +partisans organized a riot to prevent their being brought to trial; the +outer sections of the faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau were +devoted to their cause. From these quarters they proceeded, half +petitioners, half insurgents, towards the convention, to demand bread, the +constitution of '93, and the liberation of the imprisoned patriots. They +met a few young men on their way, whom they threw into the basins of the +Tuileries. The news, however, soon spread that the convention was exposed +to danger, and that the Jacobins were about to liberate their leaders, and +the _jeunesse dorée_, followed by about five thousand citizens of the +inner sections, came, dispersed the men of the faubourgs, and acted as a +guard for the assembly. The latter, warned by this new danger, revived, on +the motion of Sieyès, the old martial law, under the name of _loi de +grande police_. + +This rising in favour of the accused having failed, they were brought +before the convention on the 3rd Germinal. Vadier alone was contumacious. +Their conduct was investigated with the greatest solemnity; they were +charged with having tyrannized over the people and oppressed the +convention. Though proofs were not wanting to support this charge, the +accused defended themselves with much address. They ascribed to +Robespierre the oppression of the assembly, and of themselves; they +endeavoured to palliate their own conduct by citing the measures taken by +the committee, and adopted by the convention, by urging the excitement of +the period, and the necessity of securing the defence and safety of the +republic. Their former colleagues appeared as witnesses in their favour, +and wished to make common cause with them. The _Crêtois_ (the name then +given to the remnant of the Mountain) also supported them warmly. Their +trial had lasted nine days, and each sitting had been occupied by the +prosecution and the defence. The sections of the faubourgs were greatly +excited. The mobs which had collected every day since the 1st Germinal, +increased twofold on the 12th, and a new rising took place, in order to +suspend the trial, which the first rising had failed to prevent. The +agitators, more numerous and bold on this occasion, forced their way +through the guard of the convention, and entered the hall, having written +with chalk on their hats the words, "Bread," "The constitution of '93," +"Liberty for the patriots." Many of the deputies of the _Crête_ declared +in their favour; the other members, astounded at the tumult and disorder +of this popular invasion, awaited the arrival of the inner sections for +their deliverance. All debating was at an end. The tocsin, which had been +removed from the commune after its defeat, and placed on the top of the +Tuileries, where the convention sat, sounded the alarm. The committee +ordered the drums to beat to arms. In a short time the citizens of the +nearest sections assembled, marched in arms to assist the convention, and +rescued it a second time. It sentenced the accused, whose cause was the +pretext for this rising, to transportation, and decreed the arrest of +seventeen members of the _Crête_ who had favoured the insurgents, and +might therefore be regarded as their accomplices. Among these were Cambon, +Ruamps, Leonard Bourdon, Thuriot, Chasle, Amar, and Lecointre, who, since +the recall of the Girondists, had returned to the Mountain. On the +following day they, and the persons sentenced to transportation, were +conveyed to the castle of Ham. + +The events of the 12th of Germinal decided nothing. The faubourgs had been +repulsed, but not conquered; and both power and confidence must be taken +from a party by a decisive defeat, before it is effectually destroyed. +After so many questions decided against the democratists, there still +remained one of the utmost importance--the constitution. On this depended +the ascendancy of the multitude or of the bourgeoisie. The supporters of +the revolutionary government then fell back on the democratic constitution +of '93, which presented to them the means of resuming the authority they +had lost. Their opponents, on the other hand, endeavoured to replace it by +a constitution which would secure all the advantage to them, by +concentrating the government a little more, and giving it to the middle +class. For a month, both parties were preparing for this last contest. The +constitution of 1793, having been sanctioned by the people, enjoyed a +great prestige. It was accordingly attacked with infinite precaution. At +first its assailants engaged to carry it into execution without +restriction; next they appointed a commission of eleven members to prepare +the _lois organiques_, which were to render it practicable; by and by, +they ventured to suggest objections to it on the ground that it +distributed power too loosely, and only recognised one assembly dependent +on the people, even in its measures of legislation. At last, a deputation +of the sectionaries went so far as to call the constitution of '93 a +decemviral constitution, dictated by terror. All its partisans, at once +indignant and filled with fears, organized an insurrection to maintain it. +This was another 31st of May, as terrible as the first, but which, not +having the support of an all-powerful commune, not being directed by a +general commandant, and not having a terrified convention and submissive +sections to deal with, had not the same result. + +The conspirators, warned by the failure of the risings of the 1st and 12th +Germinal, omitted nothing to make up for their want of direct object and +of organization. On the 1st Prairial (20th of May) in the name of the +people, insurgent for the purpose of obtaining bread and their rights, +they decreed the abolition of the revolutionary government, the +establishment of the democratic constitution of '93, the dismissal and +arrest of the members of the existing government, the liberation of the +patriots, the convocation of the primary assemblies on the 25th Prairial, +the convocation of the legislative assembly, destined to replace the +convention, on the 25th Messidor, and the suspension of all authority not +emanating from the people. They determined on forming a new municipality, +to serve as a common centre; to seize on the barriers, telegraph, cannon, +tocsins, drums, and not to rest till they had secured repose, happiness, +liberty, and means of subsistence for all the French nation. They invited +the artillery, gendarmes, horse and foot soldiers, to join the banners of +the people, and marched on the convention. + +Meantime, the latter was deliberating on the means of preventing the +insurrection. The daily assemblages occasioned by the distribution of +bread and the popular excitement, had concealed from it the preparations +for a great rising, and it had taken no steps to prevent it. The +committees came in all haste to apprise it of its danger; it immediately +declared its sitting permanent, voted Paris responsible for the safety of +the representatives of the republic, closed its doors, outlawed all the +leaders of the mob, summoned the citizens of the sections to arms, and +appointed as their leaders eight commissioners, among whom were Legendre, +Henri La Rivière, Kervelegan, etc. These deputies had scarcely gone, when +a loud noise was heard without. An outer door had been forced, and numbers +of women rushed into the galleries, crying, "Bread and the constitution of +'93!" The convention received them firmly. "Your cries," said the +president Vernier, "will not alter our position; they will not accelerate +by one moment the arrival of supplies. They will only serve to hinder it." +A fearful tumult drowned the voice of the president, and interrupted the +proceedings. The galleries were then cleared; but the insurgents of the +faubourgs soon reached the inner doors, and finding them closed, forced +them with hatchets and hammers, and then rushed in amidst the convention. + +The hall now became a field of battle. The veterans and gendarmes, to whom +the guard of the assembly was confided, cried, "To arms!" The deputy +Auguis, sword in hand, headed them, and succeeded in repelling the +assailants, and even made a few of them prisoners. But the insurgents, +more numerous, returned to the charge, and again rushed into the house. +The deputy Féraud entered precipitately, pursued by the insurgents, who +fired some shots in the house. They took aim at Boissy d'Anglas, who was +occupying the president's chair, in place of Vernier. Féraud ran to the +tribune, to shield him with his body; he was struck at with pikes and +sabres, and fell dangerously wounded. + +The insurgents dragged him into the lobby, and, mistaking him for Fréron, +cut off his head, and placed it on a pike. + +After this skirmish, they became masters of the hall. Most of the deputies +had taken flight. There only remained the members of the _Crête_ and +Boissy d'Anglas, who, calm, his hat on, heedless of threat and insult, +protested in the name of the convention against this popular violence. +They held out to him the bleeding head of Féraud; he bowed respectfully +before it. They tried to force him, by placing pikes at his breast, to put +the propositions of the insurgents to the vote; he steadily and +courageously refused. But the _Crêtois_, who approved of the insurrection, +took possession of the bureaux and of the tribune, and decreed, amidst the +applause of the multitude, all the articles contained in the manifesto of +the insurrection. The deputy Romme became their organ. They further +appointed an executive commission, composed of Bourbotte, Duroy, +Duquesnoy, Prieur de la Marne, and a general-in-chief of the armed force, +the deputy Soubrany. In this way they prepared for the return of their +domination. They decreed the recall of their imprisoned colleagues, the +dismissal of their enemies, a democratic constitution, the re- +establishment of the Jacobin club. But it was not enough for them to have +usurped the assembly for a short time; it was necessary to conquer the +sections, for it was only with these they could really contend there. + +The commissioners despatched to the sections had quickly gathered them +together. The battalions of the _Butte des Moulins, Lepelletier, des +Piques, de la Fontaine-Grenelle_, who were the nearest, soon occupied the +Carrousel and its principal avenues. The aspect of affairs then underwent +a change; Legendre, Kervelegan, and Auguis besieged the insurgents, in +their turn, at the head of the sectionaries. At first they experienced +some resistance. But with fixed bayonets they soon entered the hall, where +the conspirators were still deliberating, and Legendre cried out: "_In the +name of the law, I order armed citizens to withdraw_." They hesitated a +moment, but the arrival of the battalions, now entering at every door, +intimidated them, and they hastened from the hall in all the disorder of +flight. The assembly again became complete; the sections received a vote +of thanks, and the deliberations were resumed. All the measures adopted in +the interim were annulled, and fourteen representatives, to whom were +afterwards joined fourteen others, were arrested, for organizing the +insurrection, or approving it in their speeches. It was then midnight; at +five in the morning the prisoners were already six leagues from Paris. + +Despite this defeat, the faubourgs did not consider themselves beaten; and +the next day they advanced _en masse_ with their cannon against the +convention. The sections, on their side, marched for its defence. The two +parties were on the point of engaging; the cannons of the faubourg which +were mounted on the Place du Carrousel, were directed towards the château, +when the assembly sent commissioners to the insurgents. Negotiations were +begun. A deputy of the faubourgs, admitted to the convention, first +repeated the demand made the preceding day, adding: "We are resolved to +die at the post we now occupy, rather than abate our present demands. I +fear nothing! My name is Saint-Légier. Vive la République! Vive la +Convention! if it is attached to principles, as I believe it to be." The +deputy was favourably received, and they came to friendly terms with the +faubourgs, without, however, granting them anything positive. The latter +having no longer a general council of the commune to support their +resolutions, nor a commander like Henriot to keep them under arms, till +their propositions were decreed, went no further. They retired after +having received an assurance that the convention would assiduously attend +to the question of provisions, and would soon publish the organic laws of +the constitution of '93. That day showed that immense physical force and a +decided object are not the only things essential to secure success; +leaders and an authority to support and direct the insurrection are also +necessary. The convention was the only remaining legal power: the party +which it held in favour triumphed. + +Six democratic members of the Mountain, Goujon, Bourbotte, Romme, Duroy, +Duquesnoy, and Soubrany, were brought before a military commission. They +behaved firmly, like men fanatically devoted to their cause, and almost +all free from excesses. The Prairial movement was the only thing against +them; but that was sufficient in times of party strife, and they were +condemned to death. They all stabbed themselves with the same knife, which +was transferred from one to the other, exclaiming, "_Vive la République!_" +Romme, Goujon, and Duquesnoy were fortunate enough to wound themselves +fatally; the other three were conducted to the scaffold in a dying state, +but faced death with serene countenances. + +Meantime, the faubourgs, though repelled on the 1st, and diverted from +their object on the 2nd of Prairial, still had the means of rising. An +event of much less importance than the preceding riots occasioned their +final ruin. The murderer of Féraud was discovered, condemned, and on the +4th, the day of his execution, a mob succeeded in rescuing him. There was +a general outcry against this attempt; and the convention ordered the +faubourgs to be disarmed. They were encompassed by all the interior +sections. After attempting to resist, they yielded, giving up some of +their leaders, their arms, and artillery. The democratic party had lost +its chiefs, its clubs, and its authorities; it had nothing left but an +armed force, which rendered it still formidable, and institutions by means +of which it might yet regain everything. After the last check, the +inferior class was entirely excluded from the government of the state, the +revolutionary committees which formed its assemblies were destroyed; the +cannoneers forming its armed force were disarmed; the constitution of '93, +which was its code, was abolished; and here the rule of the multitude +terminated. + +From the 9th Thermidor to the 1st Prairial, the Mountain was treated as +the Girondist party had been treated from the 2nd of June to the 9th +Thermidor. Seventy-six of its members were sentenced to death or arrest. +In its turn, it underwent the destiny it had imposed on the other; for in +times when the passions are called into play, parties know not how to come +to terms, and seek only to conquer. Like the Girondists, they resorted to +insurrection, in order to regain the power which they had lost; and like +them, they fell. Vergniaud, Brissot, Guadet, etc., were tried by a +revolutionary tribunal; Bourbotte, Duroy, Soubrany, Romme, Goujon, +Duquesnoy, by a military commission. They all died with the same courage; +which shows that all parties are the same, and are guided by the same +maxims, or, if you please, by the same necessities. From that period, the +middle class resumed the management of the revolution without, and the +assembly was as united under the Girondists as it had been, after the 2nd +of June, under the Mountain. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE 1ST PRAIRIAL (20TH OF MAY, 1795) TO THE 4TH BRUMAIRE (26TH OF +OCTOBER), YEAR IV., THE CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION + + +The exterior prosperity of the revolution chiefly contributed to the fall +of the dictatorial government and of the Jacobin party. The increasing +victories of the republic to which they had very greatly contributed by +their vigorous measures, and by their enthusiasm, rendered their power +superfluous. The committee of public safety, by crushing with its strong +and formidable hand the interior of France, had developed resources, +organized armies, found generals and guided them to victories which +ultimately secured the triumph of the revolution in the face of Europe. A +prosperous position no longer required the same efforts; its mission was +accomplished, the peculiar province of such a dictatorship being to save a +country and a cause, and to perish by the very safety it has secured. +Internal events have prevented our rapidly describing the impulse which +the committee of public safety gave to the armies after the 31st of May, +and the results which it obtained from it. + +The levy en masse that took place in the summer of 1793, formed the troops +of the Mountain. The leaders of that party soon selected from the +secondary ranks generals belonging to the Mountain to replace the +Girondist generals. Those generals were Jourdan, Pichegru, Hoche, Moreau, +Westermann, Dugommier, Marceau, Joubert, Kléber, etc. Carnot, by his +admission to the committee of public safety, became minister of war and +commander-in-chief of all the republican armies. Instead of scattered +bodies, acting without concert upon isolated points, he proceeded with +strong masses, concentrated on one object. He commenced the practice of a +great plan of warfare, which he tried with decided success at Watignies, +in his capacity of commissioner of the convention. This important victory, +at which he assisted in person, drove the allied generals, Clairfait and +the prince of Coburg, behind the Sambre, and raised the siege of Maubeuge. +During the winter of 1793 and 1794 the two armies continued in presence of +each other without undertaking anything. + +At the opening of the campaign, they each conceived a plan of invasion. +The Austrian army advanced upon the towns on the Somme, Péronne, Saint- +Quentin, Arras, and threatened Paris, while the French army again +projected the conquest of Belgium. The plan of the committee of public +safety was combined in a very different way to the vague design of the +coalition. Pichegru, at the head of fifty thousand men of the army of the +north, entered Flanders, resting on the sea and the Scheldt. On his right, +Moreau advanced with twenty thousand men upon Menin and Courtrai. General +Souham, with thirty thousand men, remained under Lille, to sustain the +extreme right of the invading army against the Austrians; while Jourdan, +with the army of the Moselle, directed his course towards Charleroi by +Arlon and Dinan, to join the army of the north. + +The Austrians, attacked in Flanders, and threatened with a surprise in the +rear by Jourdan, soon abandoned their positions on the Somme. Clairfait +and the duke of York allowed themselves to be beaten at Courtrai and +Hooglède by the army of Pichegru; Coburg at Fleurus by that of Jourdan, +who had just taken Charleroi. The two victorious generals rapidly +completed the invasion of the Netherlands. The Anglo-Dutch army fell back +on Antwerp, and from thence upon Breda, and from Breda to Bois-le-Duc, +receiving continual checks. It crossed the Waal, and fell back upon +Holland. The Austrians endeavoured with the same want of success, to cover +Brussels and Maëstricht: they were pursued and beaten by the army of +Jourdan, which since its union had taken the name of the army of the +_Sambre et Meuse_, and which did not leave them behind the Roër, as +Dumouriez had done, but drove them beyond the Rhine. Jourdan made himself +master of Cologne and Bonn, and communicated by his left with the right of +the army of the Moselle, which had advanced into the country of +Luxembourg, and which, conjointly with him, occupied Coblentz. A general +and concerted movement of all the French armies had taken place, all of +them marching towards the Rhenish frontier. At the time of the defeats, +the lines of Weissenburg had been forced. The committee of public safety +employed in the army of the Rhine the expeditious measures peculiar to its +policy. The commissioners, Saint-Just and Lebas, gave the chief command to +Hoche, made terror and victory the order of the day; and generals +Brunswick and Wurmser were very soon driven from Haguenau on the lines of +the Lauter, and not being able even to maintain that position, passed the +Rhine at Philipsburg. Spire and Worms were retaken. The republican troops, +everywhere victorious, occupied Belgium, that part of Holland situated on +the left of the Meuse, and all the towns on the Rhine, except Mayence and +Mannheim, which were closely beset. + +The army of the Alps did not make much progress in this campaign. It tried +to invade Piedmont, but failed. On the Spanish frontier, the war had +commenced under ill auspices: the two armies of the eastern and western +Pyrenees, few in number and badly disciplined, were constantly beaten; one +had retired under Perpignan, the other under Bayonne. The committee of +public safety turned its attention and efforts but tardily on this point, +which was not the most dangerous for it. But as soon as it had introduced +its system, generals, and organization into the two armies, the appearance +of things changed. Dugommier, after repeated successes, drove the +Spaniards from the French territory, and entered the peninsula by +Catalonia. Moncey also invaded it by the valley of Bastan, the other +opening of the Pyrenees, and became master of San Sebastian and +Fontarabia. The coalition was everywhere conquered, and some of the +confederated powers began to repent of their over-confident adhesion. + +In the meantime, news of the revolution of the 9th Thermidor reached the +armies. They were entirely republican, and they feared that Robespierre's +fall would lead to that of the popular government; and they, accordingly, +received this intelligence with marked disapprobation; but, as the armies +were submissive to the civil authority, none of them rebelled. The +insurrections of the army only took place from the 14th of July to the +31st of May; because, being the refuge of the conquered parties, their +leaders had at every crisis the advantage of political precedence, and +contended with all the ardour of compromised factions. Under the committee +of public safety, on the contrary, the most renowned generals had no +political influence, and were subject to the terrible discipline of +parties. While occasionally thwarting the generals, the convention had no +difficulty in keeping the armies in obedience. + +A short time afterwards the movement of invasion was prolonged in Holland +and in the Spanish peninsula. The United Provinces were attacked in the +middle of winter, and on several sides, by Pichegru, who summoned the +Dutch patriots to liberty. The party opposed to the stadtholderate +seconded the victorious efforts of the French army, and the revolution and +conquest took place simultaneously at Leyden, Amsterdam, the Hague, and +Utrecht. The stadtholder took refuge in England, his authority was +abolished, and the assembly of the states-general proclaimed the +sovereignty of the people, and constituted the Dutch Republic, which +formed a close alliance with France, to which it ceded, by the treaty of +Paris, of the 16th of May, 1795, Dutch Flanders, Maëstricht, Venloo, and +their dependencies. The navigation of the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the +Meuse was left free to both nations. Holland, by its wealth, powerfully +contributed towards the continuance of the war against the coalition. This +important conquest at the same time deprived the English of a powerful +support, and compelled Prussia, threatened on the Rhine and by Holland, to +conclude, at Basle, with the French Republic, a peace, for which its +reverses and the affairs of Poland had long rendered it disposed. A peace +was also made at Basle, on the 10th of July, with Spain, alarmed by our +progress on its territory. Figuières and the fortress of Rosas had been +taken; and Perignon was advancing into Catalonia; while Moncey, after +becoming master of Villa Réal, Bilbao, and Vittoria, marched against the +Spaniards who had retired to the frontiers of Old Castile. The cabinet of +Madrid demanded peace. It recognised the French Republic, which restored +its conquests, and which received in exchange the portion of San Domingo +possessed by Spain. The two disciplined armies of the Pyrenees joined the +army of the Alps, which by this means soon overran Piedmont, and entered +Italy--Tuscany only having made peace with the republic on the 9th of +February, 1795. + +These partial pacifications and the reverses of the allied troops gave +another direction to the efforts of England and the emigrant party. The +time had arrived for making the interior of France the fulcrum of the +counter-revolutionary movement. In 1791, when unanimity existed in France, +the royalists placed all their hopes in foreign powers; now, dissensions +at home and the defeat of their allies in Europe left them no resource but +in conspiracies. Unsuccessful attempts, as we have seen, never make +vanquished parties despair: victory alone wearies and enervates, and +sooner or later restores the dominion of those who wait. + +The events of Prairial and the defeat of the Jacobin party, had decided +the counter-revolutionary movement. At this period, the reaction, hitherto +conducted by moderate republicans, became generally royalist. The +partisans of monarchy were still as divided as they had been from the +opening of the states-general to the 10th of August. In the interior, the +old constitutionalists, who had their sittings in the sections, and who +consisted of the wealthy middle classes, had not the same views of +monarchy with the absolute royalists. They still felt the rivalry and +opposition of interest, natural to the middle against the privileged +classes. The absolute royalists themselves did not agree; the party beaten +in the interior had little sympathy with that enrolled among the armies of +Europe; but besides the divisions between the emigrants and Vendéans, +dissensions had arisen among the emigrants from the date of their +departure from France. Meantime, all these royalists of different +opinions, not having yet to contend for the reward of victory, came to an +agreement to attack the convention in common. The emigrants and the +priests, who for some months past had returned in great numbers, took the +banner of the sections, quite certain, if they carried the day by means of +the middle class, to establish their own government; for they had a +leader, and a definite object, which the sectionaries had not. + +This reaction, of a new character, was restrained for some time in Paris, +where the convention, a strong and neutral power, wished to prevent the +violence and usurpation of both parties. While overthrowing the sway of +the Jacobins, it suppressed the vengeance of the royalists. Then it was +that the greater part of _la troupe dorée_ deserted its cause, that the +leaders of the sections prepared the bourgeoisie to oppose the assembly, +and that the confederation of the Journalists succeeded that of the +Jacobins. La Harpe, Richer-de-Sérizy, Poncelin, Tronçon-du-Coudray, +Marchéna, etc., became the organs of this new opinion, and were the +literary clubists. The active but irregular troops of this party assembled +at the Théâtre Feydeau. the Boulevard des Italiens, and the Palais Royal, +and began _the chase of the Jacobins_, while they sang the _Réveil du +Peuple_. The word of proscription, at that time, was Terrorist, in virtue +of which an _honest man_ might with good conscience attack a +revolutionist. The Terrorist class was extended at the will or the +passions of the new reactionaries, who wore their hair _à la victime_, and +who, no longer fearing to avow their intentions, for some time past had +adopted the Chouan uniform--a grey turned-back coat with a green or black +collar. + +But this reaction was much more ardent in the departments where there was +no authority to interpose in the prevention of bloodshed. Here there were +only two parties, that which had dominated and that which had suffered +under the Mountain. The intermediate class was alternately governed by the +royalists and by the democrats. The latter, foreseeing the terrible +reprisals to which they would be subject if they fell, held out as long as +they could; but their defeat at Paris led to their downfall in the +departments. Party executions then took place, similar to those of the +proconsuls of the committee of public safety. The south was, more +especially, a prey to wholesale massacres and acts of personal vengeance. +Societies, called _Compagnies de Jésus_ and _Compagnies du Soleil_, which +were of royalists origin, were organized, and executed terrible reprisals. +At Lyons, Aix, Tarascon, and Marseilles, they slew in the prisons those +who had taken part in the preceding régime. Nearly all the south had its +2nd of September. At Lyons, after the first revolutionary massacres, the +members of the _compagnie_ hunted out those who had not been taken; and +when they met one, without any other form than the exclamation, "There's a +Matavon," (the name given to them), they slew and threw him into the +Rhone. At Tarascon, they threw them from the top of the tower on a rock on +the bank of the Rhone. During this new reign of terror, and this general +defeat of the revolutionists, England and the emigrants attempted the +daring enterprise of Quiberon. + +The Vendéans were exhausted by their repeated defeats, but they were not +wholly reduced. Their losses, however, and the divisions between their +principal leaders, Charette and Stofflet, rendered them an extremely +feeble succour. Charette had even consented to treat with the republic, +and a sort of pacification had been concluded between him and the +convention at Jusnay. The marquis de Puisaye, an enterprising man, but +volatile and more capable of intrigue than of vigorous party conceptions, +intended to replace the almost expiring insurrection of La Vendée by that +of Brittany. Since the enterprise of Wimpfen, in which Puisaye had a +command, there already existed, in Calvados and Morbihan, bands of +Chouans, composed of the remains of parties, adventurers, men without +employment, and daring smugglers, who made expeditions, but were unable to +keep the field, like the Vendéans. Puisaye had recourse to England to +extend the _Chouanerie_, leading it to hope for a general rising in +Brittany, and from thence in the rest of France, if it would land the +nucleus of an army, with ammunition and guns. + +The ministry of Great Britain, deceived as to the coalition, desired +nothing better than to expose the republic to fresh perils, while it +sought to revive the courage of Europe. It confided in Puisaye, and in the +spring of 1795 prepared an expedition, in which the most energetic +emigrants took a share, nearly all the officers of the former navy, and +all who, weary of the part of exiles and of the distresses of a life of +wandering, wished to try their fortunes for the last time. + +The English fleet landed, on the peninsula of Quiberon, fifteen hundred +emigrants, six thousand republican prisoners who had embraced the cause of +the emigrants to return to France, sixty thousand muskets, and the full +equipment for an army of forty thousand men. Fifteen hundred Chouans +joined the army on its landing, but it was soon attacked by General Hoche. +His attack proved successful; the republican prisoners who were in the +ranks deserted, and it was defeated after a most energetic resistance. In +the mortal warfare between the emigrants and the republic, the vanquished, +being considered as _outlaws_, were mercilessly massacred. Their loss +inflicted a deep and incurable wound on the emigrant party. + +The hopes founded on the victories of Europe, on the progress of +insurrection and the attempt of the emigrants, being thus overthrown, +recourse was had to the discontented sections. It was hoped to make a +counter-revolution by means of the new constitution decreed by the +convention on the 22nd of August, 1795. This constitution was, indeed, the +work of the moderate republican party; but as it restored the ascendancy +of the middle class, the royalist leaders thought that by it they might +easily enter the legislative body and the government. + +This constitution was the best, the wisest, and most liberal, and the most +provident that had as yet been established or projected; it contained the +result of six years' revolutionary and legislative experience. At this +period, the convention felt the necessity of organizing power, and of +rendering the people settled, while the first assembly, from its position, +only felt the necessity of weakening royalty and agitating the nation. All +had been exhausted, from the throne to the people; existence now depended +on reconstructing and restoring order, at the same time keeping the nation +in great activity. The new constitution accomplished this. It differed but +little from that of 1791, with respect to the exercise of sovereignty; but +greatly in everything relative to government. It confided the legislative +power to two councils; that of the _Cinq-cents_ and that of the _Anciens_; +and the executive power to a directory of five members. It restored the +two degrees of elections destined to retard the popular movement, and to +lead to a more enlightened choice than immediate elections. The wise but +moderate qualifications with respect to property, required in the members +of the primary assemblies and the electoral assemblies, again conferred +political importance on the middle class, to which it became imperatively +necessary to recur after the dismissal of the multitude and the +abandonment of the constitution of '93. + +In order to prevent the despotism or the servility of a single assembly, +it was necessary to place somewhere a power to check or defend it. The +division of the legislative body into two councils, which had the same +origin, the same duration, and only differed in functions, attained the +twofold object of not alarming the people by an aristocratic institution, +and of contributing to the formation of a good government. The Council of +Five Hundred, whose members were required to be thirty years old, was +alone entrusted with the initiative and the discussion of laws. The +Council of Ancients, composed of two hundred and fifty members, who had +completed their fortieth year, was charged with adopting or rejecting +them. + +In order to avoid precipitation in legislative measures, and to prevent a +compulsory sanction from the Council of Ancients in a moment of popular +excitement, they could not come to a decision until after three readings, +at a distance of five days at least from each other. In _urgent cases_ +this formality was dispensed with; and the council had the right of +determining such urgency. This council acted sometimes as a legislative +power, when it did not thoroughly approve a measure, and made use of the +form "_Le Conseil des Anciens ne peut pas adopter_," and sometimes as a +conservative power, when it only considered a measure in its legal +bearing, and said "_La Constitution annule_." For the first time, partial +re-elections were adopted, and the renewing of half of the council every +two years was fixed, in order to avoid that rush of legislators who came +with an immoderate desire for innovation, and suddenly changed the spirit +of an assembly. + +The executive power was distinct from the councils, and no longer existed +in the committees. Monarchy was still too much feared to admit of a +president of the republic being named. They, therefore, confined +themselves to the creation of a directory of five members, nominated by +the council of ancients, at the recommendation of that of the Five +Hundred. The directors might be brought to trial by the councils, but +could not be dismissed by them. They were entrusted with a general and +independent power of execution, but it was wished also to prevent their +abusing it, and especially to guard against the danger of a long habit of +authority leading to usurpation. They had the management of the armed +force and of the finances; the nomination of functionaries, the conduct of +negotiations, but they could do nothing of themselves; they had ministers +and generals, for whose conduct they were responsible. Each member was +president for three months, holding the seals and affixing his signature. +Every year, one of the members was to go out. It will be seen by this +account that the functions of royalty as they were in 1791, were shared by +the council of ancients, who had the _veto_, and the directory, which held +the executive power. The directory had a guard, a national palace, the +Luxembourg, for a residence, and a kind of civil list. The council of the +ancients, destined to check the encroachments of the legislative power, +was invested with the means of restraining the usurpations of the +directory; it could change the residence of the councils and of the +government. + +The foresight of this constitution was infinite: it prevented popular +violence, the encroachments of power, and provided for all the perils +which the different crises of the revolution had displayed. If any +constitution could have become firmly established at that period, it was +the directorial constitution. It restored authority, granted liberty, and +offered the different parties an opportunity of peace, if each, sincerely +renouncing exclusive dominion, and satisfied with the common right, would +have taken its proper place in the state. But it did not last longer than +the others, because it could not establish legal order in spite of +parties. Each of them aspired to the government, in order to make its +system and its interests prevail, and instead of the reign of law, it was +still necessary to relapse into that of force, and of coups-d'état. When +parties do not wish to terminate a revolution--and those who do not +dominate never wish to terminate it--a constitution, however excellent it +may be, cannot accomplish it. + +The members of the Commission of Eleven, who, previously to the events of +Prairial, had no other mission than to prepare the organic laws of the +constitution of '93, and who, after those events, made the constitution of +the year III., were at the head of the conventional party. This party +neither belonged to the old Gironde nor to the old Mountain. Neutral up to +the 31st of May, subject till the 9th Thermidor, it had been in the +possession of power since that period, because the twofold defeat of the +Girondists and the Mountain had left it the strongest. The men of the +extreme sides, who had begun the fusion of parties, joined it. Merlin de +Douai represented the party of that mass which had yielded to +circumstances, Thibaudeau, the party that continued inactive, and Daunou, +the courageous party. The latter had declared himself opposed to all +coups-d'état, ever since the opening of the assembly, both the 21st of +January, and to the 31st of May, because he wished for the régime of the +convention, without party violence and measures. After the 9th Thermidor, +he blamed the fury displayed towards the chiefs of the revolutionary +government, whose victim he had been, as one of the _seventy-three_. He +had obtained great ascendancy, as men gradually approached towards a legal +system. His enlightened attachment to the revolution, his noble +independence, the solidity and extent of his ideas, and his imperturbable +fortitude, rendered him one of the most influential actors of this period. +He was the chief author of the constitution of the year III., and the +convention deputed him, with some others of its members, to undertake the +defence of the republic, during the crisis of Vendémiaire. + +The reaction gradually increased; it was indirectly favoured by the +members of the Right, who, since the opening of that assembly, had only +been incidentally republican. They were not prepared to repel the attacks +of the royalists with the same energy as that of the revolutionists. Among +this number were Boissy d'Anglas, Lanjuinais, Henri La Rivière, Saladin, +Aubry, etc.; they formed in the assembly the nucleus of the sectionary +party. Old and ardent members of the Mountain, such as Rovère, Bourdon de +l'Oise, etc., carried away by the counter-revolutionary movement, suffered +the reaction to be prolonged, doubtless in order to make their peace with +those whom they had so violently combated. + +But the conventional party, reassured with respect to the democrats, set +itself to prevent the triumph of the royalists. It felt that the safety of +the republic depended on the formation of the councils, and that the +councils being elected by the middle class, which was directed by +royalists, would be composed on counter-revolutionary principles. It was +important to entrust the guardianship of the régime they were about to +establish to those who had an interest in defending it. In order to avoid +the error of the constituent assembly, which had excluded itself from the +legislature that succeeded it, the convention decided by a decree, that +two-thirds of its members should be re-elected. By this means it secured +the majority of the councils and the nomination of the directory; it could +accompany its constitution into the state, and consolidate it without +violence. This re-election of two-thirds was not exactly legal, but it was +politic, and the only means of saving France from the rule of the +democrats or counter-revolutionists. The convention granted itself a +moderate dictatorship, by the decrees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor (22nd +and 30th of August, 1795), one of which established the re-election, and +the other fixed the manner of it. But these two exceptional decrees were +submitted to the ratification of the primary assemblies, at the same time +as the constitutional act. + +The royalist party was taken by surprise by the decrees of Fructidor. It +hoped to form part of the government by the councils, of the councils by +elections, and to effect a change of system when once in power. It +inveighed against the convention. The royalist committee of Paris, whose +agent was an obscure man, named Lemaître, the journalists, and the leaders +of the sections coalesced. They had no difficulty in securing the support +of public opinion, of which they were the only organs; they accused the +convention of perpetuating its power, and of assailing the sovereignty of +the people. The chief advocates of the two-thirds, Louvet, Daunou, and +Chénier, were not spared, and every preparation was made for a grand +movement. The Faubourg Saint Germain, lately almost deserted, gradually +filled; emigrants flocked in, and the conspirators, scarcely concealing +their plans, adopted the Chouan uniform. + +The convention, perceiving the storm increase, sought support in the army, +which, at that time, was the republican class, and a camp was formed at +Paris. The people had been disbanded, and the royalists had secured the +bourgeoisie. In the meantime, the primary assemblies met on the 20th +Fructidor, to deliberate on the constitutional act, and the decrees of the +two-thirds, which were to be accepted or rejected together. The +Lepelletier section (formerly Filles Saint Thomas) was the centre of all +the others. On a motion made by that section, it was decided that the +power of all constituent authority ceased in the presence of the assembled +people. The Lepelletier section, directed by Richer-Sérizy, La Harpe, +Lacretelle junior, Vaublanc, etc., turned its attention to the +organization of the insurrectional government, under the name of the +central committee. This committee was to replace in Vendémiaire, against +the convention, the committee of the 10th of August against the throne, +and of the 31st of May against the Girondists. The majority of the +sections adopted this measure, which was annulled by the convention, whose +decree was in its turn rejected by the majority of the sections. The +struggle now became open; and in Paris they separated the constitutional +act, which was adopted, from the decrees of re-election, which were +rejected. + +On the 1st Vendémiaire, the convention proclaimed the acceptance of the +decrees by the greater number of the primary assemblies of France. The +sections assembled again to nominate the electors who were to choose the +members of the legislature. On the 10th they determined that the electors +should assemble in the Théâtre Français (it was then on the other side of +the bridges); that they should be accompanied there by the armed force of +the sections, after having sworn to defend them till death. On the 11th, +accordingly, the electors assembled under the presidency of the duc de +Nivernois, and the guard of some detachments of chasseurs and grenadiers. + +The convention, apprised of the danger, sat permanently, stationed round +its place of sitting the troops of the camp of Sablons, and concentrated +its powers in a committee of five members, who were entrusted with all +measures of public safety. These members were Colombel, Barras, Daunou, +Letourneur, and Merlin de Douai. For some time the revolutionists had +ceased to be feared, and all had been liberated who had been imprisoned +for the events of Prairial. They enrolled, under the name of _Battalion of +Patriots of '89_, about fifteen or eighteen hundred of them, who had been +proceeded against, in the departments or in Paris, by the friends of the +reaction. In the evening of the 11th, the convention sent to dissolve the +assembly of electors by force, but they had already adjourned to the +following day. + +During the night of the 11th, the decree which dissolved the college of +electors, and which armed the battalion of patriots of '89, caused the +greatest agitation. Drums beat to arms; the Lepelletier section declaimed +against the despotism of the convention, against the return of the _Reign +of Terror_, and during the whole of the 12th prepared the other sections +for the contest. In the evening, the convention, scarcely less agitated, +decided on taking the initiative, by surrounding the conspiring section, +and terminating the crisis by disarming it. Menou, general of the +interior, and Laporte the representative, were entrusted with this +mission. The convent of the Filles Saint Thomas was the headquarters of +the sectionaries, before which they had seven or eight hundred men in +battle array. These were surrounded by superior forces, from the +Boulevards on each side, and the Rue Vivienne opposite. Instead of +disarming them, the leaders of the expedition began to parley. Both +parties agreed to withdraw; but the conventional troops had no sooner +retired than the sectionaries returned reinforced. This was a complete +victory for them, which being exaggerated in Paris, as such things always +are, increased their number, and gave them courage to attack the +convention the next day. + +About eleven at night the convention learned the issue of the expedition +and the dangerous effect which it had produced; it immediately dismissed +Menou, and gave the command of the armed force to Barras, the general in +command on the 9th Thermidor. Barras asked the committee of five to +appoint as his second in command, a young officer who had distinguished +himself at the siege of Toulon, but had been dismissed by Aubry of the +reaction party; a young man of talent and resolution, calculated to do +good service to the republic in a moment of peril. This young officer was +Bonaparte. He appeared before the committee, but there was nothing in his +appearance that announced his astonishing destiny. Not a man of party, +summoned for the first time to this great scene of action, his demeanour +exhibited a timidity and a want of assurance, which disappeared entirely +in the preparations for battle, and in the heat of action. He immediately +sent for the artillery of the camp of Sablons, and disposed them, with the +five thousand men of the conventional army, on all the points from which +the convention could be assailed. At noon on the 13th Vendémiaire, the +enclosure of the convention had the appearance of a fortified place, which +could only be taken by assault. The line of defence extended, on the left +side of the Tuileries along the river, from the Pont Neuf to the Pont +Louis XV.; on the right, in all the small streets opening on the Rue Saint +Honoré, from the Rues de Rohan, de l'Échelle and the Cul-de-sac Dauphin, +to the Place de la Révolution. In front, the Louvre, the Jardin de +l'Infante, and the Carrousel were planted with cannon; and behind, the +Pont Tournant and the Place de la Révolution formed a park of reserve. In +this position the convention awaited the insurgents. + +The latter soon encompassed it on several points. They had about forty +thousand men under arms, commanded by generals Danican, Duhoux, and the +ex-garde-du-corps Lafond. The thirty-two sections which formed the +majority, had supplied their military contingent. Of the other sixteen, +several sections of the faubourgs had their troops in the battalion of +'89. A few, those of the Quinze-vingts and Montreuil, sent assistance +during the action; others, though favourably disposed, as that of +Popincourt, could not do so; and lastly, others remained neutral, like +that of L'Indivisibilité. From two to three o'clock, general Carteaux, who +occupied the Pont Neuf with four hundred men and two four-pounders, was +surrounded by several columns of sectionaries, who obliged him to retire +on the Louvre. This advantage emboldened the insurgents, who were strong +on all points. General Danican summoned the convention to withdraw its +troops, and disarm the terrorists. The officer entrusted with the summons +was led into the assembly blindfold, and his message occasioned some +agitation, several members declaring in favour of conciliatory measures. +Boissy d'Anglas advised a conference with Danican; Gamon proposed a +proclamation in which they should call upon the citizens to retire, +promising then to disarm the battalion of '89. This address excited +violent murmurs. Chénier rushed to the tribune. "I am surprised," said he, +"that the demands of sections in a state of revolt should be discussed +here. Negotiation must not be heard of; there is only victory or death for +the national convention." Lanjuinais wished to support the address, by +dwelling on the danger and misery of civil war; but the convention would +not hear him, and on the motion of Fermond, passed to the order of the +day. The debates respecting measures of peace or war with the sections +were continued for some time, when, about half-past four several +discharges of musketry were heard, which put an end to all discussion. +Seven hundred guns were brought in, and the convention took arms as a body +of reserve. + +The conflict had now commenced in the Rue Saint Honoré, of which the +insurgents were masters. The first shots were fired from the Hôtel de +Noailles, and a murderous fire extended the whole length of this line. A +few moments after, on the other side, two columns of sectionaries, about +four thousand strong, commanded by the count de Maulevrier, advanced by +the quays, and attacked the Pont Royal. The action then became general, +but it could not last long; the place was too well defended to be taken by +assault. After an hour's fighting, the sectionaries were driven from Saint +Roch and Rue Saint Honoré, by the cannon of the convention and the +battalion of patriots. The column of the Pont Royal received three +discharges of artillery in front and on the side, from the bridge and the +quays, which put it entirely to flight. At seven o'clock the conventional +troops, victorious on all sides, took the offensive; by nine o'clock they +had dislodged the sectionaries from the Théâtre de la République and the +posts they still occupied in the neighbourhood of the Palais Royal. They +prepared to make barricades during the night, and several volleys were +fired in the Rue de la Loi (Richelieu), to prevent the works. The next +day, the 14th, the troops of the convention disarmed the Lepelletier +section, and compelled the others to return to order. + +The assembly, which had only fought in its own defence, displayed much +moderation. The 13th Vendémiaire was the 10th of August of the royalists +against the republic, except that the convention resisted the bourgeoisie +much better than the throne resisted the faubourgs. The position of France +contributed very much to this victory. Men now wished for a republic +without a revolutionary government, a moderate regime without a counter- +revolution. The convention, which was a mediatory power, pronounced alike +against the exclusive domination of the lower class, which it had thrown +off in Prairial, and the reactionary domination of the bourgeoisie, which +it repelled in Vendémiaire, seemed alone capable of satisfying this +twofold want, and of putting an end to the state of warfare between the +two parties, which was prolonged by their alternate entrance into the +government. This situation, as well as its own dangers, gave it courage to +resist, and secured its triumph. The sections could not take it by +surprise, and still less by assault. + +After the events of Vendémiaire, the convention occupied itself with +forming the councils and the directory. The third part, freely elected, +had been favourable to reaction. A few conventionalists, headed by +Tallien, proposed to annul the elections of this _third_, and wished to +suspend, for a longer time, the conventional government. Thibaudeau +exposed their design with much courage and eloquence. The whole +conventional party adopted his opinion. It rejected all superfluous +arbitrary sway, and showed itself impatient to leave the provisional state +it had been in for the last three years. The convention established itself +as a _national electoral assembly_, in order to complete the _two-thirds_ +from among its members. It then formed the councils; that of the +_Ancients_ of two hundred and fifty members, who according to the new law +had completed forty years; that of _The Five Hundred_ from among the +others. The councils met in the Tuileries. They then proceeded to form the +government. + +The attack of Vendémiaire was quite recent; and the republican party, +especially dreading the counter-revolution, agreed to choose the directors +only, from the conventionalists, and further from among those of them who +had voted for the death of the king. Some of the most influential members, +among whom was Daunou, opposed this view, which restricted the choice, and +continued to give the government a dictatorial and revolutionary +character; but it prevailed. The conventionalists thus elected were La +Réveillère-Lépaux, invested with general confidence on account of his +courageous conduct on the 31st of May, for his probity and his moderation; +Sieyès, the man who of all others enjoyed the greatest celebrity of the +day; Rewbell, possessed of great administrative activity; Letourneur, one +of the members of the commission of five during the last crisis; and +Barras, chosen for his two pieces of good fortune of Thermidor and +Vendémiaire. Sieyès, who had refused to take part in the legislative +commission _of the eleven_, also refused to enter upon the directory. It +is difficult to say whether this reluctance arose from calculation or an +insurmountable antipathy for Rewbell. He was replaced by Carnot, the only +member of the former committee whom they were disposed to favour, on +account of his political purity, and his great share in the victories of +the republic. Such was the first composition of the directory. On the 4th +Brumaire, the convention passed a law of amnesty, in order to enter on +legal government; changed the name of the Place de la Révolution into +Place de la Concorde, and declared its session closed. + +The convention lasted three years, from the 21st of September, 1792, to +October 26, 1795 (4th Brumaire, year IV.). It took several directions. +During the six first months of its existence it was drawn into the +struggle which arose between the legal party of the Gironde, and the +revolutionary party of the Mountain. The latter had the lead from the 31st +of May, 1793, to the 9th Thermidor, year II. (26th July, 1794). The +convention then obeyed the committee of public safety, which first +destroyed its old allies of the commune and of the Mountain, and +afterwards perished through its own divisions. From the 9th Thermidor to +the month of Brumaire, year IV., the convention conquered the +revolutionary and royalist parties, and sought to establish a moderate +republic in opposition to both. + +During this long and terrible period, the violence of the situation +changed the revolution into a war, and the assembly into a field of +battle. Each party wished to establish its sway by victory, and to secure +it by founding its system. The Girondist party made the attempt, and +perished; the Mountain made the attempt, and perished; the party of the +commune made the attempt, and perished; Robespierre's party made the +attempt, and perished. They could only conquer, they were unable to found +a system. The property of such a storm was to overthrow everything that +attempted to become settled. All was provisional; dominion, men, parties, +and systems, because the only thing real and possible was--war. A year was +necessary to enable the conventional party, on its return to power, to +restore the revolution to a legal position; and it could only accomplish +this by two victories--that of Prairial and that of Vendémiaire. But the +convention having then returned to the point whence it started, and having +discharged its true mission, which was to establish the republic after +having defended it, disappeared from the theatre of the world which it had +filled with surprise. A revolutionary power, it ceased as soon as legal +order recommenced. Three years of dictatorship had been lost to liberty +but not to the revolution. + + + + +THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THE DIRECTORY, ON THE 27TH OCTOBER, 1795, TO THE +COUP-D'ÉTAT OF THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, YEAR V. (3RD AUGUST, 1797) + + +The French revolution, which had destroyed the old government, and +thoroughly overturned the old society, had two wholly distinct objects; +that of a free constitution, and that of a more perfect state of +civilization. The six years we have just gone over were the search for +government by each of the classes which composed the French nation. The +privileged classes wished to establish their régime against the court and +the bourgeoisie, by preserving the social orders and the states-general; +the bourgeoisie sought to establish its régime against the privileged +classes and the multitude, by the constitution of 1791; and the multitude +wished to establish its régime against all the others, by the constitution +of 1793. Not one of these governments could become consolidated, because +they were all exclusive. But during their attempts, each class, in power +for a time, destroyed of the higher classes all that was intolerant or +calculated to oppose the progress of the new civilization. + +When the directory succeeded the convention, the struggle between the +classes was greatly weakened. The higher ranks of each formed a party +which still contended for the possession and for the form of government; +but the mass of the nation which had been so profoundly agitated from 1789 +to 1795, longed to become settled again, and to arrange itself according +to the new order of things. This period witnessed the end of the movement +for liberty, and the beginning of the movement towards civilization. The +revolution now took its second character, its character of order, +foundation, repose, after the agitation, the immense toil, and system of +complete demolition of its early years. + +This second period was remarkable, inasmuch as it seemed a kind of +abandonment of liberty. The different parties being no longer able to +possess it in an exclusive and durable manner, became discouraged, and +fell back from public into private life. This second period divided itself +into two epochs: it was liberal under the directory and at the +commencement of the Consulate, and military at the close of the Consulate +and under the empire. The revolution daily grew more materialized; after +having made a nation of sectaries, it made a nation of working men, and +then it made a nation of soldiers. + +Many illusions were already destroyed; men had passed through so many +different states, had lived so much in so few years, that all ideas were +confounded and all creeds shaken. The reign of the middle class and that +of the multitude had passed away like a rapid phantasmagoria. They were +far from that France of the 14th of July, with its deep conviction, its +high morality, its assembly exercising the all-powerful sway of liberty +and of reason, its popular magistracies, its citizen-guard, its +brilliant, peaceable, and animated exterior, wearing the impress of order +and independence. They were far from the more sombre and more tempestuous +France of the 10th of August, when a single class held the government and +society, and had introduced therein its language, manners, and costume, +the agitation of its fears, the fanaticism of its ideas, the distrust of +its position. Then private life entirely gave place to public life; the +republic presented, in turn, the aspect of an assembly and of a camp; the +rich were subject to the poor; the creed of democracy combined with the +gloomy and ragged administration of the people. At each of these periods +men had been strongly attached to some idea: first, to liberty and +constitutional monarchy; afterwards, to equality, fraternity, and the +republic. But at the beginning of the directory, there was belief in +nothing; in the great shipwreck of parties, all had been lost, both the +virtue of the bourgeoisie and the virtue of the people. + +Men arose from this furious turmoil weakened and wounded, and each, +remembering his political existence with terror, plunged wildly into the +pleasures and relations of private life which had so long been suspended. +Balls, banquets, debauchery, splendid carriages, became more fashionable +than ever; this was the reaction of the ancient régime. The reign of the +sans-culottes brought back the dominion of the rich; the clubs, the +return of the salons. For the rest, it was scarcely possible but that the +first symptom of the resumption of modern civilization should be thus +irregular. The directorial manners were the product of another society, +which had to appear again before the new state of society could regulate +its relations, and constitute its own manners. In this transition, luxury +would give rise to labour, stock-jobbing to commerce; salons bring parties +together who could not approximate except in private life; in a word, +civilization would again usher in liberty. + +The situation of the republic was discouraging at the installation of the +directory. There existed no element of order or administration. There was +no money in the public treasury; couriers were often delayed for want of +the small sum necessary to enable them to set out. In the interior, +anarchy and uneasiness were general; paper currency, in the last stage of +discredit, destroyed confidence and commerce; the dearth became +protracted, every one refusing to part with his commodities, for it +amounted to giving them away; the arsenals were exhausted or almost empty. +Without, the armies were destitute of baggage-wagons, horses, and +supplies; the soldiers were in want of clothes, and the generals were +often unable to liquidate their pay of eight francs a month in specie, an +indispensable supplement, small as it was, to their pay in assignats; and +lastly, the troops, discontented and undisciplined, on account of their +necessities, were again beaten, and on the defensive. + +Things were at this state of crisis after the fall of the committee of +public safety. This committee had foreseen the dearth, and prepared for +it, both in the army and in the interior, by the requisitions and the +_maximum_. No one had dared to exempt himself from this financial system, +which rendered the wealthy and commercial classes tributary to the +soldiers and the multitude, and at that time provisions had not been +withheld from the market. But since violence and confiscation had ceased, +the people, the convention, and the armies were at the mercy of the landed +proprietors and speculators, and terrible scarcity existed, a reaction +against the _maximum_. The system of the convention had consisted, in +political economy, in the consumption of an immense capital, represented +by the assignats. This assembly had been a rich government, which had +ruined itself in defending the revolution. Nearly half the French +territory, consisting of domains of the crown, ecclesiastical property, or +the estates of the emigrant nobility, had been sold, and the produce +applied to the support of the people, who did little labour, and to the +external defence of the republic by the armies. More than eight milliards +of assignats had been issued before the 9th Thermidor, and since that +period thirty thousand millions had been added to that sum, already so +enormous. Such a system could not be continued; it was necessary to begin +the work again, and return to real money. + +The men deputed to remedy this great disorganization were, for the most +part, of ordinary talent; but they set to work with zeal, courage, and +good sense. "When the directors," said M. Bailleul, [Footnote: _Examen +Critique des Considérations de Madame de Staël, sur la Révolution +Française_, by M. J. Ch. Bailleul, vol. ii., pp. 275, 281.] "entered the +Luxembourg, there was not an article of furniture. In a small room, at a +little broken table, one leg of which was half eaten away with age, on +which they placed some letter-paper and a calumet standish, which they had +fortunately brought from the committee of public safety, seated on four +straw-bottom chairs, opposite a few logs of dimly-burning wood, the whole +borrowed from Dupont, the porter; who would believe that it was in such a +condition that the members of the new government, after having +investigated all the difficulties, nay, all the horror of their position, +resolved that they would face all obstacles, and that they would either +perish or rescue France from the abyss into which she had fallen? On a +sheet of writing-paper they drew up the act by which they ventured to +declare themselves constituted; an act which they immediately despatched +to the legislative chambers." + +The directors then proceeded to divide their labours, taking as their +guide the grounds which had induced the constitutional party to select +them. Rewbell, possessed of great energy, a lawyer versed in government +and diplomacy, had assigned to him the departments of law, finance, and +foreign affairs. His skill and commanding character soon made him the +moving spirit of the directory in all civil matters. Barras had no special +knowledge; his mind was mediocre, his resources few, his habits indolent. +In an hour of danger, his resolution qualified him to execute sudden +measures, like those of Thermidor or Vendémiaire. But being, on ordinary +occasions, only adapted for the surveillance of parties, the intrigues of +which he was better acquainted with than any one else, the police +department was allotted to him. He was well suited for the task, being +supple and insinuating, without partiality for any political sect, and +having revolutionary connexions by his past life, while his birth gave him +access to the aristocracy. Barras took on himself the representation of +the directory, and established a sort of republican regency at the +Luxembourg. The pure and moderate La Réveillère, whose gentleness tempered +with courage, whose sincere attachment for the republic and legal +measures, had procured him a post in the directory, with the general +consent of the assembly and public opinion, had assigned to him the moral +department, embracing education, the arts, sciences, manufactures, etc. +Letourneur, an ex-artillery officer, member of the committee of public +safety at the latter period of the convention, had been appointed to the +war department. But when Carnot was chosen, on the refusal of Sieyès, he +assumed the direction of military operations, and left to his colleague +Letourneur the navy and the colonies. His high talents and resolute +character gave him the upper hand in the direction. Letourneur attached +himself to him, as La Réveillère to Rewbell, and Barras was between the +two. At this period, the directors turned their attention with the +greatest concord to the improvement and welfare of the state. + +The directors frankly followed the route traced out for them by the +constitution. After having established authority in the centre of the +republic, they organized it in the departments, and established, as well +as they could, a correspondence of design between local administrations +and their own. Placed between the two exclusive and dissatisfied parties +of Prairial and Vendémiaire, they endeavoured, by a decided line of +conduct, to subject them to an order of things, holding a place midway +between their extreme pretensions. They sought to revive the enthusiasm +and order of the first years of the revolution. "You, whom we summon to +share our labours," they wrote to their agents, "you who have, with us, to +promote the progress of the republican constitution, your first virtue, +your first feeling, should be that decided resolution, that patriotic +faith, which has also produced its enthusiasts and its miracles. All will +be achieved when, by your care, that sincere love of liberty which +sanctified the dawn of the revolution, again animates the heart of every +Frenchman. The banners of liberty floating on every house, and the +republican device written on every door, doubtless form an interesting +sight. Obtain more; hasten the day when the sacred name of the republic +shall be graven voluntarily on every heart." + +In a short time, the wise and firm proceedings of the new government +restored confidence, labour, and plenty. The circulation of provisions was +secured, and at the end of a month the directory was relieved from the +obligation to provide Paris with supplies, which it effected for itself. +The immense activity created by the revolution began to be directed +towards industry and agriculture. A part of the population quitted the +clubs and public places for workshops and fields; and then the benefit of +a revolution, which, having destroyed corporations, divided property, +abolished privileges, increased fourfold the means of civilization, and +was destined to produce prodigious good to France, began to be felt. The +directory encouraged this movement in the direction of labour by salutary +institutions. It re-established public exhibitions of the produce of +industry, and improved the system of education decreed under the +convention. The national institute, primary, central, and normal schools, +formed a complete system of republican institutions. La Réveillère, the +director intrusted with the moral department of the government, then +sought to establish, under the name of _Theophilanthropie_, the deistical +religion which the committee of public safety had vainly endeavoured to +establish by the _Fête à l'Etre Suprême_. He provided temples, hymns, +forms, and a kind of liturgy, for the new religion; but such a faith could +only be individual, could not long continue public. The +_theophilanthropists_, whose religion was opposed to the political +opinions and the unbelief of the revolutionists, were much ridiculed. +Thus, in the passage from public institutions to individual faith, all +that had been liberty became civilization, and what had been religion +became opinion. Deists remained, but _theophilanthropists_ were no longer +to be met with. + +The directory, pressed for money, and shackled by the disastrous state of +the finances, had recourse to measures somewhat extraordinary. It had sold +or pledged the most valuable articles of the Wardrobe, in order to meet +the greatest urgencies. National property was still left; but it sold +badly, and for assignats. The directory proposed a compulsory loan, which +was decreed by the councils. This was a relic of the revolutionary +measures with regard to the rich; but, having been irresolutely adopted, +and executed without due authority, it did not succeed. The directory then +endeavoured to revive paper money; it proposed the issue of _mandats +territoriaux_, which were to be substituted for the assignats then in +circulation, at the rate of thirty for one, and to take the place of +money. The councils decreed the issue of _mandats territoriaux_ to the +amount of two thousand four hundred millions. They had the advantage of +being exchangeable at once and upon presentation, for the national domains +which represented them. Their sale was very extensive, and in this way was +completed the revolutionary mission of the assignats, of which they were +the second period. They procured the directory a momentary resource; but +they also lost their credit, and led insensibly to bankruptcy, which was +the transition from paper to specie. + +The military situation of the republic was not a brilliant one; at the +close of the convention there had been an abatement of victories. The +equivocal position and weakness of the central authority, as much as the +scarcity, had relaxed the discipline of the troops. The generals, too, +disappointed that they had distinguished their command by so few +victories, and were not spurred on by an energetic government, became +inclined to insubordination. The convention had deputed Pichegru and +Jourdan, one at the head of the army of the Rhine, the other with that of +the Sambre-et-Meuse, to surround and capture Mayence, in order that they +might occupy the whole line of the Rhine. Pichegru made this project +completely fail; although possessing the entire confidence of the +republic, and enjoying the greatest military fame of the day, he formed +counter-revolutionary schemes with the prince of Condé; but they were +unable to agree. Pichegru urged the emigrant prince to enter France with +his troops, by Switzerland or the Rhine, promising to remain inactive, the +only thing in his power to do in favour of such an attempt. The prince +required as a preliminary, that Pichegru should hoist the white flag in +his army, which was, to a man, republican. This hesitation, no doubt, +injured the projects of the reactionists, who were preparing the +conspiracy of Vendémiaire. But Pichegru wishing, one way or the other, to +serve his new allies and to betray his country, allowed himself to be +defeated at Heidelberg, compromised the army of Jourdan, evacuated +Mannheim, raised the siege of Mayence with considerable loss, and exposed +that frontier to the enemy. + +The directory found the Rhine open towards Mayence, the war of La Vendée +rekindled; the coasts of France and Holland threatened with a descent from +England; lastly, the army of Italy destitute of everything, and merely +maintaining the defensive under Schérer and Kellermann. Carnot prepared a +new plan of campaign, which was to carry the armies of the republic to the +very heart of the hostile states. Bonaparte, appointed general of the +interior after the events of Vendémiaire, was placed at the head of the +army of Italy; Jourdan retained the command of the army of the Sambre-et- +Meuse, and Moreau had that of the army of the Rhine, in place of Pichegru. +The latter, whose treason was suspected by the directory, though not +proved, was offered the embassy to Sweden, which he refused, and retired +to Arbois, his native place. The three great armies, placed under the +orders of Bonaparte, Jourdan, and Moreau, were to attack the Austrian +monarchy by Italy and Germany, combine at the entrance of the Tyrol and +march upon Vienna, in echelon. The generals prepared to execute this vast +movement, the success of which would make the republic mistress of the +headquarters of the coalition on the continent. + +The directory gave to general Hoche the command of the coast, and deputed +him to conclude the Vendéan war. Hoche changed the system of warfare +adopted by his predecessors. La Vendée was disposed to submit. Its +previous victories had not led to the success of its cause; defeat and +ill-fortune had exposed it to plunder and conflagration. The insurgents, +irreparably injured by the disaster of Savenay, by the loss of their +principal leader, and their best soldiers, by the devastating system of +the infernal columns, now desired nothing more than to live on good terms +with the republic. The war now depended only on a few chiefs, upon +Charette, Stofflet, etc. Hoche saw that it was necessary to wean the +masses from these men by concessions, and then to crush them. He skilfully +separated the royalist cause from the cause of religion, and employed the +priests against the generals, by showing great indulgence to the catholic +religion. He had the country scoured by four powerful columns, took their +cattle from the inhabitants, and only restored them in return for their +arms. He left no repose to the armed party, defeated Charette in several +encounters, pursued him from one retreat to another, and at last made him +prisoner. Stofflet wished to raise the Vendéan standard again on his +territory; but it was given up to the republicans. These two chiefs, who +had witnessed the beginning of the insurrection, were present at its +close. They died courageously; Stofflet at Angers, Charette at Nantes, +after having displayed character and talents worthy of a larger theatre. +Hoche likewise tranquillized Brittany. Morbihan was occupied by numerous +bands of Chouans, who formed a formidable association, the principal +leader of which was George Cadoudal. Without entering on a campaign, they +were mastering the country. Hoche directed all his force and activity +against them, and before long had destroyed or exhausted them. Most of +their leaders quitted their arms, and took refuge in England. The +directory, on learning these fortunate pacifications, formally announced +to both councils, on the 28th Messidor (June, 1796), that this civil war +was definitively terminated. + +In this manner the winter of the year IV. passed away. But the directory +could hardly fail to be attacked by the two parties, whose sway was +prevented by its existence, the democrats and the royalists. The former +constituted an inflexible and enterprising sect. For them, the 9th +Thermidor was an era of pain and oppression: they desired to establish +absolute equality, in spite of the state of society, and democratic +liberty, in spite of civilization. This sect had been so vanquished as +effectually to prevent its return to power. On the 9th Thermidor it had +been driven from the government; on the 2nd Prairial, from society; and it +had lost both power and insurrections. But though disorganized and +proscribed, it was far from having disappeared. After the unfortunate +attempt of the royalists in Vendémiaire, it arose through their abasement. + +The democrats re-established their club at the Panthéon, which the +directory tolerated for some time. They had for their chief, "Gracchus" +Babeuf, who styled himself the "Tribune of the people." He was a daring +man, of an exalted imagination, an extraordinary fanaticism of democracy, +and with great influence over his party. In his journal, he prepared the +reign of general happiness. The society at the Panthéon daily became more +numerous, and more alarming to the directory who at first endeavoured to +restrain it. But the sittings were soon protracted to an advanced hour of +the night; the democrats repaired thither in arms, and proposed marching +against the directory and the councils. The directory determined to oppose +them openly. On the 8th Ventôse, year IV. (February, 1796), it closed the +society of the Panthéon, and on the 9th, by a message informed the +legislative body that it had done so. + +The democrats, deprived of their place of meeting, had recourse to another +plan. They seduced the police force, which was chiefly composed of deposed +revolutionists; and in concert with it, they were to destroy the +constitution of the year III. The directory, informed of this new +manoeuvre, disbanded the police force, causing it to be disarmed by other +troops on whom it could rely. The conspirators, taken by surprise a second +time, determined on a project of attack and insurrection: they formed an +insurrectionary committee of public safety, which communicated by +secondary agents with the lower orders of the twelve communes of Paris. +The members of this principal committee were Babeuf, the chief of the +conspiracy, ex-conventionalists, such as Vadier, Amar, Choudieu, Ricord, +the representative Drouet, the former generals of the decemviral +committee, Rossignol, Parrein, Fyon, Lami. Many cashiered officers, +patriots of the departments, and the old Jacobin mass, composed the army +of this faction. The chiefs often assembled in a place they called the +Temple of Reason; here they sang lamentations on the death of Robespierre, +and deplored the slavery of the people. They opened a negotiation with the +troops of the camp of Grenelle, admitted among them a captain of that +camp, named Grisel, whom they supposed their own, and concerted every +measure for the attack. + +Their plan was to establish common happiness; and for that purpose, to +make a distribution of property, and to cause the government of true, +pure, and absolute democrats to prevail; to create a convention composed +of sixty-eight members of the Mountain, the remnant of the numbers +proscribed since the reaction of Thermidor, and to join with these a +democrat for each department; lastly, to start from the different quarters +in which they had distributed themselves, and march at the same time +against the directory and against the councils. On the night of the +insurrection, they were to fix up two placards; one, containing the words, +"The Constitution of 1793! liberty! equality! common happiness!" the +other, containing the following declaration, "Those who usurp the +sovereignty, ought to be put to death by free men." All was ready; the +proclamations printed, the day appointed, when they were betrayed by +Grisel, as generally happens in conspiracies. + +On the 21st Floréal (May), the eve of the day fixed for the attack, the +conspirators were seized at their regular place of meeting. In Babeuf's +house were found a plan of the plot and all the documents connected with +it. The directory apprised the councils of it by a message, and announced +it to the people by proclamation. This strange attempt, savouring so +strongly of fanaticism, and which could only be a repetition of the +insurrection of Prairial, without its means and its hopes of success, +excited the greatest terror. The public mind was still terrified with the +recent domination of the Jacobins. + +Babeuf, like a daring conspirator, prisoner as he was, proposed terms of +peace to the directory:-- + +"Would you consider it beneath you, citizen directors," he wrote to them, +"to treat with me, as power with power? You have seen what vast confidence +centres in me; you have seen that my party may well balance equally in the +scale your own; you have seen its immense ramifications. I am convinced +you have trembled at the sight." He concluded by saying: "I see but one +wise mode of proceeding; declare there has been no serious conspiracy. +Five men, by showing themselves great and generous may now save the +country. I will answer for it, that the patriots will defend you with +their lives; the patriots do not hate you; they only hated your unpopular +measures. For my part, I will give you a guarantee as extensive as is my +perpetual franchise." The directors, instead of this reconciliation, +published Babeuf's letter, and sent the conspirators before the high court +of Vendôme. + +Their partisans made one more attempt. On the 13th Fructidor (August), +about eleven at night, they marched, to the number of six or seven +hundred, armed with sabres and pistols, against the directory, whom they +found defended by its guard. They then repaired to the camp of Grenelle, +which they hoped to gain over by means of a correspondence which they had +established with it. The troops had retired to rest when the conspirators +arrived. To the sentinel's cry of "_Qui vive?_" they replied: "_Vive la +république! Vive la constitution de '93!_" The sentinels gave the alarm +through the camp. The conspirators, relying on the assistance of a +battalion from Gard, which had been disbanded, advanced towards the tent +of Malo, the commander-in-chief, who gave orders to sound to arms, and +commanded his half-dressed dragoons to mount. The conspirators, surprised +at this reception, feebly defended themselves: they were cut down by the +dragoons or put to flight, leaving many dead and prisoners on the field of +battle. This ill-fated expedition was almost the last of the party: with +each defeat it lost its force, its chiefs, and acquired the secret +conviction that its reign was over. The Grenelle enterprise proved most +fatal to it; besides the numbers slain in the fight, many were condemned +to death by the military commissions, which were to it what the +revolutionary tribunals had been to its foes. The commission of the camp +of Grenelle, in five sittings, condemned one-and-thirty conspirators to +death, thirty to transportation, and twenty-five to imprisonment. + +Shortly afterwards the high court of Vendôme tried Babeuf and his +accomplices, among whom were Amar, Vadier, and Darthé, formerly secretary +to Joseph Lebon. They none of them belied themselves; they spoke as men +who feared neither to avow their object, nor to die for their cause. At +the beginning and the end of each sitting, they sang the _Marseillaise_. +This old song of victory, and their firm demeanour, struck the public mind +with astonishment, and seemed to render them still more formidable. Their +wives accompanied them to the trial, Babeuf, at the close of his defence, +turned to them, and said, "_they should accompany them even to Calvary, +because the cause of their punishment would not bring them to shame_." The +high court condemned Babeuf and Darthé to death: as they heard their +sentence they both stabbed themselves with a poignard. Babeuf was the last +leader of the old commune and the committee of public safety, which had +separated previous to Thermidor, and which afterwards united again. This +party decreased daily. Its dispersal and isolation more especially date +from this period. Under the reaction, it still formed a compact mass; +under Babeuf, it maintained the position of a formidable association. From +that time democrates existed, but the party was broken up. + +In the interim between the Grenelle enterprise and Babeuf's condemnation, +the royalists also formed their conspiracy. The projects of the democrats +produced a movement of opinion, contrary to that which had been manifested +after Vendémiaire, and the counter-revolutionists in their turn became +emboldened. The secret chiefs of this party hoped to find auxiliaries in +the troops of the camp of Grenelle, who had repelled the Babeuf faction. +This party, impatient and unskilful, unable to employ the whole of the +sectionaries, as in Vendémiaire, or the mass of the councils, as on the +18th Fructidor, made use of three men without either name or influence: +the abbé Brothier, the ex-counsellor of parliament, Lavilheurnois, and a +sort of adventurer, named Dunan. They applied at once, in all simplicity, +to Malo for the camp of Grenelle, in order by its means to restore the +ancient régime. Malo delivered them up to the directory, who transferred +them to the civil tribunals, not having been able, as he wished, to have +them tried by military commissioners. They were treated with much +consideration by judges of their party, elected under the influence of +Vendémiaire, and the sentence pronounced against them was only a short +imprisonment. At this period, a contest arose between all the authorities +appointed by the sections, and the directory supported by the army; each +taking its strength and judges wherever its party prevailed; the result +was, that the electoral power placing itself at the disposition of the +counter-revolution, the directory was compelled to introduce the army in +the state; which afterwards gave rise to serious inconvenience. + +The directory, triumphant over the two dissentient parties, also triumphed +over Europe. The new campaign opened under the most favourable auspices. +Bonaparte, on arriving at Nice, signalised his command by one of the most +daring of invasions. Hitherto his army had hovered idly on the side of the +Alps; it was destitute of everything, and scarcely amounted to thirty +thousand men; but it was well provided with courage and patriotism; and, +by their means, Bonaparte then commenced that world-astonishment by which +he carried all before him for twenty years. He broke up the cantonments, +and entered the valley of Savona, in order to march into Italy between the +Alps and the Apennines. There were before him ninety thousand troops of +the coalition, commanded in the centre by Argentau, by Colle on the left, +and Beaulieu on the right. This immense army was dispersed in a few days +by prodigies of genius and courage. Bonaparte overthrew the centre at +Montenotte, and entered Piedmont; at Millesimo he entirely separated the +Sardinian from the Austrian army. They hastened to defend Turin and Milan, +the capitals of their domination. Before pursuing the Austrians, the +republican general threw himself on the left, to cut off the Sardinian +army. The fate of Piedmont was decided at Mondovi, and the terrified court +of Turin hastened to submit. At Cherasco an armistice was concluded, which +was soon afterwards followed by a treaty of peace, signed at Paris, on the +18th of May, 1796, between the republic and the king of Sardinia, who +ceded Savoy and the counties of Nice and Tenda. The occupation of +Alessandria, which opened the Lombard country; the demolition of the +fortresses of Susa, and of Brunette, on the borders of France; the +abandonment of the territory of Nice, and of Savoy, and the rendering +available the other army of the Alps, under Kellermann, was the reward of +a fortnight's campaign, and six victories. + +War being over with Piedmont, Bonaparte marched against the Austrian army, +to which he left no repose. He passed the Po at Piacenza, and the Adda at +Lodi. The latter victory opened the gates of Milan, and secured him the +possession of Lombardy. General Beaulieu was driven into the defiles of +Tyrol by the republican army, which invested Mantua, and appeared on the +mountains of the empire. General Wurmser came to replace Beaulieu, and a +new army was sent to join the wrecks of the conquered one. Wurmser +advanced to relieve Mantua, and once more make Italy the field of battle; +but he was overpowered, like his predecessor, by Bonaparte, who, after +having raised the blockade of Mantua, in order to oppose this new enemy, +renewed it with increased vigour, and resumed his positions in Tyrol. The +plan of invasion was executed with much union and success. While the army +of Italy threatened Austria by Tyrol, the two armies of the Meuse and +Rhine entered Germany; Moreau, supported by Jourdan on his left, was ready +to join Bonaparte on his right. The two armies had passed the Rhine at +Neuwied and Strasburg, and had advanced on a front, drawn up in echelons +to the distance of sixty leagues, driving back the enemy, who, while +retreating before them, strove to impede their march and break their line. +They had almost attained the aim of their enterprise; Moreau had entered +Ulm and Augsburg, crossed the Leek, and his advanced guard was on the +extreme of the defiles of Tyrol, when Jourdan, from a misunderstanding, +passed beyond the line, was attacked by the archduke Charles, and +completely routed. Moreau, exposed on his left wing, was reduced to the +necessity of retracing his steps, and he then effected his memorable +retreat. The fault of Jourdan was a capital one: it prevented the success +of this vast plan of campaign, and gave respite to the Austrian +government. + +The cabinet of Vienna, which had lost Belgium in this war, and which felt +the importance of preserving Italy, defended it with the greatest +obstinacy. Wurmser, after a new defeat, was obliged to throw himself into +Mantua with the wreck of his army. General Alvinzy, at the head of fifty +thousand Hungarians, now came to try his fortune, but was not more +successful than Beaulieu or Wurmser. New victories were added to the +wonders already achieved by the army of Italy, and secured the conquest of +that country. Mantua capitulated; the republican troops, masters of Italy, +took the route to Vienna across the mountains. Bonaparte had before him +prince Charles, the last hope of Austria. He soon passed through the +defiles of Tyrol, and entered the plains of Germany. In the meantime, the +army of the Rhine under Moreau, and that of the Meuse under Hoche, +successfully resumed the plan of the preceding campaign; and the cabinet +of Vienna, in a state of alarm, concluded the truce of Leoben. It had +exhausted all its force, and tried all its generals, while the French +republic was in the full vigour of conquest. + +The army of Italy accomplished in Europe the work of the French +revolution. This wonderful campaign was owing to the union of a general of +genius, and an intelligent army. Bonaparte had for lieutenants generals +capable of commanding themselves, who knew how to take upon themselves the +responsibility of a movement of a battle, and an army of citizens all +possessing cultivated minds, deep feeling, strong emulation of all that is +great; passionately attached to a revolution which aggrandized their +country, preserved their independence under discipline, and which afforded +an opportunity to every soldier of becoming a general. There is nothing +which a leader of genius might not accomplish with such men. He must have +regretted, at this recollection of his earlier years, that he ever centred +in himself all liberty and intelligence, that he ever created mechanical +armies and generals only fit to obey. Bonaparte began the third epoch of +the war. The campaign of 1792 had been made on the old system, with +dispersed corps, acting separately without abandoning their fixed line. +The committee of public safety concentrated the corps, made them operate +no longer merely on what was before them, but at a distance; it hastened +their movement, and directed them towards a common end. Bonaparte did for +each battle what the committee had done for each campaign. He brought all +these corps on the determinate point, and destroyed several armies with a +single one by the rapidity of his measures. He disposed of whole masses of +troops at his pleasure, moved them here or there, brought them forward, or +kept them out of sight, had them wholly at his disposition, when, where, +and how he pleased, whether to occupy a position or to gain a battle. His +diplomacy was as masterly as his military science. + +All the Italian governments, except Venice and Genoa, had adhered to the +coalition, but the people were in favour of the French republic. Bonaparte +relied on the latter. He abolished Piedmont, which he could not conquer; +transformed the Milanese, hitherto dependent on Austria, into the +_Cisalpine Republic_; he weakened Tuscany and the petty princes of Parma +and Modena by contributions, without dispossessing them; the pope, who had +signed a truce on Bonaparte's first success against Beaulieu, and who did +not hesitate to infringe it on the arrival of Wurmser, bought peace by +yielding Romagna, Bologna, and Ferrara, which were joined to the Cisalpine +republic; lastly, the aristocracy of Venice and Genoa having favoured the +coalition, and raised an insurrection in the rear of the army, their +government was changed, and Bonaparte made it democratic, in order to +oppose the power of the people to that of the nobility. In this way the +revolution penetrated into Italy. + +Austria, by the preliminaries of Leoben, ceded Belgium to France, and +recognised the Lombard republic. All the allied powers had laid down their +arms, and even England asked to treat. France, peaceable and free at home, +had on her borders attained her natural limits, and was surrounded with +rising republics, such as Holland, Lombardy, and Liguria, which guarded +her sides and extended her system in Europe. The coalition was little +disposed to assail anew a revolution, all the governments of which were +victorious; that of anarchy after the 10th of August, of the dictatorship +after the 31st of May, and of legal authority under the directory; a +revolution, which, at every new hostility, advanced a step further upon +European territory. In 1792, it had only extended to Belgium; in 1794, it +had reached Holland and the Rhine; in 1796, had reached Italy, and entered +Germany. If it continued its progress, the coalition had reason to fear +that it would carry its conquests further. Everything seemed prepared for +general peace. + +But the situation of the directory was materially changed by the elections +of the year V. (May, 1797). These elections, by introducing, in a legal +way, the royalist party into the legislature and government, brought again +into question what the conflict of Vendémiaire had decided. Up to this +period, a good understanding had existed between the directory and the +councils. Composed of conventionalists, united by a common interest, and +the necessity of establishing the republic, after having been blown about +by the winds of all parties, they had manifested much good-will in their +intercourse, and much union in their measures. The councils had yielded to +the various demands of the directory; and, with the exception of a few +slight modifications, they had approved its projects concerning the +finance and the administration, its conduct with regard to the +conspiracies, the armies, and Europe. The anti-conventional minority had +formed an opposition in the councils; but this opposition, while waiting +the reinforcement of a new third, had but cautiously contended against the +policy of the directory. At its head were Barbé-Marbois, Pastoret, +Vaublanc, Dumas, Portalis, Siméon, Tronçon-Ducoudray, Dupont de Nemours, +most of them members of the Right in the legislative assembly, and some of +them avowed royalists. Their position soon became less equivocal and more +aggressive, by the addition of those members elected in the year V. + +The royalists formed a formidable and active confederation, having its +leaders, agents, budgets, and journals. They excluded republicans from the +elections, influenced the masses, who always follow the most energetic +party, and whose banner they momentarily assume. They would not even admit +patriots of the first epoch, and only elected decided counter- +revolutionists or equivocal constitutionalists. The republican party was +then placed in the government and in the army; the royalist party in the +electoral assemblies and the councils. + +On the 1st Prairial, year V. (20th May), the two councils opened their +sittings. From the beginning they manifested the spirit which actuated +them. Pichegru, whom the royalists transferred on to the new field of +battle of the counter-revolution, was enthusiastically elected president +of the council _des jeunes_. Barbé-Marbois had given him, with the same +eagerness, the presidentship of the elder council. The legislative body +proceeded to appoint a director to replace Letourneur, who, on the 30th +Floréal, had been fixed on by ballot as the retiring member. Their choice +fell on Barthélemy, the ambassador to Switzerland, whose moderate views +and attachment to peace suited the councils and Europe, but who was +scarcely adapted for the government of the republic, owing to his absence +from France during all the revolution. + +These first hostilities against the directory and the conventional party +were followed by more actual attacks. Its administration and policy were +now attacked without scruple. The directory had done all it had been able +to do by a legal government in a situation still revolutionary. It was +blamed for continuing the war and for the disorder of the financial +department. The legislative majority skilfully turned its attention to the +public wants; it supported the entire liberty of the press, which allowed +journalists to attack the directory, and to prepare the way for another +system; it supported peace because it would lead to the disarming of the +republic, and lastly, it supported economy. + +These demands were in one sense useful and national. France was weary, and +felt the need of all these things in order to complete its social +restoration; accordingly, the nation half adopted the views of the +royalists, but from entirely different motives. It saw with rather more +anxiety the measures adopted by the councils relative to priests and +emigrants. A pacification was desired; but the nation did not wish that +the conquered foes of the revolution should return triumphant. The +councils passed the laws with regard to them with great precipitation. +They justly abolished the sentence of transportation or imprisonment +against priests for matters of religion or incivism; but they wished to +restore the ancient prerogatives of their form of worship; to render +Catholicism, already re-established, outwardly manifest by the use of +bells, and to exempt priests from the oath of public functionaries. +Camille Jordan, a young Lyonnais deputy, full of eloquence and courage, +but professing unreasonable opinions, was the principal panegyrist of the +clergy in the younger council. The speech which he delivered on this +subject excited great surprise and violent opposition. The little +enthusiasm that remained was still entirely patriotic, and all were +astonished at witnessing the revival of another enthusiasm, that of +religion: the last century and the revolution had made men entirely +unaccustomed to it, and prevented them from understanding it. This was the +moment when the old party revived its creed, introduced its language, and +mingled them with the creed and language of the reform party, which had +hitherto prevailed alone. The result was, as is usual with all that is +unexpected, an unfavourable and ridiculous impression against Camille +Jordan, who was nicknamed _Jordan-Carillon, Jordan-les-Cloches_. The +attempt of the protectors of the clergy did not, however, succeed; and the +council of five hundred did not venture as yet to pass a decree for the +use of bells, or to make the priests independent. After some hesitation, +the moderate party joined the directorial party, and supported the civic +oath with cries of "Vive la République!" + +Meantime, hostilities continued against the directory, especially in the +council of five hundred, which was more zealous and impatient than that of +the ancients. All this greatly emboldened the royalist faction in the +interior. The counter-revolutionary reprisals against the _patriots_, and +those who had acquired national property, were renewed. Emigrant and +dissentient priests returned in crowds, and being unable to endure +anything savouring of the revolution, they did not conceal their projects +for its overthrow. The directorial authority, threatened in the centre, +and disowned in the departments, became wholly powerless. + +But the necessity of defence, the anxiety of all men who were devoted to +the directory, and especially to the revolution, gave courage and support +to the government. The aggressive progress of the councils brought their +attachment to the republic into suspicion; and the mass, which had at +first supported, now forsook them. The constitutionalists of 1791, and the +directorial party formed an alliance. The club of _Salm_, established +under the auspices of this alliance, was opposed to the club of _Clichy_, +which for a long time had been the rendezvous of the most influential +members of the councils. The directory, while it had recourse to opinion, +did not neglect its principal force--the support of the troops. It brought +near Paris several regiments of the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, commanded +by Hoche. The constitutional radius of six myriametres (twelve leagues), +which the troops could not legally pass, was violated: and the councils +denounced this violation to the directory, which feigned an ignorance, +wholly disbelieved, and made very weak excuses. + +The two parties were watching each other. One had its posts at the +directory, at the club of _Salm_, and in the army, the other, in the +councils, at _Clichy_, and in the _salons_ of the royalists. The mass were +spectators. Each of the two parties was disposed to act in a revolutionary +manner towards the other. An intermediate constitutional and conciliatory +party tried to prevent the struggle, and to bring about an union, which +was altogether impossible. Carnot was at its head: a few members of the +younger council, directed by Thibaudeau, and a tolerably large number of +the Ancients, seconded his projects of moderation. Carnot, who, at that +period, was the director of the constitution, with Barthélemy, who was the +director of the legislature, formed a minority in the government. Carnot, +very austere in his conduct and very obstinate in his views, could not +agree either with Barras or with the imperious Rewbell. To this opposition +of character was then added difference of system. Barras and Rewbell, +supported by La Réveillère, were not at all averse to a coup-d'état +against the councils, while Carnot wished strictly to follow the law. This +great citizen, at each epoch of the revolution, had perfectly seen the +mode of government which suited it, and his opinion immediately became a +fixed idea. Under the committee of public safety, the dictatorship was his +fixed system, and under the directory, legal government. Recognising no +difference of situation, he found himself placed in an equivocal position; +he wished for peace in a moment of war; and for law, in a moment of coups- +d'état. + +The councils, somewhat alarmed at the preparations of the directory, +seemed to make the dismissal of a few ministers, in whom they placed no +confidence, the price of reconciliation. These were, Merlin de Douai, the +minister of justice; Delacroix, minister of foreign affairs; and Ramel, +minister of finance. On the other hand they desired to retain Pétiet as +minister of war, Bénésech as minister of the interior, and Cochon de +Lapparent as minister of police. The legislative body, in default of +directorial power, wished to make sure of the ministry. Far from falling +in with this wish, which would have introduced the enemy into the +government, Rewbell, La Réveillère and Barras dismissed the ministers +protected by the councils, and retained the others. Bénésech was replaced +by François de Neufchâteau, Pétiet by Hoche, and soon afterwards by +Schérer; Cochon de Lapparent, by Lenoir-Laroche; and Lenoir-Laroche, who +had too little decision, by Sotin. Talleyrand, likewise, formed part of +this ministry. He had been struck off the list of emigrants, from the +close of the conventional session, as a revolutionist of 1791; and his +great sagacity, which always placed him with the party having the greatest +hope of victory, made him, at this period, a directorial republican. He +held the portfolio of Delacroix, and he contributed very much, by his +counsels and his daring, to the events of Fructidor. + +War now appeared more and more inevitable. The directory did not wish for +a reconciliation, which, at the best, would only have postponed its +downfall and that of the republic to the elections of the year VI. It +caused threatening addresses against the councils to be sent from the +armies. Bonaparte had watched with an anxious eye the events which were +preparing in Paris. Though intimate with Carnot, and corresponding +directly with him, he had sent Lavalette, his aid-de-camp, to furnish him +with an account of the divisions in the government, and the intrigues and +conspiracies with which it was beset. Bonaparte had promised the directory +the support of his army, in case of actual danger. He sent Augereau to +Paris with addresses from his troops. "Tremble, royalists!" said the +soldiers. "From the Adige to the Seine is but a step. Tremble! your +iniquities are numbered; and their recompense is at the end of our +bayonets."--"We have observed with indignation," said the staff, "the +intrigues of royalty threatening liberty. By the manes of the heroes slain +for our country, we have sworn implacable war against royalty and +royalists. Such are our sentiments; they are yours, and those of all +patriots. Let the royalists show themselves, and their days are numbered." +The councils protested, but in vain, against these deliberations of the +army. General Richepanse, who commanded the troops arrived from the army +of the Sambre-et-Meuse, stationed them at Versailles, Meudon, and +Vincennes. + +The councils had been assailants in Prairial, but as the success of their +cause might be put off to the year VI., when it might take place without +risk or combat, they kept on the defensive after Thermidor (July, 1797). +They, however, then made every preparation for the contest: they gave +orders that the _constitutional circles_ should be closed, with a view to +getting rid of the club of _Salm_; they also increased the powers of the +commission of inspectors of the hall, which became the government of the +legislative body, and of which the two royalist conspirators, Willot and +Pichegru, formed part. The guard of the councils, which was under the +control of the directory, was placed under the immediate orders of the +inspectors of the hall. At last, on the 17th Fructidor, the legislative +body thought of procuring the assistance of the militia of Vendémiaire, +and it decreed, on the motion of Pichegru, the formation of the national +guard. On the following day, the 18th, this measure was to be executed, +and the councils were by a decree to order the troops to remove to a +distance. They had reached a point that rendered a new victory necessary +to decide the great struggle of the revolution and the ancient system. The +impetuous general, Willot, wished them to take the initiative, to decree +the impeachment of the three directors, Barras, Rewbell, and La +Réveillère; to cause the other two to join the legislative body; if the +government refused to obey, to sound the tocsin, and march with the old +sectionaries against the directory; to place Pichegru at the head of this +_legal insurrection_, and to execute all these measures promptly, boldly, +and at mid-day. Pichegru is said to have hesitated; and the opinion of the +undecided prevailing, the tardy course of legal preparations was adopted. + +It was not, however, the same with the directory. Barras, Rewbell, and La +Réveillère determined instantly to attack Carnot, Barthélemy, and the +legislative majority. The morning of the 18th was fixed on for the +execution of this coup-d'état. During the night, the troops encamped in +the neighbourhood of Paris, entered the city under the command of +Augereau. It was the design of the directorial triumvirate to occupy the +Tuileries with troops before the assembling of the legislative body, in +order to avoid a violent expulsion; to convoke the councils in the +neighbourhood of the Luxembourg, after having arrested their principal +leaders, and by a legislative measure to accomplish a coup-d'état begun by +force. It was in agreement with the minority of the councils, and relied +on the approbation of the mass. The troops reached the Hôtel de Ville at +one in the morning, spread themselves over the quays, the bridges, and the +Champs Élysées, and before long, twelve thousand men and forty pieces of +cannon surrounded the Tuileries. At four o'clock the alarm-shot was fired, +and Augereau presented himself at the gate of the Pont-Tournant. + +The guard of the legislative body was under arms. The inspectors of the +hall, apprised the night before of the movement in preparation, had +repaired to the national palace (the Tuileries), to defend the entrance. +Ramel, commander of the legislative guard, was devoted to the councils, +and he had stationed his eight hundred grenadiers in the different avenues +of the garden, shut in by gates. But Pichegru, Willot, and Ramel, could +not resist the directory with this small and uncertain force. Augereau had +no need even to force the passage of the Pont-Tournant: as soon as he came +before the grenadiers, he cried out, "Are you republicans?" The latter +lowered their arms and replied, "Vive Augereau! Vive le directoire!" and +joined him. Augereau traversed the garden, entered the hall of the +councils, arrested Pichegru, Willot, Ramel, and all the inspectors of the +hall, and had them conveyed to the Temple. The members of the councils, +convoked in haste by the inspectors, repaired in crowds to their place of +sitting; but they were arrested or refused admittance by the armed force. +Augereau announced to them that the directory, urged by the necessity of +defending the republic from the conspirators among them, had assigned the +Odéon and the School of Medicine for the place of their sittings. The +greater part of the deputies present exclaimed against military violence +and the dictatorial usurpation, but they were obliged to yield. + +At six in the morning this expedition was terminated. The people of Paris, +on awaking, found the troops still under arms, and the walls placarded +with proclamations announcing the discovery of a formidable conspiracy. +The people were exhorted to observe order and confidence. The directory +had printed a letter of general Moreau, in which he announced in detail +the plots of his predecessor Pichegru with the emigrants, and another +letter from the prince de Condé to Imbert Colomès, a member of the +Ancients. The entire population remained quiet; they were mere spectators +of an event brought about without the interference of parties, and by the +assistance of the army only. They displayed neither approbation nor +regret. + +The directory felt the necessity of legalizing, and more especially of +terminating, this extraordinary act. As soon as the members of the five +hundred, and of the ancients, were assembled at the Odéon and the School +of Medicine in sufficient numbers to debate, they determined to sit +permanently. A message from the directory announced the motive which had +actuated all its measures. "Citizens, legislators," ran the message, "if +the directory had delayed another day, the republic would have been given +up to its enemies. The very place of your sittings was the rendezvous of +the conspirators: from thence they yesterday distributed their plans and +orders for the delivery of arms; from thence they corresponded last night +with their accomplices; lastly, from thence, or in the neighbourhood, they +again endeavoured to raise clandestine and seditious assemblies, which the +police at this moment are employed in dispersing. We should have +compromised the public welfare, and that of its faithful representatives, +had we suffered them to remain confounded with the foes of the country in +the den of conspiracy." + +The younger council appointed a commission, composed of Sieyès, Poulain- +Granpré, Villers, Chazal, and Boulay de la Meurthe, deputed to present a +law of _public safety_. The law was a measure of ostracism; only +transportation was substituted for the scaffold in this second +revolutionary and dictatorial period. + +The members of the five hundred sentenced to transportation were: Aubry, +J. J. Aimé, Bayard, Blain, Boissy d'Anglas, Borne, Bourdon de l'Oise, +Cadroy, Couchery, Delahaye, Delarue, Doumère, Dumolard, Duplantier, Gibert +Desmolières, Henri La Rivière, Imbert-Colomès, Camille Jordan, Jourdan +(des Bouches-du-Rhône) Gall, La Carrière, Lemarchand-Gomicourt, Lemérer, +Mersan, Madier, Maillard, Noailles, André, Mac-Cartin, Pavie, Pastoret, +Pichegru, Polissard, Praire-Montaud, Quatremère-Quincy, Saladin, Siméon, +Vauvilliers, Vienot-Vaublanc, Villaret-Joyeuse, Willot. In the council of +ancients: Barbé-Marbois, Dumas, Ferraud-Vaillant, Lafond-Ladebat, Laumont, +Muraire, Murinais, Paradis, Portalis, Rovère, Tronçon-Ducoudray. In the +directory: Carnot and Barthélemy. They also condemned the abbé Brottier, +Lavilleheurnois, Dunan, the ex-minister of police, Cochon, the ex-agent of +the police Dossonville, generals Miranda and Morgan; the journalist, +Suard; the ex-conventionalist, Mailhe; and the commandant, Ramel. A few of +the proscribed succeeded in evading the decree of exile; Carnot was among +the number. Most of them were transported to Cayenne; but a great many did +not leave the Isle of Ré. + +The directory greatly extended this act of ostracism. The authors of +thirty-five journals were included in the sentence of transportation. It +wished to strike at once all the avenues of the republic in the councils, +in the press, in the electoral assemblies, the departments, in a word, +wherever they had introduced themselves. The elections of forty-eight +departments were annulled, the laws in favour of priests and emigrants +were revoked, and soon afterwards the disappearance of all who had swayed +in the departments since the 9th Thermidor raised the spirits of the cast- +down republican party. The coup-d'état of Fructidor was not purely +central; like the victory of Vendémiaire; it ruined the royalist party, +which had only been repulsed by the preceding defeat. But, by again +replacing the legal government by the dictatorship, it rendered necessary +another revolution, which shall be recounted later. + +We may say, that on the 18th Fructidor of the year V. it was necessary +that the directory should triumph over the counterrevolution by decimating +the councils; or that the councils should triumph over the republic by +overthrowing the directory. The question thus stated, it remains to +inquire, 1st, if the directory could have conquered by any other means +than a coup-d'état; 2ndly, whether it misused its victory? + +The government had not the power of dissolving the councils. At the +termination of a revolution, whose object was to establish the extreme +right, they were unable to invest a secondary authority with the control +of the sovereignty of the people, and in certain cases to make the +legislature subordinate to the directory. This concession of an +experimental policy not existing, what means remained to the directory of +driving the enemy from the heart of the state? No longer able to defend +the revolution by virtue of the law, it had no resource but the +dictatorship; but in having recourse to that, it broke the conditions of +its existence; and while saving the revolution, it soon fell itself. + +As for its victory, it sullied it with violence, by endeavouring to make +it too complete. The sentence of transportation was extended to too many +victims; the petty passions of men mingled with the defence of the cause, +and the directory did not manifest that reluctance to arbitrary measures +which is the only justification of coups-d'état. To attain its object, it +should have exiled the leading conspirators only; but it rarely happens +that a party does not abuse the dictatorship; and that, possessing the +power, it believes not in the dangers of indulgence. The defeat of the +18th Fructidor was the fourth of the royalist party; two took place in +order to dispossess it of power, those of the 14th of July and 10th of +August; two to prevent its resuming it; those of the 13th Vendémiaire and +18th Fructidor. This repetition of powerless attempts and protracted +reverses did not a little contribute to the submission of this party under +the consulate and the empire. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +FROM THE 18TH FRUCTIDOR, IN THE YEAR V. (4TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1797), TO THE +18TH BRUMAIRE, IN THE YEAR VIII. (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) + + +The chief result of the 18th Fructidor was a return, with slight +mitigation, to the revolutionary government. The two ancient privileged +classes were again excluded from society; the dissentient priests were +again banished. The Chouans, and former fugitives, who occupied the field +of battle in the departments, abandoned it to the old republicans: those +who had formed part of the military household of the Bourbons, the +superior officers of the crown, the members of the parliaments, commanders +of the order of the Holy Ghost and Saint Louis, the knights of Malta, all +those who had protested against the abolition of nobility, and who had +preserved its titles, were to quit the territory of the republic. The ci- +devant nobles, or those ennobled, could only enjoy the rights of citizens, +after a term of seven years, and after having gone through a sort of +apprenticeship as Frenchmen. This party, by desiring sway, restored the +dictatorship. + +At this period the directory attained its maximum of power; for some time +it had no enemies in arms. Delivered from all internal opposition, it +imposed the continental peace on Austria by the treaty of Campo-Formio, +and on the empire by the congress of Rastadt. The treaty of Campo-Formio +was more advantageous to the cabinet of Vienna than the preliminaries of +Leoben. Its Belgian and Lombard states were paid for by a part of the +Venetian states. This old republic was divided; France retained the Ionian +Isles, and gave the city of Venice and the provinces of Istria and +Dalmatia to Austria. In this the directory committed a great fault, and +was guilty of an attempt against liberty. In the fanaticism of a system, +we may desire to set a country free, but we should never give it away. By +arbitrarily distributing the territory of a small state, the directory set +the bad example of this traffic in nations since but too much followed. +Besides, Austrian dominion would, sooner or later, extend in Italy, +through this imprudent cession of Venice. + +The coalition of 1792 and 1793 was dissolved; England was the only +remaining belligerent power. The cabinet of London was not at all disposed +to cede to France, which it had attacked in the hope of weakening it, +Belgium, Luxembourg, the left bank of the Rhine, Porentruy, Nice, Savoy, +the protectorate of Genoa, Milan, and Holland. But finding it necessary to +appease the English opposition, and reorganize its means of attack, it +made propositions of peace; it sent Lord Malmesbury as plenipotentiary, +first to Paris, then to Lille. But the offers of Pitt not being sincere, +the directory did not allow itself to be deceived by his diplomatic +stratagems. The negotiations were twice broken off, and war continued +between the two powers. While England negotiated at Lille, she was +preparing at Saint Petersburg the triple alliance, or second coalition. + +The directory, on its side, without finances, without any party in the +interior, having no support but the army, and no eminence save that +derived from the continuation of its victories, was not in a condition to +consent to a general peace. It had increased the public discontent by the +establishment of certain taxes and the reduction of the debt to a +consolidated third, payable in specie only, which had ruined the +fundholders. It became necessary to maintain itself by war. The immense +body of soldiers could not be disbanded without danger. Besides, being +deprived of its power, and being placed at the mercy of Europe, the +directory had attempted a thing never done without creating a shock, +except in times of great tranquillity, of great ease, abundance, and +employment. The directory was driven by its position to the invasion of +Switzerland and the expedition into Egypt. + +Bonaparte had then returned to Paris. The conqueror of Italy and the +pacificator of the continent, was received with enthusiasm, constrained on +the part of the directory, but deeply felt by the people. Honours were +accorded him, never yet obtained by any general of the republic. A +patriotic altar was prepared in the Luxembourg, and he passed under an +arch of standards won in Italy, on his way to the triumphal ceremony in +his honour. He was harangued by Barras, president of the directory, who, +after congratulating him on his victories, invited him "to crown so noble +a life by a conquest which the great country owed to its insulted +dignity." This was the conquest of England. Everything seemed in +preparation for a descent, while the invasion of Egypt was really the +enterprise in view. + +Such an expedition suited both Bonaparte and the directory. The +independent conduct of that general in Italy, his ambition, which, from +time to time, burst through his studied simplicity, rendered his presence +dangerous. He, on his side, feared, by his inactivity, to compromise the +already high opinion entertained of his talents: for men always require +from those whom they make great, more than they are able to perform. Thus, +while the directory saw in the expedition to Egypt the means of keeping a +formidable general at a distance, and a prospect of attacking the English +by India, Bonaparte saw in it a gigantic conception, an employment suited +to his taste, and a new means of astonishing mankind. He sailed from +Toulon on the 30th Floréal, in the year VI. (19th May, 1798), with a fleet +of four hundred sail, and a portion of the army of Italy; he steered for +Malta; of which he made himself master, and from thence to Egypt. + +The directory, who violated the neutrality of the Ottoman Porte in order +to attack the English, had already violated that of Switzerland, in order +to expel the emigrants from its territory. French opinions had already +penetrated into Geneva and the Pays de Vaud; but the policy of the Swiss +confederation was counter-revolutionary, from the influence of the +aristocracy of Berne. They had driven from the cantons all the Swiss who +had shown themselves partisans of the French republic. Berne was the +headquarters of the emigrants, and it was there that all the plots against +the revolution were formed. The directory complained, but did not receive +satisfaction. The Vaudois, placed by old treaties under the protection of +France, invoked her help against the tyranny of Berne. This appeal of the +Vaudois, its own grievances, its desire to extend the directorial +republican system to Switzerland, much more than the temptation of seizing +the little amount of treasure in Berne, a reproach brought against it by +some, determined the directory. Some conferences took place, which led to +no result, and war began. The Swiss defended themselves with much courage +and obstinacy, and hoped to resuscitate the times of their ancestors, but +they succumbed. Geneva was united to France, and Switzerland exchanged its +ancient constitution for that of the year III. From that time two parties +existed in the confederation, one of which was for France and the +revolution, the other for the counter-revolution and Austria. Switzerland +ceased to be a common barrier, and became the high road of Europe. + +This revolution had been followed by that of Rome. General Duphot was +killed at Rome in a riot; and in punishment of this assassination, which +the pontifical government had not interfered to prevent, Rome was changed +into a republic. All this combined to complete the system of the +directory, and make it preponderant in Europe; it was now at the head of +the Helvetian, Batavian, Ligurian, Cisalpine, and Roman republics, all +constructed on the same model. But while the directory extended its +influence abroad, it was again menaced by internal parties. + +The elections of Floréal in the year VI. (May, 1798) were by no means +favourable to the directory; the returns were quite at variance with those +of the year V. Since the 18th Fructidor, the withdrawal of the counter- +revolutionists had restored all the influence of the exclusive republican +party, which had reestablished the clubs under the name of _Constitutional +Circles_. This party dominated in the electoral assemblies, which, most +unusually, had to nominate four hundred and thirty-seven deputies: two +hundred and ninety-eight for the council of five hundred; a hundred and +thirty-nine for that of the ancients. When the elections drew near, the +directory exclaimed loudly against the _anarchists_. But its proclamations +having been unable to prevent democratic returns, it decided upon +annulling them in virtue of a law, by which the councils, after the 18th +Fructidor, had granted it the _power of judging_ the operations of the +electoral assemblies. It invited the legislative body, by a message, to +appoint a commission of five members for that purpose. On the 22nd +Floréal, the elections were for the most part annulled. At this period the +directorial party struck a blow at the extreme republicans, as nine months +before it had aimed at the royalists. + +The directory wished to maintain the political balance, which had been the +characteristic of its first two years; but its position was much changed. +Since its last coup-d'état, it could no longer be an impartial government, +because it was no longer a constitutional government. With these +pretensions of isolation, it dissatisfied every one. Yet it lived on in +this way till the elections of the year VII. It displayed much activity, +but an activity of a narrow and shuffling nature. Merlin de Douai and +Treilhard, who had replaced Carnot and Barthélemy, were two political +lawyers. Rewbell had in the highest degree the courage, without having the +enlarged views of a statesman. Laréveillère was too much occupied with the +sect of the Theophilanthropists for a government leader. As to Barras, he +continued his dissipated life and his directorial regency; his palace was +the rendezvous of gamesters, women of gallantry, and stock-jobbers of +every kind. The administration of the directors betrayed their character, +but more especially their position; to the embarrassments of which was +added war with all Europe. + +While the republican plenipotentiaries were yet negotiating for peace with +the empire at Rastadt, the second coalition began the campaign. The treaty +of Campo-Formio had only been for Austria a suspension of arms. England +had no difficulty in gaining her to a new coalition; with the exception of +Spain and Prussia, most of the European powers formed part of it. The +subsidies of the British cabinet, and the attraction of the West, decided +Russia; the Porte and the states of Barbary acceded to it, because of the +invasion of Egypt; the empire, in order to recover the left bank of the +Rhine, and the petty princes of Italy, that they might destroy the new +republics. At Rastadt they were discussing the treaty relative to the +empire, the concession of the left bank of the Rhine, the navigation of +that river, and the demolition of some fortresses on the right bank, when +the Russians entered Germany, and the Austrian army began to move. The +French plenipotentiaries, taken by surprise, received orders to leave in +four and twenty hours; they obeyed immediately, and set out, after having +obtained safe conduct from the generals of the enemy. At a short distance +from Rastadt they were stopped by some Austrian hussars, who, having +satisfied themselves as to their names and titles, assassinated them: +Bonnier and Roberjot were killed, Jean de Bry was left for dead. This +unheard-of violation of the right of nations, this premeditated +assassination of three men invested with a sacred character, excited +general horror. The legislative body declared war, and declared it with +indignation against the governments on whom the guilt of this enormity +fell. + +Hostilities had already commenced in Italy and on the Rhine. The +directory, apprised of the march of the Russian troops, and suspecting the +intentions of Austria, caused the councils to pass a law for recruiting. +The military conscription placed two hundred thousand young men at the +disposal of the republic. This law, which was attended with incalculable +consequences, was the result of a more regular order of things. Levies _en +masse_ had been the revolutionary service of the country; the conscription +became the legal service. + +The most impatient of the powers, those which formed the advanced guard of +the coalition, had already commenced the attack. The king of Naples had +advanced on Rome, and the king of Sardinia had raised troops and +threatened the Ligurian republic. As they had not sufficient power to +sustain the shock of the French armies, they were easily conquered and +dispossessed. General Championnet entered Naples after a sanguinary +victory. The lazaroni defended the interior of the town for three days; +but they yielded, and the Parthenopian republic was proclaimed. General +Joubert occupied Turin; and the whole of Italy was in the hands of the +French, when the new campaign began. + +The coalition was superior to the republic in effective force and in +preparations. It attacked it by the three great openings of Italy, +Switzerland, and Holland. A strong Austrian army debouched in the duchy of +Mantua; it defeated Scherer twice on the Adige, and was soon joined by the +whimsical and hitherto victorious Suvorov. Moreau replaced Scherer, and, +like him, was beaten; he retreated towards Genoa, in order to keep the +barrier of the Apennines and to join the army of Naples, commanded by +Macdonald, which was overpowered at the Trebia. The Austro-Russians then +directed their chief forces upon Switzerland. A few Russian corps joined +the archduke Charles, who had defeated Jourdan on the Upper Rhine, and was +preparing to pass over the Helvetian barrier. At the same time the duke of +York disembarked in Holland with forty thousand Anglo-Russians. The small +republics which protected France were invaded, and a few more victories +would have enabled the confederates to penetrate even to the scene of the +revolution. + +In the midst of these military disasters and the discontent of parties, +the elections of Floréal in the year VII. (May, 1799) took place; they +were republican, like those of the preceding year. The directory was no +longer strong enough to contend with public misfortunes and the rancour of +parties. The retirement of Rewbell, who was replaced by Sieyès, caused it +to lose the only man able to face the storm, and brought into its bosom +the most avowed antagonist of this compromised and worn-out government. +The moderate party and the extreme republicans united in demanding from +the directory an account of the internal and external situation of the +republic. The councils sat permanently. Barras abandoned his colleagues. +The fury of the councils was directed solely against Treilhard, Merlin, +and La Réveillère, the last supports of the old directory. They deposed +Treilhard, because an interval of a year had not elapsed between his +legislative and his directorial functions, as the constitution required. +The ex-minister of justice, Gohier, was immediately chosen to replace him. + +The orators of the councils then warmly attacked Merlin and La Réveillère, +whom they could not dismiss from the directory. The threatened directors +sent a justificatory message to the councils, and proposed peace. On the +30th Prairial, the republican Bertrand (du Calvados) ascended the tribune, +and after examining the offers of the directors, exclaimed: "You have +proposed union; and I propose that you reflect if you yourselves can still +preserve your functions. If you love the republic you will not hesitate to +decide. You are incapable of doing good; you will never have the +confidence of your colleagues, that of the people, or that of the +representatives, without which you cannot cause the laws to be executed. I +know that, thanks to the constitution, there already exists in the +directory a majority which enjoys the confidence of the people, and that +of the national representation. Why do you hesitate to introduce unanimity +of desires and principles between the two first authorities of the +republic? You have not even the confidence of those vile flatterers, who +have dug your political tomb. Finish your career by an act of devotion, +which good republican hearts will be able to appreciate." + +Merlin and La Réveillère, deprived of the support of the government by the +retirement of Rewbell, the dismissal of Treilhard, and the desertion of +Barras, urged by the councils and by patriotic motives, yielded to +circumstances, and resigned the directorial authority. This victory, +gained by the republican and moderate parties combined, turned to the +profit of both. The former introduced general Moulins into the directory; +the latter, Roger Ducos. The 30th Prairial (18th June), which witnessed +the breaking up of the old government of the year III., was an act of +reprisal on the part of the councils against the directory for the 18th +Fructidor and the 22nd Floréal. At this period the two great powers of the +state had each in turn violated the constitution: the directory by +decimating the legislature; the legislature by expelling the directory. +This form of government, which every party complained of, could not have a +protracted existence. + +Sieyès, after the success of the 30th Prairial, laboured to destroy what +yet remained of the government of the year III., in order to establish the +legal system on another plan. He was whimsical and systematic; but he had +the faculty of judging surely of situations. He re-entered upon the scene +of the revolution of a singular epoch, with the intention of strengthening +it by a definitive constitution. After having co-operated in the principal +changes of 1789, by his motion of the 17 of June, which transformed the +states-general into a national assembly, and by his plan of internal +organization, which substituted departments for provinces, he had remained +passive and silent during the subsequent interval. He waited till the +period of public defence should again give place to institutions. +Appointed, under the directory, to the embassy at Berlin, the neutrality +of Prussia was attributed to his efforts. On his return, he accepted the +office of director, hitherto refused by him, because Rewbell was leaving +the government, and he thought that parties were sufficiently weary to +undertake a definitive pacification, and the establishment of liberty. +With this object, he placed his reliance on Roger-Ducos in the directory, +on the council of ancients in the legislature, and without, on the mass of +moderate men and the middle-class, who, after desiring laws, merely as a +novelty, now desired repose as a novelty. This party sought for a strong +and secure government, which should have no past, no enmities, and which +thenceforward might satisfy all opinions and interests. As all that had +been dene, from the 14th of July till the 9th Thermidor, by the people, in +connexion with a part of the government, had been done since the 13th +Vendémiaire by the soldiers, Sieyès was in want of a general. He cast his +eyes upon Joubert, who was put at the head of the army of Italy, in order +that he might gain by his victories, and by the deliverance of Italy, a +great political importance. + +The constitution of the year III. was, however, still supported by the two +directors, Gohier and Moulins, the council of five hundred, and without, +by the party of the _Manège_. The decided republicans had formed a club +that held its sittings in that hall where had sat the first of our +assemblies. The new club, formed from the remains of that of Salm, before +the 18th Fructidor; of that of the Panthéon, at the beginning of the +directory; and of the old society of the Jacobins, enthusiastically +professed republican principles, but not the democratic opinions of the +inferior class. Each of these parties also had a share in the ministry +which had been renewed at the same time as the directory. Cambacérès had +the department of justice; Quinette, the home department; Reinhard, who +had been temporarily placed in office during the ministerial interregnum +of Talleyrand, was minister of foreign affairs; Robert Lindet was minister +of finance, Bourdon (of Vatry) of the navy, Bernadotte of war, +Bourguignon, soon afterwards replaced by Fouché (of Nantes), of police. + +This time Barras remained neutral between the two divisions of the +legislature, of the directory and of the ministry. Seeing that matters +were coming to a more considerable change than that of the 30th Prairial, +he, an ex-noble, thought that the decline of the republic would lead to +the restoration of the Bourbons, and he treated with the Pretender Louis +XVIII. It seems that, in negotiating the restoration of the monarchy by +his agent, David Monnier, he was not forgetful of himself. Barras espoused +nothing from conviction, and always sided with the party which had the +greatest chance of victory. A democratic member of the Mountain on the +31st of May; a reactionary member of the Mountain on the 9th Thermidor; a +revolutionary director against the royalists on the 18th Fructidor; +extreme republican director against his old colleagues on the 30th +Prairial; he now became a royalist director against the government of the +year III. + +The faction disconcerted by the 18th Fructidor and the peace of the +Continent, had also gained courage. The military successes of the new +coalition, the law of compulsory loans and that of hostages, which had +compelled every emigrant family to give guarantees to government, had made +the royalists of the south and west again take up arms. They reappeared in +bands, which daily became more formidable, and revived the petty but +disastrous warfare of the Chouans. They awaited the arrival of the +Russians, and looked forward to the speedy restoration of the monarchy. +This was a moment of fresh competition with every party. Each aspired to +the inheritance of the dying constitution, as they had done at the close +of the convention. In France, people are warned by a kind of political +odour that a government is dying, and all parties rush to be in at the +death. + +Fortunately for the republic, the war changed its aspect on the two +principal frontiers of the Upper and Lower Rhine. The allies, after having +acquired Italy, wished to enter France by Switzerland and Holland; but +generals Masséna and Brune arrested their hitherto victorious progress. +Masséna advanced against Korsakov and Suvorov. During twelve days of great +combinations and consecutive victories, hastening in turns from Constance +to Zurich, he repelled the efforts of the Russians, forced them to +retreat, and disorganized the coalition. Brune also defeated the duke of +York in Holland, obliged him to re-embark, and to renounce his attempted +invasion. The army of Italy alone had been less fortunate. It had lost its +general, Joubert, killed at the battle of Novi, while leading a charge on +the Austro-Russians. But this frontier, which was at a distance from the +centre of action, despite the defeat of Novi, was not crossed, and +Championnet ably defended it. It was soon to be repassed by the republican +troops, who, after each resumption of arms, having been for a moment +beaten, soon regained their superiority and recommenced their victories. +Europe, by giving additional exercise to the military power, by its +repeated attacks, rendered it each time more triumphant. + +But at home nothing was changed. Divisions, discontent, and anxiety were +the same as before. The struggle between the moderate republicans and the +extreme republicans had become more determined. Sieyès pursued his +projects against the latter. In the Champ-de-Mars, on the 10th of August, +he assailed the Jacobins. Lucien Bonaparte, who had much influence in the +council of five hundred, from his character, his talents, and the military +importance of the conqueror of Italy and of Egypt, drew in that assembly a +fearful picture of the reign of terror, and said that France was +threatened with its return. About the same time, Sieyès caused Bernadotte +to be dismissed, and Fouché, in concert with him, closed the meetings of +the Manège. The multitude, to whom it is only necessary to present the +phantom of the past to inspire it with fear, sided with the moderate +party, dreading the return of the reign of terror; and the extreme +republicans failed in their endeavour to declare _la patrie en danger_, as +they had done at the close of the legislative assembly. But Sieyès, after +having lost Joubert, sought for a general who could enter into his +designs, and who would protect the republic, without becoming its +oppressor. Hoche had been dead more than a year. Moreau had given rise to +suspicion by his equivocal conduct to the directory before the 18th +Fructidor, and by the sudden denunciation of his old friend Pichegru, +whose treason he had kept secret for a whole year; Masséna was not a +political general; Bernadotte and Jourdan were devoted to the party of the +Manège; Sieyès was compelled to postpone his scheme for want of a suitable +agent. + +Bonaparte had learned in the east, from his brother Lucien and a few other +friends, the state of affairs in France, and the decline of the +directorial government. His expedition had been brilliant, but without +results. After having defeated the Mamelukes, and ruined their power in +Upper and Lower Egypt, he had advanced into Syria; but the failure of the +siege of Acre had compelled him to return to his first conquest. There, +after defeating an Ottoman army on the coast of Aboukir, so fatal to the +French fleet the preceding year, he decided on leaving that land of exile +and fame, in order to turn the new crisis in France to his own elevation. +He left general Kléber to command the army of the east, and crossed the +Mediterranean, then covered with English ships, in a frigate. He +disembarked at Fréjus, on the 7th Vendémiaire, year VIII. (9th October, +1799), nineteen days after the battle of Berghen, gained by Brune over the +Anglo-Russians under the duke of York, and fourteen days after that of +Zurich, gained by Masséna over the Austro-Russians under Korsakov and +Suvorov. He traversed France, from the shore of the Mediterranean to +Paris, in triumph. His expedition, almost fabulous, had struck the public +mind with surprise, and had still more increased the great renown he had +acquired by the conquest of Italy. These two enterprises had raised him +above all the other generals of the republic. The distance of the theatre +upon which he had fought enabled him to begin his career of independence +and authority. A victorious general, an acknowledged and obeyed +negotiator, a creator of republics, he had treated all interests with +skill, all creeds with moderation. Preparing afar off his ambitious +destiny, he had not made himself subservient to any system, and had +managed all parties so as to work his elevation with their assent. He had +entertained this idea of usurpation since his victories in Italy. On the +18th Fructidor, had the directory been conquered by the councils, he +purposed marching against the latter with his army and seizing the +protectorate of the republic. After the 18th Fructidor; finding the +directory too powerful, and the inactivity of the continent too dangerous +for him, he accepted the expedition to Egypt, that he might not fall, and +might not be forgotten. At the news of the disorganization of the +directory, on the 30th Prairial, he repaired with haste to the scene of +events. + +His arrival excited the enthusiasm of the moderate masses of the nation. +He received general congratulations, and every party contended for his +favour. Generals, directors, deputies, and even the republicans of the +Manège, waited on and tried to sound him. Fêtes and banquets were given in +his honour. His manners were grave, simple, cool, and observing; he had +already a tone of condescending familiarity and involuntary habits of +command. Notwithstanding his want of earnestness and openness, he had an +air of self-possession, and it was easy to read in him an after-thought of +conspiracy. Without uttering his design, he allowed it to be guessed; +because a thing must always be expected in order to be accomplished. He +could not seek supporters in the republicans of the Manège, as they +neither wished for a coup-d'état nor for a dictator; and Sieyès feared +that he was too ambitious to fall in with his constitutional views. Hence +Sieyès hesitated to open his mind to Bonaparte, but, urged by their mutual +friends, they at length met and concerted together. On the 15th Brumaire, +they determined on their plan of attack on the constitution of the year +III, Sieyès undertook to prepare the councils by the _commissions of +inspectors,_ who placed unlimited confidence in him. Bonaparte was to gain +the generals and the different corps of troops stationed in Paris, who +displayed much enthusiasm for him and much attachment to his person. They +agreed to convoke an extraordinary meeting of the moderate members of the +councils, to describe the public danger to the Ancients, and by urging the +ascendancy of Jacobinism to demand the removal of the legislative body to +Saint-Cloud, and the appointment of general Bonaparte to the command of +the armed force, as the only man able to save the country; and then, by +means of the new military power, to obtain the dismissal of the directory, +and the temporary dissolution of the legislative body. The enterprise was +fixed for the morning of the 18th Brumaire (9th November). + +During these three days, the secret was faithfully kept, Barras, Moulins, +and Gohier, who formed the majority of the directory, of which Gohier was +then president, might have frustrated the coup-d'état of the conspirators +by forestalling them, as on the 18th Fructidor. But they gave them credit +for hopes only, and not for any decided projects. On the morning of the +18th, the members of the ancients were convoked in an unusual way by the +_inspectors;_ they repaired to the Tuileries, and the debate was opened +about seven in the morning under the presidentship of Lemercier. Cornudet, +Lebrun, and Fargues, the three most influential conspirators in the +council, drew a most alarming picture of the state of public affairs; +protesting that the Jacobins were flocking in crowds to Paris from all the +departments; that they wished to re-establish the revolutionary +government, and that a reign of terror would once more desolate the +republic, if the council had not the courage and wisdom to prevent its +return. Another conspirator, Régnier de la Meurthe, required of the +ancients already moved, that in virtue of the right conferred on them by +the constitution, they should transfer the legislative body to Saint +Cloud, and depute Bonaparte, nominated by them to the command of the 17th +military division, to superintend the removal. Whether all the members of +the council were accomplices of this manoeuvre, or whether they were +terrified by so hasty convocation, and by speeches so alarming, they +instantly granted what the conspirators required. + +Bonaparte awaited with impatience the result of this deliberation, at his +house in the Rue Chantereine; he was surrounded by generals, by Lefèvre, +the commander of the guard of the directory, and by three regiments of +cavalry which he was about to review. The decree of the council of +ancients was passed about eight, and brought to him at half-past eight by +a state messenger. He received the congratulations of all around him; the +officers drew their swords as a sign of fidelity. He put himself at their +head, and they marched to the Tuileries; he appeared at the bar of the +ancients, took the oath of fidelity, and appointed as his lieutenant, +Lefèvre, chief of the directorial guard. + +This was, however, only a beginning of success. Bonaparte was at the head +of the armed force; but the executive power of the directory and the +legislative power of the councils still existed. In the struggle which +would infallibly ensue, it was not certain that the great and hitherto +victorious force of the revolution would not triumph. Sieyès and Roger +Ducos went from the Luxembourg to the legislative and military camp of the +Tuileries, and gave in their resignation. Barras, Moulins, and Gohier, +apprised on their side, but a little too late, of what was going on, +wished to employ their power and make themselves sure of their guard; but +the latter, having received from Bonaparte information of the decree of +the ancients, refused to obey them. Barras, discouraged, sent in his +resignation, and departed for his estate of Gros-Bois. The directory was, +in fact, dissolved; and there was one antagonist less in the struggle. The +five hundred and Bonaparte alone remained opposed. + +The decree of the council of ancients and the proclamations of Bonaparte +were placarded on the walls of Paris. The agitation which accompanies +extraordinary events prevailed in that great city. The republicans, and +not without reason, felt serious alarm for the fate of liberty. But when +they showed alarm respecting the intentions of Bonaparte, in whom they +beheld a Caesar, or a Cromwell, they were answered in the general's own +words: "_Bad parts, worn out parts, unworthy a man of sense, even if they +were not so of a good man. It would be sacrilege to attack representative +government in this age of intelligence and freedom. He would be but a fool +who, with lightness of heart, could wish to cause the loss of the stakes +of the republic against royalty after having supported them with some +glory and peril_." Yet the importance he gave himself in his proclamations +was ominous. He reproached the directory with the situation of France in a +most extraordinary way. "What have you done," said he, "with that France +which I left so flourishing in your hands? I left you peace, I find you at +war; I left you victories, I find nothing but reverses; I left you the +millions of Italy, I find nothing but plundering laws and misery. What +have you done with the hundred thousand Frenchmen whom I knew, my +companions in glory? They are dead! This state of things cannot last; in +less than three years it would lead us to despotism." This was the first +time for ten years that a man had ventured to refer everything to himself; +and to demand an account of the republic, as of his own property. It is a +painful surprise to see a new comer of the revolution introduce himself +thus into the inheritance, so laboriously acquired, of an entire people. + +On the 19th Brumaire the members of the councils repaired to Saint Cloud; +Sieyès and Roger Ducos accompanied Bonaparte to this new field of battle; +they went thither with the intention of supporting the designs of the +conspirators; Sieyès, who understood the tactics of revolution, wished to +make sure of events by provisionally arresting the leaders, and only +admitting the moderate party into the councils; but Bonaparte refused to +accede to this. He was no party man; having hitherto acted and conquered +with regiments only, he thought he could direct legislative councils like +an army, by the word of command. The gallery of Mars had been prepared for +the ancients, the Orangery for the five hundred. A considerable armed +force surrounded the seat of the legislature, as the multitude, on the 2nd +of June, had surrounded the convention. The republicans, assembled in +groups in the grounds, waited the opening of the sittings; they were +agitated with a generous indignation against the military brutalism that +threatened them, and communicated to each other their projects of +resistance. The young general, followed by a few grenadiers, passed +through the courts and apartments, and prematurely yielding to his +character, he said, like the twentieth king of a dynasty: "_I will have no +more factions: there must be an end to this; I absolutely will not have +any more of it_," About two o'clock in the afternoon, the councils +assembled in their respective halls, to the sound of instruments which +played the _Marseillaise_. + +As soon as the business of the sitting commenced, Emile Gaudin, one of the +conspirators, ascended the tribune of the five hundred. He proposed a vote +of thanks to the council of ancients for the measures it had taken, and to +request it to expound the means of saving the republic. This motion was +the signal for a violent tumult; cries arose against Gaudin from every +part of the hall. The republican deputies surrounded the tribune and the +bureau, at which Lucien Bonaparte presided. The conspirators Cabanis, +Boulay (de la Meurthe), Chazal, Gaudin, etc., turned pale on their seats. +After a long scene of agitation, during which no one could obtain a +hearing, calm was restored for a few moments, and Delbred proposed that +the oath made to the constitution of the year III. should be renewed. As +no one opposed this motion, which at such a juncture was of vital +importance, the oath was taken with an enthusiasm and unanimity which was +dangerous to the conspiracy. + +Bonaparte, learning what had passed in the five hundred, and in the +greatest danger of desertion and defeat, presented himself at the council +of ancients. All would have been lost for him, had the latter, in favour +of the conspiracy, been carried away by the enthusiasm of the younger +council. "Representatives of the people," said he, "you are in no ordinary +situation; you stand on a volcano. Yesterday, when you summoned me to +inform me of the decree for your removal, and charged me with its +execution, I was tranquil. I immediately assembled my comrades; we flew to +your aid! Well, now I am overwhelmed with calumnies! They talk of Caesar, +Cromwell, and military government! Had I wished to oppress the liberty of +my country, I should not have attended to the orders which you gave me; I +should not have had any occasion to receive this authority from your +hands. Representatives of the people! I swear to you that the country has +not a more zealous defender than I am; but its safety rests with you +alone! There is no longer a government; four of the directors have given +in their resignation; the fifth (Moulins) has been placed under +surveillance for his own security; the council of five hundred is divided; +nothing is left but the council of ancients. Let it adopt measures; let it +but speak; I am ready to execute. Let us save liberty! let us save +equality!" Linglet, a republican, then arose and said: "General, we +applaud what you say: swear with us to obey the constitution of the year +III., which alone can maintain the republic." All would have been lost for +him had this motion met with the same reception which it had found in the +five hundred. It surprised the council, and for a moment Bonaparte was +disconcerted. But he soon resumed: "The constitution of the year III. has +ceased to exist; you violated it on the 18th Fructidor; you violated it on +the 22nd Floréal; you violated it on the 30th Prairial. The constitution +is invoked by all factions, and violated by all; it cannot be a means of +safety for us, because it no longer obtains respect from any one; the +constitution being violated, we must have another compact, new +guarantees." The council applauded these reproaches of Bonaparte, and rose +in sign of approbation. + +Bonaparte, deceived by his easy success with the ancients, imagined that +his presence alone would suffice to appease the stormy council of the five +hundred. He hastened thither at the head of a few grenadiers, whom he left +at the door, but within the hall, and he advanced alone, hat in hand. At +the sight of the bayonets, the assembly arose with a sudden movement. The +legislators, conceiving his entrance to be a signal for military violence, +uttered all at once the cry of "Outlaw him! Down with the dictator!" +Several members rushed to meet him, and the republican, Bigonet, seizing +him by the arm, exclaimed, "Rash man! what are you doing? Retire; you are +violating the sanctuary of the laws." Bonaparte, pale and agitated, +receded, and was carried off by the grenadiers who had escorted him there. + +His disappearance did not put a stop to the agitation of the council. All +the members spoke at once, all proposed measures of public safety and +defence. Lucien Bonaparte was the object of general reproach; he attempted +to justify his brother, but with timidity. After a long struggle, he +succeeded in reaching the tribune, and urged the assembly to judge his +brother with less severity. He protested that he had no design against +their liberty; and recalled his services. But several voices immediately +exclaimed: "He has lost all their merit; down with the dictator! down with +the tyrants!" The tumult now became more violent than ever; and all +demanded the outlawry of general Bonaparte. "What," said Lucien, "do you +wish me to pronounce the outlawry of my brother?" "Yes! yes! outlawry! it +is the reward of tyrants!" In the midst of the confusion, a motion was +made and put to the vote that the council should sit permanently; that it +should instantly repair to its palace at Paris; that the troops assembled +at Saint Cloud should form a part of the guard of the legislative body; +that the command of them should be given to general Bernadotte. Lucien, +astounded by these propositions, and by the outlawry, which he thought had +been adopted with the rest, left the president's chair, and ascending the +tribune, said, in the greatest agitation: "Since I cannot be heard in this +assembly, I put off the symbols of the popular magistracy with a deep +sense of insulted dignity." And he took off his cap, robe, and scarf. + +Bonaparte, meantime, on leaving the council of the five hundred, had found +some difficulty in regaining his composure. Unaccustomed to scenes of +popular tumult, he had been greatly agitated. His officers came around +him; and Sieyès, having more revolutionary experience, besought him not to +lose time, and to employ force. General Lefèvre immediately gave an order +for carrying off Lucien from the council. A detachment entered the hall, +advanced to the chair which Lucien now occupied again, placed him in their +ranks, and returned with him to the troops. As soon as Lucien came out, he +mounted a horse by his brother's side, and although divested of his legal +character, harangued the troops as president. In concert with Bonaparte, +he invented the story, so often repeated since, that poignards had been +drawn on the general in the council of five hundred, and exclaimed: +"Citizen soldiers, the president of the council of five hundred declares +to you that the large majority of that council is at this moment kept in +fear by the daggers of a few representatives, who surround the tribune, +threaten their colleagues with death, and occasion the most terrible +deliberations. General, and you, soldiers and citizens, you will only +recognise as legislators of France those who follow me. As for those who +remain in the Orangery, let force expel them. Those brigands are no longer +representatives of the people, but representatives of the poignard." After +this violent appeal, addressed to the troops by a conspirator president, +who, as usual, calumniated those he wished to proscribe, Bonaparte spoke: +"Soldiers," said he, "I have led you to victory; may I rely on you?"-- +"Yes! yes! Vive le Général!"--"Soldiers, there were reasons for expecting +that the council of five hundred would save the country; on the contrary, +it is given up to intestine quarrels; agitators seek to excite it against +me. Soldiers, may I rely on you?" "Yes! yes! Vive Bonaparte." "Well, +then, I will bring them to their senses!" And he instantly gave orders to +the officers surrounding him to clear the hall of the five hundred. + +The council, after Lucien's departure, had been a prey to great anxiety +and indecision. A few members proposed that they should leave the place in +a body, and go to Paris to seek protection amidst the people. Others +wished the national representatives not to forsake their post, but to +brave the outrages of force. In the meantime, a troop of grenadiers +entered the hall by degrees, and the officer in command informed the +council that they should disperse. The deputy Prudhon reminded the officer +and his soldiers of the respect due to the representatives of the people; +general Jourdan also represented to them the enormity of such a measure. +For a moment the troops hesitated; but a reinforcement now arrived in +close column. General Leclerc exclaimed: "In the name of general +Bonaparte, the legislative body is dissolved; let all good citizens +retire. Grenadiers, forward!" Cries of indignation arose from every side; +but these were drowned by the drums. The grenadiers advanced slowly across +the whole width of the Orangery, and presenting bayonets. In this way they +drove the legislators before them, who continued shouting, "Vive la +république!" as they left the place. At half-past five, on the 19th +Brumaire of the year VIII. (10th November, 1799) there was no longer a +representation. + +Thus this violation of the law, this coup-d'état against liberty was +accomplished. Force began to sway. The 18th of Brumaire was the 31st of +May of the army against the representation, except that it was not +directed against a party, but against the popular power. But it is just to +distinguish the 18th Brumaire from its consequences. It might then be +supposed that the army was only an auxiliary of the revolution as it had +been on the 13th Vendémiaire and the 18th Fructidor, and that this +indispensable change would not turn to the advantage of a man--a single +man, who would soon change France into a regiment, and cause nothing to be +heard of in a world hitherto agitated by so great a moral commotion, save +the tread of his army, and the voice of his will. + + + + +THE CONSULATE + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +FROM THE 18TH BRUMAIRE (9TH OF NOVEMBER, 1799) TO THE 2ND OF DECEMBER, +1804 + + +The 18th Brumaire had immense popularity. People did not perceive in this +event the elevation of a single man above the councils of the nation; they +did not see in it the end of the great movement of the 14th of July, which +had commenced the national existence. + +The 18th Brumaire assumed an aspect of hope and restoration. Although the +nation was much exhausted, and little capable of supporting a sovereignty +oppressive to it, and which had even become the object of its ridicule, +since the lower class had exercised it, yet it considered despotism so +improbable, that no one seemed to it to be in a condition to reduce it to +a state of subjection. All felt the need of being restored by a skilful +hand, and Bonaparte, as a great man and a victorious general, seemed +suited for the task. + +On this account almost every one, except the directorial republicans, +declared in favour of the events of that day. Violation of the laws and +coups-d'état had occurred so frequently during the revolution, that people +had become accustomed no longer to judge them by their legality, but by +their consequences. From the party of Sieyès down to the royalists of +1788, every one congratulated himself on the 18th Brumaire, and attributed +to himself the future political advantages of this change. The moderate +constitutionalists believed that definitive liberty would be established; +the royalists fed themselves with hope by inappropriately comparing this +epoch of our revolution with the epoch of 1660 in the English revolution, +with the hope that Bonaparte was assuming the part of Monk, and that he +would soon restore the monarchy of the Bourbons; the mass, possessing +little intelligence, and desirous of repose, relied on the return of order +under a powerful protector; the proscribed classes and ambitious men +expected from him their amnesty or elevation. During the three months +which followed the 18th Brumaire, approbation and expectation were +general. A provisional government had been appointed, composed of three +consuls, Bonaparte, Sieyès, and Roger Ducos, with two legislative +commissioners, entrusted to prepare the constitution and a definitive +order of things. + +The consuls and the two commissioners were installed on the 21st Brumaire. +This provisional government abolished the law respecting hostages and +compulsory loans; it permitted the return of the priests proscribed since +the 18th Fructidor; it released from prison and sent out of the republic +the emigrants who had been shipwrecked on the coast of Calais, and who for +four years were captives in France, and were exposed to the heavy +punishment of the emigrant army. All these measures were very favourably +received. But public opinion revolted at a proscription put in force +against the extreme republicans. Thirty-six of them were sentenced to +transportation to Guiana, and twenty-one were put under surveillance in +the department of Charante-Inférieure, merely by a decree of the consuls +on the report of Fouché, minister of police. The public viewed +unfavourably all who attacked the government; but at the same time it +exclaimed against an act so arbitrary and unjust. The consuls, +accordingly, recoiled before their own act; they first commuted +transportation into surveillance, and soon withdrew surveillance itself. + +It was not long before a rupture broke out between the authors of the 18th +Brumaire. During their provisional authority, it did not create much +noise, because it took place in the legislative commissions. The new +constitution was the cause of it. Sieyès and Bonaparte could not agree on +this subject: the former wished to institute France, the latter to govern +it as a master. + +The constitution of Sieyès, which was distorted in the consular +constitution of the year VIII., deserves to be known, were it only in the +light of a legislative curiosity. Sieyès distributed France into three +political divisions; the commune, the province or department, and the +State. Each had its own powers of administration and judicature, arranged +in hierarchical order: the first, the municipalities and _tribunaux de +paix_ and _de premiere instance;_ the second, the popular prefectures and +courts of appeal; the third, the central government and the court of +cassation. To fill the functions of the commune, the department, and the +State, there were three budgets of _notability_, the members of which were +only candidates nominated by the people. + +The executive power was vested in the _proclamateur-électeur_, a superior +functionary, perpetual, without responsibility, deputed to represent the +nation without, and to form the government in a deliberating state-council +and a responsible ministry. The _proclamateur-électeur_ selected from the +lists of candidates, judges, from the tribunals of peace to the court of +cassation; administrators, from the mayors to the ministers. But he was +incapable of governing himself; power was directed by the state council, +exercised by the ministry. + +The legislature departed from the form hitherto established; it ceased to +be a deliberative assembly to become a judicial court. Before it, the +council of state, in the name of the government, and the _tribunat_, in +the name of the people, pleaded their respective projects. Its sentence +was law. It would seem that the object of Sieyès was to put a stop to the +violent usurpations of party, and while placing the sovereignty in the +people, to give it limits in itself: this design appears from the +complicated works of his political machine. The primary assemblies, +composed of the tenth of the general population, nominated the local _list +of communal candidates_; electoral colleges, also nominated by them, +selected from the _communal list_ the superior list of provincial +candidates and from the _provincial list_, the list of national +candidates. In all which concerned the government, there was a reciprocal +control. The proclamateur-électeur selected his functionaries from among +the candidates nominated by the people: and the people could dismiss +functionaries, by not keeping them on the lists of candidates, which were +renewed, the first every two years, the second every five years, the third +every ten years. But the proclamateur-électeur did not interfere in the +nomination of tribunes and legislators, whose attributes were purely +popular. + +Yet, to place a counterpoise in the heart of this authority itself, Sieyès +separated the initiative and the discussion of the law, which was invested +in the tribunate from its adoption, which belonged to the legislative +assembly. But besides these different prerogatives, the legislative body +and the tribunate were not elected in the same manner. The tribunate was +composed by right of the first hundred members of the _national list_, +while the legislative body was chosen directly by the electoral colleges. +The tribunes, being necessarily more active, bustling, and popular, were +appointed for life, and by a protracted process, to prevent their arriving +in a moment of passion, with destructive and angry projects, as had +hitherto been the case in most of the assemblies. The same dangers not +existing in the other assembly, which had only to judge calmly and +disinterestedly of the law, its election was direct, and its authority +transient. + +Lastly, there existed, as the complement of all the other powers, a +conservatory body, incapable of ordering, incapable of acting, intended +solely to provide for the regular existence of the state. This body was +the constitutional jury, or conservatory senate; it was to be for the +political law what the court of cassation was to the civil law. The +tribunate, or the council of state, appealed to it when the sentence of +the legislative body was not conformable to the constitution. It had also +the faculty of calling into its own body any leader of the government who +was too ambitious, or a tribune who was too popular, by the "droit +d'absorption," and when senators, they were disqualified from filling any +other function. In this way it kept a double watch over the safety of the +whole republic, by maintaining the fundamental law, and protecting liberty +against the ambition of individuals. + +Whatever may be thought of this constitution, which seems too finely +complicated to be practicable, it must be granted that it is the +production of considerable strength of mind, and even great practical +information. Sieyès paid too little regard to the passions of men; he made +them too reasonable as human beings, and too obedient as machines. He +wished by skilful inventions to avoid the abuses of human constitutions, +and excluded death, that is to say, despotism, from whatever quarter it +might come. But I have very little faith in the efficacy of constitutions; +in such moments, I believe only in the strength of parties in their +domination, and, from time to time, in their reconciliation. But I must +also admit that, if ever a constitution was adapted to a period, it was +that of Sieyès for France in the year VIII. + +After an experience of ten years, which had only shown exclusive +dominations, after the violent transition from the constitutionalists of +1789 to the Girondists, from the Girondists to the Mountain, from the +Mountain to the reactionists, from the reactionists to the directory, from +the directory to the councils, from the councils to the military force, +there could be no repose or public life save in it. People were weary of +worn-out constitutions; that of Sieyès was new; exclusive men were no +longer wanted, and by elaborate voting it prevented the sudden accession +of counter-revolutionists, as at the beginning of the directory, or of +ardent democrats, as at the end of this government. It was a constitution +of moderate men, suited to terminate a revolution, and to settle a nation. +But precisely because it was a constitution of moderate men, precisely +because parties had no longer sufficient ardour to demand a law of +domination, for that very reason there would necessarily be found a man +stronger than the fallen parties and the moderate legislators, who would +refuse this law, or, accepting, abuse it, and this was what happened. + +Bonaparte took part in the deliberations of the constituent committee; +with his instinct of power, he seized upon everything in the ideas of +Sieyès which was calculated to serve his projects, and caused the rest to +be rejected. Sieyès intended for him the functions of grand elector, with +a revenue of six millions of francs, and a guard of three thousand men; +the palace of Versailles for a residence, and the entire external +representation of the republic. But the actual government was to be +invested in a consul for war and a consul for peace, functionaries +unthought of by Sieyès in the year III., but adopted by him in the year +VIII.; in order, no doubt, to suit the ideas of the times. This +insignificant magistracy was far from suiting Bonaparte. "How could you +suppose," said he, "that a man of any talent and honour could resign +himself to the part of fattening like a hog, on a few millions a year?" +From that moment it was not again mentioned; Roger Ducos, and the greater +part of the committee, declared in favour of Bonaparte; and Sieyès, who +hated discussion, was either unwilling or unable to defend his ideas. He +saw that laws, men, and France itself were at the mercy of the man whose +elevation he had promoted. + +On the 24th of December, 1799 (Nivôse, year VIII.), forty-five days after +the 18th Brumaire, was published the constitution of the year VIII.; it +was composed of the wrecks of that of Sieyès, now become a constitution of +servitude. The government was placed in the hands of the first consul, who +was supported by two others, having a deliberative voice. The senate, +primarily selected by the consuls, chose the members of the tribunal and +legislative body, from the list of the national candidates. The government +alone had the initiative in making the laws. Accordingly, there were no +more bodies of electors who appointed the candidates of different lists, +the tribunes and legislators; no more independent tribunes earnestly +pleading the cause of the people before the legislative assembly; no +legislative assembly arising directly from the bosom of the nation, and +accountable to it alone--in a word, no political nation. Instead of all +this, there existed an all-powerful consul, disposing of armies and of +power, a general and a dictator; a council of state destined to be the +advanced guard of usurpation; and lastly, a senate of eighty members, +whose only function was to nullify the people, and to choose tribunes +without authority, and legislators who should remain mute. Life passed +from the nation to the government. The constitution of Sieyès served as a +pretext for a bad order of things. It is worth notice that up to the year +VIII. all the constitutions had emanated from the _Contrat-social_, and +subsequently, down to 1814, from the constitution of Sieyès. + +The new government was immediately installed. Bonaparte was first consul, +and he united with him as second and third consuls, Cambacérès, a lawyer, +and formerly a member of the Plain in the convention, and Lebrun, formerly +a co-adjutor of the chancellor Maupeou. By their means, he hoped to +influence the revolutionists and moderate royalists. With the same object, +an ex-noble, Talleyrand, and a former member of the Mountain, Fouché, were +appointed to the posts of minister of foreign affairs, and minister of +police. Sieyès felt much repugnance at employing Fouché; but Bonaparte +wished it. "We are forming a new epoch," said he; "we must forget all the +ill of the past, and remember only the good." He cared very little under +what banner men had hitherto served, provided they now enlisted under his, +and summoned thither their old associates in royalism and in revolution. + +The two new consuls and the retiring consuls nominated sixty senators, +without waiting for the lists of eligibility; the senators appointed a +hundred tribunes and three hundred legislators; and the authors of the +18th Brumaire distributed among themselves the functions of the state, as +the booty of their victory. It is, however, just to say that the moderate +liberal party prevailed in this partition, and that, as long as it +preserved any influence, Bonaparte governed in a mild, advantageous, and +republican manner. The constitution of the year VIII., submitted to the +people for acceptance, was approved by three millions eleven thousand and +seven citizens. That of 1793 had obtained one million eight hundred and +one thousand nine hundred and eighteen suffrages; and that of the year +III. one million fifty-seven thousand three hundred and ninety. The new +law satisfied the moderate masses, who sought tranquillity, rather than +guarantees; while the code of '93 had only found partisans among the lower +class; and that of the year III. had been equally rejected by the +royalists and democrats. The constitution of 1791 alone had obtained +general approbation; and, without having been subjected to individual +acceptance, had been sworn to by all France. + +The first consul, in compliance with the wishes of the republic, made +offers of peace to England, which it refused. He naturally wished to +assume an appearance of moderation, and, previous to treating, to confer +on his government the lustre of new victories. The continuance of the war +was therefore decided on, and the consuls made a remarkable proclamation, +in which they appealed to sentiments new to the nation. Hitherto it had +been called to arms in defence of liberty; now they began to excite it in +the name of honour: "Frenchmen, you wish for peace. Your government +desires it with still more ardour: its foremost hopes, its constant +efforts, have been in favour of it. The English ministry rejects it; the +English ministry has betrayed the secret of its horrible policy. To rend +France, to destroy its navy and ports, to efface it from the map of +Europe, or reduce it to the rank of a secondary power, to keep the nations +of the continent at variance, in order to seize on the commerce of all, +and enrich itself by their spoils: these are the fearful successes for +which England scatters its gold, lavishes its promises, and multiplies its +intrigues. It is in your power to command peace; but, to command it, +money, the sword, and soldiers are necessary; let all, then, hasten to pay +the tribute they owe to their common defence. Let our young citizens +arise! No longer will they take arms for factions, or for the choice of +tyrants, but for the security of all they hold most dear; for the honour +of France, and for the sacred interests of humanity." + +Holland and Switzerland had been sheltered during the preceding campaign. +The first consul assembled all his force on the Rhine and the Alps. He +gave Moreau the command of the army of the Rhine, and he himself marched +into Italy. He set out on the 16th Floréal, year VIII. (6th of May, 1800) +for that brilliant campaign which lasted only forty days. It was important +that he should not be long absent from Paris at the beginning of his +power, and especially not to leave the war in a state of indecision. +Field-marshal Mélas had a hundred and thirty thousand men under arms; he +occupied all Italy. The republican army opposed to him only amounted to +forty thousand men. He left the field-marshal lieutenant Ott with thirty +thousand men before Genoa; and marched against the corps of general +Suchet. He entered Nice, prepared to pass the Var, and to enter Provence. +It was then that Bonaparte crossed the great Saint Bernard at the head of +an army of forty thousand men, descended into Italy in the rear of Mélas, +entered Milan on the 16th Prairial (2nd of June), and placed the Austrians +between Suchet and himself. Mélas, whose line of operation was broken, +quickly fell back upon Nice, and from thence on to Turin; he established +his headquarters at Alessandria, and decided on re-opening his +communications by a battle. On the 9th of June, the advance guard of the +republicans gained a glorious victory at Monte-Bello, the chief honour of +which belonged to general Lannes. But it was the plain of Marengo, on the +14th of June (25th Prairial) that decided the fate of Italy; the Austrians +were overwhelmed. Unable to force the passage of the Bormida by a victory, +they were placed without any opportunity of retreat between the army of +Suchet and that of the first consul. On the 15th, they obtained permission +to fall behind Mantua, on condition of restoring all the places of +Piedmont, Lombardy, and the Legations; and the victory of Marengo thus +secured possession of all Italy. + +Eighteen days after, Bonaparte returned to Paris. He was received with all +the evidence of admiration that such decided victories and prodigious +activity could excite; the enthusiasm was universal. There was a +spontaneous illumination, and the crowd hurried to the Tuileries to see +him. The hope of speedy peace redoubled the public joy. On the 25th +Messidor the first consul was present at the anniversary fête of the 14th +of July. When the officers presented him the standards taken from the +enemy, he said to them: "When you return to your camps, tell your soldiers +that the French people, on the 1st Vendemiaire, when we shall celebrate +the anniversary of the republic, will expect either the proclamation of +peace, or, if the enemy raise insuperable obstacles, further standards as +the result of new victories." Peace, however, was delayed for some time. + +In the interim between the victory of Marengo and the general +pacification, the first consul turned his attention chiefly to settling +the people, and to diminishing the number of malcontents, by employing the +displaced factions in the state. He was very conciliatory to those parties +who renounced their systems, and very lavish of favours to those chiefs +who renounced their parties. As it was a time of selfishness and +indifference, he had no difficulty in succeeding. The proscribed of the +18th Fructidor were already recalled, with the exception of a few royalist +conspirators, such as Pichegru, Willot, etc. Bonaparte soon even employed +those of the banished who, like Portalis, Siméon, Barbé-Marbois, had shown +themselves more anti-conventionalists than counter-revolutionists. He had +also gained over opponents of another description. The late leaders of La +Vendée, the famous Bernier, curé of Saint-Lo, who had assisted in the +whole insurrection, Châtillon, d'Autichamp and Suzannet had come to an +arrangement by the treaty of Mont-Luçon (17th January, 1800). He also +addressed himself to the leaders of the Breton bands, Georges Cadoudal, +Frotté, Laprévelaye, and Bourmont. The two last alone consented to submit. +Frotté was surprised and shot; and Cadoudal defeated at Grand Champ, by +General Brune, capitulated. The western war was thus definitively +terminated. + +But the _Chouans_ who had taken refuge in England, and whose only hope was +in the death of him who now concentrated the power of the revolution, +projected his assassination. A few of them disembarked on the coast of +France, and secretly repaired to Paris. As it was not easy to reach the +first consul, they decided on a conspiracy truly horrible. On the third +Nivôse, at eight in the evening, Bonaparte was to go to the Opera by the +Rue Saint-Nicaise. The conspirators placed a barrel of powder on a little +truck, which obstructed the carriage way, and one of them, named Saint +Regent, was to set fire to it as soon as he received a signal of the first +consul's approach. At the appointed time, Bonaparte left the Tuileries, +and crossed the Rue Nicaise. His coachman was skilful enough to drive +rapidly between the truck and the wall; but the match was already alight, +and the carriage had scarcely reached the end of the street when _the +infernal machine_ exploded, covered the quarter of Saint-Nicaise with +ruins, shaking the carriage, and breaking its windows. + +The police, taken by surprise, though directed by Fouché, attributed this +plot to the democrats, against whom the first consul had a much more +decided antipathy than against the _Chouans_. Many of them were +imprisoned, and a hundred and thirty were transported by a simple senatus- +consultus asked and obtained during the night. At length they discovered +the true authors of the conspiracy, some of whom were condemned to death. +On this occasion, the consul caused the creation of special military +tribunals. The constitutional party separated still further from him, and +began its energetic but useless opposition. Lanjuinais, Grégoire, who had +courageously resisted the extreme party in the convention, Garat, +Lambrechts, Lenoir-Laroche, Cabanis, etc., opposed, in the senate, the +illegal proscription of a hundred and thirty democrats; and the tribunes, +Isnard, Daunou, Chénier, Benjamin Constant, Bailleul, Chazal, etc., +opposed the special courts. But a glorious peace threw into the shade this +new encroachment of power. + +The Austrians, conquered at Marengo, and defeated in Germany by Moreau, +determined on laying down arms; On the 8th of January, 1801, the republic, +the cabinet of Vienna, and the empire, concluded the treaty of Lunéville. +Austria ratified all the conditions of the treaty of Campo-Formio, and +also ceded Tuscany to the young duke of Parma. The empire recognised the +independence of the Batavian, Helvetian, Ligurian, and Cisalpine +republics. The pacification soon became general, by the treaty of Florence +(18th of February 1801,) with the king of Naples, who ceded the isle of +Elba and the principality of Piombino, by the treaty of Madrid (29th of +September, 1801) with Portugal; by the treaty of Paris (8th of October, +1801) with the emperor of Russia; and, lastly, by the preliminaries (9th +of October, 1801) with the Ottoman Porte. The continent, by ceasing +hostilities, compelled England to a momentary peace. Pitt, Dundas, and +Lord Grenville, who had maintained these sanguinary struggles with France, +went out of office when their system ceased to be followed. The opposition +replaced them; and, on the 25th of March, 1802, the treaty of Amiens +completed the pacification of the world. England consented to all the +continental acquisitions of the French republic, recognised the existence +of the secondary republics, and restored our colonies. + +During the maritime war with England, the French navy had been almost +entirely ruined. Three hundred and forty ships had been taken or +destroyed, and the greater part of the colonies had fallen into the hands +of the English. San Domingo, the most important of them all, after +throwing off the yoke of the whites, had continued the American +revolution, which having commenced in the English colonies, was to end in +those of Spain, and change the colonies of the new world into independent +states. The blacks of San Domingo wished to maintain, with respect to the +mother country, the freedom which they had acquired from the colonists, +and to defend themselves against the English. They were led by a man of +colour, the famous Toussaint-L'Ouverture. France should have consented to +this revolution which had been very costly for humanity. The metropolitan +government could no longer be restored at San Domingo; and it became +necessary to obtain the only real advantages which Europe can now derive +from America, by strengthening the commercial ties with our old colony. +Instead of this prudent policy, Bonaparte attempted an expedition to +reduce the island to subjection. Forty thousand men embarked for this +disastrous enterprise. It was impossible for the blacks to resist such an +army at first; but after the first victories, it was attacked by the +climate, and new insurrections secured the independence of the colony. +France experienced the twofold loss of an army and of advantageous +commercial connexions. + +Bonaparte, whose principal object hitherto had been to promote the fusion +of parties, now turned all his attention to the internal prosperity of the +republic, and the organization of power. The old privileged classes of the +nobility and the clergy had returned into the state without forming +particular classes. Dissentient priests, on taking an oath of obedience, +might conduct their modes of worship and receive their pensions from +government. An act of pardon had been passed in favour of those accused of +emigration; there only remained a list of about a thousand names of those +who remained faithful to the family and the claims of the pretender. The +work of pacification was at an end. Bonaparte, knowing that the surest way +of commanding a nation is to promote its happiness, encouraged the +development of industry, and favoured external commerce, which had so long +been suspended. He united higher views with his political policy, and +connected his own glory with the prosperity of France; he travelled +through the departments, caused canals and harbours to be dug, bridges to +be built, roads to be repaired, monuments to be erected, and means of +communication to be multiplied. He especially strove to become the +protector and legislator of private interests. The civil, penal, and +commercial codes, which he formed, whether at this period, or at a later +period, completed, in this respect, the work of the revolution, and +regulated the internal existence of the nation, in a manner somewhat more +conformable to its real condition. Notwithstanding political despotism, +France, during the domination of Bonaparte, had a private legislation +superior to that of any European society; for with absolute government, +most of them still preserved the civil condition of the middle-ages. +General peace, universal toleration, the return of order, the restoration, +and the creation of an administrative system, soon changed the appearance +of the republic. Attention was turned to the construction of roads and +canals. Civilization became developed in an extraordinary manner; and the +consulate was, in this respect, the perfected period of the directory, +from its commencement to the 18th Fructidor. + +It was more especially after the peace Amiens that Bonaparte raised the +foundation of his future power. He himself says, in the Memoirs published +under his name, [Footnote: _Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire de France +sous Napoléon, écrits à Sainte Hélène_, vol. i. p. 248.] "The ideas of +Napoleon were fixed, but to realise them he required the assistance of +time and circumstances. The organization of the consulate had nothing in +contradiction with these; it accustomed the nation to unity, and that was +a first step. This step taken, Napoleon was indifferent to the forms and +denominations of the different constituted bodies. He was a stranger to +the revolution. It was his wisdom to advance from day to day, without +deviating from the fixed point, the polar star, which directed Napoleon +how to guide the revolution to the port whither he wished to conduct it." + +In the beginning of 1802, he was at one and the same time forming three +great projects, tending to the same end. He sought to organize religion +and to establish the clergy, which as yet had only a religious existence; +to create, by means of the Legation of Honour, a permanent military order +in the army; and to secure his own power, first for his life, and then to +render it hereditary. Bonaparte was installed at the Tuileries, where he +gradually resumed the customs and ceremonies of the old monarchy. He. +already thought of placing intermediate bodies between himself and the +people. For some time past he had opened a negotiation with Pope Pius +VII., on matters of religious worship. The famous concordat, which created +nine archbishoprics, forty-one bishoprics, with the institution of +chapters, which established the clergy in the state, and again placed it +under the external monarchy of the pope, was signed at Paris on the 16th +of July, 1801, and ratified at Rome on the 15th of August, 1801. + +Bonaparte, who had destroyed the liberty of the press, created exceptional +tribunals, and who had departed more and more from the principles of the +revolution, felt that before he went further it was necessary to break +entirely with the liberal party of the 18th Brumaire. In Ventôse, year X. +(March, 1802), the most energetic of the tribunes were dismissed by a +simple operation of the senate. The tribunate was reduced to eighty +members, and the legislative body underwent a similar purgation. About a +month after, the 15th Germinal (6th of April, 1802), Bonaparte, no longer +apprehensive of opposition, submitted the concordat to these assemblies, +whose obedience he had thus secured, for their acceptance. They adopted it +by a great majority. The Sunday and four great religious festivals were +re-established, and from that time the government ceased to observe the +system of decades. This was the first attempt at renouncing the republican +calendar. Bonaparte hoped to gain the sacerdotal party, always most +disposed to passive obedience, and thus deprive the royalist of the +clergy, and the coalition of the pope. + +The concordat was inaugurated with great pomp in the cathedral of Nôtre- +Dame. The senate, the legislative body, the tribunate, and the leading +functionaries were present at this new ceremony. The first consul repaired +thither in the carriages of the old court, with the etiquette and +attendants of the old monarchy; salvos of artillery announced this return +of privilege, and this essay at royalty. A pontifical mass was performed +by Caprara, the cardinal-legate, and the people were addressed by +proclamation in a language to which they had long been unaccustomed. +"Reason and the example of ages," ran the proclamation, "command us to +have recourse to the sovereign pontiff to effect unison of opinion and +reconciliation of hearts. The head of the church has weighed in his wisdom +and for the interest of the church, propositions dictated by the interest +of the state." + +In the evening there was an illumination, and a concert in the gardens of +the Tuileries. The soldiery reluctantly attended at the inauguration +ceremony, and expressed their dissatisfaction aloud. On returning to the +palace, Bonaparte questioned general Delmas on the subject. "_What did you +think of the ceremony? _" said he. "_A fine mummery_" was the reply. +"_Nothing was wanting but a million of men slain, in destroying what you +re-establish. _" + +A month after, on the 25th Floréal, year X. (15th of May, 1802), he +presented the project of a law respecting _the creation of a legion of +honour_. This legion was to be composed of fifteen cohorts, dignitaries +for life, disposed in hierarchical order, having a centre, an +organization, and revenues. The first consul was the chief of the legion. +Each cohort was composed of seven grand officers, twenty commanders, +thirty officers, and three hundred and fifty legionaries. Bonaparte's +object was to originate a new nobility. He thus appealed to the ill- +suppressed sentiment of inequality. While discussing this projected law in +the council of state, he did not scruple to announce his aristocratic +design. Berlier, counsellor of state, having disapproved an institution so +opposed to the spirit of the republic, said that: "Distinctions were the +playthings of a monarchy." "I defy you," replied the first consul, "to +show me a republic, ancient or modern, in which distinctions did not +exist; you call them toys; well, it is by toys that men are led. I would +not say as much to a tribune; but in a council of wise men and statesmen +we may speak plainly. I do not believe that the French love _liberty and +equality_. The French have not been changed by ten years of revolution; +they have but one sentiment--_honour_. That sentiment, then, must be +nourished; they must have distinctions. See how the people prostrate +themselves before the ribbons and stars of foreigners; they have been +surprised by them; and they do not fail to wear them. All has been +destroyed; the question is, how to restore all. There is a government, +there are authorities; but the rest of the nation, what is it? Grains of +sand. Among us we have the old privileged classes, organized in principles +and interests, and knowing well what they want. I can count our enemies. +But we, ourselves, are dispersed, without system, union, or contact. As +long as I am here, I will answer for the republic; but we must provide for +the future. Do you think the republic is definitively established? If so, +you are greatly deceived. It is in our power to make it so; but we have +not done it; and we shall not do it if we do not hurl some masses of +granite on the soil of France." [Footnote: This passage is extracted from +M. Thibaudeau's _Mémoires_ of the Consulate. There are in these +_Mémoires_, which are extremely curious, some political conversations of +Bonaparte, details concerning his internal government and the principal +sittings of the council of state, which throw much light upon this epoch.] +By these words Bonaparte announced a system of government opposed to that +which the revolution sought to establish, and which the change in society +demanded. + +Yet, notwithstanding the docility of the council of state, the purgation +undergone by the tribunal and the legislative body, these three bodies +vigorously opposed a law which revived inequality. In the council of +state, the legion of honour only had fourteen votes against ten; in the +tribunal, thirty-eight against fifty-six; in the legislative body, a +hundred and sixty-six against a hundred and ten. Public opinion manifested +a still greater repugnance for this new order of knighthood. Those first +invested seemed almost ashamed of it, and received it with a sort of +contempt. But Bonaparte pursued his counterrevolutionary course, without +troubling himself about a dissatisfaction no longer capable of resistance. + +He wished to confirm his power by the establishment of privilege, and to +confirm privilege by the duration of his power. On the motion of Chabot de +l'Allier, the tribunal resolved: "That the first consul, general +Bonaparte, should receive a signal mark of national gratitude." In +pursuance of this resolution, on the 6th of May, 1802, an organic senatus- +consultus appointed Bonaparte consul for an additional period of ten +years. + +But Bonaparte did not consider the prolongation of the consulate +sufficient; and two months after, on the 2nd of August, the senate, on the +decision of the tribunate and the legislative body, and with the consent +of the people, consulted by means of the public registers, passed the +following decree: + +"I. The French people nominate, and the senate proclaim Napoleon Bonaparte +first consul for life. + +"II. A statue of Peace, holding in one hand a laurel of victory, and in +the other, the decree of the senate, shall attest to posterity the +gratitude of the nation. + +"III. The senate will convey to the first consul the expression of the +confidence, love, and admiration of the French people." + +This revolution was complete by adapting to the consulship for life, by a +simple senatus-consultus, the constitution, already sufficiently despotic, +of the temporary consulship. "Senators," said Cornudet, on presenting the +new law, "we must for ever close the public path to the Gracchi. The +wishes of the citizens, with respect to the political laws they obey, are +expressed by the general prosperity; the guarantee of social rights +absolutely places the dogma of the exercise of the sovereignty of the +people in the senate, which is the bond of the nation. This is the only +social doctrine." The senate admitted this new social doctrine, took +possession of the sovereignty, and held it as a deposit till a favourable +moment arrived for transferring it to Bonaparte. + +The constitution of the 16th Thermidor, year X. (4th of August, 1802,) +excluded the people from the state. The public and administrative +functions became fixed, like those of the government. The first consul +could increase the number of electors who were elected for life. The +senate had the right of changing institutions, suspending the functions of +the jury, of placing the departments out of the constitution, of annulling +the sentences of the tribunals, of dissolving the legislative body, and +the tribunate. The council of state was reinforced; the tribunate, already +reduced by dismissals, was still sufficiently formidable to require to be +reduced to fifty members. + +Such, in the course of two years, was the terrible progress of privilege +and absolute power. Towards the close of 1802, everything was in the hands +of the consul for life, who had a class devoted to him in the clergy; a +military order in the legion of honour; an administrative body in the +council of state; a machinery for decrees in the legislative assembly; a +machinery for the constitution in the senate. Not daring, as yet, to +destroy the tribunate, in which assembly there arose, from time to time, a +few words of freedom and opposition, he deprived it of its most courageous +and eloquent members, that he might hear his will declared with docility +in all the assemblies of the nation. + +This interior policy of usurpation was extended beyond the country. On the +26th of August, Bonaparte united the island of Elba, and on the 11th of +September, 1802, Piedmont, to the French territory. On the 9th of October +he took possession of the states of Parma, left vacant by the death of the +duke; and lastly, on the 21st of October, he marched into Switzerland an +army of thirty thousand men, to support a federative act, which regulated +the constitution of each canton, and which had caused disturbances. He +thus furnished a pretext for a rupture with England, which had not +sincerely subscribed to the peace. The British cabinet had only felt the +necessity of a momentary suspension of hostilities; and, a short time +after the treaty of Amiens, it arranged a third coalition, as it had done +after the treaty of Campo-Formio, and at the time of the congress of +Rastadt. The interest and situation of England were alone of a nature to +bring about a rupture, which was hastened by the union of states effected +by Bonaparte, and the influence which he retained over the neighbouring +republics, called to complete independence by the recent treaties. +Bonaparte, on his part, eager for the glory gained on the field of battle, +wishing to aggrandize France by conquests, and to complete his own +elevation by victories, could not rest satisfied with repose; he had +rejected liberty, and war became a necessity. + +The two cabinets exchanged for some time very bitter diplomatic notes. At +length, Lord Whitworth, the English ambassador, left Paris on the 25th +Floréal, year XI. (13th of May, 1803). Peace was now definitively broken: +preparations for war were made on both sides. On the 26th of May, the +French troops entered the electorate of Hanover. The German empire, on the +point of expiring, raised no obstacle. The emigrant Chouan party, which +had taken no steps since the affair of the infernal machine and the +continental peace, were encouraged by this return of hostilities. The +opportunity seemed favourable, and it formed in London, with the assent of +the British cabinet, a conspiracy headed by Pichegru and Georges Cadoudal. +The conspirators disembarked secretly on the coast of France, and repaired +with the same secrecy to Paris. They communicated with general Moreau, who +had been induced by his wife to embrace the royalist party. Just as they +were about to execute their project, most of them were arrested by the +police, who had discovered the plot, and traced them. Georges Cadoudal was +executed, Pichegru was found strangled in prison, and Moreau was sentenced +to two years' imprisonment, commuted to exile. This conspiracy, discovered +in the middle of February, 1804, rendered the person of the first consul, +whose life had been thus threatened, still dearer to the masses of the +people; addresses of congratulation were presented by all the bodies of +the state, and all the departments of the republic. About this time he +sacrificed an illustrious victim. On the 15th of March, the duc d'Enghien +was carried off by a squadron of cavalry from the castle of Ettenheim, in +the grand-duchy of Baden, a few leagues from the Rhine. The first consul +believed, from the reports of the police, that this prince had directed +the recent conspiracy. The duc d'Engbien was conveyed hastily to +Vincennes, tried in a few hours by a military commission, and shot in the +trenches of the château. This crime was not an act of policy, or +usurpation; but a deed of violence and wrath. The royalists might have +thought on the 18th Brumaire that the first consul was studying the part +of general Monk; but for four years he had destroyed that hope. He had no +longer any necessity for breaking with them in so outrageous a manner, nor +for reassuring, as it has been suggested, the Jacobins, who no longer +existed. Those who remained devoted to the republic, dreaded at this time +despotism far more than a counter-revolution. There is every reason to +think that Bonaparte, who thought little of human life, or of the rights +of nations, having already formed the habit of an expeditious and hasty +policy, imagined the prince to be one of the conspirators, and sought, by +a terrible example, to put an end to conspiracies, the only peril that +threatened his power at that period. + +The war with Britain and the conspiracy of Georges Cadoudal and Pichegru, +were the stepping-stones by which Bonaparte ascended from the consulate to +the empire. On the 6th Germinal, year XII. (27th March, 1804), the senate, +on receiving intelligence of the plot, sent a deputation to the first +consul. The president, François de Neufchâteau, expressed himself in these +terms: "Citizen first consul, you are founding a new era, but you ought to +perpetuate it: splendour is nothing without duration. We do not doubt but +this great idea has had a share of your attention; for your creative +genius embraces all and forgets nothing. But do not delay: you are urged +on by the times, by events, by conspirators, and by ambitious men; and in +another direction, by the anxiety which agitates the French people. It is +in your power to enchain time, master events, disarm the ambitious, and +tranquillize the whole of France by giving it institutions which will +cement your edifice, and prolong for our children what you have done for +their fathers. Citizen first consul, be assured that the senate here +speaks to you in the name of all citizens." + +On the 5th Floréal, year XII. (25th of April, 1804), Bonaparte replied to +the senate from Saint-Cloud, as follows: "Your address has occupied my +thoughts incessantly; it has been the subject of my constant meditation. +You consider, that the supreme magistracy should be hereditary, in order +to protect the people from the plots of our enemies, and the agitation +which arises from rival ambitions. You also think that several of our +institutions ought to be perfected, to secure the permanent triumph of +equality and public liberty, and to offer the nation and government the +twofold guarantee which they require. The more I consider these great +objects, the more deeply do I feel that in such novel and important +circumstances, the councils of your wisdom and experience are necessary to +enable me to come to a conclusion. I invite you, then, to communicate to +me your ideas on the subject." The senate, in its turn, replied on the +14th Floréal (3rd of May): "The senate considers that the interests of the +French people will be greatly promoted by confiding the government of the +republic to _Napoleon Bonaparte_, as hereditary emperor." By this +preconcerted scene was ushered in the establishment of the empire. + +The tribune Curée opened the debate in the tribunate by a motion on the +subject. He dwelt on the same motives as the senators had done. His +proposition was carried with enthusiasm. Carnot alone had the courage to +oppose the empire: "I am far," said he, "from wishing to weaken the +praises bestowed on the first consul; but whatever services a citizen may +have done to his country, there are bounds which honour, as well as +reason, imposes on national gratitude. If this citizen has restored public +liberty, if he has secured the safety of his country, is it a reward to +offer him the sacrifice of that liberty; and would it not be destroying +his own work to make his country his private patrimony? When once the +proposition of holding the consulate for life was presented for the votes +of the people, it was easy to see that an after-thought existed. A crowd +of institutions evidently monarchical followed in succession; but now the +object of so many preliminary measures is disclosed in a positive manner; +we are called to declare our sentiments on a formal motion to restore the +monarchical system, and to confer imperial and hereditary dignity on the +first consul. + +"Has liberty, then, only been shown to man that he might never enjoy it? +No, I cannot consent to consider this good, so universally preferred to +all others, without which all others are as nothing, as a mere illusion. +My heart tells me that liberty is attainable; that its regime is easier +and more stable than any arbitrary government. I voted against the +consulate for life; I now vote against the restoration of the monarchy; as +I conceive my quality as tribune compels me to do." + +But he was the only one who thought thus; and his colleagues rivalled each +other in their opposition to the opinion of the only man who alone among +them remained free. In the speeches of that period, we may see the +prodigious change that had taken place in ideas and language. The +revolution had returned to the political principles of the ancient regime; +the same enthusiasm and fanaticism existed; but it was the enthusiasm of +flattery, the fanaticism of servitude. The French rushed into the empire +as they had rushed into the revolution; in the age of reason they referred +everything to the enfranchisement of nations; now they talked of nothing +but the greatness of a man, and of the age of Bonaparte; and they now +fought to make kings, as they had formerly fought to create republics. + +The tribunate, the legislative body, and the senate, voted the empire, +which was proclaimed at Saint-Cloud on the 28th Floréal, year XII. (18th +of May, 1804). On the same day, a senatus-consultum modified the +constitution, which was adapted to the new order of things. The empire +required its appendages; and French princes, high dignitaries, marshals, +chamberlains, and pages were given to it. All publicity was destroyed. The +liberty of the press had already been subjected to censorship; only one +tribune remained, and that became mute. The sittings of the tribunate were +secret, like those of the council of state; and from that day, for a space +of ten years, France was governed with closed doors. Joseph and Louis +Bonaparte were recognised as French princes. Bethier, Murat, Moncey, +Jourdan, Masséna, Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, +Ney, Davoust, Bessières, Kellermann, Lefèvre, Pérignon, Sérurier, were +named marshals of the empire. The departments sent up addresses, and the +clergy compared Napoleon to a new Moses, a new Mattathias, a new Cyrus. +They saw in his elevation "the finger of God," and said "that submission +was due to him as dominating over all; to his ministers as sent by him, +because such was the order of Providence." Pope Pius VII. came to Paris to +consecrate the new dynasty. The coronation took place on Sunday, the 2nd +of December, in the church of Notre-Dame. + +Preparations had been making for this ceremony for some time, and it was +regulated according to ancient customs. The emperor repaired to the +metropolitan church with the empress Josephine, in a coach surmounted by a +crown, drawn by eight white horses, and escorted by his guard. The pope, +cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and all the great bodies of the state +were awaiting him in the cathedral, which had been magnificently decorated +for this extraordinary ceremony. He was addressed in an oration at the +door; and then, clothed with the imperial mantle, the crown on his head, +and the sceptre in his hand, he ascended a throne placed at the end of the +church. The high almoner, a cardinal, and a bishop, came and conducted him +to the foot of the altar for consecration. The pope poured the three-fold +unction on his head and hands, and delivered the following prayer:--"O +Almighty God, who didst establish Hazael to govern Syria, and Jehu king of +Israel, by revealing unto them thy purpose by the mouth of the prophet +Elias; who didst also shed the holy unction of kings on the head of Saul +and of David, by the ministry of thy prophet Samuel, vouchsafe to pour, by +my hands, the treasures of thy grace and blessing on thy servant Napoleon, +who, notwithstanding our own unworthiness, we this day consecrate emperor +in thy name." + +The pope led him solemnly back to the throne; and after he had sworn on +the Testament the oath prescribed by the new constitution, the chief +herald-at-arms cried in a loud voice--"_The most glorious and most august +emperor of the French is crowned and enthroned! Long live the emperor! _" +The church instantly resounded with the cry, salvoes of artillery were +fired, and the pope intoned the Te Deum. For several days there was a +succession of fêtes; but these fêtes _by command_, these fêtes of absolute +power, did not breathe the frank, lively, popular, and unanimous joy of +the first federation of the 14th of July; and, exhausted as the people +were, they did not welcome the beginning of despotism as they had welcomed +that of liberty. + +The consulate was the last period of the existence of the republic. The +revolution was coming to man's estate. During the first period of the +consular government, Bonaparte had gained the proscribed classes by +recalling them, he found a people still agitated by every passion, and he +restored them to tranquillity by labour, and to prosperity by restoring +order. Finally he compelled Europe, conquered for the third time, to +acknowledge his elevation. Till the treaty of Amiens, he revived in the +republic victory, concord, and prosperity, without sacrificing liberty. He +might then, had he wished, have made himself the representative of that +great age, which sought for that noble system of human dignity the +consecration of far-extended equality, wise liberty, and more developed +civilization. The nation was in the hands of the great man or the despot; +it rested with him to preserve it free or to enslave it. He preferred the +realization of his selfish projects, and preferred himself to all +humanity. Brought up in tents, coming late into the revolution, he only +understood its material and interested side; he had no faith in the moral +wants which had given rise to it, nor in the creeds which had agitated it, +and which, sooner or later, would return and destroy him. He saw an +insurrection approaching its end, an exhausted people at his mercy, and a +crown on the ground within his reach. + + + + +THE EMPIRE + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE, 1804-1814 + + +After the establishment of the empire, power became more arbitrary, and +society reconstructed itself on an aristocratic principle. The great +movement of recomposition, which had commenced on the 9th Thermidor went +on increasing. The convention had abolished classes; the directory +defeated parties; the consulate gained over men; and the empire corrupted +them by distinctions and privileges. This second period was the opposite +of the first. Under the one, we saw the government of the committees +exercised by men elected every three months, without guards, honours, or +representation, living on a few francs a day, working eighteen hours +together on common wooden tables; under the other, the government of the +empire, with all its paraphernalia of administration, it chamberlains, +gentlemen, praetorian guard, hereditary rights, its immense civil list, +and dazzling ostentation. The national activity was exclusively directed +to labour and war. All material interests, all ambitious passions, were +hierarchically arranged under one leader, who, after having sacrificed +liberty by establishing absolute power, destroyed equality by introducing +nobility. + +The directory had erected all the surrounding states into republics; +Napoleon wished to constitute them on the model of the empire. He began +with Italy. The council of state of the Cisalpine republic determined on +restoring hereditary monarchy in favour of Napoleon. Its vice-president, +M. Melzi, came to Paris to communicate to him this decision. On the 26th +Ventôse, year XIII. (17th of March, 1805), he was received with great +solemnity at the Tuileries. Napoleon was on his throne, surrounded by his +court, and all the splendour of sovereign power, in the display of which +he delighted. M. Melzi offered him the crown, in the name of his fellow- +citizens. "Sire," said he, in conclusion, "deign to gratify the wishes of +the assembly over which I have the honour to preside. Interpreter of the +sentiments which animate every Italian heart, it brings you their sincere +homage. It will inform them with joy that by accepting, you have +strengthened the ties which attach you to the preservation, defence, and +prosperity of the Italian nation. Yes, sire, you wished the existence of +the Italian republic, and it existed. Desire the Italian monarchy to be +happy, and it will be so." + +The emperor went to take possession of this kingdom; and, on the 26th of +May, 1805, he received at Milan the iron crown of the Lombards. He +appointed his adopted son, prince Eugene de Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, +and repaired to Genoa, which also renounced its sovereignty. On the 4th of +June, 1805, its territory was united to the empire, and formed the three +departments of Genoa, Montenotte, and the Apennines. The small republic of +Lucca was included in this monarchical revolution. At the request of its +gonfalonier, it was given in appanage to the prince of Piombino and his +princess, a sister of Napoleon. The latter, after this royal progress, +recrossed the Alps, and returned to the capital of his empire; he soon +after departed for the camp at Boulogne, where a great maritime expedition +against England was preparing. + +This project of descent which the directory had entertained after the +peace of Campo-Formio, and the first consul, after the peace of Lunéville, +had been resumed with much ardour since the new rupture. At the +commencement of 1805, a flotilla of two thousand small vessels, manned by +sixteen thousand sailors, carrying an army of one hundred and sixty +thousand men, nine thousand horses, and a numerous artillery, had +assembled in the ports of Boulogne, Etaples, Wimereux, Ambleteuse. and +Calais. The emperor was hastening by his presence the execution of this +project, when he learned that England, to avoid the descent with which it +was threatened, had prevailed on Austria to come to a rupture with France, +and that all the forces of the Austrian monarchy were in motion. Ninety +thousand men, under the archduke Ferdinand and general Mack, had crossed +the Jura, seized on Munich, and driven out the elector of Bavaria, the +ally of France; thirty thousand, under the archduke John, occupied the +Tyrol, and the archduke Charles, with one hundred thousand men, was +advancing on the Adige. Two Russian armies were preparing to join the +Austrians. Pitt had made the greatest efforts to organize this third +coalition. The establishment of the kingdom of Italy, the annexation of +Genoa and Piedmont to France, the open influence of the emperor over +Holland and Switzerland, had again aroused Europe, which now dreaded the +ambition of Napoleon as much as it had formerly feared the principles of +the revolution. The treaty of alliance between the British ministry and +the Russian cabinet had been signed on the 11th of April, 1805, and +Austria had acceded to it on the 9th of August. + +Napoleon left Boulogne, returned hastily to Paris, repaired to the senate +on the 23rd of September, obtained a levy of eighty thousand men, and set +out the next day to begin the campaign. He passed the Rhine on the 1st of +October, and entered Bavaria on the 6th, with an army of a hundred and +sixty thousand men. Masséna held back Prince Charles in Italy, and the +emperor carried on the war in Germany at full speed. In a few days he +passed the Danube, entered Munich, gained the victory of Wertingen, and +forced general Mack to lay down his arms at Ulm. This capitulation +disorganized the Austrian army. Napoleon pursued the course of his +victories, entered Vienna on the 13th of November, and then marched into +Moravia to meet the Russians, round whom the defeated troops had rallied. + +On the 2nd of December, 1805, the anniversary of the coronation, the two +armies met in the plains of Austerlitz. The enemy amounted to ninety-five +thousand men, the French to eighty thousand. On both sides the artillery +was formidable. The battle began at sunrise; these enormous masses began +to move; the Russian infantry could not stand against the impetuosity of +our troops and the manoeuvres of their general. The enemy's left was first +cut off; the Russian imperial guard came up to re-establish the +communication, and was entirely overwhelmed. The centre experienced the +same fate, and at one o'clock in the afternoon the most decisive victory +had completed this wonderful campaign. The following day the emperor +congratulated the army in a proclamation on the field of battle itself: +"Soldiers," said he, "I am satisfied with you. You have adorned your +eagles with immortal glory. An army of a hundred thousand men, commanded +by the emperors of Russia and Austria, in less than four days has been cut +to pieces or dispersed; those who escaped your steel have been drowned in +the lakes. Forty flags, the standards of the Russian imperial guard, a +hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, twenty generals, more than thirty +thousand prisoners, are the result of this ever memorable day. This +infantry, so vaunted and so superior in numbers, could not resist your +shock, and henceforth you have no more rivals to fear. Thus, in two +months, this third coalition has been defeated and dissolved." A truce was +concluded with Austria; and the Russians, who might have been cut to +pieces, obtained permission to retire by fixed stages. + +The peace of Pressburg followed the victories of Ulm and Austerlitz; it +was signed on the 26th of December. The house of Austria, which had lost +its external possessions, Holland and the Milanese, was now assailed in +Germany itself. It gave up the provinces of Dalmatia and Albania to the +kingdom of Italy; the territory of the Tyrol, the town of Augsburg, the +principality of Eichstett, a part of the territory of Passau, and all its +possessions in Swabia, Brisgau, and Ortenau to the electorates of Bavaria +and Wurtemberg, which were transformed into kingdoms. The grand duchy of +Baden also profited by its spoils. The treaty of Pressburg completed the +humiliation of Austria, commenced by the treaty of Campo-Formio, and +continued by that of Lunéville. The emperor, on his return to Paris, +crowned with so much glory, became the object of such general and wild +admiration, that he was himself carried away by the public enthusiasm and +intoxicated at his fortune. The different bodies of the state contended +among themselves in obedience and flatteries. He received the title of +Great, and the senate passed a decree dedicating to him a triumphal +monument. + +Napoleon became more confirmed in the principle he had espoused. The +victory of Marengo and the peace of Lunéville had sanctioned the +consulate; the victory of Austerlitz and peace of Pressburg consecrated +the empire. The last vestiges of the revolution were abandoned. On the 1st +of January, 1806, the Gregorian calendar definitively replaced the +republican calendar, after an existence of fourteen years. The Panthéon +was again devoted to purposes of worship, and soon even the tribunate +ceased to exist. But the emperor aimed especially at extending his +dominion over the continent. Ferdinand, king of Naples, having, during the +last war, violated the treaty of peace with France, had his states +invaded; and Joseph Bonaparte on the 30th of March was declared king of +the Two Sicilies. Soon after (June 5th, 1806), Holland was converted into +a kingdom, and received as monarch Louis Bonaparte, another brother of the +emperor. None of the republics created by the convention, or the +directory, now existed. Napoleon, in nominating secondary kings, restored +the military hierarchical system, and the titles of the middle ages. He +erected Dalmatia, Istria, Friuli, Cadore, Belluno, Conegliano, Treviso, +Feltra, Bassano, Vicenza, Padua, and Rovigo into duchies, great fiefs of +the empire. Marshal Berthier was invested with the principality of +Neufchâtel, the minister Talleyrand with that of Benevento. Prince +Borghese and his wife with that of Guastalla, Murat with the grand-duchy +of Berg and Clèves. Napoleon, not venturing to destroy the Swiss republic, +styled himself its mediator, and completed the organization of his +military empire by placing under his dependence the ancient Germanic body. +On the 12th of July, 1806, fourteen princes of the south and west of +Germany united themselves into the confederation of the Rhine, and +recognized Napoleon as their protector. On the 1st of August, they +signified to the diet of Ratisbon their separation from the Germanic body. +The empire of Germany ceased to exist, and Francis II. abdicated the title +by proclamation. By a convention signed at Vienna, on the 15th of +December, Prussia exchanged the territories of Anspach, Clèves, and +Neufchâtel for the electorate of Hanover. Napoleon had all the west under +his power. Absolute master of France and Italy, as emperor and king, he +was also master of Spain, by the dependence of that court; of Naples and +Holland, by his two brothers; of Switzerland, by the act of mediation; and +in Germany he had at his disposal the kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, and +the confederation of the Rhine against Austria and Prussia. After the +peace of Amiens, by supporting liberty he might have made himself the +protector of France and the moderator of Europe; but having sought glory +in domination, and made conquest the object of his life, he condemned +himself to a long struggle, which would inevitably terminate in the +dependence of the continent or in his own downfall. + +This encroaching progress gave rise to the fourth coalition. Prussia, +neutral since the peace of Basle, had, in the last campaign, been on the +point of joining the Austro-Russian coalition. The rapidity of the +emperor's victories had alone restrained her; but now, alarmed at the +aggrandizement of the empire, and encouraged by the fine condition of her +troops, she leagued with Russia to drive the French from Germany. The +cabinet of Berlin required that the French troops should recross the +Rhine, or war would be the consequence. At the same time, it sought to +form in the north of Germany a league against the confederation of the +south. The emperor, who was in the plenitude of his prosperity and of +national enthusiasm, far from submitting to the _ultimatum_ of Prussia, +immediately marched against her. + +The campaign opened early in October. Napoleon, as usual, overwhelmed the +coalition by the promptitude of his marches and the vigour of his +measures. On the 14th of October, he destroyed at Jena the military +monarchy of Prussia, by a decisive victory; on the 16th, fourteen thousand +Prussians threw down their arms at Erfurth; on the 25th, the French army +entered Berlin, and the close of 1806 was employed in taking the Prussian +fortresses and marching into Poland against the Russian army. The campaign +in Poland was less rapid, but as brilliant as that of Prussia. Russia, for +the third time, measured its strength with France. Conquered at Zurich and +Austerlitz, it was also defeated at Eylau and Friedland. After these +memorable battles, the emperor Alexander entered into a negotiation, and +concluded at Tilsit, on the 21st of June, 1807, an armistice which was +followed by a definitive treaty on the 7th of July. + +The peace of Tilsit extended the French domination on the continent. +Prussia was reduced to half its extent. In the south of Germany, Napoleon +had instituted the two kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg against Austria; +further to the north, he created the two feudatory kingdoms of Saxony and +Westphalia against Prussia. That of Saxony, composed of the electorate of +that name, and Prussian Poland, called the grand-duchy of Warsaw, was +given to the king of Saxony; that of Westphalia comprehended the states of +Hesse-Cassel, Brunswick, Fulde, Paderborn, and the greatest part of +Hanover, and was given to Jerome Napoleon. The emperor Alexander, acceding +to all these arrangements, evacuated Moldavia and Wallachia. Russia, +however, though conquered, was the only power unencroached upon. Napoleon +followed more than ever in the footsteps of Charlemagne; at his +coronation, he had had the crown, sword, and sceptre, of the Frank king +carried before him. A pope had crossed the Alps to consecrate his dynasty, +and he modelled his states on the vast empire of that conqueror. The +revolution sought the establishment of ancient liberty; Napoleon restored +the military hierarchy of the middle ages. The former had made citizens, +the latter made vassals. The one had changed Europe into republics, the +other transformed it into fiefs. Great and powerful as he was, coming +immediately after a shock which had exhausted the world by its violence, +he was enabled to arrange it for a time according to his pleasure. The +_grand empire_ rose internally by its system of administration, which +replaced the government of assemblies; its special courts, its lyceums, in +which military education was substituted for the republican education of +the central schools; its hereditary nobility, which in 1808 completed the +establishment of inequality; its civil discipline, which rendered all +France like an army obedient to the word of command; and externally by its +secondary kingdoms, its confederate states, its great fiefs, and its +supreme chief. Napoleon, no longer meeting resistance anywhere, could +command from one end of the continent to the other. + +At this period all the emperor's attention was directed to England, the +only power that could secure itself from his attacks. Pitt had been dead a +year, but the British cabinet followed with much ardour and pertinacity +his plans with respect to France. After having vainly formed a third and a +fourth coalition, it did not lay down arms. It was a war to the death. +Great Britain had declared France in a state of blockade, and furnished +the emperor with the means of cutting off its continental intercourse by a +similar measure. The continental blockade, which began in 1807, was the +second period of Bonaparte's system. In order to attain universal and +uncontested supremacy, he made use of arms against the continent, and the +cessation of commerce against England. But in forbidding to the +continental states all communication with England, he was preparing new +difficulties for himself, and soon added to the animosity of opinion +excited by his despotism, and the hatred of states produced by his +conquering domination, the exasperation of private interests and +commercial suffering occasioned by the blockade. + +Yet all the powers seemed united in the same design. England was placed +under the ban of continental Europe, at the peace. Russia and Denmark in +the Northern Seas; France, Spain, and Holland, in the Mediterranean and +the ocean, were obliged to declare against it. This period was the height +of the imperial sway. Napoleon employed all his activity and all his +genius in creating maritime resources capable of counter-balancing the +forces of England, which had then eleven hundred ships of war of every +class. He caused ports to be constructed, coasts to be fortified, ships to +be built and prepared, everything for combating in a few years upon this +new battle-field. But before that moment arrived, he wished to secure the +Spanish peninsula, and to found his dynasty there, for the purpose of +introducing a firmer and more favourable policy. The expedition of +Portugal in 1807, and the invasion of Spain in 1808, began for him and for +Europe a new order of events. + +Portugal had for some time been a complete English colony. The emperor, in +concert with the Bourbons of Madrid, decided by the treaty of +Fontainebleau, of the 27th of October, 1807, that the house of Braganza +had ceased to reign. A French army, under the command of Junot, entered +Portugal. The prince-regent embarked for Brazil, and the French took +possession of Lisbon on the 30th of November, 1807. This invasion was only +an approach towards Spain. The royal family were in a state of the +greatest anarchy. The favourite, Godoy, was execrated by the people, and +Ferdinand, prince of the Asturias, conspired against the authority of his +father's favourite. Though the emperor had not much to fear from such a +government, he had taken alarm at a clumsy armament prepared by Godoy +during the Prussian war. No doubt, at this time he formed the project of +putting one of his brothers on the throne of Spain; he thought he could +easily overturn a divided family, an expiring monarchy, and obtain the +consent of a people whom he would restore to civilization. Under the +pretext of the maritime war and the blockade, his troops entered the +peninsula, occupied the coasts and principal places, and encamped near +Madrid. It was then suggested to the royal family to retire to Mexico, +after the example of the house of Braganza. But the people rose against +this departure; Godoy, the object of public hatred, was in great risk of +losing his life, and the prince of the Asturias was proclaimed king, under +the title of Ferdinand VII. The emperor took advantage of this court +revolution to bring about his own. The French entered Madrid, and he +himself proceeded to Bayonne, whither he summoned the Spanish princes. +Ferdinand restored the crown to his father, who in his turn resigned it in +favour of Napoleon; the latter had it decreed on his brother Joseph by a +supreme junta, by the council of Castille, and the municipality of Madrid. +Ferdinand was sent to the Château de Valençay, and Charles VI. fixed his +residence at Compiègne. Napoleon called his brother-in-law, Murat, grand- +duke of Berg, to the throne of Naples, in the place of Joseph. + +At this period began the first opposition to the domination of the emperor +and the continental system. The reaction manifested itself in three +countries hitherto allies of France, and it brought on the fifth +coalition. The court of Rome was dissatisfied; the peninsula was wounded +in its national pride by having imposed upon it a foreign king; in its +usages, by the suppression of convents, of the Inquisition, and of the +grandees; Holland suffered in its commerce from the blockade, and Austria +supported impatiently its losses and subordinate condition. England, +watching for an opportunity to revive the struggle on the continent, +excited the resistance of Rome, the peninsula, and the cabinet of Vienna. +The pope had been cold towards France since 1805; he had hoped that his +pontifical complaisance in reference to Napoleon's coronation would have +been recompensed by the restoration to the ecclesiastical domain of those +provinces which the directory had annexed to the Cisalpine republic. +Deceived in this expectation, he joined the European counter-revolutionary +opposition, and from 1807 to 1808 the Roman States became the rendezvous +of English emissaries. After some warm remonstrances, the emperor ordered +general Miollis to occupy Rome; the pope threatened him with +excommunication; and Napoleon seized on the legations of Ancona, Urbino, +Macerata, and Camerino, which became part of the Italian kingdom. The +legate left Paris on the 3rd of April, 1808, and the religious struggle +for temporal interests commenced with the head of the church, whom +Napoleon should either not have recognised, or not have despoiled. + +The war with the peninsula was still more serious. The Spaniards +recognised Ferdinand VII. as king, in a provincial junta, held at Seville, +on the 27th of May, 1808, and they took arms in all the provinces which +were not occupied by French troops. The Portuguese also rose at Oporto, on +the 16th of June. These two insurrections were at first attended with the +happiest results; in a short time they made rapid progress. General Dupont +laid down arms at Baylen in the province of Cordova, and this first +reverse of the French arms excited the liveliest hope and enthusiasm among +the Spaniards. Joseph Napoleon left Madrid, where Ferdinand VII. was +proclaimed; and about the same time, Junot, not having troops enough to +keep Portugal, consented, by the convention of Cintra, to evacuate it with +all the honours of war. The English general, Wellington, took possession +of this kingdom with twenty-five thousand men. While the pope was +declaring against Napoleon, while the Spanish insurgents were entering +Madrid, while the English were again setting foot on the continent, the +king of Sweden avowed himself an enemy of the European imperial league, +and Austria was making considerable armaments and preparing for a new +struggle. + +Fortunately for Napoleon, Russia remained faithful to the alliance and +engagements of Tilsit. The emperor Alexander had at that time a fit of +enthusiasm and affection for this powerful and extraordinary mortal. +Napoleon wishing to be sure of the north, before he conveyed all his +forces to the peninsula, had an interview with Alexander at Erfurt, on the +27th September, 1808. The two masters of the north and west guaranteed to +each other the repose and submission of Europe. Napoleon marched into +Spain, and Alexander undertook Sweden. The presence of the emperor soon +changed the fortune of the war in the peninsula. He brought with him +eighty thousand veteran soldiers, just come from Germany. Several +victories made him master of most of the Spanish provinces. He made his +entry into Madrid, and presented himself to the inhabitants of the +peninsula, not as a master, but as a liberator. "I have abolished," he +said to them, "the tribunal of the Inquisition, against which the age and +Europe protested. Priests should direct the conscience, but ought not to +exercise any external or corporal jurisdiction over the citizens. I have +suppressed feudal rights; and every one may set up inns, ovens, mills, +fisheries, and give free impulse to his industry. The selfishness, wealth, +and prosperity of a few did more injury to your agriculture than the heats +of the extreme summer. As there is but one God, one system of justice only +should exist in a state. All private tribunals were usurped and opposed to +the rights of the nation. I have suppressed them. The present generation +may change its opinion; too many passions have been brought into play; but +your grandchildren will bless me as your regenerator; they will rank among +their memorable days those in which I appeared among you, and from those +days will Spain date its prosperity." + +Such was indeed the part of Napoleon in the peninsula, which could only be +restored to a better state of things, and to liberty, by the revival of +civilization. The establishment of independence cannot be effected all at +once, any more than anything else; and when a country is ignorant, poor, +and backward, covered with convents, and governed by monks, its social +condition must be reconstructed before liberty can be thought of. +Napoleon, the oppressor of civilized nations, was a real regenerator for +the peninsula. But the two parties of civil liberty and religious +servitude, that of the cortes and that of the monks, though with far +different aims, came to an understanding for their common defence. The one +was at the head of the upper and the middle classes, the other of the +populace; and they vied with each other in exciting the Spaniards to +enthusiasm with the sentiments of independence or religious fanaticism. +The following is the catechism used by the priests: "Tell me, my child, +who you are? A Spaniard by the grace of God.--Who is the enemy of our +happiness? The emperor of the French.--How many natures has he? Two: human +and diabolical.--How many emperors of the French are there? One true one, +in three deceptive persons.--What are their names, Napoleon, Murat, and +Manuel Godoy.--Which of the three is the most wicked? They are all three +equally so.--Whence is Napoleon derived? From sin.--Murat? From Napoleon. +--And Godoy? The junction of the two.--What is the ruling spirit of the +first? Pride and despotism.--Of the second? Rapine and cruelty.--Of the +third? Cupidity, treason, and ignorance.--Who are the French? Former +Christians become heretics.--Is it a sin to kill a Frenchman? No, father; +heaven is gained by killing one of these dogs of heretics.--What +punishment does the Spaniard deserve who has failed in his duty? The death +and infamy of a traitor.--What will deliver us from our enemies? +Confidence in ourselves and in arms." + +Napoleon had engaged in a long and dangerous enterprise, in which his +whole system of war was at fault. Victory, here, did not consist in the +defeat of an army and the possession of a capital, but in the entire +occupation of the territory, and, what was still more difficult, the +submission of the public mind. Napoleon, however, was preparing to subdue +this people with his irresistible activity and inflexible determination, +when the fifth coalition called him again to Germany. + +Austria had turned to advantage his absence, and that of his troops. It +made a powerful effort, and raised five hundred and fifty thousand men, +comprising the Landwehr, and took the field in the spring of 1809. The +Tyrol rose, and king Jerome was driven from his capital by the +Westphalians; Italy wavered; and Prussia only waited till Napoleon met +with a reverse, to take arms; but the emperor was still at the height of +his power and prosperity. He hastened from Madrid in the beginning of +February, and directed the members of the confederation to keep their +contingents in readiness. On the 12th of April he left Paris, passed the +Rhine, plunged into Germany, gained the victories of Eckmühl and Essling, +occupied Vienna a second time on the 15th of May, and overthrew this new +coalition by the battle of Wagram, after a campaign of four months. While +he was pursuing the Austrian armies, the English landed on the island of +Walcheren, and appeared before Antwerp; but a levy of national guards +sufficed to frustrate the expedition of the Scheldt. The peace of Vienna, +of the 11th of October, 1809, deprived the house of Austria of several +more provinces, and compelled it again to adopt the continental system. + +This period was remarkable for the new character of the struggle. It began +the reaction of Europe against the empire, and announced the alliance of +dynasties, people, nations, the priesthood, and commerce. All whose +interests were injured made an attempt at resistance, which at first was +destined to fail. Napoleon, since the peace of Amiens, had entered on a +career that must necessarily terminate in the possession or hostility of +all Europe. Carried away by his character and position, he had created +against the people a system of administration of unparalleled benefit to +power; against Europe, a system of secondary monarchies and grand fiefs, +which facilitated his plans of conquest; and, lastly, against England, the +blockade which suspended its commerce, and that of the continent. Nothing +impeded him in the realization of those immense but insensate designs. +Portugal opened a communication with the English: he invaded it. The royal +family of Spain, by its quarrels and vacillations, compromised the +extremities of the empire: he compelled it to abdicate, that he might +reduce the peninsula to a bolder and less wavering policy. The pope kept +up relations with the enemy: his patrimony was diminished. He threatened +excommunication: the French entered Rome. He realized his threat by a +bull: he was dethroned as a temporal sovereign in 1809. Finally, after the +battle of Wagram, and the peace of Vienna, Holland became a depot for +English merchandise, on account of its commercial wants, and the emperor +dispossessed his brother Louis of that kingdom, which, on the 1st of July, +1810, became incorporated with the empire. He shrank from no invasion, +because he would not endure opposition or hesitation from any quarter. All +were compelled to submit, allies as well as enemies, the chief of the +church as well as kings, brothers as well as strangers; but, though +conquered this time, all who had joined this new league only waited an +opportunity to rise again. + +Meantime, after the peace of Vienna, Napoleon still added to the extent +and power of the empire. Sweden having undergone an internal revolution, +and the king, Gustavus Adolphus IV., having been forced to abdicate, +admitted the continental system. Bernadotte, prince of Ponte-Corvo, was +elected by the states-general hereditary prince of Sweden, and king +Charles XIII. adopted him for his son. The blockade was observed +throughout Europe; and the empire, augmented by the Roman States, the +Illyrian provinces, Valais, Holland, and the Hanse Towns, had a hundred +and thirty departments, and extended from Hamburg and Dantzic to Trieste +and Corfu. Napoleon, who seemed to follow a rash but inflexible policy, +deviated from his course about this time by a second marriage. He divorced +Josephine that he might give an heir to the empire, and married, on the +1st of April, 1810, Marie-Louise, arch-duchess of Austria. This was a +decided error. He quitted his position and his post as a parvenu and +revolutionary monarch, opposing in Europe the ancient courts as the +republic had opposed the ancient governments. He placed himself in a false +situation with respect to Austria, which he ought either to have crushed +after the victory of Wagram, or to have reinstated in its possessions +after his marriage with the arch-duchess. Solid alliances only repose on +real interests, and Napoleon could not remove from the cabinet of Vienna +the desire or power of renewing hostilities. This marriage also changed +the character of his empire, and separated it still further from popular +interests; he sought out old families to give lustre to his court, and did +all he could to amalgamate together the old and the new nobility as he +mingled old and new dynasties. Austerlitz had established the plebeian +empire; after Wagram was established the noble empire. The birth, on the +20th of March, 1811, of a son, who received the title of King of Rome, +seemed to consolidate the power of Napoleon by securing to him a +successor. + +The war in Spain was prosecuted with vigour during the years 1810 and +1811. The territory of the peninsula was defended inch by inch, and its +was necessary to take several towns by storm. Suchet, Soult, Mortier, Ney, +and Sebastiani made themselves masters of several provinces; and the +Spanish junta, unable to keep their post at Seville, retired to Cadiz, +which the French army began to blockade. The new expedition into Portugal +was less fortune. Masséna, who directed it, at first obliged Wellington to +retreat, and took Oporto and Olivença; but the English general having +entrenched himself in the strong position of Torres-Vedras, Masséna, +unable to force it, was compelled to evacuate the country. + +While the war was proceeding in the peninsula with advantage, but without +any decided success, a new campaign was preparing in the north. Russia +perceived the empire of Napoleon approaching its territories. Shut up in +its own limits, it remained without influence or acquisitions; suffering +from the blockade, without gaining any advantage by the war. This cabinet, +moreover, endured with impatience a supremacy to which it itself aspired, +and which it had pursued slowly but without interruption since the reign +of Peter the Great. About the close of 1810, it increased its armies, +renewed its commercial relations with Great Britain, and did not seem +indisposed to a rupture. The year 1811 was spent in negotiations which led +to nothing, and preparations for war were made on both sides. The emperor, +whose armies were before Cadiz, and who relied on the co-operation of the +West and North against Russia, made with ardour preparations for an +enterprise which was intended to reduce the only power as yet untouched, +and to carry his victorious eagles even to Moscow. He obtained the +assistance of Prussia and Austria, which engaged by the treaties of the +24th of February and the 14th of March, 1812, to furnish auxiliary bodies; +one of twenty, and the other of thirty thousand men. All the unemployed +forces of France were immediately on foot. A senatus-consultus divided the +national guard into three bodies for the home service, and appropriated a +hundred of the first line regiments (nearly a hundred thousand men) for +active military service. On the 9th of March, Napoleon left Paris on this +vast expedition. During several months he fixed his court at Dresden, +where the emperor of Austria, the king of Prussia, and all the sovereigns +of Germany, came to bow before his high fortune. On the 22nd of June, war +was declared against Russia. + +In this campaign, Napoleon was guided by the maxims he had always found +successful. He had terminated all the wars he had undertaken by the rapid +defeat of the enemy, the occupation of his capital, and concluded the +peace by parcelling out his territory. His project was to reduce Russia by +creating the kingdom of Poland, as he had reduced Austria by forming the +kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, after Austerlitz; and Prussia, by +organizing those of Saxony and Westphalia, after Jena. With this object, +he had stipulated with the Austrian cabinet by the treaty of the 14th of +March, to exchange Gallicia for the Illyrian provinces. The establishment +of the kingdom of Poland was proclaimed by the diet of Warsaw, but in an +incomplete manner, and Napoleon, who, according to his custom, wished to +finish all in one campaign, advanced at once into the heart of Russia, +instead of prudently organizing the Polish barrier against it. His army +amounted to about five hundred thousand men. He passed the Niemen on the +24th of June, took Vilna, and Vitepsk, defeated the Russians at Astrowno, +Polotsk, Mohilev, Smolensk, at the Moskva, and on the 14th of September, +made his entry into Moscow. + +The Russian cabinet relied for its defence not only upon its troops, but +on its vast territory and on its climate. As the conquered armies +retreated before ours, they burnt all the towns, devastated the provinces, +and thus prepared great difficulties for the foe in the event of reverses +or retreat. According to this plan of defence, Moscow was burnt by its +governor Rostopchin, as Smolensk, Dorigoboui, Viasma, Gjhat, Mojaisk, and +a great number of other towns and villages had already been. The emperor +ought to have seen that this war would not terminate as the others had +done; yet, conqueror of the foe, and master of his capital, he conceived +hopes of peace which the Russians skilfully encouraged. Winter was +approaching, and Napoleon prolonged his stay at Moscow for six weeks. He +delayed his movements on account of the deceptive negotiations of the +Russians, and did not decide on a retreat till the 19th of October. This +retreat was disastrous, and began the downfall of the empire. Napoleon +could not have been defeated by the hand of man, for what general could +have triumphed over this incomparable chief? what army could have +conquered the French army? But his reverses were to take place in the +remote limits of Europe; in the frozen regions which were to end his +conquering domination. He lost, with the close of this campaign, not by a +defeat, but by cold and famine, in the midst of Russian snows and +solitude, his old army, and the _prestige_ of his fortune. + +The retreat was effected with some order as far as the Berezina, where it +became one vast rout. After the passage of this river, Napoleon, who had +hitherto accompanied his army, started in a sledge for Paris, in great +haste, a conspiracy having broken out there during his absence. General +Mallet, with a few others, had conceived the design of overthrowing this +colossus of power. His enterprise was daring; and as it was grounded on a +false report of Napoleon's death, it was necessary to deceive too many for +success to be probable. Besides, the empire was still firmly established, +and it was not a plot, but a slow and general defection which could +destroy it. Mallet's plot failed, and its leaders were executed. The +emperor, on his return, found the nation astounded at so unusual a +disaster. But the different bodies of the state still manifested implicit +obedience. He reached Paris on the 18th of December, obtained a levy of +three hundred thousand men, inspired a spirit of sacrifice, re-equipped in +a short time, with his wonderful activity, a new army, and took the field +again on the 15th of April, 1813. + +But since the retreat of Moscow, Napoleon had entered on a new series of +events. It was in 1812 that the decline of the empire manifested itself. +The weariness of his domination became general. All those by whose consent +he had risen, took part against him. The priests had conspired in secret +since his rupture with the pope. Eight state prisons had been created in +an official manner against the dissentients of his party. The national +masses were as tired of conquest as they had formerly been of factions. +They had expected from him consideration for private interests, the +promotion of commerce; respect for men; and they were oppressed by +conscriptions, taxes, the blockade, provost courts, and duties which were +the inevitable consequences of this conquering system. He had no longer +for adversaries the few who remained faithful to the political object of +the revolution, and whom he styled _idéologues_, but all who, without +definite ideas, wished for the material advantages of better civilization. +Without, whole nations groaned beneath the military yoke, and the fallen +dynasties aspired to rise again. The whole world was ill at ease; and one +check served to bring about a general rising. "I triumphed," says Napoleon +himself, speaking of the preceding campaigns, "in the midst of constantly +reviving perils. I constantly required as much address as voice. Had I not +conquered at Austerlitz, all Prussia would have been upon me; had I not +triumphed at Jena, Austria and Spain would have attacked my rear; had I +not fought at Wagram, which action was not a decided victory, I had reason +to fear that Russia would forsake, Prussia rise against me, and the +English were before Antwerp." [Footnote: _Mémorial de Saint Hélène_, tome +ii. p. 221.] Such was his condition; the further he advanced in his +career, the greater need he had to conquer more and more decisively. +Accordingly, as soon as he was defeated, the kings he had subdued, the +kings he had made, the allies he had aggrandized, the states he had +incorporated with the empire, the senators who had so flattered him, and +even his comrades in arms, successively forsook him. The field of battle +extended to Moscow in 1812, drew back to Dresden in 1813, and to Paris in +1814: so rapid was the reverse of fortune. + +The cabinet of Berlin began the defections. On the 1st of March, 1813, it +joined Russia and England, which were forming the sixth coalition. Sweden +acceded to it soon after; yet the emperor, whom the confederate powers +thought prostrated by the last disaster, opened the campaign with new +victories. The battle of Lützen, won by conscripts, on the 2nd of May, the +occupation of Dresden, the victory of Bautzen, and the war carried to the +Elbe, astonished the coalition. Austria, which, since 1810, had been on a +footing of peace, was resuming arms, and already meditating a change of +alliance. She now offered to act as mediator between the emperor and the +confederates. Her mediation was accepted; an armistice was concluded at +Plesswitz, on the 4th of June, and a congress assembled at Prague to +negotiate peace. It was impossible to come to terms. Napoleon would not +consent to diminished grandeur; Europe would not consent to remain subject +to him. The confederate powers, joined by Austria, required that the +limits of the empire should be to the Rhine, the Alps, and the Meuse. The +negotiators separated without coming to an agreement. Austria joined the +coalition, and war, the only means of settling this great contest, was +resumed. + +The emperor had only two hundred and eighty thousand men against five +hundred and twenty thousand; he wished to force the enemy to retire behind +the Elbe, and to break up, as usual, this new coalition by the promptitude +and vigour of his blows. Victory seemed, at first, to second him. At +Dresden, he defeated the combined forces; but the defeats of his +lieutenants deranged his plans. Macdonald was conquered in Silesia; Ney, +near Berlin; Vandamme, at Kulm. Unable to obstruct the enemy, pouring on +him from all parts, Napoleon thought of retreating. The princes of the +confederation of the Rhine chose this moment to desert the cause of the +empire. A vast engagement having taken place at Leipzic between the two +armies, the Saxons and Wurtembergers passed over to the enemy on the field +of battle. This defection to the strength of the allied powers, who had +learned a more compact and skilful mode of warfare, obliged Napoleon to +retreat, after a struggle of three days. The army advanced with much +confusion towards the Rhine, where the Bavarians, who had also deserted, +attempted to prevent its passage. But it overwhelmed them at Hanau, and +re-entered the territory of the empire on the 30th of October, 1813. The +close of this campaign was as disastrous as that of the preceding one. +France was threatened in its own limits, as it had been in 1799; but the +enthusiasm of independence no longer existed, and the man who deprived it +of its rights found it, at this great crisis, incapable of sustaining him +or defending itself. The servitude of nations is, sooner or later, ever +avenged. + +Napoleon returned to Paris on the 9th of November, 1813. He obtained from +the senate a levy of three hundred thousand men, and made with great +ardour preparations for a new campaign. He convoked the legislative body +to associate it in the common defence; he communicated to it the documents +relative to the negotiations of Prague, and asked for another and last +effort in order to secure a glorious peace, the general wish of France. +But the legislative body, hitherto silently obedient, chose this period to +resist Napoleon. + +It shared the common exhaustion, and without desiring it, was under the +influence of the royalist party, which had been secretly agitating ever +since the decline of the empire had revived its hopes. A commission, +composed of MM. Lainé, Raynouard, Gallois, Flaugergues, Maine de Biran, +drew up a very hostile report, censuring the course adopted by the +government, and demanding that all conquests should be given up, and +liberty restored. This wish, so just at any other time, could then only +favour the invasion of the foe. Though the confederate powers seemed to +make the evacuation of Europe the condition of peace, they were disposed +to push victory to extremity. Napoleon, irritated by this unexpected and +harassing opposition, suddenly dismissed the legislative body. This +commencement of resistance announced internal defections. After passing +from Russia to Germany, they were about to extend from Germany and Italy +to France. But now, as before, all depended on the issue of the war, which +the winter had not interrupted. Napoleon placed all his hopes on it; and +started from Paris on the 25th of January, for this immortal campaign. + +The empire was invaded in all directions. The Austrians entered Italy; the +English, having made themselves masters of the peninsula during the last +two years, had passed the Bidassoa, under general Wellington, and appeared +on the Pyrenees. Three armies pressed on France to the east and north. The +great allied army, amounting to a hundred and fifty thousand men, under +Schwartzenberg, advanced by Switzerland; the army of Silesia, of a hundred +and thirty thousand, under Blücher, by Frankfort; and that of the north, +of a hundred thousand men, under Bernadotte, had seized on Holland and +entered Belgium. The enemies, in their turn, neglected the fortified +places, and, taking a lesson from the conqueror, advanced on the capital. +When Napoleon left Paris, the two armies of Schwartzenberg and Blücher +were on the point of effecting a junction in Champaigne. Deprived of the +support of the people, who were only lookers on, Napoleon was left alone +against the whole world with a handful of veterans and his genius, which +had lost nothing of its daring and vigour. At this moment, he stands out +nobly, no longer an oppressor; no longer a conqueror; defending, inch by +inch, with new victories, the soil of his country, and at the same time, +his empire and renown. + +He marched into Champaigne against the two great hostile armies. General +Maison was charged to intercept Bernadotte in Belgium; Augereau, the +Austrians, at Lyons; Soult, the English, on the Spanish frontier. Prince +Eugene was to defend Italy; and the empire, though penetrated in the very +centre, still stretched its vast arms into the depths of Germany by its +garrisons beyond the Rhine. Napoleon did not despair of driving these +swarms of foes from the territory of France by means of a powerful +military reaction, and again planting his standards in the countries of +the enemy. He placed himself skilfully between Blücher, who was descending +the Marne, and Schwartzenberg, who descended the Seine; he hastened from +one of these armies to the other, and defeated them alternately; Blücher +was overpowered at Champ-Aubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry, and +Vauchamps; and when his army was destroyed, Napoleon returned to the +Seine, defeated the Austrians at Montereau, and drove them before him. His +combinations were so strong, his activity so great, his measures so sure, +that he seemed on the point of entirely disorganizing these two formidable +armies, and with them annihilating the coalition. + +But if he conquered wherever he came, the foe triumphed wherever he was +not. The English had entered Bordeaux, where a party had declared for the +Bourbon family; the Austrians occupied Lyons; the Belgian army had joined +the remnant of that of Blücher, which re-appeared on Napoleon's rear. +Defection now entered his own family, and Murat had just followed, in +Italy, the example of Bernadotte, by joining the coalition. The grand +officers of the empire still served him, but languidly, and he only found +ardour and fidelity in his subaltern generals and indefatigable soldiers. +Napoleon had again marched on Blücher, who had escaped from him thrice: on +the left of the Marne, by a sudden frost, which hardened the muddy ways +amongst which the Prussians had involved themselves, and were in danger of +perishing; on the Aisne, through the defection of Soissons, which opened a +passage to them, at a moment when they had no other way of escape; and +Laon, by the fault of the duke of Ragusa, who prevented a decisive battle, +by suffering himself to be surprised by night. After so many fatalities, +which frustrated the surest plans, Napoleon, ill sustained by his +generals, surrounded by the coalition, conceived the bold design of +transporting himself to Saint-Dizier and closing on the enemy the egress +from France. This daring march so full of genius, startled for a moment +the confederate generals, from whom it cut off all retreat; but, excited +by secret encouragements, without being anxious for their rear, they +advanced on Paris. + +This great city, the only capital of Europe which had not been the theatre +of war, suddenly saw all the troops of Europe enter its plains, and was on +the point of undergoing the common humiliation. It was left to itself. The +empress, appointed regent a few months before, had just left it to repair +to Blois. Napoleon was at a distance. There was not that despair and that +movement of liberty which drive a people to resistance; war was no longer +made on nations, but on governments, and the emperor had centred all the +public interest in himself, and placed all his means of defence in +mechanical troops. The exhaustion was great; a feeling of pride, of very +just pride, alone made the approach of the stranger painful, and oppressed +every Frenchman's heart at seeing his native land trodden by armies so +long vanquished. But this sentiment was not sufficiently strong to raise +the masses of the population against the enemy; and the measures of the +royalist party, at the head of which the prince of Benevento placed +himself, called the allied troops to the capital. An action took place, +however, on the 30th of March, under the walls of Paris; but on the 31st, +the gates were opened to the confederate forces, who entered in pursuance +of a capitulation. The senate consummated the great imperial defection by +forsaking its old master; it was influenced by M. de Talleyrand, who for +some time had been out of favour with Napoleon. This voluntary actor in +every crisis of power had just declared against him. With no attachment to +party, of a profound political indifference, he foresaw from a distance +with wonderful sagacity the fall of a government; withdrew from it +opportunely; and when the precise moment for assailing it had arrived, +joined in the attack with all his talents, his influence, his name, and +his authority, which he had taken care to preserve. In favour of the +revolution, under the constituent assembly; of the directory, on the 18th +Fructidor; for the consulate, on the 18th Brumaire; for the empire, in +1804, he was for the restoration of the royal family, in 1814; he seemed +grand master of the ceremonies for the party in power, and for the last +thirty years it was he who had dismissed and installed the successive +governments. The senate, influenced by him, appointed a provisional +government, and declared Napoleon deposed from his throne, the hereditary +rights of his family abolished, the people and army freed from their oath +of fidelity. It proclaimed him _tyrant_ whose despotism it had facilitated +by its adulation. Meantime, Napoleon, urged by those about him to succour +the capital, had abandoned his march on Saint-Dizier, and hastened to +Paris at the head of fifty thousand men, in the hope of preventing the +entry of the enemy. On his arrival (1st of April), he heard of the +capitulation of the preceding day, and fell back on Fontainebleau, where +he learned the defection of the senate, and his deposition. Then finding +that all gave way around him in his ill fortune, the people, the senate, +generals and courtiers, he decided on abdicating in favour of his son. He +sent the duke of Vicenza, the prince of the Moskva, and the duke of +Tarento, as plenipotentiaries to the confederates; on their way, they were +to take with them the duke of Ragusa, who covered Fontainebleau with a +corps. + +Napoleon, with his fifty thousand men, and strong military position, could +yet oblige the coalition to admit the claim of his son. But the duke of +Ragusa forsook his post, treated with the enemy, and left Fontainebleau +exposed. Napoleon was then obliged to submit to the conditions of the +allied powers; their pretensions increased with their power. At Prague, +they ceded to him the empire, with the Alps and the Rhine for limits; +after the invasion of France, they offered him at Châtillon the +possessions of the old monarchy only; later, they refused to treat with +him except in favour of his son; but now, determined on destroying all +that remained of the revolution with respect to Europe, its conquest and +dynasty, they compelled Napoleon to abdicate absolutely. On the 11th of +April, 1814, he renounced for himself and children the thrones of France +and Italy, and received the little island of Elba in exchange for his vast +sovereignty, the limits of which had extended from Cadiz to the Baltic +Sea. On the 20th, after an affecting farewell to his old soldiers, he +departed for his new principality. + +Thus fell this man, who alone, for fourteen years, had filled the world. +His enterprising and organising genius, his power of life and will, his +love of glory, and the immense disposable force which the revolution +placed in his hands, have made him the most gigantic being of modern +times. That which would have rendered the destiny of another +extraordinary, scarcely counts in his. Rising from an obscure to the +highest rank; from a simple artillery officer becoming the chief of the +greatest of nations, he dared to conceive the idea of universal monarchy, +and for a moment realized it. After having obtained the empire by his +victories, he wished to subdue Europe by means of France, and reduce +England by means of Europe, and he established the military system against +the continent, the blockade against Great Britain. This design succeeded +for some years; from Lisbon to Moscow he subjected people and potentates +to his word of command as general, and to the vast sequestration which he +prescribed. But in this way he failed in discharging his restorative +mission of the 18th Brumaire. By exercising on his own account the power +he had received, by attacking the liberty of the people by despotic +institutions, the independence of states by war, he excited against +himself the opinions and interests of the human race; he provoked +universal hostility. The nation forsook him, and after having been long +victorious, after having planted his standard in every capital, after +having during ten years augmented his power, and gained a kingdom with +every battle, a single reverse combined the world against him, proving by +his fall how impossible in our days is despotism. + +Yet Napoleon, amidst all the disastrous results of his system, gave a +prodigious impulse to the continent; his armies carried with them the +ideas and customs of the more advanced civilization of France. European +societies were shaken on their old foundations; nations were mingled by +frequent intercourse; bridges thrown across boundary rivers; high roads +made over the Alps, Apennines, and Pyrenees, brought territories nearer to +each other; and Napoleon effected for the material condition of states +what the revolution had done for the minds of men. The blockade completed +the impulse of conquest; it improved continental industry, enabling it to +take the place of that of England, and replaced colonial commerce by the +produce of manufactures. Thus Napoleon, by agitating nations, contributed +to their civilization. His despotism rendered him counter-revolutionary +with respect to France; but his spirit of conquest made him a regenerator +with respect to Europe, of which many nations, in torpor till he came, +will live henceforth with the life he gave them. But in this Napoleon +obeyed the dictates of his nature. The child of war--war was his tendency, +his pleasure: domination his object; he wanted to master the world, and +circumstances placed it in his hand, in order that he might make use of +it. + +Napoleon has presented in France what Cromwell presented for a moment in +England; the government of the army, which always establishes itself when +a revolution is contended against; it then gradually changes, and from +being civil, as it was at first, becomes military. In Great Britain, +internal war not being complicated with foreign war, on account of the +geographical situation of the country, which isolated it from other +states, as soon as the enemies of reform were vanquished, the army passed +from the field of battle to the government. Its intervention being +premature, Cromwell, its general, found parties still in the fury of their +passions, in all the fanaticism of their opinions, and he directed against +them alone his military administration. The French revolution taking place +on the continent saw the nations disposed for liberty, and sovereigns +leagued from a fear of the liberation of their people. It had not only +internal enemies, but also foreign enemies to contend with; and while its +armies were repelling Europe, parties were overthrowing each other in the +assemblies. The military intervention came later; Napoleon, finding +factions defeated and opinions almost forsaken, obtained obedience easily +from the nation, and turned the military government against Europe. + +This difference of position materially influenced the conduct and +character of these two extraordinary men. Napoleon, disposing of immense +force and of uncontested power, gave himself up in security to the vast +designs and the part of a conqueror; while Cromwell, deprived of the +assent which a worn out people could give, and, incessantly attacked by +factions, was reduced to neutralise them one by the other, and keep +himself to the end the military dictator of parties. The one employed his +genius in undertaking; the other in resisting. Accordingly, the former had +the frankness and decision of power; the other, the craft and hypocrisy of +opposed ambition. This situation would destroy their sway. + +All dictatorships are transient; and however strong or great, it is +impossible for any one long to subject parties or long to retain kingdoms. +It is this that, sooner or later, would have led to the fall of Cromwell +(had he lived longer,) by internal conspiracies; and that brought on the +downfall of Napoleon, by the raising of Europe. Such is the fate of all +powers which, arising from liberty, do not continue to abide with her. In +1814, the empire had just been destroyed; the revolutionary parties had +ceased to exist since the 18th Brumaire. All the governments of this +political period had been exhausted. The senate recalled the old royal +family. Already unpopular on account of its past servility, it ruined- +itself in public opinion by publishing a constitution, tolerably liberal, +but which placed on the same footing the pensions of senators and the +guarantees of the nation. The Count d'Artois, who had been the first to +leave France, was the first to return, in the character of lieutenant- +general of the kingdom. He signed, on the 23rd of April, the convention of +Paris, which reduced the French territory to its limits of the 1st of +January, 1792, and by which Belgium, Savoy, Nice, and Geneva, and immense +military stores, ceased to belong to us. Louis XVIII. landed at Calais on +the 24th of April, and entered Paris with solemnity on the 3rd of May, +1814, after having, on the 2nd, made the Declaration of Saint Omer, which +fixed the principles of the representative government, and which was +followed on the 2nd of June by the promulgation of the charter. + +At this epoch, a new series of events begins. The year 1814 was the term +of the great movement of the preceding five and twenty years. The +revolution had been political, as directed against the absolute power of +the court and the privileged classes, and military, because Europe had +attacked it. The reaction which arose at that time only destroyed the +empire and brought about the coalition in Europe, and the representative +system in France; such was to be its first period. Later, it opposed the +revolution, and produced the holy alliance against the people, and the +government of a party against the charter. This retrograde movement +necessarily had its course and limits. France can only be ruled in a +durable manner by satisfying the twofold need which made it undertake the +revolution. It requires real political liberty in the government; and in +society, the material prosperity produced by the continually progressing +development of civilization. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FROM 1789 TO 1814 *** + +This file should be named 8hfrr10.txt or 8hfrr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8hfrr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8hfrr10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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