\ , FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC IN FRANCE 1788-1792 ISAAC FOOT LIBRARY ] PUBLISHED RY JAMKS MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW, JJublishcrs io the Stnibersita. MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON. NcvD York, - • The Mactnillan Co. London, . . - Simpktn, Haniiiton and COf. Cambridsre, - - MncmiUa7i and Bozves. Edinburgh, • ■ Douglas and Foulis. MCMIV. • ^^)p/7 /uj//.< ihv/a naca?ra. ■iras- THE THREE ORDERS UNITED. ' Collection Hennin,' Bibliothegue Nationale {Estampes), Paris, ^^^.^, From the Monarchy To the Republic in France 1788-1792 By Sophia H. MacLehose Author of "The Last Days of the French Monarchy" Glascfow James MacLehose and Sons Publishers to the University 1904 GLASGOW : PRINTED AT THE UXIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT HIACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD. LIBRARY i) C UNIVERSITY CF CALIFORNIA I (^ { SANTA BARBARA PREFACE. In relating the story of the struggle between the Nation and the Crown which led to the fall of the old French Monarchy, I have confined myself almost entirely to the events which took place at Versailles and Paris. Every province, almost every department of France, could furnish its own history of the Revolution, each with its own peculiar interest. But the fight was fought in Paris, for not only were the King, Ministers and National Assembly there, not only were the Parisian journals and the Parisian clubs the most important in the country, but time after time, when a crisis arose, the people of Paris interfered and themselves determined the course of events. If, in describing the risings of the Parisians, I have dwelt little on their turbulent character, it is because this has been sufficiently recognised and, indeed, often exaggerated in popular histories. I am well aware how much is left unsaid in this short account of so great a period, but in this book as in m)- former volume I have aimed only at vi PREFACE. giving such a resume of events as may interest the reader, and send him to the great histories for fuller information. To the generous courtesy of the Earl of Crawford and the kindness of his Librarian, Mr. Edmond, now head of the Signet Librar}% Edinburgh, I am indebted for the use of contemporary journals lent me from the Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan. I am also indebted — through his friend Mr. Louis Dyer of Oxford — to Mr. Henry Standish, of Montjoye, Rambouillet, for permission to quote from unpublished letters written in Paris during the years 1791-92 by his great-aunt, Mrs. Edward Standish of Standish, Wigan. I only regret that' lack of space has prevented longer quotations from these lively and interesting letters. SOPHIA H. MACLEHOSE. Glasgow, October ist, 1904. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE The Revival of the States-General, - . - . i CHAPTER H. The Question of Forms, 17 CHAPTER HI. The Elections at Paris, . . - - - - 40 CHAPTER IV. » The Opening of the States-General, - - - - 55 CHAPTER V. The States-General, 67 CHAPTER VI. The King and the National Assembly, - - - - S4 CHAPTER Vn. The King and the Capital, 103 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGE Revolution, - ii8 CHAPTER IX. Louis, " Father of the Country," .... 135 CHAPTER X. Louis, "Restorer of French Liberty," - - - 154 CHAPTER XL "To Versailles!" 173 CHAPTER XII. "To Paris !" - - - 189 CHAPTER XIII. The First Year of Liberty, 209 t CHAPTER XIV. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, - - . 227 CHAPTER XV. The King and the Constitution, 245 CHAPTER XVI. MiRABEAU and THE COURT, 263 CHAPTER XVII. The Second Year of Liberty, - - - - - - 281 CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER XVIII. PAGE Easter, 1791, 301 CHAPTER XIX. The Flight of the King, 317 CHAPTER XX. Monarchy or Republic? ------ 334 CHAPTER XXI. The Legislative Assembly, 351 CHAPTER XXII. The Declaration of War, 370 CHAPTER XXIII. The Triumph of the Commune, 384 CHAPTER XXIV. The Coming of the ' Federes,' 404 CHAPTER XXV. The End, 424 List of Authorities, 431 Index, 436 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Arms of Paris, Title-page The Three Orders United, . . . . Frontispiece Medal. Louis XVI., " Roi des FRAxgAis," ... i Medal. "Vive Louis XVL,'' 17 The Deputies of Paris on their Way to Versailles, - 48 Medal. "Regeneration de la France," - - - 55 Bailly, • ... 67 Motto of the National Assembly, 84 Sieves, 96 Medal. "Necker le vrai Pere du Peuple," - . 103 Camille Desmoulins, IlS The Siege of the Bastille, 12S Medal. " Etablissement de la Mairie de Paris,"' - 135 "Brevet" of a National Guard (reduced to one-fourUi of size), - - - - - - - - . - 152 Medal. " Epoque a jamais Memorable," - - - 154 Flag of the National Guard of 5T11 Batallion, - 173 Medal. "Arrivee du Roi .\ Paris," - - . - 1S9 H6tel de Vili.e and Place de Greve, .... 192 Plan of Salle du Manege, 208 xii . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Motto of Jacobin Club, 209 Barnave, 227 The Funeral of "the Most High the Clergy of France," 234 Tali,eyrand, ---------- 245 Preparation for the "FSte de l.-v Federation," - - 256 Gustave III., 263 Mirabeau, - - - 264 Medal. " Regne de la Loi," ------ 281 Assignat of Fisrt Issue (reduced by about half), - - 288 Pius VI., 301 Plan of the Tuileries and its Surroundings, - - 304 Petion, 317 Varennes, - - 328 Danton, 338 "T6t, t6t, t8t, battez chaud," 344 Leopold II., - . . ^51 Roland, - 370 Vergniaud, 384 "FgTE des Soldats du ChAteauvieux," - - - - 384 Robespierre, - - . . 404 The Jacobin Club, 408 Medal. " Exemple aux Peuples," 424 The Tower of the Temple, 424 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1788. Aug. 8. King promises the convocation of the States-General. ,, 25. Necker enters on his second ministry. Nov. Second Assembly of Notables. Dec. 27. Conseil dti 27 d^ce^nbre. 1789. Jan. 24. Instructions sent out for elections to the States-General. April 20. Paris elections begin. ,, 27 and 28. R^veillon riots. May 4. Opening of States-General. June 17. Third Kstaie constitutes itself a National Assembly. ,, 20. Oath of the Jeu de Paume. , , 23. Stance royale. >> ,, 27. Union of the Three Orders. Committee appointed to frame the Constitution. Necker dismissed. Milice bonrgeoisc, afterwards National Guard organized. Administration of Paris entrusted to the comitd fcrmanent. Fall of the Bastille. Bailly chosen Mayor, and Lafayette Commandant of National Guard. King visits Paris and confirms these appointments. Privilege virtually abolished. Vito st/spensjf \ oted. Government of France to continue a Monarch}-. Bancjuet to Flanders' regiment. Insurrection of Women. July 6. » > II. >• 13- ,. 14. ■• 15- It 17- Aug. 4- Sept. 11. 1 1 22. Oct. I. , , 5- .. 22. Jan. 12, Feb. 4' .. 13- 1 1 20. xiv CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1789. Oct. 6. Removal of Court to Tuileries. ,, 12. King's title changed. ,, 19. First meeting of National Assembly in Paris, ,, 21. Murder of Fran9ois (baker), and law on riots. Nov. 2. Decree rendering ecclesiastical property national. Dec. 19 and 21. Decrees instituting caisse de I' extraordinaire and assigiiafs. Decree on electoral and administrative assemblies. 1790. Jan. 12. France divided into Departments. King's first oath to the Constitution. Monastic orders suppressed. Death of Joseph II. April 30. Juries instituted in criminal courts. J>me 20. Titles, distinctions, and liveries abolished. Civil constitution of the clergy decreed. YnslFete de la Federation. Revolt at Nancy. Necker's letter written intimating his resignation. Decree obliging beneticed clergy to take the oath with- out delay. 1^91. Feb. 28. Affair of Vincennes and of " Poignards." Death of Mirabeau. 13. The Pope condemns the civil constitution of the clergy. King prevented from going to Saint-Cloud. Flight to Varennes. Return of royal family to Paris. Massacre of Champ de Mars. Declaration of Pillnitz. King accepts Constitution. .Vnmesty decreed. First or Constituent Assembly dissolved. Oct. I. Second or Legislative Assembly meets. ,, 8. Lafayette resigns command of National Guard. Nov. 9. Decree against imigr^s. Vetoed November 12th. , , 29. Decree on non-juring priests. Vetoed December 19th. Xov.-Dec. New ministry, Feuillant in sympathy. July 12. ,, 14- Aug. Sept. 3- Nov. 27. Feb. 28, April 2. .. 18. ,, 21. ,, 25- July 17- Aug. 27. Sept. 13- I 1 30. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. xv 1792. Mar. I. Death of Leopold II. ,, 24. New ministry. Girondist. April 20. War declared against Austria. May 26. Decree on non-juring priests. Vetoed June 19th. June 4. Proposal of a camp outside of Paris. Vetoed June 19th. ,, 12. Girondist ministry dismissed. ,, 20. Invasion of the Tuileries. July II. Country declared in danger, ,, 13. National Assembly reverses King's decision as to P^iion. ,, 27. Manifesto of the Duke of Brunswick. , , 30. The Marseillais enter Paris. Aug. 10. Louis XVI. dethroned. Sept. 2 and 3. Massacre^ in Paris prisons. ,, 21. Convention meets and abolishes royalty. , , 22. France declared a Republic. ERRATA. P. 206 1. II, for Saint-Just read Frdieau de Saiiit-J list. P. 207 1. 21, for October 2jrd read October 21st. P. 217 1. 23, for Paris read France. CHAPTER I. THE REVIVAL OF THE STATES-GENERAL. LOUIS XVI. KING OF THE FRENCH. npHE reign of Louis XVL may be divided into two parts; the first from May 1774 to August 1788, when he was King of France, and the second from August 1788 to August 1792, when he was first called King of the French. During the first fourteen years France was governed from Versailles, and the king in Council was absolute. The people might murmur, the parlements remonstrate, the ministers resign, but there ended the power of the subject; what the king willed the law executed. During the last four years the balance of power changed. Louis ceased to issue edicts as " by the grace of God, King of France and of Navarre," and instead sanctioned decrees as " by the grace of God and the constitutional law of the II. A 2 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. State, King of the French." By-ancl-by he was denied the title of " Sire " on the ground that he was only the " first functionary* of the people, to whom alone the quality of Majesty belonged " ; a little later it became a question whether he should reign at all, and this question Paris decided by making her king a prisoner, and declaring a Republic. It is significant that, during the first part of the reign of Louis XVI., interest is centred in Versailles, and during the second in Paris. Versailles was a royal city; Paris, the proud well-beloved capital with rights and privileges of her own, who in some sense held herself the guardian of what remained of the ancient liberties of France. In the reign of Louis XIV. Paris had ceased to be the residence of the kings of France. For three centuries previously she had struggled restlessly against the ever-increasing demands of the Crown, and in 1648, had for the fifth and last time risen in revolt against the monarchy. Lous XIV. was then a child, but he was old enough to remember the incidents of that revolt, and he never forgave his capital. From the earliest years of his reign, his resolution was taken to separate the court from the city, to shelter the throne from the insults of the capital. In this resolution there was a great deal more than mere personal feeling. The policy of cen- THE REVIVAL OE THE STATES-GENERAL. 3 tralisation begun by Richelieu and continued by Mazarin was carried to its height by Louis XIV. But this policy could not find a congenial home in the capital. Paris had her Parlement, her Hotel de Ville, her Chatelet, all of which, though subject to the authority of the king, had yet traditions, principles and pretensions, which ever and again placed them in opposition to that system of the " sole will of the sovereign " which it was the pur- pose of Louis XIV. to make felt in the length and breadth of the kingdom. " How," asks M. Monin, " could an absolute mon- archy accord with insurrectionary traditions; divine right, with aspirations after a commune; the rigor- ous laws of ceremonial, the strict hierarchy of rank, with the cynical humour, the merry song, biting satire, the instinct for freedom and equality of the capital?"^ It is in the conflict between these two — between the autocratic instinct, which after all lay deep in Louis XVI., and that instinct for free- dom and equality which found its most characteristic expression in the capital — -that lie the interest and tragedy of the later years of his reign. "This day (August i ith, 1788) about ten o'clock in the morning," writes a contemporary, " the hawkers began to distribute in the streets of the capital 'Monin, H., J^tat de Paris en 1789, p. 2. 4 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. the famous arret of August the 8th." ^ That arret was a promise made by the king in council to call together the States-General of France on May ist, 1789, and from this promise most historians date the beginning of the great French Revolution. And yet there was nothing new in convoking the States-General. Under one name or another, meetings between the king and his subjects had been held from the earliest days of the monarchy.- At these meetings laws were made, and questions of peace or war discussed, and the part played by the monarch, we are told, was confined to the pro- posal of matters for deliberation. Under the Merovingian kings these meetings were composed entirely of nobles, under the Carlovingians of nobles and clergy; and it was not until 1302 that the Commons or Third Estate of France was admitted to a share in the deliberations of the nation. The change was made by Philippe-le-Bel, who was anxious to strengthen the royal power, and who therefore called the Third Estate to his aid and received from it the whole-hearted support refused by his clergy and nobles. ^ Hardy, Mes loisirs on journal (Tivhiements, Bib. nat. Paris. MSS. fonds francais, 6687. 2 Under the Franks these meetings met in March in the open fields, and were called the Champ de Mars ; in 755 Pepin changed the time of meeting to the more congenial month of May, after which they were sometimes called Champ de Mars and sometimes Champ de Mai. THE REVIVAL OF THE STATES-GENERAL. 5 From this time the national assemblies were called States-General, a meeting of the three Orders of the whole Kingdom of France. They no longer met annually; for the administration of justice, which once formed a large part of their business, had been removed from their jurisdiction and en- trusted to the parlements or High Courts of Justice, which sat in each province of France. The States-General were only called together by the king as often as he needed support or money from his subjects, and were looked upon as a body to which the king had recourse in difficulty. But, by consulting his subjects and asking them to con- tribute money to his treasury, the king implied their right to a share in the responsibilities of government. This implied right very soon became a right claimed by the States-General, and, from the moment the claim was made, that body assumed a critical attitude towards the Crown, until in 1355, when John II. was king, the States- General asserted their right not only to vote and raise the taxes, but to superintend the use made of them.^ The attitude then taken up was maintained by later meetings, and, in 1576 and 1588, it was laid down as a principle that never, on any pretext ^ See Lanieth, A. de, Histoire dc VAssanblt'e constitnantc, Intro- duction. 6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. whatever, should a tax be imposed on the nation without the consent of the States-General. After this they were not again summoned until 1614, during the minority of Louis XIII. That meeting was, for all practical purposes, a fiasco ; yet, amid scenes described as deplorable, the Third Estate made itself heard, and repeating the old claims, added a request that the States-General should meet every ten years.^ They did not meet in ten years' time. Their claims and pretensions were too much at variance with the policy of Louis XIII. and of his succes- sors, a policy which, known as the old regime, centred all authority in the king, fostered privilege and class distinction, sold the municipal offices once held by right of election, and everywhere struck at the root of independence. For over one hundred and seventy years the States-General had remained a memory; why were they recalled now? It has been asserted that France made more progress in the ideas of justice, equality and liberty in the fifteen years of the reign of Louis XVI., which preceded May 1789, than in the twenty-five years which followed it,'- and de Tocqueville de- clares this reign the most prosperous of the old monarchy. The reforms which took place from the ^Thierry, A., Histoire du Tiers £tat, p. 200. Paris, 1853. ^Lavergne, A. de, Les assenibUes provinciales sous Louis XVI., p. iii. THE REVIVAL OF THE STATES-GENERAL. 7 year 1774 to the year 1789 are unquestionable. The principle of a taxation which should be levied " without distinction or exception of any kind " was acknowledged,^ the corvee, or compulsory labour of the peasarlt in making public roads and in other public works was abolished;- the suppression of the old trade corporations which exercised exclusive and tyrannous rights was attempted, and in a measure carried out ;^ the king freed his serfs : the free cir- culation of grain within and without the kingdom was decreed;'^ and a system of provincial assemblies) by which taxes could be more fairly apportioned and local matters more quickly attended to, was instituted.^ The administration of justice, in sore need of reform, had had some abuses removed. An accused prisoner, until proved guilty, was exempted from marks of degradation. Prisoners were no longer tortured in order to extract from them confession ; judges were obliged to specify on what charge a prisoner was found guilty of death, and not merely to pass judgment " because of the result of the trial," and instead of execution immediately following on the sentence, a month must elapse except in cases of insurrection or riot. In civil courts new arrange- 'See Mavidal et Laurent, Archives parlcmeutaires, \(A. i. p. 257 seq., for Edits du 19 septetnbrc. ' -du 2"] jiiiii. * du i"] Jiiiii, 17S8. '^du 12 'liars, 1776. ^ die 22 jiiiii, 17SS. 8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. ments were made which would render civil suits a little less tedious.^ One of the great injustices of the old regime was the civil disability of Protestants. Louis XIV. had chosen to assume that all Protestants had either left France or recanted, and therefore, proclaiming that there were none, legislated accordingly. The church registers kept by the Catholic priests were alone held as legal proof of birth, baptism, mar- riage and death, and thus conscientious Protestants who refused to accept Catholic rites had no legal means of proving their legitimacy — " their very exis- tence " — and were in consequence not only excluded from any civil post, but even from legal right to possess or to will property. No Protestant might sit on the King's Council, hold a post as judge, or teach in any public institution, nor might he, with rare exception, enter a trade corporation. Protest- ants had their own little hospital of eight beds in the rue de Seve,- under the protection of the Ambassador of Sweden, and their own University, that of Strasbourg, which was without question the most enlightened in France.^ The civil disabilities, in spite of opposition, were removed by an edict of the 19th January, 1788, which received the unani- ^ Arch, pari., vol. i. p. 297 st'ij., Edits du 8 mai, 178S. ^Monin, H., Etat de Paris en 1789, p. 248. ^Liard, L., Venseigneinent siiph'ieiir en France, vol. i. p. 9. THE REVIVAL OF THE STATES-GENERAL. 9 mous approval of the king and his council. But the social disabilities remained. And besides these definite legislative reforms, there was springing up in France a more enlight- ened spirit regarding commerce, agriculture and charity. In manufacture, the age of invention, of improved tools, and of machinery had begun. " Commerce," wrote the Six Corps} or six principal trades of Paris, in a manoire to the king, " has at length assumed the importance which has, in some sort, always belonged to her — and it is not now too much to say that no negotiation takes place either in the old or new w^orld, no war between the rival nations of Europe that has not commerce for its object, motive or result."- Agricultural Societies had sprung up in France about the middle of the eighteenth century, and by 1787 there was an Agricultural Society in all the more important towns. The members of the Societies were the landed proprietors of the district, and included among their number many of the most distinguished of the French nobility ; men who gave their hearty co-operation to the efforts of the Societies by offer- ^ In 1789 these were first, cloth-makers and mercers ; second, grocers ; third, hosiers, furriers and hatters ; fourth, goldsmiths ; fifth, gauze and ribbon-makers ; sixth, wine-merchants. ^Chassin, Ch-L. , Les Sections et les cahiers de Paris aiix deniiers Etats-Ghiiraux, vol. i. p. 25 ; Miimoire prdsentc' au roi far les Six Corts de la ville de Paris, Nov., 1788. lo FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. ing land on which to experiment in the cultivation of new plants, such as madder, clover and hemp, and also by importing at their own expense sheep, horses and cattle to improve existing breeds.^ The reign of Louis XVI. saw also the dawn of a more thoughtful care for the poor. The laws against beggars were modified, and the principle established that each parish should be responsible for its own poor, and that help should only be given to those unable to earn their own living. Attempts were even made at the organisation of charity. In 1787 Rouen arranged for one central administration of all charitable funds, and other towns attempted similar measures.^ The condition of hospitals, a crying need, began to be inquired into, and in 1779, the king founded the well-known Hopital de la Charite, rue Jacob, with single beds for each patient.^ In 1788 the city of Lyons subscribed 165,000 livres for the same merciful object. The Archbishop of Bordeaux, M. de Cice, had established an institution for the deaf and dumb, under the famous Abbe Sicard. In 1784 an institution for the blind was begun, and in 1787 a Socictc dcs Amis des Noirs was founded, which eventually became the means of abolishing the trade in negroes carried on in French colonies. ^ See Lavergne, L. de, Lcs assemblees provinciales, pp. 63, 254, 420. "^ Id., p. 251. ^ Monin, H., £tat de Paris en 1789, p. 255. THE REVIVAL OF THE STATES-GENERAL. ii A different and much less cheerful picture of France under Louis XVI. could easily be drawn. It would be equally true. Legislative changes and the impulses of a kindlier and more enlightened spirit will not work marvels under a thoroughly antiquated system of government. They can only remove an evil here and there, and the miseries depicted as existing under Louis XVI. in such a work as M. Champion's La France d'apres les cahiers de 17 8g existed side by side with the reforms. What one has to remember is that reform had begun before the revolution. The progress, such as it was, made under Louis XVI. was largely due to the great writers of the earlier part of the eighteenth century. These men protested against the old ideas of exclusiveness, restriction and privilege which permeated the old regime. Instead of unequal taxation, they claimed for all men equal rights, and declared that " liberty and equality were the two principal objects of legis- lation." They protested against the trammels laid on commerce by trade-guilds and government regu- lations. "Those laws," wrote Montesquieu in 1748, " which oblige a man to remain in his calling, and to pass it on as a matter of course to his children, are and can only be useful in despotic states, where no one can or may have ambition." ^ Agriculture, they ^ Montescjuieu, Lcspril Jes lois, liv. xx. ch. xxii. 12 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. contended, could not flourish until privilege was abolished, and they set aside the deep-rooted pre- judice which considered manual labour as little better than disgrace. Montesquieu declared the right to work one of the inalienable rights of man, while Rousseau and Diderot went further and exalted manual labour and the mechanical arts above the professions. They did this for different reasons: Rousseau, because manual labour was, of all the occupations which can provide man with the means of livelihood, that nearest akin to nature, and Diderot, because the mechanical arts contributed most to the comfort of mankind. In all that they wrote these men pleaded for the many as against the few. It was not, however, either the writings of philo- sophers or the desire for practical reform that induced the king to call the States- General. Side by side with growing prosperity in the country was an increasing deficit in the treasury. From the very outset Louis XVI. had recognised the importance of a proper administration of the finances. He had inherited an almost bankrupt treasury, and to set that treasury on a satisfactory basis had been the great effort of his reign. There were two unwritten laws which, under the old regime, controlled the taxation of France. One was that to the king alone belonged the right of imposing taxes ; the THE REVIVAL OF THE STATES-GENERAL. 13 Other that on those best able to contribute he must impose the fewest. Older than either of these was the principle laid down in the States-General of 1576 and of 1588 which, if forgotten by her rulers, was remembered by France — the principle that the consent of the nation was essential to the imposition of fresh taxation. It was conflict between the two first principles, the right of the king, and the claims of the privileged, which brought about an appeal to the third, the will of the country as expressed in the States-General. For in matters of finance, at all events, the old regime had come to a dead-lock. Larger contri- butions from the country had become an absolute necessity if the balance between receipts and expen- diture were to be made and kept even. How to obtain such contributions was the difficulty, for the clergy, the nobles and the privileged members of the Third Estate, all largely exempt from taxation, cried out against the abolition of their privilege, and the unprivileged could pay no more. Turgot and Necker, from love of justice, as well as from desire to refill the treasury, Calonne from sheer necessity, had attempted reforms which tended to equalise the burden. Against them rose the phalanx of the privileged, and one by one Turgot, Necker and Calonne fell. Now the stronghold of the privileged was the 14 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Parlement of Paris, backed by the provincial parle- ments. Yet for years the parlements had stood as the defenders of the people against the despotism of the Crown. All royal edicts were sent to them for registration, and they had the right to direct the king's attention to, and send him respectful remon- strance on, anything they considered a grievance in his edicts. These remonstrances frequentl}^ ex- pressed sentiments so just in their general bearing that men forgot to notice that the remonstrances were invariably occasioned by something which touched the interests of the privileged. Often enough it happened that to entrench on certain privileges was injustice. But the long-continued popularity of the parlements is only to be accounted for by the fact that interest in a particular right was confounded with enthusiasm for a general cause. However this may be, the fact remains that the parlements retained their popularity with the people even while they resisted the Crown's proposals for a fairer system of taxation. It was a curious position ; the Crown pleading for justice, the parle- ments resisting justice, and the people taking the side of the parlements. But the reason was simple enough. The parlements, and the privileged gener- ally, consisted of two parties, one in favour of the old regime, the other in favour of reform. Both these parties looked to a meeting of the States- THE REVIVAL OF THE STATES-GENERAL. 15 General as likely to forward their cause. Those who wished to retain privilege believed that the States-General would insist on the maintenance of the old order of things. Those who desired reform believed that the States-General alone v.'ould carry out reform in a thorough spirit and place it on a secure basis. Thus it was that both parties, whether from self-interest or from love of justice, joined in the cry for the States-General, in other words, appealed from what they considered a despotic act of the Crown to the decision of the nation ; this appeal was the explanation of the continued popu- larity of the parlements. For the nation was discontented ; the working out of new ideas was made impossible by the existence of old institutions, progress was hampered by old regulations and laws. The increase in the prosperity of the middle classes made the distinction between noble and common the more galling. The very reforms effected made men more alive to the crying injustices which prevailed, more anxious for Sfreater and more radical reform. Now an assembly of the States-General would give France an opportunity for expressing her general ideas on reform, and for stating, at the same time, her particular complaints. From the earliest days the States-General had been recognised as a legal channel by which the i6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. people might relate their wants and grievances to the king ; the drawing up and presenting of caJiiers or documents in which the grievances of the people were duly set forth was considered the first duty of the members of the States-General. At the same time, the assembling of the States-General for the purpose of proposing fresh taxation was an acknow- ledgment of their right to consent to or refuse that taxation, and the reformers hoped so to use this right as to enforce the redress of grievances. To summon the States-General was therefore a very serious matter. It admitted a long-forgotten claim, and it gave the right to bring forward com- plaints and projects of reform, and for this reason Lomenie de Brienne, Minister of Finance, resisted the demand as long as possible. He resorted to every available expedient : he tried loans, he virtually abolished the parlements, he appealed to the Church, he used money intended for charitable purposes, but in vain. Without fresh taxation he found government impossible, and on August 8th, 1788, the Convocation of the States-General, vaguely promised for more than a year, was fixed for the first of May, 1789.^ ■^See Last Days of the Freruh Monarchy, chap, xxiii. , for a fuller account of the struggle. CHAPTER II. THE QUESTION OF FORMS. VlYE FD-UR LE BOPJHEUR SOH PJEITFLE 11789o '' I "^ H E promise of the MEDAL STKl CK Al IICK 1 HE CON- VOCATION OF THE STATES-GENERAL. States-General at a fixed date was in itself a great event. The representatives of the people had not met for over five generations, and, even as an historical incident, such an assembly was of the highest interest. The curiosity of men was roused, and they began to ask questions about the old States-General. This curiosity had been stimulated b}- the action of the government. When Brienne, tired of the opposition of the parlements, had in May 1788 instituted a new bod\' called the Cour plcnicft\ to which in future the king's edicts should be sent for registration, he at the same time set up a number of new law-courts and put the parlements en vacances, II. B i8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. that is, suspended their sittings. His act was in- tensely unpopular. Men refused to sit on the Coiir pleniere, lawyers to plead in the new courts ; there were disturbances all over France. Briennes move utterl}' failed. In June he tried another expedient ; he summoned an extraordinary meeting of the clergy and asked them to vote a voluntary gift to the treasury. They refused, and Brienne, deserted by the clerg}^ and hated b}^ the parlements, turned to the middle classes. He induced the king to invite their co-operation in preparing for a convocation of the States-General which he now saw was inevitable. By an arret, published on the 5th of Jul}' 1788, Louis invited the old provincial Etats} municipal bodies, judges, learned Academies, and all who had access to ancient records to make research into the constitution of former States-General.- Comments might be added and wishes expressed. This arret was an act of great importance, if only that it allowed, for the moment, liberty of speech. In ordinary circumstances all published writings had to be submitted to one of the royal censors.^ These officers, often slack and easy-going on matters of morality, were exceedingly strict where the traditions ^ See note, p. 35. ^See Collection des Edits de Louis XVI., Bril. Mus. , 27 d. •^The Almanacli Royal for 17S9 gives the list of censors as follows : History and belles-lettres, 80 ; mathematics and physics, 9 ; chemistry and natural philosophy, 8 ; anatomy, 5 ; medicine, 21 ; jurisprudence, 33- THE QUESTION OF FORMS. 19 of Church or State were concerned ; and if, by publishing their books in a foreign country, men evaded the censorship, and yet smuggled them into France, the parlements were on the watch to seize offending works, try them in the courts as if they were living persons, condemn them to be burned by the common executioner, and to fine, imprison or banish their author.^ The an-ct of July 5th itself licensed the results of inquiry which might therefore be printed and sent to the Keeper of the Seals without examination, while the Parlement of Paris, even had it wished to interfere, was en vacanccs and could not burn seditious writings at the foot of the grand stair-case of the Palais de Justice. As a result, Paris was flooded with pamphlets,- man)^ of which were not intended for the Keeper of the Seals, and some of which, when the parlements were recalled, and the law became less tolerant, were seized and burned in all solemnity. Mean- time every man hastened toe x press his opinion, to educate the people in the duties of citizenship or incite them against the tyranny of privilege. 'See for example of such a trial, B. M. P. (Brit. Mus. pamphlets), Parleiiunts, R. 22. Arrlt de la cour dii Parlement rendu les ihaiiihres assemblies, les pairs y scant, qui condaiiine iin Iviprime ayant pour litre : Dt'lidJration a prendre par le Tiers Etat dans toittes les iininicipalit^s du royaitme de France. - Of these the most important were the pamphlets of the Abbe Sieyes, of Mounier and of the lawyer Target. 20 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. In the second place, this arret made France realise, as she might not otherwise have done, the importance of the forms to be used in summoning the States-General. One is apt to suppose that so old an institution must have had settled forms about which there could be no dispute. This, how- ever, was not so. In 1484, for example, the States- General set aside the usual division into Orders, and divided itself into six bureaux: in 1560 each * Order met in a separate building. In 1484 the number of deputies was two hundred and eighty- four ; in 1356 it had been over eight hundred. The first meeting of the States-General was held in the nave of Notre-Dame at Paris, the later meetings at Paris, Blois, Tours, Chartres, or Orleans, as the king might choose. The form of election was also unsettled ; in short, who should elect, how many deputies should be elected, what proportion the numbers in each Order should bear to each other, whether each Order should deliberate in a separate chamber and the majority in each chamber count as one vote, or whether all three should deliberate together, and count the votes by head, were points on which there was no settled precedent.^ Lastly, the decree was important because on such points, whether wisely or foolishly, it appealed to ^See on old States-General, Picot, G., Histoire des ^tats-Gin^ratix, 1355-1614, Paris, 1872. THE QUESTION OF FORMS. 21 the nation, and in so doing implied the right of the citizens to a voice in their government. With this appeal Brienne gave absolute monarchy away. The inquiry was entered into with zest/ and the more evident it became that the constitution of the States-General was elastic the more anxious was each party to secure forms which would serve its own end. If the Third Estate were to have a real political importance it must see that it was not over- weighted by the two higher Orders. If the higher Orders were to retain their privileges, they must vote by Orders, and thus preserve their power of out-voting the commons, even although the king, to strengthen the Third Estate, and in fairness to its superior numbers, should grant them double the deputies given to the clergy or the nobles. What then was the Third Estate, whose place in the great Assembly was so significant ? At first sight the question seems easy enough to answer, for the term Third Estate, like that of commons in England, covered all French subjects who were neither nobles nor prelates, and was also applied to their representatives in the States-General. But ^ In the Bibliothique Nationale of Paris is a catalogue (Le, 27-23) containing the titles of twelve hundred and forty-nine of the fiitfinoires sent to the Keeper of the Seals, and in the Archives Nationales an interesting little collection of some of these. {Collection Rondonneau, A.D.i) 22 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. in the days immediately preceding, and also in those following the outbreak of the Revolution, there was in France a sharply-defined line between the two great divisions of the Third Estate, between the bowgeois and the inanaiit. The first term covered all that was deemed respectable and cul- tured, the second all that was loutish and repellent in that Estate. Technicall)' the bourgeois was the man admitted to the municipal rights and privileges of a town. He was exempt from payment of taille on property held by him within the town of which he was a burgher, and also on a certain proportion of the land he might hold outside of it. He was exempt also from fraiic-ficf^ or the sum paid to the Crown on the purchase of land. In this technical sense an artisan or a cultivator of the fields might become a bourgeois, but practicalh- the bourgeois was the townsman who had acquired wealth, was well- educated, and who arrogated to himself all muni- cipal honours and responsibilities.^ From the middle ages downwards the towns had held a better position than the rural districts of the kingdom ; for over a hundred j-ears they alone had represented the Third Estate in the States- General, By the end of the fifteenth century the inhabitants of the country districts were invited to ^ See Babeau, A. , La ville sons fancien 7-igi?)ie, vol. i. p. 23 se- them it acted with the more assurance, and by and by its ardour, stimulated by the struggle, knew neither curb nor obstacle."^ The privileged became alarmed, and in order to preserve that distinction of rank dearer to them than pecuniary advantage, they were at last willing to consent to a renunciation of exemptions in taxation. In that same iiicinoire in which the princes protested against the attitude of the Third Estate, they declared that " if it would cease its attacks on the two first Orders, they in their turn would consent to the most perfect equality in taxation." A few days earlier the Notables had solemnly renounced their pecuniary privileges, and on the 5 th of December the Parle- ment of Paris, influenced perhaps by Necker and 'Cherest, A., La chute de Paitcien 7-Jgi/iic, vol. ii. p. 107. II. C 34 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. conscious of its unpopularity, declared itself ready- to see the present taxes replaced by others levied equally on all. But the Third Estate was no longer content with renunciation of pecuniary privileges. It wished for social and political equality, and would not accept as a sacrifice what it demanded as a right. Two things strengthened its hand — the institution of provincial assemblies and events which had oc- curred in Dauphine. In 1787 provincial assemblies, to which were entrusted the distribution of taxes, the management of public works, etc., had been set up in those provinces of France, known as the pays d' election} In these assemblies the Crown had arranged that the Third Estate should always be equal in number to the two others combined, and that the three Orders should deliberate in one chamber and vote by head. To the provincial assemblies the king himself had yielded what the Third Estate now asked for the States-General. Events in Dauphine were even more significant. 1 Such provinces were the oldest parts of France, and were called pays d'election, because in them the Stales-General of 1356-1357 had appointed certain officers, elected by the people and called elus, to dis- tribute and collect the taxes. Charles V., 1364-1380, changed the dhis of the people, into crown officers, z.nA pays d' Election became a misnomer. It was, however, preserved in distinction to the pays d'dtats, — States acquired later, by treaty and not by conquest, and which, allowed to retain their old etats, remained more independent and more prosperous than 'CciQ pays d' election. By 1789 the etats had lost their old vitality. THE QUESTION OF FORMS. 35 Opposition to the edicts of May 1788^ had been unanimous in every parlement in France, but in Dauphine opposition had been carried to the point of open rebelh'on. Like those of Brittany, Bordeaux, and Franche-Comte, the Parlement of Dauphine had refused to register the edicts, and had been ordered into exile. The magistrates prepared to obey, but the people unhorsed their carriages, demanded the ke\- of the Palais de Justice and the re-establishment of the parlement. Troops were called out, but were powerless before the mob, and a hurried message was sent to the magistrates praying them to go in their robes in all haste to the Palais de Justice, and calm the people if they could. They succeeded, and when order was full}- restored, re-packed their trunks and drove quietly into exile.' A few days later, on the 14th June, 1788, representatives of the clergy, nobles and bourgeois of Grenoble met in the Hotel de Ville. Deprived of their parlement, they then and there, at one o'clock in the morning of the 15th, resolved to call back to life their ancient Etats. They therefore convoked the three Orders of Dauphine for the 21st of July. This news reached the Government, and directions were sent to the municipal authorities at Grenoble forbidding them to open their doors to anyone not ^ See Last Days of French Monarchy, chap, xxiii. -See Cherest, A., La chute de rancien regime, vol. ii. p. 9 sctj. J 6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. a member of the biireaji de la ville or town council. The Assembly met therefore in the Chateau of Vizille, the house of Claude Perier, a rich manu- facturer ; there the Etats reconstituted themselves, and appointed their next meeting for September. In the interval Brienne had been replaced by Necker, whose policy was one of peace-making. He therefore made no opposition to the next meeting, only requiring that the king should appoint its president. To this, after some delay, the Etats consented, and on September loth they met at Romans, a town about sixty miles distant from Grenoble. They fixed their number at one hundred and forty-four, half of whom were to be members of the Third Estate, agreed to deliberate together and to vote by head, and took care to explain that though for the moment they had, out of deference to the king, accepted his nomination of a president, in future they intended to claim their right to elect every member themselves. All this was ratified by the King's Council on the 22nd October, and the Etats de DaiipJiinc stood an established fact, an incentive to reformers, and a model sanctioned by the Crown on which to frame the constitution of the States-General. What then was Necker to do ? On one hand was a France clamouring for equality, on the other powerful Orders determined not to yield. He drew THE QUESTION OF FORMS. 37 up a memorial, which would, he hoped, more or less satisfy all parties. This he submitted to the king, and Louis considered it with unusual care. The ministers were not agreed. Barentin and three others were opposed to Necker ; the discussions were long, lasting for three or four hours at a time, and the king's patience, Barentin tells us, never failed.^ At length on December 27th the memorial was brought before the Council, and that it might be the more freely discussed the conscil des depcches was summoned — a larger body than that of the king's ordinary Council. For the first time at such a Council the queen appeared. Her presence showed her anxiety ; she kept profound silence, but it was easy to see that her sympath}' was in this case with the Third Estate ; she had suffered cruelly from the aris- tocracy in the affair of the necklace ; she had found the Notables intractable and indifferent to the Crown, and she looked for loyalt}- to the Third Estate. Only one of the great questions in dispute was decided by the Council — that of double representa- tion. It was agreed that the number of deputies in the Third Estate must equal that of the clergy and nobles combined ; also that the number of deputies was to be at least one thousand, and the numbers ^Barentin, Comle dc (Keeper of the Seals), M "t^ o ^ -—t > -^ ^ ■-0 ^ S- u^ , H^ •^ Qi ::e o .§ ■*- ^ <-!-• .'^ •^ ■^i ^ "o S - '^u ^ ^ -x A T nine o'clock on the morning of Wednesday the 6th of May the deputies of the States-General met to begin work. Very early that morning the king had issued an order bidding the deputies meet in the "' place appointed for their use."^ Now there was BAILLY. only one place which the Third Estate knew of as appointed for their use^ — the great hall in which the States-General had been opened the da}' before. But in the Hotel des Menus-Plaisirs were two smaller halls intended as guard-rooms for two royal regiments, and these had been prepared as chambers for the clergy and the nobles."' No special ^ See for this chapter Chercst, A., La chute de I'ancien r<^giine, vol. iii. and last half of vol. ii. Also Archives parlevieiitaires, vol. viii. - Le Roi, J. A., Histoire de Versailles, vol. i. p. 423. 68 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. chamber was prepared for the Third Estate, a piece of carelessness on the part of the Crown, which nevertheless invested the Third Estate with a peculiar dignity, since it, and it onl)^ occupied the hall identified in the eyes of the public with the States-General ; the very Salle des Etats-Generaux. From this slight vantage ground, backed by the sympathy and confidence of the great mass of the nation, and instructed in its wishes by their cahicrs, the Third Estate entered on the campaign. Now, although no two of these cahiers were alike either in subject matter or in form, almost all, whether coming from the clergy, the nobles, or the Third Estate, were agreed that the first business of the States-General, before even that of finance, was the business of providing France with a Constitu- tion. " At the beginning of the monarchy," says the caJiicr of the town of Bayonne, " France had a Constitution, but it has suffered many changes, and it is time to set forth once again those fundamental principles, which will best conduce to the welfare of the kingdom." ^ On certain of these principles the cahiers of the three Orders were agreed. They all asked that the States-General should meet periodically, that no taxes should be imposed without their consent, ^ On cahiers see Archivci, parlementaires, vols, ii.-vii., and also Champion, Edme. , La France (Tapres les cahiers de 1789. THE STATES-GENERAL. 69 and that the liberty of the subject should be respected. Most demanded equal taxation, or assumed it as a foregone conclusion, and very- many asked for the establishment of provincial assemblies. The great questions which separated the two upper Orders from the Third was that of vote by Order or b)' head, of abolition of feudal rights, and in lesser degree, of the right of citizens of all three Orders without distinction to be admitted to civil, military and ecclesiastical dignities. On these points the cahicrs of the Third Estate stood a solid phalanx, while those of the clergy and of the nobles were divided. The Order of. the clergy contained within it two distinct classes : le Jiaut clergt' or dignitaries of the Church who were themselves aristocrats, and the bas clerge or parish cures who were born of the people, understood their needs and suffered many of their privations ; men who, whether poor or com- paratively well-off, sympathised with the Third Estate rather than with their own Order. It was the first time the cures had been admitted into an Order which in former States-General was confined to the Jiaut clerge, but now the Crown, anxious to secure the co-operation of the clergy, admitted the cures to the First Estate in order to counter-balance the vote of the prelates. The clergy therefore, were 70 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. not only divided, but were pitted one against another, and, but for the art and flattery of the prelates, the cures would have openly declared themselves in favour of the Third Estate much sooner than they did. Nor were the nobles much happier, since from the very first they had to reckon with a minority avowedly in sympathy with the new ideas. " The commons," says Tally ToUendal, a noble chosen as a Paris deputy, and a moderate Liberal, " had peace in their midst, the clergy and nobles had not." ^ Further, the States-General were to consist of twelve hundred members, three hundred in the clergy, three hundred in the nobles, and six hundred in the Third Estate ; but it so happened that the commons had a numerical majority over the two other Orders combined. When the January regle- ments were issued, there was great discontent among the nobles of Brittany, Franche-Comte and Alsace. These provinces were Pays d'Etats, and had always called together their provincial Etats, and there chosen the deputies to the States-General. They now objected to have their provinces broken up into electoral districts, and, rather than sanction innova- tions to which they were determinedly opposed, preferred to deny themselves representatives. The old nobles of Alsace retired from the contest and allowed country gentlemen of liberal opinions to ^ Lally-Tollendal, Comte de, Miiiioii-cs, p. i8. THE STATES-GENERAL. 71 represent their Order, while the refusal of the nobles of Brittany to send any deputies at all deprived their Order of twenty-one representatives. On the other hand, the admission of the cures to the first instead of to the third Order increased the number of representatives born in the Third Estate to eight hundred instead of six. All these advantages, the union, the numerical strength, the locale of the Third Estate, made it the more keen to win in the struggle to obtain vote by head, for this was the vital point — that which would decide for the old regime or for a new. Vote by Order micrht admit of concessions to the wishes of the people, but it meant the maintenance of the Orders as political entities, and with them a system of privilege, and the submission of the Third Estate to the will of the privileged. Vote by head meant revolution, for it placed every representative on equal terms. The fight must be fought in the arena of the Hotel and Salle des Menus-Plaisirs, but the country, the court, the ministers and the Crown were all keenly interested. On the side of the Third Estate was the nation, on the side of the privileged the court ; the ministers were divided, and the king an uncertain quantity. The first duty of the States-General was to verify their powers — that is, to show that their election had been made in due form. It was not an important 72 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. piece of business, and there seemed no reason why this at least should not be done in common. But on the morning of May the 6th the Third Estate found itself alone in the Salle des Menus-Flaisirs, and by-and-by, about half-past two, heard that the clergy and nobles were in their own chambers and already at work. To }'ield now was to yield all ; merely technical as was the verification of powers, the Third Estate at once resolved on the course to pursue. " The deputies of the commons," they agreed, " assembled in the place intended to receive the deputies of the three Orders, having been informed that the clergy and the nobilit}' have each retired into their separate chambers in order to proceed to the verification of their powers, have resolved to wait a few days for the privileged Orders to join them." ^ So the Third Estate waited. It chose a Dean, M. Leroux, the oldest deputy present, but it elected no secretary and kept no record of its proceedings. It refused even to open letters addressed to the deputies as communs. In twelve days it adopted only two resolutions: one on a merely technical point, the other discarding the court regulations regarding costume. At this early stage the meetings were open to the public. There were frequently as many or more ■* Baudouin, Collection geiierale des decirls, vol. i. Arretd dii 6 mai, 1789. An arret was a decision come to by a sovereign court or the king's council ; an arrets, a resolution taken by a deliberative body. THE STATES-GENERAL. 73 Spectators than deputies, for the seats erected behind the deputies on the opening day had not been removed, and were occupied by eager and admiring crowds. There was very little order kept ; the public had only to step over a form and find itself mingling with the deputies ; the deputies, more ready to speak than to listen, disputed perpetually as to who should enter the tribune and address the Assembly. The Dean alone had an)' right of control, but the little bell by which he called to order was often quite useless.^ The Third Estate alone deliberated with open doors, and for this reason also, bulked in the eyes of the populace as the one important Order. Meantime, the deputies, gathered from every part of France, were becoming known to one another, and clubs and newspapers with political aims were being founded. The club which began in a little cafe in Ver- sailles, probabl}' the cafe Amaury at the corner of the Rue de la Pompe," had its origin among the Breton deputies, and became the famous Breton Club. " We are here," said the deputies, " as if dropped from the clouds into a land whose ideas are foreign to our own." They felt strange and lonely at Versailles ; and, besides this, their con- ^Bailly, J. S. , Mimoires, vol. i. pp. lOO and 176. -Aulard, A., La sociitt! des Jacobins, vol. i. p. iii. 74 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. stituents had instructed them to compare cahiers and to act in unison. Very soon the Breton Club was joined b}' deputies from elsewhere. " Your deputies have an advantage over those of the rest of the kingdom In the name of the public good, I pray you to let them share," ^ said the messenger sent to ask admission for outsiders, and presently we find Mirabeau, Sieyes, Barnave, Petion, Robespierre, and others, members of the Breton Club. Thus enlarged and strengthened, the Club undertook a certain definite piece of work — the discussion beforehand of all important subjects to be brought before the States-General. It aimed at guiding the decisions of the representatives of France, at being the secret fire of the nation. It was the first and the strongest of the many political clubs of the day, and later, as the Jacobin Club, attained a power greater almost than that of the National Assembly itself Just as naturally sprang up the first political periodical,"^ Mirabeau's Courier dc Provence, which he intended as an account to his constituents of the doings of the States-General. The first number and the second issued on May 6th were called Les Etats-Generaux. On the eighth two arrets of the 1 See Cherest, A., La chute de I'ancien regi/ne, vol. ii. p. 462. ^See on newspapers at that time, Hatin, E., Bibliographic de la presse periodiqite. There were of course both clubs and newspapers before this, but they might not profess political opinions. TtlE STATES-GENERAL. 75 King's Council were published. The first suppressed the new journal, the second forbade the printing of any periodical not officially authorised. On the lOth of May appeared the third number of the offending paper under the title of Lettres a uies Com- viettants, since no one, Mirabeau contended, could object to a deputy communicating with his con- stituents. It was a step towards liberty of the press, but for that and for all else the deputies and the nation waited. Waiting, however, could not last. Anxious to carry on the struggle courteously, the Third Estate, as we have seen, began by inviting the other Orders to join them and verify in common. The clergy, more conciliatory than the nobles, proposed a Con- ference, and until it had taken place stopped the work of verification. The nobles continued their verification, but on May 13th declaring it complete and their Order constituted, signified their willing- ness to confer. For their decision the Third Estate had waited, and on May i8th, after a long debate, it accepted the proposal of the clergy The clergy then offered to renounce all pecuniary privileges ; the nobles followed their example, but only on con- dition that the Orders deliberated separately. It was the 23rd of May, at six o'clock in the evening when the delegates chosen from the three Orders met to confer in a hall near that of the Salle 76 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. des Menus-Plaisirs. The Conference lasted three days, and on the 27th the result was made known. The nobles insisted on adhering to the old forms for the present States-General, saying that the question could be finally decided vv^hen the organi- sation of the next Assembly was discussed ; the Third held to its caJiiers ; the clergy came to no decision at all. The failure of the Conference discomfited the Third Estate. Over three weeks had now passed and nothing was done ; it was, however, clear that the clergy were more in favour of union than the nobles ; the commons, therefore, immediately on receiving the report of the Conference, sent the clergy an urgent invitation praying them " in the name of the God of peace and in the interests of the nation to join them in the Salle de r Assemblee generale, there to confer as how best to secure that concord which was at the present moment so necessary for the public good." ^ So eloquently did Target, the Paris deputy who led the deputation, plead his cause that the cures were ready to rise at once and accompany him to the Salle des Menus-Plaisirs. It was a critical moment ; if the cures rose the Third Estate had triumphed ; if they hesitated the older Order might ^ See Courier de Provence, Sixi'eine lettre et seq., for conference and efforts of commons at conciliation, also Le Point du Jour. THE STATES-GENERAL. 77 yet prevail. One of the prelates suggested the necessity of deliberation before reply, and Target returned to the hall, there to wait until the answer came. They waited until three in the afternoon, then sent messengers to find out what the clergy meant to do ; the clergy replied that they had not ended their discussion ; the commons answered that they would wait until midnight or longer, but at half-past four a message came to say that no answer would be given until the next day.^ Before next day the king had interfered. Un- easy lest the prolonged inaction should disappoint the hopes raised by the summoning of the States- General, he ordered the Conference just ended to resume its sittings at six o'clock the next evening in the presence of " my Keeper of the Seals and of Commissioners chosen by me." For the moment the prelates had won. There was a long and keen debate among the commons on this message from the king. They did not like the appointment of Crown Commis- sioners to be present at their Conference, and they knew that Barentin, Keeper of the Seals, the minister whose business it had been to make arrangements for the convocation of the States, and in whose official residence the Conference was to take place, held firmly to the old regime. But ' Bailly, J. S., Mdmoires, vol. i. p. 81. 78 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. the sense of loyalty was deep, and out of respect to the king they resolved to obey.^ On the 30th of May the Conference was resumed. Point by point the nobles disputed the ground, point by point the Third Estate met them, and were very near a victory when the Crown again stepped in with a fresh proposal. This time it came from Necker, who suggested that the Orders should agree to verify separately, and that all diffi- culties which might arise should be referred to a Commission chosen from the three Orders. If this Commission agreed on any disputed point, well and good ; if not, it must be referred to the king, whose decision must be final. The proposal was a backward step, and although the clergy were willing to accept it and the nobles to consider it, provided they yielded nothing, the Third Estate, sitting inactive in the Salle des Etats- Generaux, declined to give any answer until the Conference was over. This was virtually a refusal, for until it was settled whether or not the Three Estates would accept the king's proposal, there seemed little good in further parleying, and on June 6th the Conference broke up. That same day the clergy made an attempt to force the Third Estate into action. They sent the 1 See Baudouin, Coll. gen. des dccrets. Arrite du 29 mai. Baudouin was printer to the National Assembly, and his collection of decrees, etc., is recoenised as the authentic one. THE STATES-GENERAL. 79 Bishop of Nimes to represent the misery and famine from which the people were suffering while their representatives were idling at Versailles, and sug- gested that a Commission should be set on foot in each Order to enquire into the causes of, and remedies for this distress. It was a plea to which the Third Estate was keenly alive, but it saw the danger to which it was exposed — the danger of taking any active step as a single Order. More important than the suffering of France was the necessity to guard the principles she held dearest. '' We, too," was the answer, " are moved even to tears by the suffering of the people, and for this reason we pray you, we conjure you to join us in the common hall, and advise with us on the public good.'" With this incident the waiting period of the States-General ended. On June loth Bailly, then Dean of the Third Estate, announced that, the Conference being closed, the time was come to deliberate on the king's proposal. At this Mirabeau, who had on the 6th of May urged the policy of inaction, rose and said that that policy must now end. Whereupon the Abbe Sieyes moved that the commons could not longer wait for the privileged classes without betraying the trust of their con- stituents ; that a full account be sent to the king 1 Courier de Provence, Neuvieme lettre. So FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. of their " long and vain efforts to bring the privi- leged to accede to the true principles ": that a last effort be made to induce them to verify in common ; but that this last effort made, the commons hold themselves, in case of the refusal of the privileged Orders, free to act. On the I ith there was a pause ; it was the feast of the Fete-Dieu, and the Chambers did not sit ; but on the morning of the i 2th messages embodying this motion were sent to the privileged Orders, and, for the last time, the Third Estate waited. All day long it waited ; it drew up its address to the king ; it decided henceforth to keep minutes of its pro- ceedings ; but not until seven o'clock, when the evening sitting opened, did it fulfil its threat, and call upon the deputies of the three Orders to verify their powers. Neither those of the nobles nor of the clergy were there to reply ; the members of the Third Estate presented themselves alone, and, walking up to the bureau one by one, laid down their credentials. Next day three curds from the province of Poitou answered the summons. That afternoon, Bailly, carrying the address to the king, miet the Keeper of the Seals, who in sarcastic tones complimented him on " the great conquest you have just made." " Monsieur," replied the Dean, " it will be followed by others," and he was right. Six other cures THE STATES-GENERAL. 8i joined next day, and seven two days later, making nineteen in all. ^ By the afternoon of June 15th the verification of the powers of the Third Estate was completed, and there only remained one more point to decide before the Assembly was ready for work. Under what name was it to constitute itself? Clearly it was not the States-General ; — nineteen cures could not be called the Order of the clergy, and of nobles there were none. It was not an Assembh^ of the Estates of the realm. Various titles were suggested, all of which were carefully framed not to express too much. The Abbe Sieyes proposed "Representatives of the Nation known or verified " ; Mounier, the " Legitimate Assembly of the Representatives of the Nation acting in the absence of the Minority," a title more accurate than manageable, and rejected as both clumsy and undignified. Others proposed variants on the same theme such as " Representatives of twenty-five million men," and lastly, Mirabeau, " Representatives of the French people." To English ears that title is both dignified and adequate, but to a Frenchman in 1789, the word " people" suggested only subservience, poverty and ignorance — in fact, the manant as opposed to the bourgeois, and the deputies objected. Mirabeau taunted them 1 Bailly, J. S., Mimoires, vol. i. p. 140. II. F 82 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. with their objection. " I persevere in my motion," he cried, " and in the title peuple francais : it is just because the name of people is not sufficiently respected in France, because it presents an idea at which pride takes fright and vanity is revolted . . . that we, gentlemen, should take the name, and not only raise but ennoble it, that we should make it henceforth respected by ministers and cherished in every heart. Were it not ours, we ought to choose it and regard it as a precious opportunity for serving this people whom we represent, whose rights we defend, and from whom we have received our own, and yet for whom we seem to blush." ^ In spite of his eloquence, Mirabeau's title was rejected and that of " National Assembly " was adopted as satisfying the larger number of the deputies. It was between eight and nine in the evening before the discussion was ended, but the Assembly was eager to constitute itself ; there were fears lest the Crown, disquieted by the proceedings of the commons, might " interfere and stifle in its cradle a power before which, if left alone, the Crown itself might soon prove helpless." On the other hand, the deputies were about to take a most serious step, and many thought the hour unfitting. It was late, and all were not present. Bailly describes the 1 Courier de Provence, Onzibne lettre. THE STATES-GENERAL. 83 scene. A long table was stretched across the hall ; behind it sat the Dean ; before him a crowd of some three hundred men, conspicuous among whom were the Breton deputies, demanding the vote there and then ; behind him a smaller but yet more clamorous group insistent on delay. Bailly sat still. One by one the more tumultuous members left the hall, hurling reproaches at the Dean as they departed, and letting in an angry gust of wind, for the night was as disturbed as were the deputies. At length quiet was restored, and in the early hours of the morning a resolution was adopted to adjourn the sitting until day. ^ On the 17th of June, at one o'clock in the after- noon, the Third Estate of the States-General con- stituted itself the National Assembly. The hall, crowded with courtiers and with citizens who had hurried out from Paris, resounded with cries of " Long live the king and the National Assembly ! " Then, in the midst of profound silence, the deputies rose and swore to obey the dictates of their caJiiers ; to give France a Constitution, and to carry out reforms. That evening the popular enthusiasm in Paris was intense. ^Bailly, J. S., Mimoires, vol. i. p. 151. CHAPTER VI. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY T HE struggle which re- sulted in the substitu- tion of a National As- sembly for the ancient States-General cost France some illusions. One was that the king, guided by the " goodness of his heart," would side with the Third Estate. " The idea," says M. Champion, "that Louis XVI. could take part with the two First Orders against the Third had not entered into the mind of the commons, who for centuries had regarded the king as the adversary of the privileged." ^ The Third Estate believed that in rising, as it did, against privilege, despotism, and the remains of feudalism, ' Brette, A., Lejeii de paunic. Introduction par. E. Champion. EMBLEM OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 85 it had its king with it, and was, in fact, only obeying its sovereign. " The nation," wrote the painter David, no flatterer of princes, " sees in the States-General the beginning of hope ; the end of disquietude. Their convocation will place Louis XVI. on the level of those beloved princes whose name even to-day is never pronounced but with the tenderness and veneration of filial piety." ^ " De Louis notre grand Monarque, Ah ! le grand coeur ! II veut, il fait, il nous le marque Notre bonheur. Defendons, aimons, avec zele, Servons I'^tat Qu'k Louis soit toujours fidcle Le Tiers Etat."- Even more significant are the words at the end of an inflammatory address issued to the people of Paris. " Uphold your rights, I repeat it, the Clergy, the Nobles, the Magistrates are against you. Do }'ou further the views of a good monarch, join with the king," and the cahier of the Third Estate of Paris closed with the proposal that the Bastille should be destroyed, and a simple monu- ment erected on its place, with the inscription, " To Louis XVI., king of a free people." ^ Louis XVI. believed himself to be an enlightened ^ David, Les Etats-Gdneraiix. - B. M. V. Chansons, F. R. 455. ''' Archives parlementaires, vol. v. p. 298. 86 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. and liberal-minded monarch. He never urged his own pleasure or convenience as a reason against economy ; he was always ready to send help when calamity occurred ; he had freed his serfs, modified criminal procedure, granted civil rights to Pro- testants, and he had had Turgot and Necker as his ministers. But he had none of the imagination essential to a ruler in difficult times ; he did not know that he was living in a new France that demanded new conditions, and he always stopped short just when he should have gone forward. In 1776 he had deserted Turgot, and in 1781 Necker, at the critical moment, and now, having called together the States-General and raised the hopes of France to the highest pitch, he deserted his people, Louis' reception of the deputies of the Third Estate had caused uneasiness, but his speech on the 5th of May was the first serious disillusion. In it he addressed his people in the old tones, con- gratulated himself on being surrounded " by the representatives of a nation he felt honoured in commanding," " all that the public good required might be expected from his soitiinents." ^ There was no revolution here, such as that proposed by the Rcstiltat du Conscil, and the Third Estate was disappointed. But it blamed the king's advisers, was scrupulously respectful, and hoped on. In ^ Arch, pari,, vol. viii. p. I seq. Discoiirs du roi le 5 t)iai 1789. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 87 addresses to the king, as remarkable for their loyalty as for their independence, it explained each step it took, and it sought to have free access to his person, because it trusted him rather than his ministers. To all this Louis replied by an obstinate adher- ence to old forms and rigid etiquette. On the 29th of May the deputies of the Third Estate sent the king their formal address of thanks for the Convoca- tion of the States-General, and explained that they would long before have rendered their homage had not the nobles put obstacles in the way of the veri- fication of their powers. At the same time they declared themselves certain that under a prince who desired to be the restorer of French liberty the free- dom of a national assembly could not be in danger.^ This address Bailly, as Dean, was commissioned to carry to the king. But the king was going to the hunt and could not receive him, and Barentin, whose business it was to attend to such matters, could not be found ; obstacle after obstacle arose to hinder Bailly from presenting the address. The commons were patient, for the little Dauphin was very ill, but when Bailly heard that the two upper Orders had free access to the king, he went to Barentin and demanded an explanation. It was found in the ceremonial to be emplo\'ed. " There is no wish," said Barentin, " to wound the ^ Archives parlcincntaii-cs, vol. viii. p. 60, Adresse aic rot. 88 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Third Estate by insisting on the old forms ; still, the old forms have existed from time immemorial, and supposing the king should desire them ? " " And supposing," retorted Bailly, " twenty-five mil- lions of men should not desire them, what means will you take to enforce them ? . . . The king is good and just ; I am not afraid of the king, but of what may be suggested to him." ^ For this fear Barentin confessed there was occasion. The other Orders, tenacious of their honorary privileges, wished to have a difference made between the manner of their reception and that of the Third Estate. But the day was past when the commons could be asked to kneel in addressing their sovereign, and the difficulty was what to suggest instead. Bailly cut short the interview bv declaring that the commons would suffer no difference, however slight. When on June loth the deputies of the Third Estate next addressed their sovereign a slight change was noticeable in their tone. On this occasion they explained why it was that they could not accept his last proposal, and wh}' the}' now meant to verify their powers. They threw the responsibility on the nobles, but they told the king that the difficulties would have been less had he granted their desire of free access to his person, and himself listened to what they had to sa}-. 1 Bailly, J. S., Meiiioires, vol. i. p. 104 seq. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 89 With the decision of June 17th, what had been conflict between the Orders became conflict between the newly constituted x^ssembly and the Crown. For the first time the king realised that the old regime was in danger, that he stood on the brink of an abyss.^ Necker had assured him of the loyalty of the Third Estate, and the Third Estate had taken a step which many of its own members thought too bold. It had constituted itself a National Assembly, it had taken a solemn oath " to fulfil with zeal and fidelity the duties with which it was charged," and it had done these things irrespective of the king. It had even begun to legislate without his sanction ; nay, more, in its very first legislative act it had used the language hitherto sacred to the king. Hitherto laws had been " decreed " in the royal councils alone, now they were "decreed" in the Assembly of the Nation. This was in itself a reversal of the old regime. There was, of course, consternation at the court, and a general consensus of opinion that the king must take some step. What it should be Louis was by no means clear. The nobles sent him an address protesting loyalt}-, the court party urged that come what would the bulwark of the old regime, the sepa- ration of the Three Orders for political as for social purposes must be maintained. To settle what should ^ Barentin, Miimoire autographe, p. 169. 90 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. be done a Council was called for Friday, the 1 9th of June. Meantime the National Assembly had already by its first decree guarded itself against dissolution. Without the will of the nation no taxes, the king himself had said, could be imposed. All existing taxes were, therefore, argued the Assembly, illegal ; but since the Assembly was bound by its cahiers to settle the basis of the Constitution in concert with the king before proceeding to reform finance, and since the government could not go on without money, the new Assembly on June 17th decreed that the taxes should continue to be raised as usual so long as the present Assembly should sit} As there was not supposed to be enough money in the Treasury to last over July, the National Assembly had made its continuance a national necessity. On the eighteenth of June Barentin and Necker went to consult with the king at the little palace of Marly, where the court had retired after the death of the Dauphin. Barentin was resolved to keep the Orders separate, and even went so far as to ask the king to forbid the Estates to meet. " Your Majesty must give orders that no Estate meets to- morrow," he wrote to Louis on the 19th; "it is ^Baudouin, Collection gine7'ale des dccrets. The decrees hereafter referred to are to be found in this collection arranged according to date. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 91 important to prevent what might happen." ^ Necker, though angry with the Third Estate for its self- assertion, wished to effect a reconcih'ation. He sug- gested that the three Orders should deliberate together on general topics — that is, on the constitution, on finance, and the organisation of future States-General, and separately on matters affecting their own Orders ; he also proposed that the king should open military and civil honours to merit of whatever rank. On Friday the 19th of June, at mid-day, the Council met." The resolution passed by the Third Estate on the 1 7th was read and condemned. Necker's proposals were discussed and handed over to a secretary to be drawn up in proper form and decided on next day. A Seance royale, that is a meeting of all the Orders in which the king himself would take part, was arranged for the 22nd, and in accordance with Barentin's suggestion, instructions were sent to the Presidents of each Order not to meet until then. At four o'clock the Council broke up to meet next day at five. That same evening, between five and six, there was unusual commotion in the Avenue de Paris. ^ Lettres de Barcntiii an roi dii 25 avril ait 11 juillet 17S9 — Arch, nat., Paris, K. 679 — in which Barentin sends Louis a daily report on the doings of the Orders. '^On the Councils see Brette, A., Lc seruieiit dit jcii de pan me \ Barentin, Mcmoire atitographe \ and Cherest, A., La chute de I'anden regime, vol. iii. p. 186 seq. 92 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Bailly, dining with his brother in a house just opposite the Salle des Menus-Plaisirs, heard the shouts and rose to find out the cause. The majority of the clergy, and among them the Archbishops of Bordeaux and Vienne and the Bishop of Chartres, had decided to join the Third Estate. The sitting had broken up, and the people were cheering and embracing those in the majority, hooting and roughly using those who were not.^ "That night," says a contemporary writer, " intrigue did its worst ; princes, prelates, nobles, the Parlement of Paris, the royal advisers, surrounded, circumvented and deceived the king, hardening him against the people."" The Parlement sent a deputation insisting on his dis- solving the States-General and promising to adhere to any financial measure he might deem necessary ; the bishops met in the church of Notre Dame de Versailles, drew up a protest against their offending brethren, and at ten o'clock at night carried it to the king ; the aged Archbishop of Paris threw himself on his knees before his sovereign, and prayed him to save the State and religion by preventing, at any cost, the union of the clergy with the Third Estate.^ Saturday's Council promised to be stormy enough. ^Bailly, J. S., Meiiioires, vol. i. p. 178. ''■Revue de la Revolution, vol. 13, Sept. 1888 — Ouvertitre des Etats- Gineraiix de 1 789, Lett res de BoulU. ^ Cp. Aulard, A. , Etudes et lecons de la ri!volittion fraucaise, p. 56, and Brette, A., Le senitent du jeii de paiime. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 93 But before the Council met at Marly a second decisive step was taken at Versailles. Early on the morning of the twentieth a certain Chevalier de Pange, a gentleman given to attending the sittings of the Third Estate, made his way to the Salle des Etats and found it closed. Thence he repaired to Bailly and told him the disquieting news. Bailly sent to the hall, learned that it was surrounded by the Gardes Fran^aises, and that a placard on the door informed the deputies that the " king, having resolved to hold a Seance royale on the 22nd, the three halls used by the three Orders would be closed until then because of necessary preparations."^ Almost immediately after, Bailly received an order to the same effect from the Grand Master of Cere- monies, with a polite post-script asking for the names of the secretaries, so that they might be authorised to remove their papers from the hall. Bailly sent for the two secretaries of the Third Estate, — the lawver Camus and M. Pison de Galland — and consulted with them. All three read the order as an attempt to stop further action on the part of the new National Assembly, and agreed that it must be ignored. Sixteen hours were sufficient for the preparations, and the Crown demanded forty- eight ; besides, contended Bailly, a message ought to have been sent the night before in time for him to 'Bailly, J. S., iMJmoires, vol. i. p. 17S scq. 94 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. give the deputies due notice and consult on what course to pursue. At nine o'clock, the usual hour of opening the morning sitting, Bailly and the secretaries reached the hall. The sentinels denied them entrance, but M. de Vassau, the officer on duty, for whom Bailly sent, treated them courteously, took them into the hall where the workmen were at work and had already removed the benches, allowed them to take what papers they wanted, and then asked them to retire. This Bailly did, but not until, as President of the National Assembly, he had drawn up a short proces-verbal or minute, protesting indignantly at the outrage done to the representatives of the nation. Then with the secretaries he joined his excited col- leagues in the Avenue de Paris. " The opinion was general," says Malouet, " that the king> the court, the prelates and the nobles wished to destroy the States- General and to set up despotism by means of armed force."^ All, therefore, were of one mind ; the Assembly must hold its sitting, but where ? " Let us go to Marly and hold our Seance at the doors of the castle," cried one ; others suggested the Place d'Armes, the great open space before the Chateau at Versailles, " there we shall hold our CJianip de mai " ; and, finally, the Doctor Guillotin, a Paris deputy, proposed the Salle du Jen de Paume. 1 Malouet, P. V. de, Menioires, vol. i. p. 322. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 95 This was a large hall close by the Rue de Vieux Versailles used for playing tennis. Galleries ran round three sides, and the roof was painted blue and decorated with fleurs-de-lys, for royalty played there, but it had no furniture. The proprietor gladly welcomed the deputies, and did what he could to supply their wants ; five or six benches, a table, a door laid on two barrels for a desk, were all that were got together except an arm-chair offered to Bailly, but which he refused to use while the Assembh' stood. By half-past ten the deputies had assembled ; the galleries were filled with spectators, and an eager crowd blocked the main street from which the hall opened. More significant than the sympathy of the citizens of Versailles was that of the Gardes dc la Prcvote de P Hotel du Roi, troops told off at the beginning of May to keep guard at the Salle des Menus-Plaisirs, and who now offered to continue their services at the Salle du Jeu de Paume. The offer was accepted, and the men were already at their post when their major appeared and ordered them to retire, but the guards stoutly refused, saying they were under the orders of the President of the National Assembly, and would incur any danger rather than desert their post. In such circumstances, surrounded b)- the people, guarded b}' royal troops, the sitting of June 20th 96 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. began. Bailly read the order he had received from the Grand Master of Ceremonies, and the proccs- verbal he had himself drawn up in the Salle des Etats, after which it was moved and unanimously resolved that the deputies having been called to- gether to frame a Constitution, to restore public order, and to maintain the true principles of the monarchy, no power could hinder their deliberations. They therefore bound themselves by solemn oath not to separate until these things were done, decreed that in whatever place they met, tJiej^e was the National Assembly, and ratified their oath by their signatures. In a voice so loud and clear that his words were heard by the people listening in the street, Bailly, standing on the improvised table, repeated the oath, the deputies cried, " We swear it," and the crowd shouted " Vive le roi ! " — they had not yet learned to say " Vive la natioji ! " That same evening the Council met again at Marly. Although the majority of the clergy had resolved to join the Third Estate, although that Estate had held its sitting and taken weighty decisions despite the orders of the king, the ministers still hoped that the Scauce royale might check, if not annul, its doings. The discussion was long and hot. Necker tried to persuade the king not to annul the decree by which the Third Estate had constituted itself a ^ ^ V L'ABBE STPZYES. From a draiving by Gnerin engraved by Ficsinger. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 97 National Assembly. Barentin wished Louis to pronounce it illegal and unconstitutional. " Why," he ureed, " so much consideration for the Third Estate? . . . His Majesty forbade it to meet until after the Seance royale ; it has disobeyed, and when I left Versailles was holding its sitting in a jeu de paume!'^ Nothing was decided, when about ten o'clock a message from the queen called the king away. When he returned it was too late to vote ; the Council therefore was adjourned until next day at Versailles, and the Seance postponed until the 23rd of June. The delay was unfortunate, for next day the king's brothers took part in the Council, and men said the queen's message was a ruse to secure the triumph of the court party, for on one point only — the question of deliberating and voting in common — and that with strict limitations, did Necker secure his own way. But the court had to contend with a stronger will than that of Necker, and when on the 23rd Louis went to the Salle des Etats-Generaux with all the pomp and circumstance of regal power, annulled the decree of the 17th, condemned that of the 20th, announced his intentions towards the people, and ordered the deputies meantime to separate at once and repair on the morrow to their own ' Barentin, M^ moire niitographe, p. iSo seq. II G 98 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Chambers, the majority of the clergy, a few nobles and the Third Estate sat still. Workmen came and forthwith began to remove the hangings and seats occupied by the court, but the deputies sat on in gloomy silence, deep disappointment on ev^ery face. They had listened to an exposition, not to a speech addressed to a free assembly. " The king," wrote Lally-Tollendal, a steady Royalist, " made concessions, but he embodied them in an Act called a declaration of the Intui- tions of the king, and with the word intentions we heard also for the first time in the free States- General of orders and prohibitions." ^ The manner of concession did not please the Third Estate, and still less the concluding words of the king's address. " If by a fatality which I hardly conceive possible, you desert me in my endeavours for reform, I shall myself carry out what is needed for the good of my people. I shall consider myself their sole true representative, and knowing your cahiers and the perfect unison between my intentions and the wishes of the people, shall do so with the confi- dence such harmony can inspire. "- At length, after a silence that seemed to have lasted an hour, the Grand Master of Ceremonies returned to the hall. He went up to Bailly and ^ Lally-Tollendal, Menioires, p. 44. "^ Archives parlemeiitaires, vol. viii. p. 145. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 99 asked him if he had not heard the king's command. " Sir," repHed the President, " the Assembly was adjourned until after the Seance royale. I cannot separate it without its own consent." " Is this your answer, and am I to give this answer to the king ? " " Yes," replied the President, somewhat sadly, and, turning to his colleagues, added : " I believe that the Assembly of the nation cannot receive orders." " We are assembled here," added Mirabeau, " by the will of the nation, and nothing but force will expel us." So the Grand Master retired and the Assembly remained. Yet it was in uncertain mood and did not know what to do. " Gentlemen," said the Abbe Sieyes, " you are to-day exactly what you were yesterday," whereupon the National Assembh- voted decrees persisting in those of the 17th and 20th June, and declared the persons of its deputies inviolable.^ Meantime the Grand Master followed the king and gave him Baill\-'s reply. Louis recei\ed it in silence, walking restlessly up and down his room ; then, seeing an order was expected, issued this : " Ah, well, if they do not wish to leave their hall, let them sta\-. " - A little later in the day the poor, irresolute king ^ Bailly, M^inoires, vol. i. p. 214. See also Brette, A,, Sdame royale (ill 2'^Ji(iii, wlu) denies that Mirabeau used the word "bayonets." - Droz, J., Histoire da rigne de Louis XVI., l)k. viii. p. 270. lOO FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. had a fresh decision to make. Necker had not been at the Seance royale, and was known to have dissented from the resolutions come to in the Council of the king, and a rumour was afloat that he had resigned. A crowd of over five thousand people was besieging his house in the Rue de la Surintendance, the deputies were praying him to remain, and the people shouting " Vive Necker ! " " Down with the aristocrats ! " " Long live the Third Estate ! '" Alarmed at the state of public feeling, the queen went to her husband, and Necker was sent for to the palace. His return was anxiously awaited, and when it was known that the king had requested him to remain, the people, overjoyed, conducted him in triumph to his house, and even proposed going to the king to thank him for " so great a benefit." For the moment the queen had saved the situa- tion. " Had Necker retired," wrote the Comte de Mercy, " or had he been arrested, as some members of the Royal Family wished, the people would have risen in revolt." But so long as the Orders re- mained separate the danger was not over. " From the 23rd to the 27th of June," adds the Comte, "we passed through the most critical days I have seen in this country."^ On June 24th the National 1 Arneth, G. von, Correspondance secrete entre le comte de Mercy- Argentean et rempereitr Joseph IT., vol. ii. p. 254 seq. THE KING AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, loi Assembly met as usual, and among the deputies was the majority of the clergy. Next day forty- seven nobles, led by the Due d'Orleans, made their way to the Salle des Etats, and the king looked on irresolute. By the 27th the situation proved impossible, and Louis sent as dignified a message as he could, requesting his nobles and the minority of his clergy to join their fellow-deputies — the body of men whose political existence only four days earlier he had refused to acknowledge. It was with great reluctance that the nobles obeyed ; indeed, many were led to believe that the union would only be temporary, that troops were advancing which would give the king control of his subjects, and that in fourteen da}'s all would be changed. But it was in no grudging spirit that the Third Estate received the other Orders, or that the people welcomed the concession of the Crown. The crowds that waited to cheer the deputies hurried from the Salle des Etats to the palace and called for the king, and, remembering that she had upheld Necker, called also for the queen. From the palace they went to the Rue de la Surintendance, where Necker was, and to the Avenue de Paris, where Bailly lived. Versailles, Paris, and all France held rejoicings for three days. Thus, after a struggle only six weeks long, ended the first conflict between the Assemblv of the I02 FROM THE MONAR^CHY TO THE REFUBLIC nation and the Crown. It removed legislation from the Councils of the king to those of the Assembly of the representatives of the people, and it destroyed that ancient bulwark of the old regime, the three separate Orders of the realm. On the 27th of June the States-General became really the National Assembly of France. That evening, as the sitting was about to close, the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld, who had been President of the clergy, assumed it his right to adjourn the Assembly. Bailly, who from Dean of the Third Estate had become President of the National Assembly, stepped forward. " Monseigneur," he said, '"'you are not President ; it is for me to adjourn the Assembly." ^ With these words the States-General passed into history. ^Bailly, J. S., Memoircs, vol. i. p. 252. CHAPTER VII. THE KING AND THE CAPITAL. pERHAPS the fatal disability of Louis to adopt any far-reaching policy was never more disastrous than in the days which followed the union of the Orders — a union finally effected by his own deed and oc- casioning an outburst of loyalty which showed how ready the deputies still were to respond to any advance the king might make. Had Louis been capable of following up his advantage, and of making himself one with the Assembly he had helped to render National, the events of July might not have occurred. As it was, he allowed himself to be governed b}' the extreme Royalists, and consented to measures which made I04 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. • his distrust of the Assembly all too manifest, and only resulted in further loss both of prestige and of prerogative to the Crown. As so often happens, the party which had lost in the contest was stronger after its defeat than before. The National Assembly, having attained its end, ceased to be strenuous. It also ceased to be unani- mous in its opinions. The v^ery union of the Three Orders introduced disunion into the National Assembly, for the bond between the Crown and the majorit}' of the nobles was not broken, and their union with the Third Estate was regarded as a mere expedient to serve until the plans of the Royalists could be carried out. That party had but one object in view ; to minimise the influence of the Assembly, and to defend the Crown from popular control. Unfortunately the ministrj' acted as an incentive to, rather than a drag on, the Royalists. " Necker," wrote Mercy in May 1789, "alone of all the ministers makes headway against the storm" ;^ but Necker, by his insistence at the Councils at Marly and his absence from the Seance royale, had further estranged himself from the king, while his consent on June 23rd to remain in office, with- out making conditions which would secure his ^Arneth, Correspoiidance secrete dii comte de Mercy- Argenteau et rempereur Joseph //., vol. ii. p. 239. THE KING AND THE CAPITAL. 105 advice having proper weight, injured him in the eyes of his colleagues. He himself was absorbed in finance, and showed an unstatesmanlike disregard of the necessity of fostering relations between the Crown and the Assembly. He had had an oppor- tunity of allying himself with Mirabeau, who was fast becoming the most influential, as he was the ablest, amongst the deputies, and he had abused it. " Your Necker," cried that statesman, " is a fool." ^ On the other hand Barentin was definite in his policy, had influence with the king, and was sup- ported by the Minister of War — a fact which, at this juncture, was important, for orders were issued from the War Office concentrating round Paris and Versailles some 50,000 additional troops, many of them foreign regiments serving under the French flag. What these troops were intended to do is not quite clear, but that the supporters of the old regime wished them to be used against the Assembly seems evident. There were schemes of transferring the x'\ssembly to Metz or Compiegne and of arresting its principal deputies ; there was talk of dissolving it, and for either of these force would be necessary. The king was told that in the present excited state of public feeling troops were essential for the safety of the capital. At this early stage in the history of the National 1 Malouet, iMt'tnoifes, vol. i. p. 276 seq. 1st cd. io6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Assembly the heart of Paris was at one with the Third Estate, and the agitations at Versailles were reflected in large at Paris. But one can hardly understand the significance of the Paris agitations without dwelling for a moment on two great political centres of the capital — the Assembly of Electors and the Palais-Royal. When the Assembly of Electors agreed to remain a corporate body, pledged to watch over the doings of the Paris deputies in the States-General, Paris found herself for the first time since medieval days in possession of a freely-elected representative body. And when on the 28th of June this bod}^ was granted permission to occupy the Grande Salle of the Hotel de Ville,^ it became identified in the eyes of the citizens with civic life at the expense of the old, almost effete, bureau de la ville, which occupied the Salle des Gouverneurs in the same building. The Assembly of Electors was a legally-consti- tuted centre in so far as it had been called into being by the king himself In the privileged pre- cincts of the Palais-Royal, exempt from the sur- veillance of the police, was a centre of another kind. The gardens of the Palais-Royal had long been a place of public resort, but in 1782 the Due ^ Bailly et Duveyrier, Procis-verbaux dcs seances des Electeiirs de Pan's, vol. i. p. 88 scq. THE KING AND THE CAPITAL. 107 d'Orleans had built arcades round the gardens, and had let the buildings as shops. In these arcades were many clubs and cafes, and here revolutionary Paris congregated. " In the gardens of the Palais- Royal," says M. Robinet, " there met a vast popular Assembly, a kind of forum in which political Paris dail}- held her assizes. It had its centre of direction — its bureau — in the cafe de Foy. ... It was there that the patriots judged men and events, there that they passed resolutions, arranged demonstrations ; ... it was from the Palais-Royal that those sudden, terrible movements arose, which more than once made the throne tremble, and which once and again checked the plots of the counter-revolution." ^ The Palais-Royal had its own journal,^ sarcastic and scurrilous ; it issued its orders by placards on its walls ; it acted as judge, jury and executioner on offenders against its idols ; and }-et, with all its extravagances, it was not without a certain respect for order. While the Hotel de Ville was the resort of the graver citizens and the Palais- Royal of the more revolutionary, the P"aubourg Saint-Antoine, h^ing . between the Hotel de Ville and the old fortress of the Bastille, furnished a population which was always j ready to form or swell a mob. ' Robinet, J. F. E., Danton, honinie d' Etat, p. 42. • Petit Journal dit Palais-Royal. See also B. M. P., Palais- A'oyal R. 231, etc. i /....^ io8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Near this quarter lay the Halles, whose stall- keepers had always assumed and possessed a certain position in Paris. They were recognised in State ceremonies, they sent deputations to present poems — bouquets they were called — to the king and queen on their fete-days, and they took it on themselves to show their approval or disapproval of ministers. Of all the self-constituted centres in Paris the Halles alone had traditional standing. The lower classes, however, were not interested in the political movements of the day, except in so far as they saw in them hope of relief from the burdens they had to bear. In 1789 these burdens were even heavier than usual. In July 1788 a terrible hail- storm had beaten down the standing crops for miles round Paris, and had raised the price of bread, and the winter had been excessive in its cold. The Seine was frozen from Paris to Havre, and though many of the richer Parisians heated their entrance halls, and turned them into public shelters, the distress was very great. The suffering increased the dis- content which was latent not only in Paris, but throughout France, and made the poor an easy prey to agitators. At the same time the uncertainty as to who were agitators weakened the hand of the law: the Comte d'Artois and the Due d'Orleans themselves were more than once suspected, and to take vigorous THE KING AND THE CAPITAL. 109 action against princes of the blood might prove awkward. There is still another point. In thinking of the miserable population and of the crimes they com- mitted, one must not forget the education in cruelty furnished by the old regime. " The number and nature of offences, the sentences pronounced, the publicity of the pillory, of the whip, of the brand, of executions, are so many indispensable elements to the understanding of the moral and social condition of Paris at the end of the eighteenth century. The brilliant literature of the pliilosophes and the poets, the refinement of the arts, the splendour of the high life dazzle us, and by a natural contrast the lower classes terrify us when they burst suddenly on a scene so brilliant," writes Monin. " Human shame, suffering and death," he adds, " formed the ordinary spectacle of the Parisians. What wonder if such an education rendered the mob who witnessed it cruel." ^ The first outbreak of the mob occurred on the 28th of April 1789. It was directed against one of the Paris electors, M. Reveillon, who had introduced patterned wall-papers into France, and owned a paper-mill in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. He was a good master, but rumour reported him to have said that fifteen sous a day was pay sufficient for any man. It seems probable that the riot was 1 Monin, H., Etat dc Paris en 1789, p. 86, no FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. due to agitation paid for by the court party, in the hope that a rising of the people might prejudice the king against reform in which popular representation had a part, and even induce him to delay the open- ing of the States-General. It is at least certain that men feared this result, for a letter exists in the National Archives of Paris pra\ang Louis not to be turned aside from the States-General by the action of mobs.^ But what was most significant in this riot was the attitude of the troops called out to quell it. These were the Gardes Fran^aises, a picked regiment of three thousand six hundred men, whose principal duty was the guardianship of the capital. They had their barracks in Paris, had married Parisians and were mostly Parisians by birth. They mingled with the people, attended at the theatres to keep order there, and were in ever}' respect closely allied to the capital. Their commanding officers left all detail to the sergeants, men recruited from the ranks. Such was the regiment called out to quell disturbances ; a superb instrument if well in hand, for " to have the Gardes Francaises on one's side was to be master of Paris, herself mistress of France, but not to have "^ a question which Besenval, at this time their colonel, leaves unanswered. Unfortunately they were not then well in hand. They had just ^Archives nat. , Paris, B. iii. -Besenval, de, M^i/ioires, vol. ii. 358. THE KING AND THE CAPITAL. in lost the Due cle Biron as their commander, a severe but steady ruler, and had in his place the Due de Chatelet, a fussy officer whom the men disliked, and who was unable to repress the revolutionary spirit which presently took possession of the regiment. The first s}^mptom of insubordination was mani- fested at the Reveillon riot. Called out to quell the mob, the regiment responded slowly to orders, showing great disinclination to fire on the people, and left the real work of restoring order to the Suisses, to whose aid the authorities were obliged to have recourse. Two months later the attitude assumed b}- the Gardes Francaises was clearly expressed in a resolu- tion drawn up on the 24th of June b}' its first company. " We, the undersigned," runs the docu- ment, " desirous once for all of giving the king and our fellow-citizens a clear statement of our views, promise and swear on our honour and our flag to defend our good king against all his enemies, and to shed for him our last drop of blood, according to our engagement on entering his service, and according to the dictates of our heart. But at the same time we promise and we swear before the country to disobey any order, come from whom it ma}-, that would deprive our good king of a single subject ; should we be re- quired to fire upon the people, nom' dii diable, we 112 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. shall lay down our arms, and trust for protection to M. Necker, who will not suffer brave soldiers to fight against their fathers, brothers or friends." ^ Next day two companies left their barracks with- out leave, afraid, it was said, of being called to serve against Paris, then excited by the struggle between the Orders at Versailles. On the 30th of June eleven of their number were seized and sent to the prison of the Abbaye, close by the church of Saint-Germain-des-Pres. That same evening a letter was brought to the cafe de Foy, declaring that the soldiers were prisoners because they would not fire upon the people. Immediately a patriot left the cafe, mounted a chair in the garden of the Palais-Royal, and read the letter aloud. Then arose the cry " To the Abbaye !" — a cry which three years later, was of such dread import. A band of three or four hundred issued from the garden, and by the time this band had crossed the Seine and made its way up the narrow streets of the rive gauche it was some thousands strong. Hammers, hatchets, anything the mob could find were seized, and by eight o'clock in the summer evening the door of the prison was broken down and the prisoners were free.- ^B. M. P., Gardes Francaises, R. 265. ^B. M. P., Gardes Francaises, R. 265. Relation de ce qui s^ est passe a 1^ Abbaye Sai)it-Ger»iaiii le Tp juin an soir. THE KING AND THE CAPITAL. 113 Meantime the dragoons and hussars, summoned to put down the mob, rode up with sheathed swords, accepting wine offered them by the people, drank to the king and the nation, and allowed the eleven prisoners to be carried to the Palais-Royal, where they were feted and sheltered ; it was not the Gardes Frangaises alone who were dis- affected. And yet the Crown hastened the concentration of the troops on Paris and Versailles, and thus proclaimed to all France, and especially to a jealous metropolis, its distrust of the Assembly of the people. For three days and three nights soldiers silently entered Versailles and took up their posts without the sound of a drum or a word of com- mand from their officers, and the deputies in the exaggerated oratory of the time compared them- selves to Roman Senators awaiting the invasion of the Gauls. On the 8th of July Mirabeau spoke. " Thirty-five thousand men are already posted at Paris and Versailles, and twenty thousand more are expected, artillery follow them . . . our roads, our bridges, our promenades are turned into mili- tary posts. Secret orders, hurried counter-orders, in a word, preparations for war meet all eyes, and fill all hearts with indignation. . . . What are they here for ? If to quell disturbance they are useless ; one word from the king has done more than cannon II. H 114 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. qr_swords could ^jdo ^ — besides, the people are quiet and hopeful, relying on us. Our presence is the pledge of public order." '- Next day an address was sent to the king praying him to withdraw the troops and to sanction, were it necessary, a citizen guard for Paris and Versailles. The answer, received on the same evening and read to the deputies on the i ith of July, only gave colour to the suspicions entertained by the Assembly regarding the intentions of many of the king's councillors. Louis refused withdrawal, and proposed instead to remove the States-General — he had not yet adopted the term " National Assembly " — to Noyon or Soissons, and to go himself to Com- piegne, so as to be near the deputies. " To do this," said Mirabeau, " would be to place ourselves between the troops at Versailles and others which might at any moment march on us from Flanders. Nor have we asked to be removed from the troops ; we have only asked that the troops be withdrawn from the capital, and on this we insist." ^ The citizens of Paris were as keenly alive to the danger created by the presence of the troops, and to the effects of the rumours concerning them, as was the Assembly. Even the " ladies of Paris " took ^ On July 4 the king had pardoned the offending Gardes Fran^aises and as usual a loyal outburst had succeeded. ^ Courrier de Provence, Dix-huitihne lettre. ^ Courrier de Provence, Dix-neiivienie lettre. THE KING AND THE CAPITAL. 115 Upon themselves to protest. They wrote to the officers of the new-made camp on the Champ de Mars, and pra)'ed them to ask leave to return to their quarters. " If you have been given bullets for the purpose of restoring order, well and good. But we have strong arms enough in this great city wherewith to restrain evil-doers. . . . The people, if once roused, know no bounds ; your presence excites instead of calming them ; the French must be led, not threatened." ^ " To menace with bayonets and cannon a people wanting work and food, is not this to pour boiling water on wounds ? " asked Bancal d'lssart on the loth of July at the Assembly of Electors.- Meantime, notwithstanding strict orders to the contrary, the troops themselves were fraternising with the citizens. "On Friday, July lOth," writes a contemporary pamphlet, " several of the royal artil- lery escaped from the Hotel des Invalides, and appeared at the Palais-Royal." They were received with open arms. One of their number begged a moment's silence. " Gentlemen," he said, " in the name of the corps, I declare to you that from colonel to recruits we look upon ourselves as soldiers by profession and citizens by duty. If, therefore, the ministers are so ill-advised as to order us to fire 1 Lettre des dames de Paris a MM. les officiers dn camp. Bib. nal. -Bailly et Duveyiier, Proch-verbaux des ^lecteiirs, vol. i. p. 136. ii6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. on you, we will load with the bullet before the powder." ^ Such was the state of affairs at Paris and Ver- sailles when on the afternoon of Sunday the i 2th of July it became publicly known that Necker was on his way to Basle, a disgraced minister, that Mont- morin, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Necker's steady supporter, Puysegur, Luzerne and Ville- deuil. Ministers of War, the Marine, and the King's Household respectively, were also dismissed. This was bad enough, but, by and by, it leaked out that de Broglie,- already unpopular as general of the troops round Paris, was to become Minister of War ; that Breteuil, known as an ally of Marie- Antoinette, and thus popularly identified with the extreme party, was to be the king's chief adviser. It was even rumoured that Foulon, once an Intendant, who had said that if the people were hungry they might eat grass, was to replace Necker, the people's idol. No more foolish ministry could have been proposed, and its nomination goes far to prove that the extreme party believed that their hour of triumph was come, and that, with the help of the troops, they could dominate the Assembly, keep Paris in subjec- tion, and reinstate the old regime. And certainly there was danger of this. Time ^ L'armie citoyettne, pamphlet in Bib. nat., Paris. - Broglie was called the Genera/ Imbroglio in the pamphlets of the day. THE KING AND THE CAPITAL. 117 after time the parlements had been dispersed by royal command enforced by royal troops, and had not the king fifty-five thousand troops at hand ? " If," as M. Aulard says, "nothing but a miracle could save the Assembly," it is certainly true that Paris vvrou";ht the miracle.^ 1 Aulard, A., Histoirc politique de la rdvolutioii /rancaise, jj. 36. CHAPTER VIII. REVOLUTION. A' BOUT three o'clock on Sunday afternoon, July 1 2th, Camille Desmoulins, a young and ardent patriot, ex- cited over the news of Necker's fall, and provoked that Paris took it quietly, hurried to the Palais-Royal, and there found a congenial atmosphere. Six thousand persons, says the rumour of the day, listened as he told them that the nation was insulted, that a massacre such as that of Saint-Bartholomew might follow this very night, and that they must " to arms." " Let us adopt green for our badge," he added ; " it is the colour of hope." ^ But the Paris instinct was for procession rather than for arms. Going to the waxworks of ^Desmoulins, Camille, Correspondance, vol. ii. p. 91. CAMILLE DES.MOULIXS. REVOLUTION. 119 Curtius,^ in the Boulevard du Temple, they obtained from him a bust of Necker and another of the Due d'Orleans, and with these draped in crape, they marched through the city insisting that all whom they met should remove their hats."- Towards even- ing they encountered a detachment of dragoons. A fight followed, which the Ro\al-Allemand, a German cavalry regiment, drawn up on the Place Louis XV., and commanded by the Prince de Lambesc, tried to stop. The soldiers were patient, but the procession had attracted a disorderly mob, which insulted and even stoned the troops, and their commander ordered them to advance at a trot and disperse the mob. At this a number of the Gardes Fran^aises prepared to oppose the cavalry, and Lambesc, anxious to avoid a fight, retired, but the busts were broken, several of the crowd hurt, and the mob, believing that the mas- sacre they were told to expect had begun, fled back to the Palais-Royal shouting for arms. The riotous element was let loose. Up on the heights of Montmartre, where now stands the great church of the Sacre-Cceur, twenty thousand of the unemployed were given work in levelling and making roads, and this was only a part of the dangerous ^ Curtius was uncle to Madame Tiissaiul, who, after his death, removed his wax-works to Ens^hind, and in 1833 established them permanently in London. ^Bailly, J. -S., Manoircs, vol. i. p. 327. For an excellent account of these days see introduction to Flammerniont's Pfise de la Bastille. 120 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. population in Paris. These were the men who made " hideous " the night of July i 2th. ^ They burst into food shops, into armourers' stores and into taverns, set fire to the barrieirs or city-gates, where toll was levied on goods entering the town, and threatened to set fire to the Hotel de Ville. " What a night," writes Mercier ; " a multitude agitated by fear, un- certainty and indignation ; a vague, uneasy murmur, accompanied by purposeless blows on the doors of houses and of shops ; the dread, monotonous, con- tinued sound of all the bells in the immense capital ; the tocsin in the darkness ! " " To such a pass had Louis brought his capital. In a panic the terrified citizens appealed to the Assembly of Electors. They asked for arms on the ground that the troops were advancing on the Tuileries, and that dangerous individuals who could give no account of themselves were filling every quarter of Paris, and they pra}-ed the Electors to convoke the districts, and with their help organise a viilice boin-geoisc or citizen-guard. The Electors gave what arms there were, some three hundred and fift)' muskets belonging to the Hotel de Ville, and at eleven at night, as soon as they could command quiet to consult together, they sent out orders to the districts ; then in little groups of two or four 1 Bailly et Duveyrier, Proces-verhaitx des Elecfcurs, vol. i, p. 175. -Mercier, L. B., Kouveait tableau de Paris, vol. ii. p. 61. REVOLUTION. i2r they went themselves to the centres of disorder to try and disperse the rioters.^ Little more could be done that night, but next morning all Paris was at work. The bells of the churches in which the citizens had met in April to choose their electors now summoned them to protect the cit}' and the deputies who represented it. " The asseviblee gencralc was convoked b\' the sound of the bell," writes the proces-verhal of the Parish of Saint-Germain-le-vieil en Cite, " and in a moment three hundred and forty- four of the principal inhabitants had assembled." " They formed themselves into a committee, chose a president, appointed officers to command the four companies which the district undertook to provide, and passed a resolution that every father of a family, proprietor or principal " occupier " in the district should enrol his name and promise either service or funds on pain of being held a traitor to his countr}\ And what was done in the old parish in the centre of Paris was done throughout the city. The districts had been electrified into life, ^._ new power had arisen in Paris, a power which from this time until the institution of the Republic was to exert an ever-increasing influence in favour of revolu- ' Bailly ct Duveyriei , J'rocex-VL'H'aiix des Ekclatrs, vol. i. p. 97 scq. "Arch, nal., Paris, C. 134 doss. 6. In this carton (C. 134) are interesting papers, not yet printed, relating to llic doings of the districts. 122 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. tionary ideas. This was the first practical result of the concentration of the troops and dismissal of the ministers. Meantime at the Hotel de Ville important changes were taking place. On July i 2th, as we have seen, the citizens had gone to the Assembly of Electors, and without waiting for royal or other authority, had prayed it to convoke the sixty districts and organise a citizen guard there and then. Such was the excitement in the capital that the Electors accepted the responsibility. But when, on the morning of the 13th, the crowd gathered on the Place de Greve before the Hotel de Ville, and again demanded arms, the Electors replied that they had no authority to administer the affairs of the city. At this the people called for M. de Flesselles,. Provost of Merchants and head of the bureau de la ville, who, on a formal requisition, came, accom- panied by M. de Corny, procureur du roi, the four echevins or aldermen, and the grcffier or town clerk. There followed a scene of great significance. In olden days, before the reign of Intendants, municipal and village affairs had been decided in assemblies or the inhabitants, presided over by a popularly elected syndic. Such assemblies generales, though not abolished, had had little power for many a day ; this power the action of the king and court was now to revive. For the citizens assembled on REVOLUTION. 123 the Place cle Greve did not consider themselves the unruly mob historians generally describe them, but an asscniblce generale endowed with powers to confirm appointments made by the king, and to make others irrespective of any will but their own. Acting as the old asscniblce generale acted, the citizens confirmed the bureau de la ville in its func- tions, and then took certain resolutions. They resolved that a comite permanent} to be composed of the bureau de la ville, of thirteen Electors and one ordinary citizen with power to add to their number be appointed, and that relations between this comite' permanent and the districts be established ; that each district should be asked to provide a contin- gent of two hundred men for the niiliee bourgeoise, ,and that all citizens possessed of arms be ordered to carry them to the districts for distribution ; finally, that groups of men should be forbidden to hang about in any part whatsoever of the city. The document was signed b\- the Provost of the Mer- chants " for and in the name of the Assembly." " This was the beginning of that Commune of Paris and of that National Guard which were to free the ca[)ital from the control of the Crown and enable her to defy the troops on which the party 1 That is, a comniiltee wliicli should sit night aiul day while the crisis lasted. ^B. M. I*., Municipality, R. 22^, Rccitcil des arrct^s^dilib^rations etc. Cp. also Kailly et Duveyrier, vol. i. p. 1S5. 124 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. of the old regime founded their confidence and their plans. It was the second result of the tactics of the court. And not only was an armed forced created which could at any moment be opposed to the regular troops, but the ranks of the regular troops them- selves were perceptibly thinned. There is, perhaps, nothing more striking among all the striking events of Jul}' 1789, than the wa\' in which the people of Paris, whether servants of the Crown or ordinary citizens, co-operated in the establishment of a viilice bourgeoisc. As was to be expected from their conduct during the preceding months, the Gardes Frangaises at once offered their services to the city of Paris. They were followed by the Guet and Garde de Paris, by the company of gunners in the Garde de I'Hotel de Ville, and by the Basoches,^ of the Palais de Jus- tice and of the Chatelet. The old institutions, one and all, declared for the new regime, and the acqui- sition of so large a number of fully or partially trained men added immensely to the strength of the citizen guard. By the afternoon of July 1 3th the viilice bour- geoisc was roughly organised, commanding and sub- ordinate officers had been chosen provisionally by ^ Very ancient and half military corporations composed of the law- clerks of these two courts of justice. REVOLUTION. 125 the districts, and Paris was prepared to meet the troops should they advance. The volunteers, except those who were already soldiers, wore no uniform, but were distinguished from their fellow-citizens by a badge. Green, the colour cho.sen by Camille Desmoulins the day before, was now rejected as being that of the Comte d'Artois, and red and blue, the colours of Paris, were adopted in its stead. No one who did not wear these colours was allowed to carry arms, — partly to prevent unrul}- brawls, but still more be- cause every musket and sabre was needed for the citizen guard. For this question of arms was becoming a pro- blem. From district after district requests came to the coinitc permanent for ammunition and for mus- kets.^ The Hotel de Ville had already, on Sunday the 1 2th, given all it possessed, the Gardes Fran- 9aises required their own, and though many of the citizens could make some contribution, this was not nearly enough. The eomitc permanent had spent its morning in drawing up, jjrinting, and distributing regulations for the new miliee ; it spent much of its afternoon in trj-ing to procure arms. Its task was made more difficult b}' an unfortu- nate and m}-sterious incident." About one o'clock ^ Numerous examples of these are found in C. 134, Arch. iiat. - Bailly et Duvcyrier, Proch-verbaux des Electeiirs, vol. i. 193 seq. 126 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. on the afternoon of the 13th M. de Flesselles, who had been chosen head of the coinitc permanent, an- nounced that a consignment of twelve thousand muskets was expected, and that if the citizens returned at five o'clock, these would be distributed among the districts. The citizens were punctual, but not the consignment, and the impatient volun- teers were told to come back once more at seven. At six o'clock six great cases marked " artillery '" arrived, and the comite pernianoit, greatly relieved, sent for the Gardes Frangaises to come and help in conveying the muskets to their respective destina- tions. But when the cases were opened they were found to contain nothing more useful than old linen. At once the comite sent in all haste to the Chartreuse and to the Arsenal, but in vain — the monks had no arms, and those possessed by the Arsenal had been taken to the Bastille two days before. It then issued orders to the armourers to make halberds with all possible speed, and waited anxiously for morning. The night passed more quietly than the men sitting in the Hotel de Ville had dared to hope, and with the morning fresh efforts were made to obtain the requisite arms. The comite sent one of its members, M. de Corny, to the Governor of the Invalides, the great military hospital founded by Louis XIV., with a request for such muskets as he REVOLUTION. 127 had. The Governor, M. de Sombreuil, received him courteously, professed sincere friendhness to- wards the comite, but declared that he could not give up the arms without orders from Versailles, whither on the previous day he had despatched a courier. He asked de Corny to wait.^ But others as well as the responsible messenger of the Hotel de Ville had gone to the Invalides, A crowd, gathered mainly from the quarter of Paris where cluster the colleges of the University, ac- companied by Gardes Fran^aises, by young advocates, and by the parishioners of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont — led by their cun\ surrounded the Invalides, and with noisy demonstration awaited the result of de Corny's mission. By-and-by de Corny, followed by the Governor, came out and urged patience. In this the people seemed about to acquiesce, when some- one shouted that patience meant danger. In a moment the building was besieged, the arms seized and the horses of de Corny's carriage, waiting to drive him to the Hotel de Ville, unharnessed and made to help in dragging out cannon." Twenty- eight thousand muskets on which the Hotel de Ville had counted for arming the milicc hourgeoise were in the hands of an undisciplined mob. While these things were happening at the south- ^ Bailly et Duveyrier, Proces-verbattx des Ekcteurs, vol. i. 299 seq. "^ Id., vol. i. p. 301. 128 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. western extremity of the capital, a formidable rising was taking place in the east. Close by the city gate leading from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine stood the old fortress of the Bastille.^ In it prisoners arrested by lettres dc cachet were con- fined, and it was hated as a symbol of despotism ; in it also arms and ammunition were known to be stored. On the morning of Tuesday the 1 4th the working people who inhabited the Faubourg Saint-Antoine found the guns of the Bastille mounted and trained on J their dwellings. To the west of the Champs-Elysees j and on the Champ de Mars lay the dreaded foreign regiments ; from the north came tidings of other troops. The people as usual hurried to the Hotel de Ville, where sat the Electors and the coniite permanent. At once the Electors sent a deputation to de Launay, Governor of the Bastille. He received the delegates graciously, treated them to refreshments, but did not dismount the guns. Mean- time the people, growing excited, threatened to attack the fortress. The committee of the district met hurriedly in the church of Saint-Louis de ^ For the siege of the Bastille see Flammermont, La joiirn^e du 14 jiiillet, 1789, who bases his account on the four most reliable contem- porary accounts — («) Proces-verbaiix des seances de VAssemblie des Electeurs de Paris en 1789, Bailly et Duveyrier ; {b) Dusaulx, De finsun-ecliou parisieniie ; (r) Precis exact de la prise de la Bastille, account given by besieged ; {d) Lettres de M. d^- Flue, a lieutenant of ihe Swiss guard in the Bastille. a In X ^ REVOLUTION. 129 Culture, dissuaded them from the attempt and induced them to depute M. Thuriot, an Elector from their own district, to go to the Governor and pray him to dismount the guns. As he entered, the deputation from the Hotel de Ville left. Thuriot was not more successful than they, but obtained a promise from the Governor not to fire unless attacked. With this promise he went to the Hotel de Ville, where he arrived before the deputation of the Electors. The coiiiitc permanent at once drew up a proclamation announcing de Launay's promise. The town crier with his trumpet, ready to call public attention, Thuriot, de Corny and another Elector, ready to make the proclamation, stood on the steps of the Hotel de Ville, when a cannon shot was heard in the direction of the Bastille. The people of Saint-xAntoine, dissatisfied with the answer Thuriot brought, angry and impatient, had entered the Governor's court and demanded arms in no gentle terms. For answer de Launay opened ■• Ip^O'^^ fire. Thus began the siege of the Bastille, at first a } 1 blind, confused attack, but presently more regular \ and military in its character. Among the crowd standing on the Place de Greve when the cannon shot was heard, was an infantry officer named Hulin. He called to those near him to save their fellow-citizens from murder, and the cry was at once responded to. A group of Gardes II. I 130 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Francaises organised a little company of forty gunners and thirty fusiliers, and with these, some cannon and a volunteer band of bourgeois, Hulin hurried to the Bastille.^ Others had hurried also. The clerks of the Basoche were there, with the Gardes Francaises and the mob that had seized the arms at the Invalides. It was between two and three in the afternoon when the regular attack began. It was led by Hulin and Jacob-Job Elie, a flag-bearer of an in- fantry regiment, who happened to be among the crowd. By five o'clock the besiegers had cleared the Governor's court, were pouring fire on the fortress from the roof of the Bastille barracks and had drawn up their cannon in the passage leading to the inner drawbridge and great door which gave entrance to the fortress proper. If they could force these the Bastille was taken. Suddenly, just as the besiegers were about to make a desperate attack, the firing from the fortress ceased, a white flag was seen on one of the towers of the Bastille, and a drummer beat a call to truce. De Launay wished to come to terms. His garrison consisted of eighty-two In- valides, two gunners and thirty-two Swiss ; the men had scarcely eaten all day, there was only a little pastry oven with which to bake more bread, and alone of men or officers the Governor was iSee Lacroix, S., Actes de la Comniitne dc Paris, vol. i. p. 144- REVOLUTION. 131 whole-hearted in the fight. But the people would not listen to terms, and de Launay, hearing the shout "Down with the Bastille!" "No capitula- tion !" seized a piece of paper on which he wrote that there were twenty million pounds of powder in the Bastille, and that if the people would not accept surrender he w^ould set fire to this, and blow up fortress, garrison and neighbourhood. He gave the paper to de P"lue, an officer of the Swiss, who after remonstrance, and with great reluctance dropped it from the fortress. As he did so, he heard again the cries of " Down with the bridge ! " " No surrender !" for the people were maddened by the loss of nearly one hundred of their number. Returning to de Launay, de Flue reported that he had obeyed, then drew up his men in the great inner court and waited for death ;^ de Launay went to the powder magazine to carry out his threat. But the deed was too terrible. His officers held his hand, and Hulin promised to accept surrender ; de Launay's ovv^n men lowered the bridge. Thus fell the Bastille before the greater part of Paris knew that it was attacked. With its fall the sad list of Paris murders began. All day an excited, unmanageable crowd had surged in the Place de Greve. While the comite permanent in the Hotel de Ville issued orders ^ Precis exact and Lettres de de Flue. 132 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. tending to preserve the peace of the city, forbade the theatres to open, put itself in direct communica- tion with the districts, sent detachments of the viilice boiirgeoise to the barriers to see that neither food nor ammunition left Paris, and opened fresh works for the unemployed, the mob outside the Hotel de Ville were threatening the lives of the men who were doing their best for the citizens. Naturally enough, many among the unruly throng drifted off to see the fighting at the Bastille — four hundred had followed Hulin and his band — and these added to the disorderly element already gathered there. On the surrender of the fortress the mob rushed in after the assailants, and before Hulin and his comrades could interfere, had killed three officers and four soldiers of the garrison. To save, if possible, the lives of the others, Elie carried them off as prisoners to the Hotel de Ville. But before the triumphant procession of " the conquerors of the Bastille," with the prisoners in their midst, reached the Place de Greve, a fourth officer, Major de Losme, was killed, while on the very steps of the Hotel de Ville, de Launay was snatched from his protectors and murdered. Another murder followed. The disappointment of the previous day regarding the arms promised by de Flesselles had cast suspicion on his loyalty to the people's cause, and now the people accused him of further treachery. They had REVOLUTION. 133 seized a courier who carried instructions from de Flesselles to the Governor of the Bastille, and, opening his despatches, had found a post-script telling de Launay to hold out, as reinforcements were on their wa}\ The murmurs on the Place de Greve grew louder and louder. The mob declared that the coniitc pcniuDicnt worked in secret and would not face the citizens. M. de Flesselles, with the members of the coinite, came out from their inner bureau to the front of the Hotel de Ville. " If I am suspected by my fellow-citizens," said de Flesselles, " I must resign m)' office." The answer was a confused clamour of proposals, but that of taking the offender to the Palais-Royal,^ there to be tried, met with most general approval. " Very well, gentlemen," said the Prcvot dcs uiar- chands, proud noble as he was ; " to the Palais- Royal let us go " ; and, accompanied by the mob, which pressed closely on him but offered no violence, de Flesselles crossed the square. At the corner of the Ouai Pelletier an unknown person shot him down ; his head was placed upon a pike and carried in triumph with those of de Losme and de Launay by that part of the population of the great city which its respectable citizens repudiated and called the has peiiple. ^The Palais-Royal had created itself a Tribunal of Justice. See IJ. M. P., Palais-Royal, R. 231, Reclamations du Palais-Royal. 134 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Wild joy followed the capture of the Bastille. The people leapt and shouted, laughed and shed tears. But with night came reaction. The deeds Paris had committed would, it was feared, bring retribution ; the troops would surely come now. So the city sat up waiting. The tocsin sounded, streets were barricaded, courts unpaved ; old men, women, even children, collected piles of stones and stood ready to hurl them if the troops appeared. But no troops came. Paris had done her work.' 1 Flammermont, J., La prise de la Bastille, ccliv. seq. CHAPTER IX. LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY. w: MEDAI, STRUCK KOR THE COMMUNE OF PARIS. 'HILE these things were happening in the capital, while Paris was providing her- self with a new administration and a citizen-guard, and storm- ing the Bastille, the National Assembly at Versailles was debating what steps to take, listening to accounts brought in of riot, and sending deputations to the king. Startled b\- the news of the dismissal of the ministers, the Assembly had spent the morning of Monday, July 13th, in debating the terms of an address to the king. Was Louis to have uncon- trolled power to appoint and dismiss ministers, or was the National Assembly to have a voice in the matter? The point was not decided when about two o'clock news reached the Salle des Ktats of 136 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. the tumult occasioned in the capital by the dismissal of Necker. The deputies, distressed and indignant, sent an urgent petition to the king, praying him to remove the troops, and to sanction a citizen-guard in Paris ; and at the same time it proposed to send deputies to the capital to reassure the citizens. There is something pathetic in the king's reply. Ignorant that the control of Paris had already passed from him, he answered that it was for him alone to decide what measures should be taken, and, blind to the power of the deputies over the people, he added ; " I do not doubt the purity of your motives and your desire to aid me, but your presence at Paris would do no good."^ The Assembly did not take long to decide on its next step. It passed an arret expressing its regret at the dismissal of the ministers, and announcing its resolve to persist in demanding the withdrawal of the troops and the establishment of a citizen- cuard. It declared ministers and also all civil and military officers responsible for any act contrary to the decrees of the Assembly, and solemnly asserted that the actual ministers and Councils of the king were to blame for the present troubles ; it bound itself once again to honour the National Debt, and finally it repeated its determination to have no '^ Archives parldJieuiaires, vol. viii. p. 229. See also on doings of Assembly, Point dii Jour, No. 23 seq., and Courrier de Provence, Dix septibne letfre, &- seq. LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY. 137 intermediary between itself and the king, and it re- iterated its decrees of the 17th, 20th and 23rd June.^ This done, the deputies decided to remain in the Salle des Etats all night. No business was trans- acted, but the deputies sat on. " We expected death," said Larevelliere-Lepaux, and here and there among them sat their wives, too anxious to leave the hall."^ Rumours were afloat that orders had been given to the troops to fire upon the Assembly, and that the troops had refused ; but no one knew what to expect or what to fear. The Archbishop of Vienne, President for the fortnight, who was an old man, went home, and Lafayette, who had made himself famous in the American War of Independ- ence, presided in his stead. But nothing happened, and in the morning ordinar)- business was resumed. A committee of finance was appointed, and a discussion raised on the rights of man ; indeed, the morning sitting passed without any reference to current events, except an assurance by one deputy that at ten o'clock on this 14th of Jul}' Paris was quiet,^ and an announcement by the President that the king had receiv^ed the arret of the previous evening and would consider it. At five o'clock the evening sitting began. The Abbe Gregoire, one of the first among the clergy ' Baudouin, Coll. des DJcrets, vol. i. p. 2S. -Larevelliere-Lepaux, Meinoircs, vol. i. p. 78. ■'Arch, nal., Paris, K. K. 647, Correspondance de J\/. dc Sillcry. 138 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. to join the Third Estate, launched a fierce invective against the crimes of the ministers; Mirabeau dwelt on the necessity of dismissing the troops, and a debate had begun, when about six o'clock the Vicomte de Noailles, come straight from Paris, entered the hall and reported the seizure of muskets at the Invalides, and a siege going on at the Bas- tille. A deputation, headed by the President, and accompanied by de Noailles, was at once sent to the king, while Lafayette, as Vice-President, continued the business of the Assembly, this being considered the only dignified and dutiful course to pursue. Presently a deputation from the Hotel de Ville was announced ; instantly all deliberations ceased, and a dread silence fell upon the hall. The delegates had left the couiite permanent just at the moment that that body heard the all but incredible news of the surrender of the Bastille, and they brought a message signed by the unfortunate de Flesselles describing the state of things in Paris and praying for help and counsel. The Assem.bly, greatly moved, sent a second deputation to the king, but just as it was leaving the hall, the first returned. All waited to hear the reph'. The king was will- ing to recognise the uiilice hourgeoise and to appoint a general officer at its head, and would withdraw the troops from the Champ de Mars. Notwith- LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY 139 Standing these concessions, the Assembly insisted that the second deputation should see the king. It was led by the aged Archbishop of Paris, no friend to the new regime, he who had prayed the king on his knees to prevent the union of the Orders, but who loved the city of which he had the spiritual care. " You break my heart," said the king, " with the news you bring me from Paris ; it is simply incredible that the orders I have issued to the troops can have caused these misfortunes ; you know what I have already replied this evening, and I have nothing to add."^ There was no change in the orders to the troops at Versailles. The town was full of soldiers ; there were troops in the Orangerie, troops in the Riding Schools, in the courts of the Ecuries, and on the great Place d'Armes, and until they were removed the Assembly intended to sit night and day in the Salle des Etats. That evening it resolved to petition the king again early next morning, and it drew up a message for the Paris delegates, pledging itself not to relax its efforts until it had obtained from the king the entire withdrawal of the extra troops." At two in the morning it ceased deliberating, and entered on its vigil. On the morning of the fifteen tli there was a ^ Hezecques, d', Souvenirs (Tim page dc Louis XVI., p. 298. "^ Coll. des decrets, vol. i. p. 30. I40 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. change. During the night the Marechal de BrogHe, commander-in-chief of the troops concentrated on the capital, hurried to Versailles, and confirmed all Louis had been told, while at the king's lever the Due de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Grand Master of the Wardrobe, told Louis plainly that the rising in Paris meant revolution, not revolt.^ This time the king was roused, all the troops were withdrawn, and he himself was on his way to the Salle des Etats by half-past ten in the morning. The Assembly had begun business an hour earlier than usual, and a deputation was just leaving the hall with the petition resolved on the night before, when it was stopped by the Due de la Rochefou- cauld-Liancourt, who- rose to say that the king was himself coming to the Assembly. Mirabeau was in the tribune.- " The blood of our brothers flows in Paris," cried the orator ; " let silent respect be the welcome given to the monarch by the represen- tatives of a suffering people ; the silence of the people is the lesson of kings."'' Deliberations ceased, the deputation, just about to leave the hall, waited, and addresses from various towns and communities full of loyalty to the Assembly were read to occupy the interval. 1 See Flanimermont, J., La journce dii la, juillet. 1789, cclix. and Correspondance de Sillery. 2 The tribune was the raised platform from which the deputies spoke. ** Courncr de Provence, Dix-iieiivu'/ne lettre. LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY. 141 Presently the Grand Master of Ceremonies formally announced the king's approach, the deputation moved out into the court to receive him, and the Assemblv continued to read. Accom- panied only by his brothers, uncovered, without guard or ceremony, and amidst profound silence, the king entered the Salle des Etats. " Gentlemen," he said, " I called you here to consult on matters of the greatest importance to the State. No matter is more pressing, none touches my heart more than the frightful disorders in the capital. ... I know- that false rumours have been current, that men have even dared to say your persons were in danger. Need I reassure you on a point to which my own character gives the lie ? On the contrary, it is I, who am one with the nation, who come to confide myself to your care, and to ask your help in securing the safety of the realm. The troops," added the king, " have been ordered to retire, and I authorise you to inform the capital of what I have said." The President rose to thank the king, and took this opportunity of once more pra}'ing for direct access to his person. This Louis prom- ised ; " Never," he said, " would he refuse to hear what the Assembly had to sa}-." ^ At these words the silence of the deputies gave ^ Point dii Jour, No. 25, the best authority on the doings of the Assembly at this linie. 142 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. way to a generous outburst ; the whole Assembly rose and conducted him to the Palace, forming such a guard of honour as Louis XVI. never had before or after, while, in a delirium of joy, the people shouted " Vi'z'e' le rot ! " The queen, with happy instinct, appeared on the balcony of the cour royale^ her boy in her arms, and for her also the people shouted " Vive la reine ! " That same afternoon a deputation of forty mem- bers of the Assembly entered Paris bearing the message from the king. They were received in orderly fashion by the citizen-guard, which lined the streets of the capital. The people cried " Vive la nation, vivcnt nos braves deputes, vive le tiers-etat ! " blessed, praised and caressed the deputies, who, leaving their carriages at the entrance to Paris, walked to the Hotel de Ville. Nor was the king omitted from the praise, but was extolled as " Father of the Country." For the moment, king, Assembly and people were one. The month of June had seen the king at issue with his States-General, and had seen him lose in the contest ; the month of July saw him at issue with his people, and saw them win. In both cases Louis had yielded before a will stronger than his own, and had received in return fresh assurance of the affection of the people — the King of France became the " P'ather of the Country." But if the LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY 143 country was affectionate it was distrustful. Every new token of its affection was, as Lally-Tollendal a little later expressly intimates, but an attempt to secure the fidelity of the sovereign to the people's cause. France clung to her belief in her king's goodwill, but deemed it advisable to protect herself against his weakness. Thus when the Electors and citizens welcomed the deputies in the Hotel de Ville, they at the same time strengthened the position of their milice bourgeoisc and of their comite permanent b}' choosing Lafayette commander-in- chief of the one, and Bailly, as Prcvot dcs Marchands, head of the other. " Not Prevot des Marchands',' but " Ma)'or of Paris," someone cried, and the change of title and the nomination to these important offices were adopted without any reference to a king who had himself promised to appoint a commander-in-chief, and who had always nominated the Prevot des Marchands} Again, the National Assembly persisted in its right to a certain control over the ministers, and in this felt itself supported by the people. On the morning of the i6th, after its visit to Paris, it debated whether it could or could not demand the dismissal of the new ministers and the recall of Necker. The people had expressed their desire clearly enough ; were the people to be obeyed ? ' Bailly et Duveyrier, Proces-verbaitx des Elccteitrs, vol. i. p. 400. 144 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Mirabeau contended that they had at least the right to make known " the opinion of our constituents " ; Lally-Tollendal, by no means a revolutionary, went further. " Gentlemen," he said, " yesterday we heard in the streets, on the qnais, in the squares one cry, a cry for the recall of Necker. The prayers of the people are our orders ; we must demand his re- call." 1 But before the Assembly had made its demand, a message came from the palace. The new minis- ters had resigned, and the king had agreed to recall Necker. Again Louis had yielded ; and, as if to emphasise the part which the desire of the Assembly had in his decision, he sent his letter of recall through its President. With the letter of the sovereign went one from the representatives of the nation ; the " Assemblce nationakl' it said, " prays you to accede to the desire of His Majesty."" It was, therefore, less by royal command than by that of the people that the king's minister returned. At the same council which decided the fate of the ministry it was agreed that the king, accompanied by a deputation from the National Assembly, should visit Paris next day. For this entry to his capital Louis prepared as ^ Point dii Jour, No. 26. "^ Archives parlenuiitaires, vol. viii. p. 245. LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY. 145 for a life or death ordeal. He saw his confessor, received the sacrament and appointed his eldest brother, the Comte de Provence, regent, should an}- mischance befall the king. The queen would have gone with her husband, but threats from the Palais- Royal and whispers from the Halles warned her not to increase the danger by her presence. Her fear was less for the life than for the liberty of the king. " They will not let him return," she said, and issued orders that her carriages should be ready in case of need.^ There was no need. Lafayette and Bailly were alike determined that the king's entry should be a triumph, not for royalty, but for the city. At the barriere of the Point du Jour, Bailly, as Mayor of Paris, welcomed the king. He presented, as of old, the keys of the city, but with these words, " Sire, I bring you the keys of the good town of Paris ; they are the same which were presented to Henry IV. He had reconquered his people ; to- day it is the people who have reconquered their king." "^ From the Point du Jour to the Hotel de Ville the king's carriage moved slowly. There was abundant time for him to see his conquerors, to realise the change from the brilliant monotony of the blue and red uniforms of the Swiss Guards and ^ Rocheterie, M. de la, His/oire de Marie-Antoiiiet/e, \o\. ii. p. 33. - Bailly et Duveyrier, Prods-verbatix des dlectetirs, vol. ii. p. 85. il. K 146 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Gardes Francaises to the dull variety of miscel- laneous dress worn by the National Guard who lined his route. " I can," wrote the Marquis de Sillery to his constituents, " give you but a faint idea of the terrible yet majestic sight that greeted our eyes all the way from the Porte Chaillot to the Hotel de Ville." ^ — a city armed even to the religious orders, for Feuillants and Capucins carried halberds and waved flags. And the manner in which Louis left Versailles showed that he on his part recognised changed rela- tions between himself and his capital. He drove in a quiet carriage, accompanied by four nobles. His escort consisted of twelve of his bodyguards, and of the citizens of Versailles, formed like those of Paris into a milice bourgeoise. There were neither princes of the blood, ministers, heralds, trumpeters, nor parade of troops — it was as " Father of the Coun- try," rather than " King of France," that Louis entered Paris. At the Hotel de Ville he confirmed the powers assumed by the people, sanctioned the institution of the viilice bourgeoisc, the appointment of Lafayette and of Bailly, and adopted the new national badge, the red and blue cockade.^ Then ^ Con-espondance de Sillery. ^ After the king's visit, white, the colour of the cockades in the royal troops, was added to the blue and red substituted on July 13th for Camille Desmoulins' green. The tri-colour flag was not made obligatory in the navy until October 1790, nor in the aimy until June I79i- LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY. 147 broke out hearty cries of " Vive le roi ! " the people covered the royal carriage, waiting in the court below, with ribbons and cockades, and as the king left the Hotel de Ville, pressed about him, kissing his hand and even his garments. That night there were illuminations at the Hotel de Ville in honour of the royal visit, but they cost less than those in honour of Necker's visit a fortnight later.^ Thus in five days from the time the court party believed its triumph come, the King of France saw himself at his people's summons, recalling the minis- ters he had exiled, and withdrawing the troops he had collected. " It is for me alone to judge what measures are necessary for the safety of my capital," Louis had said on July 13th, and on the 17th he found himself in that capital surrounded by a guard it had organised, sanctioning the measures it had taken, wearing the badge it had adopted, and listening to words which sent a thrill through the citizens themselves. " Birth, Sire," said M. Moreau de Saint-Mery, spokesman for the coinitc permanent, " has set the crown upon }^our head ; the will of the people keeps it there. ' - That the will of the people ceased by-and-by to keep it there was due, in great measure, to forces first brought into ^ Bib. nat., Paris, MSS. fonds franijais, 11736, No. 9. ^ Correspoudancc de Silk>y. The Arch. pari, gives a more polite version ; Sillery was a revolutionary, but an eye-witness. 148 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. activity by the events which ended in the fall of the Bastille. By the evening of July 14th all the old authorities in Paris were gone — the Prevot des Marchands lay dead, the Lieutenant-General of Police had resigned, the Intendant had fled, the Governor of Paris, re- sponsible for the military control of the capital, had no troops to command, for these had either dis- banded or been withdrawn. The new Minister of the King's Household, who was also Minister of Paris, had neither the power nor the desire to act. The comite permanent, acting as the executive of the Assembly of Electors, found itself the one responsible body in Paris ; on it devolved the direc- tion of the police, the providing of food, in short, the whole administration of the capital.^ But the Electors and the comite did not feel they had any legal right to govern the city, and yet Paris must be governed. They, therefore, changed the name of their comite from '^ permanent''' to ''^ provi- sgize" accepted, in the meantime, the charge thrust upon them, and debated how best to secure powers. As a first step, Bailly and Lafayette asked the districts to confirm their powers, and this done, Bailly asked each district to elect two deputies to confer with him on a plan of municipal organisation 1 For formation of the municipality see Lacroix, S., Actes de la Com- niunc dc Paris, vol. i.. Introduction. LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY. 149 to be submitted to the districts for their approval.^ By this act Bailly had no intention of setting aside the coniite provisoire. He meant to continue the administration of the city by the coniite and to re- strict the duty of the new delegates, one hundred and twenty in all, to that of a deliberative council occupied solely in preparing a charter of the muni- cipal liberty recovered by Paris, after which it was to dissolve. But the districts did not leave this point to be decided by Bailly. Summoned by the parish crier and his drum, the citizens thronged to the district churches. There was no distinction of Orders now. Clergy, nobles, and Third Estate met together to choose delegates, not of Orders, but of citizens. Interested, elated, and conscious of their power, they went beyond Bailly's request, and commissioned their delegates not only to draw up a plan of muni- cipal government, but while doing so to undertake also the administration of the city. '^"^''^ On the 25th of July the newly-elected delegates — the Assemblce dcs Representants de la Commune dc Paris'^- — met in the Salle des Gouverneurs in the ' Until lately only one copy of the letter Bailly wrote to the districts which was known to exist, that in the Bibliotheque Carnavalet, Paris, but another has been found in B. M. P., Municipalitd, R. 225. -This first AsscmbUe des Repri!sentaiits dc la Couimiiue dc Paris, consisting of 120 members, was replaced on September 18th by another consisting of five members from each district, which was known as the "Three Hundred," and had a Coiiseil de Villc o{ 60 menil)ers I50 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Hotel de Ville, and the government of the capital passed from crown officials and privileged persons to the freely-elected bourgeoisie of Paris. So untried a body as that of the new Commune of Paris was not, of course, without faults. Some of these belonged to the temper of its members, others to the nature of its constitution. " Gently, gently, Messieurs the Parisians," writes a pamphle- teer to the districts of Paris in the autumn of 1789, " your favourite sin, may it not displease you, is to reply before listening, to judge before hearing." ^ But granting defects, granting mistakes, the fact remains that with the institution of a municipality of Paris the whole history of France was changed. For what had begun in the capital was followed throughout the country, and in a surprisingly short time France found herself possessed of " thirty thousand communes united as one nation under the sovereignty of the people of France. The municipal revolution established in France a republican state of things." - For from first to last the municipalities charged with executing its decisions. This lasted until October 1790, when it was replaced by a municipality chosen according to laws decreed in May and June 1 790. The two first took their powers from the districts only, since the National Assembly had not then voted the decrees on the municipalities of France. The third, that dating from October 1790, was the first legally constituted municipality. ^ B. M. P., Districts, R. 229, Le tambour des districts de Paris. "Aulard, Histoire politique, p. 39. LOUIS, FATHER OF THE COUNTRY. 151 looked for their authority to the people. By the people they were elected, to the people they sub- mitted their proposals, from the representatives of the people they received their final sanction. And for this France, for good or evil, had to thank the capital. Side by side with the municipality sprang up the National Guard of Paris, which was but the development of the milicc bonrgcoisc, and whose I organisation was strictly based on the districts. Each district was required to furnish a battalion consisting of six hundred men. Of these only one hundred in each battalion were paid. These were called the conipagnies du cenire, and as far as possible were composed of trained troops taken from the old Gardes Frangaises, and from regulars who deserted from the army in order to join the National Guard. These paid companies formed the nucleus of the National Guard, and were known as the garde nationale soldc'c, or paid, in distinction from the much larger volunteer garde noti soldee, or unpaid.^ Just as France followed Paris in respect to muni- cipal life, she followed her also in respect to a Na^onal Guard. Wherever a municipality sprang up there sprang up also a National Guard. The citizens who organised these new institutions were not rebels ; they were, on the contrary, grateful ^ For interesting details on the formation of the National Guard sec Lacroix, S., Ac/es de la Coiiunttnc de Pans, vol. i. fassiiii. 152 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. subjects of a " citizen king." But whereas before the fall of the Bastille there was only a National Assembly which looked to the nation for its powers, after it there was also a national system of munici- palities, served and protected by a National Guard, which did the same. Nor was this the only way by which the capture of the Bastille weakened the Crown. On the evening of the 14th of July the Palais-Royal issued a list of those whose lives it chose to consider for- feited by treachery to their country. The list was a bold one, and included the Comte d'Artois, the Polignacs, Breteuil, Broglie, and even the queen herself^ It was, of course, a mere threat, but the doings of the day gave it an ominous significance and the Court was alarmed. During the next three days Artois, the Polignacs, the Due de Conde, cousin of the king — a determined supporter of the old regime, the ministers who had concurred in the dismissal of Necker, the Prince de Lambesc and the Marechal de Broglie, who had commanded the troops, left Versailles. " The queen," wrote Mercy to the Emperor Joseph on July 23rd, "has yielded to public opinion and sent away her favourite advisers . . . would to God she had done it long ago." ^ ^ B. M. P., Pamphlets politiques et satiriques, F.R. 352, Jugcmcui national. 2Arneth, Correspondance secrete entre le comte de Mercy- Argenteati et reiitpereiir Joseph IT. , vol. ii. p. 258. UM.MOII ""' o'.)uU\uloi) Icy ' "I ±o~nifitf/ \ytfcf /fi U^^o:-^ trio CjL I Of/ //lie ■' j't'd/ I'/I/Ull' pi>ll/' ./("/ '•i'//' ili/iiu /ii Cti/vi' 9/ii//ii/ii//e JJs,/i-i,iiifi/ir , III ini,i/i/i' !'<• (' /■r/iiiJii'r )^oit.>ii/,iii- ■ ■/•" '.'///■ //// ,H'/ I'll /.'aJtuMut: -,/ itiiri,!, ri'YeyUiu/' 'tun .-/ri/rt ii»ti,dll&?!a[£:k2JEL^a u/imiii/K I II f 1,11 ■ 9 Id 11,1 ( I: ,),' o'/l,/,ii//i>,i . U. "ii /My^/iJii.i ('ln)i-///ii/iir \'ii on/' '//iiii.i ('ii/ii/noires, vol. ii. p. 391. "Lacroix, S., Actes de la Commtine de Paris, vol. ii. p. 170. "TO PARIS !" 191 sLiltation with Lafayette, and he, as head of the National Guard, and popular in Paris, went out to the Place de Greve to make it known to the people. He was met with cries of " To Versailles ! " While the Municipality had been consulting, the Place de Greve had been filling with a more orderly crowd than that which had followed the women in the morning and had accompanied them to Versailles. There were groups of women and groups of ruffians still, but the bulk of the crowd was made up of the unpaid volunteers of the National Guard standing, district by district, round their flags.^ " To Versailles ! " from each lip was a serious cry. Lafayette sent an aide-de-camp to the Hotel de Ville for instructions while he himself harangued the people. After long delay the instructions came. The Municipality " considering the circumstances, and the desire of the people " authorised the National Guard to go to Versailles." Accordingly between five and six in the afternoon, with three companies of grenadiers, with the battalions of the districts and two commissioners bearing a message from the Municipality to the king, Lafayette set out. He was followed by eight hundred men ^ Lacroix', S., Actes de la Coniniune dc Paris, vol. ii. p. 171. "^ Actcs dc la Commune, vol. ii. p. 17 1. 192 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. in rags. This time Paris was gone, not for bread but for the " baker," not for orders from the king, but for the king himself. It was about half-past ten in the evening when Versailles settling to sleep after the commotion and agitation of the day, was roused by the beating of drums and the march past of some twenty thousand men. Lafayette was come.^ In whatever spirit Lafayette had left Paris, he arrived in Versailles with a clearly defined role. He had come as a deliverer. He would save Louis from the Paris mob, and if in so doing he could compass the removal of the king to the capital so much the better for France. Before entering the town he made his followers swear to respect the dwelling of the king ; he next halted at the Salle des Etats to announce his arrival ; then going on to the palace, accompanied by the two re- presentatives of the Paris Municipality, he was, admitted to the presence of the king. Louis was in his Cabinet de travail. With him were the Comte de Provence, Necker, the Keeper of the Seals, the officers of his Guard and a number of nobles. Lafayette addressing the king said that he and the National Guard of Paris were come to assure him of their affection and of their ^ See Ke7me de la Rivohition, vol. xvi. p. 54. Correspondance de BonUe, ed. by A. Mace. J- R Q ~ -I & — ? s ^ "TO PARIS!" 193 readiness to shed their blood for his, and added that twenty thousand armed men, sent by the ex- press wish of the capital, waited in the Avenue de Paris. Louis turned to the representatives from the Commune of Paris and asked what the Com- mune desired. They answered that Paris wished four things. " First, that the care of the king's most sacred person should be entrusted to the National Guards of Paris and Versailles ; second, assura:nce of food for the coming winter ; third, a Constitution, proper administration of justice, and the king's sanction to the decrees of the Assembly ; fourth, that the king would inhabit the fairest palace in Europe, in the greatest city in the king- dom, among the largest number of his subjects, and thereby prove to France his affection for her." ^ Thus in plain but respectful language, the wish of Paris was made clear. To the first three requests Louis replied that he had already given or would willingly give his consent ; to the fourth he gave no definite answer, but the representatives left his presence with the vision of a king in Paris, and a France basking in prosperity. Thereafter, one by one, the court, the Assembly, Lafayette himself, retired to rest. " At five o'clock next morning, all was quiet in Versailles and at the Chateau ... at a quarter to ^ Acies de la Commune de Paris, vol. ii. p. 1S2. II. N 194 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. six all was in confusion." ^ It must, perhaps, always remain more or less a mystery, why the mob, which separated the night before in a comparatively peaceful mood, should have wakened in so fierce a temper. Lafayette suspected paid agitators, and by and by advised the Due d'Orleans to ask for a foreign mission from the king until enquiry on these troublous days were over, Carlyle thinks " that menaced rascality, with fasting stomach ready to take offence " was reason enough. Le Roi, whose account is one of the clearest, attributes the attack on the Chateau to opportunity. The day before, he says, all the gates of the Chateau were carefully closed and watched by the Body-Guard, but it was not so on the morning of the sixth, for to Lafayette and the garde soldee of Paris had been committed the charge of the outer posts. It was a duty to which, as Gardes Fran^aises, the men had been accustomed, and they fell into their old habit of leaving certain gates open for convenience in relieving guard."- When, therefore, the women began to gather in the early morning on the Place d'Armes they found the gate leading into the Cour des Ministres open. One or two ven- tured in, and as the sentinels of the National Guard offered no opposition, others followed. Seeing the gate of the Cour des Princes open, they ventured ^ Le Roi, Histoire de Versailles, vol. ii. p. 86. - Id., vol. ii. p. 86. "TO PARIS!" 195 farther, and found themselves on the terrace below the apartments of the queen. The noise they made awakened Marie- Antoinette, but her fcmme de chambre looking out said it was only the women who, having nowhere to go, were walking about ; and the queen remained quietly in bed.^ Presently, however, she was rudely aroused. The horde of men who had hurried out of Paris after the women, and after Lafayette, also gathered on the Place d'Armes. They were armed with pikes, sabres, and pistols, carried patriotic emblems, and muttered threats and murmurs ; conspicuous among them was a man with a great beard, known after- wards as Jourdan, coiipe-tete. They, too, reached the Cour des Princes, and from it the Cour Royale. " They were rather afraid of what they did," we are told, " but, meeting little opposition, grew bold," - and made a rush for the palace. One of the Body-Guard, Deshuttes, trying to keep back the mob at the rail which separated the Cour Royale from the Cour de Marbre, was seized, dragged to the Place d'Armes, and killed. Another, M. de Varicourt, struck down at the head of the great marble staircase, met the same fate. Jourdan severed the heads from the bodies of the murdered gentlemen and mounted them on pikes, and the ^ Le Roi, Histoire de Versailles, vol. ii. p. 86. ^Sallier, Annales fraufaises, vol. i. p. 359. 196 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. ruffians of lowest Paris dragged the headless trunks about. These were the only murders,^ but the ferocious element which lurks in the untutored Gallic nature was aroused, and the cry was for the queen. " Kill, kill, no quarter, let us find the queen." With little difficulty they found the staircase leading to her apartments, where they encountered a detachment of the Body-Guard. These, true to the king's instructions not to shed blood, attempted persuasion before force. " My friends," cried one of them, M. de Miomandre, " you love your king, and yet you would disquiet him in his very palace." - But the people were in no mood for speeches ; Miomandre was all but over- whelmed, and with his comrades was forced to take refuge in the Salle du Sacre, but he managed to open a door leading to the queen's ante-chamber and to call to one of her women, " Madame, save the queen." The act all but cost him his life, but it saved the queen. Instantly the ladies locked the door of the second ante-chamber, and flying to the queen roused her, threw over her a skirt and mantle, and dragged her to a little private door leading to the king's apart- ments. It was locked, and the mob was forcing, one by one, the doors leading through the royal ^ One of the people was killed, but this was during the scuffle with the Guards. Le Roi, vol. i. p. 93. ^ Le Roi, Histoire de Versailles, vol. ii. p. 88. "TO PARIS !" 197 apartments to the bedroom of the queen. For five minutes, Marie-Antoinette and her attendants waited. They knocked, they called, and at length just in time, — for the people were fast gaining ground, — the king's valet heard and opened. In a few minutes the king and queen, the children, the Comte and Comtesse de Provence, Madame Elisabeth, the king's sister, and Mesdames his aunts, were assembled in the king's chambre a anichcr, separated from the mob by his apartments, and by the CEil-de-Boeuf In the G^il-de-BcEuf the Body-Guard, driven by the mob from the Salle du Sacre, had taken up their stand, and there, ready to defend one after another the chajubre de parade, the cabinet du conseil, and the cabmet du rot, until driven back on the king's bedchamber, they awaited death with the utmost courage.^ It seemed very near, for the assailants had reached the door of the Qiil-de-BcEuf, and were striking it with heavy blows. Suddenly there was a silence. A detachment of the National Guard had arrived, and knocking at the CEil-de-Boeuf, called out that they were come as friends to save the king and to save the Body-Guard. " We are the ' centre ' grenadiers, old Gardes Fran- 9aises. You saved us at Fontenoy," they cried, and with these words all danger ceased. National Guard and Body-Guard together cleared the palace, and ^Tourzcl, Madame de, Mimoires, vol. i. p. 15. 198 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Lafayette could boast that he had saved the king. Louis XVI. and Marie-Antoinette showed them- selves at their best in moments of personal danger. Neither king nor queen had betrayed fear or lost self-control for a moment. " Afraid," Louis had said the day before when told of the coming of the Parisiennes, " I do not know what fear is," ^ and now immediately that the royal family were safely assembled, he had passed into the cabinet du conseil to confer with his ministers, and there Lafayette found him. Very early that same morning Louis had listened to the respectful wish of Paris that he would remove to the capital. He had not answered then, but he must answer now. " It was," as Barnave said in the Salle des Etats, " a grave decision," only to be come to after full discussion, but the hour for calm discussion had passed. Hardly had Lafayette joined the king when cries were heard from the crowd in the court below, " the king, the king, we wish to see the king." Louis, accompanied by Lafayette, at once showed himself on the balcony overlooking the Cour de Marbre. He was greeted with shouts of " Vive le roi, vive la nation ! " then presently rose other cries, " The queen, let her show herself on the balcony." 1 See Mme. de Tourzel, vol. i. p. i seq. for doings of the royal family. "TO PARIS!" 199 For a moment Marie- Antoinette hesitated ; " Madame," said Lafayette, " the people will not be pacified unless you go." " Then," replied the queen, " I hesitate no longer," and taking her children by the hand she advanced towards the window of the chainbre de parade. The people saw the children and thought it a ruse by which the queen meant to save herself. " No children," they cried ; Marie- Antoinette's proud spirit rose ; thrusting back the children she stepped out upon the balcony and in- stinctively crossing her arms over her breast as she looked on the menacing crowd below, stood erect and motionless, face to face with the men and women who had sought her life. Now was their opportunity, but no shot was fired ; instead, there was a hush, a movement in the crowd, a shout of " Vive la reine!" Her fearlessness and her queenliness had prevailed. Marie-Antoinette lingered for a moment ; Lafayette joined her and bending on one knee kissed her hand, and the shouts broke forth anew. Then the queen turned and went in, and for the first time tears rose to her eyes. " They will force us to go to Paris," she said, and taking the little Dauphin in her arms, she covered him with kisses and with tears.^ All summer Paris had abused Marie-Antoinette, issuing scurrilous pamphlets against her and placing ^ Hezecqucs, d'. Souvenirs cTun page de Louis XVI., p. 314. 200 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. her name on the Hst of traitors at the Palais-Royal. It had called her monstre echappe de Germaine and the desastre de notre cliinat} But more significant and more hateful to the queen was the fact that Paris had begun to dominate the king. Paris had obliged him to withdraw troops, to recall ministers, to sanction a National Guard, and an independent municipality ; had declared against a veto, and only the day before had forced him to sign the Articles of Constitution without conditions. What wonder that at the thought of removing to the capital Marie-Antoinette felt the cords of fate tighten around her and her husband ? "I know," she said to Lafayette, " the fate that awaits me there." '" Meantime Louis and his ministers had returned to the cabinet du conseil and had resumed the dis- cussion on the king's removal to Paris. Necker urged it and Lafayette stood as symbol of the wish of the capital. The National Assembly decreed itself inseparable from the person of the king ; if Louis went to Paris it would follow. Then arose the cry Marie-Antoinette feared to hear ; "To Paris! the king to Paris ! " Presently Louis reappeared on the balcony, and " in a loud voice " pronounced " those touching words which no good Frenchman should forget, ^ B. M. P. Chansons, F.R. 456, Ode a la reine. - Rocheterie, M. de la, Histoire de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 83. "TO PARIS !" 201 ' My friends, I go to Paris with my wife and children ; to the love of my good and faithful subjects I entrust my most precious possessions/ A universal cry of joy and the shedding of tears was the reply of the great multitude that stood with eyes fixed on the head of the nation." ^ Louis,^ seizing the auspicious moment, added " My Body- Guard has been slandered, its fidelity to the nation and to myself has earned for it the respect of my people," at which Lafayette and the Paris repre- sentatives appeared on the balcony with officers of the Body-Guard, and embraced them in the sight of the people. The troublous, angry morning had passed, and a stranger coming to the Place d'Armes would have found a grateful people — armed with pikes and of threatening aspect, it is true — shouting " Vive le rot ! " National Guards firing muskets, gunners send- ing off cannonades in token of the joy that was felt on this " memorable day of concord." '" Already the most ruffianly among the crowd had set off for Paris, bearing the heads of the two Body- Guards before thcm,'^ the others waited for the king ^ Acies de la Coiinnitne de Paris, vol. ii. p. 1S4. Message sent to the Hotel de Ville. "^ Archives parlementaires, vol. ix. p. 350. Speech of Miraljeau. •' Lafayette, in his second account of Oct. 5, says that the bandits who carried the heads of the Guards had reached the Palais-Royal and were dispersed before the king left Versailles. Mc'tnoires, correspond- ances et manttscrits, vol. ii. p. 353- 202 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. and prepared for the return to Paris as for a fete. The women decked themselves with greenery and ornamented the cannon they had dragged to Ver- sailles with branches of trees and shrubs. Some sixty waggons of grain had been collected for the capita], bakers had been busy all night, every National Guard carried a loaf on his bayonet, every poissarde one in her hand. The preparations of the royal family were less cheerful. The whole palace was in melancholy confusion and there was hardly time to do more than carry away important papers.^ A little after half-past one the procession started. The great chariot, glittering with glass and gilding, into which the king and queen, their children and governess, Monsieur and Madame, and Madame Elisabeth mounted, was the one symbol of magnifi- cence left to the " Father of his People." The National Guard of Paris preceded his carriage, women of the Halles and of the Faubourg Saint- Antoine walked by its side, a convoy of grain formed its rearguard. Last of all in this strange unruly medley of a procession came court carriages conveying a hundred deputies of the National Assembly." The march from Versailles to Paris was very ^ Hezecques, d'. Souvenirs (Tun page dc Lottis XVI., p. 313. ^Tourzel, Mme. de, Memoh-es, vol. i. p. 20 seq. "TO PARIS!" 203 long and wearisome, but it was nnade wearisome by the rejoicing of the villages through which it passed, as well as by its unwieldy, lengthy and motley elements. Threats and insults were uttered from time to time, for the rabble was not all in front, but when the king and queen " spoke kindly to the people who walked by their side, they, surprised and gratified, replied, ' We did not know you were like this, we have been much deceived.' " ^ Next day Marie-Antoinette herself, writing to the Comte de Mercy said, " could we only forget where we are and how we came, we ought to be pleased by the attitude of the people." ^ It was between six and seven in the evening when the procession from Versailles reached the Barriere de la Conference, where the Mayor of Paris and twenty-four of the Representatives of the Com- mune waited a second time to welcome a conquered king. There the king and queen heard Bailly repeat " the wish of the capital." " Every moment that your Majesty spares us," he said, " is precious to us, but it is your habitual presence, all the moments of your life that your people ask." ^ With the return of the Royal family to its ancient home a change came over the spirit and ^Tourzel, Madame de, Memoires, vol. i. p. 20. ■^ Rocheterie, Lettres authentiques de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 146. ■* Actes de la Commune de Paris, vol. ii. p. 1S9. 204 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. character of the court life. " We follow the system considered suitable to the new royalty " said Lafayette, and Louis found himself under the sur- veillance of the National Guard. Etiquette and ceremonial continued, but they were only a shadow of the past. The lever and coiieher took place as before, the gaming-tables were laid out in the queen's apartments each Sunday and Thursday, and Marie-Antoinette held court, but " the courtiers of misfortune," says a contemporary, " were in- finitely few." ^ The king could of course drive, ride, and walk out at his pleasure, accompanied now only by two officers and his suite, but his passion was for the hunt, and from this he was debarred. His Grande and Petite Ecurie, his kennels and all the splendid equipage of the chase were at Versailles, and since the abolition of privilege on August the 4th, the forests near Paris, — those of Saint-Germain and Vin- cennes, — had been so abused by the people that a de- cree had to be passed to preserve their very existence. Nor were there visits to Fontainebleau in November and to Compiegne in July, for the National Assembly and the king were voted inseparable for the present session, and the present session showed no sign of coming to an end. To this changed condition of 1 Revue de la Revolution, 1889, vol. xvi. p. 213. Vie privie de Louis XVI. aux Tiiileries. "TO PARIS !" 205 things Louis resigned himself without much apparent effort.^ Marie-Antoinette met reverses in a more royal spirit. She set herself a definite task ; her aim was to recover the old prestige of the Crown, and to this end she determined if possible to win back the affection and confidence of the people. The people had credited her with undue influence in the Councils of the king, and attributed to her, intrigue with Austria at the expense of France, and had laid at her door every plot against the Revolution. She resolved therefore to keep steadily in the background. " My role," she said in a letter written on October 28th to the Baron de Flachslanden, a devoted ad- herent and an emigre, " is to shut myself up com- pletely, and try by absolute inaction to make the people forget everything about me except the courage which they themselves witnessed, and which must make an impression." " It was a role which, unfortunately, she found it impossible to support for long. Two days after Louis left Versailles, there came up for discussion in the National Assembly the form in which the king should promulgate the laws under the new Constitution. By the Articles signed ^See Mme. de Toiirzel, Meiiioires, vol. i. p. 26 scq. for account of royal family at the Tuileries. 2 Rocheterie el Bcaucourt, Reaieil des leitres authentiques de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 151. 2o6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. by the king, late on the evening of the 5th, the legislative power remained exclusively with the National Assembly, and the executive alone was given to the king. In these circumstances, the old form of proclamation, ending as it did with the phrase " for such is our pleasure," was unsuitable, and the old title " Louis by the grace of God, King of France and of Navarre " was objected to, as autocratic and apt to make kings imagine themselves masters of the territory of France. Saint-Just proposed a still older title, that used by the kings of France long before the old regime fettered the freedom of the people. " Louis by the grace of God and by the law of the kingdom, king of the French." To this, Petion, afterwards famous as Mayor of Paris, objected that kings reigned neither by the grace of God nor by the law of the kingdom, but by the consent of the people. Whereupon Mirabeau, with a touch of satire, replied that " if kings reigned by the grace of God, so also were the people sovereign by that same grace," and proposed the title which was adopted. " Louis by the grace of God and the Constitutional Law of the State, King of the French."! Years ago Louis XIV. had left Paris because he wished to be master of France ; now, Louis 1 Archives parlementaires vol. ix. p. 383. "TO PARIS !" 207 XVI. returned because France had proved master of the king. " Gentlemen," said Mirabeau when the Parlement of Metz was taken to task because it had declared that the king was no longer free, " I am persuaded that the king z's free, he himself declares it in his proclamation, but if he were not, what else could he say?"^ Notwithstanding the coming of the king, Paris continued restless and disturbed ; insurrectionary pamphlets were rife and two soldiers of the National Guard stood at the door of every baker's shop ; the National Assembly, which on October 19th followed the king to Paris, discussed the institution of martial law, and the Hotel de Ville issued appeals to the orderly instinct of the people. " Is not your king in your midst, does not the Assembly welcome all your demands ? What more is there to wish for except the law and order which alone will restore prosperity ? " - Law and order were slow to come, and on October 23rd a riot occurred by which a certain Francois, a baker justly respected for his care to secure a sufficient supply of flour, lost his life. His bake-house was close by the Archbishop's palace, and for the convenience of the deputies, * Rivolutions de France et de Brabant, No. i. (Camille Desmoulins). "^ Acies de la Commune de Paris, vol. ii. p. 307. Adresse atix habitans de Paris. 2o8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. he baked a number of small rolls. Because the people, waiting for their own loaves, found a quantity of the petits pains reserved for the deputies, Francois was accused of concealing bread and was hanged by the mob on the Place de Greve. The deed determined the National Assembly to come to a decision regarding martial law, and on October 2ist it empowered the municipalities to call out the National Guard and regular troops, and after due warning order them, if need be, to fire upon the people.^ Thus the change of residence of king and National Assembly became, by an irony of fate, the indirect occasion of a decree from whose abuse,^' two years later, some historians date the rise of the party which was to change the government from a Monarchy to a Republic. ^ Ddcret du 21 octobre, 1789. ^July, ijlh, 1791. See chap. xx. 73 o U -»■ Q u 7} w 5 w o 7) w p a: h O U < a: o z O 0, a 3 J3 « s -a c Q. T3 i; ca CHAPTER XIII. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. MOTTO OF THE JACOBIN CLUB. "■OR more than a vear after the " days of October " no great excitement ^ moved the capital. The Revokition was deemed an accomplished fact ; its broad lines for good or for evil were laid down, and there only remained to embody theory and principle in detailed laws. It is at this point that we come face to face with that passion for equality which, quite as much as the passion for liberty, characterised the French Revolution. It was a passion which was at every point resisted by prejudice and its demands had to be carefully safe- guarded ; nor were they always fulfilled. Henceforth we find the legislation of the National Assembly occu- pied in reducing differences — in translating the idea ' Excepting that of the Fete de la fc'dt'ration, which was not revolu- tionary in its character. II. O 2IO FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. of equality into uniformity — in a levelling process which, beginning with a " new royalty," touched one by one every institution in France, but found, as we shall see, certain limits when it came to deter- mine the political position of the bourgeoisie. In this levelling process the National Assembly began by reforming itself. When, on the 27th of June, the clergy and nobles joined the Third Estate the three Orders were, for political purposes, abolished ; but the privileged Orders retained their special places in the Salle des Etats, and kept their ancient precedence on occasions of ceremonial. Before removing to Paris the National Assembly decided that in future all distinction between the two first Orders and the third should be abolished, and that the dress which had hitherto distinguished a deputy from an ordinary citizen should also be discarded.^ Henceforth the old distinction of Orders gave way to that of parties. It was the question of the veto, as Mr. Morse Stephens has said, which first divided the National Assembly into parties,- but it was in the new Salle des Seances at Paris that parties became clearly defined. This hall lay to the north of the Tuileries gardens, exactly where the Rue de Rivoli now runs, and was the Salle du Manege or riding-school '^ Archives pa7-lc»ientaires, vol. ix. p. 454, 15 Oct., 1789. ^Stephens, H. M., Histoiy of the French Kevobition. vol. i. p. 203. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. 211 attached to the Tuileries. From its windows the deputies could see the palace. The National Assembly was indeed " inseparable from the sacred person of the king," but in the great hall where its deputies met, in all its arrangements for com- mittee-rooms, secretaries' rooms, waiting-rooms, etc.,^ no provision was made for royalty, no con- cession granted to rank. The platform on which stood the president's desk was the central object ; beside it was the tribune from which deputies spoke; before it were the secretaries' desks, and opposite it the bar, at which deputations presented their peti- tions and addresses. On the president's right hand sat those of the deputies who wished to see the old form of government modified or reformed ; on his left, those who wished for an entire change of govern- ment ; while opposite to him sat a body of men committed to no policy, who formed an unknown quantity, but whose votes generally decided the fate of a measure. Thus arose the party names — Right, Left, Centre — preserved in France to this day. So long as the National Assembly remained at Versailles it was led by the men who belonged to the party known later as the Right, by Mounier, Malouet, Lally-Tollendal, and the like. But the ^ See for full description, Brelle, A., Histoire des c'difices ou out sUgi les assembldes de la rc'vo/ntioii. Baudouin, printer to the National Assembly, had a little oftice in the Salle du Manege, where orders were received. 212 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. debate on the veto discouraged the moderate men, and Mounier, Lally-Tollendal, Clermont-Tonnerre, and the Bishop of Langres, believing that the revolutionary movement was adopting false and foolish lines, resigned their seats ; thus the political field was left more open to the bolder spirits of the day. Thereafter, until this. first or Constituent Assembly' dissolved, discussions were led by the Left ; by the young nobles — Barnave, the Lameths, and Dupont de Nemours : by ecclesiastics such as Talleyrand and the Abbe Gregoire ; by the lawyers Camus and Thouret, and by the Protestant pastor Rabaud Saint-Etienne. Henceforth the temper as well as the regulations of the National Assembly grew more and more democratic. On this democratic tendency the removal of the National Assembly to Paris had, as the more moderate deputies expected, a marked influence. Paris, with her Palais-Royal, her powerful Muni- cipality, her sixty districts, was the heart of the revolution, and the Assembly felt itself under a debt to the capital. " Here we deliberate before our masters," ^ exclaimed one of the deputies on the first sitting of the Assembly in the Salle du Manege. And the " masters " took care to be 1 The first National Assembly is called the Constituent, in opposition to the second or Legislative, because to it was committed the task of framing a Constitution, while the second had only to make laws. ^ Malouet, Memoires, vol. ii. p. ii. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. 213 present. The tribunes or galleries reserved for the public were generalh' full, and the men and women who sat there became for political purposes almost an integral part of the Assembly. The method by which votes were recorded lent the tribunes a great part of their power. Deputies in favour of a motion stood, those against it sat still ; but if there were doubt as to a majority, the minority could always demand the appel nominal ; that is, could require that each deputy be asked by name to vote " yes " or " no." Now many a man who had courage to stand up with his fellows in favour of an unpopular motion had not courage to say " yes " alone, in face of the shouts and hootings of the galleries, and the appel nominal was often resorted to in order to turn a minority into a majority.^ Yet the most revolutionary influence in the capital from this time forward was not a Parisian institution, but the famous Jacobin Club which had its origin in the National Assembly itself. It will be remembered that when the Breton deputies first went to Versailles, the)- at once hired a room in which thev could meet and consult together on their action in the States-General. When the Assembly removed to Paris, the Breton Club moved also. " Terrified at the idea of being isolated, and, so to speak, lost in the great city, the deputies from 1 Du QxiQsnoy, Journal su?- /'Asscmhlt'c constituante, vol. ii. p. 125. 214 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. distant provinces tried to secure lodgings as near as possible to the Salle du Manege, and sought at the same time for a hall in which the}' could meet and discuss public matters." ^ A little to the north of the Salle du Manege was the convent of the Jacobins, bounded on one side by the Rue Saint-Honore, and on the other by the Rue Sainte-Hyacinthe. Here for two hundred francs, or about ^8 a year, they hired the refectory of the convent, and for another £S its tables and chairs." With its removal to Paris the Breton Club changed its name, modified its character, and as- sumed an altogether new importance. It decided to constitute itself a Society des Amis de la Con- stitution^ to strengthen its foundations and enlarge its boundaries, and for this, residence in Paris gave it ample opportunity. The new Society no longer restricted its membership to deputies, but extended it to writers who had published useful works — to mathematicians, publicists, economists — among whom Condorcet was one of the first to be received ; a little later this restriction was also removed, and any man might offer himself as a member who could find six deputies to propose his name. This ^ Lamelh, A. de. Histoi7-e de r Asscmblce constituante^ vol. i. p. 422, note 4. See also Aulard, A., La Socit'te des Jacobins. A little later the club removed into the library, and finally, when church property became national property, into the chapel of the convent. ''-Id. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. 215 admission of non-deputies had very important results, for it made possible the setting up of branch societies all over France. These began as early as December 1789, and by August 1790 numbered one hundred and fifty-two, and presently many more, while in December 1790 the members on the roll of the parent society had risen to over eleven hundred.^ The " Friends of the Constitution " or the Jacobins, as they were almost invariably called, numbered in Paris about as many as did the deputies, and had in addition their affiliated societies. Thus constituted, the Jacobin Club continued its work of discussing one by one the different " projects " for new laws, and of deciding the course to be taken by the deputy members of the club regarding these. Further, it prepared lists for the nomination of the president, secretaries, and committees of the Assembly. Now the club had as its motto " to live free or to die," and it required every member to profess a love of equalit}' and a belief in the rights of man so profound as to make him instinctively defend the feeble, while a bye-law enacted that an\' member who showed himself opposed to the spirit of the club should be repri- manded by the President or expelled according to circumstances."^ It therefore attracted only those ^ Aulard, A., La Socit'td des Jacobins, pp. xix. Ixxxi. -Id., p. xxviii. Extract fioni Rules. 2i6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. deputies who represented, and those citizens who sympathised, with the party of the Left, and so powerful was its influence that the measures it advocated and the candidates it proposed were almost always carried. " From this time " (the winter of 1789-90), says Alexandre de Lameth, " the presidents and secretaries of the National Assembly were almost always chosen from the Left, to the great advantage of the popular party." ^ The Abbe Gregoire gives us a glimpse into the methods of the Jacobin Club and of the wav in which it co-operated with the Left. " The fourth of August," he says, " had removed many abuses, but many were still left. The opinion of many of the deputies was less advanced than ours, and to attain our ends we had to exercise caution ; our tactics were simple. A suitable opportunity was taken to propose a motion in the Assembly. The measure was sure to be applauded by a few and to be hooted by the majority. That did not matter ; the proposer always asked and obtained leave to remit the motion to a committee where its opponents hoped to bury it. Then the Jacobins set to work. On a circular issued by them, or on a notice published in their journal, the question was discussed in the four or five hundred affiliated societies, and three weeks later addresses poured in on the Assembly, demanding a ^ Lameth, A. de, Hiitoire de l' Asset)thh'e cotistitiiante, vol. i. p. 423. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. 217 law on some motion which the Assembly had mean- time rejected. The question was revived, discussion followed, public opinion had ripened and the rejected motion became law by a great majority." ^ No one of the clubs which supported the Right had anything like the influence of that of the Jacobins. The Club de Valois founded in February, the Club de ijSg in April 1789; the Club vion- archique and the Club des Iinpartiaux, with its motto ''Justice^ verite. constajtcc" founded by Malouet in December of that same year as a rival to the Jaco- bins had each their day, but the atmosphere of Paris was uncongenial, and hunted from one meeting-place to another by patriots who objected to their vicinity, they finally succumbed before the revolutionary spirit of the capital." It was the same with the newspapers. In the six months which followed the taking of the Bastille, six ver}- notable journals sprang into existence. Of these, only one, the Actes des Apotres was royalist; io\^x,W^x^.'^s Ami du peuple, Brissot's Le patriate francais, Prudhomme's Revolutions de Paris and Camille Desmoulins Revolutions de Paris et de Brabant were strongly revolutionary, while the sixth, the Chronique de Paris, though less pronounced was also on the popular side. Thus, influenced on the one hand by the Jacobins 1 Mdmoires de Grt'goire, vol. i. p. 3S7. ^Challamel, A., Les clubs anti-r^volutiontiaires. 2i8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. and the journals, and on the other by the behef, as yet untested by experience, that equahty and hberty are inseparable terms, the National Assembly set about to frame the special laws which were to make up the Constitution. It will be remembered that the Assembly had striven all autumn to hasten the making of the Constitution in order to quell the disorders which troubled France. Unfortunately France did not settle down quietly as soon as the principles by which she was to be governed were decreed ; there were troubles in Brittany, troubles in the small towns near Paris, troubles more or less all over the country. Many of these disturbances were brought about by the unsettled state of municipal government, for the old bureaux de ville with their antiquated customs and picturesque ceremonies were being set aside, and comitcs provisoircs, elected by the citizens in imitation of Paris, set up instead. These were not yet organised or established by law, and quarrels arose as to to their authority. The National Assembly therefore set itself first of all to draw up a constitution for the munici- palities, and in doing so found that it was impossible to separate municipalities from the districts of which they were a part. It found itself face to face with a very complicated set of divisions, for France was divided into hailliages THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. 219 for the purposes of justice, into dioceses for the jurisdiction of the church, into gencralitcs ^ for civil administration by intendants, and into goiive^me- ments ~ for the army. Over and above all these conflicting divisions were the provinces, instinct with ancient history, each with its own peculiarities and traditions, its frontiers, and separate custom houses ; distinct one from another in laws and manners — some gained by conquest, some brought as a marriage dower, others united by treaty, all more or less a province first, and France second. Such a state of things was entirely at variance with the systematising spirit then in possession of France, and with that idea of patriotism, founded on a theory of liberty and equality, before which associations of birth, influences of education, differ- ences of religion were expected to bow. Accordingly the National Assembly set itself to frame a scheme which would " substitute for the old unequal par- titions of the territory of France, a simple and uniform division which would serve as a basis for ^ Arbitrary divisions of France instituted for purposes of finance. As the royal power encroached on the old jurisdictions, the g&ndralitis under iittcridants, crown officers invested with extensive powers ab- sorbed the functions of the older baiHiagcs, which ceased to be important except as judicial and electoral divisions. See p. 41. - Purely military divisions, almost coterminous with the provinces, presided over by lieutenants-general or governors. To these was en- trusted the defence of, and the distribution of troops within \.\\e s^oiiveme- incnts. 220 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. the organisation of national representation, of justice, of municipal administration and of the church," ^ and " would bind the different parts of the State to the whole by the application of one supreme law." " Hitherto that which had bound the different parts of the State to the whole had been the idea of kingship ; the king had personified the State and made its loosely bound provinces feel one, but under a regime in which liberty meant equality, that idea could have little part. At the root of the vast equalising scheme pro- posed by the Assembly lay equal territorial division. The scheme divided France into departments of equal extent, each department into districts, and each district into cantons of four square leagues, but it did not confer on every man the right to vote, nor on every voter the right to become a deputy. Under the king's reglements, as may be remembered ^ every man born or naturalised a Frenchman, twenty-five years of age, a householder, and on the roll of taxpayers was entitled to vote for the electors who chose the deputies, and was eligible as an elector or a deputy. But under the regulations of the National Assembly, every voter "^V must also show that he had contributed to the 1 Coll. des Dccrets dii 22 dt'c, vol. i. p. 72. "^ Archiv. pari., vol. ix. p. 655, Discours de Thonret. 3 See chapter iii. p. 41. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. 221 revenue, in direct taxes, a sum equal in value to three days' wage ; ^ everyone eligible as an elector, taxes equal to the value of ten days' wage, and every deputy, taxes equal to a marc d'argent, i.e. fifty-four francs. Each deputy must also hold landed property." By these regulations the National Assembly created a political hierarchy, with four distinct classes ; the non-voter, the " active citizen," the elector, and the deputy, and thus denied its own declaration that all men were entitled to equal rights. Just as, after decreeing that sovereignty lay with the people, the National Assembly pro- ceeded to pronounce the French Government a monarchy, so now, having declared that all men were equal, it proceeded to limit their rights. The deep-rooted instincts of a people and a class are stronger than any theory, and just as France could not imagine herself a Republic, so the bourgeoisie could not conceive of the people as legislators. The Third Estate had not waged its successful war against privilege in order to be merged in the manants. "Those best able to exercise government," said a ' The maximum value of a day's labour was fixed at 20 sous, thus the three days' tax could not amount to more than about 2s. 6d. - Ddcret du 22 dec. 1789, Sec. I. Arts, iii, xiv, xxxii. Nothing had as yet been decided as to what taxes should in future be levied on the French people. The direct taxes were therefore the old ones of capitation — a poll tax, cf. taillc — a tax on land. 222 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. pamphlet of the day " are those whose position is most useful to their fellows." ^ But although in this one respect the Assembly set aside the principle of equality, the discussion on the qualification of voters only served to show how strong a hold that principle was taking in the minds of men. Hitherto certain professions had been considered beyond the social pale, certain creeds had debarred men from civil rights. The executioner who carried out the sentence of the law and the actor who played on the stage of the State- supported theatre were alike excluded from the rights enjoyed by the private citizens.- Protestants, it is true, had been granted civil rights by Louis XVI,, but in many parts of France the Catholics chose to ignore the fact and to insist that, as the National Assembly had not expressly declared them " active citizens," the edicts issued against them by Louis XIV. were still in force. The Jews, except those known as the Portuguese, Spanish, and Avignon Jews, with whom special treaties existed, had no civil or political rights, and far away in the West Indies there were coloured and negro subjects of France who were totally ignored. 1 B. M. P., Elections, F.R. 99, Apologie die dccret du marc d' argent. "^ Arch, pari., vol. x. p. 754, Discoiirs de Clermont- Tonnerre. Dom- estic servants as non-domiciled were of course excluded, also debtors and the sons of debtors who failed to pay a just amount of their father's debts. Dilcret du 22 dccembrc, 1 789. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. 223 All these classes of men found advocates in the discussion on the qualification of electors. The claims of the Protestants, of the Portuguese, Spanish, and Avignon Jews, of the comedians and of the executioner were yielded, and although those of the Jews in general, as well as of the mulatto and the negro were disallowed, the fact that such claims were discussed and upheld, marks the immense gulf between the spirit which in 16 14 denied to the Third Estate the same blood as that of the privileged classes, and the spirit which in 1789 listened patiently while men urged that " colour no more than pre- judice could exclude a man from civil rights." ^ The decrees which in December 1789 divided France into departments and which instituted de- partmental, district, and municipal administration, swept from the land its ancient institutions and pro- vided a system whereby anomalies could be removed and all things reduced to one uniform scheme. Generalites and Intendants were the first to go. " Intendants and their delegates cease all functions as soon as the departments are in activity " ran the law, and the announcement was greeted with trans- ports of joy." In their place were the councils- general and directories of the departments ; the first consisting of thirty-six councillors chosen by the 1 Arch, pari., vol. x. p. 330, Lettre des citoyens de cotileur des colonies frangaises. ^Du Quesnoy, Journal de V assemble constihiajite, vol. ii. p. 152. 224 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. people, who met once a month ; the second acting as the executive numbering only eight, and chosen by the councillors from themselves. To these bodies, totally untried in the exercise of control, was handed over the care of the roads, canals, forests and national property within the department, the charge of pro- viding for the poor, for public education and the duty of ensuring good order.^ The change was enormous to a people " accustomed not to govern but to obey." Instead of crown-appointed officials, responsible to the king, were collective, deliber- ative assemblies, popularly elected, and bound to carry out the decrees of the National Assembly. Is there much wonder, when one remembers that from department to village commune the system was the same, that Mirabeau should by-and-by point out that the " supreme executive power reserved solely to the king " ' was not after all very great ? Bailliages^ and parlements followed in the wake of the generalites. The delight expressed at the dis- appearance of the intendants was only equalled, says a contemporary, by that manifested at the abolition ^B. M. v., Departements, R. 260. Instruction del' assemblienationale stir les fonctions des assemblies advihtistratives . The districts had a council of twelve and a directory of four members and were chiefly concerned in matters relating to taxation. -See La Constitution fra7igaise, Titre iii. Chap. iv. Art. i. ^ The canton replaced the bailliage for electoral, and its tribunal de paix for judicial purposes. THE FIRST YEAR OF LIBERTY. 225 of the parlements. These were not yet formally suppressed, but to each of the new territorial divisions courts of justice were appointed. The canton had its tribunal dc paix ; the district its civil and the department its criminal court. Courts of appeal were also instituted. For the parlements, already shorn of their political prerogatives by the existence of a National Assembly, there was no further need, and the law which abolished them in September 1790 was hardly more than a matter of form. Nor was the church, as we shall presently see, left undisturbed. One uniform scheme of election served for the deputies to the States-General ; for the members of the administrative bodies ; for the judges and the clergy of France. The " active citizen " who in primary assemblies chose the electors, chose also the members of the municipalities, the jugc de paix and the parish cure. The elector in his turn chose the deputies to the National Assembly, the administrators of district and department, the judges of the civil and criminal courts and the bishops of the church. All that was left to the king was to confirm the choice of his people.^ " It is \-our affair citizens, take care — do not forget that \-our municip- ality, your district, your department are the base and columns of your Constitution ! " ' ^ D^crcts die 14 dec. 17S9; dtt 16 aoul 1790; dii \2j1tillet 1790; du 22 ddc. 1789 ; du 16 aotit 1790 etdii 12 Jtiillei 1790, respectively. -B. M. P., Dc'parteineitts, R. 260. " C est voire affaire, citoyejts!" II. P 226 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Thus this first year of Hberty under Louis, King of the French, slowly but surely laid the foundations for the first year of equality under a Republic. Twice already the action of Paris had hastened this result. " The deputies," said Lameth, " went to Versailles intending only to reform abuses," but the Crown summoned troops, Paris intervened, and France found herself in a revolution. Again, as the crisis of July subsided, the court party plucked up courage, intrigues revived, Paris rose and brought king and deputies into her midst, there to hold them until king. National Assembly, the very Constitution itself, had succumbed before her. CHAPTER XIV. THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. \X/HEN I found myself among you for the first time, writes an imaginary critic of the doings of the time, " and heard such fine speaking, I should have thought myself in Paradise, had I not seen so many lawyers and heard talk of a Constitution. ' For that my friend, ' some fifteen or sixteen maxims which a child of seven can understand are all that is needed to govern France and to make a Constitution.' ' Ah, then, I shall take my place in the coach for the bec^inninsj of the month.' ' Wait a moment, pcre Gerard, when we have made the Constitution, we must then begin to regulate the finances ' " — and /^c/r Gerard wrote home that he RARNAVE. matter,' said 228 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. would not return quite so soon as he had ex- pected.^ For this question of finance was becoming very serious, and when in September 1789 Necker's first loan failed," a direct appeal was made to patriotic sentiment. A caisse patriotiqiie was opened to which gifts were invited, and a weekly statement was published of the contributions. To this appeal there was a generous response. Great ladies brought their jewels, merchants offered a percentage of their profits, the king sent royal plate to be melted at the Mint ; the queen and ministers followed his example, and the poor did what they could. Village communities sold common land, the little town of Issoudun in Berry, — always a poor province — col- lected the silver buckles worn by their citizens and sold them for 115 marcs ; '^ even the mulattoes and negroes in the colonies sent gifts. But gifts were not enough, and on the 24th of September Necker went to the Assembly and boldly asked it to pass a decree demanding from every ^Aulaid, A., La Soci^td des Jacobins, vol. i. p. 63, Motion du pere Gt'rard. This squilj is put into the mouth of ^lichel Gerard, deputy from Rennes, who appeared at the Assembly in peasant dress. He was the butt of his party, but from him the Jacobins adopted their peculiar waistcoat and plain locks. 2 See p. 168. '^ Arch, pari., vol. x. p. 130. It was the example of Issoudun which on Nov. 20th induced the deputies to send their buckles to the caisse patriotique. THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 229 man in France whose income exceeded four hundred livres, a fourth of one year's income, to be paid in three yearly instalments. Ordinary expenses Necker believed he could in future meet by ordinary revenue, for the privileged had not yet been taxed, and the royal households of the king and queen — that perennial resource of a reforming financier — were not yet reduced to the lowest limit. But for the moment he must have extraordinary funds. Unfortunately, whether from a sentimental pander- ing to the idea of patriotism, or from the practical difficulty of doing anything else, Necker left every man to make his own valuation of the income on which the contribution was based.^ The municipa- lity of Paris opened six offices, spacious, heated and convenient, for the public in different quarters of the capital, where citizens might declare their income and pay their instalments." The citizens came, made their statements, not always accurately, and paid instalments, not very promptly. The patriotic contribution savoured somewhat too much of a , patriotic tax. Meantime Necker needed one hundred and seventy million livres over and above the ordinary revenue, and on the 14th of November 1789, he went to the National ^Assembly with a fresh proposal. He repeated ^ Arch, pari., vol. ix. p. 139 seq. 2B. M. P., Mumcipalitt's, R. 227. Proclamation du 25 oct. 1789 de par le maire. 230 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. the old tale of unpaid taxes, of want of credit, and of expenses incurred by fear of famine. The patriotic contribution was a help, but it would not be fully paid up until April 1792, and the need of the treasury was immediate. In the year 1776 Turgot had established in France the Caisse d'Esconipte, a bank intended for the discounting of bills of exchange at a moderate rate, and for receiving such deposits as might be taken to it, of which it might advance ten of its fifteen millions of capital to the treasury on receipt of bills payable at a fixed date.^ These last regulations Necker had induced the administrators of the Caisse d'EscojHpte to disregard. He had appealed to them on his return to office in 1788, and pleading the barrenness of the treasury had asked for a loan of thirty million livres. The administrators granted the loan. They knew they were exceeding their powers, but they justified their action by the necessity of the State and the securities offered. The first loan was not enough ; in the spring and summer of 1789 Necker borrowed again, until by November the sum due to the Caisse d'Escompte from the Treasury amounted to sixty million livres.^ ^ See A7xh. pari., vol. x. p. 369. Rapport des Coinmissaires charges de verifier I'tStat de la Caisse d^Escompte, also chap, xxiii. of the Cambridge History, vol. viii., French Revolution, published as this book was going through the press. "^ Arc hiv. pari., vol. x. p. 378. Situation de la Caisse d'' Escompte. THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 231 Necker knew that such a resource must come to an end, and on November 14th he proposed to transform the Caisse tfEscouipte into a national bank with a privilege of ten, twenty or thirty years, with larger powers, larger capital and an issue of paper notes.^ The proposal was well received by the Assembly and was sent to its couiite dcs finances to be reported upon. There it received but scant attention. With a jealousy of the Crown and its ministers characteristic of the committees of the National Assembly the comitc dcs finances, without consulting Necker, had already prepared a scheme of its own for the reform of finance. This scheme the comitc offered for the consideration of the Assembly on November i6th.'- A discussion fol- lowed which included both plans. Necker had enemies, " an immense number," ' we are told, although it was but five months since his recall was deemed a political necessity, and his plan was rejected. Instead of giving fresh powers to the Caisse d'Es- couiptc the National Assembly, on December 19th decreed the institution of a " Caisse de l" extraordinaire ' into which the funds obtained from patriotic con- tributions, and from all extraordinary sources, were to be paid and used for the extinction of the '^ Archives par Icnicntaircs, vol. x. p. 56. M. 625, Rapport cite coviit^ eccldsiastiqiie siir les prdres religieiix. ^Sciout, L., La constitution civile dii clergJ, vol. i. p. 43. 238 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. valuable resource in our present critical position." ^ Thus began the suppression of individual monas- teries. " Not," says M. Aulard, " from any philo- sophical reason, but because money was wanted and there was no other way of getting it." " Soon, however, it ceased to be a question of houses and became one of the existence of religious Orders as such. On February i ith the discussion on the monastic orders, adjourned from December, was re- sumed, and their abolition on the ground of expedi- ency was openly urged. " In abolishing the monastic orders," said Dupont de Nemours, " we do good service to humanity as well as to the finances." ^ So important a question however was not allowed to rest on expediency. The abstract question of rights was urged. The right of society to destroy institutions hurtful to society was maintained by Petion, the right of man to live free by Barnave. " It is enough," he cried, " that the existence of monks is incompatible with the rights of man and the needs of society. . . . The religious orders are contrary to public order ; subject to independent heads, they are contrary also to society," and he moved that the National Assembh' decree, as an Article of the Constitution, that religious orders ^ Arch, pari., vol. x. p. 625. 2 Aulard, A., Les congrt'gatious et la rc'vohition francaise,^^. t6. ^ Monitcitr, st'ance dn 1 1 fevrier 1 790. THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 239 and congregations be, and for ever remain, suppressed in France without possibility of revival.^ On Feb- ruary 13th Barnave's proposal became law. Suppression, however, did not mean dispersion. The State undertook to provide for the religieux who remained as well as those who left the cloister ; vows were no longer made, monasteries and con- vents no longer recruited, but the religious Orders remained, even if on sufferance. This, then, was the second great change in ecclesiastical affairs. The next few months were to see one greater still. There was in the National Assembly a group of Jansenist deputies, " men of ardent piety and austere manners," - inheritors of the doctrines and traditions of the Arnaulds and Port-Royal, who had long deplored the laxity of manners, the self-indulgence and rapacit}' which characterised too many of the higher clergy. With them were united those of the deputies who were opposed to the pretensions of the court of Rome. The proposal these men now made — that as the people chose their municipal, departmental and national representatives, they should also choose their spiritual directors — was urged on religious grounds, on a return to the usages of the primitive church. " Almost every abuse," said M. Martineau in urging ' Moniteur, stance dii \2f<.'vrier 1790. ■^Larneth, Hhistoire de rAssemblii constitttante, vol. ii. p. 363. 240 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. his motion, " has arisen from a departure from the spirit of the earhest institutions, the primitive dis- cipHne of the church was the work of the apostles, the result of lessons taught by their divine Master, how then could it fail to be the most holy, the most in keeping with the spirit of the Gospel, the most fitted to the progress and maintenance of religion ? . . . The best men, the most distinguished writers, have striven for over eight hundred years to restore it. Councils have attempted to bring it back and have failed. Private interests and human passions have always presented insurmountable obstacles ; it required the Revolution, it required the power with which you are invested, to undertake so great a work." ^ Happily for the speaker, the discipline of the primitive church was, or could be made to appear, very much the same thing as the new Constitution of France. " In the primitive church no such thing was known as the right of a land-holder to force pastors on the people ; in the primitive church bishops, citrcs and other ministers of religion were chosen by the people, and as they existed for the people, by whom could they be more suitably chosen ? " ' The new division of the kingdom provided an ^ Archiv. pari., vol. xiii. p. 167. Speech of Martineau on April 2ist, 1790. '^Id., p. 170. THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 241 instrument to hand. " From the day of pubHcation of the present decree," ran the act, there was to be " one only way of providing bishops and curds" and that was by popular election. The bishops were to be chosen by the electors, their diocese was to be co-extensive with the department, and without permission from the Director}- of his department no bishop might leave his see for more than a fortnight In like manner the cures were to be chosen b)- the primary assemblies, and must obtain leave of absence from the Directory of their district. These proposals were accepted by the Assembly and decreed on July I 2th, 1790. This transference of control from an ecclesiastical hierarchy to civil authorities was called the civil constitution of the clergy, because it was supposed to deal only with the outward organisation of the church and not to touch dogma. But although the French church had long held herself largely inde- pendent of the control of the Holy See, the appointment of bishops, abbots and priors made by the king was subject to a veto from the Pope. " By the divine mercy and b\' the grace of the Apostolic See," ran the old formula of appointment. This formula was now discarded, for under the civil constitution of the clergy the sanction of the Pope was held unnecessary to the appointment of church dignitaries. Bishops might write to the 11. Q 242 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Pope and inform him of their election, but that was all, and if any dispute arose about their appointment the final decision lay with the civil court of the district. Nor was this everything. The decree of July I 2th enacted that no bishop should in future be consecrated and no cuic ordained until he had sworn " to be faithful to the nation, the law, and the king," as well as " to watch faithfully over the flock entrusted to his care." ^ This oath was made obligatory, not only on the newly-appointed clergy but on those already holding office. It was a severe test, for to swear fidelity to the nation was tantamount to approving of the decrees which most churchmen considered detrimental to religion and disloyal to the Pope. And yet it ought always to be remembered that in making these changes the National Assembly repudiated any suggestion of disrespect to religion. In the course of the discussion M. de la Fare, Bishop of Nancy, hurt and shocked by the remarks which seemed to him almost blasphemous, moved that before going further the Assembly should declare the Catholic religion the State religion of France. " There is no one in this Assembly " said Dupont de Nemours " who is not already convinced that the Catholic is the national religion ... we cannot deliberate on a ^ See Carnot, M. H., Mt'nwires de Gn'goire, vol. ii. p. 14. THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY. 243 certainty," ^ and from its very respect for religion the Assembly refused to open the question. It was not, as has been well said, " because they were sceptics, but because they were idealists " - that the men of 1789 and 1790 wrought changes in the church. The institution of the civil constitution of the clergy marks a decisive point in the history of the Revolution. Hitherto the great bulk of the cure's, "the men who conducted public worship, who directed the schools, who presided over the local Compagnies dc Charite, who exercised social influence on the people and whom the faithful obeyed "^ had been much in sympathy with the more advanced party in the National Assembly. It was the cures who, in June 1789, left the Order of the Clergy to join the Third Estate ; it was they who, on August 4th, first agreed to abolish tithes, and even when the Assembly proposed the secularising of church property, the cures had not been much discomposed. They best understood the need of reform, they least profited from the ancient wealth. But the civil constitution and the oath it imposed shook the allegiance of the priests, and with their allegiance that of the people, to the great Consti- ^ Moniteiir, stance du \'^fiv}'ier I790- ^Bardoux, La bourgeoisie francaisc, p. 41. ^ L'ceuvre sociale de la revolution francaise, ed. by Faguet, p. 291. 244 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. tution they had till now been so ready to support. It first divided France against herself ; " it was this movement," says M. Aulard, himself a strong Republican, " which, failing of its purpose, brought about a decisive rupture between the Church and the Revolution, and created circumstances from which arose civil war, foreign war, violence, mis- fortune, and the partial failure of the Revolution itself."' ^ Aulard, A. Les congregations et la Revolution fran^aise, p. 30. CHAPTER XV. THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. A BOUT three o'clock in the afternoon of Febru- ary 19th, 1790, a condemned culprit, his feet bare and a rope round his neck, stood, in accordance with the cus- tom of the da)', in front of Notre Dame to hear his crime and sentence read to a listening crowd, before going to the Place de Greve to suffer capital punishment.^ The prisoner was a certain Marquis de Fayras of questionable nobilit)-, who had served in the Guard of the Comte de Provence, had been at Versailles on October 5 th, and was known to be 1 B. M. P., Favras, R. 164., Testament et Mart du Alanjuis de Favras zxid Journal de Paris dii 20 fiv. 1790. TALLEYRAND. 246 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. a political adventurer. The offence for which he was about to suffer was that of plotting to raise a force of thirty thousand men to carry off the king, and at the same time assassinate Lafayette, Commander of the National Guard, and Bailly, Mayor of Paris. The Marquis insisted now, as he had insisted at his trial, on his innocence ; the witnesses against him were men of little conse- quence, but " his life," he was told, " was a sacrifice he owed to the public peace." ^ It was the first death in which the Revolution admitted the plea of the public good — a plea which was made the excuse for so much bloodshed a few years later. The incident was not in itself very important, but Paris was still hungry and unquiet; disturbance and riot were rife in the provinces. The adminis- tration of justice was undergoing reform and was meantime ineffective, and the continued residence of the king in his capital, seemed the pledge of better things. Hitherto Louis had lagged behind the Revolu- tion. " Father of the People," " Restorer of French Liberty " though he was, he was these things against, rather than by his will, and his enforced residence in Paris was a sign that at bottom his people distrusted, even if they loved their king. ^B. M. P., Favras, R. 164, Testament et Mart du Marquis de Favras 2LXiA Journal de Paris du 20 fiv. 1790. THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 247 It was this sense of distrust that caused the news of the charge on which Favras was arrested to strike consternation in the capital. To remove it, and to satisfy men that the king had no intention of leaving Paris or evading the responsi- bilities of a constitutional ruler, his ministers suggested that he should pay some public tribute to the Constitution. Accordingly on Thursday, February 4th, 1790, the deputies in the Salle du Manege were surprised by a message that the king would that day visit the National Assembly, but without ceremony. The message was received with enthusiasm and hasty preparations were made. The secretaries' desks were removed, a carpet laid down, a velvet covering embroidered with fleur-de-l)-s flung over the President's chair ; after which business was resumed until the king arrived. He came accom- panied only by his ministers, wearing a plain black suit and carrying his hat in his hand, and going up to the President's chair at once began his address.^ " Gentlemen," he said, " the gravity of public affairs brings me among )-ou . . . old bonds are loosened, justice is suspended, discontent, bitter animosities, unrest, have taken hold of the spirit of the people. . . . The old channels of authorit}' have been disturbed, and yet I have ^ Revolutions de France cl dc Bralxiiit, No. 12. 248 FROM 'THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. been able to preserve the kingdom, if not in the complete tranquillity for which we hope, yet in sufficient tranquillity to enable it to receiv^e the gift of a wise and well-ordered liberty. ... I think the moment now come when it is for the interest of the State that I associate myself more closely and more openly with all that you have proposed for the welfare of France. ... I there- fore promise to defend and maintain that constitu- tional liberty whose principles are sanctioned by the will of the nation and by my own. I will do more. In concert with the queen, who shares all my sentiments, I will educate my son in accor- dance with the new order of things ... I will teach him that a wise Constitution will save him from the dangers of inexperience." And he con- cluded a long speech in these words, " Let us all, from this day forward, following my example, be moved by one opinion, one interest, one purpose ; — attachment to the new Constitution and ardent desire for the peace, happiness and pros- perity of France. " ^ A burst of applause followed the king's speech ; the President could hardly find words in which to express the gratitude of the Assembly; and a motion made and at once carried, to the effect that the Assembl}' should there and then follow the king's ^ Ri!voliitions de France ct de Brabant, No. I2. THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 249 example and promise fidelity to the Constitution shows how seriously his words were taken. " I swear to be faithful to the nation, the law and the king, and to uphold with all my might the Constitution decreed by the National Assembly and accepted by the king." In these words the deputies one by one swore to uphold the Constitution aiid when the long roll of their names was ended,^ the officials of the Salle du Manege, those present in benches reserved for representatives of commerce, for deputes supple'ans, ' as well as the spectators in the galleries, asked that the}- too might take the oath. It was a moment of enthusiasm, but the oath was not lightly taken. " You are full}- aware how august and how sacred is the ceremon\- which we are about to celebrate " said the President before he himself repeated the new formula. There can be no question but that the Assembly considered the king's part in this solemn acts as a binding engagement.^ As such it was regarded throughout the country. From end to end of France, beginning with the municipality and dis- tricts of Paris, men swore the civil oath, feeling 1 It must be remembered that neither the Civil Constitution of the clergy, nor the suppression of monastic orders was as yet a part of the Constitution. 2 Diputds siipplt'ans, men chosen at the same time as the deputies to fill their place in case of need. ^ Archill. parL, vol. xi. p. 431 seq. 250 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. themselves thereby more closely bound to their king. Loyal addresses poured in, Te Deums were sung. Marie-Antoinette herself was regarded with greater leniency, for had she not met the deputation that accompanied her husband from the Assembly and repeated his promise to bring up the Dauphin to respect that Constitution which was then the idol of the people ? A few months later the king's oath was to receive confirmation in the eyes of all Europe. By a decree on the constitution of the army voted in February 1790, it was agreed that each year on the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille the troops should renew their oath of fidelity to the king, nation and Constitution.^ But this year it was proposed to celebrate at the same time the welding of France into one by the substitution of depart- ments for provinces. " A new order of things has arisen," said Bailly in a speech to the Assembly early in June. " The division caused by the exist- ence of provinces no longer remains . . . one single name, that of ' Frenchmen ' embraces everyone."^ " Ten months have scarcely passed since the memor- able day when from the walls of a fallen Bastille arose the sudden shout, ' Frenchmen, we are free.' On the anniversary of that day let another cry more moving still be heard, 'Frenchmen, we are brothers.'" ^ '^Ddcretdu 22,fivrier 1 790. " Archiv. pari., vol. xvi. p. 117. '^ Id., p. 118. Address drawn up by Bailly "from the citizens of Paris to all Frenchmen." THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 251 And a national fete was proposed, at which depu- tations of the National Guard and of the civic authorities from each of the new departments as well as representatives from the regular troops should meet in the capital, and with united voice swear fidelity to the Constitution. In such a ceremony the king must have his part. The proposal thus made to celebrate the fact of a united France met with the readier acceptance because it was hoped that it would also serve a practical end. The conduct of the army was causing much uneasiness. A spirit of insubordina- tion and unrest was abroad.' The troops were excited by the words rather than by the ideas of liberty and equality, and it gave colour to their discontent that their pay was in arrears. A great representative federation held at Paris on the first renewal of the military oath would, it was thought, prove a diversion and conduce to a spirit of greater loyalty to the Assembly, and to the king who had identified himself with the Constitution. The place chosen for the fete was the Champ de Mars, a waste piece of land lying on the left bank of the Seine just outside the city walls. Here in olden days the kings met the lieges once every year to confer with them on matters of ' See .(4;r/i. /ar/., vol. xvi, June 4lh, Discoiirs de La Tour du Pin, Minister of War. 252 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. State. It was an armed assembly that met then, for every freeman in mediaeval times carried weapons, and it was an assembly of soldiers and soldier- citizens that was to meet now in presence of the Father of the Country. The idea fired the people and the utmost enthusiasm prevailed. The Fete de la Federation was to be a representative gathering such as the annals of France had never known. The last great fete held in Paris had been that arranged to celebrate the marriage of Louis and Marie-Antoinette in May 1770, when the fall of stands erected on the Place Louis XV. for a display of fireworks had changed the day of rejoicing into one of mourning for the injured and the dead. To avoid any such accident on this occasion the authorities decided to dig out an amphitheatre in the Champ de Mars itself, large enough to hold one hundred and sixty thousand spectators seated and one hundred thousand standing, and to leave an area in which from fifty to sixty thousand armed delegates could take up their position.^ Twelve thousand workmen were engaged, but the work had to be completed within six weeks, and it soon became evident that the men engaged could not possibly accomplish the task. A letter appeared in a Paris newspaper, signed by a Garde National, in which he proposed that his comrades ■'See Toulongeon, Histoire de France, vol. i. p. 215 seq. THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 253 should volunteer their aid. The appeal was warmly received, " The divisions of the National Guard took it in turn to dig during the hours in which the regular w^orkmen rested. Commandants, cap- tains, soldiers furnished themselves with pick-axe and barrow, and loyally took orders from the least important overseer's clerk." ^ Nor did the voluntary help end here. The trades followed the example of the National Guard. The charcoal burners and wigmakers arrived to the sound of drums ; butchers, market-porters, w^ater- carriers, journeymen gardeners with lettuces tied to their pick-axes, printers with " Liberty of the Press " printed on their paper caps, worked as if their lives depended on their efforts.- " Students from their colleges hurried gaily to the work at the Champ de Mars ; monks, priests, even women, toiled side by side with the trader." ^' Whole villages, headed by their Mayor, in tri-colour scarf and pick-axe on shoulder ; whole families, master^ servants, children, turned out and lent their aid. No unwilling helpers were permitted. A young Abbe, very carefully dressed, appeared on the Champ de Mars, and stood regarding the scene with a condescending, almost a pitying eye. '' Get 1 Courrier de Paris, vol. xiv., /e d juillet 1790. ^ Id. , du 10 jtiillct. •' Mercier, Nouveati tableau de la revolution, vol, i. p. 69. 254 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. a wheel-barrow," cried a worker. He obeyed and besfan to fill it, but with such slow, indifferent movements that he irritated an ardent patriot close bv. " Let go the barrow," he exclaimed, "■ your touch profanes it," and leaving his own, he seized that of the Abbe, rushed it outside the Champ de Mars, and there emptied its contents, lest the earth removed by an unwilling worker should mingle with that dug out by enthusiasts.-^ Nor was the manual work done at the Champ de Mars the only sign of the prevailing enthusiasm. Political clubs complained that Paris was so excited over the Federation that no one would attend to the elections for the new municipality, the first regulated by a decree of the National Assembly, and therefore the first not provisional in its character. Accordingly the elections, arranged for July 5th, were postponed until after '&v& fete. The Parisian ladies asked to be allowed to swear on the Champ de Mars to educate their children in fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king.^ It was proposed to free all prisoners for debt, so that they too might be present,^ and on June 19th a deputation of foreigners — English, Dutch, Russian, Poles, Prussians, Germans, Swedes, Swiss, Italians, ^ Mercier, Noitveau tableau de la i\'voliition, vol. i. p. 76. 2 Arch, nat., C. 82 No. 817, Projet coifiiminujut' a la Co7iimune de Paris. ^ Bib. nat. MSS. nouv. acq. fr. 2638, fol. 3. THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 255 Armenians, Spaniards, Indians, Arabs, and Chaldees, all wearing their national dress — went to the National Assembly and begged to take part in the Federation of July 14th. The tribute of these isolated individual foreigners seemed to the National Assembly the tribute of the whole world ; " the fctel' said the President, in reply to their address, " will no longer be one of the nation but of the universe." ^ Then in an access of chivalry towards the strangers who were to come within the gates, Alexandre de Lameth moved that four symbolic figures chained as slaves to the statue of Louis XIV., in the Place des Victoires, and representing four provinces conquered by him, should be destroyed. " Let us respect monuments of the arts, but wipe away all that commemorates despotism and bondage." '" Once again, as on the night of the 4th of August, 1789, the impulse of the moment carried the Assembly too far. On the proposal to destroy all bronze monuments " created to flatter pride," followed that to abolish such living monuments as the titles of duke, count, marquis, etc. " How then," cried a member of the Right, " will you commemorate the fact that such a one was ennobled for having on such a day saved the State ? " " You ^ Airh. pari., vol. xvi. p. 373. See also Ami da roi (Crapart) du 21 j 111 n 1790. -Lameth, A. de, Histoire de PAssembL'e constitiiaiitc, vol. ii. p. 431. 256 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. can say," replied Lafayette, " that such a one saved the State on such a day." " If you do this thing," the Abbe Maury urged, " you affect fifty thousand families ; the nobles are more sensitive over honorary than over pecuniary rights, and you will cause many to emigrate." ^ The Abbe proved in the right, but the bill was passed ; titles, coats-of-arms, crests, and liveries were abolished, and Lafayette became Monsieur Motier, Mirabeau plain Gabriel Riquetti. In its generous but mistaken impulse the National Assembly forgot that monuments may also be raised to democratic vanity. It was only natural that that worship of the new Constitution which was to find its apotheosis in the fete of July, should develop the democratic tendency of the Revolution. Thus we not only find titles abolished, but in the arrangements for the great day itself we see care taken not to magnify the office of the king. On the 9th of July the National Assembly decreed that the king be requested to take the command of the National Guards of France. To the objection that Louis was ex officio head of all the armed forces, Barnave replied by explaining the difference between regular and volunteer troops, and the words remained. On the iith it was decided that the king should take his place among the deputies, occupying a chair ^ Airhiv. pari., vol. xvi. p. 374. X k ^ ^ Z X p O THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 257 on the left hand of the President and placed on the same level as his, instead of on a throne raised above all others, as had been the invariable cus- tom on occasions of ceremony. It was even pro- posed to introduce the words " I, first Citizen," into the oath to be taken by the king instead of " I, king of the French," but this was negatived.^ These things the king took very quietly. A few days before the delegates or fe'deres, as they were called, arrived, he rode out to the Champ de Mars to see for himself what was going on. He was received with the utmost cordiality, for whatever the National Assembly might feel about the office of a king, Louis personally was popular with his people. He had accepted the Constitution and he was furthering, as far as he could, the great fete in its honour. xA.t the news of his arrival all the drums in the field beat a welcome ; the people formed them- selves into a body-guard, and conducted him from one point of interest to another. Presently he asked for a wheel-barrow, threw in a few shovels-full of earth, and, wheel-barrow in hand, continued his in- spection to cries of " Long live the king," " Long live our friend, our father." ^ A few days later Louis, on receiving a deputation of XhQ fede'res, took up the words he had heard on ^ A rch. pari., vol. xvii. p. 12. x\\i,o Ami dti roi, ()-\\ juillct 1790. - Courrier de Paris, vol. xiv., le 10 juillel 1790. II. R 258 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. the Champ de Mars, and replying to the address made to him said, " Repeat to }'our fellow-citizens that the king is their father, brother, friend. Tell them that I will watch over them, live for them, and if need be, die for my people."^ Barnave, speaking a year afterwards said, " Had the king only known how to take advantage of the popular feeling of the moment we (of the Left) must have been lost." - But Louis did not know. By the 13th of July \}aQ federes had arrived, and at six o'clock on the morning of the fourteenth the long procession began to form on the boulevards between the Porte Saint-Antoine and the Porte Saint- Denis. The federes were divided into two great companies, between which marched the regular troops. They were preceded by the Assembly of Electors of Paris,^ the Presidents of the Districts, and scholars of the Military Schools. At the Tuileries' entrance to the Salle du Manege the Municipality awaited the deputies of the National Assembly, and together they joined the procession as soon as it reached the Place Louis Ouinze.^ During the night the National Guard of Paris and many of the 1 Archives pai-lementaires, vol. xvii. p. 83. - Rocheterie, Reateil des lettres aiithentiqites de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 184, note. 3 The Assembly of Electors met for the last time in connection with the /^/e of July 14, 1790. * See Conft'dcratioii nationak, ordre de viarche, Bib. nat. Lb^^3758. THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 259 spectators had taken their places on the Champ de Mars. At the entrance to the field was a triumphal arch, and at the end of the arena, close by the militar}- school, stood the platform reserved for the king and National /\ssembly. But the object which com- manded attention was the great altar raised to the country in the centre of the arena. Patriotic, not sacred, subjects were carved on the four sides of its pedestal, and on one panel were these words, " Ponder on the three sacred words which are the warrant of our decrees, the nation, the law, the king. The nation, that is \'ou ; the law, that again is you ; and the king, he is the guardian of the law." ^ Could the attitude of the Revolution towards the Monarchy be more clearly expressed ? It was about mid-day when the procession left the Place Louis Quinze, and about three o'clock before the different companies making up the Federation had taken their places. As soon as they had done so the king came out from the Ecole militaire, cannon boomed, and the people shouted, " Vive le roi ! " - It was an imposing scene which met the eyes of the " Father of his People." A mass of over three hundred thousand spectators filled the amphitheatre ' See A»n' du roi, du 25 juillet 1 790. ^ Archiv. pari. , vol. xvii. p. 84. 26o FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. and the field beyond ; fifty thousand troops stood on the arena, and in the centre of all was the great altar with steps leading up to it on every side ; sixty priests clad in white were grouped round it and Talleyrand, the young Bishop of Autun, celebrant of the mass, stood in their midst. As soon as Louis had taken his place the banners of the National Guards and of the regular troops were placed round the altar, and there, after the celebration of the mass, were blessed. Then Lafayette, riding up to the estrade where sat the king, dismounted and asked for the royal orders. The king gave him the form of oath — that already sworn to by the troops, with the addition of the words, " to hold myself bound to my countrymen by the indissoluble bonds of brotherhood." Lafayette remounted and rode to the altar, and there in face of all the people repeated, as commander of the first National Guard in France, the words just given him ; the federes joined their voices to his, a volley of cannon, cries of " Vive le roi!" " Vive la nation!'' the clash of arms and a burst of trumpets announced to the spectators afar off; the taking of the oath. The military oath taken, the President and deputies rose and with one voice repeated the civil oath already sworn to on February fourth. Last of all the king rose ; " I, King of the French," said Louis, stretching out his hand towards the altar, THE KING AND THE CONSTITUTION. 261 " swear to use all the power delegated to me by the constitutional law of the State to maintain the Constitution decreed by the National Assembly and accepted by me, and to enforce the execution of the laws," As he did so, Marie-Antoinette left her place, and advanced with the little Dauphin in her arms, as if to include the child in his father's words. Thus she too, renewed the pledge she had given six months before. A solemn Te Deum was chanted and the great Assembly broke up. The fete of the Federation was over. Not, however, the facts which it symbolised. In it we see the first general recognition by Frenchmen of a united France, bound by a common oath which placed fidelity to the law, as expressed in the will of the people, above allegiance to the king ; and we see the passionate attachment with which this united France regarded her Constitution. It was to glorify the Constitution that the citizens of Paris worked so hard, and loyal as was their feeling towards the king it was Louis, Restorer of Liberty, not Louis, King of France, whom they revered. Just in so far as he adopted and magnified the new order of things were the people of France likely to remain loyal. When, therefore, the king stretched out his hand towards the altar of the country and swore in presence of hundreds of thousands of his subjects, — in 262 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. presence of representatives from every district in the kingdom, and of the very troops to whom he must, in the last extremity have recourse, — the people believed he was with them, and that his act on July 14th did but prove the sincerity of that of February 4th. In the presence of his people the king had set his seal to the new order, and he could not go back. This was a fact which Louis never fully grasped, and because he did not grasp it he lost his throne. CHAPTER XVI. MIR ABE AU AND THE COURT. T F you have any means of making yourself GUSTAVE III., KING OF SWEDEN. heard by the king and queen, persuade them that France and they themselves are lost if the royal family does not leave Paris. I am thinking over a plan to effect this ; are you in a position to assure them that they may count upon me ? ^ So wrote Mirabeau to his friend the Comte de la Marck on October "th, 1789, the day after Louis took up his abode in the Tuileries. Neither the offer nor the plan came to an}'thing then, but in the spring of 1790 a little knot of friends, the Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, the Comte 1 Bacourt, Corresponda^ice cntre le comte de Mirabeau et k co/iite de la Man/c, vol. i. p. 119. 264 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. de la Marck, and the Archbishop of Toulouse, Keeper of the Seals, effected an arrangement by which Mirabeau became secret adviser to the Court.^ No man living possessed the same qualifications. Ardent constitutionalist as he was, Mirabeau had a firm faith in monarchical government. Ready to withstand any attempt at despotism, he yet believed that no Constitution was sound that had not a strong executive. He had, therefore, in August 1789, voted for an absolute veto, and for the same reason, in May 1790, he did what he could to preserve for the king one of his last and most ancient prerogatives. In the spring of 1790 a quarrel arose which threatened war between England and Spain. France, or at least her king and his ministers, held themselves bound by the Facte dc Famil/c^ to support Spain, and Louis gave orders that fourteen men of war should be made ready for service. He then, on May 14th, sent a message to the National Assembly and asked for a subsidy wherewith to pay the cost.^ 1 Bacourt, Corre^pondaiite ciifn- Ic comte de Mirabeau et le coi/ite de la Marck, vol. i. p. 136 seq. As the price of his future services, Mirabeau accepted the payment of his debts and the promise of a pension, but he did not for this barter his independence of speech. 2 Facte de Faniille, an aUiance, offensive and defensive, between the French and Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon ; signed in 1761. "i Archives parleiiiaitaires, vol. xv. p. 510. MIRABEAU. From a Dra'aiin!; by Gii^rin C}ii;ra7>ed by Ficsingvr. MIRABEAU AND THE COURT. 265 " No one," said Alexandre de Lameth, " can blame the measures taken by the king, but the incident raises a question of principle. Is an Assembly entrusted with making the Constitution and with fixing the attributions of power to dele- gate to the king the right of declaring war ? " ^ The debate was keen and the interest taken in it was intense. This time it was the upper and educated classes that filled the tribunes. Am- bassadors and diplomatists listened with eager and astonished ears to the raising of a question hitherto considered the indisputable right of kings. On May 22nd, despite a speech in which Mirabeau is said to have excelled himself, the Assembly decreed " that the right of peace or war belongs to the nation." To depute such a right to the king, it was urged, was to provide him with a means of escaping from his obligations to the Consti- tution ; since a war with any country might furnish a pretext for a war against the Revolution. Shortly after this Mirabeau wrote his first " Note to the Court." From that time until his death on April 3rd, 1791, he faithfully fulfilled his part. He gave his opinion on current events, pointed out the best way of meeting difficulties while still imminent, the best way of repairing mis- takes when made, and he kept steadih' in view 1 Lameth, A. dc, Histoire de rAsseutbh'c constituanic, vol. ii. p. 313. 266 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. his purpose of cementing, as far as possible, the relations of the Crown with the i\ssembly. In his scheme Marie-Antoinette played an im- portant part, for it was on her influence over the king that Mirabeau based his hope of success. " I professed Monarchical principles," he wrote in June 1790, "when I saw only feebleness at court, and knowing nothing of the lofty soul and intelligence of the daughter of Maria-Theresa, could not count upon this august auxiliary."^ "The king has onl}^ one man about him and that is his wife," he wrote a little later. " I like to think," he adds, " that she would not wish for life without her crown, but of this I am certain that she will not keep her life if she cannot keep her crown."- "She is very great, very noble, and very unfortunate," he exclaimed after his memorable interview with her on July 3rd at Saint-Cloud.^ This confidence in the queen was exaggerated, but was not altogether groundless. Marie-Antoinette knew her own mind and was quite as clear as Mirabeau himself, that her only safety lay in the re-establishment of the royal authority. Unfortunately, Marie-Antoinette's ^ Bacourt, A. de, Correspoiidaiice entre h comte de Mirabeau et le comte de la March, vol. ii. p. 25. Premiere note four la coiir. - Id., p. 4I- Seconde note pour la coiir. ^ Viel-Castel, H. de, Marie- Antoinette ct la revolution francaise, p. 299 ; Recit de M. dit Saillant, neveii de Mirabeau. MIRABEAU AND THE COURT. 267 plan for keeping her crown was not that of Mirabeau. There were three points on which Mirabeau insisted above all. First, that the king must secure the support of the great mass of the nation. Second, that he must preserve for himself sufficient independence to exert a real influence on the doings of the Assembly ; and third, that he must owe nothing to foreign interference. To secure the first Mirabeau would have had the king foster public opinion. " Until the Revolu- tion," he wrote in July, 1790, "the royal authority was incomplete, because not founded on law ; inadequate, because it relied on an armed force rather than on public opinion; now it is stronger- than ever before because based on law, and sanctioned by the people's will." ^ At the same time Mirabeau did not consider the Monarchy as conceived by the National Assembly a perfect system of government. "Its one danger," he insisted, " is the loss of executive power, a power without which the royal authority is a mere phantom," and he wished the people to see to it that the National Assembly no longer retained a power " which the nation never gave it.""' For Mirabeau knew that as soon as the present Assembly had completed its 1 Bacourl, vol. ii. p. 74, Hititicmc iiote pour lacour "-Id. 268 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. work of framing the Constitution it must dissolve, and he looked to its successor to make good the mistakes incurred by the inexperience of this first or Constituent Assembly. He therefore advised the Court to show itself friendly to the popular side, to strengthen its relations with the provinces, and by an appeal to that public opinion on which the monarchy rested, to create a party strong enough to influence the return of the members of the new Assembly.^ On the second point, — that the king must have a greater independence, — Mirabeau was still more emphatic. But he foresaw that so long as the king and Assembly were controlled and hampered by the influence of the capital this was impossible, and he therefore urged the king to leave Paris ; but he did so on certain definite lines. If the king left Paris he must leave with the know- ledge and, if possible, with the goodwill of the Assembly, and he must make it clear by proclamation in every province in France that he did so not to escape from, but to strengthen, the Constitution." Now the voluntary acceptance of an unfinished Constitution, and the solemn oath taken on July 14th, made it very difficult for Louis to follow ^ Bacourt, vol. ii. p. 225 Sc'//., TrenticDie note pour la coitr. ~ Treizihiic note pour la conr. MIRABEAU AND THE COURT. 269 Mirabeau's advice. Henceforth any opposition which the king might offer to, any modification he might propose on a decree was h'able to be held by the advanced party as an act of disloyalty towards the Constitution, while a proposal to leave Paris on any terms was sure to be regarded by the populace as little less than treachery. By insisting on such a step, Mirabeau ran the risk of exciting civil war. To Mirabeau such a risk was not an unmitigated evil. He held that in the present state of France a civil war might give France the leaders she so much needed and save libertj' from becoming license. Terrible resource as it was, he infinitely preferred it to a foreign war " which would set France at variance with all Europe, and create twenty civil wars within the land." ^ Louis and Marie- Antoinette were of a very different mind. To spill the blood of his subjects was at all times hateful to the king, and neither he nor the queen had an\' hope from civil war. They did not wish for a revised Constitution, but for a modified old regime, and their only real hope was in the interference of the European powers. On this point, and it was a crucial one, they were entirely at variance with their adviser. " To retreat to Metz or any frontier town," wrote Mirabeau in October 1789, "would be to declare civil war and ^ Bacourt, vol. ii. pp. 74 ct 225, Huiti'enie et trentieme notes. 270 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. to abdicate ; . . . a king who is the sole safeguard of his people does not fly from them. . . . To retreat into the interior and rally the nobles would be still more dangerous ... it would be to choose a few individuals as against a great people, it would be to enter on civil war at enormous cost."^ These however were exactly the schemes pro- posed by the emigres — the men who fled from France after the fall of the Bastille and again after the events of October, and with whom Marie- Antoinette was identified in the eyes of the people. Led by the Comte d'i.'\rtois and the Prince de Conde they looked for salvation to the nobles and to foreign aid. " I will go," said the Prince de Conde in his manifesto of July 1790, " at the head of the nobility of all nations, and followed by all the faithful subjects of the king, and deliver if I can, this unfortunate monarch." " They considered them- selves the " true France " and their interference the only hope of the Monarchy. Their first effort was to raise an army of French nobles as a nucleus for the hoped-for foreign troops. Proclamations were drawn up and distributed in France inviting the nobles to leave their homes and join the princes, " their natural leaders." But the 1 Bacourt, vol. i. pp. 361-382, Mimoire fait pai- le comte de Mirabeau aprcs les dvhiements des ^ et 6 octobre 1789. -Daudet, E., Cobkntz, 1789-1793, p. 39. MIRABEAU AND THE COURT. 271 French gentlemen were attached to their homes, and were difficult to persuade. A miserable handful, only about a hundred in all, responded to the appeal, and "with tears in their e)'es " left France.-^ Failing in their appeal to the nobles the emigres tried to foment the disturbances caused by religious strife. B}' its attitude towards the church the Assembly had placed a powerful weapon in the hands of the enemies of the Revolution, and in the south of France something like a crusade was being carried on against the ecclesiastical decrees. The movement began in April 1790, and its first results were mani- fest in Toulouse. " By invoking the name of God, by stolen oaths taken in the Churches themselves, ... by processions, pilgrimages and anonymous addresses " the people were worked up to a tumult, which was only saved from becoming an insurrec- tion by the tact of the town authorities." Tidings of the tumult at Toulouse reached the emigres assembled at Turin, who at once took measures to foster the spirit of revolt. They con- cocted a plan by which Lyons should become a rallying point for the disaffected, and a centre to which help could be sent from abroad. But this plan also failed, for the emigres had not sufficient ^Daudet, E., Coblmtz, 1789-1793, p. iS. ^ Lameth, Alex, de Hisloirc dc, PassctnbUc constittiante, vol. ii. p. 200 scq. 272 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. influence in France to do great harm there. They were thus thrown back upon foreign aid. For a time the princes had but small success with the powers of Europe. The state of European politics just then was such that, unless Austria moved no other power could effectually aid the cause of the old regime. But for years the Emperor had cared little to maintain that alliance with France which his mother had brought about with such trouble and such pride. He sought Catherine of Russia rather than Louis of France. Catherine had designs on the Ottoman Empire and in her designs Joseph wished to share. H e had other things to do than to fight the Revolution, and it therefore suited his policy to assume that Louis was sincere in every token he gave of adherence to the new order of things. " The King," wrote Joseph n. as early as October 1789, in reply to a letter from the Comte d'Artois, " has made no complaint ; on the contrary, he and the nation agree on all that has been done ; what right then has a third person to interfere between a united king and a nation leg- ally represented by its deputies." ^ Neither Catherine of Russia nor Joseph of Austria wished to have their forces or their treasures drained by a war with France. On the 20th of February 1790, Joseph died, 1 Correspondaiice entre le comte de Mercy- Argenteaic et I'einperetir, vol. ii. p. 277. MIRABEAU AND THE COURT. 273 and was succeeded by his brother Leopold, Grand- Duke of Tuscany. Leopold adopted his brother's policy towards France, but he adopted it with a colder heart than Joseph had done, for he had not the affection for Marie-Antoinette which the elder brother had always entertained. " I have a sister in France," wrote Leopold, " but France is not my sister." ^ Nor were the other powers much more willing. Spain and Sardinia were too poor to afford men or money. Belgium was in revolt against Austria and in sympathy with the Revolution. The King of Prussia hoped for an Austrian alliance and would not move without the Emperor. England was determined on neutrality. Alone of all the sovereigns, Gustave III., the chival- rous king of Sweden, was heart and soul with the princes. France had long been an ally of Sweden ; Gustave indeed owed his throne to a revolution largely brought about by the diplomacy of Louis XV. With his whole heart Gustave responded to the friendship of France, but his sympathies were entirely with the France of the old regime. He looked on the Revolution as a monstrous giant ready to arise and slay the France of his love, and on himself as her deliverer, " The Revolution was ' Forneron, H., Histoire gin^rale des emigrh, p. 278. II. S 274 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. for him only a brilliant opportunity for the display of his military genius and chivalrous intervention." ^ " I wish," he said, " to show other kings an example of respect to a comrade in misfortune." ^ The autumn of 1790 gave Gustave an opportunity of showing his sincerity. In October of this year the National Assembly decreed that the tri-colour flag, not yet adopted by the navy, should henceforth fly on the French fleet, and that instead of the old cry, " Vive le roi ! " the sailors should shout " Vivent la nation, la loi, et le roi ! " and it sent a notice of the change to all foreign courts.^ At this Gustave tried to persuade Russia and Denmark to join him in a northern league which should refuse to acknowledge any French flag but the old one, and he despatched his minister Stedingk to propose this league to Catherine. " Louis is an excellent man," Catherine replied, " but how feeble ! How is it possible to help one who does not wish to be helped ? It is he himself who requires us to recognise the flag," ^ and with this reply the scheme of a northern league vanished. Deserted by Russia and looked at askance by Vienna, Gustave and the hnigres were powerless to 1 Geffroy, A. , Instructions aiix aiiibassadeiirs de France, Suede introd. p. ci. ^ Geffroy, A., Gustave III. et la coztr de France, vol. ii. p. 109. ^ Dc'cret du 21 octobre 1790. ^Geffroy, A., Gustave III. ct la cour de France, vol. ii. p. 131. MIRABEAU AND THE COURT. 275 excite any great movement in Europe. The}- were not, however, powerless for evil. Neither Louis nor Marie-Antoinette, however much they might hope for the intervention of the powers, desired that intervention at the hands of the princes ; as long as possible they wished to keep up the appearance of union with the Assembly. But the princes persisted in presenting Louis and Marie-Antoinette to the eyes of Europe as suffering ro}'alty coerced b}' the will of its subjects, and by so doing destroyed, so far as in them lay, what credit the unfortunate sovereigns had obtained by the incidents of February 4th and July 14th. No remonstrance from the Tuileries had any effect, and the determination of the princes to save the Monarchy in their own way, their obstinate disregard of advice, their independent, ill- advised action rendered their policy a source of grave danger to the Crown. Truly the difficulties of the King of the French were great. Bound by oath to an Assembly he mistrusted, urged by Mirabeau to adopt a policy which involved the risk of the evil he most dreaded, held up to Europe as a puppet by his brothers, there is little wonder that he obeyed the instinct of race and of tradition, and spite of advice, spite of luke-warmness, himself sought help from his fellow- sovereigns. Louis' scheme differed from that of the princes, 276 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. and on this he laid great stress. He proposed to fly secretly from Paris and go to a frontier town within reach of foreign help. There he would summon to his side those troops and subjects who still remained faithful to his ideas of sovereignty. He would then declare his intentions to his people, offering them a Constitution based on the Declara- tion made at the seance royale of June 1789 ; that is to say, he would offer them periodical meetings of the States- General and the right to vote taxes, but he would restore the three Orders, tithes, and feudal rights. If this were refused he would appeal to Austria, who would, he hoped, consult with the European powers and threaten, if need be, armed interference. But he did not propose to leave France, nor did he wish to see a foreign army invade his kingdom : least of all did he wish the emigres to identify themselves with the powers.^ In November 1790 Louis invested his old minister, Breteuil, with power to treat on his behalf at the foreign courts and at the same time sent the sketch of a plan for secret flight from Paris to Bouille then in command of the troops, lying near the German frontier. By December definite pre- parations for flight had begun,^ ^ Cf. Bourgoing, Histoire diplomatique, vol. i. p. 226, and Sorel, V Europe et la r&vohitio7i fran^aise, vol. ii. p. 135 seq. -Fournel, V., VH'enement de Varennes, pp. 44 and 50. Aldmoires du cointe Louis. MIRABEAU AND THE COURT. 277 Meantime Mirabeau, from whom Breteuil's mission was kept secret, was working hard for the king and queen. In December he drew up his longest and most elaborate note for the court. In this he held out the hope of " an improved Constitution as the one object which prudence, honour and the real interest of the king, as inseparable from that of the nation, rendered admissible." ^ He wished to see the present Assembly dissolved and a new one, which must not meet at Paris, elected. He wished so to influence public opinion and electoral assem- blies that the electors would themselves demand the revision of certain articles in the Constitution, and to this end he planned elaborate schemes by which the constituencies were to be educated by books and pamphlets scattered broadcast, and by agents sent to the provinces with written instructions furnished by the Crown. He wished for a closer union between the Assembly and the ministers, and a ministry which would be at once, as acceptable to the people as it was devoted to the royal authority. Lastly, he would have had the king and queen appear constantly in public, visit hospitals, be present at reviews of the National Guard, and even attend the sittings of the Assembly." Mirabeau did not ■^ Bacourt, Correspondance, etc., vol. ii. j). 417 seq. Quarante- septihne note pour la coiir. ''Id. 27S FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. minimise the dangers to which royalty and France were exposed. He recognised a growing spirit of ferocity in the people, and a growing hatred against the royal family. He recognised the increase of disorder and of division in the land, but his one hope was in constitutional reform, supported by the Crown. For a moment it seemed as if Mirabeau's advice were at last to take effect. The queen was touched by the passionate appeal made by the great statesman, and induced her husband to sanction the suggestions he had made. Arrange- ments were even begun by which they could be carried out.^ But the old irresolution, the old inability to grasp a situation on the part of the king again prevailed. " When one talks to him of the state of his affairs," said la Marck " it is as if one were talking of the affairs of the kingdom of China,"" and Marie- Antoinette, never really in sympathy with Mirabeau's idea, was paralysed by her husband's inertia. A few weeks later the great Mirabeau lay dead, the warning voice was silent. " With him," says Mr. Morse Stephens, " died the cause of the monarchy of the Bourbons, and the only hope of a peaceful solution of the dangers and difficulties threatening 1 Bacourt, see Correspondaiice entre Mirabeau et la Marck, in vol. iii. - Bacourt, Correspondance, vol. iii. p. 30, La Marck a Mercy. MIRABEAU AND THE COURT. 279 France." ^ The queen, who mistrusted him, as she did every statesman who believed in a Constitutional monarchy, was relieved by his death, but Louis, with an intuition that almost makes one fancy " the divine spark " had at last descended, remarked, " Do not rejoice over the death of Mirabeau, we have suffered a greater loss than you imagine." " The remark was more true than the king could have himself realised. More emphatically, more openly than any constitutionalist, Mirabeau had main- tained the necessity of establishing the royal authority on a firm basis, and of giving it due independence. Everyone knew this, and yet when the great orator lay dying the people constituted themselves guards at either end of the Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin and allowed no wheeled vehicle to pass, and when news of his death was announced they cried out with mournful voices " He is dead, he is dead." ^ To do him honour the Department of Paris suggested, and the National Assembly voted, that the great new church of Sainte-Genevieve rising on the south of the Seine should be set apart to receive the remains of the great Frenchmen who had best served their country. It was when Mirabeau died that the words were engraved with which all who know the ^ Stephens, H. M., History of the French Revolution, vol. i. p. 430. -Tourzel, Mme. de, Mt'inoires, vol. i. p. 247. ^ Histoire de la Revolution fran(;aise par deux amis, vol. vi. p. 40. 28o FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Pantheon are so familiar: — '' A ux grands homines la patrie reconnaissante." If he, in spite of monarchical principles, had gained such a hold on his fellow- countrymen, who can say what his loss meant to the Crown ? "I take with me," he himself said, " the weeds of the Monarchy ; after my death the different parties will quarrel over her rags." ^ As yet few imagined that very soon there would not ev^en be rags to quarrel over. ^ Histoire de la Revolution francaise par deux amis, vol. vi. p. 49. CHAPTER XVII. THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. I F one reflects for a moment on what France had accompHshed in a shigle year, one cannot wonder at the exaggerated sense of achievement to which the Fete dc la Federation gave so brilHant an expression. In a year France had reconstituted her government, her church, her courts of justice and her municipalities. She had created an electoral system, had abolished privilege, feudal rights, and lettres de cachet, and had removed religious disabilities ; she had swept away old land-marks and set up new boundaries, had instituted liberty of the press, juries in criminal courts, and a new fiscal system ; she had adopted MEUAL STRUCK IN 1791. 282 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. new national colours, and even given her king a new title. But with the Fete de la Federation the first glory of the Revolution passed away. Liberty was secure ; but " liberty," as Necker said in March 1790, "is not our only aim, order and steady government, revenues established on a satisfactory basis, are also necessary for the prosperity of a nation." ^ These things had not yet been attained. Liberty had been won too quickly, too easily, to carry with it either order, steady government, or satisfactory finance. In the second year of liberty France had time to realise the sources of division which lay hidden under the great measures achieved in the first. She knew they were there, and had hoped that the fete of July by magic touch would heal them. But the magic and the fete faded together, while the divisions remained, and grew apace. The high hopes of July received a first rude shock from a rebellion which broke out in August in the three regiments — the Chateau-vieux, Swiss, and the regiment dn roi and mestre du camp, French troops — then in garrison at Nancy. The spirit of insubordination abroad among the troops was fostered by clubs which had sprung up in most regiments — clubs at which soldiers and non-com- ^ Arch, pari., vol. xii. p. 57, Mcmoire szir Us finances. THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. 283 missioned officers " having dwelt with effusion on their own rights proceeded to question those of their superiors." ^ On August 2nd a breach of discipline occurred in the regiment du roi, and on the 6th the National Assembly put down all military clubs whatsoever. At the same time it enjoined just behaviour on the part of the officers, and appointed inspectors to examine into the regimental accounts and the pay due to the men." A fortnight later, on August 23rd, M. de Malseigne, one of the new inspectors, arrived at Nancy and began his work with the accounts of the Chateau-vieux. Presently a difference arose ; it was followed by an insult to the inspector, an attempt to take him prisoner, and, a few days later by his escape from the town. The Swiss, angry and excited by a rumour that the Austrians and the English were on the frontiers and that Malseigne was among them, followed him to Luneville, where a detachment of Carabineers under his orders, charged and dispersed the pursuers, killing several of their number. At this the whole garrison rushed to arms to avenge the death of their comrades. The lower classes in Nancy sided with the soldiers, ^ Mortimer-Ternaux, Histoire de la Tertriir, vol. i. p. 53. See also, though too favourable to insurgents, RdvoliUions de Paris, Prudhomme, Nos. 60 seq. '^ Dt'crel die 6 aoi'it 1790. 284 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. and for some days both town and garrison were in open revolt. The Marquis de Bouille, commander of the mili- tary district in which Nancy lay, acting on instruc- tions from the National Assembly thereupon advanced to Nancy, and by the afternoon of August 31st was at its o-ates. He demanded the instant release of Malseigne and of the commandant Denoue, held prisoners by the men, and the immediate evacuation of the town by the offending garrison. The French regiments obeyed, but the Swiss, backed by the mob, took up their post at one of the city gates, and when summoned to surrender fired on the Metz National Guard which acted as advance-guard of Bouille's troops. Bouille's men returned the fire. The gate was stormed and a furious fight began, which lasted for three hours. At seven o'clock the insurgents laid down their arms and asked for peace; the Chateau-vieux were almost all killed, wounded or taken prisoners. But forty officers and four hundred among Bouille's troops had fallen, and the punishment which followed the rebellion was severe. A court-martial was held, nine of the ring-leaders were shot and forty sent to the galleys for thirty years.^ Of these forty we shall hear again. No sooner was order restored at Nancy than the ^See Archiv. pari., vol. xviii. p. 524. Letter from Bouille to the Assembly, and Mortimer-Ternaux, vol. i. p. 57. THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. 285 spirit of revolt broke out in the navy. On August 2 1st the Assembly had voted a decree determining the punishments to be awarded for offences in the navy. The new code was supposed to be more in consonance with the Rights of Man than the regu- lations of the old regime, but the sailors were dissatisfied. Freedom they said had been promised, and instead of freedom a code was imposed on them fit only for negroes, and leaving their ships, fifteen hundred of the men took their complaints to the municipality of Brest, refusing to work until the law was altered. The Assembly remained firm, but it sent commissioners to Brest, and on their recommenda- tion modified one or two of the regulations. It also decreed the use of the tri-coloured flag,^ and by the end of October quiet was restored. But " the spirit of sedition which," says Lord Gower, English Ambassador at Paris, " clogs the wheels of the government in every part of France,"" had received but too ample illustration in this autumn of 1790. And while the spirit of sedition was rife among the forces, a sense of lawlessness continued to per- vade the people. This unfortunately was increased by the reforms which the Assembly was then making in the administration of justice. These reforms were based on theory and left custom, precedent ' See pp. 146 and 274, -Browning, O., Despatches of Lord Goiver, p. 33. 286 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. and experience out of account. Trial by jury, for example, instituted in criminal courts by a decree of April 1790, was entirely foreign to old French methods ; and the men called upon to serve on the juries were as unaccustomed to weigh evidence as the judges were to guide them to a correct verdict. For the old judge-ships were themselves swept away. Judges could no longer buy or inherit their posts, or hold them undisturbed for life ; appoint- ments were made by popular election for a term of six years, and the only qualifications necessary were those of having been a judge or having practised law in court for five, and of being thirty years of age. So obvious were the defects of such a system that an assessor, appointed for life by the king, was provided for each court.^ And not only were the laws sweeping in character, but the Assembly was precipitate in introducing them. A change which replaced one system by another could not be effected without great inter- ruption in the work of the courts, and consequent delay of justice. It took time for men to accustom themselves to new tribunals, and it was long before these assumed the authority of the old ; it took time also for the judges, advocates and procurators to learn the new forms, and yet the Assembly abolished the old Courts of Justice before the new were ready 1 Di'creis dii jo avril et du 16 aoiit lygo, sur les jiirds et F organisation dii poiivoir jiidiciaire. THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. 287 for work. In February 1790 it had suspended the parlements, but had allowed their chanibrcs dc vacation to dispense justice until the inauguration of the new system. That time was hardly come when it ordered the total suppression of the parle- ments, and on the 30th of September every Palais de Justice in France, except that of Paris, was closed. A fortnight later, on October 15 th, the building that had controlled every organisation in the capital, that had seen the registration of every edict published in France, in which parlements had defied kings, and kings had over-borne the strongest in the land, was closed at the bidding and in the presence of a popularly-elected Mayor of Paris. Truly times had changed ! So much for order and steady government ; nor was the state of finance any better. On the 2 1st of July 1790 Necker, at the request of the National Assembly, sent in a statement of accounts for the year beginning May ist, 1789, and ending April 30th, 1790. He sent it with a protest against the short time allowed in which to prepare it, and with many assurances of fidelity. But it was not a pleasant report to present. Out of over eight hundred millions of revenue, onl}- about three hundred and fifty came from taxation. The rest was made up of anticipations of the revenue of the coming year, of advances by the Caissc d'Es- 288 FROM THE iMONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. compte, of money subscribed to the loans of 1789, and of patriotic contributions. His report showed that the normal expenses of the year had exceeded the normal receipts by one hundred and sixty millions of livres ; that is to say, in the year that had passed since the opening of the States-General the deficit had trebled.^ For this neither Necker nor the National Assembly was altogether to blame. Fresh expenses had been heavy and the raising of taxes exceedingly difficult, partly because the municipalities in their first pride of popularity did not always support the tax collectors. Necker, however, was blamed. His report was received in silence and sent to the coniite des finances for examination. He was accused of never furnishing documents, and of leaving the nation in doubt as to the real amount of the debt ; '' What," exclaimed the Abbe Maury, " would England think if William Pitt maintained as great reticence and obscurity in his budget ? " "^ To meet the difficulties of the moment the comite des finances proposed advances by the Caisse cf Esconipte amount- ing to 80 million francs for August and September and proposed also a fresh issue of assignats. To ^Archives pari., vol. xvii. p. 249 seq.; also Gomel, C, Histoire jinanciere de Passe inblee constiiiia>tte, vol. i. p. 231 scq., and the excellent chapters on Finance in the Cambridge History of the French Eevoltition. ^ Archives parlementaires, vol. xvii. p. 326. O So Si ^ THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. 289 this fresh issue Necker objected, and because he objected Mirabeau and others urged the proposal the more, hoping thereby to force his resignation. At the same time the action of the government in the affair of Nancy had rendered the ministers unpopular, and a Paris mob on September 2nd collected in the gardens of the Tuileries, crying " a bas les niinistres, a moi-t Bouilley Beset alike by the Assembly and the populace, Necker lost courage, and on September 3rd wrote to the Presi- dent of the Assembly intimating his resignation.^ The letter was listened to with indifference, and Necker, who, little more than a year before, had been welcomed back to Paris as if he were a god, now left without any expression of regret. " His resignation," said Lord Gower, " has pleased all parties." '- " History," says M. Gomel, " offers few examples of a fall so complete." ■' And yet it was not altogether strange. Necker had never enjoyed the full confidence of the Assembly, for he had disappointed the Third Estate from the very first, and he was no longer a symbol to the people, who had transferred their allegiance from the popular minister to popular clubs. ^ See letter in Archives parlejitentaires, vol. xviii. p. 559. 2 Browning, O., Despatches of Lord Go'ver, p. 31. ^ Gomel, C. , Ilistoirc fi^tancicre, vol. ii. p. 254. II. T 290 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. His resignation left the Assembly free to pursue its own policy in finance. What that policy was, it is impossible here to explain, but it had two marked characteristics — renewed issues of assignats and constant attempts to increase the property it could call national. By the first, the Assembly reduced the value of the assignats and raised the price of gold and silver, making actual coin more and more scarce.^ It therefore impoverished the people, who could not obtain coin and were obliged to accept notes for which they did not receive full value. At the same time, the renewed issues of assignats lowered the value of the national domains on whose sale the Assembly depended for the payment of the deficit. For the Assembly, anxious to pay off the debt as soon as possible, and having, by assignats, given the public the means of buying national property, offered too large a proportion of this at once, thereby producing a glut in the market, and lowering its price. In short, it killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. In the second place, as national property was ^ See Dicret die 29 septeinbre 1790 for conditions of second issue. It limited the assignats in circulation to 1200 million livres, declared the number issued would never exceed the value of the national prope rty, and it promised that the assignats returned to the Caisse de Fext ra- ordinairc would be burned. These conditions were not kept, and a decree of October 8th abolished the interest borne by the first issue of assignats and thus made them into ordinary money. THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. 291 the last resource upon which the State could rely, the Assembly became more and more anxious to increase that resource. Thus, while on the one hand it impoverished the people by its frequent issues of paper money, on the other it impoverished many a noble family, by claiming as national property land alienated from the crown " without consent of the people " years and years before, and held as private property ever since. It looked also with a covetous eye on the goods of emigres, and many a man found his goods confiscated as an hjiigre who was only a non-resident in his parish. Finall}', the Assembly added to religious bitterness and strife by setting its seal on church treasure not absolutely necessary to public worship, by closing more and more monasteries, and by a growing spirit of economy in its treatment of the religietix pensioned by the State. By these methods, in spite of all its efforts and all its good intentions, the Constituent Assembly stirred up strife in the land, impover- ished the people, hampered commerce, and steadily added to the national debt.^ Disquieting as these things were, they were as nothing compared to the divisions brought about by the famous decree of July 1 2th on the ^See Mallet du Pan, quoted by Gomel, Ch., Histoire financiire de VassembUe constituante, vol. ii. p. 571. 292 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. civil constitution of the clergy. No change wrought in the old regime was so painful to Louis XVI. as this. A faithful son of the church he grieved over the decree as a man and a Christian, and cared little for the loss of prestige which it caused him as a sovereign. Yet the loss was great. The king could no longer appoint to the benefices or regulate the affairs of the church ; he was reduced to being its mere nominal head, subject to the will of the people. He could, of course, refuse to sanction the decree, but two days after it was voted Louis had promised " to maintain the Constitution decreed by the Assembly," and if the oath added the proviso " and accepted by the king," the men who heard it, emphasised the first clause and dwelt lightly on the second. Louis was sorely perplexed. On July i6th the Pope had written to him sympathising with his difficulties, but warning him that, if he sanctioned the decree, he would draw the whole nation into error, render France schismatic, and very probably involve her in civil war. The Pope, however, did not formally condemn the civil constitution of the clergy, and Louis' one hope was that he would not. The king therefore wrote to the Holy See protesting his loyalty and submitting for its consideration certain points on which concessions might be made, but THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. 293 before the College of Cardinals gave their decision, the Most Christian King, hardly pressed by his own advisers, had sanctioned the law which hence- forward made the See of Rome a mere phantom of authority to the Church of France.^ The decree was sanctioned at the end of August, but it was not easily put into execution. The pre- lates were firmer than the king. The Bishops of Lyons and of Beauvais quietly disregarded the new arrangements, those of Lisieux and of Dijon refused to do anything until the Pope had spoken. The Bi.shop of Treguier in Brittany declined to recognise the bishops or cures appointed according to the new rules. Chapters, cures, vicars protested ; priests preached against the Assembly, and even condemned as guilty of mortal sin those who acquired church property ; one cure is said to have incited his parishioners to refuse to pay the taxes and even to murder the tax-gatherers, offering himself as leader in these saintly deeds." In striking contrast to such suggestions was the document drawn up on October 30th by the bishops who were deputies to the National As- sembly. In it they examined point by point the changes brought about by the decree of July ^ See Sciout, L., La constitution civile du clerq^, vol. i. p. 286 sec/. "^ Archiv. pari., vol. xxi. p. 3, Rapport des comites rcunis, des rapports, et ecclisiastique, sur Ics protestations des divers t'veqties et chapitres, etc. 294 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. 1 2th, and showed wherein these were opposed to the authorities acknowledged by the CathoHc Church. The Exposition was a noble and moderate statement, and concluded with the expression of an earnest wish to avoid schism and a resolve to take no further action until a deliverance was given by the Holy See.^ All, as we have seen, were not so moderate, and the National Assembly resolved to enforce the law and put dov/n opposition with a strong hand. On the 27th of November it decided that every clergyman holding public office must take the oath within one week of the date of publication of the decree, if in his parish ; within one month, if absent in another part of France ; within two months if out of the country ; or be held as having resigned his office.- Further, any priest who, having refused the oath, insisted on continuing his public functions, who joined with others in opposing a decree sanctioned by the king, or who hindered its execution, would lose his pension and be deprived of civil rights as a disturber of the peace. The clergy, the king, and the Pope, who had not yet spoken, had hoped that somehow an open schism might be prevented, but to all such hopes this decree ^B. M. P., Clergi, R. 353, Exposition des principes sur la constitution du clergi. ^ Ddcret du 27 novembrc, 1 790, sur le sermcnt a preter par tout eccUsiastique fond ion naire public. THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. 295 was the knell. Again the king hesitated to give his sanction. But while he hesitated a dis- turbance arose in Paris and Louis was told that the faubourgs were in danger of rising, " I care not," he replied, " whether they take my life or not, I am tired of it." " Sire," was the answer that touched the keenest sensibilities the king possessed, " it is not your life, but the lives of the clergy that are in danger." Louis yielded and on Decem- ber 26th sanctioned the new decree.^ Next day the Abbe Gregoire and sixty-five priests took the oath; on the 28th Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun, and on the 2nd of January, Gobel, a suffragan bishop, and forty priests followed their example ; in all, about one hundred out of three hundred clerical deputies had by January 3rd con- formed to the decrees. These were fewer than the progressive party in the Assembly had hoped for, and the 4th of January, — the last of the eight days of grace for those clergy who were deputies of the Assembly — opened with no little anxiety. On the evening before, bills had been posted throughout the city declaring that all priests who refused next day to take the oath would be considered disturbers of the peace and prosecuted as such. It was an un- authorised lie but it excited the people, and on the morning of the fourth the galleries and surroundings ^ Sciout, L., La constitution civile du clcrg^, vol. i. 340. 296 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. of the Salle du Manege were crowded with an excited populace. " Every one," says a contem- porary, " was on the tip-toe of expectation, the faithful watched with intense anxiety lest their bishops and pastors should fail them. But no, the bishops, many of them bent by the weight of years and the cares of office, hurried forward to the fatal desk, followed b}^ their faithful clergy, and there bore witness to the faith as it is in Christ." ^ " Ou le serment, ou rindigence, mon cceur pourrais-tu balancer ? Adieu, pour toujours Fopulence, de toi je saurai me passer, La barque sans etre doree, arrive-t-elle moins au port Par le revers, Fame epuree, vole au ciel avec moins d'efFort." ^ Not one bishop that day took the oath. The first called was the Bishop of Agen. " I do not," he said, " regret my position or my fortune, but I should deeply deplore the loss of your esteem. I hope I retain it in signifying my regret that I cannot take the oath you have decreed. ' '^ One by one priests and bishops spoke in the same sense, until at length the sympathies of the spectators were turning to the clergy. It was therefore decided to ask the clergy to take the oath as a body. The Assembly waited in profound silence for a quarter of an hour, and not a single 1 B. M. P., Clergt', F.R. i6l, Histoire du scnneiit. ^B. M. P., L'egUse constitutionnelle, R. 353. ■^Sciout, L., La constitution civile du clergc, vol. ii. p. Ii. THE SECOND YEAR OF LIBERTY. 297 man rose. Then M. de Saint-Aulaire, Bishop of Poitiers, tried to make himself heard : — " I am seventy yesivs old, thirty-five of these j^ears I have spent in an Episcopate during which I have done all the good that was in my power — I will not dishonour my old age. I will not take an oath which " ^ Old man as he was, the end of the sentence was drowned by the tumult of the tribH}ics. The 4th of January was a triumph for the clergy. On the following Sunday the oath was to be taken in the churches by the parish ciircs, after the early or parochial mass, in presence of the faithful and of municipal commissioners. But the result was different. The cures, as we have seen, were more in sympathy with the Revolution than were the upper clergy, and those who took the oath in Paris were about equal in number to those who refused it. Many, however, added to their oath a reservation regarding the civil constitution of the clergy."' One must not too readily condemn the clergy who conformed. At the time of the Revolution, the church of France, and especially its prelacy, was, with many a noble exception, too self-indulgent and apathetic. L'xA.bbe Gregoire complains that the old bishops had grown very careless, that in many ^ Scioul, L. , La co7istitu(ioii civile dit ciergd, vol. ii. p. 3 si'ii the " Plan Routier de la ville ct Faubourg dc Paris," 1774- (1) Tuileries Palace. (2) Site of Salle du Manege. (3) Champs- Elys^es. EASTER, 1791. 305 were supposed to exist. A rumour got abroad that repairs then being made in the castle were but a preparation for the flight of the king, who meant to escape from the Tuileries by the underground passage, and having gained Vincennes fly to the frontier. This rumour once set a-foot, it was easy to persuade the miserable wandering population which took refuge in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine to go to Vincennes and prevent any such design by destroy- ing the fortress, and on February 28th a band of these men went willingly enough to the work of destruction. The National Guard was called out, and Lafayette, hurrying to the scene of action, stopped the " brigands," brought back the ring- leaders to the capital and lodged them in the Conciergerie.^ Meantime news of the riot reached the Tuileries and the king's apartments were suddenly and some- what unaccountably filled by a number of Royalists, who disregarding the National Guard on duty at the palace, insisted that they had come to secure the safety of the king.^ By eight o'clock in the evening nothing had happened and the royalist gentlemen began to leave the palace. Their conduct, however, had excited the suspicion of the National Guard, "^ Rtoohitions dc Fai-is, No. 86, and Mi^moires dc Lafayette, vol. iii. p. 162. - Correspondaiice dc Mine. Elisabeth, Lettre a Madame dc Bonihelles, du 2 mars 1791. II. U 3o6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. who asked that the Royalists might be searched before they left, so as to see whether or no they were contravening orders and carrying arms into the palace. The Royalists refused, but Louis, anxious to prevent a fray, asked them to submit, and several baskets were filled with the daggers and pistols they laid down. Just then Lafa}'ette arrived at the Tuileries. Convinced in his own mind that the riot at Vincennes was a royalist ruse to get him out of the way, and afford a pretext and opportunity for the flight of the king, he harangued the self-constituted protectors, thanked the National Guard and assured them that henceforth no one should have an opportunity of standing between their sovereign and themselves. " A Constitutional king," he declared, " cannot, and indeed does not, wish to be surrounded by any save the soldiers of liberty."^ A month later, — and partly because of this episode of the " poignards," — the Assembly, discussing the question of the residence of public servants, decided that so long as its session lasted, the king must not leave Paris ; and that if at any time he went farther than twenty leagues away, he might be asked to return, and if he did not come back within three months he would forfeit his position as " first 'Tourzel, Mme. de, Meinoires, vol. i. p. 253. Lafayette, Mcmoires, vol. iii. p. 54. EASTER, 1791. 307 public functionary," in other words, lose his crown. The king's relations with the Assembly were, to say the least, strained. Now the point which above all caused Louis' sin- cerity to the Constitution to be questioned was that of the civil constitution of the clergy. He had hesitated to sanction the decree, he was known to dislike any clergyman who had taken the civil oath, and he attended mass only in the chapel of the Louvre, where the clergy, being of his own household, were non -jurors. It is, however, a custom of the Romish Church that every faithful adherent must communicate on Easter day in his parish church. But if the king did so, he must receive the Sacrament at the hands of a constitutional priest. If he did not he laid himself open to the charge of intentional disrespect to the Constitution. Here then was a test by which Paris and the leaders of the Revolution might prove the sincerity of the king. To avoid the dilemma the king and queen made arrangements to pass Easter at Saint-Cloud, where they were accustomed to go from time to time for country air. They did so with the know- ledge and approval of both Bailly and Lafayette.^ But on Monday the 1 8th of April, Paris rose once again and determined the movements of the king. ^ Rocheterie, M. de la, Histoire de Marie-A)itoinette, vol. ii. p. 178. 3o8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. The religious question was just then creating great disturbance in the capital. The law which had installed a conforming clergyman in every parish church did not affect the chapels attached to con- vents, and to these " the faithful " were in the habit of resorting. But the nuns in the Paris convents were not always careful to measure their words when the government was concerned, and on the 9th of April the poissardes of the markets, who from time im- memorial had assumed a certain authority in the city, resolved to visit the convents and correct the offenders. They were accompanied by the usual mob, but it seems to have been the women only who seized, stripped and beat the " sisters " so mercilously and with such contumely that several never re- covered from the shock but died. The municipality did not succeed in stopping the poissardes until hundreds had suffered at their hands, but to prevent a recurrence of such doings it closed the convent chapels henceforth to the public, and thus deprived orthodox catholics of a means of worship.^ This was an infringement of the rights of man, which the Directory of the Department of Paris refused to countenance. By an arrete of April I I th it deprecated in the strongest terms the con- duct of the poissardes, and while confirming the iSciout, L., La constitution civile du ckrgt', vol. ii. p. 213 seq., also B. M. P., L'Jglise constitiitionclle, R. 349. EASTER, 1791. 309 closing of convent chapels, decided that non-juring catholics should have the privilege of opening chapels of their own.' In such circumstances Palm Sunday dawned. That morning the king and queen went as usual to the chapel of the Louvre, but they went in spite of remonstrance from the National Guard, who tried to prevent the king's clergy from saying mass.^ That same morning the " faith- ful" attending their newly-hired chapel of the Theatins were molested by the Paris mob, and in the evening the Cordeliers Club resolved to go next day to the Tuileries and demand a promise from the king to send away his household priests and to attend divine service at his parish church of Saint-Germain I'Auxerrois, on Easter Day.'' But if the king were to obey the Corde- liers he must not leave Paris. Accordingly, when on Monday morning the royal family descended after mass to the carriage waiting to take them to Saint-Cloud, they found the Carrousel filled by a crowd, which for nearly two hours defied every constituted authority in Paris. The king's wish was obvious. He, the queen, their children and sister, with Madame de Tourzel, ^ Sciout, L., La constitution civile du clergc', vol. ii. p. 223. ^ Rocheterie, M. de la, Histoire de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 178. -V(/., p. 178. 3IO FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. the royal governess, entered the carriage, but the grenadiers of the National Guard held the horses' heads and refused to let them move. Lafayette entreated and harangued, Bailly persuaded, but in vain. The Department of Paris sent a deputation to the National Assembly asking it to advise Bailly to use his authority as Mayor, and proclaim martial law, but the troops were almost to a regiment in sympathy with the Revolution and Bailly refused. " The Club of the Cordeliers," says la Rocheterie, " not he, was master of Paris." ^ The scene, humili- ating as it appears, had in it a certain element of triumph for the king and queen, held visably prisoners by the people. "It is remarkable," said Louis to Bailly, " that having restored liberty to the nation I should not myself be free." ^ " It is for you, sir," he said to Lafayette, when in despair the Commandant turned to the king for orders, " to do what you can to carry your Constitution into effect." ^ And when at last the king gave up the undignified contest and the queen, lifting her little son in her arms, swept through the soldiers, they, rendered complacent the moment they had gained their point, shouted " Vive la reine! we will defend you." " We depend upon that," Marie- ^ Rocheterie, M. de la, Histoire de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 179. -Tourzel, Madame de, iMcmoires, vol. i. p. 273. ■" /(/., p. 272. EASTER, 1791. 311 Antoinette replied, " but you must acknowledge that we are not free." ^ This unfortunately was the one point on which the royal family chose to dwell. To Marie- Antoinette at this crisis everything which might prove to Europe that the king and queen were under the compulsion of their subjects was gain. It gave the more reason for remonstrance by the powers, and the better pretext for a future disavow- ing of the Constitution, and on this dreary suicidal path the king lumbered after her. It was the most foolish attitude she could take towards France, for it assumed a relationship between sovereign and sub- ject on which any attempt at real kingship was impossible. Of all the governing bodies in Paris the Directory of the Department of Paris was perhaps the most friendly to the king. It had as its President the Due de la Rochefoucauld, a reformer, though not a democrat, but it counted Talleyrand, the now secular- ised Bishop of Autun, and Danton, fast becoming the great leader of the democratic party, among its members. That same evening the Directory called a special meeting of its Council-General and drew up an address praying the king to dismiss from his service all enemies of the Constitution. The address was probably dictated by a desire to advise the king 1 Rocheteiie, M. de hi, Histoirc de iMaric-Aiitoiinife, vol. ii. p. 180. 312 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. for his own interest. The enemies of liberty, it declared, feared the patriotism of the king, and therefore endeavoured to alarm his conscience. *' Humiliated by decrees which they hated, and concealing their pride under a veil of pretended holiness, they shed hypocritical tears over re- ligion. These, Sire, are the men by whom you are surrounded. It is seen with sorrow that you favour the non-jurors, that your servants are nearly all enemies of the Constitution, and it is feared that these preferences, onl}- too evident, indicate your real feeling." ^ Next day the Municipality drew up an address to the same effect, and the king said farewell one after another to his gentlemen of the bed-chamber, while the queen parted with Madame de Duras, her dame d'honneur, and Madame de Chimay, her dame dn palais'^ tried friends of years' standing. It was in the eyes of the queen another proof " that we are not free." But perhaps the most significant feature in an episode, to which, as Mr. Morse Stephens justly remarks,^ it is impossible to attach too great import- ance, is the concession of the authorities to the will of the people. It was the king versus the people, 1 Schmidt, A., Tableaux de la revolution francaise, vol. i. p. l8, Coiiipte-reiidu dit dt'pa7-tement du 1 8 avril. -Tourzel, Madame de, M^inoires, vol. i. p. 275 seq. Madame de Chimay returned after five weeks' absence. ^Stephens, H. M., History of the French Revolution, vol. i. p. 441. EASTER, I79I- S^3 and the people won. On /\pril 19th the king went to the National Assembly and protested against the proceedings of the day before. He repeated the as- surances of his attachment to the Constitution, and, foreshadowing the position he was afterwards to take up, urged that his personal liberty must not be interfered with, lest the people should imagine the sanction he gave to the laws was given under compulsion. The President of the Assembly replied that disturbance was an inevitable accompaniment to the progress of liberty, and a deputy suggested that the representatives of the nation should provide their sovereign with a passport!^ On the 2 1 St Lafayette, wounded by his power- lessness over the National Guard, resigned his command. In consternation at what they regarded as a national calamity, the forty-eight sections of Paris met. The National Guard promised obedience to their General, sent deputations to him and to the Hotel de Ville, and on Sunday the 24th Lafayette yielded and agreed to remain. The people had had their way on Monday the i8th; they had it again on the 24th. Meantime the king and queen, sorely against theirs, attended mass in the Church of Saint-Germain I'Auxerrois," and no one, General, soldiers, Assembly, Department, ^ Archives parleincntaires, xxv. p. 20I. - Rochelerie, Maxime de la, Histoirc de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 181. 314 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. or Municipality had uttered one word of apology or regret. The Department, it is true, had made an effort, but it was an effort which in the eyes of the Tuileries might very well be translated into an insult. On the afternoon of the 1 8th it had met to discuss the events of the morning, and had decided to convoke the sections, in order to consider whether the king should still be allowed to go to Saint-Cloud or whether he should only be thanked for having given up the project.^ The people were to be called solemnly together, and to decide officially whether the king might be thanked for remaining in his capital or whether he might spend a fortnight in one of his own palaces, not more than an hour's drive from Paris ! But even a message of thanks from his subjects was denied the king. Danton, who was the most influential man in the section of the Theatre- Frangais, maintained that the question did not admit of discussion, and carrying his own section, carried also all the others.^ After this event Louis hesitated n-o longer. Pre- ^ Ami dit roi, du 21 avril 1 791. -Schmidt, A., Tableaux de la n'volution, vol. i. p. 24. The Theatre- Fian9ais in 1791 was the theatre now known as the Odeon, and gave its name to the section. In this section was the old monastery of the Cordeliers from which the district and afterwards the club took its name. EASTER, 1 79 1. 315, parations for flight, as we have seen, had begun as early as November 1790;^ the carriage with its cantiiic to hold eight bottles, its case of cooking utensils, its ample cushions and cumbersome curtains was ordered in December," but it was only after the incident of the poigtiards on February 28th that the route was finally determined. The king and his advisers fixed on Montmedy, a few miles from the Belgian frontier, as his destination, and decided to travel there by Chalons, Sainte-Menehould and Varennes, through the district over which the Marquis de Bouille, an experienced officer and a royalist, had military command. On the pretext of guarding a sum of money, intended to pay the troops under his command, Bouille was to post small detach- ments from picked regiments at each town between Chalons, and Montmedy; these were to await the arrival of the royal family and as soon as the royal carriage passed, close in behind it, thus forming an escort strong enough, if need be, to prevent any interruption to the flight. Once at Montmedy, Austrian troops were near, to whose protection Louis could appeal should his people dis- appoint him and fail to rally round him in response to the Manifesto which would explain his conduct. ^ See p. 276. -See on llight to Varennes. Bimlicnet, Fitite de Louis XVI. a Vareiiius ; Fournel, V., L'ivenement de Varennes; Tourzel, Madame de, Ah'/noires. 3i6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Such was the plan to which the behaviour of the Parisians in the matter of Saint-Cloud set the seal. " Our position," wrote the queen on April 20th to the Comte de Mercy, " is frightful ; we must positively end it by next month, the king wishes it even more than I.' ^ What further delay occurred was caused only by preparation. 1 Rocheterie et Beaucourt, Recueil des lettres aiithentiques de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 234. CHAPTER XIX. THE FLIGHT OF THE KING. ' I ""HE Constitution was nearly finished, the halcyon days of France at length surely about to begin, when at ten o'clock on the morning of June 21st, Paris was startled by the sound of the tocsin at the Hotel de Ville and by three sharp cannon-shots.^ Immediately shops were shut, work forsaken, and men rushed out to find the cause. The king had fled. " My ser- vants," wrote an English lady then resident in Paris, " informed me that '^the king was gone, that there tens no king, and they looked more dead than alive." " " The people," says the A uii du roi, " so P^TIO.M. 1 Revolutions de Paris, No. 102. ^Unpublished letters of Mrs. Edward Slandish, of Standish, VVigan. 3i8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. easily roused, so noisy in their excitement, were quiet with the quietness of consternation. . . . The news fell on the National Assembly like a thunder- bolt," and even the deputies of the Left sat " crushed and silent," ' France without a king was an un- known, almost an unimaginable, quantity. Accordingly, the first impulse was to bring back the king. Startled by the news that Louis was gone, Lafayette hurried to the Tuileries ; on his way he met Bailly, still Mayor of Paris, and Alexandre de Beauharnais, President of the National Assembly. The three officials consulted together. "*' Is the arrest of the king necessary to the public safety ? " asked Lafayette. The two others replied that it was ; " then I take the responsibility upon myself," said the general, and consulting with the municipality, he despatched couriers in every direc- tion to find out what route the king had taken, and to carry messages to " all good citizens, to the effect that the king had been carried off by the enemies of the country" and must be stopped." At once all the authorities in Paris were alert. The heat of party was for the moment forgotten. Right and Left in the Assembly, De- partment and Municipality in the town worked ^ Ami dii roi, dii 20 Jiiin i 791. -Lafayette, Menioires, vol. iii. p. 76, and Archiv. pari., vol. xxvi., p. 361. THE FLIGHT OF THE KING. 319 together for the preservation of public order and of peace. For convenience of consultation with the Assembly the Council-General of the Department took up its quarters for the time in one of the rooms of the Salle du Manege ; the Municipality told off six of its members to carry the arrctcs of the Department to the Hotel de Ville, and two deputies of each section waited there to convey them to their respective comites. To the Hotel de Ville also all decisions of the National Assembly were at once sent, and there proclaimed to the sound of trumpet. By order of the Department travellers were stopped and examined, the gates of Paris closed, and seals set on the doors of the royal apartments at the Tuileries. A guard was set over the powder magazine, the prison authorities were authorised to use force should a riot occur, no groups were allowed to linger in the streets, and the delivery of letters ceased so that the coniite des recherchcs might examine any that looked suspicious. Such prompt measures reassured the people. The shops were reopened, men turned to their neglected work, traffic was resumed in the streets, the citizens looked grave, but no longer alarmed ; after a few hours no stran^jer could have guessed that he looked on a kingdom deserted by its king.^ ^ Histoire de la ri^volution francaise par deux amis, vol. vi. p. loi. 320 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. For that day only the Bourse did no business and the theatres were closed/ And while the Department and the Municipality were busied over the maintenance of public order, the National Assembly was quietly assuming supreme authority. First of all it issued a pro- clamation announcing that it would spend itself night and day in preventing any kind of disorder from arising because of the flight of the king. It then summoned the ministers and requested them in this emergency to assist the Assembly in its deliberations and to transact all necessary business in a room adjoining the Salle des Etats." One by one the ministers arrived, some promptly, but others unwillingly and after considerable delay. Duport du Tertre,-^ Minister of Justice, was among the first to obey the summons and he brought with him news of an important document, the Manifesto left behind by the king to explain his flight, which had been found by a valet and given to M. de Laporte, Intendant of the Civil List. Laporte was sent for, and the Manifesto read. It 1 See contemporary newspapers. ~ Dt'crets du 21 juiit 1791 ; see also Arch. nat. C. 71. '^ M. L. F. Duporl du Tertre, Keeper of Seals from Nov. 21st, 1790, when he succeeded M. de Cice, Archbishop of Bordeaux, was after- wards Minister of Justice, until March 23rd, 1792. By a decree of April 27th, 1 79 1, the title of Keeper of the Seals was changed to that of Minister of Justice. THE FLIGHT OF THE KING. 321 was very long and was written entirely in the king's own hand.^ Louis began by saying that so long as he had any hope that the methods of the National Assembly would conduce to the welfare of France, no personal sacrifice had weighed with him. But instead of good order and prosperity he saw anarchy. He, therefore, having abandoned hope in the Constitution, and having solemnly pro- tested against the decrees he had been forced to sanction, wished to lay his case before France and the world. Louis then reviewed the events which had occurred since the 14th of July 1789, and the sacrifices he himself had made, and concluded this part of his declaration with the words " What then remains to the king but a vain pretence of royalty? " In order to emphasise this admission, the most damaging, from his own point of view, which he could possibly make, the king took up, one by one, the different departments of the government — justice, internal administration, foreign affairs, finance, and showed how in each the executive had become a mere cypher. " Considering," he added, " that in these circumstances it is impossible for the king to work either good or evil, is it surprising that he endeavours to recover freedom of action or that he takes steps to place himself and his ^ For Manifesto .see Arch. pari. vol. xxvii. p. 378. The original in the Arch. nat. occupies 14 folio pages. II. X 322 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. family in security? . . . Frenchmen, and, above all, Parisians," concluded the king, " inhabitants of a town whom the ancestors of His Majesty delighted to call the good town of Paris, beware of the sug- gestions and lies of your false friends, and return to 3^our king ! He will always be your father, your best friend ; with what pleasure will he not forget all personal wrongs and see himself again in your midst, when a modified Constitution which he can freely accept has secured due respect to our holy religion, due regard for the property and status of every individual ; when laws shall no longer be broken with impunity and when liberty shall rest on firm and immoveable bases !" From this Manifesto Marie-Antoinette hoped much. She pictured a humbled Assembly, trem- bling before an offended sovereign, a sovereign who, by the decision and courage shown in leaving his capital, must awe his refractory subjects. Instead of this, the Assembly listened in profound silence as the President read the Manifesto of the king, and then passed it to the comite de constitution for consideration. As comment it instructed Mont- morin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to inform the European Powers that the relations of France with foreign Courts remained unchanged ; it decided that the king's sanction to decrees should be dispensed with, and that decrees could become laws by the THE FLIGHT OP^ THE KING. 323 affixing of the Seal of State and the signature of ministers. Finally, in direct contravention of an order left by the king requiring the Seal to be sent to himself, it formally gave it over to the Minister of Justice to be used by him at the bidding of the National Assembly.^ Next day, refusing Louis even the credit of a concerted plan, it issued a proclamation declaring " that a great crime had been committed, and that the king and royal family had been carried off during the night of the 20th June," and added that in case of the first functionary of the State deserting his post, or being carried away against his will, the representatives of the nation, being reinvested with every power necessary to the safety of the State, have the right to substitute some other authority for that of the king.^ Perhaps no attitude taken by their subjects could have been so disconcerting to the king and queen as this of quietly continuing ordinary routine. One main object of the royal flight was to awaken France to a sense of the royal importance. " The king must astonish his subjects," wrote Marie- Antoinette on the 1st of June to her brother Leo- pold.-^ Alas ! he did astonish his .subjects, but it ^ See Archives parleinentaires, vol. xxvii. p. 378 seq. - Archiv. pari., vol. xxvii. p. 420. ' Rocheterie and Beaucourt, Reciieil aiUheiitiqiie dcs lettres de Marie- Antoinette., vol. ii. p. 246. 324 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. was by finding that the idea of kingship, which had been to France as that of a god, was after all only that of an idol. Louis had fled and nothing happened. The Bourse again shouted its business, the public funds had not fallen in price, the theatres reopened, no Minister resigned, no public business was neglected, the National Assembly proceeded with its task of finishing the Constitution. " The king, until now believed to be an essential part of that Constitution, was found to be so artistically placed therein that he could be removed at will without in any way deranging the mechanism of the machine." ^ " There," said the democrats pointing to the Salle du Manege, " is our king ; Louis XVI. may go where he pleases." - The coup d'etat had miserably failed. Nor did the king and queen even succeed in detaching themselves from the new machine they so much disliked. They were stopped on their way — ^arrested by the Procurator of the Commune of Varennes, a grocer by trade, and kept prisoners in his back parlour until messengers arrived from the National Assembly, ordering a prompt return. It was a terrible anticlimax to the hopes the queen had cherished of the success of her venture. ^ Histoire azithentiqiie, vol. ii. p. 591, a contemporary account of events, considered of historic value. Bib. nat. 2 Id. THE FLIGHT OF THE KING. 325 About ten o'clock on the evening of Wednesday the 22nd, Paris heard the news that the king was arrested at Varennes/ Since the morning of the day before, the National Assembly had held a permanent sitting and some of the tired deputies were leaving the hall when a throng of citizens, crowding the doors, drove them back. They had in their midst a courier almost dead with fatigue who could only gasp the words " the king has been stopped." With difficulty the President secured sufficient quiet to read the message sent from Varennes."- This heard, the crowd dispersed to spread and discuss the news, while the Assembly proceeded at once to issue the necessary directions. No one was to leave Paris that night without express permission of the President of the National Assembly. All letters addressed to members of the royal family, the Comte de Fersen, and others known to be their friends, were to be retained by the authorities. The news brought by the courier was at once communicated to the Department, which gave orders that it should be immediately printed and copies sent to the Hotel de Ville and the committees of the sections.-^ Three members of the Assembly were chosen to meet the king, to ' Schmidt, A., Tableaux, vol. i. p. 42. Proccs-verhal dii dipartement du 22 j'tiin 1 79 1. "^ Histoirc aiithentiijue, \o\. ii. p. 585. ■'Schmidt, vol. i. p. 43 and Archiv. pari., vol. xxvii. p. 426. 326 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. carry him a copy of the proclamation and to accompany him on his return. The delegates chosen were Barnave, a generous if an ardent Constitutionalist ; Petion, self-sufficient and arrogant in his democratic sympathies ; and de la Tour-Mau- bourg, at heart a royalist. With them went Matthieu Dumas, an adjutant-general of the National Guard.^ Next day was the religious holiday of Corpus Christi, or the Fcte-Dieu as it is called in France. A deputation of the National Assembly, escorted by the grenadiers of the National Guard, with Lafayette at their head, attended mass at the Church of Saint-Germain I'Auxerrois, after which the grenadiers returned with the deputies to the Salle du Manege, there to take a new oath of fidelity to the Constitution. It may be remembered that the Assembly had decreed that all soldiers should renew their oath on the 14th of each July." That date was not far off, and because of the king's flight the Assembly on June 22nd proposed to modify the form of the oath. " I swear," ran the new formula, " to employ the arms put into my hands for the defence of the country, and to maintain the Constitution decreed by the Assembly against all its enemies, within and without. I swear to die rather than to suffer the invasion of French territory by ^ Archives pari., vol. xxvii. p. 428. See also CEuvres de Petion for his account of the return. 2 See p. 250. THE FLIGHT OF THE KING. 327 foreign troops and to obey no orders save those given in consequence of the decrees of the National Assembly." ^ This oath, sworn to on the spot by every miHtary deputy in the Salle du Manege, Lafayette thought it well to impose at once on his men, and to take himself in their presence, for patriots whispered that it was strange that the whole royal family should have escaped, and looked askance at the Commandant of the National Guard to whose care France had com- mitted her sovereign.^ Lafayette therefore seized this opportunity of publicly renewing his oath of fidelity. The occasion was the more public because the day was a holiday. The procession of the deputies had attracted atten- tion and was followed by another of the trades — of the bakers, charcoal-burners, market porters, and poissardes, accompanied by a motley mob. These too went to the National Assembly, heard Lafayette protest afresh his ardour for the Constitution, heard the President offer the soldiers the new oath of allegiance, and were witness of the proud bearing of the men, as with head erect and lifted hand they took the oath from which the king's name was now ex- cluded. As they did so, a band seated on empty benches at the back of the hall played Qi ira and the ^ Archives pari., vol. \xvii. p. 409. "^ Kevohitions dc Paris, No. 102. 328 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. citizens identifying themselves, as usual, with the occasion, marched in their turn past the President and took the oath.^ The ministers, the National Assembly, the National Guard, and the Paris mob had agreed that government was possible without a king. On Friday June 24th things went further. Reports came that men with evil intentions were preparing uniforms similar to those of the National Guard with the purpose of getting dangerously near the person of the king when he re-entered Paris ; that the Cordeliers Club had printed and pasted on the streets of Paris its famous declaration, taken at its first sitting after the flight of the king, to the effect " that this club, con- taining as many tyrannicides as members, had sworn to poignard any tyrant who should dare to attack the frontiers, or attempt anything whatsoever against the Constitution." ' More significant still, was a gathering of the people on the Place Vendome, and the signing of a great petition praying the Assembly to decide nothing regarding the fate of the king until the eighty- three departments had been consulted.^ xAt the same time the Societe fraternelle des deux sexes asked that the King of France and " his wife " should be sum- moned to answer for their conduct at the bar of the ^ Histoire authentique, vol ii. p. 6lo, 3.r\n Joitnial Logographique, vol. xxviii. p. 288. "Schmidt, A., Tableaux de /a n'voliciiottfj-an^aise, vol. i. p. 50. "'Aulard, A., Histoire politique, p. 125. VARENNES. X House said to be that of the Procurator Sauce in 7vhich the Royal Family "vas detained. From sketch by Louisa S. MacLchose. THE FLIGHT OF THE KING. 329 Assembly,^ while every section in Paris requested that the royal cortege bringing back the king might not be allowed to pass through the city, as it would block the streets and hinder ordinary business." This then was the outcome of the flight to Montmcdy. Citizens who did not wish to be troubled with their king in the streets ; clubs that openly threatened death to any man that should touch the Constitution for the hope of whose revision Louis had fled from his capital ; Societies who would have handed him over to the will of the people ' Why then did Paris bring back her king ? Why did she not let him go ? First of all because she had to act before she had time to think, because she had not yet learned to do without a king ; but chiefly because his arrest was necessary for the safety of France. The princes were on the frontier, the Alsatians were waiting for a pretext for war. Marie-Antoinette was an Austrian and her brother was Emperor. If Louis crossed the frontier, men expected to see PVance invaded by the foreign powers, demanding that he be reinstated on what terms they chose to impose. Therefore it was, that immediately on hearing of his flight, the Assembly requested M. de Rochambeau, general of the army on the Flanders frontier, to ' Aulard, A., Histoh-c politique, p. 134, (|U()tc(l from L'ai/ii dii roi (Koyaw) dii 2 Jui/iei lyqi. -Schmidt, A., 'J'ablcaiix de la r^voliilion francaise, vol. i. p. 50. 330 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. go at once to the frontiers and see that they were in a proper state of defence ; ' that its couiite militaire inserted the new clause in the military oath, a clause whereby the soldiers of every regiment and every National Guard in France swore to die rather than suffer the invasion of foreign troops ; and that the Department of Paris authorised the committees of all the sections to enroll volunteers for the frontiers, and to open a subscription towards their expenses." The dread of foreign invasion brought back the king. Early on the morning of June 22nd, M. Romoeuf, an officer despatched by Lafayette and the National Assembly, reached Varennes with the Assembly's order to arrest the king. As aide-de-camp to Lafayette, Romoeuf knew the king and queen well, and it was with confusion, grief, and even tears in his eyes, that he handed Louis the packet. " There is no longer a king in France " exclaimed the unfortunate monarch,'^ and at half-past seven re-entered the big berline, and with his family set out on the return journey in obedience to his subjects' will. That dreary, heartless journey back to Paris was a revela- tion to the king. Now at last his eyes were opened to the fact — of which not even the Fete de la Federa- tion had convinced him — that France was indeed 1 Archives parletnentaires, vol. xxvii. 360. -Schmidt, A., Tableaux de la revolution francaise, vol. i. p. 36. ■'Fonrnel, V., L\'vcneiiient de Varennes, p 212. THE FLIGHT OF THE KING. 331 attached to the Constitution. " I own," he said after- wards to Lafayette, " that until these last events I thought you had surrounded me with a set of persons of your own opinion, and that your opinion was not that of France. I discovered during my journey that I was mistaken." ^ Nowhere had the people rallied round the king, everywhere they had put the Con- stitution before the sovereign. At post after post, as he fled from Paris, the soldiers refused to obey orders which they believed opposed to the spirit of the Constitution ; in town after town as he returned, Louis was made to feel what it was to have betrayed his oath. " One does not salute a king in flight," observed a sturdy citizen in the hearing of the king." The attitude of Paris was as significant. The streets were placarded with a notice emanating from the Palais-Royal warning the people that " whoever applauded the king would be beaten, whoever insulted him would be hanged."^ Here and there a royalist citoyenne had put a black ribbon on her cap, here and there a citizen ventured to remove his hat. National Guards sternly ordered the ribbon to be hidden, the hat to be replaced, and when late in the evening of the 25 th the royal carriage entered Paris from the Porte de la Conference, and crossed the Place Louis XV., 1 Lafayette, iMt'vioires, vol. iii. p. 91. "^ Tourzel, Mc'moires, vol. i. p. 343. •* Kochelerie, M. dc la, Histoire de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 229. 332 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. no voice was raised in welcome, and only one solitary deputy among the vast crowd ventured to remove his hat ;- in sullen silence the people let their king pass by. Close behind was another carriage in which sat the heroes of the arrest, Drouet the post- master of Sainte-Menehould, who had first recognised the king, and a few of the people of Varennes. As it passed voices were raised, heads bared, handkerchiefs waved and laurel wreaths presented.- The cry of Vive la nation ! replaced that of Vive le roi I while parading in the near neighbourhood was a band of men armed with lances and carrying a banner on which was painted " To live free or die ; Louis XYI. expatriating himself, no longer exists for us." '^ The impression made by the journey was con- firmed by the return to the Tuileries. Entering their old apartments the king and queen found their desks opened, and their papers removed ; while the gentlemen and ladies who had accompanied them on their journey were put under guard and for- bidden to follow them to their rooms.^ Lafayette, instead, accompanied the king and read to him the orders of the Assembly, The king, queen, and Dauphin were to be strictly guarded ; all concerned ^ Rochelerie, M. de la, Histoire de Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 229. - R(^vohitions de Paris, No. 102. • Histoire aiithentiqice, vol. ii. p. 614. •*Toiuzel, Madame de, iWmoires,\o\. i. p. 346, and Arch, pari., vol. xxvii. p. 517. THE FLIGHT OF THE KING. 333 in the flight, even Louis and Marie-Antoinette, were to be examined, and on this examination would depend the king's future position in the reahn. Until that decision was made the Minister of Justice was to continue to affix the Seal of State to the decrees, and each minister was, in his own department, to carry out the executive. " What," said Lafayette as he concluded, " are your Majesty's orders?" "It seems to me," replied the king, " that I am under yours." ^ 1 Lafayelte, Mdmoircs, vol. iii. p. 85. CHAPTER XX. MONARCHY OR REPUBLIC? I F the fall of the Bastille in July 1789 meant the introduction into France of republican institutions, the flight of the king in June 1 79 1 meant the first open advocacy of a Republic. For months there had been growing up in Paris a °-^^'^°^- republican party, represented in journalism by the A//ii du peuple of Marat, by the Patriate fran^ais of Brissot, by the Revolutions de Paris of Prudhomme, and other journals hardly less well known. This party found its head-quarters in the Cordeliers Club ^ and its leader in Danton ; it 'When the districts were replaced in 1790 by the sections the comitd of the CordeUers district decided not to break up but "to substitute for the word district, which they could no longer retain, that of Cluh des Cordeliers.'^ They ado]:)ted as the .seal of their society the eye, MONARCHY OR REPUBLIC? 335 had the sympathy of the Societes fraternelles^ and of many among the Jacobins, but it was not as yet popular, and was considered the extreme of the Extreme Left or democratic party, by whom it was often disavowed. It had on its side a sense of logical consistency and " only waited some flagrant mistake on the part of royalty to enlighten public opinion." ^ That mistake was made when Louis fled. This then was the opportunity of the Republicans, who lost no time in instructing public opinion. Marat proposed a dictatorship. " There is but one escape," he wrote in the Ami du Peuple of June 22nd, "from the danger to which your leaders have exposed you . . . choose the citizen who has shown the greatest enlightenment, zeal and fidelity, and emhk'in of watchfulness, and they declareil themselves the friends of the rights of man and of the citizen." (Robinet, Daitton, homine cf^tat, p. 73.) The chib did not confine itself, as the district was obliged to do, to inhabitants of the district, and under the direction of Danton, its President, and his friends, out-Jacobined the Jacobins. ^ In the autumn of 1790 a certain M. Dansart, keeper of a boarding- house, gathered together in one of the halls belonging to the Jacobins a few artisans, with their wives and children, who resided in the neigh- bourhood, lie brought in his pocket a single candle, and by its light read and interpreted to his audience the decrees of the Assembly. By-and-by the little gathering grew into a Society and called itseU La Socit'tJ frate?-itelh: Sister societies sprang up both in Paris and in the country, and, open to both men and women, were sometimes called Les Socit!tes fraternelles des deux sexes. See Aulard, La SocitHi des Jacobins, and B. M. P., Club des yacobins, R. 157' '^Aulard, F. A., Histoire politique, p. 113. 336 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. obey him religiously."^ The Rhwlutions de Paris treated kingship as a mere contract. " Louis," it said, " is paid twenty-eight millions annually to execute the sovereign will of the people. It is an engagement from which either party can honourably withdraw. ... If Louis had abdicated he would have been within his rights, and the nation would have had no more to say than a master has whose valet wishes to leave his service." ^ Danton went further and frankly demanded a Republic. On the 22nd of June the Cordeliers Club drew up an address to the National Assembly asking it to abolish the Monarchy, and to set up a Republic in its stead. "In 1789 we were slaves," runs the document, " in 1790 we fancied ourselves free ; now at the end of June 1 79 1 we are free in reality. Legislators! you consecrated the bondage of the French when you declared France a Monarchy, and until Louis XVI. proved himself a traitor and an ingrate we could only blame ourselves for having ruined our own work. But the times have changed, there no longer exists the pretended convention of a people with its king. Louis XVI. has abdicated, hence- forth he is nothing to us unless indeed he becomes our enemy." ^ It goes on to announce the political '^ Ami du peuple, du 22 juin 1791. "^ Revolutions de Paris dti 26 Jiiin 1791. ^ Robinet, Dantoti, komme ddtat, \). 79. MONARCHY OR REPUBLIC? 337 creed of the Cordeliers. " The Society of the Rights of Man beHeves that a nation is self-sufficient, that it can do everything either by itself or by officials removable at its will. It believes that there is no individual in the State whose riches, whose preroga- tives, are such that he should be permitted to corrupt the agents of political administration. It believes that there is no office in the State which ought not to be accessible to every member of the State, and it considers that the more important an office, the shorter should be its tenure by any one person ... it does not conceal its belief that a king — above all an hereditary king — is incompatible with liberty." ^ Such are a few examples of the way in which the Republicans strove to instruct public opinion. But public opinion, if instructed, was not convinced. On the evening of June 22nd a copy of the Cordeliers' address was taken to the Jacobin Club in the hope of receiving its powerful support. But the Jacobins, revolutionary^ as they were, still called themselves constitutional monarchists, and refused even to hear the address read. " Everywhere," says a contem- porary, " in every street, club and cafe, men cry out for a Republic — yet everywhere all hearts cling to a king." " The Republicans therefore ceased for the ■* Robinet, J. F. E., Danion, hom/iie d'Etat, p. 79- ' Voiia ce qii'il fatit faire du 7-01, Bib. nat. L6^^5I37. II Y 338 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. moment to demand a Republic, they wrote pamphlets, gained the open adherence of Condorcet, disciple of the philosophes, and waited their time. Now side by side with these republican manifesta- tions, a reaction in favour of the Monarchy was taking place within the National Assembly itself The men who had at this time the greatest influence in the Assembly were Adrien Duport, Barnave and Charles Lameth ; they were known as the Trium- virate and the saying went that " Duport was the brain, Barnave the tongue, and Charles Lameth the hand." ^ They were leaders of the Left or con- stitutional party as distinguished from the extreme Left or Democrats. They were all young, and had among their followers nobles belonging to ancient families, as well as a large proportion of the Third Estate. To these men the king's flight came as a shock, awakening them to see where France really stood and how near she was to civil war and anarchy. Besides this, Barnave on the return from Varennes had for the first time come intimately in contact with the royal family. " Let Petion and Barnave travel in the royal carriage," said de la Tour-Maubourg, " and learn to be royalists — / am one already." " And Barnave, young, generous and 1 Stephens, H. Morse, History of the French Revolution, vol. i. p. 240. ^ Tourzel, Mme. de, Mimoires, vol. i. p. 330. MONARCHY OR REPUBLIC? 339 enthusiastic, learned his lesson. " Before our flight," wrote Marie-Antoinette to her brother on July the 30th, " the National Assembly was divided into a great number of parties . . . to-day things are much more hopeful. The men who have the greatest influence over public affairs have united, and have openly declared themselves for the king, and in favour of the preservation of the monarchy." ^ One reason of this was the fear of a democracy. The Constitution, despite all the changes it had effected, was not a democratic institution ; it had been built up by a bourgeois Assembly for the bourgeoisie, and by the introduction of the iiuxrc cV argent as an electoral qualification, it had closed the doors of the hall of the National Assembly on many an ardent aspirant. The Constitutionalists therefore were well aware that the deliverances of the Republicans against the Monarchy were directed against them- selves as much as against the king. They had no faith in government by the people, and to prevent so great a calamity they were ready to commit "the unpardonable error of still believing a Monarchy possible " ^ as a part of the Constitution of France. Accordingly, on July 13th, after hearing the 1 Rocheterie et Beaucourt, Kecueil dcs Icttres authentiqucs dc Marie- Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 259. "^ Robinet, J. F. K., Danton, homme d' Etat, p. 'i'^. 340 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. report of the Commissioners appointed to examine into the circumstances of the king's flight, the National Assembly adopted the fiction that Louis had been carried off against his will and was there- fore innocent of treason against the State, and proceeded to consider the conditions under which he should continue to reign. Now although the Jacobins and their followers were not yet ready to demand a Republic they were quite ready to support the Republicans in their desire to have the fate of the king referred directly to the people. When, therefore, the Cordeliers drew up a petition to the National Assembly on July i 2th, asking it to decide nothing until the opinion of the departments was known, the Jacobins discussed the drafting of a petition to the same effect to be sent for signature to all the patriotic societies in France.^ The Assembly, however, refused to listen to the Cordeliers and the Republicans had again to wait. But the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille was at hand, and with it fresh possibilities. Paris was in a restless, excited state, and her populace found relief in flocking out to the Champ de Mars and holding revolutionary demonstrations against the king. They went there on the 14th, and again on the 15th of July, and signed a petition prepared by the Republicans reiterating the request that the 1 Aulard, F. A., Histoire politique, p. 147 seq. MONARCHY OR REPUBLIC? 341 people be consulted regarding the fate of the king.^ With this petition delegates were despatched to the Assembly, followed as usual by a large crowd. The delegates were refused admission to the Salle du Manege on the plea that the decree was already voted and that their petition was objectless. They submitted, but went to the Palais-Royal, — called since June 21st the Palais d'Orleans, — ordered the closine of its music halls and theatres, and covered its walls with placards calling on the " patriots " to draw up a monster petition, sign it next day on the Altar of the Country, and swear never to recognise Louis XVI. as king. " For the first time/' says the Chronique de Paris, " the people were entirely opposed to the opinion of the Assembly." ^ Accordingly, having given due notice of their intention to the Municipality, the petitioners went to the Champ de Mars, where Danton and three others, standing one at each corner of the great Altar read the petition to the crowd. " The undersigned," it ran, " pray the National Assembly, in the name of the Nation to receive the abdication made by Louis XVI. on June 21st of the crown delegated to him, and to provide for his replacement by all con- stitutional means ; and declare that they will never ^ fHstoire authentiquc, vol. ii. p. 641. - See Chronique de Paris du \b juillet 1791. 342 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. recognise Louis XVI. as their king unless the majority of the Nation expresses a wish contrary to theirs." ^ That evening the Assembly voted its second decree to the effect that until the Con- stitution was finished, and accepted in its entirety by the king, Louis should remain under strict sur- veillance, and should continue to abstain from any share in the government. On this the Jacobins decided to withdraw their petition and the Re- publicans, growing obstinate, to present another. On Sunday, the 1 7th of July, the Champ de Mars was again thronged by the Paris populace. A third and last petition, the work of the popular Societies, and inspired, though not signed, by Danton, lay on the Altar of the Country. It prayed the Assembly to annul its decree of the previous evening, to consider the king as having abdicated, and to convoke a new National Assembly which should organise a new executive power."-' So far, from the day when Paris heard that the king had fled, until this Sunday morning, there had been demonstration but no riot ; now, alas ! riot and bloodshed followed. Two men were discovered hidden under the steps of the altar, and the people, instantly imagining a plot to blow up the altar and ■^ Aulard, A., Histoi^-e politique, p. 150. See also Champagneux (Mme. Roland) CEuvres, vol. ii. p. 74. " Avi\2.xd, A., Histoire politique, Y). 152. In the National Archives, Paris, W. 291 seq. are interesting papers on these incidents. MONARCHY OR REPUBLIC? 345 the petitioners who mounted it, dragged out the unfortunates, who were torn to pieces by an unruly group of ruffians. The incident excited the crowd, threats against the National Assembly were heard, and messengers were despatched to warn the Mayor. Bailly, glad, say the revolutionary writers, of any pretext against the Democrats, hoisted the ominous red flag at the Hotel de Ville, and preceded by another flag, accompanied Lafayette and the National Guard to the Champ de Mars. The flag was waved, the proclamation bidding the citizens disperse read three times ; it was not well heard, and those who did hear, laughed.^ It seems to have been im- possible for the people to conceive that the head of their Municipality, or the fellow-citizens who had sworn never to draw arms against a compatriot, unless in direst need, woulc^ execute the law. But the order to fire was given, and though the volley was directed in the air, the people were roused and replied by stones ; then the National Guard fired in earnest, panic followed, and it is said that three hundred citizens lost their lives that day." This unfortunate event made a deep impression on the people, and had a marked influence on the politics of France. Bailly and Lafayette were never ^ Cf. Stephens, II. M., History of the French Revolution, vol. i. p. 463 and Chronique de Paris du i2>jmllet, which defends Bailly. - Histoire authcntique, vol. ii. p. 644, see also Archiv. pari., vol. xxviii. p. 389. 344 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. forgiven ; Barnave, Duport, the Lameths were de- throned, and Danton, Petion and Robespierre became the popular heroes ; France was no longer divided between Monarchists and Constitutionalists, but between Constitutionalists and Democrats. The Left became virtually the Right. It was then that the Constitutional members of the Jacobin Club broke off and joined the more moderate Feuillants,^ strengthening the Democrats by leaving the Jacobins free to go all lengths, and giving names to the two great parties which were now to govern France But for the moment the republican party was crushed. Danton fled to England, Marat and the more violent leaders hid. The ordinary citizens and especially those of the provinces believed that the petitioners of July 17th were assassins in disguise. There was a royalist reaction ; Marie-Antoinette wrote hopefully to her brother, and the National Assembly hurried on to the completion of its work. On the 5 th of August the coviite de constihition reported that its work was finished, and the Act ready for final revision. On Sunday the 7th the red flag which had floated over the Hotel de Ville since the 17th of July was hauled down, and a white one hoisted in its stead in recognition that the ^The Feuillant Club existed as La Socicte des amis de la patrie, and met in a hall of the Feuillant monastery from May 1 791, when it officially notified its existence to the Mayor (B. M. P., R. 157). t« Q « D .5 ^ -c: 1 ^ i , -^ N 1. 1, <: 1 • CC =5 ^ > f ^ J-T K h 5 1 .\ . I79l> also Chronique de Paris dti 19 septevibre 1 791, p. 308. 350 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. institutions, and one like France subjected for centuries to central administration, was disregarded. The government was weakened by the powers conferred on inexperienced local bodies, while the idea of equality was exalted to the detriment of the greater idea of reverence, and religion herself was made subservient to politics. Even at the moment, the Constitution had its critics ; and Barnave, with prophetic voice, declared that it touched the line where equality coincides with invasion of the rights of property, and liberty with the abolition of the Monarchy.-^ Not in thirty years, but in one year and three days, the Con- stitution was set aside, and the first Republic proclaimed. 1 Histoire atitlieiitiqtic, vol. ii. p. 789. CHAPTER XXI. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY T HE completion of the Constitution marks another stage in the history of the French Revolution. We have followed step by step the struggle which abolished the bulwarks of the old regime. We have seen the Three Orders of the realm, privilege, the hierarchy of the church, vested rights and territorial divisions totter and fall like Dagon before the ark which held the Tables of the Law. " The National Assembly," runs the preamble to the Act of Constitution, " wishing to establish the French Constitution on the principles which it has just acknowledged and declared " (in the Declara- tion of Rights) " abolishes irrevocably the institutions which injured liberty and equality of rights." LEOl'OLD II. 352 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. " There are no longer either nobility, peerage, hereditary distinctions, distinctions of orders, feudal rule, patrimonial justices, or titles and prerogatives derived from these ; there is no longer any order of chivalry, or any decoration for which proofs of nobility are required ; there is no longer any superiorit}' but that conferred by the exercise of public functions. There is no longer sale of, or hereditary right to, any public office. There no longer exists, either for any part of the nation or for any individual, any privilege or exception to the common law of all the French. There are no longer jurandes or corporations of professions, arts or trades. The law no longer recognises religious vows, or any other obligation contrary to natural rights or to the Constitution." ^ Again, " all taxes shall be equally divided, all offences shall receive the same punishment without respect of persons." " Property set apart for the expenses of public worship and for any public service belongs to the nation and is for all time at its disposal." " With privilege abolished and civil rights attained, with national property at the disposal of the As- sembly, and one system of laws over the whole of ^ Constitution fraiicaise, p. 9. "^ Id., p. II, Dispositions foiidanu7itales garan ties par la Constitution. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 353 France it would seem that the bourgeoisie had nothing left to fight for, and the uianant little to desire, " O people of France, and citizens of Paris, you who are always great and strong in times of difficulty, generous brothers, and you citoyennes vir- tuous and learned, who exercise in these tribunes the gentlest of influences (i"zV), behold the pledge of peace which the legislature gives you ! " ^ Thus spoke the orator who greeted the Constitutional Act, when with great ceremony it was brought into the Salle du Manege on October 4th and received by the deputies standing and uncovered.^ But the Constituent Assembly had not left behind it a pledge of peace. The history of the year which elapsed between the king's acceptance of the Con- stitution and the fall of the Monarchy is one marked by bitter party strife within the Assembly, by struggle between the different authorities in Paris, by life and death conflict between the clubs and by war between France and the European powers. It was a struggle against which the Crown was help- less and to which it finally succumbed. The Constitution completed, the Constituent Assembly dissolved, to be succeeded on October ist 1 79 1 by the Second or Legislative Assembly, so- called because its task w^as confined to that of legislation. "^ Le Logographe dii 5 oct. 1791. "^ Id. II. Z 354 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Now before the first Assembly broke up, it decreed that no one of its members should sit in the Legis- lative Assembly, thereby depriving the country of the experience gained in the Constituent Assembly. This was the more mischievous because the task of the Legislative Assembly was less inspiring than that of its predecessor. There were no great re- forms to effect, no great principles to fight for, little to induce men to sacrifice ease or wealth, while the tradition of politics, and the sense of duty which tradition brings, could hardly yet exist in France. The best men available were not attracted, and the new deputies were mostly lawyers and journalists, chosen often from the administrative bodies of de- partments and districts, and very many of them young. At the same time, while the self-denying ordinance of the Constituent Assembly deprived France of experienced legislators, it contributed to party strife by adding to the importance of the clubs. For, self- expelled from the Assembly, the most powerful among the original deputies remained in Paris, and as members of the Feuillant or Jacobin Clubs, influenced and incited their respective parties in the Salle du Manege. Thus Barnave, Duport and the Lameths from the Feuillant Club led the Constitutionalists — which were now the Right — while Robespierre and his friends in the Jacobin Club inspired the Left. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 355 The Jacobins had done their best to secure a majority in the new Assembly, but had failed. The majority was Constitutionalist or Feuillant, and with it sat the few Royalist who were deputies in the Legislative Assembly. But although the Left was numerically less than the Right it was the stronger party, and to this several causes contributed. It had a definite aim, was united, and was backed by the resistless force of the Jacobin clubs. The Right, on the contrary, was divided, and had no organisation behind it compar- able in influence to that of the Jacobins.^ The Right wished to maintain the Constitution and to strengthen it in the direction of a stronger executive, but could not agree on details. The Left was at one in desiring carry out the declaration of rights to its logical issue, and was not to be held back by the Constitution — " Above all," wrote the Revolutions de Paris in an article addressed to the new legislators, " do not regard the Constitution as the summit of human wisdom, the one object you have in view is the Revolution."^ And besides a definite aim and a powerful backing the Left ^ In December 1791 the FeuilLinl club ceased lo exist, allhouyh the party survived. It had complained of " paid disturbances " which made deliberation impossible. Petion, then Mayor of Paris, accused it, in his turn, of having enemies to the Constitution among its members ; and the Assembly, incited by him, refused to allow any club to meet in its precincts, of which the Feuillant monastery was a part. Deprived of its meeting-place the club fell lo pieces. See QLuvres de Pt'tion, vol. iv. '^ Ri!voliitions de Paris, No. 117. 356 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. possessed the orators best fitted to win the votes of the four hundred Impartials who formed the Centre, and to sway the opinion of the tribimes. With such names as Vergniaud, Gaudet, Gensonne, and MerHn de Thionville, the Right had none to compare. If then the Left was bound to rule, what was its attitude towards the king? At first one of resigned loyalty, but very soon of active opposition. The Revolutions de Paj^is, in the article just quoted, thus sums up the situation. "Since it has been decided that for some time to come kings are necessary to Society, since our ' holy ' constitution has thus decreed let us have a king, but let us have him for our sakes, not for his. It is for our representatives to keep him in his place, to oblige him to yield to his sovereign, the people, all the homage which until now the nation has had the folly of bestowing on the first of its functionaries."-' In the same spirit members of the Left sought to regulate the manner of receiving the king on his first visit to the Legislative Assembly. " I would fain believe," said Guadet, an advocate from Bordeaux and an " austere Republican," "" " that the French people will always hold in greater reverence the simple chair on which is seated the President of the Representatives of the Nation than the gilded seat on ^ Revolutions de Paris, No. 1 1 7. ^Stephens, H. M., ii. p. 8. See this for interesting biographical details on the members of the Legislative Assembly. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 357 which sits the head of its executive. As to the titles of ' Sire ' and ' Majesty ' I wonder that the National Assembly should think it worth while to deliberate upon them. ' Sire ' belongs to the feudal system which no longer exists, and ' Majesty ' is a term which may only be applied to God or the people."^ For the moment Guadet's speech carried the Assembly and his proposals were decreed, but an immediate reaction caused the decree to be rescinded and the king was received by the Legislative with the same ceremonial as he had been by the Constituent Assembly. From the day that Louis accepted the Constitution of I 79 1, he made up his mind to act in accordance with it. He vetoed certain decrees, it is true, and for the first time in his life he pursued a definite, though secret, policy ; but he had a constitutional right to do the first, and he was careful, as he believed, to keep the second within constitutional limits. It might even be contended that the last year of his reign was that in which Louis XVI. was most nearly a king. But events had now gone beyond any control Louis was capable of exercising. His mind was very slow, and his will was weak. He only dis- covered that France truly loved the Constitution when his flight from Paris revealed to France that her king ^ See Archiv. parL, vol. \xxiv. p. Si seq., St'ance du ^ oci. I 791, for this and other speeches. 358 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. did not ; and he only began to exercise the veto when his people had ceased to trust his intentions as well as his power to carry them into effect. Had the king been at one with the great mass of his people, the power of the Jacobins must have been curbed. During the first period of the Revolution, that is, so long as the framing of the Constitution was in progress, France had been free to fight her battle for liberty with but little disturbance from foreign politics. Indeed, as has been well said, " the men of 1789 were concerned with humanity as a whole and despised the details of international relations." ^ But as the Revolution grew in strength it wounded European susceptibilities more and more deeply. Its attitude towards the Church alarmed good Catholics. Its determination to recover Avig- non, — which since the 14th century had been under the rule of the Popes, — its quarrel with the German Princes, its sympathy with the Belgian insurrection, were gradually making it a menace to the peace of Europe, and to consult on these and other matters the king of Prussia invited Leopold of Austria to meet him in the summer of 1791 at Pillnitz, in Saxony." Before the meeting at Pillnitz took place, news 1 Bourgoing, Histoh-e diplomatique de l' Europe pendant la revolution francaise, vol. i. p. I 53. See Sorel, A., L" Europe et la revolution francaise, vol. ii., and chap, xi. of the Ca/nhridge History, vol. viii. The French Revolution. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 359 came from Paris which stirred the Emperor as no pleading from the Tuileries had done. The king and queen had fled, had been arrested and brought back prisoners to their capital. At once Leopold wrote to England, Russia, Prussia, Spain, the two Sicilies and Sardinia representing the Revolution as anarchy from which Europe had a right to preserv-e herself, and proposing a Conference, but he did not write to Sweden or Coblentz. The demands to be made by the Conference were somewhat high-handed. France was to cease arming, to repress the Revolu- tion, to restore order, to re-establish feudal rights in Alsace, and to indemnify the German princes ; to restore Avignon to the Holy See, to guarantee monarchical government and the liberty and safety of the king. If these things were refused, the powers would recall their agents, cease all com- mercial and personal communications with France and call out their troops.^ Meantime, the French princes, left out of count by the Emperor, were taking council at Aix-la- Chapelle with Gustave of Sweden. The events of June had materially strengthened their position. Now, at last, they had a clear cassis belli, and one which the Emperor himself acknowledged, while the very fact that the king was a captive gave the emigres a freer hand. They talked of Louis as a dethroned, ' Sorel, A., U Europe et la revolution frani;aise, vol. ii. pp. 232-235. 36o FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. imprisoned, powerless sovereign whom they were no longer bound to obey, and they proposed a programme by which Monsieur, as Regent, should announce to France a European coalition, which should refuse to acknowledge the decrees of the Assembly or the forced sanctions of the king, and in case of any attempt on the king's person, should punish those concerned with the utmost penalties, and Paris with extermination.^ Having determined on their policy the princes next endeavoured to secure the support of Austria, and for this purpose Artois obtained from Leopold an unwilling consent to his appearing at the Pillnitz Conference." It was on the 25th of August that Leopold of Austria and Frederick-William of Prussia met at the Castle of Pillnitz. There Artois, intent on in- ducing the two sovereigns to make some definite engagement, from which they could not recede, asked for their sanction to the programme of the emigres. This demand the sovereigns refused. Two months had passed since Varennes, and Leopold knew that the king meant to accept the Constitution. But he wished to silence Artois and the emigres, and accordingly on August 27th signed a declara- ^ Geffroy, A., Gustave III. et la cour dc France, vol. ii. p. 1 68 seq., and Sorel, V Europe et la revolution p-ancaise, vol. ii. p. 219. "^ Id., vol. ii. p. 252 seq. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 361 tion with Prussia alone. " Having heard the re- presentations of Monsieur and of the Comte d'Artois," runs the document, " their Majesties of Austria and Prussia believe the situation of Louis XVI. to be an object of common interest to all the sovereigns of Europe. Their Majesties hope the Powers will recognise this and will not refuse to act conjointly with their Majesties ... in restoring the king of France to a position from which he can in perfect liberty establish the basis of a monarchical government suitable alike to the rights of the sovereign, and to the well-being of France ; in which case the Emperor and the King of Prussia will act promptly, and will give such orders to the forces as are necessary." ^ Guarded as was the declaration of Pillnitz — for the Emperor and king committed themselves to nothing unless the other Powers agreed — it was con- sidered by many as a serious threat against the Revolution. " They sa}' here," wrote the queen on September 12th, "that in the Declaration signed at Pillnitz the two Powers have pledged themselves to prevent the P^rench Constitution from being established. There are certainl}^ points," she adds, " on which the Powers have a right to speak, but every nation is its own master to adopt what in- ternal laws it thinks fit. The sovereigns have done 1 See Manifesto quoted in Moiiiteur, vol. ix. p. 733. 362 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. wrong to ignore this, and every one will attribute their action to the influences of the princes." ^ Now, to have the Declaration imputed to their influence was exactly what the princes wished, and was also exactly what was most fatal to the king. In this same month of September, Marie-Antoinette sent a long memorandum to Leopold, suggesting the line of action by which alone, he and the Powers could render effectual aid to the king. To civil war the king continued determinedly opposed, and a foreign invasion would, she asserts, bring civil war, " and rather than such a calamity Louis would sacrifice crown and life itself." But the question whether France should be a Monarchy or a Republic could not be indifferent to Europe, nor could the large addition made to the fighting forces of France by the institution of the National Guard ; nor could Europe see without uneasiness the spreading of revolutionary principles. To protest against these things let a Congress, composed of representatives of the Powers and backed by a formidable show of force, demand a faithful execution of treaties exist- ing between France and other countries ; let it insist that Frenchmen who try to incite rebellion abroad shall be given up to justice, and that the Powers refuse to recognise the tricolour flag wherever it is a sign of ^ Rocheterie et Beaucouit, Reciieil des lettres authentiques de Marie- Aiitoiiiette, vol. ii. p. 305. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 363 sedition. At the same time let the Congress clearly state that it has no wish to interfere in anything which does not concern the relation of France to other nations, but in such matters let it insist on treating with the king and with him alone. This, urged the queen, would restore the king to his proper position and would give his faithful subjects an opportunity of supporting his claim to be again a governing power in France.^ To this plan, with slight modifications, Louis and Marie-Antoinette steadily adhered. But the only chance of its being useful to them depended on France believing that the Powers acted on their own initiative and that the Congress had not been suggested b}- the Tuileries. This chance the princes did all in their power to destroy. Writing to Louis on September loth, they told him that " if he signed a Constitution which he in his heart rejected, they would in the most solemn manner protest before all the world against his act. It mattered not whether he expressly forbade their doing so. No order would prevent their taking the course their conscience dictated, for they obeyed the true commands of their sove- reign in disobeying his extorted prohibition." " A few days later, Conde, addressing the officers of his camp, declared that the princes would not ^ Recueil des lettres authentupies de Alarie-Aiitoiiicttc, vol. ii. p. 284. "^ Moniteitr dii 23 sep. 1791 gives the princes' letter in full. 364 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. return to France except on the condition of the re-establishment of the nobility and of all its pre- rogatives. They did not ask for the old regime, but they asked that the king should resume his old authority, the Church her first splendour, and that the Assembly should consist of two Chambers.^ Meantime, by Louis' acceptance of the Constitu- tion, the Emperor held himself relieved from responsibility concerning France. He therefore formally recognised the Constitution and wrote to all the Powers whom he had invited to the Congress, saying that in the present circumstances there was no immediate need of their meeting. But the Declaration of Pellnitz had been made and the princes had spoken in no uncertain tone, and neither those who were content to preserve and modify what the Revolution had gained nor those who were intent on its gaining more, could afford to disregard foreign politics. Thus it was that the question of peace or war presently became the absorbing question of the Legis- lative Assembly, of the clubs, and people of Paris, and that the external relations of France with Austria and the emigres replaced the making of the Constitution in the minds of men. By the 8th of October the new Assembly had completed its preliminary business, taken its oath ^ Chroniqiic dc Paris dii 24 scp. 1791. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 365 and received the first visit of the king ; on the 20th it began its first great debate on the emigres. Already the king had issued a proclamation inviting the emigres to take advantage of the amnesty of September 13th and return to France, and had written to his brothers praying them to do the same. By thus taking the initiative, Louis hoped to prevent action on the part of the Assembly, but in vain, and on October 31st a decree was voted by which Monsieur was required to return to France or lose his right of regency. On the 9th of November, by a second decree, the emigres as- sembled beyond the frontier, were declared " sus- pect " of plotting against the country and if on the 1st of January 1792 they were still so assembled they would be considered guilty, their property confiscated and they themselves rendered liable to punishment by death. This decree was sent at once to the king and his sanction asked for without delay. Louis re- fused, and the Jacobins pointed a moral. " This act of Royal authority," wrote the Revolutions de Paris on the 12th of November, "destroys all hope of public order and tranquillity, but if we are attacked, let us make light of Louis XVI. and his veto, let us defend ourselves with the courage of those people who are happy enough to have no king."^ "^ Revolutions de Paris, No. 123. 366 PROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. On November 29th the Assembly followed up its decree of November 9th by another which put the king in still greater difficulty. Severe as was the decree against the emigres, it was directed against a definite offence ; that of the 29th was directed against the non-juring priests, whose crime was obedience to conscience. True, some of these men did incite the people against the Revolution, but the decree did not confine itself to such, but made the refusal of the civil oath in itself a poli- tical crime. By it the non-juring priests were offered another opportunity of conforming, failing which they would be deprived of the pension allowed them on losing their cures, and it rendered them liable to be sent from their homes should any disturb- ance arise in their neighbourhood which could be attributed to religion. This was an act of persecution and a political mistake, for it alienated a large body of the people from the Revolution, and it identified the cause of the Catholic Religion with that of the emigres. Henceforth the princes posed as the champions of an oppressed clergy, many of whom took refuge under their standard. Just about this time changes occurred in the ministry which had an important bearing on after events, and further increased the difficulties of the king. At the end of October, Montmorin, THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 367 Minister of Foreign Affairs, who since the death of Mirabeau had lost heart, resigned office, and at the beginning of December, Duportail, Minister of War, followed his example. Montmorin was replaced by de Lessart, already Minister of the Interior, a man with- out great ability, and who, disliked by the Assembly, was quite unable to cope with the difficulties of his post. Very different was Louis de Narbonne, who succeeded to the portfolio of War. One of a set of young nobles who wished to see the Crown recov^er something of its ancient prestige, he believed that a short and brilliant campaign against the emigTes would best conduce to re-establish the discipline of the army and to place the king in a position to intimi- date and master the political clubs whose influence ruled the Assembly. He therefore desired war, while his colleagues, Duport du Tertre, still Minister of Justice, Tarbe, Minister of Finance, Cahier de Gerville, the new Minister of the Interior, and de Lessart wished if possible to preserve peace. Now the debates on the emigres had brought about, or at least had revealed a cleavage in the Left. Agreed that the Revolution must be permitted to work out its own salvation unhampered by conditions from without, the deputies of the Left disagreed as to the best wav of securing their common end. The extreme party among the Jacobins, with Robespierre at their head, wished to see the emigres anni- 368 FROM THE MONARCHY TO TflE REPUBLIC. hilated by severe decrees, and dreaded war lest it should strengthen the executive and so delay the coming of a Republic; the less extreme, known after- wards as the Girondins, preached war as the best method of consolidating the Revolution and of spreading its principles among the nations.^ This party was stronger in the Assembly than the more extreme ; it numbered Brissot, of the Patriote fran(^ais, Vergniaud, Gensonne and Guadet, was backed by strong public opinion and had powerful organs in the press. To this party, though opposed to its tenets, Narbonne found it convenient to ally himself, while the other ministers, with one notable exception, professed themselves Feuillants. The exception was Bertrand de Molleville, appointed Minister of the Marine on October 4th. An ardent Royalist, he was one of the little group of statesmen and diplomatists known as the Austrian Committee. This group was accused by the Jacobins of sacrificing French to Austrian interests, of urging the king to provoke Austria to declare war, and was held up to execra- tion as the source of all the evils which disturbed France. Its leaders were Montmorin, the Comte de Mercy, the Comte de la Marck, and Bertrand de Molleville. That these men did consult together and did try to influence Austria to support the claims of ^ See Petion, Pieces intJressantes pour r/ustoire, vol. iv. p. ii8 note. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 369 a French Monarchy is true, but that they did so from any but patriotic motives seems thoroughly disproved. Whether their patriotism was wise is another question. Such then was the state of affairs in the autumn of 1 791. The cloud of war was gathering, the king's council was divided, and the representatives of the nation were splitting into factions which were to sacrifice national interests to party ends. Tl. 2 A CHAPTER XXII. THE DECLARATION OF WAR. 'T'^HE protection afforded by the German Elec- tors, as has been already said, first gave political importance to Artois, Conde and their followers. It was this same protection which now offered Narbonne and the Girondist party a pretext for war. On ROLAND. ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ November, the same day as that on which the Assembly voted the decree against the non-juring priests, it asked the king to write to the Elector of Treves and insist on his dispersing the emigres congregated on his territory. Determined not to sanction the decree against the priests, Louis was less unwilling to take action against the emigres. He had already warned them THE DECLARATION OF WAR. 371 by a second proclamation that although he refused to sanction the law of November 9th which decreed them traitors, he was resolved " to defend the integrity of the Empire by every means which circumstances require." ^ Accordingly Louis went to the Assembly on December 14th and told it that he had informed the Elector of Treves that unless the emigres were dispersed by January 15 th, France would consider him an enemy. The Elector of Treves at once complied with the demands of France ; the emigres were expelled from his dominions, in the depth of winter, and forced to find what refuge they could. But the action of France had impelled Austria to promise help to the Elector should France continue to threaten him, and it was known, or at least suspected, that the king was urging on Austria an armed Congress which was to mediate between the sovereign and his subjects.- On the 14th of January the Assembly, in wild en- thusiasm, passed a law which made it a crime of lese-nation to take part directly or indirectly in any Congress whose object was to modify the Con- stitution ; in any mediation between the nation and the " rebels," or in any composition with the German Princes holding possessions in Alsace. On the 25th the Assembly went further and decreed ^ Archives parlementaires, vol. xxxv. p. 103. ^SeeSorel, A. H Europe et la Revolution francaise,\o\. ii. p. lAAseq. 372 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. that unless the Emperor by March ist renounced all hostile intentions and acts against the sovereignty and independence of the French nation, it would declare war.^ When the Emperor received official notice of these decrees he is said to have exclaimed, " The French wish for war and they shall have it ; they shall see that Leopold the pacific knows how to wage it, if wage it he must." ^* But while negotia- tions were still pending Leopold the pacific died suddenly at Vienna on March the ist, and before the news could reach the Tuileries fresh trouble had arisen in Paris. On the 9th of March Louis dismissed Narbonne, whose intriguing with the Girondists was objected to by his colleagues, and on the loth de Lessart, accused in his turn by the Assembly of culpable slackness in his negotiations with Austria, was sent for trial to the newly-instituted Supreme Court of Justice at Orleans. At this the other ministers resigned. With the death of Leopold ended all hope of a European Congress, and with the change of ministry all prospect of pacific diplomacy, Francis II., who succeeded his father, had little influence with the Powers, and the new ministry was Girondist.^ ^ Coll. gen. des decrets de Vassentblie legislative. ^Bourgoing, Histoire diplomatique de V Europe, vol. i. p. 451. 3 See on Legislative Assembly and the ministers. Masson, Y ., Le dipartement des affaires ^trangeres pendant la revolution. THE DECLARATION OF WAR. 373 In the discussion on the accusation of de Lessart which took place before the resignation of the ministers, words had been uttered which threatened the queen. " I see," exclaimed Vergniaud, " from this tribune the windows of a palace where perverse counsellors lead astray and deceive our Constitution- given king, where they forge the irons with which they would bind us, and prepare the plots by which they would deliver us to the house of Austria. In olden days terror and consternation have often issued from that palace in the name of despotism, let them enter it to-day in the name of the law. Let all those who dwell there know that by our Constitution the person of the king is alone inviol- able. Let them know that not one head there, proved criminal, shall escape the sword." ^ A report of these words was carried to the palace and Marie-Antoinette understood their import ; hers was the head which, if proved criminal, the Left threatened with the sword. It was therefore prudent to propitiate the Left, and Louis chose his new ministry with this in view. To the Interior, Finance, Justice and the Marine, Louis appointed Roland, Claviere, Duran- thon, and Lacoste. These men were all followers of Brissot, the acknowledged head of the war or Girondist party, but only one of them, Roland " the ' Archiv. pari., vol. xxxix. p. 340. 374 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. virtuous," had any pretension to fame. De Graves, a man without influence and who speedily abandoned a task for which he was unfit, was made Minister of War, and Dumouriez who had earned a reputation both as a general and a diplomatist, became Minister of Foreign Affairs. Of all the ministers that had blessed or cursed France since the beginning of the Revolution, Du- mouriez was the ablest. But he hated Austria, wished to see her alliance with France destroyed, and was bent on attacking her. " I could almost venture to assert that there will not be war unless we declare it,"^ wrote the French Ambassador at the Austrian Court in January 1792, and with Du- mouriez' accession to power his prophecy became a certainty. On the i 8th of March the new Minister of Foreign Affairs wrote a haughty letter to Vienna. Austria replied with equal hauteur. On the 27th, Dumouriez sent his ultimatum ; — France would yield nothing, and required complete satisfaction on the points at issue by April 1 5th. The ultimatum reached Vienna on the 5 th of April, and late in the night of the 14th Dumouriez received the reply. It was a curt refusal, A Council was called, and on the 1 9th Dumouriez went to the Assembly, read the Austrian despatches, and an- nounced a visit of the king next day. On the •* Sorel A, L' Europe et la revolution frani^aise, vol. ii. p. 356. THE DECLARATION OF WAR. 375 morning of the 20th the tribunes of the Salle du Manege were crowded with a more fashionable audience than usual ; at twelve the king arrived and took his place to the left of the President. Dumouriez read the resolution adopted by the Council. Then Louis, with no sign of feeling, with a " mixture of dignity and indifference," ^ rose, and in accordance with the law which reserved to the Assembly the right of declaring war, announced that he considered there was cause for it to do so now. The alliance with Austria was broken. Almost at the same time the French court lost its chivalrous if imprudent supporter— Gustave of Sweden. On the loth of March, Gustave had been stabbed in his capital, and on the 27th he died. " Who knows," said Marie-Antoinette when she heard the news, " that our fate may not be the same ? " ■ while Louis owned to a settled expecta- tion of assassination.'^ Events were indeed pressing hard upon the king and queen, and their one hope — that Austria might succeed in reducing France to a submission — was a very dangerous one. France was wildly excited, even the women asked to be drilled, and it behoved the king's advisers to be ^ Madame de Stael, quoted by Sorel, vol. ii. p. 431. '^Tourzel, Madame de, Mimoires, vol. ii. p. 73. ■' Bertrand de Moleville, M^moires particiiliers, vol. i. p. 219. 376 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. careful. If the king showed sympathy with the invaders, woe betide him ! On one point Louis and his so-called Austrian Committee were clear; if the intervention of Austria^ was to be acceptable to the French people, Austria and her allies must be distinguished from the emigres. Accordingly they proposed to send Mallet du Pan, a Genevese royalist, on a secret mission. He was to persuade the emigres to keep aloof from Austria, and to advise Austria to publish a proclamation declaring that her quarrel was not with France, but only with the "criminal faction," which oppressed king and nation alike ; that all she desired was to restore the king's authority by establishing a mon- archy limited by law, as the king himself wished it to be.- In proposing such a plan, the royal counsellors depended on the sympathy of the large body of men tired of disturbance and contest, who hated the Jacobins, and would welcome, as was believed, a strong but limited monarch}'. They forgot, as M. Sorel puts it, " the boundless optimism of France, they forgot that the French regarded the king as over-borne by his advisers — the queen as hostile, the nobles as implacable, and Austria as an enemy — and they asked the nation to entrust this enemy with 1 Although France had as yet only declared war against Austria, Prussia being an ally of Austria prepared to fight with her. 2 Cf. Bertrand de Moleville, M^inoires particuliers, vol. i. p. 371 and Mallet du Pan, Mhnoires, vol. i. p. 280. THE DECLARATION OF WAR. 377 the founding of a temperate monarchy ; they asked it to have confidence in a monarch whose will and capacity had always fallen short of his best inten- tions ; to choose between men who had on their side the prestige of the Revolution, and the return to power of a discredited government. To admit that the nation would hesitate for a moment between these alternatives was to misunderstand the strength of the Revolution — to misunderstand the history of France."^ France chose war and entered on it with enthu- siasm. The French forces were divided into three armies, that of the north in two divisions under the Marshals Rochambeau and Luckner ; that of the centre under Lafayette, and that of the south under Montesquiou. Before April was over an attack was planned by the northern army on the two Belgian towns of Tournay and Mons, under the command of the two generals Dillon and Biron. Belgium had professed sympathy with the Revolution, was still Austrian territory, and had herself been engaged in rebellion against the Emperor. The war-party be- lieved that French troops had only to cross the frontier for the people to rise and join " the crusade of liberty," for " let our war be against kings,'' said Condorcet, " let it mean peace with their people." '^ ^ Sorel, A., H Europe et la ri!vo!ution fran^aise, vol. ii. \>. 475. "^ Archives parlementaircs, vol. xx.w. p. 103. 378 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. The hope was cruelly disappointed. On the 3rd of May Paris heard that both generals had been completely routed, and next day that Dillon, accused of treachery by his own troops, had been brutally murdered. Belgium did not rise, and the French officers themselves acknowledged that they had been profoundly deceived as to the disposition of the inhabitants of the Low Countries towards France.^ " The truth is," says M. Sorel, " that if the dwellers on the Rhine indulged in bursts of admiration for the Revolution, they had no intention of imitating it." ^ The news of the defeat was a shock, it " stunned even the Jacobins," but it did not shake the deter- mination of the people. Contributions to war ex- penses were brought daily to the National Assembly; gifts from the pupils of private schools, from the young girls of the sections, from the choir-boys of different parishes ; gold watches, spoons and forks, silver buttons, and even knitting needles were laid ■on the altar of the country.^ In the midst of the anxiety which followed the first reverses of the war, de Graves resigned and was replaced by vServan, a Republican, an adherent of Roland, and a hard-working minister. With him came a renewal of energy in the War Office, and for this ■•See Browning, O, Lord Go'va's Despatches, p. i8o seq. ^ Sorel, A, V Europe et la revolution francaise, p. 473. •* Archives parlemetitaires, vol. xliv. p. 5 seq. THE DECLARATION OF WAR. 379 there was abundant need. The army was dis- organised, officers were unwilling to fight for revolutionary principles and the gravity of the task on which France had embarked was becoming daily more apparent. It was Dumouriez' aim to isolate Austria from the other European powers, and to this end he en- deavoured to secure a friendly neutrality, if he could not secure more, on the part of both England and Prussia. But England persevered in a non-committal policy, and the King of Prussia held by his newly- made ally. It was clear that France must soon find herself at war with two enemies instead of one, and by the end of May news came that Austria meant to invade France and march upon the Capital. To all this was added the knowledge that a secret emissary had been sent from the Tuileries to Austria and the French princes, and it was rumoured that on the night of the 22nd May, the king meant to fly a second time from Paris. In vain Louis wrote to the Municipality indig- nantly denying any thought of flight. " You know," he said, " that the rumour is a new and horrible calumny intended to excite the people . . . when France is threatened from within and from without my place is in the capital."^ In vain the Depart- ' One of the printed bills containing this letter is in the Bibliotheque Carnavalet. 38o FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. ment printed and placarded the king's denial. On the 23rd Brissot and Gensonne denounced the plots of the Austrian committee and proposed to send Montmorin for trial to Orleans. On the 29th the Assembly, " considering that an un-citizen like spirit characterises the king's guard, and that the conduct of its officers excites alarm for his safety,"^ decided that it should be disbanded and that a detachment of the National Guard of Paris should perform its service. The decree was voted late at night ; early next morning the king called his Council and told them he meant to refuse his sanction, but no minister would counter-sign his declaration, and Louis yielded." These were not the only measures. On the 26th of May, on the plea of disturbance in the country caused by non-juring clergy, " men who forgot they belonged to their country, and pretended instead that they belonged to God,"^ the Assembly decreed that if twenty " active citizens " of one canton de- manded the exile of a non-juring priest, the Department, unless it could show good reason for its refusal, must order the offender to leave his district within twenty-four hours, his department within ^ Archives parlemeiitaires, vol. xliv. p. 305. -Bertrand de Moleville, Memoii-es particuliers, vol. ii. p. 10. "^ Archives parlementaires, vol. xliii. p. 22. THE DECLARATION OF WAR. 381 three days, and the kingdom within one month, on pain of ten years' imprisonment. Lastly, on June 4th, Servan proposed and on the 8th the Assembly voted that a camp of twenty thousand men should be formed outside the walls of Paris. The third anniversary of the taking of the Bastille was drawing near. There had been no great celebration of the second, for in 1791 men were absorbed by the flight and fate of the king, but this year the Jacobins could lose no opportunity of fostering patriotism. It was therefore proposed that each canton should be asked to send five repre- sentatives of its National Guard to take part in the federation of July, and it was these men whom Servan wished to keep after the/ance in pieces do so to restore the prerogatives they suppose me to have lost, but ^ Archiv. pari., vol. xlv. p. 502. '- Le Logographe, No. 23. 400 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. I am not their accomplice ; I have obeyed the Con- stitution, and have sent my armies to the field. It is true that these armies are too weak, but the Con- stitution does not say what their strength should be ; it is true that when my Generals advanced victoriously on the enemy's territory I ordered them to halt, but the Constitution does not ask me to achieve victories, it actually forbids me to make conquests. ... It is true that I have kept those ministers that held back the progress of the Con- stitution, and sent away those that gave it freer play, but the Constitution has given me entire control over their dismissal, and nowhere has it said that I must give my confidence to patriots. It is true that the counter-revolution is being accomplished, that despotism will reinvest me with its rod of iron — that I shall punish you for having wished to be free, but since I have done all that the Constitution prescribes, since I have done no single act that the Constitution condemns, my fidelity towards it, my zeal in its defence no man may call in question.'"^ Vergniaud followed up this declamation by pro- posing to send a firm, dignified, yet friendly address to the king, praying him to dissociate himself from his evil advisers ; he also moved that the National Assembly declare the country in danger, and the ministers responsible for the invasion of France. 1 Le Logogmphe, No. 23 ; also Roederer, p. 152 seq. THE TRIUMPH OF THE COMMUNE. 401 Now, so far, France had only Austria and the Emigres as her opponents, but on the 6th of July, Louis wrote to the Assembly and announced that he saw with regret another enemy declaring itself, that Prussia was conspiring with Austria — her rival and natural enemy — against the Constitution of France. This was a fresh danger, and a fresh charge against the ministers ; and on the 9th Brissot asked the Assembly to send Chambonas, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to be tried at Orleans for treason. Next day the ministry, in office for less than a month, resigned in a body. ■So far Louis had chosen his ministers more or less with a view to pleasing the National Assembly. He chose his new, which was also his last ministry to please himself The men who composed it were Royalists, they were devoted and conscientious, but they had no influence whatever in the Assembly, and were therefore no real support to the king. A few days later, the king lost the support of the Department of Paris, for on the 7th of July, the Department had suspended Pction and Manuel from office, and thus roused the passions of the capital. It was a question of the Feuillants against the Jacobins, and for several days Paris was in a ferment. "If the Mayor is guilty we all are, and we ask the honour of sharing^ his fate "' ^ said the coj-ps municipal in a ' Rcederer, P. L., Chroniqtie dc ciiiqtiante jours, p. 169. II. 2 C 402 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. petition to the Assembly. Petitions came too from the sections. They prayed the Assembly to dissolve the General Council of the Department ; they even asked that its members be prosecuted for treason. " Citizens," said Petion in a proclamation stuck on the walls of Paris, " I am suspended from my office ! Receive the decision with the calm and self-possession with which I have received it. A superior power will pronounce upon it, and innocence will, I hope, be avenged." ^ Now, though it was for the king to confirm or annul the suspension, the last word lay with the Assembly, and it was the superior power upon whom Petion depended. Louis asked to be altogether relieved from a matter in which he was personally interested. " I demand," cried a deputy, " when he heard the request, that the Assembly pass to the order of the day and compel the executive to do its duty." " The king therefore was forced to take action, and on July 1 3th decided in Council in favour of the Department ; the same day the As- sembly reversed the decision of the king and restored the Mayor to office. The Jacobins had won ; the greater number of the Directory resigned, the Department ceased to be a power in Paris, and the Commune reigned supreme. ^ Rcederer, P. L. , Chroiiiqiie de ci)iquaiite jours, p. 169. ^ Archives parlementaires, vol. xlvi. p. 236. THE TRIUMPH OF THE COMMUNE. 403 Thus Louis XVI. was left to face foreign invasion, internal division, the coming of the feden's, aided only by a royalist ministry and unsupported by a moderate party. Lafayette, Feuillant ministers, the Department of Paris, one by one had failed ; the throne, tottering to its fall, stood alone. There was but one more act in the drama, and that was brought about by the coming of the men who were to take part in the last fete of the summer of 1792, the Fete de la Federation of July 14th. CHAPTER XXIV. ^ ^ THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. r ~ -^X /^^ENTLEMEN," said -^\ Herault de Sechelles, reporter of the comviission extraordinaire and the coniite diplomatique, " for days scarce an orator has ended a speech without the words ' the coun- try is in danger.' But the Assembly dared not decide on so grave a measure, the gravest it has yet adopted, without calm considera- tion, and it is after long and anxious discussion that the Committees have agreed that the time is indeed come to declare ' the country in danger.' " ^ This was on the iith of July, three days before the Fete de la Federation, and the announcement affected the character of '^q fete, or to be more accu- ROBESPIERRE. ^ Archives parle/iientaires, vol. xlvi. p. 335. THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. 405 rate, revealed the motive which had instigated the summoning o^ fe'deres from all parts of the country. " Greeting to the defenders of liberty, to the French of the eighty-three departments ! Citizens, is it because of a mere ceremony that you are come? It is the cry of the ' country in danger ' that has called you. The tyrants of France pretend to make war on their accomplices and allies, only that with their aid they may make war on the French people. Generous citizens, last hope of the country, it is to you that France turns to prevent this. . . . Citizens, the country is in danger, the liberty of the world is at stake, until it is secure, your duty is not done."^ Such was Robespierre's welcome to the men whom Servan had intended to utilise for his camp outside the walls. That camp the king had vetoed, and Terrier de Montciel, who replaced Roland as Minister of the Interior, had ordered the Departments to keep the men at home. But the Assembly decreed that the federes would be useful at the camp at Soissons, and authorised the Commune to find them quarters in Paris until Jul\' i8th, after which, the fete being over, they were supposed to leave Paris and repair to the camp. Their residence in the capital was thus legalised for a certain definite period, during which they received an allowance of thirty sous a-day. But this did not satisfy the Jacobins, for ^ Difenseur de la Constitution, No. 9. 4o6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. they wished to keep the fcderes in Paris, and they therefore organised a comite central des federes which at once entered into relations with several of the most revolutionary of the sections and issued the following instructions : " Arrived at the capital, or en route to it, the fcderes must not allow them- selves to be separated, but must come en masse to Paris, and in spite of orders to the contrary must refuse to go to the camp at Soissons." ^ To prevent their suffering pecuniary loss by out-staying the authorised time the Jacobins offered to entertain them in their own houses, " for," wrote Robespierre, " your presence in Paris alone will be great gain to the public cause ; your union with the patriots which the city contains will disconcert the plots of traitors." " A little later, in an address to their comrades of the eighty-three departments, the federes announced their own intention of remaining in the capital. " Brothers and friends, we heard the cry of the country and we flew to her aid. Before coming we were led to believe that the country's gravest danger was not at the frontiers. What we see confirms us in that belief It is from Paris that the secret council of the king commands the Austrian armies. ... It is at Paris that we must conquer ^ Mortimer-Ternaux, Histoire de la terreur, vol. ii. p. io6. - D^fensenr de la Constitution, No. lo. THE COMING OF THE FEDER&S. 407 or die — this is our post, the scene of our triumph or the place of our tomb." ^ They had not come to take oaths of fidelity, although these were taken ; they had come to deliver France from foreign in- vasion and from the secret advisers of the king. How they were going to do this was not yet clear. Such being the spirit in which \k\& fcdcrcs arrived in Paris, and were welcomed by the Jacobins, we need not be surprised that the actual fete of July 14th pas-sed quietly and was an incident of but slight importance in their eyes. Two things alone gave it significance. Early on the morning of the day, the first stone was laid of the column erected to com- memorate the fall of the Bastille; and later, as the procession on the Champ de Mars passed before the balcony in which the king and royal family waited its arrival, a great shout of " Pctioii, Vive Pction ! " rose from the crowd, while for Louis scarcely a voice was raised. Only the grenadiers escorting the royal carriage back to the Tuileries cried " Vive le roi ! vive la reine ! " " They were all heart and soul," said Madame Elisabeth, "and it did us good."^ The hearts of the royal family sorely needed encouragement. " There is not a day," wrote Montmorin on July 1 3th, " that I do not tremble for the life of the king and queen, nor a night that I ^ Dtffenseur de la Consttttitioit, No. 10. "^ Correspondance de Mmc. Elisabeth, p. 425. 4o8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. do not thank Providence that they still live." Plan.s of flight came from Lafayette, from the Due de Liancourt, from Madame de Stael, but the day for flight was over. The danger was too great, and in any case the king and queen absolutely refused to leave Paris. " Whatever their danger," adds Montmorin, " I believe that they are right." ^ Meantime each day was increasing their peril, for not only was a dangerous element being introduced into the capital, but with the proclamation of the country in (danger, moderate men were leaving it ; order-loving citizens were enrolling for the frontiers, and three regiments of well-affected troops left Paris to join the army. It is impossible here to dwell on the story of the heroic defence of the country undertaken and success- fully achieved by the France of the Revolution. Suffice it to say that historians of all shades of opinion are constrained to pay tribute to the genuine patriotism, the dauntless courage, and the unflinching determina- tion shown by the men of 1792 in face of a foreign enemy. Nor should it be forgotten, however one may condemn the extravagance, self-love and tyrannical proceedings of the Jacobins, that there were among them true-hearted citizens who believed, and not without provocation, that Monarchy as ^ Bacourt, Correspondance entre le comtc de Mirabeaii et le cotnte de la March, vol. iii. p. 325, lettre de Montnioriti a la March. THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. 409 personified in Louis XVI. reduced government to an insoluble problem. Unfortunately, they cared little by what means they inculcated their belief. The Jacobins had triumphed over Lafayette, over the Department of Paris, over the ministers ; but they had still to contend with certain restraining influences. The Legislative Assembly was not prepared to go all lengths— it would not, for example, condemn Lafayette for his offence against the Jacobins without due consideration, and had not yet reported on his case. Nor was the Council- General of the Commune as revolutionary as was its executive, the corps vmnicipal, which had Petion for Mayor, Manuel as Procurator, and Danton as a Procurator-Substitute. The endeavour of the Jacobins, therefore, was to strengthen the Republican party in the Commune. To this end they turned to the sections. These were, as Danton always in- sisted, "the true Commune," and their voice must be obeyed, but they had no legal standing. " Let them be at least organised and have an oppor- tunity of taking united action ; and having this, let the Commune follow at their bidding." Such, if not the language, was clearly the intention of the corps mimicipal when on Jul)- 17th it established a central bureau de correspondajice between the forty- eight sections, gave it a meeting-place in the Hotel de Ville, and appointed Manuel its director. Here 4IO FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. then was a permanent organisation made up of members of the sections, which received the arretes of each section and communicated them to the others ; which corresponded with provincial munici- paHties, took upon itself to form resolutions and in- flict penalties,^ and presently, as we shall see, to oust the legitimate Commune, overpower the Assembly, and overthrow the Monarchy itself. To such power had the sections, successors to the districts — the mere electoral divisions of 1789 — attained, A few days later, on the 22nd and 23rd of July, the formal proclamation that the country was in danger was made in Paris. Over the Hotel de Ville floated a black flag. Hour by hour, from six in the morning till seven at night, cannon fired and drums beat ; official processions promenaded the streets, bearing a tri-colour flag with the printed words, "Citizens, the country is in danger." ^ At every great crossing, and in all the squares, tents were erected on raised amphitheatres, in which sat municipal officers, waiting to enrol volunteers for the frontier, and so numerous were the recruits that the officials could hardly overtake the work they had to do. Many of the federcs hurried to the frontier, but the Jacobins did what they could to prevent the more excitable among them from leaving the ^ Mortimer-Ternaux, Histoire de la terrciir, vol. ii. p. 138 seq. 2 Id., p. 102. THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. 411 capital. " The moment is decisive," they had already said. " Our brothers in arms are here; if they leave without certain great measures having been carried out, all the sacrifices of the Revolution are for nothing, and the country will fall back into slavery."^ On the evening of the 23rd of July a petition was read to the National Assembly, which gave definite expression to what the Jacobins meant by " great measures." " Legislators," said the peti- tion, " Louis XVI. has betrayed the nation, the law and his oaths. The people is Sovereign, you are its representatives, pronounce his dethronement, and France will be saved."' The dethronement of the king was, of course, no new idea ; it had been openly mooted a year before, but the time was not then ripe, and the petitioners who had asked for it had been refused by the Assembly and rudely scattered on the Champ de Mars. Not so now ; petitions to this end were calmly received by the National Assembly, and sent to the coniinission extraoi'dinaire to be reported on, after which a debate on the dethronement of the king was inevitable. As early as July 25th Chabot, an ardent Jacobin, proposed that an inquiry should be held on the con- duct of the king, and asserted at the same time the incontestable right of the people to change the '^Journal des Jacobins, No. 233. '^From the town of Angers; Archiv. pari, vol. \ivii. p. 192. 412 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Constitution. Next day the Assembly proposed to send an address to Louis, praying him for the last time to join with them in defending the Constitution and the throne.^ Little more than three years before a somewhat similar message had been sent from the Third Estate to the clergy and nobles of France. We know how that message ended ; the clergy and nobles sent no reply, and the Third Estate acted alone ; the Jacobins were ready to do so now, and the Commune was ready to help them. Not so the Assembly, which had still a Feuillant majority. Even Brissot, leader of the Girondists, tried to stem the republican flood. In his opinion, the violent dethronement of the king was a last resource, and one which might entail danger to liberty, and he sought to restrain the Republicans from acting precipitately. " If," he said, " there are men who wish to establish a Republic on the ruins of a Constitutional Monarchy, let the sword of the law strike them as it would the supporters of a double Chamber, or the counter- revolutionists of Coblentz." The tribunes and the extreme Left shouted "traitor," "rascal," and the like, but the majority of the deputies approved of the speech.- ^ Archives parlementaires, vol. xlvii. pp. 127 and 159- '^ Id., p. 161, note on Brissot's speech of July 26th, and Morlimer- Ternaux, vol. ii. p. 126. THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. 413 It was, therefore, necessary to force the hand of the representatives, and this the Commune and sections fully recognised. Already, on July 24th, the corps immicipal had invited special commissioners from the sections to meet at the bureau de correspon- dance in the Hotel de Ville, and draw up a petition to the Assembly as to the best way of meeting the dangers which threatened France. The remedy they proposed was the dethronement of the king and the appointment of a provisional government until a National Convention could meet and decide on the form of the future government of France.^ This then was a blow directed against the Assembly, as well as against the king. A week later, one of the most revolutionary of the sections, that of Mauconseil, took a resolution by which it abjured its oath to the king " ten times perjured," and to the law, as represented by an Assembly no longer giving effect to the people's will, and held itself henceforth bound only to the nation. This resolution it printed and posted on the walls of Paris, inviting the forty-seven other sections to accompany it to the Salle du Manege on August 5th and announce its resolution to the deputies." The sections were thus taking it upon themselves ^ Mortimei-Ternaux, Hisioire dc la terreur, vol. ii. pp. 171 seq. and 393, Adresse des sections demandant la d^chdance die roi. '^ Mortimer-Ternaux, Histoire de la terreur, vol. ii. p. 173 seq. 414 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. to dethrone both king and Assembly. It was, however, only a minority of the sections that were willing to support the audacious conduct of Mauconseil, or send commissioners to draw up revolutionary petitions at the Hotel de Ville ; many felt things had gone too far and protested, while the Assembly condemned the resolution of Mauconseil as unconstitutional. Notwithstanding, when August the 5th came, a deputation of the men of Mauconseil appeared in the Salle du Manege and declared their determination to hold to their resolution. The Assembly refused them the honours of the sitting and broke up their seance. Meantime, while the sections discussed in the Hotel de Ville the petition on the dethronement of the king, the comitc central des federes organised a secret Directory of Insurrection, composed of fifteen members and inspired by Danton. On the evening of July 26th a little knot of men, Santerre and Fournier among them, met in the Soleil d'Or, a little cafe opposite the ruins of the Bastille, at the entrance of the Faubourg Saint- Antoine. Now this same evening a fete was being held on the site of the Bastille, and the people feasted late and danced still later. Meantime in the cafe the Directory of Insurrection drew up a plan for attacking the Tuileries early next day. The people were at hand, excited by wine, and easily THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. 415 led, and everything, it was said, could be ready by four in the morning. But Mandat, an able and loyal officer, had re- placed Romainvilliers as Commander of the National Guard. Rumours of an attack on the Tuileries reached him, and six to seven thousand of the Guard were called out, and a message sent to Petion saying what had been done. For that night the Tuileries was safe, and Petion went to the Place de la Bastille, told the conspirators that their plot was known and advised the people to go quietly home.^ The attack, therefore, was postponed, and it was postponed the more readily because day by day the conspirators expected a powerful reinforcement of the federcs ; the contingent from the Bouches- du-Rhone, — the famous Marseillais, — had not yet arrived. On the 28th of June these men had met in the church of Saint-Dominique at Marseilles, had chosen their commanding officers, and had received their equipment from the Department, and from the ladies of the city a magnificent tri-colour flag. On the 2nd of July they had started for Paris, but the roads were bad, and it was only on the evening of Sunday the 29th of July that they reached Char- enton, a little to the east of Paris, and were received by their countrymen Barbaroux and Rebecqui.- ^Mortimer-Teinaux, Histoirc de la terreur, vol. ii. p. \2'] seq. 2 Pollio et Marcel, Le batailloii dii 10 aont, p. 77. 4i6 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. The Marseillais have been held up to something like execration by many historians, but it is unfair to regard them as mere brigands and plunderers. They left their homes and faced an arduous journey in the heat of a southern summer because they believed French liberty was at stake, and if their words were violent and their deeds only less so, they were southerners, and were incited by the Jaco- bins. On the evening on which they left Marseilles they had stood round a " tree of liberty " and had received their instructions from the Jacobin Club. " Go and make the tyrant tremble on a throne he no longer deserves . . . tell him that the Sovereign people is come to sanction the decrees struck dead by his monstrous veto. Swear to live free, and to purge the earth of tyrants, and of the enemies of freedom." ^ The leaders of the republican move- ment expected much from such allies. On the 30th of July the Marseillais were to enter Paris, and it was intended that they should enter in triumph. Forty thousand men from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, led by Santerre, were to meet them ; hundreds of citizen patriots would, it was supposed, join them, the Hotel de Ville was to be suddenly surprised, and the delegates of the sections forced into the place of the legitimate Commune. Petion was to be kept a willing prisoner in the Mairie, 1 Pollio et Marcel, Le bataillon dit 10 aoi'tt, p. 141. THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. 417 the Department against its will to be confined to its Hotel, guns were to be seized, bridges and important posts occupied by armed men, the Tuileries and the Salle du Manege surrounded, and helpless before the numbers and determination of the insurgents, the deputies were to save the state by dethroning its sovereign.^ It was a bloodless revolution that was planned by the Directory 01 the Insurrection and Barbaroux the Marseillais. Events, however, disappointed the conspirators. The forty thousand of Santerre did not appear, the citizens were peaceably inclined, even a little afraid of the Marseillais, and the day of vengeance was turned into one of speeches and of banqueting, ending with a fight between the new-comers and the National Guard. Respectable Paris indeed wished to see the last of the Marseillais ; but the camp at Soissons could not receive them, and they remained in the capital, a serious source of danger, and another voice raised against the king. " We come to make good the oath of the citizens of Marseilles and to fight for liberty. The name of Louis XVI. recalls to us no idea but that of treason. Hasten to pronounce his dethronement a thousand times deserved."' In these words, on August 2nd, ^yioxXxaxQx-TiixViZ.ws.y Histoire de la tei'reit) , p. 146. '^ Mortimer-Ternaux, ^/j/fj/rtr de la terreur, vol. ii. p. 155, quoted rem Logograp/te, vol. xxvi. p. 79. II. 2 1) 41 8 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. the Marseillais officially informed the Assembly of their arrival in Paris. And now, at length, to Paris, heated and excited, came on August 2nd the long expected Manifesto from the Allies, that which Louis had tried to inspire by the mission of Mallet du Pan. On it the king based his last hope, for if wisely worded, he believed it might yet incite a sufficient following to rally to his cause ; it might yet convince his people that he wished only to be relieved of the factions which were preventing the prosperity of France. But if the aim of the Allies had been the destruction, instead of the salvation of the Monarchy, they could not have better worded their Manifesto. They disavowed, it is true, any idea of conquest, but they declared their purpose of re-establishing the legitimate power of the Crown ; they threatened to treat as enemies, and to punish as rebels, any National Guards who fought against the invaders, to destroy by fire and sword the homesteads of those inhabitants of towns or villages who dared to defend themselves, and to give Paris over to total destruction if the Tuileries were invaded or the least violence done to the person of the king. Well may Mortimer-Ternaux speak " of these terrible friends who had obeyed no order, listened to no prayer" of the unfortunate king.^ ^ Mortimer-Ternaux, Histoire de la ten-ettr, vol. ii. p. i66. THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. 419 Louis sent a message to the Assembly with the notice of the Manifesto. " Never," he said, " would he receive the law either at the hands of foreigners or at those of a faction ... to his last breath he would maintain the national independ- ence," ^ but the Left would listen to no asseverations on the part of the king. " What has the king done," they cried, " to stop the plan of counter- revolution ? Nothing. On whose behalf have the foreign courts armed ? On his. What do they ask from us ? To re-establish despotism." " As the Jacobin orator ended his speech Petion entered the hall with the petition for the dethronement of the king drawn up by the commissioners of the sections at the Hotel de Ville. " Louis XVI.,"' it said, " has separated his interests from those of the nation, as he has done so, we do so also. . . . By an act of indulgence, we had wished to ask from you his suspension only so long as the country is in danger, but this would be contrary to the Constitution. Louis XVI. constantly invokes the Constitution ; we also invoke it in our turn, and demand his dethronement." ^ The National Assembly, however, was not willing to be dictated to by the Commune of Paris. It handed the petition to the commission extraordinaire ^ Archives parlementaires, vol. xlvii. p. 423. - Id. , p. 424 scq. ^ /(/. , p. 426. 420 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. without comment and in order to prevent inflam- matory speeches broke up the sitting. Before entering on the question of the dethronement it wished to settle the question of Lafayette, whose crime was that of opposing the Jacobins. If the moderates in the Assembly could score a victory on this head, they hoped to triumph also on the more serious question regarding the king. Accord- ingly the report of the commission on the conduct of Lafayette was fixed for the 8th, and that on the petitions for the dethronement for the 9th of August. Critical as was the situation, despondent as Louis himself was, the Royalists in Paris were still hope- ful. " This day has passed ver)' quietly," wrote Mrs. Standish on July 29th, "and I every day think there is less and less danger for a quiet stranger in Paris. Honest Flandrin dined with me the other day, and told me he expected nothing less than the old regime." " Our political horrors," she adds on August 5th, " one would imagine, had nearly reached their height ; in society we begin to be tired of talking of them ; ... I cannot conceive it possible to be in a more peaceable situation than we are in this very moment, the decheance du roi does not give us the least inquietude." When, therefore, the Assembly by four hundred and six to two hundred and eighty votes found there was no charge against Lafayette, THE COMING OF THE FAD&RAS. 421 Parisian society " hoped that the Assembly would show equal courage on behalf of the best of kings." ^ But this decision of the Assembly was highly unacceptable to the fcddfes and to the sections, and the sitting of the 9th August opened with the reading of letters from deputies, who, because they had voted for Lafayette, had been stoned, threatened with knives, swords and daggers ; and had even been seized and hurried menacingly to the lanterne? At this the Right declared that unless the safety of the deputies was assured dis- cussion was impossible, especially on so grave a matter as the dethronement of the king. It was even proposed to leave Paris and deliberate else- where, for not only were the deputies assailed out- side the Salle du Manege but, " the authority of the Assembly itself was powerless against the tribunes." ^ Thus, in indirect but truly significant fashion the sovereignty of the mob was acknowledged by the representatives of the people. Still more significant was a message from the Minister of Justice, and an admission from Roederer, Procurator-Syndic of the Department. As the Right and Left stormed one ^Letters from Mrs. Standish to licr husband on the 29th of July, and the 5th and 8lh of August 1792. -The posts from which hung the rdverbh-es wliich ligliled Paris and which formed a convenient gallows at need. ^Rcedcrer, P. L. , Chronique de cinqiiante jours., p. 334. 422 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE RErUBLIC. against another, and the tribunes interrupted by hisses or applause, a message came from de Joly, Minister of Justice, declaring the state of disorder in Paris such that the laws were powerless to repress it, and that without the support of the Assembly the ministers refused longer to incur responsibility.^ What in such circumstances could the Assembly do ? It had just sent for Roederer to throw upon him the task of securing the inviolability of the deputies, and it now asked him what measures were taken to secure the safety of the capital. Roederer re- plied by giving an account of the communications which had passed between him and the Mayor of Paris, but he made it clear to the Assembly that the Department could only watch over the con- dition of public order and give instructions to the Commune ; it could not enforce these instructions. Here, then, on the 9th of A.ugust, four years almost to a day from the date of the king's promise to recall the States-General, was a National Assembly admitting itself powerless before a turbulent mob, a government declaring itself helpless without the Assembly, a Department unable to carry out the orders of the legislative body, and a Commune on which hung the fate of the Crown, Government, Assembly and Department, who could, but would not act. ^Roederer, P. L. , Cliroiiiqiie de cinquante jours., p. 355. THE COMING OF THE FEDERES. 423 " The Mayor," said Roederer, " had not, and did not do, what the Department ordered." ^ The Assembly did not feel itself strong enough to take decisive measures ; on the plea of disturbance it again postponed the question of the dethrone- ment, and although it had been warned that at midnight the tocsin would sound, although the Department, the Commune and the sections were sitting day and night, it broke up at six in the evening and went home.- ^ Roederer, P. L. , Chroniqne de cinqiiantc jours, p. 344. "^ Archives pai-leiiicnlaires, vol. xlvii. p. 616. CHAPTER XXV. THE END. /^N August 9th as we have seen, the Assembly postponed the debate on the dethronement of the king. That same morning the sec- tion of the Ouinze-Vingfts which met in the church of the Enfants-Trouves in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine passed a resolution to the effect that if the Assembly did not decree the de- thronement before eleven o'clock that nia;ht, it would sound the tocsin at stroke of twelve, beat the generate and rouse the whole population to insurrection.^ Yet between five and six in the afternoon, Petion, summoned to the National ^Roederer, P. L. , Chronique de cinqiianfe jours; and Arch, pari., vol. xlvii. p. 630. MEDAL STRUCK IN COMMEMORATION OF AUGUST lOTH, 1792. THE END. 425 Assembly, assured it that Paris was quiet and pub- lic order maintained. At seven the deputies left the Salle du Manege and went home ; at eleven at night Mandat declared his measures taken for the safety of the Tuileries, and he himself confident as to their efficiency, and at the same hour the Quinze-Vingts, finding itself alone in its church of the Enfants-Trouves, sent out com- missioners to the bureau de correspondance with power to concert with commissioners chosen by the other sections how best " to save the country." ^ Even then it seemed uncertain whether or no a rising would actually take place. By ten o'clock next day Louis XVI. and his family had left the Tuileries and had taken refuge in the Salle du Manege; the palace had been in- vaded, its defenders scattered and slain. For at midnight the tocsin sounded, not from the Enfants- Trouves, but from the churches of the three revolu- tionary sections of Mauconseil, the Lombards and the Gravilliers, and the dread signal was repeated from one church after another by rioters and by busy-bodies, many of whom rang, they hardly knew why. At the sound the f&diHs and the revolutionary element in the capital gathered in the Faubourg ^ See Mortimer-Ternaux, V histoire de la terreiir, vol. ii. p. 222 scq., for conduct of the commissioners. 426 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. Saint-Antoine, and the Faubourg Saint-Marceau to the north and south of the Seine ; drums beat the gemrale in every quarter, calHng out the volunteer battalions of the National Guard — some to insur- rection and riot, others to resistance in the interests of peace — and the deputies hurried back to the Salle du Manege. There they spent the long anxious night in hearing reports brought first from one quarter and then from another, and passing from these to the order of the day, listened to motions on the erection of a new parish, on a law on patents, or on the trade in negroes, but they took no decisive step to quell the disorder, and they left Paris to govern her- self.^ Meantime, in the Hotel de Ville, the com- missioners of the sections sat in one hall, while the Council-General of the Commune sat in another. As the night wore on the commissioners, supported by the popular voice, grew bolder; while the Council- General, overmastered by the interruptions and menaces of a public for whom even the Commune of Paris was too conservative, lost courage, and when morning broke found itself a puppet in the hands of the commissioners, who used its legal authority to work their illegal will. Orders were sent out cancelling the arrangements made by Mandat, and summoning him to the Hotel "^Archives parlenieiitaires, vol. xlvii. p. 6l6 -seg. THE END. 427 de Ville. There, accused of treachery by the com- missioners, he was straightway condemned to prison, and when the Council-General interfered on his be- half, the commissioners of the sections, declaring themselves invested with full powers to save the country, deposed the Commune from its functions and took forcible possession of its hall. Then " anarchy began." On his way to prison Mandat was murdered, and Santerre, head of the National Guard in the Faubourg Saint- Antoine and a member of the Directory of Insurrection, was installed in his place. " Once again Heaven had pity on the insurgents."^ "The brave /M^; ^j- " could work " the plan long concerted by their secret directory";^ "the great day" had come.^ Rcederer, waiting anxiously in the Tuileries, finding that Mandat did not return, seeing twenty cannon directed against the palace, and knowing that a great body of men was hastening towards the Place du Carrousel, recognised the truth, and persuaded Louis to leave the palace and take refuge with the representatives of the nation. " Gentlemen," said the king to the faithful followers who had flocked to the palace for his defence, " I beg of you to go home and to give up a fruitless attempt ; ^ Mar;il, Ami du pcitple du 7 noiU. ^ Pelion, J., CEuvres de, on pieces inUressantes pour rJiisloire, vol. iv. P- 327- '^ Archives parlemeiitaires, vol. xlvii. p. 616. 428 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. there is nothing further to do here, either for you or for me."i With the entrance of Louis XVI. into the Salle du Manege the monarchy of a thousand years, the oldest monarchy in Europe, fell. The king entered the hall on the morning of the loth with the honours accorded to a sovereign : he left it in the early hours of the nth suspended from his functions, himself and his family a hostage in the hands of his people. On the 12th of August the care of the royal family was given over by the Assembly to the new and self-constituted Commune, who, on the 14th, removed it from the shelter afforded by the Assembly in its Convent of the Feuillants to a tower in the Temple, once the gay court of the Comte d'Artois. The royal carriages drove through the streets of Paris in midst of a people forbidden on pain of death to raise a voice or a hat in token of respect to him whom they had called " Father of the Country " and " Restorer of the Liberty of France." He was plain Louis Capet now. In the Temple, deprived on the 19th of August of the few faithful attendants permitted to accompany them, and left with one single servant, the king and queen, Madame Elisabeth and the two children, lived ^Tourzel, Mme. de, Jl/efmo/res, vol. ii. p. 215. THE END. 429 quiet, dignified, and uncomplaining days. Their sufferings and privations cannot be entered on here. Suffice it to say of Louis that he kept to the last his calm courage before danger, and of Marie- Antoinette that her whilom enemy, the Comte de Provence, felt constrained to admit that she bore herself now as always in the face of trial and privation as a true daugher of Maria-Teresa, her great and heroic mother.^ On January 21st, 1793, Louis suffered death by the guillotine, and on October i6th, 1794, Marie- Antoinette died by the same dread instrument. Her coffin, we are told, cost six francs," and the list of articles, simple in the extreme, left behind her in the Conciergerie, may still be seen in the National Archives. So ended that marriage of an Austrian princess with the French heir, of which Maria-Teresa was so proud. What followed after August loth — the decree summoning a National Convention , the petitions demanding the abolition of royalty ; the domiciliary visits instituted by the Commune and the consequent filling of the prisons by Royalists ; the fresh reverses in the army, and the panic and intrigue which ended in the terrible massacres of September 2nd and 3rd 1 See Revjie des Deux Monies dii 15 jnillet 1904; Kc'Jlexions historiqiics sitr Marie- Antoinette {par Louis XVI//.,) a paper lately discovered by M. Ernest Daudet. - Rocheterie, M. de la, Histoire de Marie-Antoinette, vol. ii. p. 590. 430 FROM THE MONARCHY TO THE REPUBLIC. — belongs to the story of the Republic rather than to that of the Monarchy. On September 21st the Convention met and voted the abolition of royalty ; on the 22nd it decreed that all acts should hence- forth be dated "the first year of the French Republic," and thus, in somewhat informal fashion, decided on the form of the future government of France. Here, then, ends the story of the fall of the old French Monarchy. And perhaps in leaving the study of the period which it covers there is no one thing more striking to its student than the narrowing down of great issues to mere party questions. So at least it seems ; and yet, whatever one may feel as to the methods of the Jacobins, France was probably right in believing that at this crisis in her history her greatest danger would be a Monarchy thrust on her from without, and conditioned by men whose object was to restore the old regime and to whom the aims and principles of the Revolution were but as an evil dream. If she chose wrongly, she paid dearly for her error, but she issued from the fierce fire of demo- cratic tyranny and of war, maimed and crippled for the moment, it is true, but fitted at length to enjo)^ the benefits for which Mirabeau and Mounier, Barnave and Lameth, Danton and Vergniaud each in his own fashion prepared the way. LIST OF AUTHORITIES. Actes de la Commune de Paris. In progress. Actes des apotres, Les, Nov. 1789 — Oct. 1791. Affiches (bills on walls) : a collection, mostly proclamations, in the Biblio- theque de la Ville, Paris, and a very valuable one in the Bibliolheca Lindesiana, Haigli Hall, Wigan. Almanach royal of 1789. Ami du peuple, L' (Marat). Sep. 1789-July 1793. Ami du roi, L'. June 1790-1792. On Sep. ist 1790, two journals of the same name were published ; one edited by Montjoye, the other by the Abb6 Royau, both of whom were contributors to the original paper. Annales franfaises, Sallier, 2nd series. 1789-1790. Archives iiationales, Paris. (Manuscripts.) Archives parlementaires, de 1787 a i860. Mavidal, J., et Laurent, E. Vols, i-xlvii. Arneth, A. von, et Flammermont, J., Correspondance secrete du Comte de Mercy-Argenteauavec I'Emperor Joseph II. et le Prince de Kaunitz. Paris, 1889-91. 3 vols. Aulard, F.-A., Etudes et lefons de la revolution fran^'aise, ist series. Paris, 1893. Aulard, F.-A., Histoire politique de la revolution franfaise. Paris, 1901. Aulard, F.-A., La revolution franfaise et les congrt^gations. Paris, 1903. Aulard, F.-A. , La society des Jacobins. Paris, 1889 seq. Babeau, Albert, Les artisans et les domestiques d'autrefois. Paris, 1886. Babeau, Albert, La ville sous I'ancien rt-gime. Paris, 1878. Babeau, Albert, Le village sous I'ancien regime. Paris, 1880. Bacourt, .'\. de, Correspondance entre le Comte de Mirabeau et le Comte de la Marck. Paris, 1851. 3 vols. Bailly, J.-S., M^moires. I. and II. Vols. Paris, 1821-2. Bailly, J.-S., et Duve.yrier, Proces- verbal de I'assemblte des ^lecteurs de Paris. 1790. 3 vols. Barbarou.x, C.-J.-M., Memoirei. Paris, 1827. 431 432 LIST OF AUTHORITIES. Barentin, Conite de, Keeper of the Seals, M^nioire autographe, with bio- graphical notice by Champion. Paris, 1844. Baudouin, Collection g(?nerale des d^crets de I'Assembl^e Nationale. Paris, 1789 seq. Besenval, Baron P.-V. de, M6rnoires. Paris, 1821. 2 vols. Beugnot, Comte de, Menioires. Paris, 1868. 2 vols. Bimbenet, J.-E., Fuite de Louis XVI. a Varennes. Paris, 1868. Bourgoing, F. de, Histoire diplomatique pendant la revolution franqaise. Paris, 1865-71. 3 vols. Brette, A. , Histoire des Edifices oil ont si^g^ les assemblees parlementaires de la revolution fran9aise et de la premiere r^publique. Paris, 1902. Brette, A., Stance royale du Jeu de Paume. Paris, 1893. Browning, Oscar, The Despatches of the Earl of Govver. London, 1885. Buchez, P., et Roux, P., Histoire parlenientaire de la revolution franpaise. Paris, 1834-8. Cambridge History, The. Vol. VIH. The French Revolution. Cam- bridge, 1904. Caricatures and Prints, Collection Hennin, Bibliotheque nationale (Estam- pes), Paris, and a large collection in the Musee Carnavalet (Estampes), Paris. Carnot, M.-H., Memoires de I'abbe Gregoire. Paris, 1837. 2 vols. Challamel. A.-J.-B.-M., Les clubs contre-revolutionnaires. Paris, 1895. Champagneu.x, L. A., CEuvres de ].-\L Philpon (Madame Roland). Paris, an VIH. ■Champion, E., La France d'apres les cahiers de 1789. Paris, 1897. Chassin. Ch.-L. , Les elections et les cahiers de Paris en 1789. Paris, 1888. 4 vols. Cherest, A., La chute de I'ancien regime. Paris, 1884. 3 vols. Chronique de Paris, Le, Aug. 1789 — Aug. 1793. Collection des edits. British Museum, 27 d. Courner de, Provence, Le, (Mirabeau), 1789-1791. Nos I. and II. were called Etats-Generaux, and the next nineteen numbers Lettres du Comte de Mirabeau a ses conimettants. Daudet, Ernest, Histoire de I'emigration ; Coblentz, Paris. Defenseur de la Constitution, Le, (Robespierre), ist June — 10 Aug. 1792. Duquesnoy, Journal sur I'assembiee constituante. Droz, J., Histoire du regne de Louis XVI. Paris, 1839. 3 vols. Dumont, Etienne, Souvenirs sur Mirabeau. Paris, 1832. Faguet, E., L'cEuvre sociale de la revolution fran9aise. Paris, 1902. Flammermont, J., Lajourneedu i4Juillet, 1789. Paris, 1892. Ferri^res, C.-E., Marquis de, Memoires. Paris, 1821. 3 vols. Forneron, H., Histoire generale des emigres pendant la revolution fran- 9aise. Paris, 1884. 2 vols. Fournel, V., L'evenement de Varennes. Paris, 1890. Gazette nationale, ou le Moniteur universel began Nov. 1789, and has an introductory volume. LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 433 Geffroy, A., Gustave III. et la cour de France. Paris, 1867. 2 vols. Gomel, Ch., Causes financieres de la r(^volution fran9aise, Les, Paris, 1892-3. Gomel, Ch. , Histoire financiere de I'assembl^e constituante. Paris, 1896. 2 vols. Hardy, Mes loisirs ou journal d'^v^iiements. Biblioth^que nationale MS. 1788-9. Hatin, E. , Bibliographic de la presse p^riodique fran^aise. Paris, 1866. H^zecques, C.-A., Comte d', Souvenirs d'un page de la cour de Louis XVI. Paris, 1873. Histoire authentique. (Bibliotheque nationale.) Histoire de la revolution fran9aise par deux amis de la liberte. Paris, 1792-1803. Journal des amis de la constitution, ist Nov. 1790 — 20th Sep. 1791. Journal des d^bats et d^crets.^ 27th Aug. 1789 — Aortal, an V. It has two introductory volumes. Etats g^n^raux, 5th May — 17th June 1789 ; and Journal des d(5bats et d^crets du 17 Juin au i Septembre, 1789. Journal des Jacobins, ist June 1791 — 24 frimaire, an II. Journal de Paris. 1777-1811. Journal des Etats-G^n^raux (Le Hodey), 1789-91. Lally-Tollendal, Comte de, Memoires. Lameth, Alex. T.-V. de, Histoire de I'assemblte constituante. Paris, 1828. 2 vols. Larevelliere-L^peaux, L.-M., Memoires. Paris, 1895. 3 vols. Lavergne, A. de, Les assemblies provinciates sous Louis XVI. Paris, i85i. Leroi, J. A., Histoire de Versailles. Versailles, 1868. 2 vols. Liard, L., L'enseignement sup^rieur en France, 1789-1889. Paris, 1888. Logographe, Le (Le Hodey). April 1791 — Aug. 1792. Lom^nie, L. de, Les Mirabeaus ; nouvelle etude sur la soci^t^ franpaise au XVIII. siecle. Paris, 1889. Mallet du Pan, P.-V., Memoires et correspondance. Paris, 1851. 2 vols. Malouet, P.-V. de, Memoires. Paris, 1874. 2 vols. Masson, F. , Le d^partement des affaires ^trangeres pendant la, revolution fran9aise, 1787-1804. Paris, 1877. Mercier, Paris pendant la revolution, 1789-1798, ou le nouveau Paris. Paris, 1862. Moleville, Bertrand A.-F. de, Memoires particuliers sur le regne de Louis XVI. Paris, 1816. 2 vols. Monin, H., LV-tat de Paris en 1789. Paris, 1888. Moniteur universel, Le : see Gazette nationale. Morris, Gouverneur, Diary and Letters. London, 1889. 2 vols. Mortimer-Ternaux, L. , Histoire de la terreur. \'ols. I. and II. Paris, 1862. Metier, M. -J. -P.-R. -Yves-Gilbert, Marquis de la Fayette, Memoires, correspondance et manuscrits publics par sa famille. Paris, 1837. 3 vols. IL 2 E 434 LIST OF AUTHORITIES. Mounier, J. -J., Collection de pieces int^ressantes. Paris, 1801. 4 vols. Necker, J., De la revolution fran9aise. Paris, 1797. 2 vols. Necker, J , Sur I'administration de M. Necker par lui-menie. Paris, 1791. Pamphlets in the Bibliotheque nationale, Paris. Pamphlets in British Museum. Collections, F., F. R., and R. Papiers trouv^s dans Tarmoire de fer au chateau des Tuileries. Paris, 1793- Potion, Jerome, Oiuvres de : Pieces int^ressantes pour I'histoire. 4 vols. Paris. Petit Journal du Palais-Royal, 1789. Picot, Georges, Histoire des Etats-Gdn^raux consid^r^s au point de vue de leur influence sur le gouvernement de la France de 1355 a 1614. 4 vols. Paris, 1872. Point du Jour, Le, 1789-1791. Pollio, J., et Marcel, A., Le bataillon du 10 aofit, 1792. Paris, 1881. Rabusson-Lamothe, Lettres sur I'assemblte legislative. Paris, 1791. Ravenel, J.-A.-D., Memoires de Madame Roland. Paris, 1840. 2 vols. Recueil des instructions donn^es aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France, depuis les trait^s de Westphalia jusqu'a la revolution fran9aise, Paris, 1884. 3 vols. Revolutions de France et de Brabant. (Camille Desmoulins.) 25th Nov. 1789 — July 1791. Revolutions de Paris. Published by Prudhomme, 1789-1794. Revolution fran9aise, La, Edited by F. A. Aulard, Paris. In progress. Revue de la revolution fran9aise. Paris, 1883-1889. Riquetti, H.-G., Comte de Mirabeau, Memoires biographiques. Paris, 1834. Robinet, J.-F.-E., Danton homme d'Etat. Paris, 1889, Robinet, J.-F.-E., Dictionnaire historique et biographique de la revolution et de I'empire, 1789-1815. Paris. 1899. 2 vols. Rocheterie, Max. de la, Histoire de Marie-Antoinette. Paris, 1890. 2 vols. Rocheterie et Beaucourt, Recueil des lettres authentiques de Marie- Antoinette. Paris, 1896. 2 vols. Rocquain, F., L'esprit revolutionnaire avant la revolution. Paris, 1878. Roederer, Comte P.-L., Chronique de cinquante jours ; du 20 juin au 10 ao(Jlt, 1792. Paris, 1846. Schmidt, A., Tableaux de la revolution fran9aise. Leipzig, 1867-71. 3 vols. Sciout, L., Histoire de la constitution civile du clerge, 1790-1801, Vols. L and n. Paris, 1872. Sentinelle, La. 1792- 1793. Sorel, A. L., L'Europe et la revolution fran9aise. (Vol. H.) Paris, 1885 seq. Sourches, Du Bouchet de, Memoires de Madame de Tourzel. Paris, 1883. 2 vols. Stael-Holstein, E.-M. de, Correspondance diplomatique du Baron de. avec une introduction par L. L. le Due. Paris, 1881. LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 435 Stephens, H. Morse, Historj' of the French Revolution. London, 1886. 2 vols. Talleyrand- P^rigord, C. M. de, M^moires. Paris, 1891. 5 vols. Thierry, A.. Histoire du tiers-^tat. Toulangeon, F. E., Histoire de France depuis la revolution de 1789. Paris, 1801-10. 7 vols. Tuetey, A., Repertoire g^n^ral des sources manuscrites de I'histoire de Paris pendant la ri^volution fran9aise. Paris, 1890. In progress. Tourneux, M., Les sources bibliographiques de I'histoire de la revolution fran9aise. Paris, 1898 seq. In progress. INDEX. Abbaye, prison of the, 112. Acft's des Apotres, 211 . "Active citizens," 41, 42, 221, 225. Adelaide and Victoire, Mesdames, 197. Agriculture, Societies of, 9. Aiguillon, Due d', and privilege, 162. Alsace, German Princes in, 302, 371; attitudeof Assembly towards, 302 ; and Leopold II., 359. Altar of the Country, 259, 341, 342, 349- Ami du petcple, L\ 217, 334, 335. Ami du roi, L\ 317. Amnesty of Sep. 13th, 1791, 347, 365. 387- Appel nominal, The, 213. April, i8th, 1791, T,0^ seq. Archbishop's Palace, electors meet in, 48, 51. Aristocracy, The, and revolutionary societies, 33. Army, The, insubordination in, 251, 282 ; military clubs in, 282 seq. Arrets, 72 n. Arrets, 72 n; of July 5th, 1788, 18, 24; of August 8th, 1788, 4; of August 1 6th, 1788, 25. Artois, Comted', 152 ; and Brienne, 26 ; as emigi'd, 270, 272 ; at Coblentz, 301 ; at Pillnitz, 360 ; German Electors and, 370. Assemblee des Reprdsentants de la Commune, de Paris, 149. Assembly of Electors, 48, 51 ; con- stitute themselves a permanent body, 54 ; a political centre, 106 ; in July, 1789, 118, 120, 128; and comiti! permanent, 123, 148. Assignats, first issue of, 235; later issues, 288, 290. August 4th, 1789, 161 seq. August loth, 1792, 425 seq. Austria, and French Revolution, 272, 358 seq., 379; and Prussia, 273> 303. 359 seq., 376, 379, 401 ; Louis XVI. and, 276, 359, 364; war declared against, 374. Austrian Committee, The, 368, and war, 376; Girondists and, 380. Avenue de Paris, 63, 91, 94, 181. 184, 185. Avignon, and Revolution, 358, 359. Bailliages, 41,219; abolition of, 224. Bailly, J. S., 49, loi, 190, 250; Paris Elector, 53 ; Dean of Third Estate, 79, 80, 83, 87 seq. ; Presi- dent of National Assembly, 92, passim, 99, 102 ; Mayor of Paris, 143, 14S seq., \i,%seq., 203, 307, 310, 318, 343, 349; retires from office, 386. Bancal des Issarts, 115. Barbaroux, C. J. M., 415, 417. Barentin, Comte de, Keeper of the Seals, 192; and States-General, 37, .65, 77, 80, 87, 90; and National Assembly, 97, 105. 436 INDEX. 437 Barnave, Marquis de, 198, 212, 256; member of Breton club, 74 ; and monastic orders, 238; and king and people, 258 ; and monarchy, 338 ; member of Feuillants Club, 354- Bar}-teres, set fire to, 1 20; of Pomt du Jour, 145. Basoches, The, 124, 130. Bastille, 85; siege of, 128 seq.; effects of fall of, 152, 158, 161; heroes of, 165; anniversaries of fall of, 250, 259 seq., 381 ; demo- lition of, 153; column on site of, 407 ; fete on site of, 414. Baudouin, printer to National As- sembly, 2ii n. Beauharnais, Alex, Vicomtede, 162, 318. Belgium, and French Revolution, 273> 378. Besenval, Baron P. S. de, i lO. Beugnot, Comte de, 38. Biron, Due de, iii, 377. Bishops, election of, 225, 241 ; incinoire against civil constitution of the clergy, 293 ; and civil oath, 296. Body Guard, The King's, 178, 182, 194, 201; and people, 183, 185; and defence of palace, 196, 197. Bordeaux (Cice), Archbishop of, lO, 92. Bordeaux, Parlement of, 35. Bouille, Marquis de, 289 ; at Nancy, 284 ; and flight of king, 315. Boulevard du Temple, 119. Bourgeoisie, 22, 50, 52 ; in old States- General, 18, 22 seq., 30; and peasants, 44, 81 ; and franchise, 46, 154, 221. Brest, insurrection at, 285 ; Cha- teauvieux insurgents at, 388. Breteuil, Baron de. Minister of King's Household, 116, 152, 276. Breton Club, origin of, 73; tiecomes Jacobin club, 213 seq. Breze, H. E., Mar(]uis de Ureux-, 61, 99. Brienne, Lomenie de. Minister of Finance, 1787-1788, 16, 17, 21, 25, 36, 232. Brigands, fear of, 1 58 seq. Brissot, J. P., 217, 328; leader of Girondists, 373 ; and Austrian Committee, 380; and ministers, 401 ; and Republic, 412. Brittany, Parlement of, 35 ; nobles of, 70; and veto, 172. Broglie, Marechal de, I16, 152. Buckles, silver, sale of, 228. Bureau de la ville, 106, 122, 123, superseded, 218. Cafe Amaury, 73. Cafe de Foy, 107, 112. Cahicrs, origin of, 42 ; parish, 42 ; for the Orders, 43, 48 ; effect of on people, 44 ; as mandates, 52, 68 ; on monarchy, 164 ; on taxa- tion, 90, 167 ; on veto, 171. Caisse (f Escoinpte, 230, 287, 288 ; Necker and, 230. Caisse d' f extraordinaire, 231, 234, 237, 239._ Caisse patriotiqiie, 228. Calonne, C. A. de, Controller- General (1783-1787), 13, 25, 31. Camus, A. J., 93, 212, 239. Cantons, The, 220, 224. Capitation, 46. Catharine II., Empress, and Austria, 272 ; and dinigrt^s, 274. Censors, royal, 18. Chambers, question of two, 169, 364. Chambonas, Minister of Foreign Affairs (June to July 1792), 401. Chainbres de vacation, 156. Champ de Mai, 4, 94. Champ de Mars, 4, 128, 138, 252, 258, 259, 340, 341, 342, 343.388, 407 ; massacre of, 342. Champs-Elysees, 128, 180. Charities, 10 seq. Chartres, Bishop of, 92, 162. Chdteaux, burning of, 159. Chateauvieux, Swiss regiment of, 282 ; fete in honour of its in- surgents, 387 seq. 438 INDEX. Chatelet, Due de, iii, 162. Chcitelet, The, 3, 46, 47, 48, 51. Chimay, Madame c3e, 312. Chroniqiie de Paris, 179, 189, 217, 341- Church property, 232, National Assembly and, 232 seq. Civil constitution of clergy, T.yjseq. ; the civil oath, 242; efifects of, 243 ; Pope and, 292 seq. ; opposi- tion to, 293 ; prelates and, 293. Civil, military, and ecclesiastical dignities, equality in, 69. Claviere, E., Minister of Finance (March to June, 1792), 373; dis- missal of, 383. Clergy, and finance, 18, 75, 232 ; and elections, 41, 48 ; and Third Estate, 67, 72, 75 seq. ; haut ei has, 69; join the Third Estate, 92, loi ; renounce tithes, 163; non- juring, decrees against, 366, 380. Clermont-Tonnerre, Comte de, 170, 212. Club de 1789 ; de Valois ; des Im- partiaux ; Monarchique, 217. Club des Cordeliers, and king, 309, 310; declaration on tyrannicides, 328; origin of, 334; demands a Republic, 346. Clubs, political, 73. Coalition, European, proposed by dmigres, 360. Coblentz, /^migVi^s at, 301. Cockade, patriotic, 1 18, 125, 146 n, 177; white, 178. Commission extraordinaire, 397, 404, 411, 421. Comiti de Constitution, 166, 322, 344, 347- Comit^s de legislation critninclle, de la marine, 7nilitaii-e, des finances, 158 n, 231, 288, 330. Comitt^ eccUsiastique, 236. Comitd des recherches, 319. Comite permanent, 143, 153 ; ap- pointed, 123; and demand for arms, 125, 126; on July 14th, 1789, \2& seq., 133, 138; be- comes C07nite p7-ffvisoire, 148. Comitd provisoire, of Paris, 148; provincial, 218. Commons, The. See Third Estate. Commune, The. See Municipality. Compiegne, 105, 114, 204. Conde, L. S., Prince de, 152; manifesto of July, 1790, 270; camp at Worms, 301 ; address to soldiers, 363; and German Electors, 370. Condorcet, Marquis de, 214, 338, 377. Congress, European, proposed by Leopold, 359 ; proposed by king and queen, 362, 371. Constitution, necessity of, 66, 68 ; bases of, 155, 351; making of, 161, 164, 166, 218 ; and Declara- tion of Rights, 166; Articles of, 168 seq. ; king hesitates to sign, 178; king sanctions its first Articles, 186; oaths to maintain, 249, and bourgeoise, 339; com- pletion of, 344 ; accepted by king, 347 ; proclamation of, 349 ; its defects, 349. Constitutional Act, 388, received by Legislative Assembly, 353. Constitutionalists, The, and people, 339 ; and Feuillant club, 354 ; be- come the Right in Legislative Assembly, 355. Corny, M. de, Frocureiir du roi on bureau de la ville, 122, 126, 127, 129. Corvee, The, "J. Councils of King, 157 ; Acts of 36 ; of 27th December, 1788, 37; of July, 1789, 91 seq. "Country in danger," Vergniaud proposes to declare, 400 ; pro- nounced, 404 ; proclamation of, 410. Courrier de Provence, Le, 74. Coiir pleniere, 17, 18. Court, and National Assembly, 89, 93 ; and riots, 1 18. Courts, Civil and Criminal, 225, 286; of appeal, 225. Crime, punishment of, 108. INDEX. 439 Crosne, M. de, Lieutenant of Police, 48, 148. Crown, The, and Paris, 2 ; and States-General, 5, 38, 78 ; and parlements, 17 ; and Notables, 31 ; and sale of offices, 163 ; aliena- tion of lands, 234 ; and the sale of posts, 163. Curds, admitted to First Order, 69 ; sympathise with the Third, 70, 76, 80, 243 ; popular election of, 225, 241. Curtius, waxworks of, 119. Danton, G. J., one of Directory of Department of Paris, 31 1 ; and king, 314 ; and Cordeliers, 334 ; and a Republic, 336, 341, 342, 344 ; Substitute - Procurator of Commune, 386 ; and sections, 409 ; and Directory of Insurrec- tion, 414. ^ Dauphine, Etats of, 34 seq. David, J. L., 58 n, 59. Declaration of Rights, 155 ' i*^^ political import, 166 ; king hesi- tates to sign, 178; king sanctions, 186 ; Table of, 388, 395. Decrees, 69 ; and king's sanction of, after flight to Varenncs, 322. Democrats, 338 ; distinguished from Republicans, 336 ; in 1791 and 1792, 384. Department of Paris, 385 ; and non- jurors, 308; and king, 311, 3x4; measures taken by, on 20th June, 319 ; and Commune, 386, 393, 491. Departments of France, 220 ; estab- lished, 223 ; administration of, 223. Deputies, election of, 41, 52, 225 ; and the people, 81 seq., 183 ; deputes stipplcans, 249. Desmoulins, Camille, 118, 125, 217. Diderot, Denis, on manual labour, 12. Dillon, General, 377 ; nuirdered, 378. Dioceses, 219, 241. " Directory of Insurrection," 414. Districts of France, 220 ; established, 223 ; their administration, 225. Distiicts, Paris, 47 ; political impor- tance, 50 ; organise inilicc boiir- geoisc, 121; and municipality, 148; become sections, 386. Double representation, 31, 32 ; granted to provincial assemblies, 34 ; to States-General, 37. Drouet, post-master of Sainte-Mene hould, 332. Dumont, Etienne, 48. Dumouriez, Ch-F., Minister of Foreign Affairs, (March to June, 1792), 374; and war, 374. Dupont de Nemours, 212, 242 ; on monastic orders, 238. Duport, Adrian, 338, 355. Duport-du-Tertre, M.L. F. , Minister of Justice (1790-1792), 320, 369. Duportail, Minister of War (1790- 179 1), resigns, 367. Duranthon, Minister of Justice (March to July, 1792), 373. Edicts of May, 1788, 35. Elections to States-General, 41 seq., 45 ; to National Assembly, 220, 225; to administrative bodies, 225 ; of clergy, 225, 240 ; of judges, 225. Elie, Jacob-Job, 130, 132. Elisabeth, Madame, 197, 202, 395, 407, 428. Ehts, 34. Einigrils, The, 189 ; political impor- tance of, 153, 300 ; schemes of, 270 seq. ; and foreign Powers, 272 ; and king, 275 ; confiscation of property of, 291 ; decrees against, 365, 371 ; expelled from Coblentz, 371 ; and war, 376. England, and French Revolution, , 273. 359,. 379- Etats, provincial, 18, 34, 70. Exposition des priiitipes siir la con- stitution dii elergi', 294. Famine, fear of, 108, 115, 178, 179, 230; provision against, 190. 440 INDEX. Favras, Marquis de, 245 seq. February 4th, 1790, 247 scq. The Fc'di'res of 1790, 257, 258; of 1792, Jacobins and, 405 icq. ; and Paris, 406 ; and dethronement of king, 410; and lOth of August, 1792, 425. Fersen, Comte de, 325. Fetes, de la Fid^i-atiou of 1 790, 251 seq., 258 ; of 1791, 3S1 ; of 1792, 404, 407 ; de la liherti, 387 seq. ; de la loi, 389. Feudal rights, cahiers and, 69 ; abohtion of, 163. Feuillants, district of, 49 ; Club, .344, 354, 355 ; Terrace of, 390. Finance, its political influence, 12, 40 seq. , 90, 228 seq. ; and clergy, 18, 228 seq. ; condition of, in 1788, 25 seq. ; in 1789, 168, 228, 232; in 1790, 287 ; caisse patriotiqite, 228 ; tax on income, 229 ; policy of National Assembly concerning, 290. Flachslanden, Baron de, Queen's letter to, 205. Flesselles, J. de, Provost of the Merchants, 126, 128, 132, 135, 136, 138 ; murder of, 133. Flue, de, officer of the Swiss, 131. Foulon, J. F., Minister of King's Household (1789), 116; murder of, 160. France, and Democratic institu- tions, 174; relations with Euro- pean I'owers, 272 seq., 358 seq. ; and war, 370, 372, 374 seq. ; de- clares war against Austria, 375; against Prussia, 401. Franc-fief, 22. Franche-Comte, 35, 70. Francis II., Emperor of Austria, 372- Francois (baker), murder of, 207. Frederick William II. King of Prussia, 273, 360, 361. Galland, Pison de, 93. Gardes Francaises, 93, no, 126, 194; revolutionary spirit of, ill seq., 119, 127, 130, 176; join inilice boiirgeoise, 124. Garde de I'Hotel de Ville, 124. Garde de Paris, 124. Gardes de la Prevote de I'Hotel du Roi, 95. G^ni!ralitSs, 219, 223, 224. Gensonne, A., 356, 368; and Aus- trian Committee, 380. Gerard, Michel, 228. Gerville, Cahier de, Minister of the Interior (i 791 -1792), 367. Girondins, 368. Gouvernements, 219. Grave, P. M. de. Minister of War (March, 1792), 374; resigns office, 378. Gregoire, The Abbe, 137, 212, 295; on Jacobin Club, 216; on pre- lates, 297. Grenoble, 35. Guadet, M. E., 356, 368, 397. Guet de Paris, 124. Guillotin, Dr., 94. Gustave III., unA emigres, 273, 359; proposes a Northern League, 274; death of, 375. Halles, The, 108, 179. Herault de Sechelles, 404. Holy See, The, and civil constitu- tion of the clerg)', 241, 292, 298. Hospitals, 8, 10. Hotel de Ville, 3, rentes paid at, 25 ; and elections, 46 seq., 51 ; As- sembly of Electors in, 106, 120, 132 passim ; deputies visit, 142, 143 ; king visits, 146, 147 ; on October 5th and 6th, 179, 191 ; red flag on, 343 ; sections at, 409 ; Salle des Gouverneiirs, 149. Hulin, " Conqueror of the Bastille," 129 scq, Intendants, 223, 224. Invalides, Hotel des, attack on, 126, 127. Issoudun, and patriotic gifts, 228. INDEX. 441 Jacobin Club, 213 seq., 228, 354; branch societies, 215; growing influence of, 385 ; and fetes, 387, 388, 390, 392 ; and a Republic, 337. 340 ; Lafayette and, 391 seq., 396 ; and fedt'res, 405 seq. ; and Commune, 409. January 4, 1791, 297. Jeu de Paume, Salle du, 94 ; oath of, 98 ; third anniversary of, 390. Jews, and civil rights, 222. John II., 5. Joly de, Minister of Justice (July- August, 1792), 422. Joseph II. of Austria, 272 ; on death of, 272. Jourdan, coiipe-tcte, 195. Judges, election of, 225 ; new, 286. Juges de pair, election of, 225. July 14. See Bastille. June 20th, 17S9, 94 seq., 1792, 390 seq., 396. Juries, 281, 286. Justice, reforms in, 7, 17, 2.2^ seq., 285; haute justice, 156. Lacoste, Minister of Marine, (March to July, 1792), 373. Lafayette, Alarquis de, 137, 145 ; Commandant of National Guard, 143, 146 ; and insurrection of women, 191 seq. ; and queen, 199 ; and Body Guard, 201 ; and Fete de la federation, 260 ; and episode of poignards, 305 ; and king's journey to Saint-Cloud, 307 seq. ; and flight of king, 318, 327, 332 ; and massacre of Champ de Mars, 343 ; army of, 377 ; and Jacobins, 391 seq., 396 seq. ; and king, 397, 408 ; charge against dismissed, 421. Lally-Tollendal, Comte de, 70, 98, 143, 144 ; retires from comitd de constitution, 170; leader of the Right, 211. Lambesc, Prince de, 1 19, 152. Lameth, Alexandre de, leader of Left, 212 ; on Jacobin Club, 216; and monuments, 255 ; on right of declaring war, 265 : as Feuillant, 355- Lameth, Charles, 338 ; leader of Left, 212 ; of Right, 355. Langres, Bishop of, 212. Laporte, Intendant of Civil List, 320. Larevelliere-Lepaux, L. M. de, 61, 137- Launay, B. R. J. de, Governor of the Bastille, 128 seq. ; his murder, 132. Lecointre, and the events of October 1789, 177, 185. Leguen de Kerangal, 162. Leopold II., Emperor of Austria, and France, 273, 364, 372 ; pro- poses European Congress, 359 ; death of, 372. Lcse-nation, crime of, 371. Lessart, de. Minister of Interior (Jan. to Nov., 1791); of Foreign Affairs (1791-1792), 367 ; sent for trial to Orleans, 372. Lettres de cachet, 38, 128, 281. Lettres de 7naitrise, 46. "Liberty and Equality," 181, 222. Liberty of the Press,' 38, 75, 222, 281. " Litanies " of the Third Estate, 44. Losme, Major de, 132. Louis XIII., 6. Louis XIV., 2, 8. Louis XVI., progress in reign of, 6 seq., II; and Necker, 26, lOO ; characteristics, 28, 85, 99, 103, 153) 198) 278; and States- General, 37 seq., 64 seq. ; and Third Estate, 56, 57, 86, 87 ; popularity of, 85, 257 ; at open- ing of States-General, 86 ; at Stance royale, 98 ; on July 15, 1789, 141 ; and National Assembly, 104, 140, 157 ; Paris and, 136 seq., 144 seq., 192, 309^57., 323 seq., 340; ' Father of the Country,' 142 ; ' Restorer of French Liberty, ' 164; schemes and rumours of flight, 175, 276, 305, 379, 408 ; and Declaration of Rights, 442 INDEX. 178, 186 ; and veto, 392 ; and insurrection of women, 182, 183 seq. ; and Body Guard, 201 ; life at Tuileries, 204 seq. ; new title, 206 ; oaths to Constitution, 247, 260, 348 ; and Constitution, 261, 321, 331, 345, 357 ; ceremonial and, 256, 257, 347 ; and right of peace and war, 265 ; and civil war, 269, 302 ; and Imigres, 275, 365, 371 ; and foreign Powers, 276, 362, 364 ; and civil constitution of the clergy, 292, 300, 307, 370 ; dismisses Gentlemen of Bed-Chamber, 311 ; flight to Varennes, 317 seq. ; his manifesto, 320 ; return to Paris, 331 seq. ; Republicans and, 336 seq. ; loses his Constitutional Guard, 380 ; dismisses ' patriot ' ministers, 383 ; and Elector of Treves, 371 ; and declaration of war, 375, 376; on June 20, 395; his last ministry, 401 ; and sus- pension of Petion, 402 ; Lafayette and, 397, 408 ; petitions for de- thronement of, 411, 413, 417, 419; leaves the Tuileries, 427; removed to Temple, 428 ; death, 429. Louis-Charles, Dauphin, 177, 199. Louis - Joseph - Franfois - Xavier, Dauphin, 59, 87, 90. Luckner, Marechal, 377. Luzerne, Comte de. Minister of the Marine (1789-1790), 116. Lyons, 10, 271. Maillard, S. , and events of October, 1789, 180, 181. Mallet du Pan, J., secret mission, 376, 418. Malouet, P. V. de, on closing of Salle des Menus-Plaisirs, 94 ; leader of Right, 211 ; and Club des Impartiaiix, 217. Manant, 22, 45, 81. Mandat, A. J. G., Marquis de. Commandant of National Guard, 415' 425, 427. Manifesto, of Brunswick, Com- mander of Allies, 418. Manuel, L. P., Procureur-General- Syndic of the Commune, suspen- ded, 401 ; and sections, 409. Marat, J. P., Ami du peiiple, 217 ; proposes dictatorship, 335. Marc d" argent, 221, 339. Marck, de la, Comte de, 264, 278. Marie-Antoinette, and Brienne, 26; and Necker, 26, 100, lOl ; at opening of States-General, 59, 64 ; and Flanders regiment, 1 76 ; and insurrection of women, I95> 197 ^^q ; abuse of, 145, 199, seq. ; on removal to Paris, 203, 205 ; and Fete de la FMdration, 261 ; Mirabeau and, 266 ; and Austria, 273 ; distrust of Constitutionalists, 279 ; and Constitution, 311, 345; loss of servants, 312 ; and king's mani- festo, 322 seq. ; on royalist re- action, 344, and king's visit to Assembly, 348 ; on Declaration of Pillnitz, 361 ; proposes Euro- pean coalition, 362, and einigris, 363 ; and death of Gustave, 375 ; on June 20th, 1792, 395 ; death of, 429. Marly, councils at Palace of, 90, 93 ; proposal of National As- sembly to go there, 94. Marseillais, The, 415 seq.; entrance to Paris, 416 ; and king, 417. Martial law, 20S. Martineau, L. S., and primitive church, 239. Mauconseil, Section of, 413. Maury, Abbe, and noble titles, 256 ; and Necker, 288. M^moire des princes, 32, 33, 34. Menus-Plaisirs, Hotel de, 63, 67 ; Salle de, 63. Mercy-Argenteau, Comte de, 26, 345 ; and Necker, 104 ; and queen's friends, 153; and Mira- beau, 263 ; one of Austrian Com- mittee, 368. Merlin de Thionville, 356. INDEX. 443 Mitayer, 23. Metz, proposal of removing Assembly to, 105 ; proposed flight of king to, 175 n., 269. Milice boiirgeoise, 132, 143 ; forma- tion of, 120, arms for, 123, 125 seq. ; king sanctions, 146 ; La- fayette, head of, 153. See National Guard. Ministers, and forms of States- General, 37 ; and stance royale, 90, 97 ; dismission of, July 1789, 116; recall of, 144; relation to National Assembly, 157 seq. ; and king's removal to Paris, 200; and flight of king, 320 seq. ; changes during Legislative As- sembly, 367 seq., 372 seq., 378, 383> 401. Mirabeau, H. G. Riquetti, Comte de, and States - General, 66, 79 ; member of Breton Club, 74 ; Courrier de Provence, 74 ; and title of National Assembly, 81 ; and St'ance royale, 99 ; on concentration of troops, 113, 138 ; and king, 140, 207, 263, 268 ; and two Chambers, 169 ; and veto, 17 1 ; and the executive, 224, 267 ; and goods of the clergy, 234 ; adviser to Crown, 264 ; " Notes to the Court," 265, 267, 277 ; and Marie- Antoinette, 266 ; on civil war, 267, 269 ; death of, 278 ; on German princes in Alsace, 303. Miromandre, M. de. Body Guard, 196. Moleville, Bertrand de. Minister of the Marine (i 791 -1792), 368, 389. Monarchy, an Article of Constitu- tion, 169, 171 ; reaction in favour of, 338 ; fall of, 428, 430. Monastic orders, 236 seq. ; per- petual vows no longer legal, 236 ; suppression of houses, 237 ; of orders, 238. Mons, attack on, 377. Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois, il. Montesquiou, General, 377, Montmartre, work for unemployed at, 119. Montmedy, 315. Montmorin, Comte de, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1787-1791), I16, 322 ; resigns, 367 ; one of "Austrian Committee," 368, 380 ; and king, 407. Mounier, J. J., and title of National Assembly, 81 ; and Constitution, 166, 170; and insurrection of women, 182, 186; leader of the Right, 211, 212. Municipalities, institution of, 150 ; law concerning, 218. Municipality of Paris, origin of, 1 23 ; and king, 145, 192, 203, 312; first, 149 seq. ; " The Three Hundred," 149 n. ; and insurrec- tion of women, 190 seq. ; and martial law, 208, 343 ; closes convent chapels, 308 ; measures taken on flight of king, 319 ; re- volutionary character of, 386, 391, 405, 422 seq. See also Bureau de la ville, coniitd per- inaiient, coinitt' provisioiie, Com- viiine de Paris. Municipality of Versailles, and insurrection of women, 182, 185. Nancy, mutiny at, 282. Nancy, Bishop of (de la Fare), 62, 262. Narbonne, Louis de, Minister of War ( 1 79 1 - 1 792), 367 ; allies him- self to party of Brissot, 370; dis- missed, 372. National Assembly, First or Consti- tuent, constituted, 81, 83; divisions in, 104; relation of ministers to, 157; committees of, 158; Articles of Constitution, 169, 351 seq.; removes to Paris, 207 ; attitude towards flight of king, 320 seq. ; change in feeling of people to- wards, 341 ; completion of Con- stitution, 344 seq. ; dissolution of, 353 ; self-denying ordinance of, 354- U4 INDEX. National Assembly, Second or Legis- lative, parties in, 354 ; legislation of, on non-jurors and enng)-es, 365 seq., 380; suspension of Petion, - 402; dethronement of king, 411, 420 seq. National Convention, 413; decreed, 429 ; abolishes monarchy, 430. National Guard of Paris, its organi- ■ sation, 151, igo; and Body Guard, 197, 201 ; has charge of Tuileries, 204 ; and populace, 343 ; replaces king's Constitutional Guard, 380; and camp round Paris, 382 ; dis- banding of its etat-major, 398. National Guard of Versailles, 146, 176, 178, 182, 184, 185. National Guards, under command of municipalities, 208. Navy, tricolour flag adopted in, 274; revolt in, 285. Necker, J., Minister of Finance (1776-1781, 1788-1791), 13, 86; and finance, 27, 168, 228, 230, 287, 28S ; as a statesman, 28, 36 ; and Notables, 30; and States- General, 36 seq., 38, 43, 65, 78, 91, 96; and king, 89, 91, 104, 192, 200; and people, 100 seq., 112, 147, 157, 289; dismissed, 100; recalled, 144 ; resigned, 289. Negroes, and civil rights, 222. Newspapers, political, 73, 217. Noailles, Vicomte de, 138, 161. Nobles, and elections, 41, 48; at opening of States-General, 55 ; " and Third Estate, 68, 72, 75 seq., 78, 89; division among, 70; re- nounce pecuniary privilege, 75; join Third Estate, loi. Nonjurors, to have their own chapels, 305. See also Clergy. Notables, second meeting of, 31 seq. Notre-Dame de Paris, 51, 245 ; First States-General met in, 20. Notre-Dame de Versailles, 57, 58, 59, 92- Noyon, proposal to remove As- sembly to, 114. Oaths, at constitution of National Assembly, 83; of Jeu de Paume, 96; military, 250, 326; to Con- stitution, 242, 249, 260, 348. Orders, The Three, 20 seq. ; Crown and, 39; forbidden to meet, June 19, 1789, 91 ; union of, 102; disregarded in municipal elections, 149; distinctions between abol- ished, 210. See also Clergy, Nobles, Third Estate. Orleans, Supreme Court of, 372, 380, 401. Orleans, Louis- Philippe-Joseph Due d', and Crown, 60; joins Third Estate, 10 1 ; and Palais-Royal_. 106; and riots, 108, 194. Ouvriers, 23. Facte de Fandlle, The, 264. Palais de Justice (Paris), 19, 29 ; closing of, 287. Palais d'Orieans, see Palais-Royal. Palais-Royal, a revolutionary centre, 107, 112, 113, 115, 118, 119, 133, 152, 175, 341, 398. Pamphlets of 1789, 19, 21. Pantheon, and memory of great men, 279. Paris, and the Crown, 2, 142, 186, 189, 203, 307 seq. ; and States- General, 54 ; and National Assembly, 83, 106, 142, 165, 175; troops concentrated on, 105, 113 seq. ; old authorities gone, 148; and famine, 178; fediSris and, 404 seq. Paris (Juigne, L. de). Archbishop of, opposes union of Orders, 92 ; on withdrawal of troops, 139. Parlement of Paris, 3, 19 ; and the privileged, 14 ;and States-General, 29, 32 ; renounces pecuniary pri- vilege, 33 ; opposes union of Orders, 92 ; functions of, 155 ; aliolished, 287. Parlements, The, 5 ; and the people, 14 ; and Crown, 17 ; and liberty of speech, 19 ; functions of, 156 ; abolition of, 224, 287. INDEX. 445 Patriate fran^ais, Le, 217, 334. Pays if Election, 34. Pays cTt'tats, 34, 70. Perier, Claude, 36. Petit Journal die Palais- Royal, 235. Petion, J., member of Breton club, 74 ; on king's title, 206 ; on monastic orders, 238 ; and flight of king, 326 ; popularity, 344, 407 ; as Mayor, 388, 392, 415, 416, 419; suspension and reinstal- ment of, 401 seq. " Petition of the Twenty Thousand," 396. Philippe-le-Bel., 18, 24. Pillnitz, declaration of, 360 ; Marie- Antoinette and, 361. Pius VI. and civil constitutions of the clergy, 292 seq., 297. Place d'Armes, Versailles, 94, 139, 182, 183, 184, 185, 194, 195. Place de Greve, 46, 131, 132, 133, 139, 180, 190, 191, 207, 245. Place du Carrousel, 309, 394, 427. Place Louis XV., 119, 252, 258, 331- Place Vendome, 328. Place des Victoires, 255. Poissardes, The, 108, 202, 308, 327- Poitiers (Saint-Aulaire), Bishop of, 297. Primary assemblies, 41, 225. Princes of the blood, Menioire de, 32) 33 ; required to remain in PVance, 304. Privilege, 1 1 ; king and those of upper orders, 55 ; abolition of, 158, 163. Protestants, and civil rights, 8, 222. Provence, Comte de, 32, 197, 202 ; rumour of his leaving Paris, 304 ; as imigi-d, 360, 365 ; on Marie- Antoinette, 429. Provincial assemblies, institution of, 7, 34- Provinces, disquiet in, 28, 160, 174, 218 ; abolition of, 219 seq. Prudhommc, publisher of Les Ri!- volntions de Paris, 217. Prussia, and Austria, 273, 303, 359, 361, 376, 379, 401 ; and France, 273. 303. 361, 379- Puysegur, Minister of War (17S9), dismissed, 116. Qiiai'tiers, 47. Quinze-Vingts, section of, 424, 425- Rabaut-Saint-Etienne, J. P., 170, 212. Regiment of Flanders, 176, 182 ; banquet, 176 seq. Regleineiits of Jan. 24th, 1789, 42; of April 13th, 17S9, 46. Republic, first openly advocated, 334; attitude of Jacobins towards, 335 ; decreed, 430. Republicans, The, distinguished from Democrats, 336 ; and Con- stitutionalists, 339 ; petitions on fate of king, 340, 341, 343 ; re- action against, 344, 412. R(! stilt at dii Conseil, 37, 55, 86. Reveillon riot, 109, iii. Rt'volutions de Paris, 217, 334, 355, 356, 365, 366, 394- Rt'volutions de France et de Brabant 217. Richelieu, 3. Robespierre, Max., 344; member of Breton club, 74 ; and Legislative Assembly, 354 ; ViwAfdddrds, 405, 406. Rochambeau, General Vicomte de, 327, 329- Rochefoucauld, Cardinal de la, 102. Rochefoucauld, d'Amville, Due de la, President of Directory of the Department of Paris, 311. Rrederer, P. L., Procurator-Syndic of the Department, 391, 421, 423, 427- Roland de la Platiere, Minister of the Interior, March to June, 1792, 373. 374) . 378 ; letter to king, 382 ; dismissed, 383. Roland, Madame (jeanne-Marie Phlipon), 382. 446 INDEX. Romainvilliers, Commandant of the National Guard, 392, 396, 397. Romans, 36. Rousseau, J. J., 12. "Royal Allemand," The, 119. Russia and Austria, 272, 359 ; and France, 272, 274. Saint-Antoine, Faubourg of, 107, 119, 128, 305, 424, 426. Saint - Germain I'Auxerrois, 309, 313- Saint-Marceau, Faubourg of, 394, 426. Saint-Mery, Moreau de, 147. Salle des Etats. See Menus-PIaisers, Salle des. Salle de I'Opera, Versailles, ban- quet in, 177 seg. Salle du Manege, description of, 210. Salle des Seances (Salle du Manege). Santerre, C, 414, 416, 417. Sardinia and Emigres, 273, 359. Seal of State, The, and decrees, 323, Z1Z- Si^ance royale, 91, 97 seq., 104. Sections, The, and king, 329, 413, 426 ; substitution of, for districts, 386 ; bureau de correspondance, 409 ; petition of, for dethrone- ment of king, 413. Seignorial rights, 161, 163. Serfs, freedom of, 7, 163. Servan, Joseph, Minister of War (April to June, 1792), 378; and camp round Paris, 381, 382, 405 ; dismissed, 383. Sicard, Abbe, 10. Sieyes, E. J., Abbe, and Third Estate, 53, 79 ; member of Breton club, 74 ; and title of National Assembly, 81 ; and St'ance royale, .99- Sillery, Marquis de, 146, 147. Simonneau, Mayor of Etampes, fete in honour of, 389. Six Corps, The, 9. Society des Amis de la Constitution. See Breton and Jacobin Clubs. Soci^tJ des Amis des Noirs, 10. Socit!tt's fraterjielles, 335. SociJtds fraternelles des deux Sexes, 328. Soissons, proposal to remove Assembly to, 114, 159; camp at, 405, 417- Sombreuil, Marquis de, Governor of Bastille, 127. Spain and imigri!s, 273. Stael, Madame de, and king, 408. States-General, promised, 4, 16 ; old, 4 seq., 17, 28 ; and privilege, 15; and grievances, 16; forms of, 20 seq., 29, 40; opening of, 55 seq. ; procedure in, 72 ; addresses to king, 87, 88 ; became National Assembly, 83, 102. Swiss Guard, The, iii, 145, Taille, 22. Talleyrand-Perigord, C. M. de. Bishop of Autun, on church pro- perty, 233 ; at Fete de la Fid^ra- tion, 260 ; takes civil oath, 295 ; a member of Directory of Depart- ments 311. Tarbe, Minister of Finance (1791- 1792), 367- Target, G. J. B., 76. Taxes, States-General and, 5, 13; and privilege, 7, 13, 33; and National Assembly, 69, 90; non- payment of, 167, 230. Temple, The, royal family in, 428. Terrier de Monciel, Minister of the Interior (June to July, 1792), 405. Territorial divisions, new, 219 seq. Theatre-Fran9ais, section of, 314. Third Estate, The, and old States- General, 4, 23 ; its political signifi- cance, 21, 154; two classes in, 22, seq. ; Notables and, 31 ; and upper Orders, 33, 34, 68, 72, 75 seq. ; elections of, 47 seq. ; king and, 56, 65, 76, 84, 86 seq., 89 seq. Thouret, J. G., 212. Thuriot, Paris elector, 129. Tithes, abolition of, 163, 233, 234. INDEX. 447 Toulouse, tumult in 1790, 271. Toulouse, Archbishop of, 264. Tournay, attack on, 377. Tourzel, Madame de, governess of royal children, 202, 309. Trade corporations, 7, 9, 11. Treilhard, J. B., 239. Treves, Elector of, 301, 370, 371. Tribunal dc fiaix, 225. Tricolour cockade, 146, 181 ; flag, 146, 274. Tuileries, 305, 407 ; invasions of, 394 seq., 427; proposed attacks on, 414, 417. Turgot, Anne-Robert-Jacques, 13, 86, 230. Tussaud, Madame, 121 n. Varennes, 315, 330. Vergniaud, P. V., leader of Left in Legislative Assembly, 356; mem- ber of war-party, 368 ; and Crown, 373, 399. Versailles, troops concentrated on, 105, 113, 139; attack on chateau of, 194 set/. ; king leaves, 202 ; Assembly leaves, 207. Veto, question of, 169 scq. ; king exercises, 365. Vienne, Archbishop of, 92, 137. Villedeuil, Minister of the King's Household (July, 1789; Con- troller-General, 1787), 116. Vincennes, forest of, 204 ; chateau of, 304. ^ Vizille, chateau of, 36. Vote by Order or by head, 31, 32, 65> 69, 71 ; provincial assemblies and. 34. War, right of declaring, 265 ; fear of, after flight of king, 329 ; and Legislative assembly, 364 ; declared against Austria, 375 ; reverses in, 377 secj. ; patriotic contributions towards, 378 ; de- clared against Prussia, 401. Westphalia, Treaty of, 302. Women, Insurrection of, 179 seq. Worms, ^mtgr^ ca.mp at, 301. GLASGOW : rRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD. 19 a 04 DC ri3 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. 50to-1,'63(D4743s8)476 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY EACILITY AA 000 173 313 8