THE HISTORY OF NATIONS THE FRENCH- REVOLUTION o & >4 .5 a IS ^ ^ 5 ** c ~^ cq oo i!a >~1 ^ "*^ J ^^ >, iti b< a THE HISTORY OF NATIONS HENRY CABOT LODGE,Ph.D.,LLD. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION from 1789 toi815 by FRANCOIS AUGUSTS MIGNET Member of the French Academy Edited with additional chapter on the Hundred Days by JANES WESTFALL THOMPSON,Ph.D. Professor ot History University of Chicago Volume X 1 11 ustrat ed The H .W. Snow and Son Company C li i c a ^ o Copyright, 1907, by JOHN D. AIORRIS & COMPANY Copyright, 1910 THE H. W. SNOW & SON COMPANY DO/ pfg7?>^*-- THE HISTORY OF NATIONS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF HENRY CABOT LODGE, PkD., L.L.D. Associate Editors and Authors ARCHIBALD HENRY SAYCE, LL.D., Professor of Assyriology, Oxford Uni- versity SIR ROBERT K. DOUGLAS, Professor of Chinese. King's College, Lon- don CHRISTOPHER JOHNSTON, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Oriental History and Archaeology, Johns Hopkins University C. W. C. OMAN, LL.D., Professor of History, Oxford University THEODOR MOMMSEN, Late Professor of Ancient History, Uni- versity of Berlin ARTHUR C. HOWLAND, Ph.D., Department of History, University of Penn- sylvania JEREMIAH WHIPPLE JENKS, Ph.D., LL.D.. Professor of Political Economy and Pol- itics, Cornell University KANICHI ASAKAWA, Ph.D., Instructor in the History of Japanese Civilization, Yale University WILFRED HAROLD MUNRO, Ph.D., Professor of European History, Brown University G. MERCER ADAM, Historian and Editor FRED MORROW FLING, Ph.D.. Professor of European History, University of Nebraska CHARLES MERIVALE, LL.D., Late Dean of Ely, formerly Lecturer in FRANCOIS AUGUSTE MARIE MIGNET. History, Cambridge University Late Member of the French Academy J. HIGGINSON CABOT, Ph.D., Department of History, Wellesley College JAMES WESTFALL THOMPSON, Ph.D., Department of History, University of Chicago SIR WILLIAM W. HUNTER, F.R.S., Late Director-General of Statistics in India SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER, LL.D., Professor of Modern History, King's Col- lege. London GEORGE M. DUTCHER, Ph.D., Professor of History, Wesleyan University R. W. JOYCE, LL.D., Commissioner for the Publication of tbt" Ancient Laws of Ireland ASSOCIATE EDITORS AND AUTHORS-Continued jusTin McCarthy, ll.d.. Author and Historian PAUL LOUIS LEGER, Professor of the Slav Languages, College de France AUGUSTUS HUNT SHEARER. Ph.D.. Instructor in History. Trinity College. WILLIAM E. LINGLEBACH. Ph.D., Hartford Assistant Professor of European History, University of Pennsylvania W. HAROLD CLAFLIN, B.A., Department of History, Harvard Uni- BAYARD TAYLOR, varsity Former United States Minister to Germany CHARLES DANDLIKER, LL.D., President of Zurich University SIDNEY B. FAY, Ph.D., Professor of History, Dartmouth College ELBERT JAY BENTON, Ph.D., Department of History, Western Reserve University SIR EDWARD S. CREASY, Late Professor of History, University Col- lege, London ARCHIBALD CARY COOLIDGE, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History, Harvard University WILLIAM RICHARD MORFILL, M.A., Professor of Russian and other Slavonic Languages, Oxford University CHARLES EDMUND FRYER. Ph.D.. Department of History, McGill University E. C. OTTE. Specialist on Scandinavian History J. SCOTT KELTIE, LL.D., President Royal Geographical Society ALBERT GALLOWAY KELLER, Ph.D.. Assistant Professor of the Science of So- ciety, Yale University EDWARD JAMES PAYNE, M.A., Fellow of University College, Oxford PHILIP PATTERSON WELLS, Ph.D., Lecturer in History and Librarian of the Law School, Yale University FREDERICK ALBION OBER, Historian, Author and Traveler JAMES WILFORD GARNER, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois EDWARD S. CORWIN, Ph.D., Instructor in History, Princeton Uni- versity JOHN BACH McMASTER, Litt.D., LL.D.. Professor of History, University of Penn- sylvania JAMES LAMONT PERKINS, Managing Editor The editors and publishers desire to express their appreciation for valuable advice and suggestions received from the following: Hon. Andrew D. White. LL.D., Alfred Thayer Mahan, D.C.L., LL.D., Hon. Charles Emory Smith. LL.D., Professor Edward Gaylord Bourne, Ph.D., Charles F. Thwing, LL.D., Dr. Emil Reich, William Elliot Grikfis, LL.D., Professor John Martin Vincent, Ph.D., LL.D., Melvil Dewey, LL.D., Alston Ellis, LL.D., Professor Charles H. McCarthy, Ph.D., Professor Herman V. Ames, Ph.D., Professor Walter L. Fleming, Ph.D., Professor David Y. Thomas, Ph.D., Mr. Otto Reich and Mr. O. M. Dickerson. vii PREFACE There are four distinct periods observable in the histories of the French Revolution. The first is the epoch of contemporary his- tories, like that of Rabaut de St. Etienne : " Histoire de la Revolu- tion frangaise," which appeared in 1792. Naturally the authors of such works stood too close to the events whereof they wrote to be able to judge them properly; all were deeply imbued with the preju- dices of the time; moreover, their information was necessarily limited, for this was the age when the documentary evidence was in process of production. Then came the period of the First Empire and the Restoration (1804-1824), in which a flood of recol- lections, memoirs, correspondence, etc., appeared. This mass of material paved the way for the first complete histories of the revo- lution. The first portions of Thiers's great work appeared in 1823 ; the French version of the work here edited next appeared, and the histories of Quinet, Louis Blanc, and Michelet followed in the middle of the century. But the writing of each of these his- torians was deeply imbued with the spirit of the age in which he lived. Louis Blanc was inspired by the socialistic movements in Europe which culminated in the revolution of 1848; Quinet was influenced by the national sentiment stirring in Germany, and espe- cially Italy, and was romantically affected. Such also had been the case with Thiers and Mignet. The prophecy of Chateaubriand had been verified, at least partially, in the case of Thiers. The genius of Napoleon had enthralled his imagination ; he honored the revo- lution as the mother and maker of Napoleon, and him he worshiped. With Alignet this was so in a less degree. He worshiped the revo- lution ; he had neither in his heart nor in his mind to write much of Bonaparte. Yet although thus dift'ering in the object of their admiration, JNIignet and Thiers were alike in this respect: The history of each one of them was affected by the times in which he lived. Each was a liberal in politics and each was hostile to the narrowness, the bigotry, the stupidity of the Bourbon Restoration. Each was a journalist and actively interested in politics; "they X PREFACE wrote the histoiy of the revolution to justify the hopes or to strengthen the position of the Liberal party." This attitude of mind explains Mignet's idealization of the French Revolution. The glamour of the revolution had cast its spell over him, so much so, that despite his crisp almost cold precise style, he continually warms to his theme. One other peculiarity may also be noticed in Mignet. In spite of the great change which twenty-six years of revolution and of war had wrought in Europe, classic influences still obtained in literature. The early Frank kings are depicted in a romantic way, and some of the revolutionary leaders seem to have the pose of the actors of a Greek tragedy. The manner of writing history changed in the middle of the last century. The influence of Ranke, Hausser, Sybel, Pertz, and other German specialists not only established new and more scientific modes of writing history, but also emancipated the his- torian from the earlier prejudices. Each of them might be a student of a certain theme, as for example, the economic history of the revolution or its foreign politics, but no one of them was a partisan. The influence of such men in due time inspired the greatest French historians, such as Mme. Sorel, one of the great- est historians of France, living or dead, Aulard, AIortimer-Ter- naux, Wallon, and Vandal. And yet, although eighty years have elapsed since Mignet wrote, despite the enormous mass of new information which has been brought to light and in spite of more scientific methods, '' The French Revolution " of Mignet has never been surpassed. The late Charles Kendall Adams wrote of it: " This still continues to be the most satisfactory short history of the revolution. In style it is compact, and in method of treatment it is clear, thoughtful, and just. The author believed in constitutional government, and his reflections on the mistakes of the revolutionists are worthy of careful attention. Mignet was one of the most conscientious and judicial of modern French writers." And Dr. Andrew D. White, than whom there is no higher authority, says : " Thorough enough for the general student, thoughtful, just, clear in style, compact in matter; the best, by far, of all the short histories." The work of the editor has been twofold : First, to correct errors where Mignet has made them. It is inevitable that in the course of three generations of historical research, much new nia- terial unknown in 1824 must have been published and tlie truth PREFACE XI brought to light. Thanks to Mignet's conscientiousness, however, this portion of the task has been comparatively light. The heavier, yet the pleasanter one, has been the endeavor to bring the book to present day ideas, and this has required the modification or enlarge- ment of many paragraphs of the original. Where deemed advisable for the purposes of this book the text has been entirely rewritten, but where extensive changes were not necessary short notes have been preferred. Throughout references have been made to standard au- thorities so that the critical reader may compare for himself. As large an amount of new information as practicable within the com- pass of this book has thus been added and the effort made to embody the results of even recent research. In addition an introductory chapter on the Old Regime, a chapter upon the important subject of the finances of the revolution and one upon the Hundred Days, have been prepared in order to give the treatment greater com- pleteness. (AMAJL^^L^yUh University of Chicago. CONTENTS PART I FALL OF THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY. 1789 CHAPTER PAGE L The Old RI^gime 3 II. The Beginning of the Revolution. 1789 . . 17 III. Establishment of the States-General. May 5- AuGUST 4, 1789 41 PART II THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY. AUGUST 4, 1789-SEPTEMBER 30, 1791 IV. The Rise of Popular Government. August 4- OcTOBER 6, 1789 . . . . . .79 V. Separation of National Parties. 1789- 1791 . loi VI. The Close of the Assembly. September 30, 1791 132 PART III THE FIRST REPUBLIC. OCTOBER i, 1791- JUNE 2, 1793 VII. The National Legislative Assembly. October i, 1791-SEPTEMBER 21, 1792 .... 151 VIII. Tin: National Convention and the Trial of Louis XVI. September 21, 1792-jANUARY 21, 1793 . 215 IX. Fall of the Girondists. January 2i-June 2, 1793 239 PART IV THE TERROR AND THE REACTION. JUNE 2, 1793-OCTOBER 28, 1795 X. Beginning of the Terror. June 2, 1793-ApRiL, 1794 267 XI. Fall of Robespierre. April 6-July 28, 1794 . 296 xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XII. The Tiiermidorian Reaction. July 28, 1794-MAY 20, 1795 320 XIII. The Close of the National Convention. May 20- OcTOBER 26, 1795 341 PART V THE DIRECTORY. OCTOBER 26, 1795-NOVEMBER 10, 1799 XIV. The Government of the Directory. October 26, 1795-SEPTEMBER 5, 1797 .... 367 XV. Fall of the Directory. September 5, 1797-NovEM- 15ER 10, 1799 395 XVI. The Finances of the French Revolution . . 418 PART VI THE EPOCH OF NAPOLEON. NOVEMBER 10, 1799-JUNE 18, 181S XVII. Nafoleon and the Consulate. November 10, 1799- December 2, 1804 . . . . .431 XVIII. The Empire. 1804-1814 ..... 461 XIX. The Hundred Days, March-June, 1815 . . 498 Bibliography ......... 507 Index . . . . . . . . . 513 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1807." Napoleon at Friedland (Photogravure) Frontispiece FACING PAGE . 14 Jean Jacques Rousseau Louis XVI Marie Antoinette Camille Desmoulins in the Garden oe the Pauais Royal In the Lowest Dungeon of the Bastile . . . . Mob Escorting Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette back to Paris , . . Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the Storming of the tuileries ........ Maximilien Marie Isidore Robespierre . . . . Last Interview of Louis and Family . . . . . The Last Supper of the Girondists . . . . , Charlotte Corday Assassinates Marat . . . Marie Antoinette on the Way to Her Execution Anno 1793 . . . . Calling the Roll of the Victims of the ReiGxN of Terror The Wounded Robespierre in the IIall of the Convention The Revolution in the Vendee Napoleon Crossing the Saint r>ERNARD . . . . Josephine, Empress of the French . . . . . 24 56 66 96 194 218 236 264 268 278 286 298 318 350 438 480 TEXT MAPS Ancient Provinces of France Paris Historic Places of the Revolutionary Epoch The Vendean Insurrection .... Campaigns in Italy. 1794-1800 France at the Height of Napoleon's Power Campaigns of 1813-1815 Europe. 181 5 PAGE 6 103 211 344 382 468 489 500 PART I FALL OF THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY 1789 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Chapter I THE OLD REGIME THE French Revolution was the last of those profound movements which, with the Renaissance and the Refor- mation, have formed modern history. As the Renais- sance had been a movement for liberal knowledge, as the Reforma- tion had liberalized religion, so the French Revolution liberalized politics. It was a supreme effort on the part of France and of all Europe to overthrow the medicTval structure of society and to build anew the social and political fabric of the state. It was essen- tially a social revolution, and in this respect differs from the others in its underlying causes as well as in^the unparalleled tragic grandeur of its course. From the beginning it had a very pow- erful propagandist character. " The French Revolution," says Tocqueville, *' acted with regard to things of this world precisely as religious revolutions have acted with regard to things of the other. It dealt with the citizen in the abstract, independent of particular social organizations, just as religions deal with man- kind in general, independent of time and place. It inquired not what were the particular rights of French citizens, but what were the general rights and duties of mankind in reference to political concerns." Although its local character is stamped upon it with gkjwing distinctness, yet the French Revolution initiated in Europe the revolution which the United States had begun for the whole western civilized world. In order to understand the nature and the depth of this great " crisis of modern reconstruction," it is necessary to know some- thing of the political organization and social structure which it was the aim of the French Revolution to change. The constitution of France was not written, but rested upon tradition. In theory the authority of the king was absolute. In fact, that authority was frequently traversed by feudal interests, 4. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION by tradition, and by conflicting- precedents. The administration which obtained before the revolution had acquired fixity during the long reign of Louis XIV. (1643-1715); its institutions had then been definitively formed and did not vary from that time down to 1789, save in detail. The king had the supreme political authority, which he either exercised in person or delegated. The royal prerogative was theoretically whole and complete, and every organ of the govern- ment was auxiliary to the crown and was operative only within the discretion of the king. Li France the councils had not been formed, as in England, by division of duties, but had become tech- nical boards with a less direct relation to the administration than the British exchequer, admiralty, or treasury. The French par- lement, the chambre des comptes (chamber of accounts), and the grand conseil were only in indirect connection with the govern- ment. The most influential administrative body was the conseil du roi. It had general supervision of foreign affairs, and from it emanated the royal acts, ordinances, edicts, and declarations ; it fixed the sum of the taxes to be raised and distributed them among the provinces. No budget existed. The taxes once levied con- tinued to be levied indefinitely. This council was formed of certain persons, all chosen by the king and removable by him at pleas- ure without any formality, not even the signature of the chancellor. The number of members was variable, but always very small. For the dispatch of business, the conseil du roi was divided into various sections in which the same members were differently grouped, each presided over by a minister. The most important of these were those concerned with foreign affairs, and in which the chancellor did not have a seat, war, and finance. The three other ministers were those of marine, the interior, under the controleur-general, and the chancellorship. These various boards were, at least in theory, directed by the king in person. Louis XV. for a long time left the general direction to Cardinal Fleuiy. But after his death the ministers were left without regular direction. The actual gov- ernment depended upon the influence which each minister exercised over the king, and the king too often was influenced by his mistress or his confessor. Below the king's council was the conseil d'etat, formed of members named by the king, and of maitres des requetes. who had purchased their places, often for sums as high as 200,000 livres, THEOLDREGIME 6 and whose business it was to prepare the preliminary work. This body was administratively of great importance, because the intend- ants were generally taken from it. Some of the legislative work, such as the preparation of edicts and ordinances, was also in the 'Care of this body. These two bodies were the most important organizations of the government. Their members were recruited from the new nobility which had purchased position during the reign of Louis XIV. The king was therefore under the combined influence of his court, the royal family, the reigning favorite, and these function- aries. Instead of a landed aristocracy, as in England and Austria, a bureaucratic aristocracy prevailed in France. In the provinces the central government was represented by two species of officials, the governors, who were drawn from the old nobility and whose duty was mostly ceremonial, and the inten- dants, generally former maitres des requetes, who were sent into the provinces and endowed with unlimited administrative authority. Most of the provinces were little more than administrative sections used by the government ; some of them, however, called pays d'etat, enjoyed special privileges. Such were Brittany, Normandy, Langue- doc. There was nothing the intendants did not do or control. France was divided into thirty-three administrative divisions under them. But if the people had learned to consider themselves impotent, they had also learned to shift the whole responsibility on the govern- ment. And when later the revolutionary spirit burst forth it was with the cry " Down with the intendant ! " and the intendant was the first victim of the maddened populace. But the provinces and the generalites of the intendants were but two sorts of adminis- trative divisions. We must reckon also the ecclesiastical jurisdic- tions, the dioceses, of which there were 135, besides thirty-four recruiting areas. There were only two sorts of assemblies in France not di- rectly under the king. The assembly of the clergy of France, inckiding only the prelates of the ancient kingdom, for the bishops of the newly-acquired provinces liad no scats in it, was convened every five years in order to vote a gift of money, called the don gratuit, to the crown. Aside from this, the only other assembly in anv sense independent was to be found in certain of the prov- inces (pays d'etat) which had preserved a vestige of their old feudal independence and in which the local estates had become a 6 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION sort of fiscal board. Properly speaking, however, these bodies were not political in their nature. There was a third species of organization, the courts, or par- lements, whose jurisdiction was limited to prescribed regions. There were fourteen such parlements, the most important being that of Paris. It had a grand chamber, the chamber of inquests, and the chamber of petitions. Like the council of state, it was an oligarchy of families who perpetuated their control, the members of the parlement being an hereditary nobility, the noblesse de robe, S I TZCKUANO who transmitted the office from father to son. It was the parle- ment of Paris which, by virtue of its position in the kingdom and the social prestige of its members, was the most powerful indepen- dent body of the kingdom. In a state where no power existed by the side of arbitrary government, it was the sole body representing the law and possessing the means of publicly manifesting its opin- ion. It was thus that the parlement came to play so prominent a part immediately before the revolution The administration of criminal justice was the only public THE OLD REGIME 7 department in which the nobility still had a hand. The criminal law preserved most of the horrors of medieval criminal practice. The gallows, mutilation, breaking upon the wheel, etc., were fre- quent penalties, and the complexity of the law was very great. In the civil law there were no less than 384 different practices. Other institutions were as bad. The army and the navy were mutinous and badly cared for. The officers' places were reserved for the scions of noble families, and compulsory military service was required in the ranks. In order to get a higher price for the cap- tainships, the captains were allowed to appoint the inferior officers, from whom in their turn they received a remuneration. In con- sequence, the number of officers and under-officers became out of all proportion to the privates. The rich captains spent their time at court and proved novices at war. The privates were so badly fed, so badly clothed, and treated so like brutes that the number of deserters was calculated at 16,000. The social institutions of France were as far from being in harmony with the new ideas as the political. The nation was divided into a hierarchy of unequal classes. The nobility monopo- lized the high offices of the government, and with the clergy en- joyed exemption from taxes, while the rich bourgeoisie of the cities controlled commerce and industry. An examination of the struc- ture of society affords ample evidence of the unjust order of things prevailing in France. The high offices of the church were closed to men not of noble birth, not legally, but in fact. The clergy owned almost one-half the land of France, and save the don gratuit, which was a mere pittance when compared with their incomes, enjoyed exemption from taxation. The 298 members of the Ijenedictine monastery of Cluny enjoyed a revenue of 1,800,000 ^ livres; the Dominicans of Toulouse disposed of two millions; Cardinal Rohan, the Bishop of Strasburg, lived like a prince of the blood, as he could well afford to on an income of over a mil- lion. By historical development, by moral authority, and veritably in wealth, the clergy were tlie first estate. As for the nobility of France in 1789, that class was, perhaps, one three-hundred- twenty-fifth of the population ; yet they owned one-fifth of the land, so that more than one-half of France was possessed by classes exempt from taxation. The nobles enjoyed a large number of 1 The livre (approximately igi cents) was superseded in 1795 by the franc, which has since been the unit of the French monetary system. 8 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION manorial privileges, chief among which were local justice, the right to exact forced service (corvee) from their dependents, and hunt- ing rights, which were bitterly hated by the peasantry. Except in Brittany, the evils of absenteeism everywhere prevailed. The court swallowed up the revenues of the nation. The household of the king comprised twenty-two departments, and every great noble attempted to imitate the life at Versailles. The drain upon the people was thus increased. The extravagance of the king almost baffles belief. The retinue of the king in 1770 numbered 9050 persons, causing a yearly expense of 8,000,000 livres. " The king has some ninety gentlemen to take care of his bedchamber, nearly five hundred for his table, and more than fifteen hundred to attend to his horses. These offices about the royal person and household are considered the most honorable in the kingdom, since they are all filled by nobles whose pay is high, while their duties are very light or even nominal. Besides the household officers, the king has his guards, French and Swiss, cav- alry and infantry, more than nine thousand men, costing the people annually more than $1,500,000. When the king makes a journey, all these people must accompany him, at the expense of the state. In 1783 no less than $33,800 was paid for feeding the king's horses, and more than $10,000 for feeding his hunting-dogs. The coffee and bread for each of the ladies of the bedchamber costs $400 a year. The court-kitchen, according to the printed register, employs two hundred and ninety-five cooks, and the total number of persons to be supported by the king amounts to more than fifteen thousand." The king also gave many presents ; this was especially true of Louis XV. Louis XVI., in 1785, gave away more than %2y,- 000,000, and Von Sybel reckons that the annual average given in this way would reach $20,000,000. As for Louis XV., it is known that in one year he spent about $36,000,000 on his own pleasures. The palace of Versailles itself cost more than $50,000,000, while on the bridges, roads, public and scientific institutions not more than $7,000,000 was expended. Owing to the exemption of the privileged orders, the burden upon the mass of the nation became a fearful one. The bourgeoisie of Paris and some others of the great cities grew rich, for the monopolies of trade, the prohibitions upon manufacturing, were THEOLDREGIME 9 manipulated by them. The guilds, originally created to emanci- pate and enlarge trade and commerce, had now become close cor- porations mastered by a few wealthy " bosses." Like so much else, they too had become poisoned with the virus of privilege and as- serted and adhered to the doctrine that the right to labor had to be granted. When we turn to agriculture, aside from the mediaeval meth- ods used, it was crushed by the weight of feudal dues, the outworn survival of mediaeval conditions. " A system of tillage . . . prevailed without industry, without science, and above all, without capital." Quesnay,. in 1750, estimated the uncultivated land as one-fourth the arable soil of France, and Young in 1790 thought it to be at least one-fifth. Taine has estimated that, all told, the French peasant bore a tax of eighty-one per cent., and Von Sybel figuring on data for the year 1785, computes that the nation bore a tax of some 800 millions, which, in terms of the present purchasing power of money, would to-day equal thrice that sum. Great as these amounts are, however, we must not lose sight of the fact that it was the inequality, not the weight, that was the real source of the burden. If the nobles and clergy had paid in proportion to their resources, instead of paying taxes upon con- sumption merely, the injustice would not have existed. But the actual value in figures does not measure the extent of the oppres- sion suffered, for " taking all in all," concludes Von Sybel, " France, under the old monarchy, was four times as poor in man- ufactures, three times as poor in agriculture, and more than three times as poor in commerce." The French Revolution came as the protest against this unjust political and social regime. But the French Revolution was not a sudden outburst of popular fury, however volcanic it may seem to be in certain of its phases. In reality the revolution was preceded and prepared by a series of conflicts, some knowledge of which is necessary in order accurately to understand the movement. This agitation may be divided into three phases : ( i ) From the death of Louis XTV. in 1715 down to 1754 the opposition was carried on by the parlement of Paris only, and the church was the object of attack: (2) from 1754 to 1774 all the parlements of France were united in a common agitation for better go\ernment; (3) from 1774 to 1789 many attempts at reform were made. In the first period the question turned upon the attempt of the clergv, in al- 10 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION liance with the Jesuits, to force upon the French people the papal bull which dealt with the Holy Sacrament. The government found itself drawn into the conllict, in the sense that it espoused the cause of the clerical party. This is the moment of the birth of the oppo- sition of the people of Paris and of the legist class to the church and the absolute monarchy. But the idea of a revolution was yet vague and intangible. It is not until the second half of the reign of Louis XV. that the conflict becomes continuous and general. The pro- vincial parlements then also began to attack the government, and frequent demands were made for reorganization and reformation. But the actions of the parlements were continually ridden down by the edicts of the king, who naturally supported the royal preroga- tive. Still the opposition gathered head and the idea of revolu- tion grew broader and deeper. This agitation had no direct results, but it familiarized the people with the ideas and the formulas which came to be employed during the revolution. The second phase of this broad opposition (1754-1774) is nat- urally divided into three periods : ( i ) The conflict during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) : (2) the conflict over the taxes (1763- 1767) ; (3) the conflict over the financial policy of the Abbe Terray, which brought about some violent measures on the part of the crown against the parlement. The conflict during the Seven Years' War is distinguished from preceding conflicts in that it was not local, but general, in its character. All the parlements took a hand in it and sustained that of Paris by making similar remonstrances. This cooperation of the parlements is noteworthy; and as this is the first time that we see any manifestation of it, their alliance had an important effect upon the future. The immediate occasion of the conflict, as said, was the ques- tion of the sacraments. The king's council had been a docile instru- ment of the Jesuits, and on October 10, 1755, had formally approved the pontifical action. Not so the parlement, which replied by some remonstrances on November 2^, 1755. It propounded a new theory, based upon the authority of the great chancellor of the sixteenth century, L'liopital, namely, that all the parlements of France were but a single grand institution, the provincial parle- ments being but different classes of the parlement of Paris. This therjry was manifestly contrary to actual history, for the various parlements had been created in each province even before their THE OLD REGIME' 11 annexation to the royal domain. But the idea flattered the pro- vincial parlements, which were thus made of equal rank with that of Paris. In consequence the parliamentary party solidly united in a common resistance. A long series of remonstrances followed. The government, in order to suppress the opposition, reverted to a process already applied in 1732. The declaration of the king was read in a bed of justice ^ on December 10, 1756. The parlement repudiated the act, but the chamber of inquests and the chamber of petitions yielded. The influence of Madame de Pompadour, and still more, the dismissal of the elder Maupeou, effected a temporary reconciliation. The exiled members of the parlement were per- mitted to return on condition of keeping silent. Within a year, however, opposition broke out anew (1759- 1761). This time a provincial parlement was the offender. The intendant of Franche-Comte, who had been named first president of the parlement of Besangon, encountered a storm of opposition from the members of the parlement with reference to the don gratuit, the quinquennial gift in money made by the church to the king. Vio- lence resulted, and some thirty of the members were exiled. There- upon the parlement of Paris protested that the king's use of lettres de cachet was an excess of his prerogative. The government reas- serted the absolute authority of the king, though it prudently yielded the point immediately in controversy, owing to anxiety with reference to the v/ar, and the exiled councilors of Besangon were recalled. Peace again was of short duration. The second period of the conflict (1763-1767) began when the government resorted to a new species of taxes. Almost all the parlements refused to register the edicts. The most daring of them was tliat of Rouen. It called upon the government to justify the new taxes by giving to the public an honest statement of the finances. The parlement of Paris seconded the demand. It reasserted the theory of free verification and asserted the right of a supervisory control over the budget of the government. The crown had to resort to force, and the edicts -The lit dc justice (bed of justice) was a sitting of tlie parlement of Paris at which the king was present on the wool sack, hence the name. The parle- ment enjoyed the privilege, sanctihed by tradition, to register all roval edicts. It sometimes abused the privilege to combat the monarchy by refusing assent, and thus compel the king either to withdrav,' or amend an ordinance. The king could only overcome the veto by a personal sitting and ordering registra- tion. Notable instances of opposition by the parlement arc during the Fronde, in 1771 and in 1787. 12 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION were registered with an array of soldiers in the chamber. By this time the idea of revolution was everywhere, and Voltaire and Lord Chesterfield both anticipated it. Hitherto the government had always respected the jurisdiction of the parlements over their seats, but Maupeou, who had become vice-chancellor, adopted a new policy with those of Rennes and Pau. Some members having handed in their resignations, the govern- ment assumed charge of the vacant seats and appointed new members whose docility to the crown was assured. Again the par- lement remonstrated. On March 3, 1776, the king read a declara- tion affirming the royal theory. He denied the solidarity of the parlements or that there was any constructive force in the par- lement's privilege of confirmation, declaring that the parlement was but an instrument of publication. Legally the king was per- fectly correct, for the crown was the fountain of both law and justice. But the theory and the fact were widely separated the one from the other. For a time the storm blew over, but in 1769 broke out anew when the Abbe Terray, a creature of the king's mistress, was controleur-general of finances. This minister introduced some new financial measures, not the least of which was an arbitrary reduc- tion of the interest on the government's bonds. Open opposition ensued, and the Chancellor Maupeou resorted to drastic measures. On the night of January 19, 1771, the members of the parlement were arrested in their beds by the soldiery. Under this pressure forty approved the edict. The rest refused to yield. Two days later the exile of the parlement of Paris was decreed, and on April 13 this famous body was suppressed by royal ordinance. Its func- tions passed over to a superior council, permitted to render justice and to register ordinances without remonstrance. The members of this new council were named and appointed by the king. As might have been imagined, the provincial parlements poured in their protests against this new order of things. But the govern- ment was angry, and some of the provincial parlements were treated as that of Paris had been. Their members were either exiled or dismissed, and the vacant seats filled by new appointees. The government, in theory and in fact alike, was now absolute, but the crisis had produced a profound moral impression. The spirit of protest and of reform was wakened never to perish. The literary movement of the eighteenth century had much THEOLDREGIME 13 to do with promoting the new spirit, although it is not to be re- garded as the cause of the revolution so much as a symptom of it. Mignet makes a profound observation when he says : " The phi- losophers of the eighteenth century succeeded to the litterateurs of the seventeenth " for the transition from the classicism of the age of Louis XIV. was characterized by the rise of a generation of writers keenly observant and mordantly critical. There were in France two generations of political theorists: one which included Voltaire (1694- 1778) and Montesquieu (1689- 1755) in the first half of the eighteenth century; the other, Rous- seau, Diderot, and the materialists, who flourished after 1750. The first generation founded its theories upon observation. It was the historical school, accepting the general foundations of society as it found them and not demanding its overthrow. It regarded the body of institutions as the direct inheritance of France from the past and was willing to accept them with all their inequalities, only seeking to bring about a reform of them, both in church and state. These two schools influenced the thought of France in dif- ferent epochs and with different classes. The historic school, for half a century, held sway among the cultivated classes and among men of public affairs throughout all Europe. It was this school which initiated the movement of political reform in Europe in the middle of the eighteenth century which has come to be known as " enlightened despotism." Voltaire and Montesquieu were avowed disciples of the Eng- lish. Until his enforced retirement to England Voltaire had been wholly occupied with literature. But his three years of exile, dur- ing which he learned the language and made the acquaintance of the great men of England, especially Bolingbroke, gave him a new point of view, and his impressions of English life and institutions are to be found expressed in the " Lettres Philosophiqitcs." Hence- forth Voltaire was much interested in social and political questions, although he wrote no systematic work upon that subject. Montes- quieu's first work was the " Lettrcs Pcrsancs'' which was a satire, cameo-likc in its detailed criticism of the French government. After its publication he also visited England, and it is to the in- spiration of this sojourn that his most famous work, " U esprit des Lois," is due. Politically Voltaire and Montesquieu agreed, be- lieving that the English guarantees for individual liberty should be emulated in other states. Followinof out the theories of Locke 11 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION and of Bolingbroke, Montesquieu asserted that liberty could not exist except when the different powers which constituted govern- ment were counterbalanced. Using the English constitution as an illustration, he established the distinction between the functions of government and the separation of the three pow'ers, executive, leg- islative, and judicial, a mode of interpretation which exercised a large influence over the political thought of the eighteenth century, and is seen to-day in tlie Constitution of the United States. Both of these eminent writers were in no sense advocates of revolution- ary dogma. They regarded the church and the state as the pillars of society, and venerated the body of institutions which centuries of historical revolution had created and formed. Another class of genuine political thinkers remains to be noted the physiocrats. In the eighteenth century a school of political economists came into being, wdio, from the nature of their teachings, w-ere called physiocrats. Though the teaching of their theories can be traced back to Jean de Serres and Sully, it was not until Quesnay appeared that their doctrines became broadly known. Ouesnay was born in 1694 and was educated as a physician. His political theories first found expression in the famous "Encyclo- pedic." The doctrine of tlie physiocrats was that agriculture was the economic foundation of a perfect society; that it was only ag- ricultural nations that could found durable empires, and they quoted with approval the old proverb, " Poor peasant, poor realm ; poor realm, poor king." Industry to them was only a branch of agriculture, since manufacturing was dependent upon the develop- ment of the natural resources of the country. Quesnay distin- guished three classes in society : first, the proprietary class, that had the wealth and which claimed the exclusive possession of po- litical rights ; second, the producing class, that is to say, the culti- vators of tlie soil ; and third, the industrial and commercial class, who politically w^ere dependent upon the first, and economically upon the second. Quesnay argued that the burden of taxation should fall solely upon the source of all wealth, namely the land, and that all other taxes were indirect, and he gave high sanction to his teachings by asserting that God had established certain eco- nomic laws, and that the physiocratic doctrines were most con- formable thereto. The teachings of the physiocratic school had a great effect upon ^^irgot. But he was a profounder student than Quesnay and had better knowledge of the workings of eco- J KAN J A( <.J(K> KOI S.-KVr Ml. 11-11 171J. Died 177^) Painting; by Oiioitiii dc hi lour Museum of Chautilly THEOLDREGIME 15 nomic forces like production and exchange; his theories with reference to the division of labor and the influence of capital mark him as one of the greatest of political economists. Particular teaching aside, the general effect of the economic thought of the eighteenth century was to secure a wider liberty both for commerce and for industry, not merely by adopting new principles of action, but by the suppression of the old economic burdens inherited from a feudal regime, and the abolition of protections and monopolies. In this sense, therefore, as standing for a larger liberty, the physio- crats were in alignment with Voltaire and Montesquieu. The second generation of political thinkers was made up, in the main, of pure theorists and doctrinaires. It was a dogmatic school which asserted certain principles and deduced absolute regulations from them. It was hostile to the prevailing social order and wished to return to " a state of nature." It wanted to uproot the oldest institutions, even proprietorship and the family relation. Equality was their dogma, and to secure it they preached revolution. The difference between these two conceptions is perhaps to be accounted for in two ways. In the first place, the position and education of the leaders of the two schools were different. Voltaire and Mon- tesquieu were men of the upper class, used to the prevailing in- equality, while Rousseau (171 2-1 778) and Diderot, on the contrary, had been born in a lower social stratum and hated the social in- equalities and the privileges which their class in society had to endure. Again, the mass of the people, and above all the men of letters, being in fact and by principle excluded from actual political life, while the tendency of the leading literary minds was to make politics a part of their legitimate domain, the result of this strange contrast between their actual condition and their tendency led the French writers to believe those things in politics which were really ncjt so. The facts were misunderstood, or not understood, because the people were excluded from active political life, and so they substituted hypotheses for facts. Starting from these hypotheses as if they were facts, they went on arguing, and their results were mere philosophical speculations : they had little conception of the great historical laws of cause and effect. They proceeded not from a historic basis of facts, but from a condition that never had ex- isted or could exist, and the longer they pursued their speculations, the more radical they became, for, not dealing with facts, they had nothing to restrain them. 16 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION The encyclopedists had a common interest with the follow- ers of Rousseau in that the teaching of both was so critical even destructive, of the existing state of things. " France was now reaping the fruit of that . . . negative bent of thought intro- duced by Locke's philosophy, from the first ardently studied here, with especial attention to its materialistic bearings. Condillac set aside reflection as a source of ideas, Helvetius reduced virtue to egoistic hedonism, La Mettrie and Maupertuis, the latter in the famous Systcme de la Nature, advanced a coarser, yet decrying belief in God, freedom, and a soul separable from the body, as base- less and mischievous vagaries. . . . Yet the negative and de- structive in this tendency stopped far short of what might have been predicted from the execrable abuses prevalent in both state and church, conditions which should temper our judgment even of such then existing skepticism as we cannot after all excuse." ^ To conclude: The reign of Louis XIV. had closed wath a general exhaustion of France. Religiously, skepticism had become general among the upper classes at the court and at Paris; politi- cally, economic unrest and social discontent were everywhere. Just a century later than the English people, the French people were to take the exactly opposite course from that which experience had proved to be expedient in England. The compromise established in England between old institutions and new ideas by the revolution of 1688 could not be produced in France. The revolution over- threw the fundamental condition of civilized political life, for it subverted the principles and practices prevailing among societies wdiich had existed since the origin of the civilized world, and re- placed them by a new and opposite principle. Listead of a personal ruler exercising sway in the name of a mystic principle of religious sanction, each of these revolutions established a government in the name of the people. But the English Revolution stopped short with political change ; not so the French Revolution. It is this supreme fact which gives it exceptional importance in the political history of the world. It was preeminently a social revolution. ^ Andrews, " Institutes of General History," pp. 361-362. I Chapter II THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 1789 AM about to take a rapid review of the history of the French Revolution, which began the era of new societies in Europe, as the Enghsh Revokition had begun the era of new gov- ernments. This revolution not only modified the political power, but it entirely changed the internal existence of the nation. The forms of the society of the Middle Ages still remained. The land was divided into hostile provinces, the population into rival classes. The nobility had lost all their powers, but still retained all their distinctions : the people had no rights, royalty no limits ; France was in an utter confusion of arbitrary administration,^ of class legislation and special privileges to special bodies. For these abuses the revolution substituted a system more comformable with justice and better suited to our times. It substituted law in the place of arbitrary will, equality in that of privilege ; delivered men from the distinctions of classes, the land from the barriers of provinces, trade from the shackles of corporations and fellowships, agriculture from feudal subjection and the oppression of tithes, property from the impediment of entails, and brought everything to the condition of one state, one system of law, one people. In order to effect such mighty reformation as this, the revo- lution had many obstacles to overcome, involving transient excesses with durable benefits. The privileged sought to prevent it, Europe to subject it; and thus forced into a struggle, it could not set bounds to its efforts, or moderate its victory. Resistance from within brought about the sovereignty of the multitude, and aggres- sion from without, military domination. Yet the end was attained, in spite of anarchy and in spite of despotism : the old society was destroyed during the revolution, and the new one became established under the empire. 1 In the light of recent critical history of the French Revolution this para- graph must be considered as exaggerated. It is an error to believe that "the whole- system of society and government was so utterly bad that nothing short of a complete social upheaval could do any good to France." Ed. 17 18 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789-1815 When a reform has become necessary, and the moment for accompHshing it has arrived, nothing can prevent it, everything furthers it. Happy were it for men could they then come to an understanding; would the rich resign their superfluity, and the poor content themselves with achieving what they really needed, revolutions would then be quietly effected, and the historian would have no excesses, no calamities to record ; he would merely have to display the transition of humanity to a wiser, freer, and happier condition. But the annals of nations have not as yet presented any instance of such prudent sacrifices ; those who should have made them have refused to do so; those who required them have forcibly compelled them ; and good has been brought about, like evil, by the medium and with all the violence of usurpation. As yet there has been no sovereign but force. In reviewing the history of the important period extending from the opening of the states-general to 1814,^ I propose to explain the various crises of the revolution, while I describe their progress. It will thus be seen through whose fault, after commencing under such happy auspices, it so fearfully degenerated ; in w^hat w^iy it changed France into a republic, and how upon the ruins of the republic it raised the empire. The period between 1789 and 18 15 has two distinct phases, a destructive one and a constructive one. The epoch of the revo- lution answ^ers to the first; that of the directory and Napoleon to the second. Within the space of barely a quarter of a century France experienced six successive forms of government which it will be well to fix in mind: (i) States-General and National Con- stituent Assembly, from May 5 (June 17), 1789, to September 30, 1 791; (2) Legislative Assembly, from October i, 1791, to September 21, 1792; (3) National Convention, from September 22, 1792, to (July 27, 1794, Ninth Thermidor) October 25, 1795; Directory, from October 26, 1795, to November 9, 1799 (Eight- eenth Brumaire) ; Consulate, from November 9, 1799 (December 25, 1799), to May 20, 1804; First Empire, from May 20, 1804, to (April, 18 14) June 22, 1815.^ These various phases w^re almost inevitable, so irresistible was the power of the events which produced them. It would per- 2 A supplemental chapter has been added by the editor which continues the history through 1815 the Waterloo campaign. ^ Ploetz, " Epitome of Universal History," p. 447; Tocqueville, " Old Regime," introd. p. v. BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 19 481-751 haps be rash to affirm that by no possibility could the face of things have been otherwise; but it is certain that the revolution, taking its rise from such causes, and employing and arousing such pas- sions, naturally took that course, and ended in that result. Before we enter upon its history, let us see what led to the convocation of the states-general, which themselves brought on all that followed. The immediate occasion of the re\olution was the enormous deficit which threatened national bankruptcy. Had that been provided against b}^ wise administrative reforms, tlie revolution would prob- ably have been averted. If Louis XVL had sustained Turgot, his one capable minister, he might have bridged the crisis."* From its establishment the French monarchy had had no set- tled form, no fixed and recognized public law. Under the first races the crown was elective, the nation sovereign, and the king a mere military chief, depending on the common voice for all decisions to be made, and all the enterprises to be undertaken. The nation elected its chief, exercised the legislative power in the Champ de Mars under the presidentship of the king, and the judicial power in the courts under the direction of one of his officers.*''' Under the feudal regime, this royal democracy gave way to a royal aris- tocracy. Absolute power ascended higher, the nobles stripped the people of it, as the prince afterward despoiled the nobles. At this period the king became an hereditary monarch, not as king, but as individually possessor of a fief; the legislative authority over their vast territories belonging to the seigneurs, or in the barons' parle- ments, and the judicial authority to the vassals in the manorial courts. In a word, power had become more and more concentrated, and, as it had passed from the many to the few, it came at last from the few to be invested in one alone. During centuries of continuous efforts, the kings of France were battering down tlie feudal edifice, and at length they established themselves on its ruins, having step by step usurped the fiefs, subdued the vassals, suppressed the parlements of barons, annulled or subjected the manorial courts, assumed the legislative power, and effected that * See Hale, "Franklin in France," vol. II. p. 406. ^ Mignet is describing the constitution of the primitive Franks, rather than that under the first race of kings, the ^Merovingians (481-751). Since Mignet wrote, German and French scholars have shown tliat the Merovingian state was much more feudalized than used to be supposed. The Champ de Mars was the March-field, the annual spring meeting of all freeman capable of bearing arms. 20 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1180-1715 judicial authority should be exercised in their name, and on their behalf, in parlements of legists.^ The states-general, which they convoked on pressing occasions for the purpose of obtaining subsidies, and which were composed of the three orders of the nation, the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate or commons, had no regular existence. Originated while the royal prerogative was in progress, they were at first con- trolled, and finally suppressed by it. The strongest and most determined opposition the kings had to encounter in their projects of aggrandizement proceeded much less from these assemblies, which they authorized or annulled at pleasure, than from the nobles vindicating against them, first their sovereignty, and then their political importance. From Philip Augustus (i 180-1223) to Louis XL (1461-1483) the object of all their efforts was to preserve their own power; from Louis XL to Louis XIV. (1643-1715) to be- come the ministers of that of royalty. The Fronde ^ was the last campaign of the aristocracy. Under Louis XIV. absolute mon- archy definitively established itself, and dominated without dispute. The government of France, from Louis XIV. to the revolu- tion, was still more arbitrary than despotic ; for the monarchs had much more power than they exercised. The barriers that opposed the encroachments of this immense authority were exceedingly feeble. The crown disposed of persons by lettres de cachet,^ of property by confiscation, of the public revenue by imposts. Certain bodies, it is true, possessed means of defense, which were termed Against the severity of this arraignment we must weigh the fact that the growth of the king's prerogative was the surest remedy for the evils of feudalism. " The absolute monarchies of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seven- teenth centuries . . . gave liberty to the common man at the same time that they subjected the nobles to the law of the state." Burgess, " Political Science and Constitutional Law," vol. I. p. 56. Cf. Von Ranke, " Franzosische Ge- schichte," vol. I. p. 34, and his " EngUsche GescJiiclite," vol. I. p. 97; Von Sybel : " Ueber die Entzi'ick clung dcr absolutcn Monarchie in Preussen," vol. III. p. 24 ff; Krone?, " Geschichte Oesterreichs," vol. IV. p. 488. ^ The last armed rising of the French nobility, during the minority of Louis XIV., in order to prevent the continual growth of absolutism. There were two distinct movements, one in 1649, the second, and more formidable one, in 1650. Spanish intrigue was implicated in it. A combination of the two was crushed in 1653. The word Fronde means sling. The warfare of the nobles was so nicknamed in allusion to a dangerous game of the gamins of Paris, which consisted in throwing each other into the fosses of the Bastile, in spite of the efforts of the police to prevent them. ** Lettres de cachet were warrants of arbitrary arrest. Their issuance was one of the grievances of France before 1789, but they were never issued in blank, as sometimes asserted. BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 21 1643-1715 privileges, but these privileges were rarely respected. The parle- ment had that of ratifying or of refusing an impost, but the king could compel its assent, by a bed of justice, and punish its members by exile. The nobility were exempt from taxation; the clergy were entitled to the privilege of taxing themselves, in the form of free gifts ; some provinces enjoyed the right of compounding the taxes, and others made the assessment themselves. Such were the trifling liberties of France, and even these all turned to the benefit of the privileged classes, and to the detriment of the people. And this France, so enslaved, was moreover miserably organ- ized ; the excesses of power were still less endurable than their unjust distribution. The nation, divided into three orders, which subdivided themselves into several classes, was a prey to all the attacks of despotism, and all the evils of inequality. The nobility were subdivided : into courtiers, living on the favors of the prince, that is to say, on the labor of the people, and whose aim was gov- ernorships of provinces, or elevated ranks in the army; ennobled parvenus, who conducted the interior administration, and whose object was to obtain comptrollerships, and to make the most of their place while they held it, by jobbing of every description; legists who administered justice, and were alone competent to perform its functions; and landed proprietors who oppressed the country by the exercise of those feudal rights which still survived. The clergy were divided into two classes : the one destined for the bishoprics and abbeys, and their rich revenues; the other for the apostolic function, and its poverty (cures). The third estate, ground down by the court, humiliated by the nobility, was itself divided into corporations, which, in their turn, exercised upon each other the evil and the contempt they received from the higher classes. It possessed scarcely a third part of the land, and this was burdened with the feudal rents due to the lords of the manor, tithes to the clergy, and taxes to the king. In compensation for all these sacrifices it enjoyed no political right, had no share in the administration, and was admitted to no public employment. Louis XIV. wore out the mainspring of absolute monarchy by too protracted tension and too violent use. Fond of sway, ren- dered irritable by the vexations of his youtli, he quelled all re- sistance, forbade ever)- kind of opp(^sition tliat of tlie aristocracy which manifested itself in revolt; that of the parlements displayed by remonstrance ; that of the Protestants, whose form was a liberty 22 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1643-1789 of conscience which the church deemed heretical, and royalty fac- tious. Louis XIV. subdued the nobles by summoning them to his court, where favors and pleasures were the compensation for their dependence. Parlement, till then the instrument of the crown, attempted to become its counterbalance, and the prince haughtily imposed upon it a silence and submission of sixty years' duration. At length, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) completed this work of despotism. An arbitrary government not only will not endure resistance, but it demands that its subjects shall approve and imitate it. After having subjected the actions of men, it perse- cutes conscience ; needing to be ever in motion, it seeks victims when they do not fall in its way. The immense power of Louis XIV. was exercised, internally, against the heretics; externally, against all Europe. Oppression found ambitious men to counsel it, dragoons to serve, and success to encourage it; the wounds of France were hidden by laurels, her groans were drowned in songs of victory. But at last the men of genius died, and the victories ceased, industry emigrated, money disappeared ; and the fact be- came evident that the very successes of despotism exhaust its resources, and consume its future ere that future has arrived. The death of Louis XIV. was the signal for a reaction; there was a sudden transition from intolerance to incredulity, from the spirit of obedience to that of discussion. Under the regency (1715- 1726) the third estate acquired in importance, by their increasing wealth and intelligence, all that the nobility lost in consideration, and the clergy in influence. Under Louis XV. the court prosecuted ruinous wars attended with little glory ,^ and engaged in a silent struggle with opinion, in an open one wnth the parlement. Anarchy crept into its bosom, the government fell into the hands of royal mistresses, power was completely on the decline, and the opposition daily made fresh progress. The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748). France wasted blood and treasure to no profit. In the history of colonial America " King George's War " is a part of this great conflict. The Seven Years' War (1756-1763), fought in Europe, America the " French and Indian War " and India. France lost to England Nova Scotia, Canada, Cape Breton, all territory east of the Mississippi, the French West Indian islands of St. Vincent, Dominique, Tobago, and Grenada; to Spain, Louisiana, v.liich was rctmcedcd to France in 1796 and sold by Napoleon to the United States. As the result of the war in India between France and Eng- land, British influence displaced that of France among the native princes, especially of the south. BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 23 1643-1774 The parlements had undergone a change of position and of system. Royalty had invested them with a power whicli they now turned against it. No sooner had the ruin of the aristocracy been accompHshed by the combined efforts of the parlement and of royaky than the conquerors quarreled, according to the common practice of allies after a victory. Royalty sought to destroy an instrument that became dangerous when it ceased to be useful, and the parlement sought to govern royalty. This struggle, favorable to the monarch under Louis XIV., of mixed reverses and success under Louis XV., only ceased with the revolution. The parlement, from its very nature, was only called upon to serve as an instrument. The exercise of its prerogative, and its ambition as a body, leading it to oppose itself to the strong and support the weak, it served by turns the crown against the aristocracy and the nation against the crown. It was this that made it so popular under Louis XV. and Louis XVI., although it only attacked the court from a spirit of rivalry. Opinion, without inquiring into its motives, applauded not its ambition, but its resistance, and supported it because de- fended by it. Rendered daring by such encouragement, it became formidable to authority. After annulling the will of the most imperious and best-obeyed of monarchs (Louis XIV.) ; after pro- testing against the Seven Years' War; after obtaining the control of financial operations and the destruction of the Jesuits, its re- sistance became so constant and energetic that the court, meeting with it in every direction, saw the necessity of either submitting to or subjecting it. It accordingly carried into execution the plan of disorganization proposed by the Chancellor ]\Iaupeou. This daring man, who, to enjoy his own expression, had offered rctircr la coiirunne dc grcffc, re])laced this hostile parlement by one devoted to power, and subjected to a similar operation the entire magistracy of France, Vi,'ho were following the example of that of Paris. But the time had passed for coups cVctat. The current had set in against arbitrary rule so decidedly that the king resorted to it with doubt and hesitation, and even encountered the disapproba- tion of his court. A new power had arisen that of opinion ; which, though not recognized, was not the less influential, and whose decrees were beginning to assume sovereign authority. The nation, hitherto a nonentity, gradually asserted its rights, and with- out sharing power inlhicnccd it. Such is the course of all rising powers ; they watch over it from without before they are admitted 24. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1774 into the government; then, from the right of control they pass to that of cooperation. The epoch at which the third estate was to share the sway had at last arrived. It had at former periods attempted to effect this, but in vain, because its efforts were pre- mature. It was then but just emancipated, and possessed not that which estabhshes superiority, and leads to the acquisition of power ; for right is only obtained by might. Accordingly, in insurrections, as in the states-general, it had held but the third rank ; everything was done with its aid, but nothing for it. In times of feudal tyranny, it had served the kings against the nobles; when min- isterial and fiscal despotism prevailed it assisted the nobles against the kings; but, in the first instance, it was nothing more than the servant of the crown; in the second, than that of the aristocracy. The struggle took place in a sphere, and on the part of interests, with which it was reputed to have no connection. When the nobles were definitively beaten in the time of the Fronde, it laid down its arms; a clear proof how secondary was the part it had played. At length, after a century of absolute submission, it reappeared in the arena, but on its own account. The past cannot be recalled ; and it was not more possible for the nobles to rise from their defeat than it would now be for absolute monarchy to regain its position. The court was to have another antagonist, for it must always have one, power never being without a candidate. The third estate, which increased daily in strength, wealth, intelligence, and union, was destined to combat and to displace it. The parlement did not constitute a class, but a body; and in this new contest, while able to aid in the displacement of authority, it could not secure it for itself. The court had favored the progress of the third estate, and had contributed to the development of one of its chief means of ad- vancement, its intelligence. The most absolute of monarchs aided the movement of mind, and, without intending it, created public opinion. By encouraging praise he prepared the way for blame; for we cannot invite an examination in our favor without under- going one afterward to our prejudice. When the songs of triumph, and gratulation, and adulation were exhausted, accusation began, and the philosophers of the eighteenth century succeeded to the litterateurs of the seventeenth. Everything became the object of their researches and reflections; governments, religion, abuses, laws. They proclaimed rights, laid bare men's wants, denounced ^ 5 < .A, = ; -^ =1 :^ 1" s BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 25 1774 injustice. A strong and enlightened public opinion was formed, whose attacks the government underwent without venturing to at- tempt its suppression. It even converted those whom it attacked; courtiers submitted to its decisions from fashion's sake, power from necessity, and the age of reform was ushered in by the age of philosophy, as the latter had been by the age of the fine arts. Such was the condition of France when Louis XVL ascended the throne on May lo, 1774. Finances, whose deficiencies neither the restorative ministry of Cardinal Fleury ^*' (1726- 1743), nor the bankrupt ministry of the Abbe Terray ^^ had been able to make good; authority disregarded; intractable parlements; an imperious public opinion such were the difficulties which the new reign in- herited from its predecessors. Of all princes, Louis XVL, by his tendencies and his virtues, was best suited to his epoch. The people were weary of arbitrary rule, and he was disposed to renounce its exercise; they were exasperated with the burdensome dissolute- ness of the court of Louis XV. ; the morals of the new king were pure and his wants few ; they demanded reforms that had become indispensable, and he appreciated the public want, and made it his glory to satisfy it. But it was as difficult to effect good as to con- tinue evil ; for it was necessary to have sufficient strength either to make the privileged classes submit to reform, or the nation to abuses; and Louis XVL was neither a regenerator nor a despot. He was deficient in that sovereign will which alone accomplishes great changes in states, and which is as essential to monarchs who wish to limit their power as to those who seek to aggrandize it. Louis XVL possessed a sound mind, a good and upright heart, but he was without energy of character and perseverance in action. His projects of amelioration met with obstacles which he had not fore- seen, and which he knew not how to overcome. He accordingly fell beneath his efforts to favor reform, as another would have fallen i*' Cardinal Fleury was one of the best ministers France ever had. He reorganized the currency and put it on a stabler basis than it had been since Henry IV. (i5tSq-i6io) ; he paid off the enormous debts of the reign of Louis XIV.; enabled France to recover from the financial disasters of the regency, especially John Law's " Mississippi Bul)ble " : and left a surplus of fifteen millions in the treasury when he died. Cf. Perkins, " France imder Louis XIV." 11^ The Abbe Terray was controleur-general during the last years of tlie reign of Louis XV. He forcibly reduced the interest from five per cent, to two and one-half per cent, in 1770. Voltaire was one of the victims of this act. He was notoriously corrupt. See Rocquain, " L'EsM'it rcvoltitioiniaire avant la Revulutiou," pp. 273, 305. 26 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1774 in his attempt to prevent it. Up to the meeting of the slates-general, his reign was one long and fruitless endeavor at amelioration. In choosing, on his accession to the throne, Maurcpas as prime minister, Louis XVL eminently contributed to the irresolute char- acter of his reign. Young, deeply sensible of his duties and of his own insufficiency, he had recourse to the experience of an old man of seventy-three, who had lost the favor of Louis XV. by his opposi- tion to the mistresses of that monarch. In him the king found not a statesman, but a mere courtier, whose fatal influence extended over the whole course of his reign. Maurepas had little heed to the welfare of France or the glory of his master; his sole care w'as to remain in favor. Residing in the palace at Versailles, in an apartment communicating with that of the king, and presiding over the council, he rendered the mind of Louis XVI. uncertain, his character irresolute; he accustomed him to half measures, to changes of system, to all the inconsistencies of power, and especially to the necessity of doing everything by others, and nothing of himself. Maurepas had the choice of the ministers, and these cul- tivated his good graces as assiduously as he the king's. Fearful of endangering his position, he kept out of the ministry men of powerful connections, and appointed rising men, who required his support for their own protection, and to effect their reforms. He successively called Turgot, Malesherbes, and Xecker, to the direc- tion of affairs, who undertook to effect ameliorations each in that department of the government which had been the immediate ob- ject of his studies. Malesherbes, descended from a family in the law, inherited parliamentary virtues, and not parliamentary prejudices. To an independent mind he united a noble heart. He wished to give to every man his rights ; to the accused, the power of being defended ; to Protestants, liberty of conscience; to authors, the liberty of the press ; to every Frenchman, personal freedom ; and he proposed the abolition of the torture, the reestablishment of the Edict of Xantes, and the suppression of lettres de cachet and of the censure. Turgot, of a vigorous and comprehensive mind, and an extraordi- nary firmness and strength of character, attempted to realize still more extensive projects. He joined Malesherbes, in order, with his assistance, to complete the establishment of a system which was to bring back unity to the government and equality to the country. This virtuous citizen constantly occupied himself with the ameliora- BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 27 1774 tion of the condition of the people; he undertook, alone, what the revolution accomplished at a later period the suppression of servi- tude and privilege. He proposed to enfranchise the rural districts from statute labor, provinces from their barriers, commerce from internal duties, trade from its shackles, and lastly, to make the nobility and clergy contribute to the taxes in the same proportion as the third estate. Turgot was born in 1727, of noble origin, and was educated for the church, actually becoming prior of St. Sulpice. But being at- tracted to the law, he resigned his living. He made the acquaint- ance of Diderot and D'Alembert, and, having become intensely interested in economic subjects, was asked to contribute to the " Encyclopcdie." As a political economist Turgot belonged to the physiocratic school. In 1761 he was appointed intendant in Li- mousin, where he speedily applied his theories by abolishing the corvee for public works and breaking down the interior barriers to trade and commerce. His reports to the controleur-general, ad- vocating national reforms, attracted the attention of the govern- ment in a marked degree. He steadily refused promotion under Louis XV., knowing the inability of anyone successfully to combat the court influences of the king's declining years. But in 1774, when the accession of Louis XVL was hailed as the dawn of a better day, he accepted the post of controleur-general. His financial policy may be summarized under three heads : ( i ) Xo state bank- ruptcy, either admitted or veiled; (2) no increase of taxes; (3) no loans at high interest. He began by assigning fifteen millions for pensions. The effect was magical. The rate of interest dropped to four per cent. Credit revived. Turgot was able at once to borrow sixty millions of Dutch bankers and ten millions at home, for the purpose of redeeming old loans contracted at much higher rates. Then ensued a rapid series of reforms : the estab- lishment of free trade in grain; the abolition of the corvee on public works throughout France; the suppression of the guilds; the organization of a Bank of Discount to lend money for tlie furtherance of manufacturing and commerce at a low rate of inter- est and on long terms; fin.ally, the prospect to all possessors of pr(,)])crtv of a gradually increasing sliare in local administration, through the establisluncnt of pro\'inc!al asscnil)]ics.^" 1- Sec Von Sybel, "lii^lory of tlio I'Vcncli Revolution.'" vol, T. p. 40 it; Blanqui, "History of Political Hcononn-," cb.. xxxiii. ; Morlcy, " Crictical Mis- 28 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1774-1781 This great minister, of whom Malesherbes said, " he has the head of Bacon and the heart of L'Hopital," wished by means of provincial assemblies to accustom the nation to public life, and pre- pare it for the restoration of the states-general. He would have effected the revolution by ordinances, had he been able to stand. But, under the system of special privileges and general servitude, all projects for the public good were impracticable. Turgot dis- satisfied the courtiers by his ameliorations, displeased the parle- ment by the abolition of statute labor, wardenships, and internal duties, and alarmed the old minister by the ascendancy which his virtue gave him over Louis XVL The prince forsook him, though at the same time observing that Turgot and himself were the only persons who desired the welfare of the people : so lamentable is the condition of kings ! Turgot was succeeded in 1776 in the general control of the finances by Clugny, formerly comptroller of Saint Domingo, who, six months after, was himself succeeded by Necker. Necker was a foreigner, a Protestant, a banker, and greater as an adminis- trator than as a statesman ; he accordingly conceived a plan for re- forming France, less extensive than that of Turgot, but which he executed with more moderation, and aided by the times. Ap- pointed minister in order to find money for the court, he made use of the wants of the court to procure liberties for the people. He reestablished the finances by means of order, and made the prov- inces contribute moderately to their administration. His views were wise and just; they consisted in bringing the revenue to a level with the expenditure, by reducing the latter; by employing taxation in ordinary times, and loans when imperious circumstances rendered it necessary to tax the future as well as the present; by causing the taxes to be assessed by the provincial assemblies, and by instituting the publication of accounts, in order to facilitate loans. This system was founded on the nature of loans, which, needing credit, require publicity of administration ; and on that of taxation, which needing assent, requires also a share in the administration. Whenever there is a deficit and the government makes applications to .meet it, if it address itself to lenders it must produce its balance ccllanies," \iA. IT.; T.owcll, " Kvc of the Frcncli Revolution." Tlie I)est book upon this entire achiiinislration is I'^oncicr, " Essai snr Ic miiiisti-rr Turgot." Condorcet wrote a life of Turgot. His "Works," with a memoir, have been published by Dupont dc Nemours. BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION S9 1781 sheet; if ii address itself to the taxpayers, it must give them a share of the power. Thus loans led to the production of accounts, and taxes to the states-general ; the first placing authority under the jurisdiction of opinion, and the second placing it under that of the people. But Necker, though less impatient for reform than Turgot, although he desired to redeem abuses which his predecessor wished to destroy, was not more fortunate than he. His economy displeased the courtiers ; the measures of the provincial assemblies incurred the disapprobation of the parlements, which wished to monopolize opposition; and the prime minister could not forgive him an appearance of credit. He was obliged to quit power in 1 78 1, a few months after the publication of the famous Compte Rendu of the finances, which suddenly initiated France in a knowl- edge of state matters, and rendered the return of an absolute gov- ernment impossible, Necker was not a constructive financier like Turgot, however. His art consisted in managing to secure great sums of money with- out raising the taxes, a doubtful benefit derived from his high per- sonal credit as a private banker. He had no new ideas to apply and he had little constructive ability as a financier. It was largely owing to this minister that France aided the American colonies against England. His pride was hurt when doubt was expressed of French ability to do so, in the almost bankrupt condition in which the government was. The American Revolution cost France between one thousand and twelve hundred millions,^-"^ The inevi- table consequence of such participation Necker could not have failed to foresee. Yet he declared France was able to do so, and this in face of the fact that in the last five years 500,000,000 francs had been added to the old debt, with no increase in taxation ! Necker was mortgaging the future to a terrible degree. The methods by which he proposed to raise this loan will give us an idea of the prevailing financial methods of the times. From 1730 to 1754 every treasurer of France had employed the lottery to a greater or less extent, and Necker proposed to raise eighty-five millions by this means. Another method used was the " rentes viageres," a species of annuity. The purchaser of this annuity miglit buy under any one of four plans 10 per cent, interest ceas- ing at death of purchaser, 9 per cent, payable to two generations, 8^^- ^ Stourm, " Lcs Uminccs dc I'ancicnnc regime et de la Revolution" vol. II. p. 20;. 30 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1774-1781 per cent, to three generations, or 8 per cent, to the fourth genera- tion, after which the principal reverted to the state. This rate of interest was exorbitant. Of course it decreased with the death of beneficiaries, but at the rate mentioned it would consume the prin- cipal in thirty-seven years, while the records show that the average life of these rentes viageres was from forty to forty-five years. It is estimated that those negotiated by Necker alone caused to the state a loss of six millions a year, or, taking their average length at forty years, a total of 240 millions. Necker also used the credit of the pays d'etat, and raised ninety-one millions through them at 5 per cent. Right here comes a very clear illustration of the condition of state finances. Paris raised money on rentes viageres at 7 per cent., while the state paid 8| to 10 per cent. Another vicious method of financiering employed by all the controleurs from Necker's time on, was the sale of the revenues at a discount before they had been paid. These " anticipations " had increased until, in 1787, they reached the enormous amount of 255 millions. But the day came when Necker's credit failed. No more loans could be made, and in his dismay and alarm to save his reputation as a financier he published the Compte Rendu the Red Book in 1780. The receipts and the expenses of the government were there given in detail. This was an unheard of proceeding, for hitherto absolute secrecy had been the policy of the ancient regime. But Necker did not truthfully present the facts. The figures were cor- rect as far as they went, but the picture did not represent the real financial condition of France. This was partly because of the dex- terous way in which the figures were grouped, partly because of what was omitted from the account. Of the enormous cost of French participation in America, he said nothing. The amounts due from the farmers and the clergy were put in the credit column, though many millions of tliem had already been advanced to the gov- ernment, and many were arrears of payment too old ever to be col- lected. In figuring the extra resources of the state, so hard pushed was the controleur-general that he figured among the outside re- sources the bail bonds, or security bonds of treasury employees ! By this juggling llie revenue for the ensuing year was made to show an excess of 10,000,000 over the expenditure. The actual situation was that the expenses exceeded the revenue by 219,000,000. The death of Maurcpas followed close upon the retirement of Necker. The queen took his place with Louis XVL, and inherited BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 31 1781-1786 all his influence over him. This good but weak prince required to be directed. His wife, young, beautiful, active, and ambitious, gained great ascendency over him. Yet, it may be said, that the daughter of Marie Therese resembled her mother too much or too little. She combined frivolity with domination, and disposed of power only to invest with it men who caused her own ruin and that of the state. Maurepas, mistrusting court ministers, had always chosen popular ministers ; it is true he did not support them ; but if good was not brought about, at least evil did not increase. After his death, court ministers succeeded the popular ministers, and by their faults rendered the crisis inevitable, which others had endeav- ored to prevent by their reforms. This difference of choice is very remarkable; this it was which, by the change of men, brought on the change in the system of administration. The revolution dates from this epoch; the abandonment of reforms and the return of disorders hastened its approach and augmented its fury. Calonne was called from an intendancy to the general control of the finances. Two successors had already been given to Necker, when application was made to Calonne in 1783. Calonne was dar- ing, brilliant, and eloquent; he had much readiness and a fertile mind. Either from error or design he adopted a system of adminis- tration directly opposed to that of his predecessor. Necker recom- mended economy, Calonne boasted of his lavish expenditure. Necker fell through courtiers, Calonne sought to be uplield by them. His sophisms were backed by his liberality; he convinced the queen by fetes, the nobles by pensions ; he gave a great circulation to the finances, in order that the extent and facility of his operations might excite confidence in the justness of his views ; he even deceived the capitalists, by first showing himself punctual in his payments. l"he annual deficit whicli Necker found at 30 to 35 millions, readied in 1783 the sum of 80 millions, and at the end of Calonne's administration in 1787, 115 millions, by his own statement, but 140 millions according to the committee of notables appointed to examine his accounts. All tliis, too, in time of peace, and in spite of the fact that the revenues had been increased annually by the addition of almost 53 millions of new taxes. Calonne began his administration by getting the king to pay his debts, which amounted to 230,000 francs. He actually congratulated the state upon having within it so many abuses by the abolition of which a saving might be made! The confidence of the courtiers in his policy, because of 32 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1786-1787 his munificence, was great. One of them is reported to have said: " I never doubted M. Calonne could save the state, but I did not think he would be able to do it so quickly." But below his outward frivolity Calonne was a man of some force. After the great efforts which had been necessary to float a new loan of 80,000,000 francs in December, 1786, Calonne submitted a comprehensive reform to the king, based on the leading ideas of Turgot, and planned to put a part of the weight upon the privileged classes. He knew that the parlement would reject the reforms suggested, and so he resorted to an assembly of notables, which met at Versailles on February 22, 1787. Richelieu had last made use of them. This assembly of notables consisted of 144 members: 7 princes of the blood; 14 of the clergy; 36 of the nobility; 12 members of the conseil du roi; 38 representatives of the noblesse de robe; 12 deputies from the pays detats ; 25 officials from the chief cities. In the whole body there were but 27 representatives of the third estate. Th notables, chosen by the government from the higher classes, formed a ministerial assembly, which had neither a proper existence nor a commission. It was, indeed, to avoid parlements and states-general that Calonne addressed himself to a more subor- dinate assembly, hoping to find it more docile. But, composed of privileged persons, it was little disposed to make sacrifices. It became still less so when it saw the abyss which a devouring admin- istration had excavated. It learned with terror that the loans of a few years amounted to 1646 millions, and that there was an annual deficit in the revenue of 140 millions. Calonne knew that there was no hope of getting the privileged classes to tax themselves. But to compass his purpose he had cut up the assembly into seven bureaux, each of which was to deliberate and vote by itself. But at the time of the opening Calonne was ill, and instead of meeting separately, the notables met together. The opposition thus was able to concert a programme. The assembly demanded a statement of accounts. Calonne refused. He criti- cised Necker's financial policy and thus ranged public opinion against him. The disclosure of the deficit was the signal for Calonne's fall. He fell, April 17, 1787, and was succeeded by Brienne, Archbishop of Sens/'* his opponent in the assembly. Brienne 1* Brienne was Arclibisliop of Tonloii?e at this time. He became Arch- bishop of Sens and was made a cardinal after his resignation, in 1788. BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 33 1787 thought the majority of the notables was devoted to him, because it had united with him against Calonne. But the privileged classes were not more disposed to make sacrifices to Brienne than to his predecessor; they had seconded his attacks, which were to their interest, and not his ambition, to which they were indifferent. The Archbishop of Sens, who is censured for a want of plan, was in no position to form one. He was not allowed to continue the prodigality of Calonne; and it was too late to return to the retrenchments of Necker. Economy, which had been a means of safety at a former period, was no longer so in this. Either taxation must be had recourse to, and that parlement opposed ; or loans, and credit was exhausted; or sacrifices on the part of the privileged classes, who were unwilling to make them. Brienne, to whom office had been the chief object of life, who with the difficulties of his position combined slenderness of means, attempted everything, and succeeded in nothing. His mind was active, but it wanted strength ; and his character rash without firmness. Daring, pre- vious to action, but weak afterward, he ruined himself by his irreso- lution, want of foresight, and constant variation of means. There remained only bad measures to adopt, but he could not decide upon one, and follow that one; this was his real error. The assembly of notables was but little submissive and very parsimonious. After having sanctioned the establishment of pro- vincial assemblies, a regulation of the corn trade, the abolition of corvees, and a new stamp tax, it broke up on May 25, 1787. It spread throughout France what it had discovered respecting the necessities of the throne, the errors of the ministers, the dilapidation of the court, and the irremediable miseries of the people. Brienne, deprived of this assistance, had recourse to taxation, as a resource, the use of which had for some time been abandoned. He demanded the enrollment of various reforming edicts by the parlement. In June-July, 1787, as follows: the edict for establishing free trade in grain, on June 17; that for the provincial assemblies on June 22; the redemption of the corvee on June 27. The territorial subsidies act was introduced on July 16 and was forced through the parlement in a bed of justice on July 30, the parlement making the notable pro- test that only the states-general could affirm a permanent tax. But parlement, which was then in the full vigor of its existence and in all the ardor of its ambition, and to which the financial embarrassment of the ministry offered a means of augmenting its 34 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1787-1788 power, refused the enrollment. Banished to Troyes (August), it grew weary of exile, and the minister recalled it on condition that the two edicts should be passed. But this was only a suspension of hostilities; the necessities of the crown soon rendered the struggle more obstinate and violent. The minister had to make fresh appli- cations for money; his existence depended on the issue of several successive loans to the amount of 440 millions. It was necessary to obtain the enrollment of them. The whole amount was not to be taken up at once, but was to be distributed over five years. It is a significant fact that Lomenie de B>rienne was finally driven to the issuance of paper, in part payment of the interest and pensions, etc., due from the state. The decree promulgating these bills insists, however, that they are not to be classed as paper money, " of which the king," says he, " knows the inconvenience. They are bills of the Royal Treasury." Brienne's cautious utterance shows that the memory of John Law's financial operations was yet vivid in the minds of the French people. They soon, however, forgot the mis- fortunes which they had experienced from paper money. Brienne, expecting opposition from the parlement, procured the enrollment of this edict, by a " bed of justice," and to conciliate the magistracy and public opinion, the Protestants were restored to their rights in the same sitting, and Louis XVI. promised an annual publication of the state of finances, and the convocation of the states- general before the end of five years. But these concessions were no longer sufficient: parlement refused the enrollment, and rose against the ministerial tyranny. Some of its members, among others the Duke of Orleans, were banished. Louis XVI. had con- verted the sitting of the parlemeni: into a " royal session " by allow- ing a free discussion of the measures. When he finally ordered the registration of the edict, the Duke of Orleans protested on the ground that the registration was illegal. Alarie Antoinette inter- ceded for him and he soon returned. Parlement protested, by a decree dated May 3, 1788, against lettres de cacliet, and required the recall of its members. This decree was annulled by the king, and confirmed by parlement. The warfare increased. The magis- tracy of Paris was supported by all the magistracy of France, and encouraged by public opinion. It proclaimed the rights of the nation, and its own incompetence in matters of taxation ; and, become li])eral from interest, and rendered generous by oppression, it exclaimed against arbitrary imprisonment, and demanded regularly convoked BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 35 1788 states-general. After tliis act of courage, it decreed the irremova- bility of its members, and the incompetence of any who might usurp their functions. This bold manifesto was followed by the arrest of two members, D'Epremesnil and Goislard, by the reform of the body, and the establishment of a plenary court. Brienne understood that the opposition of the parlement was systematic, that it would be renewed on every fresh demand for subsidies, or on the authorization of every loan. Exile was but a momentary remed}-, which suspended opposition, without destroy- ing it. He then projected the reduction of this body to judicial functions, and associated with himself Lamoignon, keeper of the seals, for the execution of this project. Lamoignon was skilled in coups d'etat. He had audacity, and combined with ]\Iaupeou's ener- getic determinati(m a greater degree of consideration and probity. But he made a mistake as to the force of power, and what it was possible to effect in his times. Maupeou had reestablished parle- ment, changing its members ; Lamoignon wished to disorganize it. The first of these means, if it had succeeded, would only have pro- duced temporary repose; the second must have produced a definitive one. since it aimed at destroying the power, which the other only tried to displace ; but Maupeou's reform did not last, and that of Lamoignon could not be eft'ected. The execution of the last was, however, tolerably well framed. All the magistracy of France was exiled on the same day, in order that the new judicial organi- zation might take place. The keeper of the seals deprived the par- lement of Paris of its political attributes, to invest with them a plenary court, ministerially composed, and reduced its judicial com- petence in favor of bailiwicks, the jurisdiction of which he extended. Public opinion was indignant; the Chatelet ^^ protested, the prov- inces rose, and the plenary court could neither be formed nor act. Disturbances brcjke out in Dauphine, Brittany, Provence, Flanders, Languedoc, and Beam ; the ministry, instead of the regular opposi- tion of parlement, had to encounter one much more animated and factious. The nobility, the third estate, the provincial states, and even the clergy, took part in it. Brienne, pressed for money, had called together an extraordinary assembly of the clergy, who imme- diately made an .'uldrcss to the king, demanding the abolition of his ^^The CliaU'lct v.tis tlie chief criminal court of Paris. Technically, it was only the crinriiial court of the prevote of Paris, hut the importance of the cap- ital gave it iirei-ininence. 1 iistorically it was one of the oldest institutions of Paris, some historians even claiming a continuity from Roman times. 36 THE FRENCHREVOLUTION 1788 plenary court, and the recall of the states-general : they alone could thenceforth repair the disordered state of the finances, secure the national debt, and terminate these disputes for power. The Archbishop of Sens, by his contest with the parlement, had postponed the financial, by creating a political difficulty. The moment the latter ceased, the former reappeared, and made his retreat inevitable. Obtaining neither taxes nor loans, unable to make use of the plenary court, and not wishing to recall the parle- ments, Brienne, as a last resource, promised the convocation of the states-general. By this means he hastened his ruin. He had been called to the financial department in order to remedy embarrass- ments which he had augmented, and to procure money which he had been unable to obtain. So far from it, he had exasperated the nation, raised a rebellion in the various bodies of the state, compro- mised the authority of the government, and rendered inevitable the states-general, which, in the opinion of the court, w^as the worst means of raising money. He succumbed on August 25, 1788. The cause of his fall was a suspension of the payment of the interest on the debt, wdiich w-as the commencement of bankruptcy. This min- ister has been the most blamed because he came last. Inheriting the faults, the embarrassments of past times, he had to struggle with the difficulties of his position with inefficient means. He tried intrigue and oppression ; he banished, suspended, disorganized par- lement; everything was an obstacle to him, nothing aided him. After a long struggle he sank under lassitude and weakness ; I dare not say from incapacity, for had he been far stronger and more skillful, had he been a Richelieu or a Sully, he would still have fallen. It no longer appertained to anyone arbitrarily to raise money or to oppress the people. It must be said in his excuse, that he had not created that position from which he was not able to extricate himself; his only mistake w^as his presumption in accepting it. Pie fell through the fault of Calonne, as Calonne had availed himself of the confidence inspired by Necker for the purposes of his lavish expenditure. The one had destroyed credit, and the other, thinking to reestablish it by force, had destroyed authority. The states-general had become the only means of government, and the last resource of the throne. They had been eagerly de- manded by parlement and the peers of the kingdom, on July 13, 1787; by the states of Dauphine, in the assembly of Vizille; by the clergy in its assembly at Paris. The provincial states had prepared BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 37 1789 the public mind for them ; and the notables were their precursors. The king after having, on December i8, 1787, promised their con- vocation in five years, on August 8, 1788, fixed the opening for May I, 1789. Necker was recalled, parlement reestablished, the plenary court abolished, the bailiwicks destroyed, and the provinces satisfied; and the new minister prepared everything for the election of deputies and the holding of the states. At this epoch a great change took place in the opposition, which till then had been unanimous. Under Brienne, the ministry had encountered opposition from all the various bodies of the state, because it had sought to oppress them. Under Necker, it met with resistance from the same bodies, which desired power for them- selves and oppression for the people. From being despotic, it had become national, and it still had them all equally against it. Parle- ment had maintained a struggle for authority, and not for the public welfare; and the nobility had united with the third estate, rather against the government than in favor of the people. Each of these bodies had demanded the states-general : the parlement, in the hope of ruling them as it had done in 1614; and the nobility, in the hope of regaining its lost influence. Accordingly, the magistracy pro- posed as a model for the states-general of 1789, the form of that of 1614, and public opinion abandoned it. If this recommendation had been followed, whole provinces would have been in practice disfran- chised. For example, Poitou, with 694,000 inhabitants, would have had no more representation than Gex, with 1300; Vermandois, with 774,000 inhabitants, would have had no more than Dourdan, with a population of 7800.^ The nobility refused its consent to the double representation of the third estate, as in Languedoc, Provence, Hainault. In most of them, however, as Brittany, Artois, Bur- gundy, an equal representation was the rule. Thus a division broke out between these two orders. This double representation was required by the intellect of tlie age, the necessity of reform, and by the importance which the third estate had acquired. It had already been admitted into the pro- vincial assemblies. Brienne, before leaving the ministry, had made an appeal to tlie writers of the day, in order to know what would be the most suital)lc method of composing and holding the states- general. Among the works favorable to the peo])]e there appeared ^"Cy. Stephens, " J'Vench Revolution," vol. I. pp. 14-15; "Memoirs of Tal- leyrand," vol. I. pp. 85-86. 38 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 the celebrated pamphlet of Sieyes on the third estate, and that of D'Entraigues on the states-general. Sieyes asked these questions, which he proceeded to answer: What is the third estate? Everything, What has it been thus far? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something.^^ Opinion became daily more de- cided, and Necker wishing, yet fearing, to satisfy it, and desirous of conciliating all orders, of obtaining general approbation, con- voked a second assembly of notables on November 6, 1788, to delib- erate on the composition of the states-general, and the election of its members. He thought to induce it to accept the addition of the third estate, but it refused, and he was obliged to decide, in spite of the notables, that which he ought to have decided without them. Necker was not the man to avoid disputes by removing all difficul- ties beforehand. He did not take the initiative as to the representa- tion of the third estate, any more than at a later period he took it with regard to the question of voting by orders or by poll. When the states-general were assembled the solution of this second ques- tion, on which depended the state of power and that of the people, was abandoned to force. Be this as it may, Necker, having been unable to make the notables adopt the representation of the third estate, caused it to be adopted by the council. The royal declaration of November 2j decreed that the deputies in the states-general should amount to at least a thousand, and that the deputies of the third estate should be equal in number to the deputies of the nobility and clergy to- gether. Necker, moreover, obtained the admission of the cures into the order of the clergy, and of Protestants into that of the third estate. ]\Iay I, 1789, was the day fixed for the convening of the states- general. The letters convoking the electors were sent out in Febru- ary. Each order named its deputies. With the third estate every Frenchman of twenty-five years of age paying any direct tax what- soever had the right to vote. The form of the elections was the same as in 16 14. The deputies of the three orders were nominated from bailiwicks. The clergy and the nobility named their represen- tatives directly, but with the third estate indirect election prevailed, delegates being chosen in the jiarishes and villages to a subscf|ucnt 1" The flood of namplilcts at this time was enormous. Gouvcrneur Morris writes, in June, 1789, " liven lackeys are poring over them at the gates of hotels," and Arthur Young records about the same time, " Thirteen came out to-day ; sixteen yesterday ; and ninety last week." BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION 39 1789 assembly held in the chief place of the bailiwick, this body electing the actual deputies to the states-general. The local election machinery was very various the clergy gen- erally elected out of the chapter, the monastic bodies from among their brotherhoods ; industrial and mercantile interests were organ- ized into crafts or guilds. Robespierre was elected by the cobblers' guild of Arras. About 5,000,000 voters thus elected 1139 deputies. Parlement had but little influence in the elections, and the court none at all. The nobility selected a few popular deputies, but for the most part devoted to the interests of their order, and as much opposed to the third estate as to the oligarchy of the great families of the court. The clergy nominated bishops and abbes attached to privilege, and cures favorable to the popular cause, which was their own ; lastly, the third estate selected men enlight- ened, firm, and unanimous in their wishes. Of the 285 nobles elected, 270 took their seats; of the clergy, 308 were elected and 291 took their seats; of the third estate, 621 were elected and 578 took their seats. The deputation of the nobility was comprised of 242 gentlemen and 28 members of parlement ; that of the clergy, of 48 archbishops or bishops, 35 abbes or deans, and 208 cures; and that of the communes, of 2 ecclesiastics, 12 noblemen, 18 magis- trates of towns, 200 county members, 212 barristers, 16 physicians, and 216 merchants and agriculturists. Among the nobles were the king's two brothers, the Count of Provence, later Louis XVIII. (1814-1824), and the Count d'Artois, afterward Charles X. (1824- 1830) ; Philip, Duke of Orleans; and Lafayette. Talleyrand, then Bishop of Autun, the Abbe Maury, and " the great Gregoire " were among the clergy. Among the deputies of the third estate, besides 12 nobles and 2 priests, there were 13 municipal magistrates, 102 magistrates from bailiwicks, 216 lawyers, 16 physicians, and about 100 merchants and farmers. ^^ Conspicuous among them were Mira- beau, Sieyes, Robespierre, Petion, Bailly, Barrere, Malouet, ]\Iou- nier, Target, Lameth, and Dr. Guillotin, The Paris deputies in- cluded 9 lawyers, 6 tradesmen, 2 tailors, i grocer, i painter, i jeweler, i wine merchant. The opening of the states-general was fixed for A lay 5, 1789. Thus was the revolution brought about. The court in vain tried to prevent, as it afterward endeavored to annul it. Under the IS Oil the whole matter see Lowell, " Eve of the French Revolution," ch. xxi. ; Stephens, '" l~rench Revolution," vol. I. pp. 30-50. 40 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 direction of Maurepas the king nominated popular ministers and made attempts at reform ; under the influence of the queen he nom- inated court ministers and made attempts at authority. Oppression met with as Httle success as reform. After applying in vain to courtiers for retrenchments, to parlement for levies, to capitalists for loans, he sought for new taxpayers, and made an appeal to the privileged orders. He demanded of the notables, consisting of the nobles and the clergy, a participation in the charges of the state, which they refused. He then for the first time applied to all France, and convoked the states-general. He treated with the various bodies of the nation before treating with the nation itself; and it was only on the refusal of the first, that he appealed from it to a power whose intervention and support he dreaded. He preferred private assem- blies, which, being isolated, necessarily remained secondary to a general assembly, which, representing all interests, must combine all powers. Up to this great epoch every year saw the wants of the government increasing, and resistance becoming more extensive. Opposition passed from parlements to the nobility, from the nobil- ity to the clergy, and from them all to the people. In proportion as each participated in power it began its opposition, until all these private oppositions were fused in or gave way before the national opposition. The states-general only decreed a revolution already formed.^'' ^^ Gouverneur Morris, the American patriot, was in Paris at this time on private business, and was later made minister to France. In the spring of 1789 he wrote : " A spirit which has lain dormant for generations starts up and stares about, ignorant of the means of obtaining but ardently desirous to possess the object; consequently active, energetic, easily led, but alas! easily, too easily, misled." " Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris," vol. I. p. 21. And later, on April 29, 1789, he wrote to Washington : " The materials for a revolution in this country are very indifferent. Everybody agrees that there is an utter prostration of morals, but this general position can never convey to the Amer- ican mind the degree of depravity. It is not by any figure of rhetoric, or force of language, that the idea can be communicated. An hundred anecdotes and a hundred thousand examples are required to show the extreme rottenness of every member. There are men and women who are greatly and eminently virtu- ous but they stand forward from a background deeply and darkly shaded. It is, however, from such crumbling matter that the great edifice of freedom is to be erected here. Perhaps it may harden when exposed to the air, but it seems quite as likely that it will fall and crush the building." Ibid., vol. I. pp. 68-69. Chapter III ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATES-GENERAL MAY 5-AUGUST 4, 1789 MAY 5, 1789, was fixed for the opening of the states- general. A rehgious ceremony preceded their installa- tion. The King, his family, his ministers, the deputies of the three orders, on May 4 went in procession from the church of Notre-Dame to that of Saint Louis, to hear the opening mass. Lavarre, Bishop of Nancy, preached the sermon, which was much like a political harangue. In his prayer, he said : " Accept the homage of the clergy, the respect of the nobility, and the very hum- ble requests of the third estate." Men did not without enthusiasm see the return of a national ceremony of which France had for so long a period been deprived. It had all the appearance of a festival. An enormous multitude flocked from all parts to Versailles ; the weather was splendid ; they had been lavish of the pomp of decora- tion. The excitement of the music, the kind and satisfied expression of the king, the beauty and demeanor of the queen, and, as much as anything, the general hope, exalted everyone. But the etiquette, costumes, and order of the ranks of the states in 1614 were seen with regret. The clergy, in cassocks, large cloaks, and square caps, or in violet robes and lawn sleeves, occupied the first place. Then came the nobles, attired in black coats with waistcoats and facings of cloth of gold, lace cravats, and hats with white plumes, turned up in the fashion of Henry IV. The modest third estate came last, clothed in l.)lack, with short cloaks, muslin cravats, and hats without feathers or loops. In the church the same distinction as to places existed between the three orders. The royal sittings took place the following day in the Salle des ]\Tenus. Galleries, arranged in the form of an ampliitheater, were filled with spectators. The deputies were summoned and introduced according to the order established in 1614. The clergy were con- ducted to the right, the nobility to the left, and the commons in front of the throne at the end of the hall. The deputation from 41 42 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 Dauphine, from Crespy, in Valois, to which the Duke of Orleans belonged, and from Provence, were received with loud applause. Necker was also received on his entrance with general enthusiasm. Public favor was testified toward all who had contributed to the convocation of the states-general. When the deputies and ministers had taken their places the king appeared, followed by the queen, the princes, and a brilliant suite. The salle resounded with applause on his arrival. When he came in, Louis XVL took his seat on the throne, and when he had put on his hat, the three orders covered themselves at the same time. The commons, contrary to the custom of the ancient states, imitated the nobility and clergy without hesi- tation: the time when the third order should remain covered and speak kneeling was gone by. The king's speech was then expected in profound silence. Men were eager to know the true feeling of the government with regard to the states. Did it purpose assimi- lating the new assembly to the ancient, or granting it the part which the necessities of the state and the importance of the occasion as- signed to it ? " Gentlemen," said the king, with emotion, " the day I have so anxiously expected has at length arrived, and I see around me the representatives of the nation which I glory in governing. A long interval had elapsed since the last session of the states-general, and although the convocation of these assemblies seemed to have fallen into disuse, I did not hesitate to restore a custom from which the kingdom might derive new force, and which might open to the nation a new source of happiness." These words which promised much were only followed by explanations as to the debt and announcements of retrenchment in the expenditure. The king, instead of wisely tracing out to the states the course they ought to follow, urged the orders to union, expressed his want of money, his dread of innovations, and com- plained of the uneasiness of the public mind, without suggesting any means of satisfying it. He was nevertheless very much applauded when he delivered at the close of his discourse the following words, which fully described his intentions : " All that can be expected from the dearest interest in the public welfare, all that can be required of a sovereign, the first friend of his people, you may and ought to hope from my sentiments. That a happy spirit of union may per- vade this assembly, gentlemen, and that this may be an ever-memor- able epoch for the happiness and prosperity of the kingdom, is the THE STATES-GENERAL 43 1789 wish of my heart, the most ardent of my desires; it is, in a word, the reward which I expect for the uprightness of my intentions, and my love of my subjects." Barentin, keeper of the seals, spoke next. His speech was an amplification respecting the states-general and the favors of the king. After a long preamble he at last touched upon the topics of the occasion. " His majesty," he said, " has not changed the form of the ancient assemblies, by granting a double representation in fa- vor of the most numerous of the three orders, that on which the bur- den of taxation chiefly falls ; has not changed the form of the an- cient deliberations ; although that by poll, producing but one result, seems to have the advantage of best representing the general desire, the king wishes this new form should be adopted only with the free consent of the states, and the approval of his majesty. But what- ever may be the opinion on this question, whatever distinctions may be drawn between the different matters that will become the sub- jects of deliberation, there can be no doubt but that the most entire harmony will unite the three orders on the subject of taxation." The government was not opposed to the vote by poll in pecuniary matters, it being more expeditious ; but in political questions it declared itself in favor of voting by order, as a more effectual check on innovations. In this way it sought to arrive at its own end namely, subsidies, and not to allow the nation to obtain its olDJect, which was reform. The manner in which the keeper of the seals determined the province of the states-general discovered more plainly the intentions of the court. He reduced them, in a measure, to the inquiry into taxation, in order to vote it, and to the discussion of a law respecting the press, for the purpose of fixing its limits, and to the reform of civil and criminal legislation. He proscribed all other changes, and concluded by saying: " All just demands have been granted; the king has not noticed indiscreet murmurs; he has condescended to overlook them with inrlulgence ; he has even for- given the expression of tliose false and extravagant maxims under fa\or of which altcn'i})ts have Ijeen made to substitute pernicious chimeras for the unalterable principles of monarchy. You will with indignation, gentlemen, rc])el the dangerous innovations which tlie enemies of public good seek to confound with the necessary and liappy changes whicli this regeneration ought to produce, and whicli form the first wisli of his majesty." This speech displayed h'ttic knowledge of the wishes of the 44. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 nation, or it sought openly to combat them. The dissatisfied assem- bly looked to Necker, from whom it expected different language. He was the popular minister, had obtained the double representa- tion, and it was hoped he would approve of the vote by poll, the only way of enabling the third estate to turn its members to account. But he spoke as comptroller-general and as a man of caution. His speech, which lasted three hours, was a lengthened budget, and when, after tiring the assembly, he touched on the topic of interest, he spoke undecidedly, in order to avoid committing himself either with the court or the people. Since Brienne's ministry, Necker said, the deficit had been reduced by 20,000,000 francs, and now amounted to 56,000,000. The truth was the state was bankrupt, for it was carrying a floating debt of 551,500,000, a sum that could not be paid even the interest upon it unless reform was made. On Necker's reappointment, specie payments had been immediately resumed, September 14, 1788. Indeed, Necker was reappointed for just that purpose. From this time until the meeting of the states-general in 1789 he had concentrated his entire attention on keeping things going. By sheer personal strength he carried the finances through this period, using his own personal credit time and again to do it. When the states-general met, on May 5, 1789, his statement showed an annual deficit of only 56 millions, and he added that it was a small matter, and one that the king alone could easily deal with ! This is the assembly whose call had been suggested by the notables to provide for Calonne's deficit of 140 millions, the assembly whose election proceeded so slowly that Brienne had been forced to resort to issues of paper, and yet, on its first gathering, it is told by the minister that there really is no occasion for its meet- ing. By a stroke of the pen Necker had cut off more than 100 millions of deficit. What was Necker's object in this policy? Was it to prevent any action by the assembly in the hope that, being left to himself, he would in the course of time be able to fund the float- ing debt, and so systematize the financial system that the expenses and receipts w^ould hereafter be in equilibrium ? Or was it that he really had no plan to propose? Whatever guided his policy, one thing is certain, and that is that in not presenting to the assembly on May 5, 1789, a definite plan for the rehabilitation of the treasury, he missed the opportunity of his life. In all probability the assem- bly would have passed any reasonable bill that he might have pro- posed, for there is no doubt that the majority of the members, at THE STATES-GENERAL 45 1789 the opening of the sessions, felt strongly their own inability to deal unaided with a problem so complicated. The government ought to have better understood the impor- tance of the states-general. The restoration of this assembly alone announced a great revolution. Looked for with hope by the nation, it reappeared at an epoch when the ancient monarchy was sinking, and when it alone was capable of reforming the state and providing for the necessities of royalty. The difficulties of the time, the nature of their mission, the choice of their members, everything announced that the states were not assembled as taxpayers, but as legislators. The right of regenerating France had been granted them by opin- ion, was devolved on them by public resolutions, and they found in the enormity of the abuses and the public encouragement strength to undertake and accom.plish this great task. It behooved the king to associate himself with their labors. In this way he would have been able to restore his power and insure himself from the excesses of a revolution by himself assisting in bringing it about. If. taking the lead in these changes, he had fixed the new order of things with firmness, but with justice; if, realizing the wishes of France, he had determined the rights of her citizens, the province of the states-general, and the limits of royalty; if, on his own part, he had renounced arbitrary power, inequality on the part of the nobility, and privileges on the part of the different bod- ies ; in a word, if he had accomplished all the reforms which were demanded by public opinion, and executed by the constituent assem- bly, he would have prevented the fatal dissensions which subse- quently arose. It is rare to find a prince willing to share his power, or sufticiently enlightened to yield what he will be reduced to lose. Yet Louis XVI. would have done this, if he had been less influenced by those around him, and had he followed the dictates of his own mind. But the greatest anarchy per\^aded the councils of the king. When the states-general assembled, no measures had been taken, nothing had been decided on, which might prevent dispute. Louis X\T. wavered between his ministry, directed by Xecker, and his court, directed by the queen and a few princes of his family. X^ecker, satisfied with obtaining the representation of the third estate, dreaded the indecision of the king and the discontent of the court. X"ot appreciating sufficiently the importance of a crisis which he considered more as a financial than a social one, he waited for the course of events in order to act, and flattered himself with the 46 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 hope of being able to guide these events, without attempting to pre- pare the way for them. He felt that the ancient organization of the states could no longer be maintained; that the existence of three orders, each possessing the right of refusal, was opposed to the exe- cution of reform and the progress of administration. He hoped, after a trial of this triple opposition, to reduce the number of the orders and bring about the adoption of the English form of govern- ment, by uniting the clergy and nobility in one chamber, and the third estate in another. He did not foresee that the struggle once begun, his interposition would be in vain : that half measures would suit neither party ; that the weak through obstinacy, and the strong through passion, would oppose this system of moderation. Con- cessions satisfy only before a victory. The court, so far from wishing to organize the states-general, sought to annul them. It preferred the casual resistance of the great bodies of the nation to the sharing authority with a permanent assembly. The separation of the orders favored its views ; it reck- oned on fomenting their differences, and thus preventing them from acting. The states-general had never achieved any result, owing to the defect of their organization ; the court hoped that it would still be the same, since the first two orders were less disposed to yield to the reforms solicited by the last. The clergy wished to preserve its privileges and its opulence, and clearly foresaw that the sacrifices to be made by it were more numerous than the advantages to be acquired. The nobility, on its side, while it resumed a political inde- pendence long since lost, was aware that it would have to yield more to the people than it could obtain from royalty. It was almost entirely in favor of the third estate, that the new revolution was about to operate, and the first two orders were induced to unite with the court against the third estate as but lately they had coalesced with the third estate against the court. Interest alone led to this change of party, and they united with the monarch without aft"ec- tion, as they had defended the people without regard to public good. No efforts were spared to keep the nobility and clergy in this disposition. Tlie deputies of these two orders were the objects of favors and allurements. A committee, to which the most illustrious persons belonged, was held at the Countess de Polignac's; the principal deputies were admitted to it. It was here that were gained D'Empremesnil and D'Entraigues, two of the warmest advocates of liberty in parlement, or before the states-general, and who after- THE STATES-GENERAL 47 1789 ward became its most decided opponents. Here also the costume of the deputies of the different orders was determined on, and attempts made to separate them, first by etiquette, then by intrigue, and, lastly, by force. The recollection of the ancient states-general prevailed in the court ; it thought it could regulate the present by the past, restrain Paris by the army, the deputies of the third estate by those of the nobility, rule the states by separating the orders, and separate the orders by reviving ancient customs which exalted the nobles and lowered the commons. Thus, after the first sitting, it was supposed that all had been prevented by granting nothing. On May 6, the day after the opening of the states, the nobility and clergy repaired to their respective chambers, and constituted themselves. The third estate being, on account of its double repre- sentation, the most numerous order, had the Salle des fitats allotted to it, and there awaited the two other orders ; it considered its situ- ation as provisional, its members as presumptive deputies, and adopted a system of inactivity till the other orders should unite with it. Then a memorable struggle commenced, the issue of which was to decide whether the revolution should be effected or stopped. The future fate of France depended on the separation or reunion of the orders. This important question arose on the subject of the verifica- tion of powers. The popular deputies asserted very justly that it ought to be made in common, since, even refusing the reunion of the orders, they could not deny the interest which each of them had in the examination of the powers of the others ; the privileged depu- ties argued, on the contrary, that since the orders had a distinct existence, the verification ought to be made respectively. They felt that one single cooperation would, for the future, render all separa- tion impossible. The commons acted with much circumspection, deliberation, and steadiness. It was by a succession of efforts, not unattended with peril, by slow and undecided success, and by struggles con- stantly renewing, that they attained their object. The systematic inactivity they adopted from the commencement was the surest and wisest course; there are occasions when the way to victory is to know how to wait for it. The commons were unanimous, and alone formed the numerical half of the states-general; the nobility had in its bosom some popular dissentients; the majority of the clergy, composed of several bishops, friends of peace, and of the numerous class of the cures, the third estate of the church, 48 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 entertained sentiments favorable to the commons.* Weariness was therefore to bring about a union; this was what the third estate hoped, what the bishops feared, and what induced them on May 13 to offer themselves as mediators. But this mediation was of neces- sity without any resuU, as the nobiHty would not admit voting by poll, nor the commons voting by order. Accordingly, the concilia- tory conferences, after being prolonged in vain till May 27, were broken up by the nobility, who declared in favor of separate verification. The day after this hostile decision the commons determined to declare themselves the assembly of the nation, and invited the clergy to Join them in the name of the God of peace and the common weal. The court, taking alarm at this measure, interfered for the pur- pose of having the conferences resumed. The first commissioners appointed for purposes of reconciliation were charged with regu- lating the differences of the orders ; the ministry undertook to regu- late the differences of the commissioners. In this way the states depended on a commission, and the commission had the counsel of the prince for arbiter. But these new conferences had not a more fortunate issue than the first. They lingered on without either of the orders being willing to yield anything to the others, and the nobility finally broke them up by confirming all its resolutions.^ Five weeks had already elapsed in useless parleys. The third estate, perceiving the moment had arrived for it to constitute itself, and that longer delay would indispose the nation toward it, and destroy the confidence it had acquired by the refusal of the privi- leged classes to cooperate with it, decided on acting, and displayed herein the same moderation and firmness it had shown during its inactivity. Mirabeau announced that a deputy of Paris had a motion to propose ; and Sieyes, physically of timid character, but of an enter- ^ In each of the privileged orders a motion toward union was made and defeated: in that of the clergy, by a vote of 133 to 1 14; in that of the nobility, by a vote of 188 to 47. 2 Louis XVI. lost a golden opportunity at this time by failure to take any initiative. Gouverneur Morris wrote on June 2, 1789: "I propose to tliat the king should cut the knot which the states cannot untie, viz. : that he should prescribe to them the future constitution and leave them to consider." " Diary and Letters," vol. I. p. g6. Fundamentally, though, the blame must fall on Necker, as the king's chief minister. Of him Morris a little later than the above, on July i, 1789, wrote to Washington: "If his abilities were equal to his genius and he was as much supported by firmness as he is swayed by ambition, he would have the exalted honor of giving a free constitution to above twenty millions of his fellow-creatures." (Ibid. vol. I. p. no). THE STATES-GENERAL 49 1789 prising mind, who had great authority by his ideas, and was better suited than anyone to propose a measure, proved the impossibihty of union, the urgency of verification, the justice of demanding it in common, and caused it to be decreed by the assembly that the nobility and clergy should be invited to the hall of the states in order to take part in the verification, which would take place, whether they were absent or present. The measure for general verincation was followed by another still more energetic. The commons, after having terminated the verification on June 17, on the motion of Sieyes, constituted them- selves the national assembly.^ This bold step, by which the most numerous order and the only one whose powers were legalized, declared itself the representation of France, and refused to recog- nize the other two till they submitted to the verification, determined questions hitherto undecided, and changed the assembly of the states into an assembly of the people. The system of orders was lost in political powers, and this was the first step toward the abolition of classes in the private system. This memorable decree of June 17 contained the germ of the night of August 4, but it was necessary to defend what they had dared to decide, and there was reason to fear such a determination could not be maintained. The first decree of the national assembly was an act of sov- ereignty. It placed the privileged classes under its dependence, by proclaiming the indivisibility of the legislative power. The court remained to be restrained by means of taxation. The assembly declared the illegality of previous imposts, voted them provisionally, as long as it continued to sit, and their cessation on its dissolution; it restored the confidence of capitalists by consolidating the public debt, and provided for the necessities of the people by appointing a committee of subsistence. Such firmness and foresight excited the enthusiasm of the nation. But those who directed the court saw that the divisions thus excited between the orders had failed in their object; and that it was necessary to resort to other means to obtain it. They con- sidered the royal authority alone adequate to prescribe the continu- ance of the orders, which the opposition of the nobles could no longer preserve. They took advantage of a journey to Alarly to 3 Of this famous resolve it has been well said that " except the Declaration of Independence it was the most decisive step ever taken by any body of men." On July 9, the national assembly officially added the term " constituent " to the earHer title. 50 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 remove Louis XVL from the influence of the prudent and pacific counsels of Necker, and to induce him to adopt hostile measures. This prince, ahke accessible to good and bad counsels, surrounded by a court given up to party spirit, and entreated for the interests of his crown and in the name of religion to stop the pernicious progress of the commons, yielded at last and promised everything. It was decided that he should go in state to the assembly, annul its decrees, command the separation of the orders as constitutive of the monarchy, and himself fix the reforms to be effected by the states- general. From that moment the privy council held the government, acting no longer secretly, but in the most open manner. Barentin, the keeper of the seals, the Count d'Artois, the Prince de Conde, and the Prince de Conti conducted alone the projects they had con- certed. Necker lost all his influence ; he had proposed to the king a conciliatory plan, which might have succeeded before the struggle attained this degree of animosity, but could do so no longer. He had advised another royal sitting, in which the vote by poll in mat- ters of taxation was to be granted, and the vote by order to remain in matters of private interest and privilege. This measure, which was unfavorable to the commons, since it tended to maintain abuses by investing the nobility and clergy with the right of opposing their abolition, would have been followed by the establishment of two chambers for the next states-general. Necker was fond of half- measures, and wished to effect, by successive concessions, a political change which should have been accomplished at once. The moment was arrived to grant the nation all its rights, or to leave it to take them. His project of a royal sitting, already insufficient, was changed into a stroke of state policy by the new council. The latter thought that the injunctions of the throne would intimidate the assembly, and that France would be satisfied with promises of reform. It seemed to be ignorant tliat the worst risk royalty can be exposed to is that of disobedience. Strokes of state policy generally come unexpectedly, and sur- prise those they are intended to influence. It was not so with this; its preparations tended to prevent success. It was feared that the majority of the clergy would recognize the assembly by uniting with it; and to prevent so decided a step, instead of hastening the royal sittings, they closed the hall of the states, in order to suspend the assembly until the day of the sittings. The preparations ren- dered necessary by the presence of the king were the pretext for this THE STATES-GENERAL 51 1789 unskillful and improper measure. At that time Bailly presided over the assembly. This virtuous citizen had obtained, without seeking them, all the honors of dawning liberty. He was the first president of the assembly, as he had been the first deputy of Paris, and was to become its first mayor. Beloved by his own party, respected by his adversaries, he combined with the mildest and most enlightened virtues the most courageous sense of duty. Apprised on the night before June 20, by the keeper of the seals, of the suspension of the sittings, he remained faithful to the wishes of the assembly and did not fear disobeying the court. At an appointed hour on the follow- ing day he repaired to the hall of the states, and finding an armed force in possession, he protested against this act of despotism. In the meantime the deputies arrived, dissatisfaction increased, all seemed disposed to brave the perils of a sitting. The most indig- nant proposed going to Marly, and holding the assembly under the windows of the king; one named the tennis court; * this proposition was well received, and the deputies repaired thither in procession. Bailly was at their head ; the people followed them with enthusiasm ; even soldiers volunteered to escort them, and there, in a bare hall, the deputies of the commons standing with upraised hands, and hearts full of their sacred mission, swore, with only one exception, not to separate until they had given France a constitution. This solemn oath, taken on June 20, in the presence of the nation, was followed on the 22d by an important triumph. The assembly, still deprived of their usual place of meeting, unable to make use of the tennis court, the princes having engaged it pur- posely that it might be refused them, met in the church of Saint Louis. In this sitting the majority of the clergy joined them in the midst of patriotic transports. Thus the measures taken to intimi- date the assembly increased its courage and accelerated the union they were intended to prevent. By these two failures the court prefaced the famous sitting of June 23. At Icngtli it took place. A numerous guard surrounded the hall of the states-general, the door of which was opened to the depu- ties, but closed to the public. The king came surrounded with the pomp of power ; he was received, contrary to the usual custom, in profound silence. His speech completed the measure of discontent * The tennis court was not an open piece of ground, but a covered building, not far from tlie palace of Versailles. It stands to-day, as a monument historiquc, and is used as a inuseuni of tlie revolution. 52 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 by the tone of authority with which he dictated measures rejected by pubhc opinion and by the assembly. The king complained of a want of union, excited by the court itself; he censured the conduct of the assembly, regarding it only as the order of the third estate; he annulled its decrees, enjoined the continuance of the orders, imposed reforms, and determined their limits; enjoined the states- general to adopt them, and threatened to dissolve them and to pro- vide alone for the welfare of the kingdom if he met with more opposition on their part. After this scene of authority, so ill-suited to the occasion, and at variance wuth his heart, Louis XVL withdrew, having commanded the deputies to disperse. The clergy and nobil- ity obeyed. The deputies of the people, motionless, silent, and indig- nant, remained seated. They continued in that attitude some time, when Mirabeau, suddenly breaking silence, said: "Gentlemen, I admit that what you have just heard might be for the welfare of the country, were it not that the presents of despotism are always dan- gerous. What is this insulting dictatorship? The pomp of arms, the violation of the national temple, are resorted to to command you to be happy! Who gives this command? Your mandatary. Who makes these imperious laws for you? Your mandatary; he who should rather receive them from you, gentlemen from us, who are invested with a political and inviolable priesthood; from us, in a word, to whom alone twenty-five millions of men are looking for certain happiness, because it is to be consented to, and given and received by all. But the liberty of your discussions is enchained ; a military force surrounds the assembly! Where are the enemies of the nation? Is Catiline at our gates? I demand, investing your- selves with your dignity, with your legislative power, you inclose yourselves within the religion of your oath. It does not permit you to separate till you have formed a constitution." The grand master of the ceremonies, finding the assembly did not break up, came and reminded them of the king's order. " Go and tell your master," cried Mirabeau, " that we are here at the command of the people, and nothing but the bayonet shall drive us hence." ^ " You are to-day," added Sieyes calmly, " what you were yes- terday. Let us deliberate." The assembly, full of resolution and dignity, began the debate ^ There are various versions of this famous utterance by Mirabeau. Some authorities deny the speech i)i toto. THE STATES-GENERAL 53 1789 accordingly. On the motion of Camus, it was determined to per- sist in the decrees already made; and upon that of Mirabeau the inviolability of the members of the assembly was decreed. On that day the royal authority was lost. The initiative in law, and moral power passed from the monarch to the assembly. Those who by their counsels had provoked this resistance did not dare to punish it. Necker, whose dismissal had been decided on that morning, was in the evening entreated by the queen and Louis XVI. to remain in office. This minister had disapproved of the royal sitting, and by refusing to be present at it he again won the confidence of the assembly, which he had lost through his hesitation. The season of disgrace was for him the season of popularity. By this refusal he became the ally of the assembly, which determined to support him. Every crisis requires a leader, whose name becomes the standard of his party; while the assembly contended with the court that leader was Xecker. At the first sitting that part of the clergy which had united with the assembly in the church of Saint Louis again sat with it; a few days after forty-seven members of the nobility, among whom was the Duke of Orleans, joined them ; and the court was itself compelled to invite the nobility, and a minority of the clerg}% to dis- continue a dissent that would henceforth be useless. On June 27 the deliberation became general. The orders ceased to exist legally, and soon disappeared. The distinct seats they had hitherto occu- pied in the common hall soon became confounded ; the futile pre- eminences of rank vanished before national authority. The court, after having vainly endeavored to prevent the for- mation of the assembly, could now only unite with it to direct its operations. With prudence and candor it might still have repaired its errors and caused its attacks to be forgotten. At certain mo- ments the initiative may be taken in making sacrifices; at others, all that can be done is to make a merit of accepting them. At the open- ing of the states-general the king might himself have made the con- stitution, now he was obliged to receive it from the assembly ; had he submitted to tliat position he would infallibly have improved it. ^'' The nobles have this day. agreeably to a request of the king-, joined the other two orders. So that at length tlu' great question is determined and the votes will be par tcte (by poll). It remain'^ for them only to form a constitution, and as the king is extremely timid, he will, of course, surrender at discretion. The existence of the monarchy, therefore, dejiends on the moderation of the assembly." " Diary and Letters " of Gouverncur }iIorris, vol. I. p. io6. 54 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 But the advisers of Louis XVI., when they recovered from the first surprise of defeat, resolved to have recourse to the use of the bay- onet, after they had failed in that of authority. They led the king to suppose that the contempt of his orders, the safety of his throne, the maintenance of the laws of the kingdom, and even the well-being of his people depended on his reducing the assembly to submission ; that the latter, sitting at Versailles, close to Paris, two cities decid- edly in its favor, ought to be subdued by force and removed to some other place, or dissolved ; that it was urgent that this resolution should be adopted in order to stop the progress of the assembly, and that in order to execute it, it was necessary speedily to call together troops who might intimidate the assembly and maintain order at Paris and Versailles. While these plots were hatching, the deputies of the nation began their legislative labors, and prepared the anxiously expected constitution, which they considered they ought no longer to delay. Addresses poured in from Paris and the principal towns of the kingdom, congratulating them on their wisdom, and encouraging them to continue their task of regenerating France. The troops, meantime, arrived in great numbers.'^ Versailles assumed the as- pect of a camp; the hall of the states was surrounded by guards, and the citizens refused admission. Paris was also encompassed by various bodies of the army, ready to besiege or blockade it, as the occasion might require. These vast military preparations, trains of artillery arriving from the frontiers, and the presence of foreign regiments, whose obedience was unlimited, announced sinis- ter projects. The populace were restless and agitated ; and the assembly desired to enlighten the throne with respect to its projects, and solicit the dismission of the troops. At Alirabeau's sugges- tion, it presented on July 9 a firm but respectful address to the king, which proved useless. Louis XVL declared that he alone had to judge the necessity of assembling or dismissing troops, and as- sured them that those assembled formed only a precautionary army to prevent disturbances and protect the assembly. He moreover offered the assembly to remove it to Noyon or Soissons, that is to say, to place it between two armies and deprive it of the support of the people. '' There were eight foreign regiments. The plan was to reduce Paris to famine and to take two hundred members of the national assembly prisoners. See "Diary and Letters" of Gouverneur IMorris, vol. I. p. 128, THE STATES-GENERAL 55 1789 Paris was in the greatest excitement ; this vast city was unani- mous in its devotion to the assembly. The perils that threatened the representatives of the nation, and itself, and the scarcity of food disposed it to insurrection. Capitalists, from interest and the fear of bankruptcy; men of enlightenment and all the middle classes, from patriotism ; the people, impelled by want, ascribing their sufferings to the privileged classes and the court, desirous of agitation and change, all had warmly espoused the cause of the revolution. It is difihcult to conceive the movement which dis- turbed the capital of France. It was arising from the repose and silence of servitude; it was, as it were, astonished at the novelty of its situation, and intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm. The press excited the public mind, the newspapers published the debates of the assembly, and enabled the public to be present, so to speak, at its deliberations, and the questions mooted in its bosom were discussed in the open air, in the public squares.* It was at the Palais Royal,^ more especially, that the assembly of the capital was held. The garden was always filled by a crowd that seemed permanent, though continually renewed. A table answered the purpose of the tribune, the first citizen at hand became the orator; there men expatiated on the dangers that threatened the country, and excited each other to resistance. Already, on a motion made at the Palais Royal, the prisons of the Abbaye had been broken open, and some grenadiers of the French guards, who had been imprisoned for refusing to fire on the people, released in triumph. This outbreak was attended by no consequences ; a deputation had already solicited, in behalf of the delivered prisoners, the interest of the assembly, who had recommended them to the clemency of the king. They had returned to prison, and had received pardon. But this regiment, one of the most complete and bravest, had become favorable to tlie popular cause. * On the state of Paris at this time see Taine, " French Revolution," vol. I. ch. ii. ; Stephens, "French Revolution," vol. I. pp. 128-193. ^ This palace is still standing and is at present occupied by the council of state. It was built by Cardinal Richelieu. After his death it became the residence of Aime of Austria, the widow of Louis XIII. (died 1643) ; Louis XIV. gave it to his brother, Philip, Duke of Orleans, from which time it was known as the Palais Royal. It was his son, a second Philip, regent of France during the minority of Louis XV., who built the rows of shops around the garden, which he rented for commercial purposes. These still exist in their original form. As Philip of Orleans was notoriously hostile to the king, the cafes on the ground floor, facing the garden, early became a rendezvous of the revolutionists. 56 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 Such was the disposition of Paris when the court, having estabhshed troops at Versailles, Sevres, the Champ de Mars, and Saint Denis, thought itself able to execute its project. It com- menced, on July II, by the banishment of Necker and the complete reconstruction of the ministry. The marshal de Broglie, La Galissonniere, the Duke de la Vauguyon, the Baron de Breteuil, and the intendant Foulon were appointed to replace Puysegur, jVIontmorin, La Luzerne, Saint-Priest, and Necker. The latter re- ceived, while at dinner on July ii, a note from the king enjoining him to leave the country immediately. He finished dining very calmly, without communicating the purport of the order he had received, and then got into his carriage with Madame Necker, as if intending to drive to Saint Omer, and took the road to Brussels. On the following day, Sunday, July 12, about four in the afternoon, Necker's disgrace and departure became known at Paris. This measure was regarded as the execution of the plot the prep- arations for which had so long been observed. In a short time the city was in tlie greatest confusion ; crowds gathered together on every side ; more than ten thousand persons flocked to the Palais Royal, all affected by this news, ready for anything, but not know- ing what measure to adopt. Camille Desmoulins, a young man, more daring than the rest, one of the usual orators of the crowd, mounted on a table, pistol in hand, exclaiming: " Citizens, there is no time to lose ; the dismissal of Necker is the knell of a Saint Bartholomew for patriots ! This very night all the Swiss and German battalions will leave the Champ de Mars to massacre us all ; one resource is left : to take arms ! " These words were received with violent acclamations. He proposed that cockades should be worn for mutual recognition and protection. " Shall they be green," he cried, "the color of hope; or red, the color of the free order of Cincinnatus? " "Green! green!" shouted the multitude. The speaker descended from the table and fastened the sprig of a tree in his hat. Everyone imitated him. The chestnut-trees of tlie palace were almost stripped of their leaves, and the crowd went in tumult to the house of the sculptor Curtius. Tliey take busts of Necker and the Duke of Orleans, a report having also gone abroad that the latter would be exiled, and cover- ing them with crape, carry them in triumph. This procession passes through the streets Saint ]\Iartin, Saint Denis, and Saint Plonore, augmenting at every step. The crowd obliges all they ^.\^^TI.T.E df.smoii.in rilK (lAI-DKV OF IT'LV 12, T780 Piiiiitiiii; /n' F. J. Bdrria.'- TIIK PAf.AIS KOVAL. THE STATES-GENERAL 67 1789 meet to take off their hats. Meeting the horse-patrol, they take them as their escort. The procession advances in this way to the Place Vendome, and there they carry the two busts twice round the statue of Louis XIV. A detachment of the Royal-allemand comes up and attempts to disperse the mob, but are put to flight by a shower of stones; and the multitude, continuing its course, reaches the Place Louis XV. Here they are assailed by the dragoons of the Prince de Lambesc ; after resisting a few moments they are thrown into confusion ; the bearer of one of the busts and a soldier of one of the French guards are killed. The mob dis- perses, part toward the quays, part fall back on the boulevards, the rest hurry to the Tuileries by the Pont Tournant. The Prince de Lambesc, at the head of his horsemen, with drawn saber pursues them into the gardens, and charges an unarmed multitude who were peaceably promenading, and had nothing to do with the pro- cession. In this attack an old man is wounded by a saber cut; the mob defend themselves with the seats, and rush to the terraces; indignation becomes general ; the cry To arms ! soon resounds on every side, at the Palais Royal and the Tuileries, in the city and in the faubourgs. We have already said that the regiment of the French guard was favorably disposed toward the people : it had accordingly been ordered to keep in barracks. The Prince de Lambesc, fearing that it might nevertheless take an active part, ordered sixty dragoons to station themselves before its depot, situated in the Chaussee-d'An- tin. The soldiers of the guards, already dissatisfied at being kept as prisoners, were greatly provoked at the sight of these strangers, with whom they had had a skirmish a few days before. They wished to fly to arms, and their officers, using alternately threats and entreaties, had much difficulty in restraining them. But they would hear no more, when some of their men brought them intel- ligence of the attack at the Tuileries, and the death of one of their comrades : they seized their arms, broke open the gates, and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the barracks, and cried out: "Qui vk'c?" " Royal-aUcmand." "Are you for the third estate? " " We are for those who command us." Then the French guards fired on them, killed two of their men, wounded three, and put the rest to flight. They then advanced at quick time and with fixed bayonets to the Place Louis XV., and took their stand be- tween the Tuileries and the Champs Elysees, the people and the 58 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 troops, and kept that post during the night. The soldiers of the Champ de Mars were immediately ordered to advance. When they reached the Champs Elysees the French guards received them with discharges of musketry. They wished to make them fight, but they refused : the Petits-Suisses were the first to give this ex- ample, which the other regiments followed. The officers, in despair, ordered a retreat ; the troops retired as far as the Grille de Chaillot, whence they soon withdrew into the Champ de Mars. The defec- tion of the French guard, and the manifest refusal even of the foreign troops to march on the capital, caused the failure of the projects of the court. During the evening the people had repaired to the Hotel de Ville, and requested that the tocsin might be sounded, the districts assembled, and the citizens armed. Some electors assembled at the Hotel de Ville and took the authority into their own hands. They rendered great service to their fellow-citizens and the cause of liberty by their courage, prudence, and activity during these days of insurrection ; but in the first confusion of the rising it was with difficulty they succeeded in making themselves heard. The tumult was at its height; each answered only the dictates of his own passions. Side by side wnth well-disposed citizens were men of suspicious character, wdio only sought in insurrection opportuni- ties for pillage and disorder. Bands of laborers employed by the government in the public works, for the most part without home or substance, burned the barriers, infested the streets, plundered houses, and obtained the name of brigands. The night of the I2th and 13th was spent in tumult and alarm. The departure of Necker, which threw the capital into this state of excitement, had no less effect at Versailles and in the as- sembly. It caused the same astonishment and discontent. The deputies repaired early in the morning to the hall of the states : they were gloomy, but their silence arose from indignation rather than dejection. " At the opening of the session," said a deputy, " sev- eral addresses of adherence to the decrees were listened to in mournful silence by the assembly, more attentive to their own thoughts tlian to the addresses read." Mounier began; he ex- claimed against the dismission of ministers beloved by the nation, and the choice of their successors. He proposed an address to the king demanding tlieir recall, showing him the dangers attendant on violent measures, the misfortunes that would follow the em- THE S T A T E S - G E N E R A L 59 1789 ployment of troops, and telling him that the assembly solemnly opposed itself to an infamous national bankruptcy. At these words, the feelings of the assembly, hitherto restrained, broke out in clap- ping of hands and cries of approbation. Lally-Tollendal, a friend of Necker, then came forward with a sorrowful air, and delivered a long and eloquent eulogium on the banished minister. He was listened to with the greatest interest; his grief responded to that of the public; the cause of Necker was now that of the country. The nobility itself sided with the members of the third estate, either considering the danger common, or dreading to incur the same blame as the court if it did not disapprove its conduct, or perhaps it obeyed the general impulse. A noble deputy, the Count de Virieu, set the example, and said : " Assembled for the constitution, let us make the constitu- tion; let us tighten our mutual bonds; let us renew, confirm, and consecrate the glorious decrees of June 17; let us join in the cele- brated resolution made on the 20th of the same month. Let us all, yes, all, all the united orders, swear to be faithful to those illustri- ous decrees which now can alone save the kingdom." " The con- stitution shall be made, or we will cease to be,'' added the Duke de la Rochefoucauld. But this unanimity became still more confirmed when the rising of Paris, the excesses which ensued, the burning of the barriers, the assembling of the electors at the Hotel de Ville, the confusion of the capital, and the fact that citizens were ready to be attacked by the soldiers or to slaughter each other, became known to the assembly. Then one cry resounded througli the hall : " Let the recollection of our momentary divisions be effaced ! Let us unite our efforts for the salvation of the country! " A deputation was immediately sent to the king, composed of eighty members, among whom were all the deputies of Paris. The Archbishop of Vienne, president of the assembly, was at its head. It was to rep- resent to the king the dangers that threatened the capital, the necessity of sending away the troojxs. and intrusting the care of the city to a militia of citizens; and if it obtained these demands from the king, a deputation was to be sent to Paris with the con- solatory intelligence. But the members soon returned with an unsatisfactory answer. The assembly now saw that it must depend on itself, and that the projects of the court were irrevocably fixed. Far from being discouraged, it only became more firm, and immediately voted 60 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 unanimously a decree proclaiming the responsibility of the present ministers of the king, and of all his counselors, of whatever rank they might be; it further passed a vote of regret for Necker and the other disgraced ministers; it resolved that it would not cease to insist upon the dismissal of the troops and the establishment of a militia of citizens; it placed the public debt under the safeguard of French honor, and adhered to all its previous decrees. After these measures, it adopted a last one, not less necessary; appre- hending that the hall of the states might, during the night, be occupied by a military force for the purpose of dispersing the assembly, it resolved to sit permanently till further orders. It decided that a portion of the members should sit during the night, and another relieve them early in the morning. To spare the venerable Archbishop of Vienne the fatigue of a permanent presi- dency, a vice-president was appointed to supply his place on these extraordinary occasions. Lafayette was elected to preside over the night sitting. It passed off without a debate, the deputies remaining in their seats, observing silence, but apparently calm and serene. It was by these measures, this expression of public regret, by these decrees, this unanimous enthusiasm, this sustained good sense, this inflexible conduct, that the assembly rose gradually to a level wnth its dangers and its mission. On the 13th the insurrection took at Paris a more regular character. Early in the morning the populace flocked to the Hotel de Ville ; the tocsin was sounded there and in all the churches ; and drums were beat in the streets to call the citizens together. The public places soon became thronged. Troops were formed under the titles of volunteers of the Palais Royal, volunteers of the Tuileries, of the Basoche, and of the Arquebuse. The districts ^'^ assembled, and each of them voted two hundred men for its de- fense. Arms alone were wanting, and these were eagerly sought wherever there was any hope of finding them. All that could be found at the gunsmiths' and sword-cutlers' were taken, receipts being sent to the owners. They applied* for arms at the Hotel de Ville. The electors, who were still assembled, replied in vain that tliey had none: they insisted on having them. The electors then sent the head of the city, Flesselles. the provost of the mercliants," 1*^ AUgnet has anticipated one of the features of the reorganization of Paris after the fall of the Rastile. Old Paris was divided into fanhourgs. 11 The provost of the merchants was the mayor of Paris ; he was assisted THE STATES-GENERAL 61 1789 who alone knew the military state of the capital, and whose popular authority promised to be of great assistance in this difficult conjunc- ture. He was received with loud applause by the multitude. " My friends," said he, "I am your father; you shall be satisfied." A permanent committee was formed at the Hotel de Ville, to take measures for the general safety. About the same time it was announced that the Maison des Lazaristes,^' which contained a large quantity of grain, had been despoiled ; that the Garde-Meuble ^^ had been forced open to obtain old arms, and that the gunsmiths' shops had been plundered. The greatest excesses were apprehended from the crowd ; it was let loose, and it seemed difficult to master its fury. But this was a moment of enthusiasm and disinterestedness. The mob itself dis- armed suspected characters ; not a single house was plundered, and the carriages and vehicles filled with provisions, furniture, and utensils, stopped at the gates of the city, were taken to tlie Place de Greve, which became a vast depot. Here the crowd in- creased every moment, shouting Arms! It was now about one o'clock. The provost of the merchants then announced the imme- diate arrival of twelve thousand guns from the manufactory of Charleville, which would soon be followed by thirty thousand more. This appeased the people for some time, and the committee was enabled to pursue quietly its task of organizing a militia of citizens. In less than four hours the plan was drawn up, discussed, adopted, printed, and proclaimed. It was resolved that the Parisian guard should, till further orders, be increased to forty-eight thou- sand men. All citizens were invited to enroll their names ; every district had its battalion: every battalion its leaders; the command of this army of citizens was offered to the Duke in the government b}' four cchevins (aldermen) and twenty-four conseillers (common councilmen), elected by the guilds and confirmed by the king. The origin of this form of government is to be found in the fact that all municipal government in the Middle Ages developed out of the guild system, sometimes a merchant guild, as at Paris, sometimes a craft guild, as was frequently the case in Italian cities. On Paris see ATonin, " fit at de Paris en i^8g," p. 497 ff. ^- Founded by the Lazarists in the seventeenth century as a leper hospital, but it was also used as a prison. The report turned out to be untrue. The mob stole nothing at the hospital. Cf. a letter of Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, July ig, T789, in his "Works," vol. II. p. 309. ^"The crown jewels were kept here. They disappeared during the mas- sacres of September, 1792. 62 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 d'Aumont, who required twenty-four hours to decide. In the meantime the Marquis de la Salle was appointed second in com- mand. The green cockade was then exchanged for a blue and red one, which were the colors of the city. All this was the work of a few hours. The districts gave their assent to the measures adopted by the permanent committee. The clerks of the Chatelet, those of the Palais, medical students, soldiers of the watch, and what was of still greater value, the French guards, offered their services to the assembly. Patrols began to be formed and to per- ambulate the streets. The people waited with impatience the realization of the promise of the provost of the merchants, but no guns arrived ; evening approached, and they feared during the night another attack from the troops. They thought they were betrayed when they heard of an attempt to convey secretly from Paris five thou- sand weight of powder, which had been intercepted by the people at the barriers. But soon after some cases arrived, labeled artillery. At this sight, the commotion subsided ; the cases were escorted to the Hotel de Ville, it being supposed that they contained the guns expected from Charleville. On opening them they were found to contain old linen and pieces of wood. A cry of treachery arose on every side, mingled with murmurs and threats against the committee and the provost of the merchants. The latter apolo- gized, declaring he had been deceived ; and to gain time, or to get rid of the crowd, sent them to the Chartreux, to seek for arms. Finding none there, the mob returned, enraged and mistrustful. The committee then felt satisfied there was no other way of arming Paris, and curing the suspicions of the people, than by forging pikes; and accordingly gave orders that fifty thousand should be made immediately. To avoid the excesses of the preceding night, the town was illuminated, and patrols marched through it in every direction. The next day the people, who had been unable to obtain arms on the preceding day, came early in the morning to solicit some from the committee, blaming its refusal and failures of the day before. The committee had sent for some in vain ; none had arrived from Charleville, none were to be found at the Chartreux, and the arsenal itself was empty. The mob, no longer satisfied with excuses, and more convinced than ever that they were betrayed, hurried in a mass to the Hotel THE STATES-GENERAL 63 1789 des Invalides/* which contained a considerable depot of arms. It displayed no fear of the troops established in the Champ de Mars, broke into the Hotel, in spite of the entreaties of the governor, De Sombreuil, found twenty-eight thousand guns concealed in the cellars, seized them, took all the sabers, swords, and cannon, and carried them off in triumph. The cannon were placed at the en- trance of the faubourgs, at the palace of the Tuileries. on the quays and on the bridges, for the defense of the capital against the invasion of troops, which was expected every moment. Even during the same morning an alarm was given that the regiments stationed at Saint Denis were on the march, and that the cannon of the Bastile were pointed on the Rue Saint Antoine. The committee immediately sent to ascertain the truth, appointed bands of citizens to defend that side of the town, and sent a depu- tation to the governor of the Bastile, soliciting him to withdraw his cannon and engage in no act of hostility.^^ This alarm, to- gether with the dread which that fortress inspired, the hatred felt for the abuses it shielded, the importance of possessing so promi- nent a point, and of not leaving it in the power of the enemy in a moment of insurrection, drew the attention of the populace in that direction. From nine in the morning till tv/o the only rallying word throughout Paris was "a la Bastile! a la Bastile." The citizens hastened thither in bands from all quarters, armed with guns, pikes, and sabers. ^ The crowd which already surrounded it was considerable ; the sentinels of the fortress were at their posts, and the drawbridges raised as in war. A deputy of the district of Saint Louis de la Culture, named Thuriot de la Rosiere, then requested a parley with Delaunay, the governor. \Mien admitted to his presence he summoned him to change the direction of the cannon. The governor replied that the !* The Hotel dcs Invalides was a soklicrs' hospital, founded by Louis XIV. in 1670, on the left bank of the Seine near the Champ de Mars. ^'> This deputation came to see Delaunay, the commandant, at eight o'clock in the morning. Delaunay received them courteously and invited them to breakfast. He withdrew the cannon from the embrasures. i"This is an exaggeration. Dr. Rigby, an Englishman, in Paris at this time, records in his "Journal": "We had gon.e to see the gardens of Monceaux in the afternoon, and on our return at 5 i*. m. met a regiment of soldiers . . . learned that the Bastile had been attacked . . . ran down the Rue St. Honore. at the (east) end of which we met the victors of the Bastile," p. 59. As a matter of fact, tl'.ere was ^o nu:ch din of arms all over the city, due to riotous bands or citizens at target practice, tb.at Paris as a whole probably was not aware of the attack upon the Bastile until it was over. 64 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 cannon had always been placed on the towers, and it was not in his power to remove them ; yet, at the same time, having heard of the alarm prevalent among the Parisians, he had had them with- drawn a few paces, and taken out of the port-holes. With some difficulty Thuriot obtained permission to enter the fortress further, and examine if its condition was really as satisfactory for the town as the governor represented it to be. As he advanced he observed three pieces of cannon pointed on the avenues leading to the open space before the fortress, and ready to sweep those who might attempt to attack it. About forty Swiss and eighty Invalides were under arms. Thuriot urged them, as well as the staff of the place, in the name of honor and of their country, not to act as the enemies of the people. Both officers and soldiers swore they would not make use of their arms unless attacked. Thuriot then ascended the towers, and perceived a crowd gathering in all directions, and the inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint Antoine, who were rising in a mass. The multitude without, not seeing him return, were already demanding him with great clamor. To satisfy the people he ap- peared on the parapet of the fortress, and was received with loud applause from the gardens of the arsenal. He then rejoined his party, and having informed them of the result of his mission, proceeded to the committee. But the impatient crowd now clamored for the surrender of the Bastile. From time to time the cry arose, " The Bastile ! w^e will have the Bastile ! " At length, two men, more determined than the rest, darting from the crowd, sprang on a guard-house and struck at the chains of the drawbridge with heavy hatchets. The soldiers shouted to them to retire, and threatened to fire ; but they continued to strike, succeeded in breaking the chains and low- ering the bridge, and then rushed over it, followed by the crowd. In this way they advanced to cut the chains of the second bridge. The garrison now dispersed them with a discharge of musketry. They returned, however, to the attack, and for several hours their efforts were confined to the second bridge, the approach to which was defended by a ceaseless fire from the fortress. The mob, in- furiated by this obstinate resistance, tried to break in the gates with hatchets, and to set fire to the guard-house. A murderous discharge of grape-shot proceeded from the garrison, and many of the besiegers were killed and wounded. They only became the more determined, and, seconded by the daring and determination THE STATES-GENERAL 65 1789 of the two brave men, EHe and Hulin, who were at their head, they continued the attack with fury. The committee of the Hotel de Ville were in a state of great anxiety. The siege of the Bastile seemed to them a very rash enterprise. They ever and anon received intelHgence of the dis- asters that had taken place before the fortress. They wavered between fear of the troops should they prove victorious, and that of the multitude who clamored for ammunition to continue the siege. As they could not give what they did not possess, the mob cried treachery. Two deputations had been sent by the committee for the purpose of discontinuing hostilities, and inviting the gov- ernor to confide the keeping of the place to the citizens ; but in the midst of the tumult, the cries, and the firing they could not make themselves heard. A third was sent, carrying a drum and banner, that it might be more easily distinguished, but it experienced no better fortune : neither side would listen to anything. The assem- bly at the Hotel de Ville, notwithstanding its efforts and activity, still incurred the suspicions of the populace. The provost of the merchants, especially, excited the greatest mistrust. " He has al- ready deceived us several times during the day," said one. " He talks," said another, " of opening a trench ; he only wants to gain time, to make us lose ours." Then an old man cried : " Comrades, why do you listen to traitors? Forward, follow me! In less than two hours the Bastile will be taken ! " The siege had lasted more than four hours when the French guards arrived with cannon. Their arrival changed the appear- ance of the combat. The garrison itself begged the governor to yield. The unfortunate Delaunay, dreading the fate that awaited him, wished to blow up the fortress, and bury himself under its ruins and those of the faubourg. He went in despair toward the powder magazine with a lighted match in his hand. The garrison stopped him, raised a white standard on the platform, and reversed the guns, in token of peace. But the assailants still continued to fight and advance, shouting " Lower the bridges ! " Through the battlements a Swiss officer proposed to capitulate, with permission to retire from the building with the honors of war. "No! no!" clamored the crowd. The same officer proposed to lay down arms, on the promise that their lives should be spared. " Lower the bridge," rejoined the foremost of the assailants, " you shall not be injured." The gates were opened and the bridge lowered, on this 66 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 assurance, and the crowd rushed into the Bastile. Those who led the multitude wished to save from its vengeance the governor, Swiss soldiers, and Invahdes; but cries of "Give them up! give them up ! they fired on their fellow-citizens, they deserve to be hanged ! " rose on every side. The governor, a few Swiss soldiers and Invalides v/ere torn from the protection of those who sought to defend them, and put to death by the implacable crowd. ^^ The permanent committee knew nothing of the issue of the combat. The hall of the sittings was invaded by a furious multi- tude, who threatened the provost of the merchants and electors. Flesselles began to be alarmed at his position; he was pale and agitated. The object of the most violent reproaches and threats, they obliged him to go from the hall of the committee to the hall of the general assembly, where a great crowd of citizens was as- sembled. "Let him come; let him follow us," resounded from all sides. " This is too much! " rejoined Flesselles. " Let us go, since they request it ; let us go where I am expected." They had scarcely reached the great hall, when the attention of the multitude was drawn off by shouts on the Place de Greve. They heard the cries of "Victory! victory! liberty!" It was the arrival of the con- querors of the Bastile which this announced. They themselves soon entered the hall with the most noisy and the most fearful pomp. The persons who had most distinguished themselves were carried in triumph, crowned with laurels. They were escorted by ^" Thuriot, their leader, was a lawyer wlio became a member both of the legislative assembly and of the convention. He survived the revolution and became a minor official under the empire. He came with no mandate, as was the ca5e with the commission which came earlier to Delaunay, and pushing his way in began to make a political harangue to the soldiers. While he busied himself within, the crowd had multiplied on the outside. The garrison was composed of ninety-five Invalides, and thirty-two Swiss, with fifteen cannon, only one of which, that commanding the drawbridge, was fired. Moreover, Delaunay kept his word. The mob had broken the chains which let the outer drawbridge fall, and were in the second court, themselves directing a heavy fire upon tlie garrison, before Delaunay gave the word. The " murderous discharge of grape- shot" was fired clearly in the line of duty. See Funck-Brentano, " Lcgcndes ct archives de la Bastile" (1898), pp. 250-255. This author, who is custodian of the archives at the arsenal, has stripped off the myih and legend which has gathered around the history of this famous day. It cannot truthfully be said that the Bastile was taken; Elie and Hutin did their ])est to keep their promise and to protect the garrison, if it would surrender. Ninety-six of the mob were killed on this day or died afterward of injuries then received. Delaunay's body was hacked into pieces and carried about tlie streets. IN 'niE LOW F.ST m'N(,i:()X of tite p.astile Pdiiituig by r. Jiiiiuv THE STATES-GENERAL 67 1789 more than fifteen hundred men, with glaring eyes and disheveled hair, with all kinds of arms, pressing one upon another, and mak- ing the flooring yield beneath their feet. One carried the keys and standard of the Bastile; another, its regulations suspended to his bayonet; a third, with horrible barbarity, raised in his bleeding hand the buckle of the governor's stock. With this parade, the procession of the conquerors of the Bastile, followed by an im- mense crowd that thronged the quays, entered the hall of the Hotel de Ville to inform the committee of their triumph, and decide the fate of the prisoners who survived. A few wished to leave it to the committee, but others shouted : " No quarter for the prisoners ! No quarter for the men who fired on their fellow-citizens ! " La Salle, the commandant, the elector Moreau de Saint-Mery, and the brave Elie succeeded in appeasing the multitude, and obtained a general amnesty. It was now the turn of the unfortunate Flesselles. It is said that a letter found on Delaunay proved the treachery of which he was suspected. " I am amusing the Parisians," he wrote, " with cockades and promises. Hold out till the evening, and you shall be reinforced." The mob hurried to his office. The more mod- erate demanded that he should be arrested and confined in the Chatelet ; but others opposed this, saying that he should be con- veyed to the Palais Royal, and there tried. This decision gave gen- eral satisfaction. "To the Palais Royal! To the Palais Royal ! " resounded from every side. " Well be it so, gentlemen," replied Flesselles, with composure ; " let us go to the Palais Royal." So saying, he descended the steps, passed through the crowd, which opened to make way for him, and which followed without offering him any violence. But at the corner of the Quay Pelletier a stranger rushed forward and killed him with a pistol-shot.^*^ After these scenes of war, tumult, dispute, and vengeance, the Parisians, fearing, from some intercepted letters, that an attack would be made during the night, prepared to receive the enemy. ^'* The whole population joined in the labor of fortifying the town ; tliey formed barricades, opened intrenchments, unpaved streets, forged pikes, and cast bullets. Women carried stones to the tops of the houses to crush the soldiers as tliey passed. The national ^^ Flesselles, like Delaunay, had only tried to do his duty and suppress the anarehy. ^^Tliis was no more than a natural rumor. The "letters" have never come to light. 68 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 "guard were distributed in posts; Paris seemed changed into an immense foundry and a vast camp, and the whole night was spent under arms, expecting the conflict. While the insurrection assumed this violent, permanent, and serious character at Paris, what was doing at Versailles? The court was preparing to realize its designs against the capital and assembly. The night of the 14th was fixed upon for their execu- tion. The Baron de Breteuil, who was at the head of the ministry, had promised to restore the royal authority in three days. Marshal de Broglie, commander of the army collected around Paris, had received unlimited powers of all kinds. On the 15th the declara- tion of June 23 was to be renewed, and the king, after forcing the assembly to adopt it, was to dissolve it. Forty thousand copies of this declaration were in readiness to be circulated throughout the kingdom ; and to meet the pressing necessities of the treasury more than a hundred millions of paper money was created. The move- ment in Paris, so far from thwarting the court, favored its views. To the last moment it looked upon it as a passing tumult that might easily be suppressed ; it believed neither in its perseverance nor in its success, and it did not seem possible to it that a town of citizens could resist an army. The assembly was apprised of these projects. For two days it had sat without interruption, in a state of great anxiety and alarm. It was ignorant of the greater portion of what was passing in Paris. At one time it was announced that the insurrection was general, and that all Paris was marching on Versailles ; then that the troops were advancing on the capital. They fancied they heard cannon, and they placed their ears to the ground to assure them- selves. On the evening of the 14th it was announced that the king intended to depart during the night, and that the assembly would be left to the mercy of the foreign regiments. This last alarm was not without foundation. A carriage and horses were kept in readi- ness-, and the body-guard remained booted for several days. Be- sides, at the Orangery, a terrace adjoining the Tuileries, incidents truly alarming took place ; the troops were prepared and stimulated for their expedition by distributions of wine and by encouragements. Everything announced that a decisive moment had arrived. Despite the approaching and increasing danger, the assembly was unshaken, aud persisted in its first resolutions. Mirabeau, who had first required tlie dismissal of the troops, now arranged THE S T A T E S - G E N E R A L 69 1789 another deputation. It was on the point of setting- out when the Viscount de Noailles, a deputy, just arrived from Paris, informed the assembly of the progress of the insurrection, the pillage of the Invalides, the arming of the people, and the siege of the Bastile. Wimpfen, another deputy, to this account added that of the per- sonal dangers he had incurred, and assured them that the fury of the populace was increasing with its peril. The assembly proposed the establishment of couriers to bring them intelligence every half hour. Ganilh and Bancal-des-Issarts, dispatched by the committee at the Hotel de Ville as a deputation to the assembly, con- firmed all they had just heard. They informed them of the measures taken by the electors to secure order and the defense of the capital ; the disasters that had happened before the Bastile ; the inutility of the deputations sent to the governor, and told them that the fire of the garrison had surrounded the fortress with the slain. A cry of indignation arose in the assembly at this intelligence,^*' and a second deputation was instantly dispatched to communicate these distressing tidings to the king. The first returned with an unsatisfactory answer ; it was now ten at night. The king, on learn- ing these disastrous events, which seemed to presage others still greater, appeared affected. Struggling against the part he had been induced to adopt, he said to the deputies : " You rend my heart more and more by the dreadful news you bring of the misfortunes of Paris. It is impossible to suppose that the orders given to the troops are the cause of these disasters. You are acquainted with the answer I returned to the first deputation; I have nothing to add to it." This answer consisted of a promise that the troops of the Champ de Mars should be sent away from Paris, and of an order given to general ofiRcers to assume the command of the guard of citizens. Such measures were not sufficient to remedy the dan- gerous situation in which men were placed ; and it neither satisfied nor gave confidence to the assembly. Shortly after this the deputies D'Ormesson and Duport an- nounced to the assembly the taking of the Bastile, and the deaths of Delaunay and Flesselles. It was proposed to send a third depu- tation to the king, imploring the removal of the troops. " No," said Clermont-Tonnerre, " leave tliem the night to consult in; kings -"The feeling of the assembly was not so much indignation "that the fire of the garrison had surrounded the fortress with the slain," as anxiety over the state of spontaneous anarchy which prevailed. 70 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 must buy experience as well as other men." In this way the assem- bly spent the night. On the following morning another deputation was appointed to represent to the king the misfortunes that would follow a longer refusal. When on the point of starting, Mirabeau stopped it. " Tell him," he exclaimed, " that the hordes of strangers who invest us, received yesterday visits, caresses, ex- hortations, and presents from the princes, princesses, and favorites; tell him that, during the night, these foreign satellites, gorged with gold and wine, predicted in their impious songs the subjection of France, and invoked the destruction of the national assembly; tell him that, in his own palace, courtiers danced to the sound of that barbarous music, and that such was the prelude to the massacre' of Saint Bartholomew ! Tell him that the Henry whose memory is universe-known, he, w'hom of his ancestors he said he would make his model, sent provisions into Paris, revolted, when besieging it in person,"^ while the savage advisers of Louis send away the corn which trade brings into Paris loyal and starving." -" But at that moment the king entered the assembly. The Duke de Liancourt, taking advantage of the access his quality of master of the robes gave him, had informed the king, during the night, of the desertion of the French guard, and of the attack and taking of the Bastile. At this news, of which his councilors had kept him in ignorance, the monarch exclaimed, with surprise : " This is a revolt!" " No, sire! it is a revolution." This excellent citizen had represented to him the danger to which tlie projects of the court exposed him ; the fears and exasperation of the people, the disaffec- tion of the troops, and he determined upon presenting himself before the assembly to satisfy them as to his intentions. The news at first excited transports of joy. ^Mirabeau represented to his col- leagues that it was not fit to indulge in premature applause. " Let us wait," said he, *' till his majesty makes knov.m the good inten- tions we are led to expect from him. Tb.e blood of our brethren flows in Paris. Let a sad respect be the first reception given to the king by the representatives of an unfortunate people : the silence of the people is the lesson of kings." -^ Henry IV., durir.:.,' the siege of Paris in 1593. -- Tliere are various versions of this speecli. ^lirabean was a statesman, but he was not aljovc being a "practical" politician. Tie liad a hou'^c iti Paris in the di>trict of the Oratoire, and controlled the suffrages of the quarter. Bailly. in his " Memoirs," perhaps unjustly, criticises his affiliation with the more radical element. THE STATES-GENERAL 71 1789 The assembly resumed the somber demeanor which had never left it during the three preceding days. The king entered without guards, and attended only by his brothers. He was received at first in profound silence; but when he told them he was one with the nation, and that, relying on the love and fidelity of his subjects, he had ordered the troops to leave Paris and Versailles; when he uttered the affecting words '" Eh hicn, ccst moi qui me fie a vo^is," " Ah, well, I entrust myself to you," general applause ensued. The assembly arose spontaneously and conducted him back to the chateau. This intelligence diffused gladness in Versailles and Paris, where the reassured people passed, by sudden transition, from ani- mosity to gratitude. Louis XVL thus restored to himself, felt the importance of appeasing the capital in person, of regaining the affection of the people, and of thus conciliating the popular power. He announced to the assembly that he would recall Necker, and repair to Paris the following day. The assembly had already nominated a deputation composed of eighty persons to precede the king to the capital. It was received with enthusiasm. Bailly and Lafayette, who formed part of it, were appointed, the former mayor of Paris, the latter commander-in-chief of the citizen guard. Bailly owed this recompense to his long and difficult pres- idency of the assembly, and Lafayette to his glorious and patriotic conduct. A friend of \\'ashington, and one of the principal authors of American independence, he had, on his return to his country, first pronounced the name of the states-general, had joined tlie assembly with the minority of the nobility, and had since proved himself one of the most zealous partisans of the revo- lution. For the events of the 14th hastened to a conclusion a plan suggested on June 25, and adopted the day before the capture of the Bastile. Paris was divided into sixty districts, which were later reduced to forty-eight and called " sections," each district furnish- ing a battalion composed of seven companies. Lafayette was per- mitted t(3 name his aides-de-camp, but the other officers were elected. /V small property qualification was required until April, 1 79 1, designed to prevent tlie enlistment of volunteers from the mob element."'* -^' See a valuable note in Fletcher's edition of Carlyle, " French Revolution,"' vol. I. pp. J15-J16. The sixty districts served as election wards for the civil administration. 12 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 On the 27th the new magistrates went to receive the king at the head of the municipah'ty and the Parisian guard. " Sire," said Bailly, " I bring your majesty the keys of your good town of Paris; they are tlie same which were presented to Henry IV. ; he had re- gained his people; now the people have regained their king." From the Place Louis XV. to the Hotel de Ville the king passed through a double line of the national guard, placed in ranks three or four deep, and armed with guns, pikes, lances, scythes, and staves. Their countenances were still gloomy; and no cry was heard but the oft- repeated shout of " Vive la Nation! " But when Louis XVL had left his carriage and received from Bailly's hands the bi-colored cockade, and, surrounded by the crowd without guards, had confi- dently entered the Hotel de Ville, cries of " Vive le Roil " burst forth on every side. The reconciliation was complete; Louis XVL received the strongest marks of affection.^* After approving the choice of the people with respect to the new magistrates, he re- turned to Versailles, where some anxiety was entertained as to the success of his journey, on account of the preceding troubles. The national assembly met him in the Avenue de Paris ; it accompanied him as far as the chateau, where the queen and her children ran to his arms. The ministers opposed to the revolution, and all the authors of the unsuccessful projects, retired from court. The Count d'Artois and his two sons, the Prince de Conde, the Prince de Conti, and the Polignac family, accompanied by a numerous train, left France. They settled at Turin, where the Count d'Artois and the Prince de Conde were soon joined by Calonne, who became their agent."^ Thus began the first emigration. The emigrant princes were not long in exciting civil war in the kingdom, and forming an European coalition against France. Necker returned in triumph. This was the finest moment of his life; few men have had such. The minister of the nation, dis- graced for it, and recalled for it, he was welcomed along the road from Bale to Paris, with every expression of public gratitude and ^i Dr. Rigby says "he received neither applause nor insult from the popu- lace; the only person who was hissed was the Archbishop of Paris." "Journal," p. 88. Louis XVI. was welcomed with Masonic honors at the Hotel de Ville. JTe had become a member of the order in 1776. ^^ The Count d'Artois had married a princess of Savoy, which explains his residence at Turin : he left France on July 18. There is an important history of the emigres by Forneron. THE STATES-GENERAL 73 1789 joy. His entry into Paris was a day of festivity. But the day that raised his popularity to its height put a term to it. The muUitude, still enraged against all who had participated in the project of July 14, had put to death, with relentless cruelty, Foulon, the intended minister, and his nephew, Berthier.^^ In- dignant at these executions, fearing that others might fall victims, and especially desirous of saving the Baron de Brezenval, com- mander of the army of Paris, under Marshal de Broglie, and de- tained prisoner, Necker demanded a general amnesty and obtained it from the assembly of electors. This step was very imprudent, in a moment of enthusiasm and mistrust. Necker did not know the people; he was not aware how easily they suspect their chiefs and destroy their idols. They thought he wished to protect their en- emies from the punishment they had incurred ; the districts assem- bled, the legality of an amnesty pronounced by an unauthorized assembly was violently attacked, and the electors themselves re- voked it. No doubt it was advisable to calm the rage of the people, and recommend them to be merciful ; but instead of demanding the liberation of the accused, the application should have been for a tribunal which would have removed them from the murderous jur- isdiction of the multitude. In certain cases that which appears most humane is not really so. Necker, without gaining anything, excited the people against himself, and the districts against the electors ; from that time he began to contend against the revolution, of which, because he had been for a moment its hero, he hoped to become the master. But an individual is of slight importance during a revolution which raises the masses ; that vast movement either drags him on with it or tramples him under foot ; he must either precede or succumb. At no time is the subordination of men to circumstances more clearly manifested ; revolutions employ many leaders, and when they submit, it is to one alone. The consequences of July 14 were immense. The movement of Paris communicated itself to the provinces ; the country popula- tion, imitating that of the capital, organized itself in all directions into municipalities for purposes of self-government, and into bodies -" T'oulon had been intendant-general of the army in the Seven Years' War. He was the victim of popular fury, because he was reported to have said that grass was good enough for the hungry masses. Berthier was a son-in-law of Foulon, and intcndant of Paris at this time. He had done good service in relieving the distress of Paris in the hard winter of 1788. 74 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 of national guards for self-defense. Authority and force became wholly displaced ; royalty had lost them by its defeat, the nation had acquired them. The new magistrates were alone powerful, alone obeyed ; their predecessors were altogether mistrusted. In towns, the people rose against them and against the privileged classes, whom they naturally supposed enemies to the change that had been effected. In the country, the chateaux were fired and the peasantry burned the title-deeds of their lords. ^^ In a moment of victory it is difficult not to make an abuse of power. But to appease the people it was necessary to destroy abuses, in order that they might not, while seeking to get rid of them, confound privilege with property. Classes had disappeared, arbitrary power was de- stroyed; with these, their old accessory, inequality, too, must be suppressed. Thus must proceed the establishment of the new order of things, and these preliminaries were the work of a single night. The assembly had addressed to the people proclamations cal- culated to restore tranquillity. The constituting the Chatelet a court for trying the conspirators of July 14 had also contributed to the restoration of order by satisfying the multitude. An important measure remained to be executed, the abolition of privileges. On the night of August 4 the Viscount de Noailles gave the signal for this. He proposed the redemption of feudal rights, and the suppression of personal servitude. With this motion began the sacrifice of all the privileged classes ; a rivalry of patriotism and public offerings arose among them. The enthusiasm became gen- eral ; in a few hours the cessation of all abuses was decreed. The Duke du Chatelet proposed the redemption of tithes and their con- version into a pecuniary tax ; the Bishop of Chartres, the abolition of the game-laws ; the Count de Virieu, that of the law protecting doves and pigeons. The abolition of seigneurial courts, of the purchase and sale of posts in the magistracy, of pecuniary immuni- ties, of favoritism in taxation, of surplice money, first-fruits, plu- ralities, and unmerited pensions, were successively proposed and carried. After sacrifices made by individuals came those of bodies, -' Taine has shown, " Ancient Regime," pp. 374-388, that there had been upward of thirtj' local risings in the provinces since January, so that the event of July 14 must be looked upon as both cause and effect. Professor II. Morse Stephens, "History of the French Revolution," I. pp. 174 ff., has admirably studied the psychology of this mob-movement. Readers of Dickens. " Tale of Two Cities," will recall the description of the burning chateau. In Burgundy one castle a day was burned, on an average, during the months of July and August, and in Dauphine, seventy-two in two weeks. THE STATES-GENERAL 75 1789 of towns, and provinces. Companies and civic freedoms v^^ere abolished. The Marquis des Blacons, a deputy of Dauphine, in the name of his province pronounced a solemn renunciation of its privileges. The other provinces followed the example of Dauphine, and the towns that of the provinces. A medal was struck to commemorate the day ; and the assembly decreed to Louis XVL the title of Restorer of French Liberty, That night, which an enemy of the revolution designated at the time the Saint Bartholomew of property, was only the Saint Bartholomew of abuses. It swept away the rubbish of feudalism ; it delivered persons from the remains of servitude, properties from seigneurial liabilities; from the ravages of game, and the exaction of tithes. By destroying the seigneurial courts, that remnant of private power, it led to the principle of public power; in putting an end to the purchasing posts in the magistracy, it threw open the prospect of unbought justice. It was the transition from an order of things in which everything belonged to individuals, to another in which everything was to belong to the nation. That night changed the face of the kingdom ; it made all Frenchmen equal ; all might now obtain public employments ; aspire to the idea of property of their own, of exercising industry for their own benefit. That night was a revolution as important as the insurrection of July 14, of which it was the consequence. The precipitate conduct of the assembly, though, was a grave blunder. Mirabeau, who was not present during the events of this famous night, called it an " orgy." He was close to the truth. Although the renunciations were made with the best intentions in the world, it was both an imprudent and an unjust action. For by destroying the whole fabric of the feudal system the assembly destroyed the only existing administrative institutions in France. They committed the great error of abolish- ing the only form of government yet remaining before they had framed a constitution to replace it. The result was that on August 5 France awoke to discover itself to be utterly without an adminis- trative system. Instead of allaying the disturbances, the assembly aggravated the anarchy.'^ The revolution had progressed rapidly, had obtained great -^'' Taine makes a striking comparison between the action of August 4 and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. In both cases, he points out. a superior class was legislated against, deprived of property rights, and reduced to poverty and exile. He estimates that 123.000.000 francs' worth of property. equal to two thousand millions to-day, passed by that act from a creditor to a 76 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 results in a very short time; it would have been less prompt, less complete, had it not been attacked. Every refusal became for it the cause of a new success; it foiled intrigue, resisted authority, triumphed over force ; and at the point of time we have reached the whole edifice of absolute monarchy had fallen to the ground through the errors of its chiefs, June 17 had witnessed the dis- appearance of the three orders, and the states-general changed into the national assembly; with June 23 terminated the moral influence of royalty; with July 14 its physical power; the assembly inherited the one, the people the other; finally, August 4 completed this first revolution. The period we have just gone over stands prominently out from the rest; in its brief course force was dis- placed, and all the preliminary changes were accomplished. The following period is that in which the new system is discussed, be- comes established, and in which the assembly, after having been destructive, becomes constructive. debtor class without redress or indemnification. " Through a great wrong, an entire class, the greatest part of which had no share in the favors of the court, were confounded with the parasites of Versailles . . . twenty-five thousand families, the nursery of the army and the fleet, the elite of the agricultural population, became the pariahs of a canton." Taine, " Ancient Regime," p. 61. Even so liberal a person as Sieyes protested against the action of the assembly. There is no doubt that much of the economic and social phenomena of the revolution later on was due to the violent disturbance of such conditions at this time. PART II THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY AUGUST 4, 1789-SEPTEMBER 30, 1791 Chapter IV THE RISE OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT AUGUST 4-OCTOBER 6, 1789 THE national assembly, composed of the elite of the nation, was full of intelligence, pure intentions, and projects for the public good. It was not, indeed, free from parties, or wholly unanimous ; but the mass was, under the empire, neither of an idea nor of a man ; and it was the mass which, upon a conviction ever untrammeled and often entirely spontaneous, decided the de- liberations and decreed popularity. The following were the di- visions of views and interests it contained within itself: The court had a party in the assembly, the privileged classes, who remained for a long time silent, and took but a tardy share in the debates. This party consisted of those who during the dispute as to the orders had declared against union. The aristocratic classes, notwithstanding their momentary agreement with the com- mons, had interests altogether contrary to those of the national party; and, accordingly, the nobility and higher clergy, who formed the Right of the assembly, were in constant opposition to it, except on days of peculiar excitement. These foes of the revolu- tion, unable to prevent it by their sacrifices, or to stop it by their adhesion, systematically contended against all its reforms. Their leaders were two men who were not the first among them in birth or rank, but who were superior to the rest in talents. Maury and Cazales represented, as it were, the one the clergy, and the other the nobility. These two orators of the privileged classes, according to the intentions of their party, who put little faith in the duration of these changes, rather protested than stood on the defensive ; and in all their discussions their aim was not to instruct the assembly, but to bring it into disrepute. Each introduced into his part the par- ticular turn of his mind and character. Maury made long speeches, Cazalcs lively sallies. The first j^reserved at the tribune his habits as a preacher and academician ; he spoke on legislative subjects 79 80 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 without understanding them, never seizing the right view of the subject, nor even that most advantageous to his party; he gave proofs of audacity, erudition, skill, a brilliant and well-sustained facility, but never displayed solidity of judgment, firm conviction, or real eloquence. The Abbe Maury spoke as soldiers fight. No one could contradict oftener or more pertinaciously than he, or more flippantly substitute quotations and sophisms for reasoning, or rhetorical phrases for real bursts of feeling. He possessed much talent, but wanted the faculty which gives it life and truth. Cazales, who had been a captain in the French army, was the opposite of Maury: he had a just and ready mind; his eloquence was equally facile, but more animated; there was candor in his outbursts, and he always gave the best reasons. No rhetorician, he always took the true side of a question that concerned his party, and left declamation to Maury. With the clearness of his views, his ardent character, and the good use he made of his talents, his only fault was that of his position: Maury, on the other hand, added the errors of his mind to those which were in- separable from the cause he espoused. Necker and the ministry had also a party, but it was less nu- merous than the other, on account of its moderation. France was then divided into the privileged classes opposed to the revolution, and the people who strenuously desired it. As yet there was no place for a mediating party between them. Necker had declared himself in favor of the English constitution, and those who from ambition or conviction were of his views rallied round him. Among these was Mounier, a man of strong mind and inflexible spirit, who considered that system as the type of representative governments; Lally-Tollendal, as decided in his views as the former, and more persuasive; Clermont-Tonnerre, the friend and ally of Mounier and Lally; in a word, the minority of the nobility, and some of the bishops, who hoped to become members of the upper chamber should Necker's views be adopted. The leaders of this party, afterward called the monarchical party, wished to effect a revolution by compromise, and to introduce into France a representative government, ready formed, namely, that of England. At every point they besought the powerful to make a comjiromise with the weak. Before July 14 they asked the court and privileged classes to satisfy the commons ; after- ward they asked the commons to agree to an arrangement with POPULAR GOVERNMENT 81 1789 the court and the privileged classes. They thought that each ought to preserve his influence in the state; that deposed parties are discontented parties, and that a legal existence must be made for them, or interminable struggles be expected on their part. But they did not see how little their ideas were appropriate to a mo- ment of exclusive passions. The struggle was begun, the struggle destined to result in the triumph of a system, and not in a com- promise. It was a victory which had made the three orders give place to a single assembly, and it was difficult to break the unity of this assembly in order to arrive at a government of two chambers. The moderate party had not been able to obtain this government from the court, nor were they to obtain it from the nation: to the one it had appeared too popular; for the other, it was too aristocratic. The rest of the assembly consisted of the national party. As yet there w^ere not observed in it men who, like Robespierre, Petion, and Buzot, wished to begin a second revolution when the first was accomplished. At this period the most extreme of this party were Duport, Barnave, and Lameth, who formed a triumvirate, whose opinions were prepared by Duport, sustained by Barnave, and man- aged by Alexander Lameth. There was something remarkable and announcing the spirit of equality of the times in this intimate union of an advocate belonging to the middle classes, of a counselor belonging to the parliamentary class, and a colonel belonging to the court, renouncing the interests of their order to unite in views of the public good and popular happiness. This party at first took a more advanced position than that which the revolution had at- tained. July 14 had been the triumph of the middle class; the constituent assembly was its legislature, the national guard its armed force, the mayoralty its popular power. Mirabeau, La- fayette, Bailly, relied on this class; one was its tribune, the other its general, and the third its magistrate. Duport, Barnave, and Lameth's party were the principles, and sustained the interests of that period of the revolution; but this party, composed of young men of ardent patriotism, who entered on public affairs with superior qualities, fine talents, and elevated positions, and who joined to the love of liberty the ambition of playing a leading part, placed itself from the first rather in advance of the revolu- tion of July 14. Its fulcrum within tlie assembly was the members of the extreme Left; without, in the clubs; in the nation, in the party 82 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 of the people who had cooperated on July 14 and who were un- willing that the bourgeoisie alone should derive advantage from the victory. By putting itself at the head of those who had no leaders, and who being a little out of the government aspired to enter it, it did not cease to belong to this first period of the revolu- tion ; only it formed a kind of democratic opposition, even in the middle class itself, only differing from its leaders on a few unim- portant points, and voting with them on most questions. It was, among these popular men, rather a patriotic emulation than a party dissension. The debate upon the constitution first brought out these party differences in the national assembly. The terms Right, Left, Center, etc., did not come into vogue until after the events of October 5-6, 1789, when the assembly, brought to Paris, found a place of meeting in a riding-hall adjoining the Tuileries palace. The horse-shoe shape of this amphitheater is said to have given rise to the distinctions. It is a singular circumstance that the terminology thus invented has passed into the political language of every Continental parliament to-day. The Right of European legislatures is the conservative party, the Left the radical. In proportion as the revolution becomes radical, the Right disap- pears, and the Left of one assembly becomes the Right of the succeeding assembly. Thus the Left of the national assembly became the Right of the legislative assembly; and the Left of the legislative assembly became the Right of the convention. The Left of the convention were those red terrorists knovvn as the Mountain party; so named originally from the high seats they fre- quented in the hall. Duport, who was strong-minded, and who had acquired pre- mature experience of the management of political passions, in the struggles which parlement had sustained against the ministry, and which he had chiefly directed, knew well that a people reposes the moment it has gained its rights, and that it begins to grow weak as soon as it reposes. To keep in vigor those who governed in the assembly, in the mayoralty, in the militia ; to prevent the public activity from slackening, and not to disband tlie people, whose aid he might one day require, he conceived and executed the famous confederation of the clubs. This institution, like everything that gives a great im|iulse to a nation, caused a great deal of good, and a great deal of harm. It impeded legal authority, when this of POPULAR G O ^ E R N :VI E N T 83 1789 itself was sufficient ; but it also g"ave an immense energy to the revolution, when, attacked on all sides, it could only save itself by the most violent efforts. For the rest, the founders of this as- sociation had not calculated all its consequences. They regarded it simply as a wheel destined to keep or put in movement the public machine, without danger, when it tended to abate or to cease its activity; they did not think they were working for the advantage of the multitude. After the flight to Varennes (June 20, 1791), this party had become too exacting and too formidable ; they for- sook it, and supported themselves against it with the mass of the assembly and the middle class, whose direction was left vacant by the death of Mirabeau. At this period it was important to them speedily to fix the constitutional revolution : for to protract it would have been to bring on the republican revolution. The mass of the assembly, we have just mentioned, abounded in just, experienced, and even superior minds. Its leaders were two men, strangers to the third estate, and adopted by it. Without the Abbe Sieyes, the constituent assembly would probably have had less unity in its operation, and, without Mirabeau, less energy in its conduct. Sieyes was one of those men who create sects in an age of enthusiasm, and who exercise the ascendency of a powerful reason in an enlightened age. Solitude and philosophical studies had matured him at an early age. His views were new, strong, and extensive, but somewhat too systematic. Society had especially been the subject of his examination; he had watched its progress, investigated its springs. The nature of government appeared to him less a question of right than a question of epoch. His vast intellect ranged the society of his day in its divisions, relations, powers, and movement. Sieyes, though of cold temperament, had the ardor which the pursuit of truth inspires, and the passion which its discovery gives ; he was accordingly absolute in his views, disdaining those of others, because he considered them incomplete, and that, in his opinion, half truth was error. Contradiction irritated him; he was not communicative. Desirous of making himself thorougldy known, he could not do so with everyone. His ade])ts imparted his systems to others, whicli surrounded him with a sort of mystery and rendered him the object of a species of reverence. He had the authority which complete political science procures, and the constitution might have emerged from his head 8i THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 completely armed, like the Minerva of Jupiter, or the legislation of the ancients, were it not that in his day everyone sought to be engaged in the task, or to criticise it. Yet, with the exception of some modifications, his plans were generally adopted, and he had in the committees more disciples than colleagues. Mirabeau obtained in the tribune the same ascendency as Sieyes in the committees. He was a man who only waited the occasion to become great. At Rome, in the best days of the re- public, he would have been a Gracchus; in its decline, a Catiline; under the Fronde, a Cardinal de Retz; and in the decrepitude of a monarchy, when such a being could only find scope for his im- mense faculties in agitation, he became remarkable for the vehe- mence of his passions, and for their punishment, a life passed in committing disorders, and suffering for them. This prodigious activity required employment; the revolution provided it. Accus- tomed to the struggle against despotism, irritated by the contempt of a nobility who were inferior to him, and who excluded him from their body; clever, daring, eloquent, Mirabeau felt that the revolu- tion would be his work, and his life. He exactly corresponded to the chief wants of his time. His thought, his voice, his action, were those of a tribune. In perilous circumstances his was the earnestness which carried away an assembly; in difficult discus- sions, the unanswerable sally which at once put an end to them ; with a word he prostrated ambition, silenced enmities, disconcerted rivalries. This powerful being, perfectly at his ease in the midst of agitation, now giving himself up to the impetuosity, now to the familiarities of conscious strength, exercised a sort of sovereignty in the assembly. He soon obtained immense popularity, which he retained to the last ; and he w^hom, at his first entrance into the legislature, every eye shunned, was, at his death (April 2, 1791), received into the Pantheon amid the tears of the assembly and of all France. Had it not been for the revolution, Mirabeau w^ould have failed in realizing his destiny, for it is not enough to be great : one must live at the fitting period. The Duke of Orleans, to whom a party has been given, had but little influence in the assembly; he voted with the majority, not the majority with him. The personal attachment of some of its members, his name, the fears of the court, the popularity his opinions enjoyed, hopes rather than conspiracies had increased his reputation as a factious character. He had neither the qualities POPULAR GOVERNMENT 85 1789 nor the defects of a conspirator ; he may have aided with his money and his name popular movements, that would have taken place just the same without him, and which had another object than his ele- vation. It is still a common error to attribute the greatest of revolutions to some petty private maneuvering, as if at such an epoch a whole people could be used as the instrument of one man. The assembly had acquired the entire power; the corporations depended on it ; the national guards obeyed it. It was divided into committees to facilitate its operations and execute them. The royal power, though existing of right, was in a measure suspended, since it was not obeyed, and the assembly had to supply its action by its own. Thus, independently of committees intrusted with the preparation of its measures, it had appointed others to exercise a useful superintendence without. A committee of supply occupied itself with provisions, an important object in a year of scarcity; a committee of inquiry corresponded with the corporations and provinces ; a committee of researches received informations against the conspirators of July 14. But finance and the constitution, which the past crises had adjourned, were the special subjects of attention. After having momentarily provided for the necessities of the treasury, the assembly, although now become sovereign, consulted by examining the petitions, the wishes of its constituents. It then proceeded to form its institutions with a method, a liberal and extensive spirit of discussion, which was to procure for France a constitution comformable with justice and suited to its necessities. The United States of America, at the time of their independence, had set forth in a declaration the rights of man and those of the citizen. This will ever be the first step. A people rising from slavery feels the necessity of proclaiming its rights even before it forms its government. Those Frenchmen who had assisted at the American Revolution, and who cooperated now, proposed a simi- lar declaration as a preamble to the laws. This was agreeable to an assembly of legislators and philosophers, restricted by no limits, since no institutions existed, and who were directed by primitive and fundamental ideas of society, for it was the pupil of the eigh- teenth century. Though this declaration contained only general principles, and confined itself to setting forth in maxims what the constitution was to put into laws, it was calculated to elevate the mind, and impart to the citizens a consciousness of their dignity 86 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 and importance. At Lafayette's suggestion the assembly had before commenced this discussion ; but the events at Paris and the decrees of August 4 had interrupted its labors; they were now re- sumed, and concluded by determining the principles which were to form the table of the new law, and which were the assumption of right in the name of humanity. Lafayette's motion had been made on July 11. It is a com- mon statement of French and German works upon the French Revolution that the adoption of these principles by the assembly was in imitation of the United States. The facts do not warrant this statement. The American declaration of the Rights of Man at the head of the Declaration of Independence was of much more active political force in the anti-slavery conflict than in either the American or the French Revolution. The American colonists in 1776 were struggling for their rights as Englishmen, and v/hen they secured independence, they had recovered the essential parts of the legal structure which they had inherited from England. In France the metaphysical abstractions called the Rights of ]\Ian were not the result of the influence of America, but had their root in the pseudo-political philosophy of the eighteenth century. It is significant that there is nothing like the " glittering generalities " of the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence in any article of the Constitution of the United States.^ These generalities being adopted, the assembly turned its at- tention to the organization of the legislative power. This was one of its most important objects; it was to fix the nature of its func- tions, and establish its relations with the king. In this discussion the assembly had only to decide the future condition of the legisla- tive power. Invested as it was with constituent authority, it was raised above its own decisions, and no intermediate power could suspend or prevent its mission. But what should be the form of the deliberative bodv in future sessions? Should it remain indi- "^ There is a brief but admirable discussion of the real influence of America upon the French Revolution in the preface to the American edition of H. Alorse Stephens, "History of the PVench Revohition," Cf. Bancroft, "History of United States" (centenary edition), vol. V. pp. 519-550. or last edition, vol. V. pp. 244-560; Buckle, "History of Civilization,'' vol. TI. pp. 415-41S and 666-667; Charlemagne Towers, " Lafayette in America " ; Andrew D. \\'hite, " Circular No. 2 of United States P.ureau of Education " ; '" Diary and Letters " of Gou- verneur Morris, vol. I. pp. 114-139; Tocqueville, "The Old Re.trime and the Revo- lution," p. 179; Rosenthal. "America and France," and review of same in the New York Nation, vol. XXXIV. p. 525. POPULAR GOVERNMENT 87 1789 visible, or be divided into two chambers? If the latter form should be adopted, what should be the nature of the second chamber? Should it be made an aristocratic assembly, or a moderative senate? And, whatever the deliberative body might be, was it to be permanent or periodical, and should the king share the legisla- tive power with it? Such were the difficulties that agitated the assembly and Paris during the month of September. If we consider the position of the assembly and its ideas of sovereignty, we shall easily understand the manner in which these questions were decided. It regarded the king merely as the heredi- tary agent of the nation, having neither the right to assemble its representatives nor that of directing or suspending them. Ac- cordingly, it refused to grant him the initiative in making laws and dissolving the assembly. It considered that the legislative body ought not to be dependent on the king. It moreover feared that by granting the government too strong an influence over the as- sembly, or by not keeping the latter always together, the prince might profit by the intervals in wliich he would be left alone, to encroach on the otlier powers, and perhaps even to destroy the new system. Therefore to an authority in constant activity, they wished to oppose an always existing assembly, and the permanence of the assembly was accordingly declared. The debate respecting its indivisibility, or its division, was very animated. Necker, Mounier, and Lally-Tollendal desired, in addition to a representa- tive chamber, a senate, to be composed of members to be ap- pointed by the king on the nomination of the people. They con- sidered this as the only means of moderating the power, and even of preventing the tyranny of a single assembly. They had as partisans such members as participated in their ideas, or who hoped to form part of the upper chamber. The majority of the nobility did not wish for a house of peers, but for an aristocratic assembly, whose members it should elect. They could not agree; Mounier's parly refusing to fall in with a project calculated to revive the orders, and the aristocracy refusing to accept a senate, which would confirm the ruin of the nobility. The greater portion of the deputies of the clergy and of the commons were in favor of the unity of the assembly. The po])ular party considered it illegal to appoint legislators for life; it thought that the upper chamber would become tb.e instrument of the court and aristocracy, and would then be dangerous, or become useless by uniting with the 88 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 commons. Thus the nobihty, from dissatisfaction, and the na- tional party, from a spirit of absokite justice, ahke rejected the upper chamber. This determination of the assembly has been the object of many reproaches. The partisans of the peerage have attributed all the evils of the revolution to the absence of that order; as if it had been possible for anybody whatsoever to arrest its progress. It was not the constitution which gave it the character it has had, but events arising from party struggles. What would the upper chamber have done between the court and the nation? If in favor of the first, it would have been unable to guide or save it; if in favor of the second, it would not have strengthened it; in either case, its suppression would have infallibly ensued. In such times progress is rapid, and all that seeks to check it is superfluous. In England, the house of lords, although docile, was suspended dur- ing the crisis. These various systems have each their epoch ; revolutions are achieved by one chamber and end with two.^ The royal sanction gave rise to great debates in the assembly and violent clamors without. The question was as to the part of the king in the making of laws ; the deputies were nearly all agreed on one point. They were determined, in admitting his right to sanction or refuse laws ; but some desired that this right should be unlimited, others that it should be temporary. This, in reality, amounted to the same thing, for it was not possible for the king to prolong his refusal indefinitely, and the veto, though absolute, would only have been suspensive. But this faculty, bestowed on a single man, of checking the will of the people, appeared exorbi- tant, especially out of the assembly, where it was less understood. Paris had not yet recovered from the agitation of July 14 ; the popular government was but beginning, and the city experi- enced all its liberty and disorder. The assembly of electors, who -The single house was adopted on September 11, by a vote of 499 to 89. " I learn that the national assembly have agreed to a single chamber of legis- lation and a suspensive veto in the king. This is traveling on the highroad to anarchy, and that worst of all tyrannies, the despotism of a faction in a popular assembly." " Diary and Letters " of Gouverneur Morris, vol. I. p. 154 (written on September 13). For a discussion of the merits of the bicameral system of government, see Lieber, "Civil Liberty and Self-Government," pp. 197-200. Benjamin Franklin was a believer in the single legislative house, and his influence prevailed upon the framers of the early constitution of Pennsylvania so to provide. But it was soon abandoned. Vermont and Georgia are the only other common- wealths which have ventured to try the experiment in the United States. POPULAR GOVERNMENT 89 1789 in difficult circumstances had taken the place of a provisional cor- poration, had just been replaced. A hundred and eighty members, nominated by the districts, constituted themselves legislators and representatives of the city. While they were engaged on a plan of municipal organization each desired to command ; for in France the love of liberty is almost the love of power. The committees acted apart from the mayor; the assembly of representatives arose against the committees, and the districts against the assembly of representatives. Each of the sixty districts attributed to itself the legislative power, and gave the executive power to its committees; they all considered the members of the general assembly as their subordinates, and themselves as invested with the right of annul- ling their decrees. This idea of the sovereignty of the principal over the delegate made rapid progress. Those who had no share in authority formed assemblies and then gave themslves up to dis- cussion ; soldiers debated at the Oratoire, journeymen tailors at the Colonnade, hair-dressers in the Champs Elysees, servants at the Louvre; but the most animated debates took place in the Palais Royal. There were inquired into the questions that occupied the national assembly, and its discussions criticised. The dearth of provisions also brought crowds together, and these mobs were not the least dangerous. Such was the state of Paris when the debate concerning the veto was begun. The alarm aroused by this right accorded to the king was extreme. It seemed as though the fate of liberty de- pended on the decision of this question, and that the veto alone would bring back the ancient system. The multitude, ignorant of the nature and limits of power, wished the assembly, on which it relied, to do all, and the king, whom it mistrusted, to do nothing. Every instrument left at the disposal of the court appeared the means of a counter-revolution. The crowds at the Palais Royal grew turbulent ; threatening letters were sent to those members of the assembly who, like Alounier, had declared in favor of the absolute veto. They spoke of dismissing them as faithless repre- sentatives, and of marching upon Versailles. The Palais Royal sent a deputation to the assembly, and required the municipality of Paris to declare the deputies revocable, and to make them at all times dependent on the electors. The commune remained firm, rejected the demands of the Palais Royal, and took measures to prevent the riotous assemblies. The national guard supported it; 90 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789 this body was well disposed; Lafayette had acquired its confidence; it was becoming orcfanized, it wore a uniform, submitted to dis- cipline after the exam])le of the French guard, and learned from its chief the love of order and respect for the law.^ But the middle class that composed it had not yet taken exclusive possession of the popular government. The multitude which was enrolled on July 14 was not as yet entirely disbanded. This agitation from without rendered the debates upon the veto stormy; in this way a very simple question acquired great importance, and the ministry, perceiving how fatal the influence of an absolute decision might prove, and seeing, also, that the unlimited veto and the suspensive veto were one and the same thing, induced the king to be satisfied with the latter, and give up the former. The assembly declared that the refusal of his sanction could not be prolonged by the prince beyond two sessions; and this decision satisfied everyone. The court took advantage of the agitation in Paris to realize other projects. For some time it had influenced the king's mind. At first * he had refused to sanction the decrees of August 4, although they were constitutive, and consequently he could not avoid promulgating them. After accepting them, on the remon- strances of the assembly, he renewed the same difficulties relative to the declaration of rights. The object of the court was to repre- sent Louis XVL as oppressed by the assembly, and constrained to submit to measures which he was unwilling to accept ; it endured its situation with impatience, and strove to regain its former au- thority. Flight was the only means, and it was requisite to legi- timate it; nothing could be done in the presence of the assembly, and the neighborhood of Paris. Royal authority had fallen on June 23, military power on July 14; there was no alternative but civil war. As it was difficult to persuade the king to this course, " These sentences give a rosy view of the state of Paris after July 14. Lafayette, in truth, found the formation of the national guard a difficult task; he admits that he could not make them do guard mount when it rained ! The murder of Foulon and Bcrthier shows that at least ten days after the fall of tlie Bastilc anarchy prevailed, and Lafayette himself says that his personal inter- vention rescued more than twenty persons from being murdered by rioters during this time. " Mcmoires et Correspondence dc Lafayette" vol. IL, 153, 164. * Louis XVL's reply shows more political insight than he commonly dis- played : " T can but admire the sacrifice, but I will never consent to deprive myself r)f nobility and clergy. T am obliged to give way to force. I can but give way, but in that case there will be no longer either monarchy or a monarch to Franco." Van Laun, "Hi.story of the French Revolution," vol. L, p. 112. The king did not yield until October 5. POPULAR GOVERNMENT 91 1789 they waited till the last moment to induce him to flee: his hesita- tion caused the failure of the plan. It was proposed to retire to Metz, to Bouille, in the midst of his army; to call around the monarch the nobility, the troops who continued faithful, the parle- ments ; to declare the assembly and Paris in a state of rebellion ; to invite them to obedience or to force them to it; and if the ancient system could not be entirely reestablished, at least to confine them- selves to the declaration of June 20. On the other hand, if the court hid an interest in removing the king from Versailles, that it might effect something, it was the interest of the partisans of the revolution to bring him to Paris ; the Orleans faction, if one existed, had an interest in driving the king to flight, by intimida- ting him, in the hope that the assembly would appoint its leader lieutenant-general of the kingdom ; and, lastly, the people, who were in want of bread, wished the king to reside at Paris, in the hope that his presence would diminish or put a stop to the dearth of provisions. All these causes existing, an occasion was only want- ing to bring about an insurrection ; the court furnished this occa- sion. On the pretext of protecting itself against the movements in Paris, it summoned troops to Versailles, doubled the household guards, and sent for the dragoons and the Flanders regiment. All this preparation of troops gave rise to the liveliest fears ; a re- port spread of an anti-revolutionary measure, and the flight of the king and the dissolution of the assembly were announced as at hand. Strange uniforms and yellow and black cockades were to be seen at the Luxembourg, the Palais Royal, and at the Champs Elysees ; the foes of the revolution displayed a degree of joy they had not manifested for some time. The behavior of the court con- firmed these suspicions, and disclosed the object of all these preparations. The officers of the Flanders regiment, importuned with anxiety by the town of Versailles,'"' were feted at the chateau and even ad- mitted to the queen's card tables. Endeavors were made to secure their devotion, and a banquet was given to them by the king's '' The attitude toward the regiments was originally misstated. But it is clear that the municipality of Versailles, in fear of the rioters from Paris, had formally petitioned the king to reinforce the garrison. The Flanders regiment was brought to VersailU's in compliance with this wish. (T.omenie, " Lcs Mirabcati." vol. IV. p. 45art of them were with him, and the Center seemed at first secure. When a motion to exclude the ministers from tiie assembly was made Mirabeau had replied in a scathing speech. But he did not change the votes. The motion was carried. This meant the adoption of the principle that the executive and administrative departments of the nation were antagonistic. Now, a"-ain, Mirabeau made an unsuccessful effort to inject strength into the constitution. On the other hand, the nobility, which had found a new subject of discontent in the abolition of titles, continued its anti-revolu- tionary efforts. As it did not succeed in exciting the people, who from their position found tlie recent changes very beneficial, it had recourse to means which it considered more certain ; it quitted the kingdom, with the intention of returning thither with all Europe as its armed ally ; but while waiting till a system of emigration could be organized, while waiting for the appearance of foreign foes to tlie revolution, it continued to arouse enemies to it in the interior of tlie kingdom. The troops, as we have before observed, had already for some time been tampered with in various ways. The new mil- itary code was favorable to the soldiers ; promotion formerly granted to the nobility wastnow granted to seniority. Most of the officers were attached to the ancient regime, nor did they conceal the fact. Ci:)mpel]ed to take the oath of fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king, which was become the common oath, some left the army and increased the number of emigrants, while others endeavored to win the soldiers over to their party. General Bouille was of this number. After having long refused to take the civic oath, he did so at last with this intention. He had a numerous body of troops under his command near the northern frrtnticr; he was clever, resolute, attached to the king, opposed to tlie revolution, such as it was now become, though the friend of retdrin, a circumstance that afterward brought him into suspicion at Col)lentz. He kept his army isloated from the citizens, that it might remain faithful and that it might not be infected w-ith the spirit of insul)()r(li:i,'itir)n wliich they communicated to the troops. By skillful management and the ascendency of a great mind he also succeeded in retaining the confidence and attachment of his soldiers. Jt wa'- not t;ius elsewhere. The officers were the objects of a general SEPARATION OF PARTIES 125 1789-1791 dislike; they were accused of diminishing the pay and having no concern for the great body of the troops. The prevailing opinions had also something to do with this dissatisfaction. These combined causes led to revolts among the men; that of Nancy, on August 31, 1790, produced great alarm and became almost the signal of a civil war. Three regiments, those of Chateauvieux, Maitre-de-camp, and the Regiment-du roi, rebelled against their chiefs.^" Bouille was ordered to march against them ; he did so at the head of the garrison and national guard of Metz. After an animated skirmish he sub- dued them. The assembly congratulated him ; but Paris, which saw in Bouille a conspirator, was thrown into fresh agitation at this intelligence. Crowds collected, and the impeachment of the minis- ters who had given orders to Bouille to march upon Nancy was clamorously demanded. ^^ Lafayette, however, succeeded in allaying this ebullition, supported by the assembly, which, finding itself placed between a counter-revolution and anarchy, opposed both with equal wisdom and courage. The aristocracy triumphed at the sight of the difficulties which perplexed the assembly. They imagined that it would be compelled to be dependent on the multitude or deprive itself entirely of its support ; and in either case the return to the ancient regime appeared to them short and easy. The clergy had its share in this work. The sale of church property, which it took every means to impede, was effected at a higher price than that fixed. The people, delivered from the tithes and reassured as to the national debt, were far from listening to the angry suggestions of the priests ; they accordingly made use of the civil constitution of the clergy to excite a schism. i<> There was only one full regiment, that of IMaitre-de-camp. Besides this, there were four battalions of the Regiment-du-roi and two battalions of the Swiss. It is an interesting fact that the regiment to which Napoleon was attached had mutinied in August, 1789. Chuquet, " La jeuncsse de Napoleon'' vol. I. p. 118. That there was wisdom in Bouille's precaution is proved by the action of the national assembly, which on August 6, 1790, forbade the organization of political clubs among the soldiers. ^ Aulard has shown that radical members of the national assembly actually wrote to the soldiers at Nancy, inciting them to revolt! Bouille intercepted some of the letters. Bouille died in England in 1800 one of the best soldiers and truest patriots France had in these difficult times. The Swiss regiment, who had been the leaders of the insurrection of Nancy, were praised as the martyrs of liberty and the avengers of the law. Bouille. who had put down the revolt, was denounced as alone responsible for the shedding of blood. So, imdcr the pressure of the Jacobin Club and the galleries, the Swiss were amnestied by the assembly. 16 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION l^O X iLXu X 1789-1791 We have seen that this decree of the assembly did not affect either the (h'scipline or tiie creed of the churdi. The king sanctioned it on December 21 ; but the bishops declared that it encroached on the si)iritual authority. The Pope, consulted as to this purely political measure, refused' his assent to it. which the king earnestly sought, and encouraged the opposition of the priests. The latter decided that they would not concur in the establishment of the civil consti- tution; that those of them who might be suppressed would protest against this uncanonical act, that every bishopric created without the concurrence of the Pope should be null, and that the metropoli- tans should refuse institution to bishops appointed according to civil fonns. The assembly strengthened this league by attempting to frus- trate it. If, contrary to their real desire, it had left the dissentient priests to themselves, they would not have formed the elements of a religious war. But the assembly decreed that the ecclesiastics should swear fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king, and to maintain the civil constitution of the clergy. Refusal to take this oath was to be attended by the substitution of others in their bishoprics and cures. The assembly hoped that the higher clergy from in- terest and the lower clergy from ambition would adopt this measure. The bishops, on the contrary, thought that all the ecclesiastics would follow their example, and that by refusing to swear they would leave the state without public w^orship and the people with- out priests. The result satisfied the expectations of neither party; the majority of the bishops and cures of the assembly refused to take the oath, but a few bishops and many cures took it. The dis- sentient incumbents were deprived and the electors nominated suc- cessors to tliem, who received canonical institution from the Bishops of Autun and Lida. But the deprived ecclesiastics refused to aban- don tlicir functifjus, and declared their successors intruders, the sacraments administered by them null ; and all Christians who should venture to recognize them excommunicated. They did not leave tlicir dioceses; they issued charges and excited the people to disobey tlie laws; and thus an affair of private interest become first a matter of religi<,n and then a matter of party. There were two bodies of clergy, one "constitutional," the other "refractory"; each had it< partisans and they treated each other as rebels and heretics. Ac- cording to passion (,r interest, reh'gion became an instrument or an SEPARATION OF PARTIES 127 1789-1791 obstacle ; and while the priests made fanatics the revolution made infidels. The people, not yet affected with this malady of the upper classes, lost, especially in towns, the faith of their fathers from the imprudence of these who placed them between the revolution and their religion. " The bishops," said the Marquis de Ferrieres, who will not be suspected, " refused to fall in with my arrangements, and by their guilty intrigues closed every approach to reconciliation, sacrificing the Catholic religion to an insane obstinacy and a dis- creditable attachment to their wealth." Every party sought to gain the people ; it was courted as sov- ereign. After attempting to influence it by religion, other means was employed, that of the clubs. At that period clubs were private assemblies in which the measures of government, the business of the state, and the decrees of the assembly were discussed; their deliberations had no authority, but they exercised a certain influ- ence. The first club owed its origin to the Breton deputies, who already met together at Versailles to consider the course of proceed- ing they should take. When the national representatives were transferred from Versailles to Paris the Breton deputies and those of the assembly who were of their views held their sittings in the old convent of the Jacobins, which subsequently gave its name to their meetings. It did not at first cease to be a preparatory assem- bly, but as all things increase in time, the Jacobin Club did not con- fine itself to influencing the assembly; it sought also to influence the municipality and the people, and received as associates members of the municipality and common citizens. Its organization became more regular, its action more powerful ; its sittings were regularly reported in the papers ; it created branch clubs in the provinces and raised by the side of legal power another power which first counseled and then conducted it. The growth of the Jacobin Club was phenomenal. There was one in Marseilles before the end of the first year of the revolution ; in June, 1790, there were sixty; by autumn they numbered a hun- dred and fifty; in two months, in 1791, six hundred new clubs were organized ; by June, 179.2, there were over a thousand Jacobin Clubs. While their membership was large, it was the fine organization which was the secret of success. The official style of the Jacobin Club was " Societe des Amis dc la Constitution." On September 21, 1792, this was changed to " Socictc dcs Jacobins amis dc la liber tc ct de I'cf^alite/' The meet- 128 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789-1791 ings of tlic club were closed until October 12, 1791, when they were thrown open to the public.''' Secession from the Jacobin Club did not take place until after the attempted flight of the king to Varennes, June 20, 1791. After that event the Club of '89, poi)ularly called the Feuillant Club, from the Maison des h>uillants in the Rue St. Honore, was organized. Sieves, Chapclier, Lafayette, La Rochefoucauld directed it, as Lameth and Barnave directed that of the Jacobins. Mirabeau be- longed to both, and by both was equally courted. These clubs, of which the one prevailed in the assembly and the other among the people, were attached to the new order of things, though in different degrees. Both clubs were monarchical in political tendency, but the Jacobins inclined toward radical democracy, and ultimately be- came republican. Throughout the history of the revolution the Jacobin Club reflects the dominant politics of the time. The '" Club (ics Cordeliers, societc des droits de I'homme et du citoyen," named from its meeting place in the convent of the Cordeliers, was even more inclined to republicanism. It was not an offshoot of the Jacobin Club, but an organization of the electors in the district of the Cordeliers. Its first political move was to demand the deposi- ti(^n of the king and the establishment of a republic, on June 20, 1 791. When the Jacobins became republican, the difference be- tween the two clubs was more one of method than of political belief. Hie Cordeliers never had the complete organization enjoyed by the Jacobin Club. It was extinguished with the Terror in 1794. Dan- ton was its political chief, Camille Desmoulins its intellectual leader. His paper, the Vieu.r Cordelier, was the organ of the society. It first appeared in December, 1793. The aristocracy sought to attack the revolution with its own arm?; it opened royalist clubs to oppose the popular clubs. The " Club des Iiupartiaux" was founded in January, 1790, but did not last long. It appeared under another form a year later as the " Socicte des Amis de la Constitution Monarchique " the " Club Mouarehiquc." It sought to render itself popular with the lower classes, and distributed bread ; but far from accepting its overtures, the people considered such establishments as a counter-revolutionary movement. It disturbed the sittings, and obliged the members '- See 'I'aine, " I'Vcnch Rcvolutinn " ; Aulard, "La Socu'ic des Jacobins;' 2 vr,k., i,S,S<). At p. S[ f,f tl.c first voiunie is to he found the coiistitiitioii of tlie snriH\ an-I llu' li.-t of affiliated c]ul)s. See also Challemel. " Lcs Clubs contrc- r,z'o!nliu>iaircs," 1895. SEPARATION OF PARTIES 129 1789-1791 several times to change their place of meeting. The Jacobin Club formally denounced it on Christmas Day, 1790, and it was closed by the city authorities on March 28, 1791, as a police measure, in order to prevent rioting. The distrust of the multitude was extreme; the departure of the king's aunts, to which it attached an exaggerated importance, increased its uneasiness and led it to suppose another departure was preparing. These suspicions were not unfounded, and they occa- sioned a kind of rising which the anti-revolutionists sought to turn to account by carrying off the king. This project failed, owing to the resolution and skill of Lafayette. While the crowd went to Vincennes to demolish the dungeon which they said communicated with the Tuileries, and would favor the flight of the king, more than six hundred persons armed with swords and daggers entered the Tuileries to compel the king to flee. Lafayette, who had repaired to Vincennes to disperse the multitude, returned to quell the anti- revolutionists of the chateau, after dissipating the mob of the popu- lar party, and by this second expedition he regained the confidence which his first had lost him.^^ The attempt rendered the escape of Louis XVL more feared than ever. Accordingly, a short time after, when he wished to go to Saint Cloud, he was prevented by the crowd and even by his own guard, despite the efforts of Lafayette, who endeavored to make them respect the law and the liberty of the monarch. The assembly on its side, after having decreed the inviolability of the prince, after having regulated his constitutional guard and assigned the regency to the nearest male heir to the crown, declared that his flight from the kingdom would lead to his dethronement. The increasing emi- gration, the open avowal of its objects and the threatening attitude of the European cabinets, all cherished the fear that the king might adopt such a determination. Then, for the first time, the assembly sought to stop the prog- ress of emigration by a decree, but this decree was a difficult ques- tion. If they punished those who left the kingdom they violated ^2 The attack of the mob upon the chateau of Vincennes was inspired by the same feeling as that which had actuated the men who beset the Bastile. Each structure was regarded as the symbol of absolutism. The immediate occasion was due to an endeavor of the municipality of Paris to put the castle in a state of repair in order to use it as a prison. The populace misunderstood the purpose of the act. Some time before this Lafayette had urged Louis XVI. to make himself popular by demolishing the castle. " Mcmoires," vol. IL P- 465. 130 THE FRKNCII REVOLUTION 1789-1791 the maxims of liberty, rendered sacred by tbe declaration of rights; if they did not raise obstacles to emigration they endangered the safety of France, as the nobles merely quitted it in order to in- vade' it. In the assembly, setting aside those who favored em- igration, some looked only at the right, others only at the danger, and everyone sided with or opposed the restrictive law, accord- ing to his mode of viewing the subject. Those who desired the law wished it to be mild: but only one law could be practica- ble at such a moment, and the assembly shrank from enacting it. This law, by the arbitrary order of a committee of three members, was to pronounce a sentence of civil death on the fugitive and the confiscation of his property. " The horror expressed on the. reading of this project," cried Mirabeau, "proves that this is a law worthy of being placed in the code of Draco, and cannot find place among the decrees of the national assembly of France. I proclaim that I shall consider myself released from every oath of fidelity I have made toward those who may be infamous enough to nominate a dictatorial commission. The popularity I covet, and which I have- the honor to enjoy, is not a feeble reed ; I wish it to take root in the soil, based on justice and liberty." The exterior position was not yet sufficiently alarming for the adoption of such a measure of safety and revolutionary defense.^* Mirabeau did not long enjoy the popularity which he imagined he was so sure of. That was the last sitting he attended. A few days afterward lie terminated a life worn out by passions and toil. His death, which happened on April 2, 1791, was considered a pub- lic calamity; all Paris attended his funeral; tliere was a general mourning tliroughout France, and his remains were deposited in the Pantheon, which had just been " consecrated to the great men of France by a grateful country." No one succeeded him in power and popularity; and for a long time, in difficult discussions, the eyes of the assembly would turn toward the seat from which they had been accustomed to hear the commanding eloquence that terminated their debates. IMirabeau, after having assisted the revo- lution with his daring in seasons of trial, and with his powerful ^''Ihc prnpHMtion forcibly to prevent emigration was first made on Feb- n-ary 21, 17 ji. '1 iic motion to create a committee of three was made a week later, and failed to carry, chicly owing to Mirabeau's attack. The question did IV, 1 coinc up aiiain until n:i(!:-unnn-r. It is interesting to observe that the formidable di^crvtionary i)o\ver. here advocated fur the committee foreshadow the creatinn of iI.l comauucc < f public safety. SEPARATION OF PARTIES 131 1789-1791 reasoning since its victory, died seasonably. He was revolving vast designs; he wished to strengthen the throne and consolidate the revolution : two attempts extremely difficult at such a time. It is to be feared that royalty, if he had made it independent, would have put down the revolution; or, if he had failed, that the revolution would have put down royalty.^^ It is perhaps impossible to con- vert an ancient power into a new order; perhaps a revolution must be prolonged in order to become legitimate, and the throne, as it recovers, acquire the novelty of the other institutions. From October 5 and 6, 1789, to the month of April, 1791, the national assembly completed the reorganization of France; the court gave itself up to petty intrigues and projects of flight; the privileged classes sought for new means of power, those which they formerly possessed having been successively taken from them. They took advantage of all the opportunities of disorder which circumstances furnished them with to attack the new regime and restore the old by means of anarchy. At the opening of the parlements the nobility caused the chambres de vacations to protest; when the provinces were abolished it made the orders protest. As soon as the depart- ments were formed it tried new elections ; when the old wTits had ex- pired it sought the dissolution of the assembly; when the new mili- tary code passed it endeavored to excite the defection of the officers ; lastly, all these means of opposition failing to effect the success of its designs, it emigrated to excite Europe against the revolution. The clergy, on its side, discontented with the loss of its possessions still more than with the ecclesiastical constitution, sought to destroy the new order by insurrections and to bring on insurrections by a schism. Thus it was during this epoch that parties became gradu- ally disunited and that the two classes hostile to the revolution pre- pared the elements of civil and foreign war, 1^' The opinion of critical historians to-day is that IMirabeau was the greatest statesman of the revoUitionary period and that, if he had lived, the fall of the monarchy might have been averted. Cf. Von Sybel, " History of the French Revolution " vol. T. p. 300 ff. ; Von ?Tolst, " The French Revolution Tested by >.lirabeau's Career," passim, espec. vol. II. pp. 241 ff. Chapter VI THE CLOSE OF THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 30, 1791 THE French Revolution was to change the political state of Europe, to terminate the strife of kings among them- selves and to commence that between kings and people. This would have taken place much later had not the kings themselves provoked it. They sought to suppress the revolution, and they ex- tended it; for by attacking it they were to render it victorious. Europe had tlien arrived at the term of the political system w^hicli swayed it. The existence of the several states after being internal under the feudal government had become external under the mon- archical government. The first period terminated almost at the same time among all the great nations of Europe. Then kings who had so long been at war with their vassals, because they were in contact with them, encountered each other on the boundaries of their kingdoms and fought. As no domination could become uni- versal, neither that of Charles V. (15 19-1556) nor that of Louis XIV. (1642-1715), the weak always uniting against the strong, after several vicissitudes of superiority and alliance, a sort of Euro- pean equilibrium was established. To appreciate ulterior events it will not be unuseful to consider this equilibrium before the revolu- tion. Austria, England, and France had been from the Peace of West- phalia (1648) to the middle of the eighteenth century the three great powers of Europe. Literest had leagued the first tw^o against the third. Austria had reason to dread the influence of France in the Xetherlands; England feared it on the sea. Rivalry of power and commerce often set them at variance, and they sought to weaken or i)]un(ler cacli other. Spain, since a prince of the house of Bour- bon had been cm the throne, was the ally of hVance against England. This, however, was a fallen power; confined to a corner of the Con- tinent, oppressed by the system of Philip IL, deprived by family 0)mj)act of tlie only enemy that could keep it in action, bv^sea only had it retained any of its ancient superiority. But France had 132 CLOSE OF THE ASSEMBLY 133 1791 other allies on all sides of Austria: Sweden on the north; Poland and the Porte on the east ; in the south of Germany,, Bavaria ; Prus- sia on the west; and in Italy, the kingdom of Naples. These pow- ers, having reason to dread the encroachment of Austria, were naturally the allies of her enemy. Piedmont, placed between the two systems of alliance, sided, according to circumstances and its interests, with either. Holland was united with England or with France, as the party of the stadtholder or that of the people pre- vailed in the republic. Switzerland was neutral. In the last half of the eighteenth century two powers had risen in the north, Russia and Prussia. The latter had been changed from a simple electorate into an important kingdom by Frederick William (1713-1740), who had given it a treasure and an army; and by his son, Frederick the Great ( 1740- 1786), who had made use of these to extend his territory. Russia, long unconnected with the other states, had been more especially introduced into the politics of Europe by Peter I. (1689- 1725) and Catherine II. (1762- 1796). The accession of these two powers considerably modified the ancient alliances. In concert with the cabinet of Vienna, Russia and Prus- sia had executed the first partition of Poland in 1772 ; and after the death of Frederick the Great the Empress Catherine and the Em- peror Joseph united in 1785 to effect that of European Turkey. The cabinet of Versailles, weakened since the imprudent and unfortunate Seven Years' W^r, had assisted in the partition of Poland without opposing it, had raised no obstacle to the fall of the Ottoman empire, and even allowed its ally, the republican party in Holland, to sink under the blows of Prussia and England, with- out assisting it. The latter powers had in 1787 reestablished by force the hereditary stadtholderate of the United Provinces. The only act which did honor to French policy was the support it had happily given to the emancipation of North America. The revolu- tion of 1789, while extending the moral influence of France, dimin- ished still more its diplomatic influence. England, under the government of the younger Pitt, was alarmed in 1788 at the ambitious projects of Russia, and united with Holland and Prussia to put an end to them. Hostilities were on the point of commencing when the Emperor Joseph died in February, 1790, and was succeeded by Leopold, who in July ac- cepted the Convention of Reichenbach. This convention, by the mediation of England, Russia, and .Holland, settled the terms of 134 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 the peace between Austria and Turkey, which was signed definitely, on August 4, 1 79 1, at Sistova. The convention at the same time provided for the pacification of the Netherlands. Urged by Eng- land and Prussia, Catherine 11. also made peace with the Porte at Jassy, on December 29. 1791. These negotiations, and the treaties they gave rise to, terminated the political struggles of the eighteenth century, and left the powers free to turn their attention to the French Revolution.^ The princes of Europe, who had hitherto had no enemies but themselves, viewed it in the light of a common foe. The revolu- tion, by placing France in an exceptional situation, had changed its relations with the other states. By accomplishing a revolution within, FYance had introduced a new cause of conflict: the oppo- sition between two political systems, between two opposing concep- tions of government. The destruction of the old regime was an example given to other peoples, an act of indirect political propa- ganda. So great was this disquietude on the part of the European states that on May 22, 1790, the national assembly denounced any warlike enterprise " with a view of making conquests." In the very next month this pacific declaration was seriously compro- mised. The people of Avignon, a county on the Rhone, were subjects of the Pope, but in June, 1790, rebelled and asked to be annexed to France. The government of France refused so to do, but in the interest of public safety in Avignon it sent French troops to establish order. Later France acknowledged the " right of a sovereign people to choose its own ruler," and annexed the terri- tory (September 14, 1791) thereby overthrowing the international hiws of Europe; it rejected tradition and the doctrine of obedience to an arbitrary sovereign. The ancient relations of war and of alliance, already overlooked during the Seven Years' War, now ceased entirely: Sweden united with Russia and Prussia with Austria. Hiere was nothing now but tlie kings on one side and the I)co])les on the other, waiting for the auxiliaries which its example, or tlie faults of tlie princes, might give it. A general coalition was soon formed against the French Revolution. Austria's participa- tion was in order to prevent the spread of revolutionary influences in tlie Austrian Xetlierlands (Belgium). England sought to avenge ^ The Isest arcnmit of the important history here briefly summarized is to be found in tlic first volume of Sorel ; ' L'Enropc et la Revolution fraiicaisc." or tlie same author's '-Tlie Kastern Question in the Eighteenth Century," which has been translated into EngHsh. CLOSE OF THE ASSEMBLY 135 1791 the American war and to preserve herself from the spirit of the revolution, her chief fear being lest the Austrian Netherlands should rebel against Austria and side with France, in which event as happened in 1792 the Scheldt River and the port of Ant- werp, which had been closed since 1648, would be opened, to the detriment of English and Dutch commerce. Prussia wanted to strengthen the threatened absolute power, and profitably to en- gage its unemployed army ; moreover, Prussia, like Austria, feared revolutionary propaganda in the Prussian Rhinelands. The Ger- man states engaged in it to restore feudal rights to some of their members who had been deprived of them by the abolition of the old regime in Alsace ; ^ the King of Sweden, who had constituted himself the champion of arbitrary power, to reestablish it in France, as he had just done in his own country; Russia, that it might execute without trouble the partition of Poland, while the attention of Europe was directed elsewhere; finally, all the sov- - A great number of German princes owned large estates in Alsace. The Westphalian Peace of 1648 guaranteed sovereign rights to them in these pos- sessions. But these rights had been all swept away on the night of August 4, 1789. Though their claims were incontestable, yet the chance of enforcing them was very small. The Alsatian nobles appealed to the treaty of 1648, which guaranteed their rights and feudal privileges, and refused to subm.it to the decrees of the assembly. The matter was brought before the national assembly, which, in principle, sustained the Alsatian people in their contention for free- dom : " The Alsatian people," said the report presented to the assembly, " has united with tlie French people because it has willed so to do; it is therefore its will alone and not the Treaty of IMunster, which has legalized the union." In sustaining this principle the national assembly really overthrew the old inter- national law and established a new authority, the will of the sovereign people. However, in order to sugar-coat the pill, the assembly passed a decree providing for the indemnification of those Alsatian nobles who had suffered. Legal rights of the foreigners were opposed by reasons of state. Morris's legal quality of mind grasped the difficulty. He admirably expresses it: " This controversy reduces itself to one point of right and the other of fact. By various treaties the princes have stipulated that the fiefs in question shall be held as heretofore by the German empire. The point of right, there- fore, is, whether this tenure does not exempt them from the general decisions of the French nation respecting that species of property. The point of fact is whether the chief of the French or German empire be, by those treaties quoad hoc the liege lord. This, being a matter of interpretation, must be de- cided by the publicists, but the whole question being between sovereign nations, it is probable that the decision will depend on everything except the real merits." -''Diary and Letters," vol. 1. p. 243. The question was the subject of protracted negotiations between France and the empire. France offered to indemnify the dispossessed German nobles, but the diet refused to accept the terms. On the whole subject see Von Sybel, " History of the French Revolution," vol. L pp. 231 ff. 136 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 ercii^ns of the house of Dourbon,-"^ from the interest of power aiKf family attachments. The emigrants encouraged them in these projects and excited them to invasion. According to them, France was without an army, or at least without leaders, destitute of money, given up to disorder, weary of the assembly, disposed to the ancient regime, and without either the means or the inclination to defend itself. They flocked in crowds to take a share in the promised short campaign, and formed into organized bodies under tiie Prince de Conde at Worms and the Count d'Artois at Coblentz.'* The Count d'Artois especially hastened the determination of the cabinets. The Emperor Leopold was in Italy, and the count repaired to him, with Calonne as minister, and the Count Alphonse de Durfort, who liad been his mediator with the court of the Tuile- ries, and who had brought him the king's authority to treat with Leopold. The conference took place at Alantua, and the Count de Durfort returned and delivered to Louis XVL in the name of the emperor a secret declaration, in which was announced to him the speedy assistance of the coalition. Austria was to advance thirty- five thousand men on the frontier of Flanders ; the German states, fifteen thousand on Alsace; the Swiss, fifteen thousand on the Lyonnese frontier; the King of Sardinia, fifteen thousand on that of Dauphine; Spain was to augment its army in Catalonia to twenty thousand ; Prussia was well disposed in favor of the coali- tion, and the King of England was to take part in it as Elector of Hanover. All these troops were to move at the same time, at the end of July; the house of Bourbon was then to make a protest and the powers were to publish a manifesto; until then, however, it was essential to keep the design secret, to avoid all partial insur- rection, and to make no attempt at flight. Such w^as the result of the conferences of Mantua on May 20, 1791.^ Louis XVL, either from a desire not to place himself entirely at the mercy of foreign powers or dreading the ascendency which the Count d'Artois, should he return at the head of the victorious '' TIk' following princes of Europe may be considered of the Bourbon house : Charles iV, King of Spain; Victor Amadeus III., King of Sardinia, who was father-in-law of Louis XVI. 's brothers; Queen Alaria of Portugal; Charles IV., King of Xai)les; and Ferdinand, Duke of Parma. 'i he llmperor Leopold orrussels with the powers and title of regent. The emigrants thenceforth relied only on the assistance of Europe; the officers (|uilte(l their colors; two hundred and ninety members of the assembly protested against its decrees; in order to legitimatize CLOSE OF THE ASSEMBLY 143 1791 invasion, Bouille wrote a threatening letter, in the inconceivable hope of intimidating the assembly, and at the same time to take upon himself the sole responsibility of the flight of Louis XVL ; finally, the emperor, the King of Prussia, and the Count d'Artois met at Pilnitz. On July 6 the Emperor Leopold had addressed a letter to the leading European powers, proposing that they should conjointly declare the cause of Louis XVL their own, demanding the king's personal liberty and safety, and announcing that the new order of things in France would only be recognized by them in case it was voluntarily sanctioned by the king. This circular letter was an absolutely empty demonstration. What is said of the circular letter is true in a still higher de- gree of the Pilnitz convention. The two monarchs made an en- tirely vague promise to help the king, dependent upon a condition which they knew could not be fulfilled. The very wording of the document shows this : " His Majesty, the Emperor, and His Majesty, the King of Prussia, having given attention to the wishes and representations of Monsieur (the brother of the King of France), and of jNI. le Count d'Artois, jointly declare that they regard the present sit- uation of his Majesty, the King of France, as a matter of common interest to all the sovereigns of Europe. They trust that this interest will not fail to be recognized by the powers, whose aid is solicited, and that in consequence they will not refuse to employ, in conjunction with their said majesties, the most efficient means in proportion to their resources, to place the King of France in a position to establish, with the most absolute freedom, the founda- tions of a monarchical form of government, which shall at once be in harmony with the rights of sovereigns and promote the welfare of the French nation. In that case (Alors ef dans cc cas) their said majesties the Emperor and the King of Prussia are resolved to act promptly and in common accord with the forces necessary to obtain the desired, common end. " In the meantime they will give such orders to their troops as are necessary in order that these may be in a position to be called into active service." The emperor is reported to have said : " The words '' Alors et dans ce cas ' are the law and the prophets for me. If England fails us the ' cas ' will not exist at all." ^ ''Quoted from Von Sybel, "French Revolution," vol. II. ch. vi. 114 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 In order to understand this equivocal conduct on the part of the emperor, we must glance at eastern European politics where the dominant interest of the powers lay. Leopold was determined to cut loose from Russia, with the ultimate view of dividing Turkey between the tw^o powers. The state of Austria was infinitely superior to that of Frederick William ir., who had succeeded to Frederick the Great in 1786. Poland was now entering- upon a new phase of life. The Polish princes of late had been greatly embittered against Russia. A bold at- tempt was made to bring about a radical political reorganization of tiie kingdom. On j\Iay 3, 1791, King Stanislas appeared in the diet and submitted the draft of a new constitution, which was to restore the vitality of the kingdom. Changes made by this were: i. The crown to become hereditary in the house of Saxony, instead of elective. 2. The Liberum veto to be abolished. 3. The bour- geoisie to be admitted to political rights. This coup d'etat w^as justified by the assertion, unfounded, that Russia and Prussia contemplated a new partition of Poland. In the history of Poland there is no brighter day than May 3, 1791. The interest of Austria w'as evidently to support any move- ment tending to restore some degree of vitality to Poland, because it would attach a heavy \veight to the feet of Russia, which was constantly and energetically striving to block Austria's w-ay in the East, and at the same time, on the other hand, keep Prussia, Aus- tria's rival, in check. To Prussia, too, the political regeneration of Poland was, in the strictest sense of the word, a vital question, and she had in consequence, to the last strenuously to oppose the intention to make the crown hereditary. Everything concerning France is determined with these powders in the last place by what their interests in their opinion dictate with regard to the Eastern Question. The Prussian ministers w'ere fully aware that not a sound pf)litical reason could be adduced for Prussia's interv^ening in iM-ancc, while many reasons, of the greatest weight, admonished her to desist from such a policy. 1 In's carefully worded declaration, although meant far more as a sop to the importunate emigrants than as a threat to France, only served [n irritate the assembly and the people. Men asked one anotlicr wliat riglit the i>rinces (,)f Europe liad to interfere in the gn\ crnnicni nf h'rance ; by what right they gave orders to a great CLOSE OF THE ASSEMBLY 145 1791 people, and imposed conditions upon it; and since the sovereigns appealed to force, the people of France prepared to resist them. The frontiers were put in a state of defense; a hundred thousand men of the national guard were enrolled. Meantime, the assembly approached the close of its labors ; civil relations, public taxation, the nature of crimes, their prosecu- tion, and their punishment had been by it as wisely regulated as were the public and constitutional relations of the country. Equal- ity had been introduced into the law of inheritance, into taxation, and into punishments ; nothing remained but to unite all the con- stitutional decrees into a body and submit them to the king for his approval. The assembly was growing weary of its labors and of its dissensions; the people itself, who in France ever become tired of that which continues beyond a certain time, desired a new na- tional representation; the convocation of the electoral colleges was therefore fixed for August 5. Unfortunately, the members of the present assembly could not form part of the succeeding one; this had been decided before the flight to Varennes.^ The collection of the constitutional decrees into one body led to the idea of revising them. But this idea of revision gave great dissatisfaction, and was almost of no effect ; it was not desirable to render the constitution more aristocratic by after-measures, lest the multitude should require it to be made more popular. To limit the sovereignty of the nation, and, at the same time, not to overlook it, the assembly declared that France had a right to revise its constitution, but that it was prudent not to exercise this right for thirty years. The act of the constitution was presented to the king by sixty deputies ; the suspension being taken off, Louis XVL resumed the exercise of his power, and the guard the law had given him was placed under his own command. Thus restored to freedom, the constitution was submitted to him. After examining it for several days, " I accept the constitution," he wrote to the assembly (Sep- tember 13,1791): "I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all attacks from abroad, and to cause its execution by all the means it places at my disposal. I declare that, being informed of the attachment of the great majority of the people to the consti- s Robespierre in May had moved the famous "self-denying" ordinance, which provided that no member of the national assembly might sit in the legisla- tive assembly'. Such a doctrinaire resolution simply deprived France of whftt political wisdom and experience it had acquired since 1789. 146 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 tution, I renounce my claim to assist in the work, and that, being responsible to the nation alone, no other person, now that I have made this renunciation, has a right to complain." This letter excited general approbation. Lafayette demanded and procured an amnesty in favor of those who were under prose- cution for favoring the king's flight, or for proceedings against the revolution. Next day the king came in person to accept the consti- tution in the assembly. The populace attended him thither with acclamations ; he was the object of the enthusiasm of the deputies and spectators, and he regained that day the confidence and affec- tion of his subjects. The 30th of September was fixed for the closing of the assembly; the king was present; his speech was often interrupted by applause, and when he said : " For you, gentlemen, who during a long and arduous career have displayed such inde- fatigable zeal, there remains one duty to fulfill when you have re- turned to your homes over the country : to explain to your fellow- citizens the true meaning of the laws you have made for them ; to urge those who slight them ; to improve and unite all opinions by the example you shall afford of your love of order, and of sub- mission to the laws," cries of "Yes! yes!" were uttered by all the deputies with one common voice. " I rely on your being the interpreters of my sentiments to your fellow-citizens." "Yes! yes! " " Tell them all that the king will always be their first and most faithful friend; that he needs their love; that he can only be happy with them and by their means ; the hope of contributing to their happiness will sustain my courage, as the satisfaction of hav- ing succeeded will be my sweetest recompense." " It is a speech worthy of Henry IV.," said a voice, and the king left the hall amid the loudest testimonials of love. Then Thouret, in a loud voice, and addressing the people, ex- claimed : " The constituent assembly pronounces its mission ac- complished, and that its sittings now terminate." Thus closed this first and glorious assembly of the nation. It was courageous, in- telligent, just, and had but one passion a passion for law. It accomplished in two years, by its efforts and with indefatigable perseverance, the greatest revolution ever witnessed by one gener- ation of men. Amid its labors it repressed despotism and anarchy by frustrating the conspiracies of the aristocracy and maintaining the multitude in subordination. Its only fault was the not confid- mg the guidance of the revolution to those who were its authors; CLOSE OF THE ASS.EMBLY 147 1789 it divested itself of power, like those legislators of antiquity who exiled themselves from their country after giving it a constitution. A new assembly did not apply itself to consolidating its work, and the revolution, which ought to have been finished, was recom- menced. The constitution of 1791 was based on principles adapted to the ideas and situation of France. This constitution was the work of the middle class, then the strongest; for, as is well known, the predominant force ever takes possession of institutions. When it belongs to one man alone, it is despotism ; when to several, it is privilege ; when to all, it is right ; this last state is the limit, as it is the origin, of society. France had at length attained it, after passing through feudalism, w4iich was the aristocratic institution, and absolute power, which was the monarchical institution. Equal- ity was consecrated among the citizens, and delegation recognized among the powers; such were to be, under the new system, the condition of men and the form of government. In this constitution the people was the source of all powers, but it exercised none ; it was intrusted only with election in the first instance, and its magistrates w'ere selected by men chosen from among the enlightened portions of the community. The latter constituted the assembly, the law courts, the public offices, the cor- porations, the militia, and thus possessed all the force and all the power of the state. It alone was fit to exercise them, because it alone had the intelligence necessary for the conduct of government. The people were not yet sufficiently advanced to participate in power, consequently it was only by accident and in the most casual and evanescent manner that jDower fell into its hands; but it re- ceived civic education, and was disciplined to government in the primary assemblies, according to the true aim of society, which is not to confer its advantages as a patrimony on one particular class, but to make all share in them, when all are capable of acquiring them. This was the leading characteristic of the constitution of 1791 ; as each, by degrees, became competent to enjoy the right, he was admitted to it ; it extended its limits with the extension of civ- ilization, which every day calls a greater number of men to the administration of the state. In tliis way it had established true equality, whose real character is admissibility, as that of inequality is exclusion. In rendering power transferable by election, it made 148 THP: FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 it a public magistracy; while privilege, in rendering it hereditary by transmission, makes it private property. The constitution of 1791 established homogeneous powers which corresponded among themselves, and reciprocally restrained each other; still, it must be confessed, the royal authority was too subordinate to popular power. It is never otherwise; sovereignty, from whatever source derived, gives itself a feeble counterpoise when it limits itself. A constituent assembly enfeebles royalty; a king who is a legislator limits the prerogatives of an assembly.*' This constitution was, however, less democratic than that of the United States, which had been practicable, despite the extent of the territory, proving that it is not the form of institutions, but the assent which they obtain, or the dissent which they excite, which permits or hinders their establishment. In a new country, after a revolution of independence, as in America, any constitution is possible ;^'^ there is but one hostile party, that of the metropolis, and when that is overcome, the struggle ceases, because defeat leads to its expulsion. It is not so with social revolutions among nations who have long been in existence. Changes attack inter- ests, interests form parties, parties enter into contest, and the more victory spreads the greater grows opposition. This is what hap- pened in France. The work of the constituent assembly perished less from its defects than from the attacks of faction. Placed be- tween the aristocracy and the multitude, it was attacked by the one and invaded by the other. The latter would not have become sovereign had not civil war and the foreign coalition called for its intervention and aid. To defend the country it became necessary that it should govern it ; then it eifected its revolution, as the middle class had effected its own. It had its July 14 in August 10; its constituent assembly, the convention ; its government, w'hich was the committee of public safety; yet, as we shall see, without emigra- tion there would have been no republic. ^ For scimc estimates of the work of the national assembly in daring, de- stroying, and doing, see Pierre, " Assemblccs poVuiqucs en France," ch. i. ; Burke's "Reflections upon the l'>ench Revolution"; Stephens, "French Revolution," vol. I. pp. 464 ff. : Taine, " I'Vench Revolution," vol. I. p. 214 ff. '" I iiis statement sliows the author's inability to recognize the diflference between institutions which have grown and institutions which have been made. PART III THE FIRST REPUBLIC. OCTOBER 1, 1791- JUNE 2, 1793 Chapter VII THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OCTOBER I, 1791-SEPTEMBER 21, 1792 THE new assembly opened its session on October i, 1791. It declared itself immediately the national legislative as- sembly, and sat in the riding-hall which stood in the present Rue de Rivoli, on ground actually a portion of the garden of the Tuileries. The national assembly had occupied this hall when it came to Paris, and it was the place of meeting of the con- vention down to May 9, 1793. From its first appearance it had oc- casion to display its attachment to the actual state of things and the respect it felt for the authors of French liberty. The book of the constitution was solemnly presented to it by the archivist Camus accompanied by twelve of the oldest members of the national representation. The assembly received the constitutional act stand- ing and uncovered, and, amid the acclamations of the people who occupied the tribunes, took the oath " to live free or perish ! " A vote of thanks was given by it to the members of the constituent assembly, and it then prepared to commence its labors. But its first relations with the king had not the same character of union and confidence. The court, doubtless hoping to regain under the legislative the superior position which it had lost under the constituent assembly, did not employ sufficient management toward a susceptible and anxious popular authority, which was then considered the first of the state. The assembly sent a deputa- tion of sixty of its members to the king to announce its opening. The king did not receive them in person, and sent word by the minister of justice that he could not give them audience till noon on the following day. Tliis unceremonious dismissal, and the indi- rect communication between the national representatives and the prince, by means of a minister, hurt the deputation excessively. Accordingly, when the audience took place Duchastel said to him laconically: "Sire, the national legislative assembly is sitting; we are deputed to inform you of this." Louis XVI. replied still more 151 152 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 dryly : " I cannot visit you before Friday." This conduct of the court toward the assembly was impolitic, and little calculated to conciliate the affection of the people. The assembly approved of the cold manner in which the presi- dent of the deputation had expressed himself, and soon indulged in an act of reprisal. The ceremony with which the king was to be received among them was arranged according to preceding laws. A fauteuil in tlie form of a throne was reserved for him; they used toward him the titles of sire and majesty, and the deputies, standing and uncovered on his entrance, were to sit down, put on their hats, and rise again, following with deference all the movements of the prince. Some restless and exaggerated minds considered this con- descension unworthy of a sovereign assembly. The deputy Grange- neuve required that the words sire and majesty should be re- placed by the " more constitutional and finer " title of king of the French. Couthon strongly enforced this motion, and proposed that a simple fauteuil should be assigned to the king, exactly like the president's. These motions excited some slight disapprobation on the part of a few members, but the greater number received them eagerly. " It gives me pleasure to suppose," said Guadet, " that the French people will always venerate the simple fauteuil upon which sits the president of the national representatives, much more than the gilded fauteuil where sits the head of the executive power. I will say nothing, gentlemen, of the titles of sire and majesty. It aston- ishes me to find the national assembly deliberating whether they shall be retained. The word sire signifies seigneur; it belonged to the feudal system, which has ceased to exist. As for the term majesty, it should only be employed in speaking of God and of the people." ^ The previous question was demanded, but feebly; these mo- tions were put to the vote and carried by a considerable majority. Yet, as this decree appeared hostile, the constitutional opinion pro- nounced itself against it, and censured this too excessive rigor in the application of principles. On the following day those who had demanded the previous question moved that the decisions of the day before should be abandoned. A report w^as circulated at the same time that the king would not enter the assembly if the decree ^ It was Couthon who first used this famous phrase. Compare it with the utterance of Challet on March 21, 1793, in the Central Chibs of Lyons: "Know that ynu are kings and crowned kings. Do you not feel the sovereignty which circulates in your veins ! " NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 153 1791 were maintained; and the decree was revoked. These petty skirmishes between two powers who had to fear usurpations, assumptions, and more especially ill will between them, terminated here on this occasion, and all recollection of them was effaced by the presence of Louis XVL in the legislative body, where he was received with great respect and the most lively enthusiasm. General pacification formed the chief topic of his speech. He pointed out to the assembly the subjects that ought to attract its attention finance, civil law, commerce, trade, and the consolida- tion of the new government ; he promised to employ his influence to restore order and discipline in the army, to put the kingdom in a state of defense and to diffuse ideas respecting the French Revo- lution calculated to reestablish a good understanding in Europe. He added the following words, which were received with much applause : " Gentlemen, in order that your important labors, as well as your zeal, may produce all the good which may be expected from them, a constant harmony and unchanging confidence should reign between the legislative body and the king. The enemies of our peace seek but too eagerly to disunite us, but let love of coun- try cement our union, and let public interest make us inseparable ! Thus public power may develop itself without obstacle; govern- ment will not be harassed by vain fears ; the possessions and faith of each will be equally protected, and no pretext will remain for anyone to live apart from a country where the laws are in vigor, and where the rights of all are respected." Unfortunately there were two classes, without the revolution, that would not enter into composition with it, and whose efforts in Europe and the interior of France were to prevent the realization of these wise and pacific words. As soon as there are displaced parties in a state a struggle will result, and measures of hostility must be taken against them. Accordingly, the internal troubles, fomented by nonjuring priests, the military assemblings of emigrants, and the preparations for the coalition soon drove the legislative assembly further than the con- stitution allowed, and than itself had proposed. The composition of this assembly was completely popular. The prevailing ideas being in favor of the revolution, the court, nobility, and clergy had exercised no influence over the elections. There were not in this assembly, as in the preceding, partisans of absolute power and of ])rivilege. The two factions of the Left side, who had separated toward the close of the constituent assem- 164 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 bly, were again brought face to face, but no longer in the same proportion of number and strength. The popular minority of the previous assembly became the majority in this. But unfortunately France was compelled, on account of the mad motion of Robes- pierre, to take without a single exception men who were without any political, or at least without any legislative, experience. More- over, the middle classes were tired of politics. Wherever elections took place only the minority went to the polls. The more radical becomes the revolution, the deeper the weariness and lassitude of politics in the overwhelming majority of the people, and the more radical the small minority who had, in fact, the monopoly of politics. Opinions and parties soon became known. As in the constituent assembly there was a Right, a Center, a Left, but of a perfectly different character. The Right, composed of firm and absolute constitutionalists, composed the Feuillant party. Its principal speakers were Dumas, Ramond, Vaublanc, and Beugnot. It had some relations with the court, through Barnave, Duport, and Alexander Lameth, who were its former leaders, but whose counsels were rarely followed by Louis XVI., who gave himself up with more confidence to the ad- vice of those immediately around him. Out of doors it supported itself on the club of the Feuillants and upon the bourgeoisie. The national guard, the army, the directory of the department, and in general all the constituted authorities were favorable to it. But this party, which no longer prevailed in the assembly, soon lost a post quite as essential, that of the municipality, which was occupied by its adversaries of the Left. These formed the party called Girondist, and which in the revolution formed only an intermediate party between the middle class and the multitude. It had then no subversive project, but it was disposed to defend the revolution in every way, and in this differed from the constitutionalists, who would only defend it with the law. At its head were the brilliant orators of the department of the Gironde, who gave their name to the party, Vergniaud. Guadet, Gensonne, and the Provencal Tsnard, who had a style of still more impassioned eloquence than theirs. Its chief leader was Brissot, who. a member of the corporation of Paris during the last session, had subsequently become a member of the assembly. The opinions of Brissot, who advocated a complete reform; his great activity of mmd, whicli he developed at once in the journal the Patriate, in NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 155 1791 the tribune of the assembly, and at the club of the Jacobins ; his exact and extensive knowledge of the position of foreign powers gave him great ascendency at the moment of a struggle between parties, and of a war with Europe. Condorcet possessed influence of another description; he owed this to his profound ideas, to his superior reason, which almost procured him the place of Sieyes in this second revolutionary generation. Petion, of a calm and determined character, was the active man of his party. His tran- quil brow, his fluent elocution, his acquaintance with the people, soon procured for him the municipal magistracy, which Bailly had discharged for the middle class." The Left side had in the assembly the nucleus of a party more extreme than itself, and the members of which, such as Chabot, Bazire, Merlin, were to the Girondists what Petion, Buzot, Robespierre had been to the Left side of the constituent. This was the commencement of the democratic faction which, without, served as auxiliary to the Gironde, and which managed the clubs and the multitude. Robespierre in the society of the Jacobins, where he established his sway after leaving the assembly; Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Fabre d'Eglantine at the Cordeliers, 2 Mignet uses the name Girondist by anticipation. Tlie Girondist party was not so called until the time of the convention. In the legislative assembly they were generally called Brissotins. Bire, "La Lcgendc des Girondins," 1882, p. 34. On the party see Guadet, " Lcs Girondins," pp. 8-16, 36-39; Taine, "French Rev- olution," vol. II. 70-73; Von Sybel, "History of the French Revolution," vol. I. pp. 373-380. Lamartine's famous " History of the Girondists " created a cult in their behalf in the middle of the last centurj% but it is now recognized that as a party the Girondists merit more reproach than honor. With individual excep- tions, like Condorcet, it was a party without principle and of ineffective leadership. Brissot had won a doubtful reputation in America. The more the revolution took a radical turn, the more he commanded the favor of the mob. There was nothing of the statesman in him, but if anyone, he had been destined by nature for a political agitator. He used his pen and tongue with equal readiness. Mignet's eulogy is an altogether false judgment of Petion. He deserves nothing but execration. Mignet's statement that the Girondist party " was disposed to defend the revolution in every way, and in this differed from the constitutionalists, who would only defend it with the law," is a euphemistic way of saying that the revolution had not been revolutionary enough; it is approval of further revolu- tion. The Girondists had the conviction that the constitution was no longer abreast of the times. The basis of its leading members was a purely negative one. They schemed to supplant a monarchical form of government by that of a repub- lican type. They were eminently fitted to excite the masses, but absolutely unfit to guide and restrain them. After they had demolished everything there was to demolish, after they had driven the country into a war of which nobody could sec the end, they were powerless to control events. Ed. 156 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 where they had founded a club of innovators more extreme than the Jacobins, composed of men of the bourgeoisie ; the brewer San- terre in the faubourgs, where the popular power lay, were the true chiefs of this faction, which depended on one whole class, and aspired at founding its own regime. The Center of the legislative assembly was sincerely attached to the new order of things. It had almost the same opinions, the same inclination for moderation as the Center of the constituent assembly; but its power w^as very different: it was no longer at the head of an established class, and by the aid of which it could master all the extreme parties. Public dangers, making the w^ant of ex- alted opinions and parties from without again felt, completely annulled the Center. It was soon won over to the strongest side, the fate of all moderate parties, and the Left swayed it. The situation of the assembly was very difficult. Its pred- ecessor had left it parties which it evidently could not pacify. From the beginning of the session it was obliged to turn its atten- tion to these, and that in opposing them. Emigration was making an alarming progress : the king's two brothers, the Prince de Conde and the Duke de Bourbon, had protested against the accept- ing of the constitutional act by Louis XVI., that is, against the only means of accommodation ; they had said that the king could not alienate the rights of the ancient monarchy; and their protest, circulating throughout France, had produced a great effect on their partisans. Officers quitted the armies, the nobility their chateaux, whole companies deserted to enlist on the frontiers. Distaffs were sent to those who wavered ; and those who did not emigrate were threatened with the loss of their position when the nobility should return victorious. In the Austrian Low Countries and the border- ing electorates there was formed what was called " La France ex~ tcricurc.'' The counter-revolution was openly preparing at Brussels, Worms, and Coblentz under the protection and even with the assistance of foreign courts. The ambassadors of the emigrants were received, while those of the French government were dis- missed, ill received, or even thrown into prison, as in the case of Duveryer. French merchants and travelers suspected of i)atri- otism and attacliment to the revolution were scouted throughout Europe. Several powers had declared themselves without dis- guise: of this number were Sweden, Russia, and Spain, the latter at that time being governed by the :Marquis de Blanca-Florida, a NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 157 1791 man entirely devoted to the emigrant party. At the same time Prussia kept its army prepared for war: the Hnes of the Spanish and Sardinian troops increased on the Alpine and Pyrenean fron- tiers, and Gustavus was assembling a Swedish army. The dissentient ecclesiastics left nothing undone which might produce a diversion in favor of the emigrants at home. " Priests, and especially bishops," says the Marquis de Ferrieres, " employed all the resources of fanaticism to excite the people, in town and country, against the civil constitution of the clergy." Bishops ordered the priests no longer to perform divine senuce in the same church with the constitutional priests, for fear the people might confound the two. " Independently," he adds, " of circular letters written to the cures, instructions intended for the people were cir- culated through the country. They said that the sacraments could not be effectually administered by the constitutional priests, whom they called Intruders, and that everyone attending their ministra- tions became by their presence guilty of mortal sin ; that those who were married by Intruders were not married; that they brought a curse upon tliemselves and upon their children; that no one should have communication with them, or with those separated from the church ; that the municipal officers who installed them like them became apostates ; that the moment of their installation all bell- ringers and sextons ought to resign their situations. . . . These fanatical addresses produced the effect which the bishops expected. Religious disturbances broke out on all sides." Insurrection more especially broke out in Calvados, Ge\'au- dan, and La Vendee. These districts were ill-disposed toward the revolution, because they contained few of the middle and intelli- gent classes, and because the populace, up to that time, had been kept in a state of dependence on the nobility and clergy. The Girondists, taking alarm, wished to adopt rigorous measures against emigration and the dissentient priests who attacked the new order of things. Brissot proposed putting a stop to emigra- tion by giving" up the mild system hitherto observed toward it. He divided the emigrants into three classes: The principal leaders, and at their head the 1)ruthers of the king ; public functionaries who forsook their posts and country and sought to entice their colleagues; private individuals, who, to preserve life or from an aversion to the revoluti(jn or from other motives, left their native land without taking arms against it. He required that severe 158 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 laws should be put in force against the first two classes, but thought it would be good policy to be indulgent toward the last. With respect to nonjuring ecclesiastics and agitators, some of the Girondists proposed to confine themselves to a stricter surveil- lance; others thought there was only one safe line of conduct to be pursued toward them; that the spirit of sedition could only be quelled by banishing them from the country. " All attempts at conciliation," said the impetuous Isnard, " will henceforth be in vain. What, I ask, has been the consequence of these reiterated pardons? The daring of your foes has increased with your in- dulgence; they will only cease to injure you when deprived of the means of doing so. They must be conquerors or conquered. On this point all must agree; the man who will not see this great truth is, in my opinion, politically blind." The constitutionalists were opposed to all these measures; they did not deny the danger, but they considered such laws arbi- trary. They said that before everything it was necessary to respect the constitution, and from that time to confine themselves to precau- tionary measures ; that it w-as sufficient to keep on the defensive against the emigrants, and to w'ait, in order to punish the dis- sentient priests, till they discovered actual conspiracies on their part. They recommended that the law should not be violated even toward enemies, for fear that once engaging in such a course, it should be impossible to arrest that course, and so the revolution be lost, like the ancient regime, through its injustice. But the assem- bly, which deemed the safety of the state more important than the strict observance of the law, which saw danger in hesitation, and whicli, moreover, was influenced by passions which lead to expedi- tious measures, was not stopped by these considerations. With common consent it again, on October 30, passed a decree relative to the eldest brother of the king, Louis Stanislas Xavier. This prince was required, in the terms of the constitution, to return to France in tw(j months, or at the expiration of that period he would be considered to have forfeited his rights as regent. But agree- ment ceased as to the decrees against emigrants and priests. On November 9 the assembly resolved that the French gathered to- getlicr beyond tlie frontiers were suspected of conspiracy against tlieir country; tliat if tliey remained assembled on January i, 1792, they would he treated as conspirators, be punishable by death, and that after condemnation to death for contumacy, the proceeds of NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 159 1791 their estates were to be confiscated to the nation, always without prejudice to the rights of their wives, children, and lawful creditors. On the 29th of the same month it passed a similar decree respecting the dissentient priests. They were obliged to take the civic oath, under pain of being deprived of their pensions and suspected of revolt against the law. If they still refused, they were to be closely watched; and if any religious disturbances took place in their parishes, they were to be taken to the chief town of the department, and if found to have taken any part in exciting disobedience, they were liable to imprisonment. The king sanctioned the first decree respecting his brother; he put his veto on the other two. A short time before he had dis- avowed emigration by public measures, and he had written to the emigrant princes recalling them to the kingdom. He invited them to return in the name of the tranquillity of France, and of the at- tachment and obedience they owed to him as their brother and their king. " I shall," said he, in concluding the letter, " always be grateful to you for saving me the necessity of acting in opposition to you, through the invariable resolution I have made to maintain what I have announced." These wise invitations had led to no result: but Louis XVL, while he condemned the conduct of the emigrants, would not give his consent to the measures taken against them. In refusing his sanction he was supported by the friends of the constitution and the directory of the department. This support was not without use to him, at a time when, in the eyes of the people, he appeared to be an accomplice of emigration, when he provoked the dissatisfaction of the Girondists, and sep- arated himself from the assembly. He should have united closely with it, since he invoked the constitution against the emigrants in his letters, and against the revolutionists by the exercise of his prerogative. His position could only become strong by sincerely falling in with the first revolution, and making his own cause one with that of the bourgeoisie. But tlie court was not so resigned ; it still expected better times, and was thus prevented from pursuing an invariable line of conduct, and thus induced to seek grounds for hope in every quarter.y Now and then disposed to favor the intervention of foreign pow- ers, it continued to correspond with Europe; it intrigued with its ministers against the popular party, and made use of the Feuillants against the Girondists, though with much distrust. At this period 160 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 its chief resource was in the petty schemes of Bertrand de Molle- ville, who (Hrected the council ; who had estabhshed a Club frangais, the members of wliich he paid ; who purchased the applause of the tribunes of the assembly, hoping by this imitation of the revolu- tion to conquer the true revolution, his object being to deceive parties and annul the effects of the constitution by observing it literally. By this line of conduct the court had even the imprudence to weaken the constitutionalists, whom it ought to have reinforced; at their expense it favored the election of Petion to the mayoralty. Through tlie disinterestedness with which the preceding assembly had been seized, all who had held popular posts under it suc- cessively gave them up. On October i8 Lafayette resigned the command of the national guard, and Bailly had just retired from the mayoralty. The constitutional party proposed that Lafayette should replace him in this jfirst post of the state, which, by per- mitting or restraining insurrections, delivered Paris into the power of him who occupied it. Till then it had been in the hands of the constitutionalists, who by this means had repressed the rising of the Champ de Mars. They had lost the direction of the assem- bly, the command of the national guard ; they now lost the corpora- tion. The court gave to Petion, the Girondist candidate, all the votes at its disposal. " M. de Lafayette," observed the queen to Bertrand de Molleville, " only wishes to be mayor of Paris in order to become mayor of the palace. Petion is a Jacobin, a republican, but he is a fool, incapable of ever leading a party." On November 4 Petion was elected mayor by a majority of 6708 votes in a total of 10,632. Only one-eighth of those enjoying the franchise had gone to the polls! In this election flannel became public prose- cutor, Danton assistant prosecutor, and Santerre, the brewer of the Faubourg Saint Antoine, was made commander-in-chief of the national guard. It becomes necessary, at this place, to allude to an extremely important event of this time the revolt of San Domingo. San Domingo was a French \\'est Indian colony which had, for a long time, constituted an important factor in tlie economic life of the kingdom. The value of its imports to France preceding the revo- lution had been great. On ^lay 15, 1791, the national assembly abolished -lavery on all French soil, and conferred equal rights of citizenship uix)n all. This legislation was of a piece with that of NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 161 1791 August 4, 1789, for already the revolutionary propaganda had spread to the French colonies, and a fierce negro insurrection had taken place in San Domingo. Too late, September 23, the assem- bly saw its folly and repealed the act, substituting the right of self- rule by the island planters. But already the white population had revolted from France. There were three elements in San Do- mingo : ( I ) The wealthy whites, who discussed questions of rep- resentation being demanded from the mother country, or separation from her; (2) the 15,000 free mulattoes who deemed themselves entitled to some share in the blessings of the revolution; (3) even the 400,000 slaves laid claim to the Rights of Man. The free colored people arose, supported by the slaves. The whole island was turned into a field of fearful carnage. Only in the city the whites had some chance to hold their own sufficiently at least to save their lives. The effect of these events upon the mother country was seri- ous. Bankruptcies in the seaboard cities followed one another. Tropical products and sugar rose to unheard of prices. Riots grew frequent after December, 179 1. Organized bands captured the grain transports destined for the large cities and fixed the prices of the necessaries of life. The legislative assembly did nothing but denounce the ministers. It paid no attention to what the minis- ters demanded in order to enable them in the remotest degree to be a government.^ The Girondists were not content with the acquisition of the mayoralty. France could not remain long in this dangerous and provisional state. The decrees which, justly or otherwise, were to provide for the defense of the revolution, and which had been rejected by the king, were not replaced by any government meas- ure ; the ministry manifested either unwillingness or sheer indiffer- ence. The Girondists, accordingly, accused Delessart, tlie minister for foreign affairs, of compromising the honor and safety of the nation by the tone of his negotiations with foreign powers, by his procrastination and want of skill. They also warmly attacked Du Portail, minister of war, and Bertrand de ]\Iolleville, minister of the marine, for neglecting to put the coasts and frontiers in a state of defense. The conduct of the Electors of Treves, Mayence, and of the Bishop of Spire, who favored the military preparations "On the whole subject, see Von Sybel, "Ilistorv of the French Revolution," vol. III. ch. i. 162 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 of the emigrants, more especially excited the national indignation. The diplomatic committee proposed a declaration to the king, that the nation would view with satisfaction a requisition by him to the neighboring princes to disperse the military gatherings within three weeks, and his assembling the forces necessary to make them respect the right of nations. By this important measure they also wished to make Louis XVL enter into a solemn engagement and signify to the Diet of Ratisbon, as well as to the other courts of Europe, the firm intentions of France. Isnard ascended the tribune to support this proposition. " Let us," said he, " in this crisis rise to the full elevation of our mis- sion ; let us speak to the ministers, to the king, to all Europe, with the firmness that becomes us. Let us tell our ministers that hith- erto the nation is not well satisfied with the conduct of any of them ; that henceforth they will have no choice but between public grati- tude and the vengeance of the laws; and that by the word responsil)iHty we understand death. Let us tell the king that it is his interest to defend the constitution ; that he only reigns by the people, and for the people; that the nation is his sovereign, and that he is subject to the law. Let us tell Europe that if the French people once draw the sword, they will throw away the scabbard, and will not raise it again till it may be crowned wath the laurels of victory; that if cabinets engage kings in a war against the people, we will engage the people in a mortal warfare against kings. Let us tell them that all the fights the people shall fight at the order of despots " here he was interrupted by loud applause " Do not applaud," he cried " do not applaud ; respect my en- thusiasm; it is that of liberty! Let us say to Europe that all the fights which the people shall fight at the command of despots re- semble the blows that two friends, excited by a perfidious instiga- tor, inflict on each other in darkness. When light arrives they throw down their arms, embrace, and chastise their deceiver. So will it be if, when foreign armies are contending with ours, the light of philosophy shine upon them. The nations will embrace in the presence of dethroned tyrants of the earth consoled, of Heaven satisfied." The assembly unanimousl}^ and with transport, passed the proposed measure, and (jn November 29 sent a message to the king. Vaublanc was tlie leader of the deputation. " Sire," said he to Louis XVL, " the national assembly had scarcely glanced at NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 163 1791 the state of the nation ere it saw that the troubles which still agitate it arise from the criminal preparations of French emigrants. Their audacity is encouraged by German princes, who trample under foot the treaties between them and France, and affect to forget that they are indebted to this empire for the Treaty of Westphalia, which secured their rights and their safety. These hostile preparations, these threats of invasion, will require armaments absorbing im- mense sums, which the nation would joyfully pay over to its cred- itors. It is for you, sire, to make them desist; it is for you to address to foreign powers the language befitting the king of the French. Tell them that wherever preparations are permitted to be made against France, there France recognizes only foes ; that we will religiously observe our oath to make no conquests ; that we offer them the good neighborship, the inviolable friendship of a free and powerful people ; that we will respect their laws, their customs, and their constitutions; but that we will have our own respected! Tell them that if princes of Germany continue to favor preparations directed against the French, the French will carry into their territories, not indeed fire and sword, but liberty. It is for them to calculate the consequences of this rousing up of nations." Louis XVI. replied that he would give the fullest considera- tion to the message of the assembly; and in a few days he came in person to announce his resolutions on the subject. They were comformable with the general wish. The king said, amid ve- hement applause, that he would cause it to be declared to the Elector of Treves and the other electors that, unless all gatherings and hostile preparations on the part of the French emigrants in their states ceased before Januar)^ 15, he should consider them as enemies. Fie added that he would write to the emperor to engage him, as chief of the empire, to interpose his authority for the pur- pose of averting tlie calamities which the lengthened resistance of a few members of the Germanic body would occasion. " If these declarations are not heeded, then, gentlemen," said he, " it will only remain for me to propose war war, which a people who have solemnly renounced conquest, never declare without necessity, but which a free and generous nation will undertake and carry on when its honor and safety recjuire it." The steps taken by the king with the princes of the empire were supported by military preparations. On December 6 a new 16i THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1791 minister of war replaced Du Portail; Narbonne, taken from the Feuillants, young, active, ambitious of distinguishing himself by the triumph of his party and the defense of the revolution, repaired immediately to the frontiers. A hundred and fifty thousand men were placed in requisition; for this object the assembly voted an extraordinary supply of twenty millions of francs; three armies were formed under the command of Rochambeau, Luckner, and Lafayette and finally a decree was passed impeaching Monsieur, the Count d'Artois, and the Prince de Conde as conspirators against the general safety of the state and of the constitution. Their prop- erty was sequestrated, and the period previously fixed on for ^Monsieur's return to the kingdom having expired, he was deprived of his claim to the regency. Most of this demur against the emperor and other foreign princes for their support of the emigrants was mere verbiage. The Girondists were determined to have war and had fixed upon a war policy, because their efforts to overthrow the monarchy by previous means had failed. They had endeavored and partially succeeded in antagonizing the king and the nation by their drastic legisla- tion against the king's brothers, and the nonjuring priests. Now they advocated war as a last resort. They argued, in event of a successful war, they as the authors of it could dictate their ideas to the king and the nation, i. e., a republican government; on the other hand, in event of failure in w^ar, they calculated that at least such an event would overwhelm the monarchy, and then, upon its ruins, they would hope to erect a republic. Very curiously, the constitutionalists were also in favor of war. They counted that successful war would make the king sufficiently strong to enable him to recover authority as the executive ; w^hile, if unsuccessful, the patriotism of France would rally around the king and endow him with dictatorial powers. Thus it came to pass that two par- ties hostile to one another both wanted war. This accounts for Xarbonne's presence as minister of war in the cabinet. But the Girondists were also influenced by other motives. Their financial situation involved the whole policy and success of the party. The danger of emitting the assignats had now become manifest. All the evils of an ill-regulated paper currency were besetting France. The first emission of four hundred millions had not reduced the debt at all, and had perceptibly injured the credit of the government. In August, 1790, the public debt was esti- NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 165 1791 mated at 190,000,000 livres. Nevertheless an additional issue of 800,000,000 in assignats was made in September, an action which had some influence upon Necker's resignation. Now, in prospect of war, recourse was again had to the press and new currency was printed. The national assembly, for current expenses, had spent 800,000,000. Other resources than the paper-press did not exist, so it was resolved on December 17 to issue 300,000,000 more, and in the worst possible shape, that is, in notes from 50 to 10 sou (about one dollar to 20 cents). The aggregate of assignats in December, 1791, amounted to 2,000,000,000. The calculations of the revolutionists were anything but dis- tinguished for sobriety and exactness. Narbonne was compelled to ask for a law for the more effective levying of troops, for the actual number of troops fell fully 50,000 short of the number on the paper. The French marine was more an object of contempt than of apprehension. Narbonne's glowing reports had been composed for the satis- faction of the galleries. There was an insufficient number of men, and especially of officers ; in ever-increasing numbers they were leaving the country. Four weeks of campaign soon swallowed 52,000,000. Claviere proposed to declare France bankrupt in order to carry on the war. On April 27 300,000,000 of assignats were issued. On May 15 it was resolved to stop payment of all debts which amounted to more than 10,000 livres till further notice. Robespierre was the only notable leader opposed to the idea of war. He had been from the beginning decidedly against war. " This war," he said, " was planned by the court and all the ene- mies of liberty in order to form a fit instrument for a counter- revolution and an army hostile to the people. It is madness to commence war against the audacious despots under any leader like Lafayette, the traitor and venal henchman of despotism, against whom the cries of the patriots murdered on July 17 call to Heaven." He could keep the Jacobin club divided on the war question, but he could not prevail upon it to adopt his views. Brissot carried the day, but at the expense of complete rupture with Robespierre. Narbonne and the Girondists plotted war with the view of getting hold of the reins of government. \\'ith him, as with hundreds of others, personal wishes and desires were the only true motives of his doings. On the contrary, the policy of the powers was a pacific one. 166 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION In December, 1791, Austria, Prussia, and Bavaria came to an agreement that the force of amicable argument should be tried once more. But the Girondists were determined to have a war, because they were tempted by bloody laurels, and because they hoped a war would help them out of many of the dangers with which they did not know how to deal. Brissot delivered a speech at the Jacobins which left no doubt as to who it was who really wanted war. He said : " We need war firmly to establish liberty. We need war to cure it from the vices of despotism. We need war to rid ourselves of the men who could destroy it." The assembly determined to force the hand of the emperor. It looked on the electors as merely his agents, and on the emigrants as his instruments; for the Prince von Kaunitz recognized as legitimate " the league of sovereigns united for the safety and honor of crowns." The Girondists, therefore, wished to anticipate war, in order not to give Austria time for more mature prepara- tions. They required from the emperor, before February 10, a definite and precise explanation of his real intentions with regard to France.* They at the same time proceeded against those minis- ters on whom they could not rely in the event of war. The inca- pacity of Delessart, and the intrigues of Molleville especially, gave room for attack ; Narbonne was alone spared. What " gave room for attack " still more was the attitude of England. Late in January, 1791, Talleyrand had been sent to England, authorized to propose the cession of the island of France and Bourbon, and the island of Tobago, as the price of an alliance against the emperor. Brissot de Warville even went so far as to 4 ^ligiiet has omitted certain important details concerning Leopold's conduct at tliis time. I quote from Fyffe, " History of Modern Europe," vol. I. pp. lo-ii : " On January i6, 1792, Louis informed the assembly that the emigrants had been expelled from the electorate and acknowledged the good offices of Leopold in effecting this result. The substantial cause of war seemed to have disap- peared ; but another had risen in its place. In a note of December 21 the Aus- trian minister Kavmitz used expressions which implied that a league of the powers was still in existence against France. Nothing could have come more opporttmcly for the war party in the assembly. Brissot cried for an immediate declaration of war, and appealed to the French nation to vindicate its honor by an attack both upon the emigrants and upon their imperial protector. The issue depended upon the relative power of the crown and the opposition. , Leopold saw that war was inevitable unless the constitutional party, which was still in rifFire. rallied for one last effort and gained a decisive victory over its antagonists. In tlir hfipe of turning pulilic opinion against the Gironde, he permitted Kaunitz to ^(.nd a flispatcli to Paris which loaded the leaders of the war party with abuse and exhorted tlic brenth nation to deliver itself from men who would bring NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 167 1791 propose the retrocession of Calais and Dunkirk. Further, Talley- rand offered to destroy the fortifications of Cherbourg, over against Portsmouth, and an extension of commercial advantages. When England refused to enter into an alliance with France, Tal- leyrand asked Pitt for a promise of English neutrality. This he got, but events soon put an end to this attitude on the part of England. When the Girondists heard that England was determined to remain neutral they pressed with more energy to war. Narbonne, the minister of war, being eager for war, Delessart and the Feuillants thought that by crowding him out of the cabinet it would still be possible to obviate war. Not to provoke public opinion, the stanch royalist, Bertrand de Molleville, should go at the same time. Rochambeau, Luckner, and Lafayette wrote let- ters from the frontier in which they declared the dismissal a public calamity, and these letters were published in the papers. Mean- while the emperor had officially announced his determination not to go to war unless he was absolutely left to no choice. He in- formed the Elector of Treves that the emigrant corps must be dissolved at once, and the elector obeyed the imperial orders. On February 17 the emperor replied to the decree of the as- sembly. He mentioned how he had enforced the dissolution of the emigrant corps, and that he honestly desired peace. He said the European coalition had but a conditional existence since the adoption of the constitution by the king, but that it would not be dropped while the king was endangered by republican faction. But Leopold did not live to see one of the greatest wars in history actually declared. On ]\Iarch 9 the news was received that Leopold had died. He was succeeded by his son, Francis H., great in nothing but his absolutistic obtuseness and his crusade zeal upon it the hostility of Europe (February 17). The dispatch gave singular proof of the inability of the cleverest sovereign and the most experienced minister of the age to distinguish between the fears of a timid cabinet and the impulses of an excited nation. Leopold's vituperations might have had the intended effect if they had been addressed to the Margrave of Baden or the Doge of Venice; addressed to the French nation and its popular assembly in the height of civil conflict, they were as oil poured upon the flames. Leopold ruined the party which he meant to reinforce ; he threw the nation into the arms of those whom he attacked. His dispatch was received in the assembly with alternate murmurs and bursts of laughter; in the clubs it excited a wild outburst of rage. The exchange of diplomatic notes continued for a few weeks more; but the real answer of France to Austria was the ' Marseillaise' composed at Strasburg almost simultaneously with Kaunitz's attack upon the Jacobins." 168 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 against the revolution. Leopold, had he remained living, could not have avoided war, but the character of the war would have been somewhat different. The first impression produced in Paris by his death was that the preservation of peace had been secured, so com- pletely had the Girondists pulled the wool over the eyes of the people. In truth Leopold's death had broken down the last bar- rier. The war party was aided by the divisions of the council, which was partly aristocratic in Bertrand de Molleville, Delessart, and others, and partly constitutional, in Narbonne and Cahier de Gerville, minister of the interior. Men so opposed in character and intentions could scarcely be expected to agree; Bertrand de Molle- ville had warm contests with Narbonne, who wished his colleagues to adopt a frank, decided line of conduct, and to make the assembly the fulcrum of the throne. Narbonne succumbed in this struggle, and his dismissal involved the disorganization of the ministry. The Girondists threw the blame upon Bertrand de Molleville and Delessart; the former had the address to exonerate himself, but the latter was brought before the high court of Orleans. Brissot made a furious attack upon Delessart, on the strength of the cor- respondence with Austria, which the assembly had received with applause. Brissot now demanded the minister to be impeached for high treason. Violent denunciation made up for his utter lack of proof, and Delessart was thrown into prison. As Lafayette had some share in the overthrow of the old cabinet, so now he had sufficient influence in the formation of the new to prevent its being exclusively Girondist. The minister of war, Du Grave, had been brought into the cabinet by Delessart ; still his relation to Petion and Gensonne con- nected him with the Girondists. Claviere, the minister of finance, and Duranthon, the minister of justice, were considered Giron- dists.^ 1 lie king, intimidated by the assaults of the assembly upon the members of his council, and more especially by the impeachment of Delessart. had no resource but to select his new ministers from among the victorious party. An alliance wnth the actual rulers of the rev(jhition cr)u](l alone save liberty and the tlirone, by restor- Hig concord between the assembly, the supreme authority, and the niunicipriliiy; and if this union had been maintained, the ^ Sec Von SyKl, " JJistory of the French Revolution," vol. I. 433-435. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 169 1792 Girondists would have effected with the court that which, after the rupture itself, they considered they could only effect without it. The members of the new ministry were: Minister of the marine, Lacoste; of finance, Claviere; of justice, Duranthon; of war, Du Grave, soon afterward replaced by Servian ; o foreign affairs, Dumouriez ; of the interior, Roland. The two latter were the most important and most remarkable men in the cabinet. Dumouriez was forty-seven years of age when the revolution began ; he had lived till then immersed in intrigue, and he retained his old habits too closely at an epoch when he should have employed small means only to aid great ones, instead of supplying their place. The first part of his political life was spent in seeking those by whom he might rise : the second, those by whom he might maintain his position. A courtier up to 1789, a constitutionalist under the first assembly, a Girondist under the second, a Jacobin under the republic, he was eminently a man of circumstances. But he had all the resources of great men : an enterprising character, indefatigable activity, a ready, sure, and extensive perception, im- petuosity of action, and an extraordinary confidence of success ; he was, moreover, open, easy, witty, daring; adapted alike for arms and for factions, full of expedients, wonderfully ready, and, in difficult positions, versed in the art of stooping to conquer. It is true that his great qualities were weakened by defects; he was rash, flighty, full of inconsistency of thought and action, owing to his continual thirst for movement and machination. But his great defect was the total absence of a political conviction. In times of revolution nothing can be done for liberty or power by him who is not decidedly of one party or another, and when he is ambitious, unless he see further than the immediate objects of that party, and have a stronger will than his colleagues. This it was made Cromwell ; this it was made Bonaparte ; -while Dumouriez, the employed of all parties, thought he could get the better of them all by intriguing. He wanted the passion of his time: that which completes a man and alone enables him to sway. Roland was the opposite of Dumouriez; he had simple man- ners, austere morals, tried opinions; enthusiastically attached to lil)- erty, he was capable of disinterestedly devoting to her cause his whole life, or of perishing for her, without ostentation and without regret. A man worthy of being born in a republic, but out of place in a revolution, and ill adapted for the agitation and struggle of 170 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 parties ; his talents were not superior, his temper somewhat uncom- pliant; his political sagacity was confined to the maxim that to secure increased liberty the power of the crown must be absolutely paralyzed. He had no sense of official decorum, and was never anything more tlian the minister of his faction. He had formerly been an official of the treasury department. He was unskilled in the knowledge and management of men; and though laborious, well informed, and active, he would have produced little effect but for his wife. Madame Roland attracted men not by her youth or beauty, but by her intellect and the restless urgency of her political ambition. All he wanted she had for him ; force, ability, elevation, foresight. Madame Roland was the soul of the Gironde; it was at her house that those brilliant and courageous men assembled to discuss the necessities and dangers of their country; it was she who stimulated to action those who she saw were qualified for action, and who encouraged to the tribune those whom she knew to be eloquent.*' The court named this ministry, which was appointed during the month of March, Le jMinistere Sans-Culotte. The first time Roland appeared at the chateau with strings in his shoes and a round hat, contrary to etiquette, the master of the ceremonies re- fused to admit him. Obliged, however, to give way, he said despairingly to Dumouriez, pointing to Roland; "Ah, sir no buckles in his shoes." " Ah, sir, all is lost," replied Dumouriez, with an air of the most sympathizing gravity. Such were the trifles which still occupied the attention of the court. The first step of the new ministry was w^ar. The position of France was becoming more and more dangerous ; everything was to be feared from the enmity of Europe. Leopold was dead, and this event w^as calcu- lated to accelerate the decision of the cabinet of Vienna. His young successor, Francis 11., was likely to be less pacific or less prudent than he. Moreover, Austria was assembling its troops, forming camps, and appointing generals ; it had violated the terri- tory of Bale, and placed a garrison in Porentrury, to secure for itself the entry of the department of Doubs. There could be no doubt as to its projects. The gatherings at Coblentz had recom- "TIic reader is referred to the following upon Madame Roland: Stephens, vol. If. pp. r^-if); Von Syhel, vol. I. p. 378: St. Beaiive, "Portraits of Celebrated WoiTu-n"; Danbaiii. "Etude snr Madame Roland"; Yonge, "Life," etc.; Ida M. '1 arbell. " Madame Roland." NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 171 1792 menced to a greater extent than before ; the cabinet of Vienna had only temporarily dispersed the emigrants assembled in the Belgian provinces, in order to prevent the invasion of that country at a time when it was not yet ready to repel invasion ; it had, however, merely sought to save appearances, and had allowed a staff of gen- eral officers, in full uniform and with the white cockade, to re- main at Brussels. Finally, the renly of the Prince von Kaunitz to the required explanations was by no means satisfactory. He even refused to negotiate directly, and the Baron von Cobentzel was commissioned to reply that Austria would not depart from the required conditions already set forth. The reestablishment of the monarchy on the basis of the royal sittings of the 23d of June ; the restitution of its property to the clergy; of the territory of Alsace, with all their rights, to the German princes ; of Avignon and the Venaissin to the Pope; such was the ultimatum of Austria, All accord was now impossible ; peace could no longer be maintained. France was threatened with the fate which Holland had just ex- perienced, and perhaps with that of Poland. The sole question now was whether to wait for or to initiate war, whether to profit by the enthusiasm of the people or to allow that enthusiasm to cool. The true author of war is not he who declares it, but he who renders it necessary. In justice to Austria it should be stated, however, that these terms were required only after Dumouriez, in imperative and cate- gorical terms, had demanded that Austria should both dissolve the alliance with Prussia and disarm. Count Cobentzel's demand was a counter-demand. The Girondists seem to have made a demand impossible to comply with, in order that war might be inevitable, but at the same time that they might escape criticism for having provoked it. Was the war thus begun offensive or defensive ? ^ On April 20, 1792, Louis XVI. went to the assembly, attended by all his ministers. " I come, gentlemen," said he, " to the national assembly for one of the most important objects that can occupy the representatives of the nation. I\Iy minister for foreign affairs will read to you the report drawn up in our council, as to our political situation." Dumouriez then rose. He set forth the "Upon the grounds of war, see Von Sybcl, '"'History of the French Revo- lution, vol. I. pp. 381-304; Fyffc, "Modern F.urope," vol. I. pp. 11-13; Stephens, "French Revolution." vol. Tl, pp. 66-78; Thiers, "French Revolution," vol. I. pp. 236-239; Talleyrand, "Memoirs," vol. T. pp. 166-167. Upon the condition of Europe at this time, see Fyffe, " Modern Europe," vol. I. pp. 14-40. 172 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 grounds of complaint that France had against the house of Austria; the object of the conferences of Mantua, Reichenbach, and Pilnitz ; the coaHtion it had formed against the French Revolu- tion; its armaments becoming more and more considerable; the open protection it afforded to bodies of emigrants; the imperious tone and the undisguised procrastination of its negotiations; lastly, the intolerable conditions of its ultimatum ; and after a long series of considerations founded on the hostile conduct of the King of Hungary and Bohemia (Francis H. was not yet elected emperor) ; on the urgent circumstances of the nation; on its formally declared resolution to endure no insult, no encroachment on its rights; on the honor and good faith of Louis XVI., the depositary of the dignity and safety of France, he demanded war against Austria. Lous XVL then said, in a voice slightly tremulous : " You have heard, gentlemen, the result of my negotiations with the court of Vienna. The conclusions of the report are based upon the unan- imous opinion of my council ; I have myself adopted them. They are conformable with the wishes often expressed to me by the national assembly, and with the sentiments frequently testified by bodies of citizens in different parts of the kingdom; all prefer war to witnessing the continuance of insult to the French people, and danger threatening the national existence. It was my duty first to try every means of maintaining peace. Having failed in these efforts, I now come, according to the terms of the constitution, to propose to the national assembly war against the King of Hungary and Bohemia." The king's address was received with some ap- plause, but the solemnity of the circumstances and the grandeur of the decision filled every bosom with silent and concentrated emo- tion. As soon as the king had withdrawn the assembly voted an extraordinary sitting for the evening. In that sitting war was almost unanimously decided upon. Thus was undertaken, against the chief of the confederate powers, that war which was protracted throughout a quarter of a century, which victoriously established the revolution, and which changed the whole face of Europe. All France received the announcement with joy. War gave a new movement to the people already so excited. Districts, munic- ipalities, and popular societies wrote addresses; men were enrolled, voluntary gifts offered, pikes forged, and the nation seemed to rise up tu await Europe, or to attack it. But enthusiasm, which ensures victory in the end, does not at first supply the ])lace of NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 173 1792 organization. Accordingly, at the opening of the campaign the regular troops were all that could be relied upon until the new levies were trained. This was the state of the forces. The vast frontier from Dunkirk to Huninguen was divided into three great military districts. On the left from Dunkirk to Philippeville, the army of the north was under the orders of Marshal de Rocham- beau. Lafayette commanded the army of the center, occupying the district between Philippeville and the lines of Weissenburg. Lastly, the army of the Rhine, extending from the lines of Weissenburg to Bale, was under the command of Marshal Luckner. The frontier of the Alps and Pyrenees was confided to General Montesquiou, whose army was inconsiderable; but that part of France was not as yet in danger. The Marshal de Rochambeau was of opinion that it would be prudent to remain on the defensive and simply to guard the fron- tiers. Dumouriez, on the contrary, wished to take the initiative in action, as they had done in declaring war, so as to profit by the advantage of being first prepared. He was very enterprising, and as, although minister of foreign affairs, he directed the military operations, his plan was adopted. It consisted of a rapid invasion of Belgium. This province had, in 1790, essayed to throw off the Austrian yoke, but, after a brief victory, was subdued by superior force. Dumouriez imagined that the Brabant patriots would favor the attack of the French as a means of freedom for them- selves. With this view, he combined a triple invasion. The two generals, Theobald Dillon and Biron, who commanded in Flanders under Rochambeau, received orders to advance, the one with 4000 men from Lille upon Tournai, the other with 10,000 from Valenciennes upon I\Ions. At the same time Lafayette with a part of his army quitted j\Ietz and advanced by forced marches upon Namur, by Stenai, Sedan. Mezieres, and Givet. But this plan implied in the soldiers a discipline which they had not of course as yet acquired, and on the part of the chiefs a concert very difficult to obtain ; besides, the invading columns were not strong enough for sucli an enterprise. Theobald Dillon had scarcely passed the frontier when, on meeting the first enemy on April 28, a panic terror seized upon the troops. The cry of sauvc qui pent ran through the ranks, and the general was carried off and massa- cred by his troops. Aluch the same thing took place, under the same circumstances, in the corps of Biron, who was obliged to 174 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 retreat in disorder to his previous position. The sudden and con- current flij^ht of these two columns must be attributed either to fear of the enemy, on the part of troops who had never before stood fire, or to a distrust of their leaders, or to traitors who sounded the alarm of treachery. Lafayette, on arriving at Bouvines, after traveling fifty leagues of bad roads in two or three days, learned the disasters of Valenciennes and Lille; he at once saw that the object of the in- vasion had failed ; and he justly thought that the best course would be to effect a retreat. Rochambeau complained of the precipitate and incongruous nature of the measures which had been in the most absolute manner prescribed to him. As he did not choose to remain a passive machine, obliged to fill, at the will of the minis- ters, a post of which he himself ought to have the full direction, he resigned. From that moment the French army resumed the defensive. The frontier was divided into two general commands only, the one intrusted to Lafayette, extending from the sea to Longwy, and the other, from the Moselle to the Jura, being con- fided to Luckner. Lafayette placed his left under the command of Arthur Dillon, and with his right reached to Luckner, who had Dillon as his lieutenant on the Rhine. In this position they awaited the allies. Meantime the first checks increased the disunion of the Feuillants and the Girondists. The generals ascribed to them the plans of Dumouriez, the ministry attributed them to the manner in which its plans had been executed, or rather, not executed, by the generals, who, having been appointed by Narbonne, were of the constitutional party. The Jacobins, on the other hand, accused the anti-revolutionists of having occasioned the flight by the cry of sairo'c qui pent! Their joy, which they did not conceal, the declared hope of soon seeing the confederates in Paris, the emi- grants returned, and the ancient regime restored, confirmed these suspicions. It was thought that the court, which had increased the household troops from 1800 to 6000 men, and these carefully selected anti-revolutionists, acted in concert with the coalition. The public denounced, under the name of Comite Autrichien, a secret committee, the very existence of which could not be proved, and mistrust was at its height. The asscml)ly at once took decided measures. It had entered upon the career of war, and it was thenceforth condemned to regu- NATIONAL ASSEMBLE 175 1792 late its conduct far more with reference to the pubhc safety than with regard to the mere justice of the case. It resolved upon sit- ting permanently, although it was shallow pretension for the Girondists to assert that a permanent sitting was made necessary by reason of the war. The Girondists' principal purpose was to break down the power of the king, which they hoped to do in this way. They actually established a republican newspaper with the government money. The assembly discharged the household troops; on account of the increase of religious disturbances it passed a decree exiling refractory priests, so that it might not have at the same time to combat a coalition and to appease revolts. It also sought to excite the public mind by revolutionary fetes, and began to enroll the multitude and arm them with pikes, conceiving that no assistance could be superfluous in such a moment of peril. The establishment of the camp of the federates was another scheme of the Girondists to overcome the monarchy. The minister moved on June 4 that every canton should be ordered to send five men to the anniversary of the Bastile. After the festival these 20,000 men were to be encamped near Paris and be given the artil- lery of the national guard. Thus the feet of the national guard were to be chained and the Gironde proposed getting an army of its own. In vain petitions were sent to the assembly to pray it to desist from the formation of the camp of the federates. Lafayette now again formed the Feuillants, and Dumouriez de- termined to break with the Gironde. Dumouriez read a long memoir concerning the pitiable condition of the army, and laid the blame upon the Girondist ministers, Du Grave and Servan. The king could not be prevailed upon to confinn this indictment, and Dumouriez resigned. All these measures were not carried without opposition from the constitutionalists. They opposed the establishment of the camp of 20,000 men, which they regarded as the army of a party directed against the national guard and the throne. The staff of the latter protested, and the recomposition of this body was imme- diately effected in accordance with the views of the dominant party. Companies armed with pikes were introduced into tlie new national guard. The constitutionahsts were still more dissatisfied with this measure, wliich introduced a lower class into their ranks, and which seemed to them to aim at superseding the bourgeoisie by the populace. Finally, they openly condemned the banishment of 176 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 the priests, which in their opinion was nothing less than pro- scription. Louis XVL had for some time past manifested a coolness toward his ministers, who on their part had been more exacting with him. They urged him to admit about him priests who had taken the oath, in order to set an example in favor of the constitutional religion, and to remove pretexts for religious agitation; he steadily refused this, determined as he was to make no further religious concession. These last decrees had put an end to his concord with the Gironde; for several days he did not mention the subject, much less make know^n his intentions respecting it. It w^as on this occasion that Roland addressed to him his celebrated letter on his consti- tutional duties, and entreated him to calm the public mind and to establish his authority, by becoming frankly the king of the revolu- tion. This letter still more highly irritated Louis XVL, already disposed to break with the Girondists. He was supported in this bv Dumouriez, who, forsaking his party, had formed, with Du- ranthon and Lacoste, a division in the ministry against Roland, Servan, and Claviere. But, able as well as ambitious, Dumouriez advised Louis, while dismissing the ministers of whom he had to complain, to sanction their decrees, in order to make himself popu- lar. He described that against the priests as a precaution in their favor, exile probably removing them from a proscription still more fatal ; he undertook to prevent any revolutionary consequences from the camp of 20,000 men by marching off each battalion to the army immediately upon its arrival at the camp. On these condi- tions Dumouriez took upon himself the post of minister of war and sustained the attacks of his own party. The king dismissed his ministers on June 13, and, acting wholly within his prerogative, rejected the decrees on the 29th, and Dumouriez set out for the army, after having rendered himself an object of suspicion. The assembly declared tliat Roland, Servan, and Claviere carried with them the regrets of tlie nation. The king selected his new ministers from among the Feuil- lants. Scipio Chambonnas was appointed minister of foreign affairs; Terrier ^lonteil, of the interior; Beaulieu, of finance; L<-ijarrc, of war; Lacoste and Duranthon remained provisionally ministers of justice and of the marine. All these men w'ere with- out reputation or credit, and their party itself was approaching the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 177 1792 term of its existence. The constitutional situation, during which it was to sway, was changing more and more decidedly into a revo- lutionary situation. How could a legal and moderate party main- tain itself between two extreme and belligerent parties, one of which was advancing from without to destroy the revolution, while the other was resolved to defend it at any cost? The Feuil- lants became superfluous in such a conjuncture. The king, per- ceiving their weakness, now seemed to place his reliance upon Europe alone, and sent Mallet-Dupan on a secret mission to the coalition. It has been well said that " the choice of such a man proves that the king had nothing to do with the emigrants." Meantime, all those who had been outstripped by the popular tide, and who belonged to the first period of the revolution, united to second this slight retrograde movement. The monarchists, at whose head were Lally-Tollendal and Malouet, two of the principal members of the Mounier and Necker party ; the Feuillants, directed by the old triumvirate, Duport, Lameth, and Barnave; lastly, La- fayette, W'ho had immense reputation as a constitutionalist, tried to put down the clubs and to reestablish legal order and the power of the king. The Jacobins made great exertions at this period ; their influence was becoming enormous; they were at the head of the party of the populace. To oppose them, to check them, the old party of the bourgeoisie was required ; but this was disorganized, and its influence grew daily weaker and weaker. In order to revive its courage and strength, Lafayette, on June i6, addressed from the camp at Maubeuge a letter to the assembly, in which he denounced the Jacobin faction, required the cessation of the clubs, the independence and confirmation of the constitutional throne, and urged the assembly in his own name, in that of his army, in tliat of all the friends of liberty, only to adopt such measures for the public welfare as were sanctioned by law. This letter gave rise to warm debates between the Right and Left in the assembly. Though dictated only by pure and disinterested motives, it ap- peared, coming as it did from a young general at the head of his army, a proceeding a. la Cromwell, and from that moment La- fayette's reputation, hitherto respected by his opponents, became the object of attack. In fact, considering it merely in a political point of view, this step was imprudent. The Gironde, driven from the ministry, stopped in its measures for the public good, needed no further goading; and, on the other hand, it was quite unde- 178 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 sirable that Lafayette, even for the benefit of his party, should use his influence. The Gironde wished, for its own safety and that of the nation, to recover power, without, however, departing from constitutional means. Its object was not, as at a later period, to dethrone the king, but to bring him back among them. For this purpose it had recourse to the imperious petitions of the multitude. Since the declaration of war petitioners had appeared in arms at the bar of the national assembly, had offered their services in defense of the country, and had obtained permission to march armed through the house. This concession was blamable, neutralizing all the laws against military gatherings; but both parties found themselves in an extraordinary position, and each employed an illegal means ; the court having recourse to Europe, and the Gironde to the people. The latter was in a state of great agitation. The leaders of the faubourgs, among whom were the deputy Chabot, Santerre, Le- gendre, a butcher, Gonchon, the Marquis de Saint Hurugues, pre- pared them, during several days, for a revolutionary outbreak, similar to the one which failed at the Champ de Mars. June 20 was approaching, the anniversary of the oath of the tennis-court. Under the pretext of celebrating this memorable day by a civic fete, and of planting a May pole in honor of liberty, an assemblage of about 8000 men left the faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Mar- ceau on June 20 and took their way to the assembly. Everyone was aware that not merely a harmless procession was intended. The worst of the Jacobin faction were the leaders of the scheme. Though Santerre and Alexandre were apparently the chief actors in it, Danton Was the mover behind the scenes. Petion's participation in this abominable policy of the Giron- dists was a disgrace to his office. June 20 w^as the supreme attempt of the Girondists to overwhelm the monarchy. They never afterward commanded so much power. In order to suc- ceed it was necessary to have Petion, the mayor, as an ally. Petion's desire to increase his power led him to aid the scheme on foot. On June 19 the directory of the department forbade the carrying out of the programme of the suburbs, because it was illegal for armed crowds to present petitions. Petion consulted with the captains, among whom were the leaders of the whole movement, Santerre and Alexandre. They declared it impossible to make the people desist from their purpose. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 170 1792 Upon the sugg-estion of St. Prix, that the illegal acts of the people might be made legal by ordering the guardians of the law to participate in these illegal acts, Petion wrote to the directory. The next morning Petion was again peremptorily ordered to prevent the crowd going armed. Petion was in no hurry to send the coun- ter-order, and when he did so he sent it by policemen who did not wish to give it. Several of the captains tried to make their men obey orders, but it was of no avail. Santerre, seeing the whole plot was likely to miscarry, called to his men : " Petion is with you ; forward march." Upon this the procession started, followed by dense crowds. The assembly was informed that 8000 men were coming to present petitions. The Right insisted on the law for- bidding the presentation of petitions of armed men. The Giron- dists assured the assembly that the mob had none but honest in- tentions.^ Vergniaud declared that the assembly would violate every principle by admitting armed bands among them; but, considering actual circumstances, he also declared that it was impossible to deny a request in the present case, that had been granted in so many others. It was difficult not to yield to the desires of an enthusiastic and vast multitude, when seconded by a majority of the representa- tives. The crowd already thronged the passages, when the assem- bly decided that the petitioners should be admitted to the bar. The deputation was introduced. The spokesman expressed himself in threatening language. He said that the people were astir; that they were ready to make use of great means the means comprised in the declaration of rights, resistance of oppression ; that the dis- sentient members of the assembly, if there were any, would purge the world of liberty, and would repair to Coblentz ; then, returning to the true design of this insurrectional petition, he added: "The executive power is not in union with you ; we require no other proof of it than the dismissal of the patriot ministers. It is thus, then, that the happiness of a free nation shall depend on the caprice of a king! But should this king have any other will than that of the law? The people will have it so, and the life of the people is as valuable as that of crowned despots. That life is the gen- ealogical tree of the nation, and the feeble reed must bend before ^ On these events see: Stephens, "French Revohition," vol. II. pp. 82-97; Thiers, '" French Revohition," vol. T., pp. 266-273 : Mortimer-Terneaux, " La Tcrrcnr," vol. I. pp. 129-223; Von Sybel, "French Revolution," vol. I. p. 476. 180 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 this sturdy oak ! We complain, gentlemen, of the inactivity of our armies; we require of you to penetrate into the cause of this; if it spring from the executive power, let that power be destroyed ! " The assembly answered the petitioners that it would take their request into consideration ; it then urged them to respect the law and legal authorities, and allowed them to defile before it. This procession, amounting to 30,000 persons, comprising women, children, national guards, and men armed with pikes, among whom waved revolutionary banners and symbols, sang, as they traversed the hall, the famous chorus, " Ca ira," and cried : " Vive la nation! " " Vivent les sans-culottes! " *' A has le veto! " It was led by San- terre and the Marquis de Saint Hurugues. On leaving the as- sembly it proceeded to the chateau, headed by the petitioners. The outer doors were opened at the king's command; the multitude rushed into the interior. They ascended to the apart- ments, and while forcing the doors wath hatchets, the king ordered them to be opened, and appeared before them, accompanied by a few persons. The mob stopped a moment before him ; but those who were outside, not being awed by the presence of the king, continued to advance. Louis XVI. was prudently placed in the recess of a window. He never displayed more courage than on this deplor- able day. Surrounded by national guards, who formed a barrier against the mob, seated on a chair placed on a table, that he might breathe more freely and be seen by the people, he preserved a calm and firm demeanor. In reply to the cries that arose on all sides for the sanction of the decrees, he said : " This is neither the mode nor the moment to obtain it of me." Having the courage to re- fuse the essential object of the meeting, he thought he ought not to reject a symbol, meaningless for him, but in the eyes of the people that of liberty: he placed on his head a red cap presented to him on the top of a pike. The multitude were quite satisfied with this condescension. A moment or two afterward they loaded him with applause, as, almcst suffocated with hunger and thirst, he drank off, without hesitation, a glass of wine presented to him by a half-drunken workman. In the meantime, Vergniaud, Isnard. and a few deputies of the Gironde had hastened thither to protect the king, to address the people, and put an end to these indecent scenes. The assembly, which had just risen from a sitting, met again in haste, terrified at this outbreak, and dispatched several successive deputations to Louis XVI. by way of protection. At NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 181 1792 length Petion, the mayor, himself arrived; he mounted a chair, harangued the people, urging them to retire without tumult, and the people obeyed. The events of June 20 excited the friends of the constitution against its authors. The violation of the royal residence, the insults offered to Louis XVL, the illegality of a petition presented amid the violence of the multitude, and the display of arms were subjects of serious censure against the popular party. The latter saw itself reduced for a moment to the defensive; besides being guilty of a riot, it had undergone a complete check. The constitu- tionalists assumed the tone and superiority of an offended and pre- dominant party; but this lasted only a short time, for they were not seconded by the court. The national guard offered to Louis XVL to remain assembled round his person ; the Due de la Roche- foucauld-Liancourt, who commanded at Rouen, wished to convey him to his troops, who were devoted to his cause. Lafayette pro- posed to take him to Compiegne and place him at the head of his army; but Louis XVL declined all these oft'ers. He conceived that the agitators would be disgusted at the failure of their last attempt ; and, as he hoped for deliverance from the coalition of European powers, rendered more active by the events of June 20, he was un- willing to make use of the constitutionalists, because he would have been obliged to treat with them. Lafayette, however, attempted to make a last effort in favor of legal monarchy. After having provided for the command of his army, and collected addresses protesting against the late events, he started for Paris, and on June 28 he unexpectedly presented himself at the bar of the assembly. He required in his name, as well as in that of his army, the punishment of the insurrectionists of June 20 and the destruction of the Jacobin party. His proceed- ing excited various sentiments in the assembly. The Right warmly applauded it, but the Left protested against his conduct. Guadet proposed that an inquiry should be made as to his culpability in leaving his army and coming to dictate laws to the assembly. Some remains of respect prevented the latter from following Gua- det's advice ; and after tumultuous debates Lafayette was admitted to the honors of the sitting, but this was all on the part of the assembly. Lafayette tlien turned to tlie national guard, that had su long been devoted to him, and hoped with its aid to close the rlubs, disperse the Jacobins, restore to Louis XVL the authority 182 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 which the law gave him, and again estabHsh the constitution. The revoUitionists were astounded, and dreaded everything from the daring and activity of this adversary of the Champ de Mars. But the court, which feared the triumph of the constitutionahsts, caused Lafayette's projects to fail; he had appointed a review, which it contrived to prevent by its influence over the officers of the royalist battalions. The grenadiers and chasseurs, picked companies, and those better disposed than the rest, were to assemble at his resi- dence and proceed against the clubs; scarcely thirty men came. Having thus vainly attempted to rally in the cause of the constitu- tion and the common defense, the court and the national guard, and finding himself deserted by those he came to assist, Lafayette returned to his army, after having lost what little influence and popularity remained to him. This attempt was the last symptom of life in the constitutional party. The assembly naturally returned to the situation of France, which had not changed. The extraordinary commission of twelve presented, through Pastoret, an unsatisfactory picture of the state and divisions of party. Jean Debry, in the name of the same commission, proposed that the assembly should secure the tran- quillity of the people, now greatl)^ disturbed, by declaring that when the crisis became imminent the assembly would declare the country to be in danger, and that it would then take measures for the public safety. The debate opened upon this important subject. Vergniaud, in a speech which deeply moved the assembly, drew a vivid picture of all the perils to which the country was at that mo- ment exposed. He said that it was in the name of the king that the emigrants were assembled, that the sovereigns of Europe had formed a coalition, that foreign armies were marching on the fron- tiers, and that internal disturbances were taking place. He accused him of checking the national zeal by his refusals, and of giving France up to the coalition. He quoted the article of the constitution by which it was declared that " if the king placed himself at the head of an army and directed its force against the nation, or if he did not formally oppose such an enterprise, undertaken in his name, he should be considered as having abdicated the throne." Supposing, tlien, tliat Louis XVT. voluntarily opposed the means of defending the country, in th.at case, said he : " Have we not a right to say to him: *0 king, who tliought, no doubt, with the tyrant Lysander, that truth was of no more worth than falsehood, and that men were NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 18S 1792 to be amused by oaths, as children are diverted by toys; who only feigned obedience to the laws that you might better preserve the power that enables you to defy them; and who only feigned love for the constitution that it might not precipitate you from the throne on which you wished to remain, only to destroy the consti- tution, do you expect to deceive us by hypocritical protestations? Do you think to deceive us as to our misfortunes by the art of your excuses? Was it defending us to oppose to foreign soldiers forces whose known inferiority admitted of no doubt as to their defeat? to set aside projects for strengthening the interior? Was it de- fending us not to check a general who was violating the constitu- tion, while you repressed the courage of those who sought to serve it? Did the constitution leave you the choice of ministers for our happiness or our ruin ? did it place you at the head of our army for our glory or our shame? did it give you the right of sanction, a civil list and so many prerogatives, constitutionally to lose the empire and the constitution? No! no! Man, whom the generosity of the French could not affect, whom the love of despotism alone actuates, you are now nothing to the constitution you have so unworthily violated, and to the people you have so basely betrayed ! ' " The only recourse of the Gironde, in its present situation, was the abdication of the king; Vergniaud, it is true, as yet only expressed himself ambiguously, but all the popular party attributed to Louis XVL projects which Vergniaud had only expressed in the form of suppositions. In a few days Brissot expressed him- self more openly. " Our peril," said he, " exceeds all that past ages have witnessed. The country is in danger, not because we are in want of troops, not because those troops want courage, or that our frontiers are badly fortified, and our resources scanty. No; it is in danger because its force is paralyzed. And who has paralyzed it? A man one man. the man wliom the constitution has made its chief, and whom perfidious advisers have made its foe. You are told to fear the kings of Hungary and Prussia; I say the chief force of these kings is at the court, and it is there that we must first conquer them. They tell you to strike the dissentient priests throughout tlie kingdom. I tell you to strike at the Tuile- ries, that is, to fell all the priests with a single blow; you are told to prosecute all factious and intriguing conspirators ; thev will all disappear if you once knock loud enough at the door of the cabinet 184, THE FRP:NCH REVOLUTION 1792 of the Tuileries, for that cabinet is the point to which all these threads tend, where every scheme is plotted, and whence every im- pulse proceeds. The nation is the plaything of this cabinet. This is the secret of our position, this is the source of the evil, and here the remedy must be applied." In this way the Gironde prepared the assembly for the ques- tion of deposition. But the great question concerning the danger of the country was first terminated. The three united committees declared that it was necessary to take measures for the public safety, and on July 5 the assembly pronounced the solemn declara- tion: Citizens, the country is in danger! All the civil authorities immediately established themselves en surveillance permanente. All citizens able to bear arms, and having already served in the national guard, were placed in active service ; everyone was obliged to make known what arms and ammunition he possessed ; pikes were given to those who were unable to procure guns; battalions of volunteers were enrolled on the public squares, in the midst of which banners were placed bearing the words " Citizens, the country is in danger! " and a camp was formed at Soissons. These measures of defense, now become indispensable, raised the revolu- tionary enthusiasm to the highest pitch. It was especially observ- able on the anniversary of July 14, when the sentiments of the multitude and the federates from the departments were mani- fested without reserve. Petion was the object of the people's idolatry, and had all the honors of the federation. A few days before he had been dismissed, on account of his conduct on June 20, by the directory of the department and the council ; but the assembly had restored him to his functions, and the only cry on the (lay of the federation was: "Petion or death!" The directory of the department had undertaken an examination of the events of the 20th and declared and decreed the suspension of Petion and ? C'.i.-eur ]\Ianucl. The approval of the king was necessary, though the national assembly was empowered to annul the sentence, even after the approval of the king. If the king confirmed the sen- tence, he again provoked the passions of the masses; if he did not, he delivered tlie directory, which strove to maintain law and order, up to the rage of the mob. He asked them to dispense with his action, but tlic Left refused. Petiticn alter petition was sent in for the reinstatement of Petion in his office. On the 12th the king's approval of the sus- NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 185 1792 pension was sent in. Petion appeared before the assembly and hurled accusation and insult upon the directory and the king. The Right demanded to have the documents bearing on the case read. The Left thought no proofs were needed. The suspension of the mayor was canceled. The national guard and the great majority of the better classes of the population were incensed and disgusted over the 20th. A petition in this sense received 20,000 signatures. The directory of the department is entitled to praise for having done with resoluteness and circumspectness everything in its power to set things right, but its legal power did not correspond with its will and judgment. The constitution had created the hierarchical power of the public authorities, but not in a single case had it accorded the higher authorities the means effectually to control their inferiors. The Girondists had not the heart to take the lead of the ele- ments who evidently were very soon to dictate the law. On July 20, Guadet, Gensonne, and Vergniaud sent a letter to the king offering him an alliance. It was as certain that the king would not accede to their request as that it would be regarded by the Jacobins as a capital crime. The leaders were very much sur- prised at the refusal of the king. Guadet moved an address to the king. The Left boldly took the offensive. Couthon even ad- vocated that in the future the decrees necessitated by circumstances should not need the approval of the king. As the assembly could declare any law such, it would be the abolishment of the constitu- tional veto power of the king. The assembly contented itself with simply affirming the existing law against armed crowds and the presentation of petitions by such. The Radicals grew bolder, and intended to renew the demands of the 20th on the 21st and the 27th, but it was not carried out. A few battalions of the national guard, such as that of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, still betrayed attachment to tlie court; tliey became the object of popu- lar resentment and mistrust. A disturbance was excited in the Champs Elysees between the grenadiers of the Filles-Saint-Thomas and the federates of Marseilles, in which some grenadiers were wounded. Every day the crisis became more imminent ; the party in favor of war could no longer endure that of the constitution. Attacks against Lafayette multiplied; he was censured in the jour- nals, denounced in the assembly. At length hostilities began. 186 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 The club of the Feuillants was closed ; the grenadier and chasseur companies of the national guard which formed the force of the bourgeoisie were disbanded; the soldiers of the line, and a portion of the Swiss, were sent away from Paris, and open preparations were made for the catastrophe of August lo. The progress of the Prussians and the famous manifesto of Brunswick contributed to hasten this movement. Prussia had joined Austria and the German princes gainst France. This coali- tion, to which the court of Turin joined itself, was formidable, though it did not comprise all the princes that were to have joined it at first. The death of Gustavus, appointed at first commander of the invading army, detached Sweden ; the substitution of the Count d'Aranda, a prudent and moderate man, for the minister Blanca-Florida, prevented Spain from entering it; Russia and England secretly approved the attacks of the European league, without as yet cooperating with it. After the military operations already mentioned they watched each other rather than fought. During the interval Lafayette had inspired his anny with good habits of discipline and devotedness ; and Dumouriez, stationed under Luckner at the camp of Maulde, had inured the troops con- fided to him by petty engagements and daily successes. In this way they had formed the nucleus of a good army, a desirable thing, as they required organization and confidence to repel the approaching invasion of the coalesced powers. The Duke of Brunswick directed it. He had the chief com- mand of the enemy's army, composed of 70,000 Prussians and 68,000 Austrians, Hessians, or emigrants. The plan of invasion was as follows. The Duke of Brunswick w^ith the Prussians was to pass the Rhine at Coblentz, ascend the left bank of the Moselle, attack the French frontier by its central and most accessible point, and advance on the capital by way of Longwy, Verdun, and Chalons. The Prince de Hohenlohe, on his left, was to advance in the direction of Aletz and Thionville, with the Hessians and a body of emigrants; while General Clairfait, UMth the Austrians and an- other body of emigrants, was to overthrow Lafayette, stationed before Sedan and Mezieres, cross the ]\leuse, and march upon Paris by Reims and Soissons. Thus the center and two wings were to make a concentrated advance on the capital from the Moselle, the Rhine, and the Netherlands. Other detachments stationed on the frontier of the Rhine and the extreme nortb.crn frontier were to NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 187 1792 attack the French troops on these sides and facihtate the central invasion. When the army began to move from Coblentz, July 28, 1792, the Duke of Brunswick published a manifesto in the name of the emperor and the King of Prussia. He reproached those who had usurped the reins of administration in France with having dis- turbed order and overturned the legitimate government ; with hav- ing used daily renewed violence against the king and his family ; with having arbitrarily suppressed the rights and possessions of the German princes in Alsace and Lorraine; and, finally, with having crowned the measure by declaring an unjust war against his majesty the emperor and attacking his provinces in the Nether- lands. He declared that the allied sovereigns were advancing to put an end to anarchy in France, to arrest the attacks made on the altar and the throne, to restore to the king the security and liberty he was deprived of, and to place him in a condition to exercise his legitimate authority. He consequently rendered the national guard and the authorities responsible for all the disorders that should arise until the arrival of the troops of the coalition. He summoned them to return to their ancient fidelity. He said that the inhab- itants of the towns, who dared to stand on the defensive, should instantly be punished as rebels, with the rigor of war, and their houses demolished or burned; that if the city of Paris did not restore the king to full liberty and render him due respect, the coalesced princes would make it, all the members of the national assembly, of the department, of the district, the corporation, and the national guard, personally responsible with tlieir heads, to be tried by martial-law, and without hope of pardon ; and that if the chateau were attacked or insulted, the princes would inflict an exemplary and never-to-be-forgotten vengeance, by delivering Paris over to military execution and total subversion. He prom- ised, on the other hand, if the inhabitants of Paris v.-ould promptly obey tlie orders of the coalition, to secure for them the mediation of the coalesced princes with Louis XVI. for the pardon of their offenses and errors. If this manifesto liad been dictated to the duke by the Jacobins they could hardly have produced a paper better calculated to serve their purposes. This ficrv and impolitic manifesto, which disguised neither the designs of the emigrants nor those of Europe, which treated a great nation with a trulv extraordinarv tone of command and 188 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 contempt, which openly announced to it all the miseries of an in- vasion, and moreover, vengeance and despotism, excited a national insurrection. It more than anything else hastened the fall of the throne, and prevented the success of the coalition. There was but one wish, one cry of resistance, from one end of France to the other, and whoever had not joined in it would have been looked on as guilty of impiety toward his country and the sacred cause of its indejiendence. The popular party, placed in the necessity of conquering, saw no other way than that of annihilating the power of the king, and in order to annihilate it than that of de- throning him. But in this party everyone wished to attain the end in his own way: the Gironde by a decree of the assembly; the leaders of the multitude by an insurrection. Danton, Robespierre, Camille Desmoulins, Fabre d'Eglantine, Marat, formed a dis- placed faction requiring a revolution that would raise it from the midst of the people to the assembly and the corporation. They were the true leaders of the new movement about to take place by the means of the lower class of society against the middle class, to which the Girondists belonged by their habits and position. A division arose from that day between those who only wished to suppress the court in the existing order of things and those who wished to introduce the multitude. The latter could not fall in with the tardiness of discussion. Agitated by every revolutionary passion, they disposed themselves for an attack by force of arms, the preparations for which were made openly and a long time beforehand. Their enterprise had been projected and suspended several times. On July 26 an insurrection was to break out ; but it was badly contrived, and Petion prevented it. When the federates from ^Marseilles arrived, on their way to the camp at Soissons, the faubourgs were to meet them, and then repair, unexpectedly, to the chateau. This insurrection also failed. Yet the arrival of the Marseillese encouraged the agitators of the capital, and conferences were held at Charenton between them and the federal leaders for the overthrow of the throne. The sections were much agitated; that of ]\Iauconseil was the first to declare itself in a state of in- surrection, and notified this to the assembly.^ The dethronement 'llic Secti(.n Alaiiconscil on July 31 had, on its own account, declared the king a traitor, givincf notice that it no longer recognized him, and asking all other sections to join in tliis declaration. When these resolutions were pre- sented to the assembly, the assembly deemed it an excess of patriotism to refuse the deputation the honor of the session. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 189 1792 was discussed in the clubs, and on August 3 the mayor, Petion, came to solicit it of the legislative body in the name of the com- mune and of the sections. The petition was referred to the ex- traordinary commission of twelve. On the 8th the accusation of Lafayette was discussed. Some remains of courage induced the majority to support him, and not without danger. He was acquitted ; but all who had voted for him were hissed, pursued, and ill treated by the people at the breaking up of the sitting. The following day the excitement was extreme. The assem- bly learned by the letters of a large number of deputies that the day before on leaving the house they had been ill used and threat- ened with death for voting the acquittal of Lafayette. Vaublanc announced that a crowd had invested and searched his house in pursuit of him. Girardin exclaimed : " Discussion is impossible without perfect liberty of opinion ; I declare to my constituents that I cannot deliberate if the legislative body does not secure me liberty and safety." Vaublanc earnestly urged that the assembly should take the strongest measures to secure respect to the law. He also required that the federates who were defended by the Girondists should be sent without delay to Soissons. During these debates the president received a message from De Joly, min- ister of justice. He announced that the mischief was at its height, and the people urged to every kind of excess. He gave an account of those committed the evening before, not only against the depu- ties, but against many other persons. " I have," said the minister, " denounced these attacks in the criminal court ; but law is power- less; and I am impelled by honor and probity to inform you that without the promptest assistance of the legislative body the gov- ernment can no longer be responsible." In the meantime, it was announced that the section of the Ouinze-vingts had declared that if the dethronement were not pronounced that very day, at mid- night they would sound the tocsin, would beat the generale and attack the chateau. This decision had been transmitted to the fcirty-eight sections, and all had approved it except one. The as- sembly summoned the recorder of the department, who assured them of his good will, but his inability; and the mayor, who replied that, at a time when the sections had resumed their sovereignty, he could only exercise over the people the influence of persuasion. The assembly broke up without adopting any measures. The insuro'ents fixed tlie attack on the chateau for the morn- 190 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 ing of August lo. On the 8th the Marseillese had been trans- ferred from their barracks in the Rue Blanche to the Cordeliers, with their arms, cannon, and standard. They had received five thousand ball cartridges, which had been distributed to them by command of the commissioner of police. The principal scene of the insurrection was the Faubourg Saint Antoine. In the evening, after a very stormy sitting, the Jacobins repaired thither in pro- cession; the insurrection was then organized. It was decided to dissolve the department ; to dismiss Petion, in order to withdraw him from the duties of his place and all responsibility; and finally, to replace the general council of the present commune by an insur- rectional municipality. The municipal council was the blind tool of the gang which called itself " The Commissaries of the Sec- tions." Upon their behest the municipal council broke down in one place after another the ability of the legal authorities to offer any resistance. It had summoned the commissaries of the sec- tions to the Hotel de Ville on August lo to deliberate on the formation of a camp at Paris. This furnished a pretext to call upon the ultra-revolutionists to assemble. Agitators repaired at the same time to the sections of the faubourgs and to the barracks of the federate ]\Iarseillese and Bretons. In the -government of Paris the following organizations are to be distinguished: The corps municipal, presided over by the mayor; it included the bureau municipal, formed of i6 administrators, and the conseil municipal, of 32 members. These 48 members, united wnth 82 others, com- posed the general council of the commune, having a procureur- syndic and 2 substitutes. They were all theoretically appointed by a process of double election, but in point of fact the leaders of the clubs imposed their choice upon the electors. The commune dis- posed of a force of 32,000 men, divided into 48 battalions. The court had been apprised of the danger for some time and had placed itself in a state of defense. At this juncture it probably thought it was not only able to resist, but also entirely to reestab- lish itself. The interior of the chateau was occupied by Swiss to the number of eight or nine hundred, by officers of the disbanded guard, and by a troop of gentlemen and royalists, wdio had offered their services, amied with sabers, swords, and pistols. Mandat, the general-in-chief of the national guard, had repaired to the chateau, with his staff, to defend it; he had given orders to the battalions most attaclied to the constitution to take arms. Mandat NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 191 1792 was one of the true heroes of the revolution, although the part he played was confined to one day. The national guard to the number of 950 men were ordered to Paris, but of these only a part could be relied upon. Mandat's plan was to meet the crowds coming from Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau separately and outflank them both. Yet for this important work he had to trust the gendarmerie, who had first set the example of mutiny in the army. What could be expected from such men? The ministers were also with the king; the recorder of the department had gone thither in the evening at the command of the king, who had also sent for Petion, to ascertain from him the state of Paris, and obtain an authorization to repel force by force. At midnight the tocsin sounded ; the generale was beaten. The insurgents assembled and fell into their ranks ; the members of the sections broke up the municipality and named a provisional council of the commune, which proceeded to the Hotel de Ville to direct the insurrection. In spite of assertions to the contrary, it is now proved that the demagogues succeeded with great difii- culty in getting the revolution properly under way; in all the sec- tions but a small minority of the citizens acted. In several sections the most radical emphatically protested against the insurrection ; the church doors were forcibly opened by roving bands to sound the tocsin ; the principal conspirators conspired cautiously, in the background; in a word, we know that tlie revolution of August 10, 1792, owed its success not merely to the exertions of the popu- lace, but to the partially cowardly and partially criminal failure of all legitimate authorities to act with vigor. The battalions of the national guard, on their side, took the route to the chateau and were stationed in the court, or at the principal posts, with the mounted gendarmerie; artillerymen occupied the avenues of the Tuilerics, with their pieces, while the Swiss and volunteers guarded the apartments. 1"hc defense was in the best condition. Some deputies, meanwhile, aroused l)y the tocsin, had hurried to the hall of the legislative body, and had opened the sitting under the presidentship of Verginaud. Hearing that Petion was at the Tuileries, and presuming he was detained tliere, and wanted to be released, they sent for him to tlie l)ar of the assembly, to give an account of the state of Paris. On receiving this order he left the 192 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 chateau; he appeared before the assembly, where a deputation again inquired for him, also supposing him to be a prisoner at the Tuileries. With this deputation he returned to the Hotel de Ville, where he was placed under a guard of three hundred men by the new commune. The latter, unwilling to allow any other authority on this day of disorder than the insurrectional authorities, early in the morning sent for the commandant Mandat to know what arrangements were made at the chateau. Mandat hesitated to obey; yet, as he did not know that the municipality had been changed, and as his duty required him to obey its orders, on a second call which he received from the commune he proceeded to the Hotel de Ville. On perceiving new faces as he entered, he turned pale. He was accused of authorizing the troops to fire on the people. He became agitated and was ordered to the Abbaye. He was asked to sign an order commanding half of the troops at the Tuileries to retire. He declined and was condemned to prison, and the commissaries nominated Santerre in his place. The municipal council protested against this, and then they rushed into their room and pushed the counselors from their seats. Man- dat was shot as he was being taken out of the room. The court was thus deprived of its most determined and in- fluential defender. The presence of Mandat and the order he had received to employ force in case of need were necessary to induce the national guard to fight. The sight of the nobles and royalists had lessened its zeal. Mandat himself, previous to his departure, had urged the queen in vain to dismiss this troop, which the con- stitutionalists considered as a troop of aristocrats. About four in the morning the queen summoned Rcederer, the recorder of the department, who had passed the night at the Tuileries, and inquired what was to be done under these circum- stances. Rocderer replied that he thought it necessary that the king and the royal family should proceed to the national assembly. " You propose," said Dubouchage. " to take the king to his foes." Rcjederer replied that two days before four hundred members of that assembly out of six hundred had pronounced in favor of Lafayette, and tliat he had only proposed this plan as the least dangerous. The (|ueen then said, in a very positive tone : " Sir, we have forces here: it is at length time to know who is to pre- vail, tlic king and the constitution or faction?" "In that case, madame," rejoined Rocderer, " let us see what arrangements have NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 193 1792 been made for resistance." Laschenaye, who commanded in the absence of Mandat, was sent for. He was asked if he had taken measures to prevent the crowd from arriving at the chateau? If he had guarded the Carrousel? He repHed in the affirmative, and addressing the queen, he said, in a tone of anger: "I must not allow you to remain in ignorance, madame, that the apartments are filled with people of all kinds, who very much impede the service, and prevent free access to the king, a circumstance which creates dissatisfaction among the national guard." " This is out of season," replied the queen ; " I will answer for those who are here ; they will advance first or last, in the ranks, as you please ; they are ready for all that is necessary ; they are sure men," They contented themselves with sending the two ministers, De Joly and Champion, to the assembly to apprise it of the danger, and ask for its assistance and for commissioners. Division already existed between the defenders of the chateau, when Louis XVI. passed them in review at five o'clock in the morning. He first visited the interior posts, and found them ani- mated by the best intentions. He was accompanied by some mem- bers of his family and appeared extremely sad. " I will not," he said, " separate my cause from that of good citizens ; we will save ourselves or perish together." He then descended into the yard, accompanied by some general officers. As soon as he arrived they beat tc arms. The cry of " Vive Ic roi! " was heard, and was repeated by the national guard; but the artillerymen and the bat- talion of the Croix Rouge replied by the cry of " Vive la nation! " At the same instant new battalions, armed with guns and pikes, defiled before the king and took their places upon the terrace of the Seine, crying "" Vive la nation!" " Vive Pet ion!" The king continued the review, not, however, without feeling saddened by this omen. He was received with the strongest evidences of devo- tion by the battalions of the Filles-Saint-Thomas and Petits-Peres, who occupied the terrace, extending the length of the chateau. As he crossed the garden to visit the ports of the Pont Tournant the pike battalions pursued him with the cry of " Down with the veto!" "Down with the traitor!" and as he returned they quitted their position, placed themselves near the Pont Royal, and turned their cannon against the chateau. Two other battalions stationed in the courts imitated them, and esta1)lished themselves on the Place du Carrousel in an attitude of attack. On reentering: 194 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 the castle the king was pale and dejected, and the queen said : " All is lost! This kind of review has done more harm than good." While all this was passing at the Tuileries the insurgents were advancing in several columns; they had passed the night in assembling and becoming organized. In the morning they had forced the arsenal and distributed the arms. The column of the Faubourg Saint Antoine, about 15,000 strong, and that of the P^aubourg Saint Marceau, amounting to 5000, began to march about six. The crowd increased as they advanced. Artillerymen had been placed on the Pont Neuf by the directory of the depart- ment in order to prevent the union of the insurgents from the two sides of the river. But Manuel, the town clerk, had ordered them to be withdrawn, and the passage was accordingly free. The van- guard of the faubourgs, composed of Marseillese and Breton feder- ates, had already arrived by the Rue Saint Honore, stationed them- selves in battle array on the Carrousel, and turned their cannon against the chateau. De Joly and Champion returned from the assembly, stating that the attendance was not sufficient in number to debate, that it scarcely amounted to sixty or eighty members, and that their proposition had not been heard. Then Rrederer, the recorder of tlie department, with the members of the department, presented himself to the crowd, observing that so great a multitude could not have access to the king or to the national assembly, and recommending them to nominate twenty deputies and intrust them with their requests. But they did not listen to him. He turned to the national guard, and reminded them of the article of the law which enjoined them when attacked to repel force by force. A very small part of the national guard seemed disposed to do so, and a discharge of cannon was the only reply of the artillerymen. Roederer, seeing that the insurgents were everywhere triumphant, that they were masters of the field, and that they disposed of the multitude, and even of the troops, returned hastily to the chateau, at tlic head of tlic executive directorv. The king held a council with the queen and ministers. A municipal officer had just given the alarm by announcing that the columns of the insurgents were advancing upon the Tuileries. "Well, what do they want?" asked De Joly, keeper of the seals. " Abdication." rei)lied the officer. " And what will follow abdi- cation?" inf|uirc(l the queen. The municipal officer bowed in silence. At this moment Rccderer arrived and increased the alarm NATIONAL A S S E M B L 'S 195 1792 of the court by announcing that the danger was extreme, that the insurgents would not be treated with, and that the national guard could not be depended upon. " Sire," said he urgently, " your majesty has not five minutes to lose: your only safety is in the national assembly; it is the opinion of the department that you ought to repair thither without delay. There are not sufficient men in the court to defend the chateau ; nor are we sure of them. At the mention of defense the artillerymen discharged their can- non." The king replied, at first, that he had not observed many people on the Carrousel; and the queen rejoined with vivacity that the king had forces to defend the chateau. But, at the renewed urgency of Roederer, the king, after looking at him attentively for a few minutes, turned to the queen and said as he rose : " Let us go." " Monsieur Rcederer," said Madame Elizabeth, addressing the recorder, "you answer for the life of the king?" "Yes, madame, with my own," he replied. " I will walk immediately before him." Louis XVL left his chamber with his family, ministers, and the members of the department, and announced to the persons as- sembled for the defense of the chateau that he was going to the national assembly. He placed himself between two ranks of national guards summoned to escort him and crossed the apart- ments and garden of the Tuileries. A deputation of the assembly, apprised of his approach, came to meet him. " Sire," said the presi- dent of this deputation, " the assembly, eager to provide for your safety, offers you and your family an asylum in its bosom." The procession resumed its march and had some difficulty in crossing the terrace of the Tuileries, which was crowded with an animated mob breathing forth threats and insults. The king and his family had great difficulty in reaching the hall of the assembly, where they took the seats reserved for the ministers. " Gentlemen," said the king, " I come here to avoid a great crime ; I think I cannot be safer than with you." " Sire," replied Yergniaud, who filled the chair. " you may rely on the firmness of the national assembly. Its members have sworn to die in maintaining the rights of the people and the constituted authorities." The king then took his seat next the president. But Chabot reminded him that the assembly could not deliberate in the presence of the king, and Louis XYI. retired with his family and ministers into the reporter's box behind the president, whence all that took place could be seen and heard. 196 THE FREXCH REVOLUTION 1792 All motives for resistance ceased with the king's departure. The means of defense had also been diminished by the departure of the national guards who escorted the king. The gendarmerie left their posts crying "Vive la nation!" The national guard began to move in favor of the insurgents. But the foes were con- fronted, and although the cause was removed, the combat never- theless commenced. The columns of the insurgents surrounded the chateau. The Marseillese and Bretons who occupied the first rank had just forced the Porte Royale on the Carrousel and entered the court of the chateau. They were led by an old subaltern, called Westermann, a friend of Danton and a very daring man. He ranged his force in battle array, and approaching the artillerymen, induced them to join the Marseillese with their pieces. The Swiss filled the windows of the chateau and stood motionless. The two bodies confronted each other for some time without making an attack. A few of the assailants advanced amicably, and the Swiss threw some cartridges from the windows in token of peace. They [)enetrated as far as tlie vestibule, where they were met by other defenders of the chateau. A barrier separated them. Here the combat began, but it is unknown on which side it commenced. The Swiss discharged a murderous fire on the assailants, who were dispersed. The Place du Carrousel was cleared. But the Marseillese and Bretons soon returned with renewed force ; the Swiss were fired on by the cannon and surrounded. They kept their posts until they received orders from the king to cease firing. The ex- asperated mob did not cease, however, to pursue them, and gave itself up to the most sanguinary reprisals. It now became a mas- sacre rather tlian a combat ; and the crowd perpetrated in the chateau all the excesses of victory. Some of the Swiss reached the manege and were imprisoned by the assembly; others were cut clown on the march by the firing from windows and corners. At the Tuileries the worst excesses were committed. Everyone be- longing to the male sex, even to the kitchen bo}', was massacred. The women came near sharing the same fate. Xapoleon, an eye-witness, says that the Tuileries were stormed by the worst canaille of Paris; ]\Iarat spent August lo in a cellar; Danton and Camille Desmoulins showed themselves for a moment, but no more. Xot the heroes of the terror, but the unadulterated rabble of Paris did all the work of August lo. All this time the assembly was in the greatest alarm. The NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 197 1792 first cannonade filled them with consternation. As the firing be- came more frequent, the agitation increased. At one moment the members considered themselves lost. An officer entering the hall hastily exclaimed : " To your places, legislators ; we are forced ! " A few rose to go out. " No, no," cried others ; " this is our post." The spectators in the gallery exclaimed instantly : " Vive Vasscm- blee nationale! " and the assembly replied: "Vive la nation!" Shouts of victory Avere then heard without, and the fate of mon- archy was decided. The assembly instantly made a proclamation to restore tran- quillity, and implore the people to respect justice, their magistrates, the rights of man, liberty, and equality. Apparently the assembly had achieved a great victory, for it was the only piece of the old constitution left. In truth, it had been prostrated by the rabble as completely as royalty itself. A deputation from the commissaries appeared before the bar of the assembly. Huguenin, the worthy president of the sections, says : " These are now the magistrates of the people. Circumstances rendered our election necessary. Legis- lators, we come here in the name of the people to concert with you the measures of the public welfare." Thus the sections con- stituted themselves another national representation. He goes on: " The people who have sent us have charged us to declare to you that they recognize as judge over the extraordinary measures to which they were driven by necessity and the resistance against op- pression, only the French people united into the primaries, you and our sovereign." Guadet, the president of the assembly, replied : *' The assem- bly does you honor ; the victory applauds your zeal. It can only see in you good citizens, desirous to restore peace, tranquillity, and order." The multitude and their chiefs had all the power in their hands, and were determined to use it. The new municipality came to assert its authority. It was preceded by three banners, inscribed with tlie words " Patric. lihcrtc, cgalitc." Its address was im- perious, and concluded by demanding the deposition of the king and a national convention. Deputations followed, and all ex- pressed the same desire, or rather issued the same command. The assembly felt itself compelled to yield; it would not, how- ever, take upon itself the deposition of the king. V^ergniaud as- 198 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 cended the tribune, in the name of the commission of twelve, and said : " I am about to propose to you a very rigorous measure ; I appeal to the affliction of our hearts to judge how necessary it is to adopt it immediately." This measure consisted of the convocation of a national assembly elected by citizens over twenty-five years of age, and of twelve montlis' residence, the dismissal of the ministers, and the suspension of the king. The assembly adopted it unani- mously. The Girondist ministers were recalled; the celebrated de- crees were carried into execution, about four thousand nonjuring prists were exiled, and commissioners were dispatched to the armies to make sure of them. Louis XVI., to whom the assembly had at first assigned the Luxembourg as a residence, was transferred as a prisoner to the Temple by the all-powerful commune, under the pretext that it could not otherwise be answerable for the safety of his person. Finally, September 23 was appointed for opening the ex- traordinary assembly, destined to decide the fate of royalty. But royalty had already fallen on August 10, 1792, that day marked by the insurrection of the multitude against the middle class and the constitutional throne, as July 14, 1789, had seen the insurrection of the middle class against the privileged class and the absolute power of the crown. On August 10 began the dictatorial and arbitrary epoch of the revolution. Circumstances becoming more and more difficult to encounter, a vast warfare arose, requiring still higher energy than ever, and that energv irregular, because popular, ren- dered the domination of the lower class restless, cruel, and op- pressive. The nature of the question was then entirely changed ; it was no longer a matter of liberty, but of public safety ; and the conventional period, from the end of the constitution of 1791 to the time when the constitution of the year IIL established the directory, was only a long campaign of the revolution against parties and against Europe. It was scarcely possible it should be otherwise. " 'I"he revolutionary movement once established,'' says De .Maislre, in his " Coiisideraiicus sii?- la France," " France and the monarchy could only be saved by Jacobinism. Our grand- children, who will care little for our sufferings, and will dance on our graves, will laugh at our present ignorance: they will easily console tliemselvcs for the excesses we have witnessed, and which will have preserved the integrity of the finest of kingdoms." The dc[)artnients adhered tu the events of August 10. The NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 199 1792 army, which shortly afterward came under the influence of the revolution, was as yet of constitutional royalist principles; but as the troops were subordinate to parties, they would easily submit to the dominant opinion. The generals, second in rank, such as Dumouriez, Custine, Biron, Kellermann, and Labourdonnaie, were disposed to adopt the last changes. They had not yet declared for any particular party, looking to the revolution as a means of advancement. It was not the same with the generals-in-chief. Luckner floated undecided between the insurrection of August lo, which he termed " a little accident that had happened to Paris and his friend Lafayette." The latter, head of the con- stitutional party, firmly adhering to his oaths, wished still to de- fend the overturned throne and a constitution which no longer existed. He commanded about 30,000 men, who were devoted to his person and his cause. His headquarters were near Sedan. In his project of resistance in favor of the constitution he concerted with the municipality of that town, and the directory of the de- partment of Ardennes, to establish a civil center round which all the departments might rally. The three commissioners, Kersaint, Antonelle, and Peraldy, sent by the legislature to his army, were arrested and imprisoned in the tower of Sedan. The reason as- signed for this measure was that the assembly having been intimidated, the members who had accepted such a mission were necessarily but the leaders or instruments of the faction which had subjugated the national assembly and the king. The troops and the civil authorities then renewed their oath to the constitution, and Lafayette endeavored to enlarge the circle of the insurrection of the army against the popular insurrection. General Lafayette at that moment thought, possibly, too much on the past, on the law% and the common oath, and not enough on the really extraordinary position in which France then was. He only saw the dearest hopes of the friends of liberty destroyed, the usurpation of the state by the multitude, and the anarchical reign of the Jacobins ; he did not perceive the fatality of a situation which rendered the triumph of the latest comer in the revolution indis- pensable. It was scarcely possible that the bourgeoisie, which had been strong enough to overthrow the old system and the privileged classes, but which had reposed after tliat victory, could resist the emigrants and all Europe. For this tliere was needed a new shock, a new faith; there was needed a numerous, ardent, inexhaustible 200 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 class, as enthusiastic for August lo as the bourgeoisie had been for July 14. Lafayette could not associate with this party; he had combated it, under the constituent assembly, at the Champ de Mars, before and after June 20. He could not continue to play his former part, nor defend a cause just in itself, but condemned by events, without compromising his country, and the results of a revolution to which he was sincerely attached. His resistance, if continued, would have given rise to a civil war between the people and the army, at a time when it was not certain that the combi- nation of all parties would suffice against a foreign war. It was August 19, and the army of invasion, having left Coblentz on July 30, was ascending the Moselle and advancing on that frontier. In consideration of the common danger, the troops were disposed to resume their obedience to the assembly ; Luckner, who at first approved of Lafayette's views, retracted, weeping and swearing, before the municipality of Metz ; and Lafayette himself saw the necessity of yielding to a more powerful des- tiny. Lafayette was the one person in a position to have reversed tlie wheel of events in Paris, and in doing that the majority of the people would perhaps have ranged themselves on his side. The army was then said to be devoted to him. If he had appeared in Paris at the head of it, a large part of the national guard might have joined him. If, however, the attempt had failed, he would have paid for it with his head. If he had remained quiet, he could not have been reproached for it. But he pursued a middle course. He ought to have moved upon Paris at once with his army. In- stead, he tried to bring about a counter-revolution by influencing the departments, and through them to bring pressure to bear upon the assembly to alter its course. Not a single department stirred a finger, and as these departments did nothing, so did also all the rest of those who might have done anything. He left his army, taking upon himself all the responsibility of the whole insurrection. He was accompanied by Bureau-de-Pusy, Latour-Maubourg, Al- exander Lameth, and some officers of his staff. He proceeded through the enemy's posts toward Holland, intending to go to the United States, his adopted country. But he was discovered and arrested with his companions. In violation of the rights of na- tions, he was treated as a prisoner of war, and confined first in the dungeons of Magdeburg, and then by the Austrians at Olmiitz. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 201 1792 The English parliament itself took steps in his favor; but it was not until the Treaty of Campo-Formio that Bonaparte released him from prison. During four years of the hardest captivity, subject to every description of privation, kept in ignorance of the state of his country and of liberty, with no prospect before him but that of perpetual and harsh imprisonment, he displayed the most heroic courage. He might have obtained his liberty by making certain retractions, but he preferred remaming buried in his dungeon to the abandoning in the least degree the sacred cause he had embraced. The authors of the events of August lo became more and more divided, having no common views as to the results which should arise from that revolution. The more daring party, which had got hold of the commune or municipality, wished by means of that commune to rule Paris ; by means of Paris, the national assem- bly ; and by means of the assembly, France. After having effected the transference of Louis XVL to the Temple, it threw down all the statues of the kings and destroyed all the emblems of the monarchy. The department exercised a right of superintendence over the municipality; to be completely independent, it abrogated this right. The law required certain conditions to constitute a citizen ; it decreed the cessation of these, in order that the multitude might be introduced into the government of the state. The revolutionary commune consisted of 288 persons, being six persons from each of the forty-eight sections of Paris. The reader is asked to observe how completely the legislative assembly had lost control of events. With adroitness the revolu- tionary commune had made itself the head of the national uprising. France was compelled to acknowledge tliat the municipal council, with the will and ability to organize, was the only power in France to organize her that she might cope with tlie allied powers. It strove to concentrate all power in its hands. The following demands, in the name of the commune, were made: (i) a law of urgency, forbidding every Frenchman to leave the country while it was in danger; (2) the sequestration of the property of those who acted in contravention of this law; (3) the establishment of a vigilance committee in the municipality. The deposition was everywhere discussed in the most direct manner. Robespierre in a speecli foreshadowed the committee government of the terror, saying: " The root of all evils is in the 202 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 executive, but it is also in the legislative. The deposition of the king is necessary, but who will govern when the name of the king has disappeared? , . I know nothing so terrible as the idea of unlimited power put in the hands of a numerous assembly, even if they were sages," At the same lime it demanded the establishment of an ex- traordinary tribunal to try the conspirators of August lo. As the assembly did not prove sufficiently docile, and endeavored by proclamations to recall the people to more just and moderate senti- ments, it received threatening messages from the Hotel de Ville. " As a citizen," said a member of the commune, " as a magistrate of the people, I cjme to announce to you that this evening, at mid- night, the tocsin will sound, the drum beat to arms. The people are weary of not being avenged; tremble lest they administer jus- tice themselves." " W, before two or three hours pass, the foreman of the jury be not named," said another, " and if the jury be not itself in a condition to act, great calamities will befall Paris." To avert the threatened outbreaks the assembly was obliged to appoint an extraordinary criminal tribunal. This tribunal condemned a few persons, but the commune having conceived the most terrible projects, did not consider.it sufficiently expeditious. The assembly, under the intimidation of the commune, re- solved to send the defenders of the Tuileries before a court-martial appointed by Santerre. A proclamation of the council declared : "All the guilty ones will perish on the scaffold." On the 15th Robespierre declared the punishing of the crimes of the loth, that is, the resistance to the insurrectionary mob, not sufficient, and that revenge must be extended to all traitors and conspirators. Robespierre continued : " Liberate us from the constituted authorities. Abolish this twofold degree of jurisdiction which, by rendering justice slower, grants immunity. We demand the guilty ones to be judged in a sovereign manner and definitely, by commissioners taken from each section." The assembly tried to compromise with the commune. A deputation (A the commune again came to tliem, and they were told that if they did not at once do that, the tocsin would ring again, the people rise once more, to destroy the national assembly as they had destroyed royalty. The assembly could not defy such argu- ments fur any length oi time, and the first revolutionary tribunal NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 203 1792 was established in the way demanded by the commune. Four days afterward its first victim's head was severed by the guillotine. On the following days others were sent to the scaffold. The. system of hostages was introduced methodically and to an appalling extent. Wives and near relatives of emigrants accused for political crimes were seized in order to induce the accused to deliver themselves into the hands of their persecutors. The wife of Lafayette was one of the first to be arrested. The national guard was dissolved. A new organization was effected, companies taking the place of battalions. The better classes were allowed to leave the ranks, some being even expelled. By the law of August 1 1 the police was rendered completely the tool of the commune. Article one of the new law made it the duty of the municipal- ity to search for crimes against the security of the state. Article two invited the citizens to denounce the conspirators and suspected. Article three authorized the arrest of those who had l^een thus denounced. Article eiglit authorized every public official and active citizen to bring before the municipality such persons. The question of the reorganization of the department brought about a conflict between the two authorities. The departmental government had been cashiered by the commune, and the assembly had submitted to that, but had at the same time ordered a new election. The commune advised the sections not to go to the polls. The sections obeyed, and the rural meml)ers elected were not enough to constitute a quorum. But the sections abandoned their passive resistance to the assembly, and the Hotel de Ville was com- pelled to adopt more energetic measures. Robespierre appeared at the bar of the assembly and said the sections had been " forced to take the most vigonms measures to save the state, those whom they had elected to be tlieir officials must have the fullness of power be- longing to the sovereign. After the people have saved the country, after you hrive convoked a national convention, what else can be your business but to obey tlie demands of the people? " At the head of the commune were Marat, Panis, Sergent, Duplain, Lefent, Jourdeuil, Collot dTIerbois, Billaud-Varennes, and Tallien ; but the cin'ef leader of the party at that time was Danton. ITe was a gigantic revolutionist; he deemed no means censurable so they were useful, and according to him men could do whatever tlicv dared attempt. Danton. who has been termed 204 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 the Mirabeau of the populace, bore a physical resemblance to that tribune of the higher classes ; he had irregular features, a powerful voice, impetuous gesticulation, a daring eloquence, a lordly brow. Their vices, too, were the same, only Mirabeau's were those of a patrician, Danton's those of a democrat; that which there was of daring in the conceptions of Mirabeau was to be found in Danton, but in another way, because in the revolution he belonged to an- other class and another epoch. Ardent, overwhelmed with debts and wants, given up to his party, he was formidable while in the pursuit of an object, but became indifferent as soon as he had obtained it. This powerful demagogue presented a mixture of the most, opposite qualities. He did not seem sordid ; he was one of those who, so to speak, give an air of freedom even to baseness. He was an absolute exterminator, without being personally ferocious ; inexorable toward masses, humane, even generous toward individ- uals. At the time the commune was arranging the massacre of September 21, he saved all who applied to him; he, of his own ac- cord, released from prison Duport, Barnave, and Charles Lameth, his personal antagonists. Revolution, in his opinion, was a game at which the conqueror, if he required it, won the life of the conquered. The welfare of his party was, in his eyes, superior to law and even to humanity; this will explain his endeavors after August 10, and his return to moderation when he considered the republic established. Danton came of a provincial bourgeoisie family in comfortable circumstances ; was educated by the Orato- rians, learning Latin, English, and Italian; entered the law in 1785 ; in 1787 became avocat-en-conseils-du-roi, and when the revolution suppressed the offices of the old regime Danton was indemnified in the sum of seventy thousand livres. His revolutionary activity began with the Cordelier Club. He played a prominent part in the events preceding June 20, 1791, and was made procureur-sub- stitut of Paris as a reward for his services. He was not dissolute, as Mirabeau. He had the disposal of large sums of money and was a careless accountant ; but he probably never filched a sou ; tlie assertion that " he had sold himself to the court " is unfounded. With the outward semblance of a demagogue in many particulars, Danton is second only to Mirabeau as the statesman of the French Revolution. He was a great man.^" "> Sec Belloc, "Danton," London, 1899, a capital book; Aulard, " Les ora- tcurs dc I'Asscmblrc Icgislatwe et de la convention." NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 205 1792 At this period the Prussians, advancing- on the plan of invasion already described, passed the frontier after a march of twenty days. The army of Sedan was without a leader and in- capable of resisting a force so superior in numbers and so much better organized. On August 20 Longwy was invested by the Prussians; on the 21st it was bombarded, and on the 24th it capitu- lated. On the 30th the hostile army arrived before Verdun, invested it, and began to bombard it. Verdun taken, the road to the capital was open. The taking of Longwy, and the approach of so great a danger, threw Paris into the utmost agitation and alarm. The taking of Longwy opened the people's eyes to how badly France was prepared for war. The assembly decreed that ( i ) it should be a crime to speak, in a besieged city, of surrender; (2) all persons living in Longwy at the time of its surrender should have their political rights taken from them, criminal suits insti- tuted against them, and the commander be sent to court-martial. The executive council, composed of the ministers, was sum- moned by the committee of general defense to deliberate on the best measures to be adopted in this perilous conjuncture. Some proposed to wait for the enemy under the walls of the capital, oth- ers to retire to Saumur. " You are not ignorant," said Danton, when his turn to speak arrived, " that France is Paris ; if you abandon tlie capital to the foreigner, you surrender yourselves, and you surrender France. It is in Paris that we must defend ourselves by every possible means. I cannot sanction any plan tending to remove you from it. The second project does not appear to me anv better. It is impossible to think of fighting under the walls of the capital. The loth of August has divided France into two parties, the one attached to royalty, the other desiring a republic. The latter, the decided minority of which in the state cannot be concealed, is the only one on wliicli you can rely to fight; the other will refuse to march : it will excite Paris in favor of the foreigner, while your defenders, placed between two fires, will perish in re- pelling him. Should tliev fall, which seems to me beyond a doubt, your ruin and that of France are certain ; if, contrary to all expec- tation, they return victorious over the coalition, this victory will still be a defeat for you ; for it will liave cost ynu thousands of brave men, while the rovalists. mnre numerous than you, will have lost nothing of their strcrigih and intluence. It is my opinion that to 206 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 disconcert their measures and stop the enemy we must make the royalists fear." The committee, at once understanding the mean- ing of these words, were thrown into a state of consternation. " Yes, I tell you," resumed Danton, " we must make them fear." As the committee rejected this proposition by a silence full of alarm, Danton concerted with the commune. His aim was to put down its enemies by terror, to involve the multitude more and more by making- them his accomplices, and to leave the revolution no other refuge than victory. It became more apparent that the only alternative for the com- mune was to crush all its adversaries with one terrible blow or to be crushed itself. The courage of the assembly to join issue with the commune increased every day. There was a growing dissatis- faction among the sections themselves. Several recalled their rep- resentatives from the Hotel de Ville. It is a question whether the honor of the first idea of the use of terror belongs to Danton or to Alarat. Marat was half mad, but with remarkable skill he wrapped himself in a mysterious veil of eccentricities which exercised a most powerful charm over the masses. He spoke for " liberty by the liberating alliance of assassination with dictatorship." On August 28 Danton had hurried to the assembly and de- manded to be heard. " Our enemies have taken Longwy. But France is not Longwy. Only by a great revolution have we anni- hilated despotism in the capital ; only by a national revolution can the despots be repelled. Everything must be put at the disposal of the municipality, and the barriers must be opened to bring the capi- tal again into free communication with the country. The suspects must be seized. The houses must be searched for arms." The assembly yielded. Every section appointed commissioners for the house visitation. Seven hundred houses were searched. Nobody paid the slightest attention to the provisions of the decree. Who- ever had money, whoever was thought fit prey for the September massacres, was arrested. Statements of arrests vary from 3000 to 8000. The commune and Danton saw that the only way to maintain themselves for tlie moment and to make sure of the future was through terror. This is the key to the September murders. Marat's idea, if it was his originally, was not only accepted, but developed systematically on a gigantic scale. The pretext of action was the resolution of the assemblv. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 807 1792 which had decided to put into operation the law which the king had vetoed against the priests who did not take the required oath. Those who would not do this were required to take their passports and make for the frontier. But when they came to get them they were cast into prison, or rather, as was said at the time, brought to " places of detention," The commune demanded that the prisoners at Orleans also should be brought to Paris, but the assembly would not comply. So looo federates and national guards left for Orleans to massacre the prisoners. The assembly ordered the cabinet to send troops for their protection. The cabinet, however, intrusted this task to the band which had just gone out to murder them. Domiciliary visits were made with great and gloomy cere- mony ; a large number of persons whose condition, opinions, or con- duct rendered them objects of suspicion were thrown into prison. These unfortunate persons were taken especially from the two dissentient classes, the nobles and the clergy, who were charged wath conspiracy under the legislative assembly. All citizens ca- pable of bearing arms were enrolled in the Champ de Mars and departed on September i for the frontier. The generale was beat, the tocsin sounded, cannon were fired, and Danton, presenting himself to the assembly to report tlie measures taken to save the country, exclaimed: " The cannon you hear are no alarm cannon, but the signal for attacking the enemy! To conquer them, to pros- trate them, what is necessary? Daring, again daring, and still again and ever daring! " Intelligence of the taking of Verdun arrived during the night of September i. The commune availed themselves of this mo- ment, when Paris, filled with terror, thought it saw the enemy at its gates, to execute their fearful projects. The cannon were again fired, the tocsin sounded, the barriers were closed, and the massacre began. During three davs the prisoners confined in the Carmes, the Abbaye. the Conciergcrie, and La Force, were slaughtered by a band of about three hundred assassins, directed and paid by the commune. This body, witli a calm fanaticism, prostituting to murder the sacred forms of justice, now judges, now executioners, seemed rather to be practicing a calling than to be exercising ven- geance : they massacred without question, without remorse, with the conviction of fanatics and the obedience of executioners. If some 208 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 peculiar circumstances seemed to move them, and to recall them to sentiments of humanity, to justice, and to mercy, they yielded to the impression for a moment, and then began anew. In this way a few persons were saved ; but they were very few. The assembly desired to prevent the massacres, but were unable to do so. The ministry were as incapable as the assembly; the terrible commune alone could order and do everything; Petion, the mayor, had been cashiered; the soldiers placed in charge of the prisoners feared to resist the murderers, and allowed them to take their own course; the crowd seemed indifferent, or accomplices ; the rest of the citi- zens dared not even betray their consternation. We might be astonished that so great a crime should, with such deliberation, have been conceived, executed, and endured, did we not know what the fanaticism of party will do, and what fear will suffer. But the chastisement of this enormous crime fell at last upon the heads of its authors. The majority of them perished in the storm they had themselves raised, and by the same violent means that they had themselves employed. Men of party seldom escape the fate they have made others undergo.^^ The executive council, directed, as to military operations, bv General Servan, advanced the newly levied battalions toward the frontier. As a man of judgment, he was desirous of placing a general at the threatened point ; but the choice was difficult. Among the generals who had declared in favor of the late political events Kellermann seemed only adapted for a subordinate com- mand, and the authorities had therefore merely placed him in the room of the vacillative and incompetent Luckner. Custine was but little skilled in his art; he was fit for any dashing coup de muin, but not for the conduct of a great army intrusted with the destiny of France. The same military inferiority was chargeable upon Riron, Labourdonnaie, and the rest, who were therefore left at their '^ Probably 1500 persons perished. Mortimer Ternaux proves that 1368 per- sons perished. "La Tcrrcur," vol. III. p. 297 ff. 1 he assembly declared the commune dissolved. The commune addressed the assembly and declared that it had saved the country. For an ingenious justification of these massacres the reader is recommended to Gronhmd, '' Ca ira," pp. 89-93. See also Fletcher's Carlyle, "French Revolution," vol. II. pp. 324-326; Wallon, "La Tcrrcur," vol. I. pp. 31-45: Von Sybel, "History of the French Revolution," vol. II. pp. C7-104; Taine, "French Revolution," vol. II. pp. 219-233: Stephens, "French Revolution," vol. 11. pp. T39-150; Mortimer Ter- naux, " Ilistolrc dc la Tcrrcur!' vols. III. and TV.; P)uche5: et Roux, " Histoire parlcmcntairc," vol. XVli. pp. 331-475; vol. XVllI. pp. 70-177. NATIONAL A S S E ]\I B L Y 209 1792 old stations, with the corps under their command. Dtimouriez alone remained, against whom the Girondists still retained some rancor, and in whom they, moreover, suspected the ambitious views, the tastes, and character of an adventurer, while they ren- dered justice to his superior talents. However, as he was the only general equal to so important a position, the executive council gave him the command of the army of the Moselle. Dumouriez repaired in all haste from the camp at Maulde t(j that of Sedan. He assembled a council of war, in which the gen- eral opinion was in favor of retiring toward Chalons or Reims, and covering themselves with the Marne. Far from adopting this dan- gerous plan, which would have discouraged the troops, given up Lorraine, the three bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and a part of Champagne, and thrown open the road to Paris, Dumouriez conceived a project full of genius. He saw that it was necessary, by a daring march, to advance on the forest of Argonne, where he might infallibly stop the enemy. This forest had four issues ; that of the Chene-Populeux on the left, those of the Croix-au-Bois and of Grandpre in the center, and that of Les Islettes on the right, which opened or closed the passage into France. The Prussians were only six leagues from the forest, and Dumouriez had twelve to pass over, and his design of occupying it to conceal, if he hoped for success. He executed his project skillfully and boldly. Gen- eral Dillon, advancing on the Islettes, took possession of them with 7000 men; he himself reached Grandpre, and there established a camp of 13,000 men. The Croix-au-Bois and the Qiene-Populeux were in like manner occupied and defended by some troops. It was here that he wrote to the minister of war, Servan : " Verdun is taken: I await the Prussians. The camps of Grandpre and Les Islettes are the Thermopyl-E of France ; but I shall be more fortu- nate than Leonidas." In this position Dumouriez might have stopped the enemy and himself have securely awaited the succors which were on their road to him from every part of France. The various battalions of volunteers repaired to the camps in the interior, whence they were dispatched to his armv as soon as they were at all in a state of discipline. P)eurn()n\ille. who was on the Flemish frontier, had received orders to adwuice willi 9000 men, and to be at Rhetel, on Dumouriez's left, l)v Se])tember 13. Duval was also on the 7th to march with 7000 men to tlie Clicne-Populeux ; and Kellermann was 210 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 advancing from Metz, on his right, with a reinforcement of 22,000 men. Time, therefore, was all that was necessary. The Duke of Brunswick, after taking Verdun, passed the Meuse in three columns. General Clairfait was operating on his right and Prince Ilohenlohe on his left. Renouncing all hope of driving Dumouriez from his position by attacking him in front, he tried to turn him. Dumouriez had been so imprudent as to place nearly his whole force at Grandpre and the Islettes, and to put only a small corps at Chene-Populeux and Croix-au-Bois posts, it is true, of minor importance. The Prussians, accordingly, seized upon these, and were on the point of turning him in his camp at Grandpre, and of thus compelling him to lay down his arms. After this grand blunder, which neutralized his first maneuvers, he did not despair of his situation. He broke up his camp secretly during the night of September 14, passed the Aisne, the approach to which might have been closed to him, made a retreat as able as his advance on the Argonne had been, and concentrated his forces in the camp at Sainte-Menehould. He had already delayed the advance of the Prussians at Argonne. The season, as it advanced, became bad. He had now only to maintain his post till the arrival of Kellermann and Beurnonville, and the success of the campaign would be cer- tain. The troops had become disciplined and inured, and the army amounted to about 70,000 men, after the arrival of Beurnonville and Kellermann, which took place on the 17th. The Prussian army had followed the movements of Du- mouriez. On the 20th it attacked Kellermann at Valmy, in order to cut off from the French army the retreat on Chalons, There was a brisk cannonade on both sides. The Prussians advanced in columns toward the heights of Valmy, to carry them. Kellermann also formed his infantry in columns, enjoined them not to fire, but to await the approach of the enemy, and charge them with the bayonet. He gave this command with the cr\^ of " Vive la nation! " and this cry, repeated from one end of the line to the other, startled the Prussians still more than the firm attitude of the troops. The Duke of Brunswick made his battalions, already a little shaken, retrograde; the firing continued till the evening; the enemy at- tempted a fresh attack, but were repulsed. The day was a victory for France, and the. in itself, almost insignificant success of Valmy produced on tlie troops and upon opinion in France, the effect of the most complete victory. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 211 1792 From the same epoch may be dated the discouragement and retreat of the enemy. The Prussians had entered upon this cam- paign on the assurance of the emigrants that it would be a mere mihtary promenade. They were without magazines or provisions; in the midst of a perfectly open country they encountered a re- sistance each day more energetic; the incessant rains had broken up the roads ; the soldiers marched knee-deep in mud, and, for four days past, boiled corn had been their only food. Diseases, pro- duced by the chalky water, want of clothing, and damp, had made great ravages in the army. The Duke of Brunswick advised a retreat, contrary to the opinion of the King of Prussia and the emigrants, who wished to risk a battle and get possession of Chalons. But as the fate of the Prussian monarchy depended on its army, and the ruin of that army would be the inevitable conse- quence of a defeat, the Duke of Brunswick's opinion prevailed. 212 THE FKENCH REVOLUTION 1792 Negotiations were opened, and the Prussians, abating their first demands, now only required the restoration of the king upon the constitutional throne. But the convention had just assembled, the republic had been proclaimed, and the executive council replied " that the French republic could listen to no proposition until the Prussian troops had entirely evacuated the French territory." The Prussians, upon this, commenced their retreat on the evening of September 30.^^ It was slightly disturbed by Kellermann, whom Dumouriez sent in pursuit, while he himself proceeded to Paris to enjoy his triumph and concert measures for the invasion of Bel- gium. Verdun was abandoned by the allies on October 12, and the French troops reentered it and Longwy ; and the enemy, after having crossed the Ardennes and Luxembourg, repassed the Rhine at Coblentz, and by October 23 the last of the invading armies crossed the frontier. This campaign had been marked by general success. In Flanders the Duke of Saxe-Teschen had been com- pelled to raise the siege of Lille. This siege began on September 16; the trenches were opened on September 29; on October 5 the siege was raised, after a severe bombardment, contrary', both in its duration and its useless barbarity, to all the usages of war. On the Rhine Custine had taken Treves, Spires, and !Mayence. In the Alps, General Montesquiou had invaded Savoy, and General Anselme the territory of Nice. The French armies, victorious in all directions, had everywhere assumed the offensive, and the revolu- tion was saved. If we were to present the picture of a state emerging from a great crisis, and were to say: there were in tliis state an absolute government whose authority has been restricted; two privileged classes which have lost their supremacy; a vast population, already freed by the effect of civilization and intelligence, but without po- litical riglits, and which have been obliged, by reason of repeated refusals, to gain these for themselves; if we were to add: the gov- ^'- The time between September 22-28 had been filled with negotiations, Mignet is right in emphasizing the great moral effect of Valmy. (See Fyffe, "Modern Juirope," vol. I. p. 46fif.)- But otherwise Duniouriez's position was still a dangerous one, and his negotiations were protracted in order to give time for recruits to join him. In addition to the causes mentioned by Mignet which induced the retirement of the allies, it should be stated that the Austrians were concerned over Belgium and that the Prussian anxiety over the Polish situation was incr' asiug. On the (ieninrali/ation of the Prussian host, see the interesting note in l'"k-li-l.i';-'s C"arlyl;\ " iMench Revolution," vol. 11. p. .Hi. note 2. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 213 1792 ernment, after opposing- this revolution, submitted to it, but the privileged classes constantly opposed it, it might probably be con- cluded from these data : The government will be full of regret, the people will exhibit distrust, and the privileged classes will attack the new order of things, each in its own way. The nobility, unable to do so at home, from its weakness there, will emigrate in order to excite foreign powers, who will make preparations for attack; the clergy, who would lose its means of action abroad, will remain at home, where it will seek out foes to the revolution. The people, threatened from without, in danger at home, irritated against the emigrants who seek to arm foreign powers, against foreign powers about to attack its independence, against the clergy who excite the country to in- surrection, will treat as enemies clergy, emigrants, and foreign powers. It will require first surveillance over, then the banishment of the refractory priests; confiscation of the property of the emi- grants ; war against coalesced Europe, in order to forestall it. The first authors of the revolution will condemn such of these measures as shall violate the law ; the continuators of the revolution will, on the contrary, regard them as the salvation of the country; and dis- cord will arise between those who prefer the constitution to the state and those who prefer the state to tlie constitution. The mon- arch, induced by his interests as king, his affections and his conscience, to reject such a course of policy, will pass for an accom- plice of the counter-revolution, because he will appear to protect it. The revolutionists will then seek to gain over the king by intimida- tion, and failing in this, will overthrow his authority.^^ Such was the history of the legislative assembly. Internal disturbances led to the decree against the priests ; external menaces to that against the emigrants ; the coalition of foreign powers to war against Europe; the first defeat of the armies, to the formation of the camp of twenty thousand. The refusal of Louis XVI. to adopt most of these decrees rendered him an object of suspicion to the Girondists ; the dissensions between the latter and the constitu- tionalists, who desired some of them to be legislators, as in time of peace, others, enemies, as in time of war, disunited the partisans of the revolution. With tlie Girondists the question of liberty was involved in victory, and victory in tlie decrees. June 20 was ''' Witli tliis estimate tlie reader is rceominended to read the notable letter vi Morris, in "Diary and Letters," vol. 1. I'p. 597-603. 2U THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 an attempt to force their acceptance; but having failed in its ef- fect, they deemed that either the crown or the revolution must be renounced, and they brought on August lo. Thus, but for emi- gration which induced the war, but for the schism which induced the disturbances, the king would probably have agreed to the con- stitution, and the revolutionists would not have dreamed of the republic. Chapter VIII THE NATIONAL CONVENTION AND THE TRIAL OF LOUIS XVL SEPTEMBER 21, 1792- JANUARY 21, 1793 THE convention constituted itself on September 20, 1792, and commenced its deliberations on the 21st. There were 749 deputies in the convention, 486 of whom were new- members. The deputies of Paris were : Robespierre, Danton, Marat, Camille Desmoulins, Manuel, Billaud-Varennes, Collot d'Herbois, Legendre, Robert, the younger Robespierre, David, Panis, Sergent, Fabre D'Eglantine, Freron, Osselin, and Philip of Orleans. In its first sitting it abolished royalty and proclaimed the republic. On the 22d it appropriated the revolution to itself, by declaring it would not date from the year IV. of Liberty, but from the year I. of the French republic. After these first measures, voted by acclama- tion, with a sort of rivalry in democracy and enthusiasm in the two parties, which had become divided at the close of the legislative as- sembly, the convention, instead of commencing its labors, gave itself up to intestine quarrels. The Girondists and the Mountain, before they established the new revolution, desired to know to which of them it was to belong, and the enormous dangers of their position did not divert them from this contest. They had more than ever to fear the efforts of Europe. Austria, Prussia, and some of the Ger- man princes having attacked France before August 10, there was every reason to believe that the other sovereigns of Europe would declare against it after the fall of the monarchy, the imprisonment of the king, and the massacres of September. Within, the enemies of the revolution had increased. To the partisans of the ancient regime, of the aristocracy and clergy, were now to be added the friends of constitutional monarchy, with whom the fate of Louis XVI. was an object of earnest solicitude, and those who imagined liberty impossible without order, or under the empire of the multi- tude. Amid so many obstacles and adversaries, at a moment when their strictest union was requisite, the Gironde and the Mountain attacked each other with the fiercest animosity. It is true that these two parties were wholly incompatible, and that their respective 215 216 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 leaders could not combine, so strong and varied were the grounds of separation in their rivalry for power, and in their designs.^ The Girondists found that during the course of the late events they had lost the assistance of the constitutionalists without pro- curing that of the democrats ; they had a hold upon neither extreme of society.- Accordingly, they only formed a half party, which was soon overthrown, because it had no root. The Girondists, after August ID, were, between the middle class and the multitude, what the monarchists, or the Mounier and Necker party, had been after July 24, between the privileged classes and the bourgeoisie. The Mountain, on the contrary, desired a republic of the peo- ple. The leaders of this party, annoyed at the credit of the Giron- dists, sought to overthrow and to supersede them. They were less intelligent and less eloquent, but abler, more decided, and in no degree scrupulous as to means. The extremest democracy seemed to them the best of governments, and what they termed the people, that is, the lowest populace, was the object of their constant adula- tion and most ardent solicitude. No party was more dangerous; most consistently, it labored for those with whom it fought. Ever since the opening of the convention the Girondists had occupied the right benches, and the IMountain party the summit of the left, whence the name by which they were designated.^ The Girondists were the strongest in the assembly; the elections in the departments had generally been in their favor. A great num- ^ Fyfife, " Alodern Europe," vol. I. pp. 48-49, admirably shows the difference between these parties, although both were republican : " The elections were held in the crisis of invasion, in the height of national indignation against the alliance of the aristocracy with the foreigner, and, in some districts, under the influence of men who had not shrunk from ordering the massacres in the prisons. At such a moment a constitutional royalist had scarcely more chance of election than a detected spy from the enemy's camp. The Girondins, who had been the party of extremes in the legislative assembly, were the party of moderation and order in the convention. By their side there were returned men whose whole being seems to be compounded out of the forces of conflict, men who, sometimes without conscious depravity, carried into political and social struggles that direct, unquestioning employment of force which has ordinarily been reserved for war or for the diffusion of religious doc- trines. The moral differences that separated this party from the Gironde were at once conspicuous: the political creed of the two parties appeared at first to be much the same." 2 The " legend " of the Girondists has been destroyed by Bire, " La Legende dcs Girondins," new edition, 1896. '' The reader is again asked to note how the Left of one assembly becomes the Right of that which follows; i. e., the revolution grows more radical. In course of time the Mountain split into three groups: (i) the followers of Robes- CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 217 1792 ber of the deputies of the legislative assembly had been reelected, and as connection effects much, as in these days habit and associa- tion go a great way, the members who had been united with the deputation of the Gironde and the commune of Paris before August lo returned with the same opinions. Others came without any particular system or party, without enmities or attachments; these formed what was then called, from tlie seats they occupied, the Plain or the Marsh. This party, taking no interest in the struggles be- tween the Gironde and the Mountain, voted with the side they con- sidered the most just, so long as they were allowed to be moderate; that is to say, so long as they had no fears for themselves. The Mountain was composed of deputies of Paris, elected under the influence of the commune of August lo, and of some very decided republicans from the provinces ; it, from time to time, increased its ranks with those who were rendered enthusiastic by circumstances, or who were impelled by fear. But though inferior in the convention in point of numbers, it was none the less very powerful, even at this period. It swayed Paris ; the commune was devoted to it, and the commune had managed to constitute itself the supreme authority in the state.* The Mountain had sought to master the departments by endeavoring to establish an identity of views and conduct between the municipality of Paris and the pro- vincial municipalities; they had not, however, completely succeeded in this, and the departments* were for the most part favorable to their adversaries, who cultivated their good will by means of pamphlets and journals sent by the minister, Roland, whose house the Mountaineers called a bureau d'esprit public, and whose friends they called intrigants. But beside this junction of the communes, which sooner or later would take place, they were adopted by the Jacobins. This club, the most influential as well as the most an- cient and extensive, changed its views at every crisis without changing its name ; it was a frame-work ready for every domi- nating power, excluding all dissentients. That at Paris was the pierre; (2) the Dantonists; (3) the Ilebertists, or representatives of the revo- lutionary commune. In the struggle the extremes fall first; i. e., the Girondists on the Right, then the Hebertists on the extreme Left, then the Dantonists, and finally Robespierre. 4 This is quite true, strong as the statement is. Not until the establishment of the committee of public safety was the convention able to emancipate itself from the dictatorship of the commune. (See Mortimer Ternaux, "La Tcrreur," vol. IV. p. 18 ff.). But the convention never displayed the weakness and cow- ardice of the legislative assembly, and finally did rise superior to the situation. 218 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 metropolis of Jacobinism, and governed the others almost im- periously. The Mountaineers had made themselves masters of it; they had already driven the Girondists from it by denunciation and disgust, and replaced the members taken from the bourgeoisie by sans-culottes. Nothing remained to the Girondists but the ministry, who, thwarted by the commune, were powerless in Paris. The Mountaineers, on the contrary, disposed of all the effective force of the capital, of the public mind by the Jacobins, of the sections and faubourgs by the sans-culottes, of the insurrectionists by the municipality. The first measure of parties after having decreed the republic was to contend with each other. The Girondists were indignant at the massacres of September, and they beheld with horror on the benches of the convention the men who had advised or ordered them. Above all others, two inspired them with antipathy and disgust: Robespierre, whom they suspected of aspiring to tyranny, and Marat, who from the commencement of the revolution had in his writings constituted himself the apostle of murder. They de- nounced Robespierre with more animosity than prudence ; 'he was not yet sufficiently formidable to incur the accusation of aspiring to the dictatorship. His enemies by reproaching him with inten- tions then improbable, and at all events incapable of proof, them- selves augmented his popularity and importance. Robespierre was born at Arras in 1759, was early left an orphan, was educated by the Bishop of Arras at the College Louis- le-Grand in Paris, and became a lawyer in his native city. His pub- lic career began with his election to the States General in 1789. He was ineligible for the legislative assembly, but was offered the post of prosecuting attorney for the criminal tribunal of the Seine. This he declined, however, to become the political leader of the Jacobin Club. In 1792 he was elected to the convention as a deputy of Paris, and was now beginning to take a prominent position. Hitherto, despite his efforts, he had had superiors in his own party; under the constituent assembly, its famous leaders ; under the legislative, Bris- sot and Petir^n ; on August 10, Danton. At these different periods he had declared himself against those whose renown or popularity of- fended him. Only able to distinguish himself among the celebrated personages of the first assembly, by the singularity of his opinions he had shown himself an exaggerated reformer; during the second he became a constitutionalist, because his rivals were innovators. MAXI.MU.IF.N MAKIK I-IDUKF. KOBKSl'I FJarban)ux was a man of action. There were some members of the Right who thought, Vk^th him, that they ought to conquer their adversaries in order to avoid being conquered by them. They wished, making use of the convention against the commune, to op- pose the departments to Paris, and while they remained weak, by no means to spare enemies, to whom they would otherwise be granting time to become stronger. But the greater number dreaded a rupture, and trembled at the idea of energetic measures. This accusation against Robespierre had no immediate conse- quences ; but it fell back on Marat, who had recommended a dic- tatorship in his journal L'Ami du Pcuplc, and had extolled the massacres. When he ascended the tribune to justify himself a shudder of horror seized the assembly. "Down! down!" re- sounded from all sides. Marat remained imperturbable. In a momentary pause lie said : " T have a great number of personal enemies in this assembly. ["All! all!''] I beg of them to re- member decorum ; I exhort them to abstain from all furious clamors and indecent threats against a man who has served liberty and tliemselves more tlian they think for. For once let them learn to listen." And this man delivered in the midst of the convention, astounded at his audacity and smig-froid, his views of the proscrip- tions and of the dictatorship. For some time he had fled from cellar to cellar to a\'oid public anger an.d the warrants issued against him. I lis sanguinary journal alone appeared; in it he demanded heads and prepared tlie multitude for the massacres of September. There is no follv which mav not enter a man's head. CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 221 1792 and what is worse, which may not be realized for a moment. Marat was possessed by certain fixed ideas. The revolution had enemies, and, in his opinion, it could not last unless freed from them ; from that moment he deemed nothing- could be more simple than to exterminate them and appoint a dictator, whose functions should be limited to proscribing; these two measures he proclaimed aloud, not cruel, but indifferent ; with no more regard for propriety than for the lives of men, and despising as weak minds all those who called his projects atrocious, instead of considering them profound. The revolution had actors really more sanguinary than he, but none exercised a more fatal influence over his times. He depraved the morality of parties already sufiiciently corrupt ; and he had the two leading ideas which the committee of public safety subsequently realized by its commissioners or its government extermination in mass, and the dictatorship.^ IMarat's accusation was not attended with any results ; he inspired more disgust, but less hatred, than Robespierre; some regarded him as a madman ; others considered these debates as the quarrels of parties, and not as an object of interest for the republic. Moreover, it seemed dangerous to attempt to purify the convention or to dismiss one of its members, and it was a difficult step to get over, even for parties. Danton did not exonerate Marat. " I do not like him,'' said he; " I have had experience of his temperament; it is volcanic, crabbed, and unsociable. But why seek for the lang"uage of a faction in what he writes? Has the general agitation any other cause than that of tlie revolutionary movement itself,? '' R(.)bespierre, on liis part, protested that he knew very little of Marat; that, previous to August lo. he had only had one conversation with him, after which Marat, whose violent opinions lie did nf)t a])pro\e, had considered his jxjlitical views so narrow that he had stated in his journal that he had neither the higher views nor the daring of a statesman. But he was the object of much greater indignation because he was more dreaded. The first accusation of Rebecqui and Bar- baroux had not succeeded. A short time afterward the minister, Roland, made a report on the state of France and Paris; in it he denounced the massacres of September, the encroachments of the ^ The reader will find the salient features of Ararat's life and copious refer- ence to authorities in Fletcher's Carlyle, ' I*"rcuch Revolution," vol. I. pp. ('17-69. See also Belfort Box, " .Marat," which favorably regards him. coo THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 coninume. and the proceedings of the agitators. " When," said he, " they render the wisest and most intrepid defenders of hberty odious or suspected, when principles of revolt and slaughter are boldly professed and applauded in the assemblies, and clamors arise against the convention itself, I can no longer doubt that partisans of the ancient regime, or false friends of the people, concealing their extravagance or wickedness under a mask of patriotism, have con- ceived the plan of an overthrow, in which they hope to raise them- selves on ruins and corpses, and gratify their thirst for blood, gold, and atrocity." He cited, in proof of his report, a letter in which the vice- president of the second section of the criminal tribunal informed him that he and the most distinguished Girondists were threatened ; that, in the words of their enemies, another bleeding was wanted, and that these men would hear of no one but Robespierre. At these words the latter hastened to the tribune to justify himself. " No one," he cried, "dare accuse me to my face! " " I dare!" exclaimed Louvet, one of the most determined men of the Gironde. " Yes, Robespierre," he continued, fixing his eye upon him, " I accuse you ! " Robespierre, hitherto full of assurance, became moved. He had once before, at the Jacobins, measured his strength with this formidable adversary, whom he knew to be witty, impetuous, and uncompromising. Louvet now spoke, and in a most eloquent address spared neither acts nor names. He traced the course of Robespierre to the Jacobins, to the commune, to the electoral assembly: "calumniating the best patriots; lavishing the basest flatteries on a few hundred citizens, at first designated as the people of Paris, afterward as the peoj^le absolutely, and then as the sovereign ; repeating \he eternal enumeration of his own merits, perfections, and virtues: and never failing, after he had dwelt on the strenglli, grandeur, and sovereignty of the people, to protest that he was the people too." He then described him conceal- ing himself on August lo. and afterward swaying the conspirators of the commune. Tlien he came to the massacres of September, and exclaimed: "The revolution of tlie loth of August belongs to all ! " and added, pointing out a few ^Mountaineers of the com- mune, " but that of tlie 2d of September, that belongs to them and to none but tliem ! ] {;i\ c they not glorified themselves by it? They themsehes, with brutal contempt, only designated us as the patriots of the lotli of .Xugu^t. With ferocious pride tliey called them- CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 223 1792 selves the patriots of the 2d of September! Ah, let them retain this distinction worthy of the courage peculiar to them ; let them retain it as our justification, and for their lasting shame! These pretended friends of the people wish to cast on the people of Paris the horrors that stained the first week of September. They have basely slandered them. The people of Paris can fight; they cannot murder! It is true, they were assembled all the day long before the chateau of the Tuileries on the glorious loth of August; it is false that they were seen before the prisons on the horrible 2d of September. How many executioners were there within? Two hundred ; probably not two hundred. And W'ithout, how many spectators could be reckoned drawn thither by truly incompre- hensible curiosity? At most, twice the number. But, it is asked, why, if the people did not assist in these murders, did they not hinder them? Why? Because Petion's tutelary authority was fet- tered ; because Roland spoke in vain ; because Danton, the minister of justice, did not speak at all, . . . because the presidents of the forty-eight sections waited for orders the general in command did not give; because municipal officers, wearing their scarfs, pre- sided at these atrocious executions. But the legislative assembly? the legislati\'e assembly! representatives of the people, you will avenge it ! The powerless state into which your predecessors were reduced is, in the midst of such crimes, tlie greatest for which these ruffians, wliom I denounce, must be punished.'' Returning to Robespierre. Louvet pointed out his ambition, his efforts, his ex- treme ascendency over the people, and terminated his fiery philippic by a series of acts, each one of which was preceded by this ter- rible form: " Robespierre, I accuse thee! " Louvet descended from the tribune amid applause. Robes- ])ierre mounted it to justify himself: he was pale, and was received with murmurs. Either from agitation or fear of prejudice, he asked for a week's delay. The time arrived ; he appeared less like (me accused than as a triumphcr ; lie re])ellcd with irony Louvet's reproaclies. and entered into a ]i>ng apology for himself. It must be admitted that the facts were vague, and it required little trouble to weaken or overturn them. Persons were placed in the gallery to applaud him; even tlie convention itself, who regarded this quarrel as the result of a ])ri\;tte i)i(|uc. and, as Barrcre said, did not fear a man of a day. a ]U'tty leader of riots, was disposed to close these del}ates. Accordingly, when Robespierre observed, as he 224. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 finished : " For my part, I will draw no personal conclusions ; I have given up tlie easy advantage of replying to the calumnies of my adversaries by more formidable denunciations; I wished to suppress the offensive part of my justification. I renounce the just vengeance I have a right to pursue against my calumniators; T ask for no other than the return of peace and triumph of liberty! " he was ai)plauded, and the convention passed to the order of the day. Louvet in vain sought to reply; he was not allowed. Bar- baroux as vainly presented himself as accuser, and Lanjuinais op- posed the motion for the order without obtaining the renewal of the discussion. The Girondists themselves supported it: they committed one fault in commencing the accusation and another in not continuing it. The Mountain carried the day, since they were not conquered, and Robespierre was brought nearer the as- sumption of the part he had been so far removed from. In times of revolution men very soon become what they are supposed to be, and the Mountain adopted him for their leader because the Gi- rondists pursued him as such. But what was much more important than personal attacks was the discussion respecting the means of government and the management of authorities and parties. The Girondists struck, not only against individuals, but against the commune. Not one of their measures succeeded ; they were badly proposed or badly sus- tained. They should have supported the government, replaced the municipality, maintained their post among the Jacobins and swayed them, gained over the multitude, or prevented its acting; and they did nothing of all this. One among them, Buzot, proposed giving the convention a guard of three thousand men, taken from the de- partments. This measure, which would at least have made the assembly independent, was not supported with sufficient vigor to be adopted. Thus the Girondists attacked the Mountaineers with- out weakening them, the commune without subduing it, the fau- bourgs without suppressing them. They irritated Paris by invoking the aid of the dci)artments, without procuring it, thus acting in opposition to the most common rules of prudence, for it is always safer to do a thing than to threaten to do it. The political short-sightedness of the Girondists is remark- able; their hypocrisy little less. They did not hesitate to claim the rewards of August lo, and appropriated most of the offices of state, while at the same time they violently condemned Marat, CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 225 1792 Danton, and Robespierre. They made the mistake of giving their antagonists the advantage of a defensive position, and without taking protective measures inveighed against the Mountain in the very home of its partisans Paris. Their adversaries skillfully turned this circumstance to ad- vantage. They secretly circulated a report which could not but compromise the Girondists ; it was that they wished to remove the republic to the south, and give up the rest of the empire. Then commenced that reproach of " federalism," ^ which afterward be- came so fatal. The Girondists disdained it because they did not see the consequences; but it necessarily gained credit in proportion as they became weak and their enemies became daring. What had given rise to the report was the project of defending themselves behind the Loire, and removing the government to the south, if the north should be invaded and Paris taken, and the predilection they manifested for the provinces, and their indignation against the agitators of the capital. Nothing is more easy than to change the appearance of a measure by changing the period in which the measure was adopted, and discover in the disapprobation expressed at the irregular acts of a city, an intention to form the other cities of the state into a league against it. Accordingly, the Girondists were pointed out to the multitude as federalists. While they de- nounced the commune, and accused Robespierre and Marat, the Mountaineers decreed the unity and indivisibility of the republic. This was a way of attacking them and bringing them into suspicion, although they themselves adhered so eagerly to these propositions that they seemed to regret not having made them.'^ But a circumstance, apparently unconnected with the disputes of these two parties, served still better the cause of the Mountain- eers. Already emboldened by the unsuccessful attempts which had been directed against them, they only waited for an opportunity to become assailants in their turn. The convention was fatigued by these long discussions. Those members who were not interested in them, and even those of the two parties who were not in the first rank, felt the need of concord, and wished to see men occupy themselves with the republic. There was an apparent truce, and ^ See Stephens, " French Revohition," vol. II. p. 170 ff. ; Guadet, " Les Giron- dins," p. 243 ff. ; Von Sybel, "History of the French Revohition," vol. II. p. 153 ff. P^or some proofs that the charge of " federalism " was not wholly an empty term, see Carlyle, " French Revolution," edition of Fletcher, vol. III. p. 12, note. ' Sec Moniteur, 1693, Nos. 102-104: Guadet, " Lr,? Girondins'' pp. 266-275. 226 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 the attention of the assembly was directed for a moment to the new constitution, which the Mountain caused it to abandon in order to decide on the fate of the fallen prince. The leaders of the extreme Left were driven to this course by several motives: they did not want the Girondists, and the moderate members of the Plain, who directed the committee of the constitution, the former by Petion, Condorcet, Brissot, Verg-niaud, Gensonne, the others, by Barrere, Sieycs, and Thomas Paine, to organize the republic. They would have established the system of the bourgeoisie, rendering it a little more democratic than that of 1791, while they themselves aspired at constituting the people. But they could only accomplish their end by power, and they could only obtain power by protracting the revolutionary state in France. Besides the necessity of preventing the establishment of legal order by a terrible coup d'etat, such as the condemnation of Louis XVL, which would arouse all passions, rally round them the violent parties, by proving them to be the inflexible guardians of the republic, they hoped to expose the senti- ments of the Girondists, who did not conceal their desire to save Louis XVL, and thus ruin them in the estimation of the multitude. There were, without a doubt, in this conjuncture, a great number of IMountaineers who, on this occasion, acted with the greatest sincerity, and only as republicans, in whose eyes Louis XVL ap- peared guilty with respect to the revolution; and a dethroned king was dangerous to a young democracy. But this party would have been more clement had it not had to ruin the Gironde at the same time with Louis XVL^ For some time past the public mind had been prepared for his trial. The Jacobin Club resounded with invectives against him ; the most injurious reports were circulated against his character; his condemnation was required for the firm establishment of liberty. The popular societies in tlie departments addressed petitions to the convention with the same object. The sections presented them- selves at the bar of tlie assembly, and they carried through it, on litters, the men wounded on August 10, who came to cry for vengeance on Louis Capet. They now only designated Louis XVL ''Upon this subject, tlie identification of the cause of the king with the Girondists, see Von Sybel, " Plistory of the French Revolution," vol. H. pp. 260- 2Q5 ; Stephens, " I->c!ich Revohition," vol. TT. pp. 212-222. The Girondists were forced to vote for the death of the king in order to free themselves from the charge of " royalism." But the Mountain, which had forced the fighting, took tlie laurel of victory. CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 227 1792 by this name of the ancient chief of his race, thinking to substitute his title of king- by his family name.'' Party motives and popular animosities combined against this unfortunate prince. Those who, two months before, would have repelled the idea of exposing him to any other punishment than that of dethronement, were stupefied ; so quickly does man lose in moments of crisis the right to defend his opinions! The dis- covery of the iron chest especially increased the fanaticism of the multitude, and the weakness of the king's defenders. After August lo there were found in the offices of the civil list documents which proved the secret correspondence of Louis XVL wuth the discon- tented princes, with the emigration, and with Europe. In a report, drawn up at the command of the legislative assembly, he was ac- cused of intending to betray the state and overthrow the revolution. He was accused of having written, on April i6, 1791, to the Bishop of Clermont that if he regained his power he would re- store the former government, and the clergy to the state in which they previously were ; of having afterward proposed war merely to hasten the approach of his deliverers ; of having been in corre- spondence with men who wrote to him " War will compel all the powers to combine against the seditious and abandoned men who tyrannize over France, in order that their punishment may speedily serve as an example to all who shall be induced to trouble the peace of empires. You may rely on a hundred and fifty thou- sand men, Prussians, Austrians, and Imperialists, and on an army of twenty thousand emigrants"; of having been on terms with his brothers, whom his puljlic measures had discountenanced; and, lastly, of having constantly opposed the rf /olution. Fresh documents were soon brought forward in support of this accusation. In the Tuileries, behind a panel in the wainscot, there ^ The name Capet, wliicli was no more the name of Louis XVI. than Plan- tagenet or Tudor is tb.e family name of Edward VII.. was derived from Hugh Capet, the first king of the liouse which, as Capetian, Valois, and Bourbon, ruled P'rance for 802 years. But " Capet " was a nickname, probably derived from the circumstance that Hugh, as his father before him, used to wear a small cape or chapette as the insignia of his position as lay abbot of St. Denis. The name, however, does not occur before the eleven.th century, a fact which militates against this theory. The fann'ly name of the house was Robert, from Robert le I"\)rt, who died in battle against the Northmen in 8^)6. His son, Odo, became Count of Paris and Duke of L'Vance. When the Duke of France, in the person of Hugh Capet, ascendt-d the throne the name of the duchy was applied in exte>iso to thr kingdum. }e28 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 was a hole wrought in the wall, and closed by an iron door. This secret closet was pointed out by the minister, Roland, and there were discovered proofs of all the conspiracies and intrigues of the court against the revolution; projects with the popular leaders to strengthen the constitutional power of the king, to restore the ancient regime and the aristocrats; the maneuvers of Talon, the arrangements with Mirabeau, the propositions accepted by Bouille, under the constituent assembly, and some new plots under the leg- islative assembly. This discovery increased the exasperation against Louis XVL Mirabeau's bust was broken by the Jacobins, and the convention covered the one w^hich stood in the hall where it held its sittings/" For some time there had been a question in the assembly as to the trial of this prince, who, having been dethroned, could no longer be proceeded against. There was no tribunal empowered to pronounce his sentence, no punishment which could be inflicted on him : accordingly, they plunged into false interpretations of the inviolability granted to Louis XVL, in order to condemn him legally. For the king could not be tried legally ; for there was no provision for impeachment in the constitution. Despite ingenious arguments to the contrary, the question was, and had to be, a political question. On October i6, 1792, the convention had received a peti- tion from the Jacobins of Auxerre, who demanded the trial of the king. At bottom no one in the convention had any interest in his fate, for Louis XVT. had ceased to be dangerous, but once the question was raised, neither the Mountain nor the Girondists dared to risk the accusation of being moderates, for fear of being compromised. Two reports upon the matter were made to the cunvention, one by a Girondist, the other by a Mountaineer, both recommending the trial of the king (X^ovember 6-7). On X^ovem- ber 13 the debate opened upon the question as to whether the convention could sit in judgment upon Louis XVL Morrisson, taking his stand upon the precedent of 1791, argued for the in- violability of the king. Saint-Just now made himself famous, for the first time, by declaring: " Citizens: I sliall undertake to prove ^^ Both the nature and the extent of these compromising papers is uncer- tain. It is of curious significance that none of the Girondists were incriminated by the "documents." A committee of twenty-four persons had been appointed on October i to report upon tlie papers. Roland, who " discovered " the secret receptacle, was popularly bclie\ ed to have suppressed sonu' and fabricated others. CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 229 1792 that the opinion of Morrisson, who asserts the king's inviolability, and that of the committee, which wishes to judge him as a citizen, are equally false. I say that the king should be judged as an enemy. ... To judge a king as a citizen! This word will astonish posterity. To judge is to apply the law. A law is an institution of justice. What institution of justice is there between humanity and kings? Kingship is an eternal crime. No man can reign and be innocent." This doctrine, which was that of the Jacobins, was sustained by Robespierre in his speech on December 3. As was to be expected, the convention decided to bring Louis XVI. to trial and appointed a commission of twenty-one members to prepare the process. The greatest error of parties, next to being unjust, is the desire not to appear so. The committee of legislation commissioned to draw up a report on the question as to whether Louis XVI. could be tried, and whether he could be tried by the convention, decided in the affirmative. The deputy ]\Iailhe opposed, in its name, the dogma of inviolability; but as this dogma had influenced the pre- ceding epoch of the revolution, he contended that Louis XVI. was inviolable as king, but not as an individual. He maintained that the nation, unable to give up its guarantee respecting acts of powxr, had supplied tlie inviolability of the monarch by the responsibility of his ministers; and that, when Louis XVL had acted as a simple individual, his responsibility devolving on no one, he ceased to be inviolable. Thus Alailhe limited the constitutional safeguard given to Louis XVL to the acts of the king. He concluded that Louis XVI. could be tried, the detlironement not being a punishment, but a change of government ; that he might be brought to trial, by virtue of the penal code relative to traitors and conspirators; that he could be tried by the convention, without observing the process of other tribunals, because, the convention representing the people the people including all interests, and all interests constituting justice it was impossible that the national tribunal could violate justice, and that, consequently, it was useless to subject it to forms. Such was the chain of sophistry by means of which the committee transformed the convention into a tribunal. Robespierre's party showed itself much more consistent, dwelling only on state reasons, and rejecting forms as deceptive. The discussion commenced on Xovember 13, six davs after the report of the committee. The partisans of inviolability, while 230 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 they considered Louis XVL guilty, maintained that he could not be tried. The principal of these was Morrisson. He said that inviolability was general ; that the constitution had anticipated more than secret hostility on the part of Louis XVL, an open attack, and even in that case had only pronounced his deposition; that in this respect the nation had pledged its sovereignty; that the mission of the convention was to change the government, not to judge Louis XVL ; that, restrained by the rules of justice, it was so also by the usages of war, which only permitted an enemy to be destroyed during the combat after a victory, the law vindicates him ; that, moreover, the republic had no interest in condemning Louis; that it ought to confine itself with respect to him, to measures of general safety, detain him prisoner, or banish him from France. This was the opinion of the Right of the convention. The Plain shared the opinion of the committee; but the Mountain repelled, at the same time, the inviolability and the trial of Louis XVL " Citizens," said Saint-Just, " I engage to prove that the opin- ion of Morrison, who maintains the king's inviolability, and that of the committee, which requires his trial as a citizen, are equally false; I contend that we should judge the king as an enemy; that we have less to do with trying than with opposing him : that hav- ing no place in the contract which unites Frenchmen, the forms of the proceeding are not in civil law, but in the law of the right of nations; thus, all delay or reserve in this case are sheer acts of imprudence, and next to the imprudence which postpones the moment that should give us laws, the most fatal will be that which makes us temporize with the king." Reducing everything to con- siderations of enmity and policy, Saint-Just added : " The very men who are about to try Louis have a republic to establish : those who attach any importance to the just chastisement of a king will never found a republic. Citizens, if the Roman people, after six hundred years of virtue and of hatred toward kings; if Great Britain after the death of Cromwell saw kings restored in spite of its energy, what ought not good citizens, friends of liberty, to fear among us, when they see tlie ax tremble in your hands, and a people, from the first day of tlieir freedom, respect the memory of their chains? " This violent party, who wished to substitute a coup d'etat for a sentence. \n fnllMw no law. no form, but to strike Louis XVL like a conf|ucre(l prisoner, by making hostilities even sun-ive victory, had but a verv feeble maioritv in the convention; but CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 231 1792 without it was strongly supported by the Jacobins and the com- mune. Notwithstanding the terror which it already inspired, its murderous suggestions were repelled by the convention; and the partisans of inviolability, in their turn, courageously asserted rea- sons of public interest at the same time as rules of justice and humanity. They maintained that the same men could not be judges and legislators, the jury and the accusers. They desired also to impart to the rising republic the luster of great virtues, those of generosity and forgiveness ; they wished to follow the example of the people of Rome, who acquired their freedom and retained it five hundred years, because they proved themselves magnanimous ; because they banished the Tarquins instead of putting them to death. In a political view, they showed the consec[uences of the king's condemnation, as it would affect the anarcb.ical party of the kingdom, rendering it still more insolent; and with regard to Europe, whose still neutral powers it would induce to join the coalition against the republic. But Robespierre, who during this long debate displayed a daring and perseverance that presaged his power, appeared at the tribune to support Saint-Just, to reproach the convention with involving in doubt what the insurrection had decided, and with restoring, by sympathy and the publicity of a defense, the fallen royalist party. " The assembly," said Robespierre, '' has involun- tarily been led far away from the real question. Here we have nothing to do with trial: Louis is not an accused man; you are not judges, you are, and can only be statesmen. You have no sentence to pronounce for or against a man. but you are called on to adopt a measure of public safety ; to perform an act of na- tional precaution. A dethroned king is only fit for two purposes, to disturb the tranquillity of the state, and shake its freedom, or to strengthen one or the other of them. "Louis was king; the republic is founded; the famous ques- tion vou are discussing is decided in these few words. Louis cannot be tried ; he is already tried, he is condemned, or the republic is not absolved." He required that the convention should declare Louis XVL a traitor toward the hVcnch. criminal toward humanity, and sentence him at once to death, by virtue of the insurrection. The Mountaineers, by these extreme propositions, by the popii- laritv they attained without, rendered condemnation in a measure inevitable. By gaining an extraordinary advance on the other par- ^2 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792 ties, it obliged them to follow it, though at a distance. The ma- jority of the convention, composed in a large part of Girondists, who dared not pronounce Louis XVL inviolable, and of the Plain, decided, on Petion's proposition, against the opinion of the fanatical Mountaineers and against that of the partisans of inviolability, that Louis XVL should be tried by the convention. Robert Lindet then made, in the name of the commission of the twenty-one, his report respecting Louis XVL The arraignment, setting forth the offenses imputed to him, was drawn up, and the convention summoned the prisoner to its bar. Louis had been confined in the Temple for four months. He was not at liberty, as the assembly at first wished him to be in assigning him the Luxembourg for a residence. The suspicious commune guarded him closely; but, submissive to his destiny, prepared for everything, he manifested neither impatience, regret, nor indignation. He had only one servant about his person, Clery, who at the same time waited on his family. During the first months of his imprisonment he was not separated from his family ; and he still found solace in meeting it. He comforted and supported his tW'O companions in misfortune, his wife and sister; he acted as preceptor to the young dauphin, and gave him the lessons of an unfortunate man, of a captive king. He read a great deal, and often turned to the " History of England," by Hume; there he read of many dethroned kings, and one of them condemned by the people. Man always seeks destinies similar to his own. But the consolation he found in the sight of his family did not last long: as soon as his trial was decided he was separated from them. The commune wished to prevent the prisoners from concerting their justification; the surveillance it exercised over Louis XVL became daily more minute and severe. In this state of things Santerre received the order to conduct Louis XVL to the bar of the convention. He repaired to the Temple, accompanied by the mayor, who communicated his mis- sion to the king, and inquired if he was willing to descend. Louis hesitated a moment, then said: " This is another violence. I must yield ! " and he decided on appearing before the convention, not objecting to it, as Charles L had done with regard to his judges. " Representatives," said Barrere, when his approach was announced, " you are about to exercise the right of national justice. Let your attitude be suited to your new functions"; and turning to the CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 233 1792 gallery, he added : " Citizens, remember the terrible silence which accompanied Louis on his return from Varennes; a silence which was the precusor of the trial of kings by nations." Louis XVL appeared firm as he entered the hall, and he took a steady glance round the assembly. He was placed at the bar, and the president said to him in a voice of emotion: "Louis, the French nation accuses you. You are about to hear the charges of the indictment. Louis, be seated." A seat had been prepared for him ; he sat in it. During a long examination he displayed much calmness and pres- ence of mind ; he replied to each question appropriately, often in an affecting and triumphant manner. He repelled the reproaches ad- dressed to him respecting his conduct before July 14, reminding them that his authority was not then limited; before the journey to Varennes, by the decree of the constitutent assembly, wdiich had been satisfied with his replies; and after August 10, by throwing all public acts on ministerial responsibility, and by denying all the secret measures which were personally attributed to him. This denial did not, however, in the eyes of the convention, overthrow facts, proved for the most part by documents written or signed by the hand of Louis XVI. himself; he made use of the natural right of every accused person. Thus he did not admit tlie existence of the iron chest and the papers that were brought forward. Louis XVI. invoked a law of safety, which the convention did not admit, and the convention sought to protect itself from anti-revolutionary attempts, which Louis XVI. would not admit. When Louis had returned to the Temple the convention con- sidered the request he had made for a defender. A few Mountain- eers opposed the request in vain. The convention determined to allow him the services of a counsel. It was then that the venerable Malesherbes offered himself to the convention to defend Louis XVI. " Twice," he wrote, " have I been summoned to the council of him who was my master, at a time when that function was the object of ambition to every man ; I owe him the same service now, when many consider it dangerous." His request was granted. Louis XVL in his abandonment was touclied by this proof of devotion. When ]\Ialesherbes entered his room, he went toward him, pressed him in his arms, and said with tears: " Your sacrifice is the more generous since you endanger your own life without saving mine." Alaleslierbes and Tronchet toiled uninterruptedly at his defense, and associated De Seze with them; thev sought 234 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 to reanimate the courage of the king, but they found the king little inclined to hope. " I am sure they will take my life ; but no matter, let us attend to my trial the same as if I were about to gain it. In truth, I shall gain it, for I shall leave no stain on my memory." At length the day for the defense arrived; it was delivered by De Seze; Louis was present. The profoundest silence per- vaded the assembly and the galleries. De Seze availed himself of every consideration of justice and innocence in favor of the royal prisoner. He appealed to the inviolability which had been granted him; he asserted that as king he could not be tried; that as ac- cusers the representatives of the people could not be his judges. In this he advanced nothing which had not already been main- tained by one party of the assembly. But he chiefly strove to justify the conduct of Louis XVI. by ascribing to him intentions always pure and irreproachable. He concluded with these last and solemn w^ords : " Listen, in anticipation, to what History will say to Fame; Louis ascending the throne at twenty, presented an example of morals, justice, and economy; he had no weakness, no corrupting passion : he was the constant friend of the people. Did the people desire the abolition of an oppressive tax? Louis abol- ished it: did the people desire the suppression of slavery? Louis suppressed it: did the people solicit reforms? he made them: did the people wish to change their laws? he consented to change them : did the people desire that millions of Frenchmen should be restored to their rights? he restored them: did the people wish for liberty? he gave it them. Men cannot deny to Louis the glory of having anticipated the people by his sacrifices; and it is he whom it is proposed to slay. Citizens, I will not continue ; I leave it to History ; remember, she will judge your sentence, and her judgment will be that of ages." But passion proved deaf and incapable of foresiglit. The Girondists wished to save Louis XVI., but they feared the imputation of royalism, which was already cast upon them by the Mountaineers. During the whole transaction their conduct was rather equivocal ; they dared not pronounce themselves in favor of or against the accused; and their moderation ruined them without serving him. At that moment his cause, not only that of his throne, but of his life, was their own. They were about to determine, by an act of justice or by a coup d'etat, whether they should return to the legal regime or prolong the revolutionary regime. The triumph CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI 235 1793 of the Girondists or of the Mountaineers was involved in one or the other of these solutions. The latter became exceedingly active. They pretended that, while following forms, men were forgetful of republican energy, and that the defense of Louis XVL was a lecture on monarchy addressed to the nation. The Jacobins pow- erfully seconded them, and deputations came to the bar demanding the death of the king. Yet the Girondists, who had not dared to maintain the question of inviolability, proposed a skillful way of saving Louis XVL from death, by appealing from the sentence of the convention to the people. The extreme Right still protested against the erection of the assembly into a tribunal ; but the competence of the assembly having been previously decided, all their efforts were turned in another direction. Salles proposed that the king should be pro- nounced guilty, but that the application of the punishment should be left to the primary assembly. Buzot, fearing that the conven- tion would incur the reproach of weakness, thought that it ought to pronounce the sentence, and submit tlie judgment it pronounced to the decision of the people. This advice was vigorously opposed by the Mountaineers, and even by a great number of the more mod- erate members of the convention, who saw in the convocation of the primary assemblies the germ of civil war. The assembly had unanimously decided that Louis was guilty, when the appeal to the people was put to the question. Two hun- dred and eighty-three voices voted for, 424 against it; ten declined voting. Then came the terrible question as to the nature of the punishment.^^ Paris was in a state of the greatest excitement: 11 Six hundred and eighty-three against 26 declared Louis guihy of con- spiracy against the liberty of the nation ; 424 against 283 voted against appeal to the people ; 387 deputies voted for death without condition, 334 for death with delay of execution or for punishment less than capital. The majority for death was 53. The first two votes were taken on January 15, 1793. Barrere had succeeded in having a motion carried to the effect that the vote should be taken by calling the roll instead of by ballot. This subtle species of intimidation accounts for the large vote. Worse still was the intimidation by the mob in the galleries. Cf. Stephens, "French Revolution," vol. TI. p. 216 ff. The vote is analyzed by persons in Fletcher's edition of Carlyle's " I-'rench Revolution," vol. II. p. 391, note. It is interesting to Americans especially to know that Thomas Paine, the author of "Common Sense," who had a new field of political activity in France after the American Revolution, who was naturalized and was elected a deputy of Pason-Calais to the convention, tried to induce the convention to exile Louis XVI. to the United Stales. Dr. Priestly, the eminent chemist, and a famous radical, also was a member of the convention and supported Paine's suggestion. 236 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 deputies were threatened at the very door of the assembly; fresh excesses on the part of the populace were dreaded; the Jacobin clubs resounded with extravagant invectives against Louis XVL and the Right. The Mountain, till then the weakest party in the convention, sought to obtain the majority by terror, determined, if it did not succeed, none the less to sacrifice Louis XVL Finally, after four hours of nominal appeal, the president, Vergniaud, said: " Citizens, I am about to proclaim the result of the scrutiny. When iustice lias spoken, humanity should have its turn." There were 7JI voters. The actual majority was 361, as 26 deputies voted for death with Maihli's amendment for postponement.^^ Opinions were very various; Girondists voted for his death, with a reservation, it is true ; most of the members of the Right voted for imprisonment or exile, a few Mountaineers voted with the Girondists. As soon as the result was known, the president said, in a tone of grief : " In the name of the convention, I declare the punishment, to which it condemns Louis Capet, to be death." Those who had undertaken the defense appeared at the bar; they were deeply affected. They endeavored to bring back the assembly to sentiments of compas- sion, in consideration of the small majority in favor of the sentence. But this subject had already been discussed and decided. " Laws are only made by a simple majority," said a Mountaineer. " Yes," replied a voice, " but laws may be revoked : you cannot restore the life of a man." Malesherbes wished to speak, but could not. Sobs prevented his utterance ; he could only articulate a few indistinct words of entreaty. His grief moved the assembly. The request for a reprieve was received by the Girondists as a last resource; but this also failed them, and the fatal sentence was pronounced. Louis expected it. When Malesherbes came in tears to an- nounce the sentence, he found him sitting in the dark, his elbows resting on a table, his face hid in his hands, and in profound medi- tation. At the noise of his entrance, Louis rose and said: " For two hours I have been trying to discover if, during my reign, I liave deserved tlie slightest reproach from my subjects. Well, M. (le Maleslierbes, I swear to you, in the truth of my heart, as a man about to ai^pear before God, that I have constantly sought the hai)piness of my people, and never indulged a wish opposed to it." Mak\slierl)es urged tliat reprieve wimld not be rejected, but this Louis did wi expect. As b,e saw ^Malesherbes go out, Louis begged him not to forsake him in his last moments; Malesherbes '- On January i6. CONVENTION AND LOUIS XVI ^^37 1793 promised to return, and came often and was always admitted, though he was searched before being permitted to enter. Louis received without emotion the formal announcement of his sen- tence from the minister of justice. He asked three days to prepare to appear before God; and also to be allowed the services of a priest, and permission to communicate freely with his wife and children. Only the last two requests were granted. The Abbe Edgeworth, a nonjuring priest of his selection, was admitted, and his family was allowed to see him. The interview was a distressing scene to this desolate family; but the moment of separation was far more so. Louis on parting with his family promised to see tliem again the next day, but on reaching his room he felt that the trial would be too much, and, pacing up and down violently, he exclaimed: *' I will not go!" This was his last struggle; the rest of his time was spent in prepar- ing for death. The night before the execution he slept calmly. Clery awoke him, as he had been ordered, at five, and received his last instructions. He then communicated, commissioned Clery with his dying words, and all he was allowed to bequeath, a ring, a seal, and some hair. The drums were already beating, and the dull sound of traveling cannon, and of confused voices, might be heard. At length Santerre arrived. " ^'ou are come for me," said Louis; "I ask one moment." He deposited his will in the hands of the municipal officer, asked for his hat, and said, in a firm tone : " Let us go." The carriage was an liour on its way from the Temple to the Place de la Revoluti(jn. A double row of soldiers lined the road ; more than forty thor.sand men \vere under arms. Paris presented a gloomy aspect. The citizens present at the execution manifested neitlier applause nor regret; all were silent. On reaching tlie place of execution Louis alighted from the carriage. He ascended tlie scaffold with a firm step, knelt to receive the benediction of the priest, who is recorded to have said, " Son of Saint Louis, ascend to heaven ! " With some repugnance he submitted to the binding of his hands, and Vv-alked hastily to the left of the scaffold : " I die innocent," said he; *' I forgive my enemies; and you, unfortunate people ..." Here, at a signal, the drums and trumpets drowned his voice, and the three executioners seized him, and "hortly after ten o'clock of January 21, 1793, he had ceased to live. Thus perished, at the age of tliirty-nine, after a reign of six- 238 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 teen years and a half, spent in endeavoring to do good, the best but weakest of monarchs. His ancestors bequeathed to him a revo- hition. He was better calculated than any of them to prevent and terminate it ; for he was capable of becoming a reformer-king be- fore it broke out, or of becoming a constitutional king afterward. He is. perhaps, the only prince who, having no other passion, had not that of power, and who united the two qualities which make good kings, fear of God, and love of the people. He perished, the victim of passions which he did not share; of those of the persons about him, to which he was a stranger, and to those of the multitude, which he had not excited. Few memories of kings are so com- mendable. History will say of him, that, with a little more strength of mind, he would have been an exemplary king. Chapter IX FALL OF THE GIRONDISTS JANUARY 2I-JUNE 2, 1793 THE death of Louis XVI. rendered the different parties irreconcilable, and increased the external enemies of the revolution. The republicans had to contend with all Europe, with several classes of malcontents, and with themselves. But the Mountaineers, who then directed the popular movement, imagined that they were too far involved not to push matters to extremity. To terrify tlie enemies of the revolution, to excite the fanaticism of the people by harangues, by the presence of danger, and by insurrections; to refer everything to it, both the govern- ment and the safety of the republic; to infuse into it the most ardent enthusiasm, in the name of liberty, equality, and fraternity; to keep it in this violent state of crisis for the purpose of making use of its passions and its power ; such was the plan of Danton and the Mountain, who had chosen him for their leader. It was he who augmented the popular effcrxcscence by the growing dan- gers of the republic, and who, under the name of revolutionary government, established the despotism of the multitude, instead of legal liberty. Robespierre and Marat went even nuich further than he. They sought to erect into a permanent government what Danton considered as merely transitory. The latter was only a political chief, while the others were true sectarians; the first, more ambitious, the second, more fanatical. The Mountaineers had, by the catastrophe of January 21, gained a great victory over the Girondists. I'hey were accused of being the enemies of the people, because they opposed their excesses ; of being the accomplices of the tyrant, because they had sought to save Louis XVI. ; and of l)etraying tlie republic, because they recom- mended moderation. It was with these reproaches that the Moun- taineers persecuted them with constant animosity in the bosom of the convention, from January 21 till May 31, and June 2. The Girondists were for a long time supported by the Center, which 240 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 sided witli the Right against murder and anarchy, and with the Left for measures for pubhc safety. The mass, which, properly speaking, formed the spirit of the convention, displayed some cour- age, and balanced the power of the Mountain and the commune as long as it possessed those intrepid and eloquent Girondists, who carried with them to prison and to the scafifold all the generous resolutions of tlie assembly. For a moment union existed among the various parties of the assembly, Lepelletier-Saint-Fargeau was stabbed by a retired mem- ber of the household guard, named Paris, for having voted the death of Louis XVL The members of the convention, united by common danger, swore on his tomb to forget their enmities ; but they soon revived them. Some of the murderers of September, whose punishment was desired by the more honorable republicans, were proceeded against at Meaux. The Mountaineers, apprehen- sive that their past conduct would be inquired into, and that their adversaries would take advantage of a condemnation to attack them more openly themselves, put a stop to these proceedings. This impunity further emboldened the leaders of the multitude; and Marat, who at that period had an incredible influence over the multitude, excited them to pillage the dealers, whom he accused of monopolizing provisions. He wrote and spoke violently, in his pamphlets and at the Jacobins, against the aristocracy of the burgh- ers, merchants, and statesmen (as he designated the Girondists), that is to say, against those who, in the assembly or the nation at large, still opposed the reign of the sans-culottes and the Moun- taineers. There was something frightful in the fanaticism and in- vincible obstinacy of these sectaries. The name given by them to the Girondists from the beginning of the convention was that of i)if}'iganfs, on account of the ministerial and rather stealthy means with which they opposed in the departments the insolent and public conduct of the Jacobins. Accordingly, they denounced them regularly in the club, " At Rome, an orator cried daily: ' Carthage must be destroyed! ' well, let a Jacobin mount this tribune every day. and say these single words: 'The {ntrij^inifs must be destroyed!' Who could with- stand us ? We oppose crime, and the ephemeral power of riches ; but we have trutli, justice, poverty, and virtue in our cause. With such arms, the Jacobins will soon have to say: 'We had only to pass on, tlicy were already extinct.' " Marat, who was FALL OF GIRONDISTS 241 1793 much more daring than Robespierre, whose hatred and projects still concealed themselves under certain forms, was the patron of all denouncers and lovers of anarchy. Several Mountaineers re- proached him with compromising their cause by his extreme coun- sels, and by unseasonable excesses; but the entire Jacobin people supported him even against Robespierre, who rarely obtained the advantage in his disputes with him. The pillage recommended in February, in L'Ami du Peuplc, with respect to some dealers, " by way of example," took place, and Marat was denounced to the convention, who decreed his accusation after a stormy sitting. But this decree had no result, because the ordinary tribunals had no authority. This double effort of force on one side, and weakness on the other, took place in the month of February.^ The absolute breach between the Girondists and the ^Mountain may be said to date from January 20, when the former flung down their defiance in supporting and carrying Gensonne's motion that the minister of justice initiate proceedings against the perpetrators of the Sep- tember massacres. The daring of the Girondists was great, at least. The day after they voted against their wishes for the king's execution, and on January 23 Roland resigned. More decisive events soon brought the Girondists to ruin. Hitherto, the military position of h'rance had been satisfactory. Dumouriez had just crowned the brilliant campaign of Argonne by the conquest of Belgium. After the retreat of the Prussians he had repaired to Paris to concert measures for the invasion of the Aus- trian Netherlands. Returning to the army on October 20, 1792, he began the attack on the 28th. The plan attempted so inappro- priately, with so little strength and success, at tlie commencement of the war, was resumed and executed with superior means. Du- mouriez, at the head of the army of Belgium. 40,000 strong, ad- vanced from Valenciennes ujjon Mons, supported on the right by the army of the Ardennes, amounting to about 16,000 men, under General Valence, who marched from Chvet upon Xamur ; and on his left, by the army of the north, 18,000 strong, under General Labourdonnaie, who advanced from Lille upim Tournai. The Austrian army, posted before Mons, awaited battle in its intrench- ments. Dumouriez completely defeated it ; and the victory of ^ On tlic mi^taki-s o'i the Girondists at tlii< rrilicil \\n\c. see Taine, " Freneli Revolution." vol. 11. p. ,^231!.; Morlinicr 'J'eriiaux. " Jlistairr dc la Tcrrcur," vol. VII. p. 297 ff. 242 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 Jemmapes opened Belgium, and again gave to the French arms the ascendency in Europe. A victor on November 6, Dumouriez entered Mons on the 7th, Brussels on the 14th, and Liege on the 28th. Valence took Namur, Labourdonnaie Antwerp; and by the middle of December the invasion of the Netherlands was completely achieved. The French army, master of the Meuse and the Scheldt, took up its winter quarters, after driving beyond the Roer the Austrians, whom they might have driven beyond the Lower Rhine. From this moment hostilities began between Dumouriez and the Jacobins. A decree of the convention, dated November 16, abrogated the Belgian customs and democratically organized that country. This decree was the famous " opening of the Scheldt." It was a direct attack upon the system of the balance of power, and therefore a defiance of the prevailing principles of international law. For the Scheldt Antwerp had been closed to commerce since the Treaty of Westphalia ; the act had been confirmed numer- ous times in other European settlements; and only as late as 1788 England had guaranteed the closure to the house of Orange. The war, on the part of France, had become " a crusade of democracy." The convention further passed a decree (November 19, 1792) offering assistance to peoples who rose against their governments; and a month later, on a motion of Cambon (December 15) declared that: "Wherever French armies shall come, all taxes, tithes, and privileges of rank are to be abolished; all existing authorities an- nulled, and provisional administrators elected by universal suffrage. The property of the fallen government, of the privileged classes and their adherents, is to be placed under French protection." ^ The early objects of the allies protection against expansion of revolution and restoration of pacific (monarchic) govern- ment in France had now given way to other motives. The war had degenerated on the part of the allies into a war of aggrandizement. i. e., " the just acquisition of indemnities." Austria had conceived the idea of forcibly reducing Bavaria, in order to recompense her- self for the loss of the Austrian Netherlands. This Prussia was bent on preventing, which accounts for the fact that the Prussian army was allowed to remain idle on the Rhine. But Poland offered greater rewards. The causes leading to its division may be seen in the following note on the part of Russia : " Should Poland be -Rose, "Revolutionary and Napoleonic F.ra," p. 73. The decree of Novem- ber 19 is in Thiers, "French Revolution," vol. II. p, 188. FALL OF GIRONDISTS 243 1793 firmly and lastingly united to Saxony, a power of the first rank will arise, and one which will be able to exercise the most sensible pressure upon each of its neighbors. We are greatly concerned in this, in consequence of the extension of our Polish frontier ; and Prussia is no less so, from the inevitable increase which would ensue of Saxon influence in the German empire. We therefore suggest that Prussia, Austria, and Russia should come to an inti- mate understanding with one another on this most important subject." ^ The Jacobins sent agents to Belgium to propagate revolutionary principles and establish clubs on the model of the parent society; but the Flemings, who had received them with enthusiasm, became cool at the heavy demands made upon them, and at the general pillage and insupportable anarchy which the Jacobins brought with them. All the party that had opposed the Austrian army, and hoped to be free under the protection of France, found French rule too severe, and regretted having sought its aid, or supported l'>ance. Dumouriez, who had projects of independence for the Flemings, and of ambition for himself, came to Paris to complain of this impolitic conduct with regard to the conquered countries. He changed his hitherto equivocal course ; he had employed every means to keep on terms with the two factions ; he had ranged him- self under the banner of neither, hoping to make use of the Right, through his friend Gensonne, of the Mountain, by Danton and Lacroix, and of awing both by his victories. But in this second journey he tried to stop the Jacobins and to sa\-e Fouis XVL ; not having been able to attain liis end, he returned to the army to begin tlie second campaign, very dissatisfied, and determined to make his new victories the means of stopping the revolution and chang- ing its government. This time all the frontiers of h^rancc were to be attacked by the Furopean powers. The military successes of the revolution, and tlie catastrophe of January 21, had made most of the undecided or neutral gcn-ernments join the coalition. The cabinet of Saint James, on learning the death of Louis XVT., dismissed the ambassador, Chauvelin, whom it had refused "Upon the influence of Poland on continental policies at tins time, and also of the efifect of the denationalization of Poland the second partition took place in January, 1793 and the sentiments of tiie convention, see Bourgeois, "Man- uel liistoriquc de politique efraiigcre." pp. 85-02; l-VfTe, "Modern Europe," vol. 1. pp. ^PrHj: Von Svliel, "Iti-tory of the I'reurh Revolution/' vol. TX. iii4> THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 to acknowledge since August lo and the dethronement of the king. The convention, finding England already leagued with the coalition, and consequently all its promises of neutrality vain and illusive, on February i, 1793, declared war against the King of Great Brit- ain and the Stadthokler of Holland, who had been entirely guided by the cabinet of Saint James since 1788. England had hitherto presen-ed the appearances of neutrality, but it took advantage of this opportunity to appear on the scene of hostilities.* For some time disposed for a rupture, Pitt employed all his resources, and in the space of six months concluded seven treaties of alliance and six treaties of subsidies. England thus became the soul of the coalition against France; her fleets were ready to sail; the minister had obtained 3,200,000/. extraordinary, and Pitt designed to profit by the revolution by securing the preponderance of Great Britain, as Richelieu and Alazarin had taken advantage of the crisis in England in 1640 to establish the French domination in Europe. The cabinet of Saint James was only influenced by motives of English interests ; it desired at any cost to effect the consolidation of the aristocratical power at home, and the exclusive empire in the two Indies, and on the seas. The cabinet of Saint James then made the second levee of the coalition. Spain had just undergone a ministerial change; the famous Godoi, Duke of Alcudia, and since Prince of the Peace, had been placed at the head of the government by means of an intrigue of England and of the emigration. This power came to a rupture with the republic, after having interceded in vain for Louis XVI., and made its neutrality the price of the life of the king. The German empire entirely adopted the war; Bavaria, Suabia, and the Elector Palatine joined the hostile circles of the empire. Naples followed the example of the Holy See ; and the only neutral powers were Venice, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey. Russia was still engaged with the second partition of Poland. The republic was threatened on all sides by the most warlike troops of Europe. It would soon have to face 45,000 Austro- Sardinians in the Alps ; 50,000 Spaniards on the Pyrenees ; 70,000 Austrians or Imperialists, reinforced by 38,000 Anglo-Batavians. on the Lower Rhine and in Belgium; 33,400 Austrians between the Meuse and the Moselle; 112,600 Prussians, Austrians and Imperial- * On England's entrance into the struggle, see Oscar Browning"^ article in hortnighily Rt'iiczc, rCbrr.ary, 1S82. FALL OF GIRONDISTS 245 1793 ists on the Middle and Upper Rhine. In order to confront so many enemies, the convention decreed, February 24, 1793, a levy of 300,- 000 men. Two milliards of assignats were appropriated and eighty- two members of the convention detached as " deputies on mission," for the oversight of the armies. This measure of external defense was accompanied by a party measure for the interior. At the mo- ment the new battalions, about to quit Paris, presented themselves to the assembly, the Mountain demanded the establishment of an ex- traordinary tribunal to maintain the revolution at home, which the battalions were going to defend on the frontiers. This tribunal, composed of nine members, was to try without jury or appeal. The Girondists arose with all their power against so arbitrary and formidable an institution, but it was in vain ; for they seemed to be favoring the enemies of the republic by rejecting a tribunal intended to punish them. All they obtained was the introduction of juries into it, the removal of some violent men, and the power of annulling its acts, as long as they maintained any influence. This was really the revival of an extraordinary tribunal first created on August 17, 1792, in order to expedite matters in the days following August 10. It was abolished by the Girondists on November 13, 1792. Now on March 9, 1793, the permanent vevo- lutionary tribunal was established. Its functions were to punish crimes against the state, i. c, traitors, rebels, and counterfeiters of the assignats. There was a jury until June, 1794, named by the judges. The jury voted openly; there was no appeal, and but one penalty death. ^ The principal efforts of the coalition w-ere directed against the vast frontier extending from the North Sea to Huninguen. The Prince of Coburg, at the head of the Austrians, was to attack the French army on the Roer and the Meuse, to enter Belgium ; while the Prussians, on the other point, should march against Custine, give him battle, surround Mayence, and after taking it renew the preceding invasion. These two armies of operation were sustained in the intermediate positions by considerable forces. Dumouriez, engrossed by ambitious and reactionary designs, at a moment when he ought only to have thought of the perils of France, proposed to himself to establish the royalty of 1791, in spite of the convention ^ See Campardon. " Le Tribunal rcvolutionaire" ; Wallon, " Le Tribunal rcvolutionairc" ; Wallon. "La Tcrrcitr," vol. II. ch. ii. ; Stephens, "French Revo- lution," vol. IT. pp. 440-443. 246 THE IKExNCH REVOLUTION 1793 and Europe. What Bonille could not effect for an absolute nor Lafayette for a constitutional throne, Dumouriez, at a time much less propitious, hoped alone to achieve for an abolished constitution and for a royalty without a party. Listead of remaining neutral among factions, as circumstances dictated to a general, and even to an ambitious man, Dumouriez preferred a rupture with them, in order to sway them. lie conceived a design of forming a party out of France; of entering Holland by means of the Batavian re- publicans opposed to the stadtholdership, and to English influence ; to deliver Belgium from the Jacobins ; to unite these countries in a single independent state, and secure for himself their political pro- tectorate after having accjuired all the glory of a conqueror. To intimidate parties, he was to gain over his troops, march on the capital, dissolve the convention, put down popular meetings, re- establish the constitution of 1791, and give a king to France. This project, impracticable amid the great shock between the revolution and Europe, appeared easy to the fiery and adventurous Dumouriez. Instead of defending the line, threatened from May- ence to the Roer, he threw himself on the left of the operations and entered Holland at the head of 20,000 men. By a rapid march he was to reach the center of the United Provinces, attack the for- tresses from behind, and be joined at Nimeguen by 25,000 men under General Miranda, who would probably have made himself master of Maestricht. An army of 40,000 men was to observe the Austrians and protect his right. Dumouriez vigorously prosecuted his expedition into Hol- land ; he took Breda and Gertruydenberg, and prepared to pass the Biesbos and capture Dort. But the army of the right experienced in the meantime the most alarming reverses on the Lower Meuse. The Austrians assumed the offensive, passed the Roer, beat Mia- zinski at Aix-la-Chapelle ; made Miranda raise the blockade of Maestricht, which he had uselessly bombarded ; crossed the Meuse, and at Liege put the French army, which had fallen back between Tirlemont and Louvain, wholly to the rout. Dumouriez received from the executive council orders to leave Holland immediately and to take command of the troops in Belgium ; he was compelled to obey, and to renounce in part his wildest but dearest hopes. 1 he Jacobins, at the news of these reverses, became much more intractable; unable to conceive a defeat without treachery, es- pecially after the brilliant and unexpected victories of the last cam- FALL OF GIRONDISTS 247 1793 paign, they attributed these mihtary disasters to party combina- tions. They denounced the Girondists, the ministers, and generals who, they supposed, had combined to abandon the repubhc, and clamored for their destruction. Rivalry mingled with suspicion, and they desired as much to acquire an exclusive domination as to defend the threatened territory; they began with the Girondists. As they had not yet accustomed the multitude to the idea of the proscription of representatives, they at first had recourse to a plot to get rid of them ; they resolved to strike them in the convention, where they would all be assembled, and the night of March lo was fixed on for the execution of the plot. The assembly sat per- manently on account of the public danger. It was decided on the preceding- day at the Jacobins and Cordeliers to shut the barriers, sound the tocsin, and march in two bands on the convention and the ministers. They started at the appointed hour, but several circumstances prevented the conspirators from succeeding. The Girondists, apprised, did not attend the evening sitting; the sections declared themselves opposed to the plot, and Beurnonville, minister of war, advanced against them at the head of a battalion of Brest federalists ; these unexpected obstacles, together with the ceaseless rain, obliged the conspirators to disperse. The next day Verg- niaud denounced the insurrectional committee who had projected these murders, demanded tliat the executive council should be com- missioned to make inquiries respecting the conspiracy of March lo, to examine the registers of the clubs, and to arrest the members of the insurrectional committee. " We go," said he, " from crimes to amnesties, from amnesties to crimes. Xumbers of citizens have begun to confound seditious insurrections witli the great insurrec- tion of liberty; to look on the excitement of rol)bers as the out- bursts of energetic minds, and robbery itself as a measure of gen- eral security. We have witnessed the development of that strange system of liberty, in which we are told: 'you are free; but think with us, or we will denounce you to tlie vengeance of the people; you are free, but bow down your liead to the idol we worship, or we will denounce vou to the vengeance of the people; you are free, but join us in persecuting the men whose proljity and intelligence we dread, or we will denounce you to the vengeance of the people.' Citizens, we have reason to fear that tlie revolution, like Saturn, will devour successively all its children, and only engender despot- ism and the calamities which accompany it." These prophetic 248 THE F HEN C H R E \ O L U T ION 1793 words produced some effect in the assembly ; but the measures pro- posed by Verguiaud led to nothing. The Jacobins were stopped for a moment by the failure of their first enterprise against their adversaries ; but the insurrection of La Vendee gave them new courage. The Vendean war was an inevitable event in the revolution. This country, bounded by the Loire and the sea, crossed by few roads, sprinkled with villages, hamlets, and manorial residences, had retained its ancient feudal state. In La Vendee there was no civilization or intelligence, be- cause there was no middle class ; and there was no middle class, be- cause there were no towns, or very few. At that time the peasants had acquired no other ideas than those few communicated to them by the priests, and had not separated their interests from those of the nobility. These simple and sturdy men, devotedly attached to the old state of things, did not understand a revolution, which was the result of a faith and necessities entirely foreign to their situa- tion. The nobles and priests, being strong in these districts, had not emigrated; and the ancient regime really existed there, because there were its doctrines and its society. Sooner or later, a war between France and La Vendee, countries so different, and which had nothing in common but language, Avas inevitable. It was inevitable that the two fanaticisms of monarchy and of popular sovereignty of the priesthood and human reason, should raise their banners against each other, and bring about the triumph of the old or of the new civilization. Partial disturbances had taken place several times in La Vendee. In 1792 the Count de la Rouairie had prepared a general rising, which failed on account of his arrest; but all yet remained ready for an insurrection, when the decree for raising 300,000 men was put into execution.^' This levy became the signal of revolt. The Vendeans beat the gendarmerie at Saint Florens, and took for leaders, in different directions, Cathelineau, a wagoner, Charette, a naval officer, and Stofflet, a gamekeeper. Aided by arms and money from England, the insurrection soon overspread the coun- * The War of La Vendee may be divided into three periods : in the first (March-October. 1793), the Vendeans are successful. In the second (October, 1793-January, 1794), they suffer the defeats of Cholet, of Mans, and of Savenay, which put an end to the war proper. Then began the guerrilla warfare known as the Chouannerie, which was not crushed until 1796. The name " Chouan- neric" was derived from the famous smuggler, Jean Cotterau, called " Le Chouan" the owl. See Stephens, "French RevnlutiDn," vol. II, p. 259 iT. FALL OF GIRONDISTS 249 1793 try ; 900 communes flew to arms at the sound of the tocsin ; and then the noble leaders, Bonchamps, Lescure, La Rochejacquelin, D'Elbee, and Talmont, joined the others. The troops of the line and the battalions of the national guard, who advanced against the insur- gents were defeated. General Marce was beaten at Saint Vincent by Stofflet; General Gauvilliers at Beaupreau, by D'Elbee and Bon- champs ; General Ouetineau at Aubiers, by La Rochejacquelin ; and General Ligonnier at Cholet, The Vendeans, masters of Chatillon, Bressuire, and Vihiers, considered it advisable to form some plan of organization before they pushed their advantages further. They formed three corps, eacli from 10,000 to 12,000 strong, ac- cording to the division of La Vendee, under three commanders ; the first, under Bonchamps, guarded the banks of the Loire, and was called L'Armee d'Anjou; the second, stationed in the center, formed the Grande Armee under D'Elbee; the third, in Lower Vendee, was styled L'Armee du Marais, under Charette. The in- surgents established a council to determine their operations, and elected Cathelineau generalissimo. These arrangements, with this division of the countiy, enabled them to enroll the insurgents, and to dismiss them to their fields, or call them to arms. The intelligence of this formidable insurrection drove the convention to adopt still more rigorous measures against priests and emigrants. It outlawed all priests and nobles who took part in any gathering, and disarmed all who had belonged to the privi- leged classes. The former emigrants were banished forever; they could not return, under penalty of death; their property was con- fiscated. On the door of every house the names of all its inmates were to be inscribed ; and the revolutionary tribunal, which had been adjourned, began its terriljle functions. At the same time tidings of new military disasters arrived, one after the other. Dumouriez, returned to the army of Bel- gium, concentrated all his forces to resist the Austrian gen- eral, the Prince of Coburg. His troops were greatly discouraged and in want of everything; he wrote to the convention a threatening letter against the Jacobins, who denounced him. After having again restored to his army a part of its former confidence by some minor advantages, he ventured a general action at Neerwinden (March 18, 1793) and lost it. Belgium was evacuated, and Du- mouriez, placed between the Austrians and Jacobins, beaten by the one and assailed by the other, had recourse to the guilty project of 250 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 defection, in order to realize his former designs. He had confer- ences with Colonel Mack, and agreed with the Austrians to march upon Paris for the purpose of reestablishing the monarchy, leaving them on the frontiers, and having first given up to them several fortresses as a guarantee. It is probable that Dumouriez wished to place on the constitutional throne the young Duke de Chartres,'^ who had distinguished himself throughout this campaign; while the Prince of Coburg ^ hoped that if the counter-revolution reached that point, it would be carried further and restore the son of Louis XVL and the ancient monarchy. A counter-revolution will not halt any more than a revolution; when once begun, it must ex- haust itself. The Jacobins were soon informed of Dumouriez's arrangements ; he took little precaution to conceal them ; whether he wished to try his troops, or to alarm his enemies, or whether he merely followed his natural levity. To be more sure of his designs, the Jacobin Club sent to him a deputation, consisting of Proly, Pereria, and Dubuisson, three of its members. Taken to Dumouriez's presence, they received from him more admissions than they expected. " The convention," said he, " is an assembly of 735 tyrants. While I have four inches of iron I will not suffer it to reign and shed blood with the revolutionary tribunal it has just created; as for the republic," he added, " it is an idle word. I had faith in it for three days. Since Jemmapes I have deplored all the successes I obtained in so bad a cause. There is only one way to save the country that is, to reestablish the constitution of 1791, and a king." " Can you think of it, general? " said Dubuis- son ; " the French view royalty with horror the very name of Louis " " What does it signify whether the king be called Louis, Jacques, or Philippe?" "And what are your means?" " My army yes, my army will do it, and from my camp, or the ''Afterward King Louis Philippe (1830-1848). He distinguished himself at both Valmy and Neerwinden. He refused to bear arms against his country. For a time he taught mathematics in Suabian Germany ; went to Sweden, and sailed thence to the United States in 1796; later he lived for many years in England, and returned to France after the fall of Napoleon. Consult Stephens, "French Revolution," vol. H. pp. 224-231, on Neerwinden. * Coburg was the Austrian commander ; he signed the armistice with reluc- tance, although Dumouriez offered to surrender the border fortresses in proof of his sincerity. Everything fell to the ground when the convention suspected Dumouriez's treachery, and he had no other recourse. But Austria seems to have been suspicious of him, too, and would not accept his services. He died in 1823, a pensioner of the English government. FALL OF GIRONDISTS 251 1793 stronghold of some fortress, it will express its desire for a king." " But our project endangers the safety of the prisoners in the Temple." " Should the last of the Bourbons be killed, even those of Coblentz, France shall still have a king, and if Paris were to add this murder to those which have already dishonored it, I would in- stantly march upon it." After thus unguardedly disclosing his in- tentions, Dumouriez proceeded to the execution of his impracti- cable design. He was really in a very difficult position ; the soldiers were very much attached to him, but they were also devoted to their country. He was to surrender some fortresses which he was not master of, and it was to be supposed that the generals under his orders, either from fidelity to the republic or from ambition, would treat him as he had treated Lafayette. His first attempt was not encouraging; after having established himself at Saint Amand, he essayed to possess himself of Lille, Conde, and Valen- ciennes, but failed in this enterprise. The failure made him hesi- tate, and prevented his taking the initiative in the attack. It was not so with the convention ; it acted with a promptitude, a boldness, a firmness, and above all, with a precision in attaining its object, which rendered success certain. When we know what we want, and desire it determinately and promptly, we nearly always attain our object. This quality was wanting in Dumouriez, and the want impeded his audacity and deterred his partisans. As soon as the convention was informed of his projects it summoned him to its bar. Lie refused to obey; without, however, immedi- ately raising the standard of revolt. The convention instantly dispatched four representatives, Camus, Ouinette, Lamarque Ban- cal, and Beurnonville, minister of war, to ])ring him before it, or to arrest him in the midst of his ami}'. This is the first use of a practice which soon became formidable. The representatives on mission were endowed with the full powers of the committee of public safety. Like, the ancient intcndants, they were first attached to the armies. Conspicuous among them were Saint-Just, with the army of the Rhine; ]\Ierlin of Thionville in Maine and La Vendee; the younger Robespierre at Toulon; Couthon, CoIlot-d'Herbois and Louche, at Lyon; Carrier at Nantes; Tallien at Bordeaux. Dumouriez received tlie commissioners at the head of his staff. Tliey presented to him the decree of the convention; he read it and returned it to t1iem, saying that the state of his army would not admit of his leaving it. He offered to resign, and promised in a 252 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 calmer season to demand judges himself, and to give an account of his designs and of his conduct. The commissioners tried to induce him to submit, quoting the example of the ancient Roman gen- erals. " We are always mistaken in our quotations," he replied ; " and we disfigure Roman history by taking as an excuse for our crimes the example of their virtues. The Romans did not kill Tarquin; the Romans had a well ordered republic and good laws; they had neither a Jacobin Club nor a revolutionary tribunal. We live in a time of anarchy. Tigers wish for my head ; I will not give it them." " Citizen general," said Camus then, " will you obey the decree of the national convention, and repair to Paris? " "Not at present." " Well, then, I declare that I suspend you ; you are no longer a general ; I order your arrest." " This is too much," said Dumouriez; and he had the commissioners arrested by German hussars, and delivered them as hostages to the Austrians. After this act of revolt he could no longer hesitate. Dumouriez made another attempt on Conde, but it succeeded no better than the first. He tried to induce the army to join him, but was forsaken by it. The soldiers were likely for a long time to prefer the republic to their general; the attachment to the revolution was in all its fervor, and the civil pow'er in all its force. Dumouriez experienced, in declaring himself against the convention, the fate which Lafayette experienced when he declared himself against the legislative as- sembly, and Bouille when he declared against the constituent assembly. At this period, a general, combining the firmness of Bouille with the patriotism and popularity of Lafayette, wnth the victories and resources of Dumouriez, would have failed as they did. The revolution, with the movement imparted to it, was nec- essarily stronger than parties, than generals, and than Europe. Dumouriez went over to the Austrian camp with the Duke de Chartres, Colonel Thouvenot, and two squadrons of Berchiny, April 4, 1793. The rest of his army went to the camp at Famars and joined the troops commanded by Dampierre. The convention, on learning the arrest of the commissioners, established itself as a permanent assembly; declared Dumouriez a traitor to his country, authorized any citizen to attack him, set a price on his head, decreed the famous committee of public safety, and banished the Duke of Orleans and all the Bourbons from the re- public. The convention did its work through the medium of sixteen committees, of which the committee of general defense and the com- FALL OF GIRONDISTS 253 1793 mittee of public safety were much the most important. The former was created in January, 1793 ; it was composed of twenty-four mem- bers. It originally included nine Girondists Petion, Gensonne, Vergniaud, Buzot, Guadet, Condorcet, Isnard, Lasource ; nine of the Plain, of whom Barrere, Sieyes, Cambaceres and Camus were the principal ; and six of the Mountain, including Danton, Robespierre, and Camille Desmoulins. The defection of Dumouriez so alarmed the convention that on April 6 Isnard moved to concentrate execu- tive power in the hands of nine members, to be known as the com- mittee of public safety. Its conferences were to be secret and it was to have a fund at its disposal, of which it did not have to give particular account. Theoretically, the members were to be renewed every three months, but the rule was a dead letter from the begin- ning. Until after Thermidor the only changes were those due to politics, i. c, after June 2, 1793, all the Girondists were expelled from it; after April, 1794, all the Dantonists. The committee of public safety divided itself into these groups: (i) the gens d'ex- amen, who, like Carnot and Cambon, gave their whole attention to external events or general administrative questions ; the gens rcvohi- tionaires, Collot d'Herbois, Barrere, Billaud-Varennes, who were genuine terrorists under the remaining three, Robespierre, Danton, Hebert later Robespierre, Couthon, and Saint-Just, who were the political chiefs. Local committees of public safety were created in each section of Paris and in every commune. The widespread organization of the Jacobin clubs made this an easy matter. Although the Girondists had assailed Dumouriez as warmly as had the Mountaineers, they were accused of being his accom- plices, and this was a new cause of complaint added to the rest. Their enemies became every day more powerful ; and it was in mo- ments of public peril that they were especially dangerous. Hitherto, in the struggle between the two parties, they had carried the day on every point. They had stopped all inquiries into the massacres of September; they had maintained the usurpation of the com- mune; they had obtained, first the trial, then the death, of Louis XVI.; through their means the plunderings of February and the conspiracy of ]\larch 10 had remained unpunished; they had pro- cured the erection of the revolutionary tribunal despite the Giron- dists; they had driven Roland from the ministry in disgust; and they had just defeated Dumouriez. It only remained now to de- 254 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 prive the Girondists of their last asylum ^the assembly; this they set about on April lo, and accomplished on June 2. Robespierre attacked by name Brissot, Guadet, Vergniaud, Petion, and Gensonne in the convention; Marat denounced them in the popular societies. As president of the Jacobins, he wrote an address to the departments, in which he invoked the thunder of petitions and accusations against the traitors and faithless dele- gates who had sought to save the tyrant by an appeal to the public or his imprisonment. The Right and the Plain of the convention felt that it was necessary to unite. Marat was sent before the revolutionary tribunal. This news set the clubs in motion, the people, and the commune. By way of reprisal, Pache, the mayor, came in the name of thirty-five sections and of the general council to demand the expulsion of the principal Girondists. Young Boyer Fonfrede required to be included in the proscription of his col- leagues, and the members of the Right and the Plain rose, exclaim- ing : " All ! all ! " This petition, though declared calumnious, was the first attack upon the convention from without, and it prepared the public mind for the destruction of the Gironde. The accusation of Marat was far from intimidating the Jacobins who accompanied him to the revolutionary tribunal. Marat was acquitted April 24, 1793, and borne in triumph to the assembly. It was evident that the conflict could not end except in the extermination of one of the two adversaries. The Girondists still had the aid of the Plain, and thanks to the latter Isnard was made president of the convention on May 16. Then the com- mune and the Jacobin Club anew demanded the expulsion of the Girondist leaders. On May 18 the Girondists, by decree, estab- lished a committee of twelve, all of the party, authorized to take the necessary measures to secure public peace. The first act of this committee was to arrest Hebert, the editor of the atrocious paper known as Lc Pere Duchesne. A week later the commune de- manded the liberation of Hebert and the suppression of the twelve. One section even went so far as to demand their trial before the revolutionary tribunal. Isnard, in replying, sustained the authority of the convention and defied the communards in the most haughty terms. As might have been expected, the sections rose in revolt, and on the night of May 27-28 some deputies of the Mountain, with whom citizens of Paris were mingled upon the benches, voted the suppression of the committee of twelve and the arrest of many FALL OF GIRONDISTS 255 1793 of the Girondists. But the latter bravely stood their ground and carried the day. The communards had no other recourse but more violent revolt. Thus was the way paved for the famous rising of May 31. From that moment the approaches to the hall were thronged with daring sans-culottes, and the partisans of the Jacobins filled the galleries of the convention. The clubists and Robespierre's tricoteuses (knitters) constantly interrupted the speakers of the Right, and disturbed the debate; while without, every opportunity was sought to get rid of the Girondists. Henriot, commandant of the section of sans-culottes, excited against them the battalions about to march for La Vendee. Guadet then saw that it was time for something more than complaints and speeches; he ascended the tribune. " Citizens," said he, " while virtuous men content themselves with bewailing the misfortunes of the country, con- spirators are active for its ruin. With Cxsnr they say : * Let them talk, we will act.' Well, then, do you act also. The evil consists in the impunity of the conspirators of March 10; the evil is in anarchy; the evil is in the existence of the authorities of Paris authorities striving at once for gain and dominion. Citizens, there is yet time; you may save the republic and your compromised glory. I propose to abolish the Paris authorities, to replace within twenty-four hours the municipality by the presidents of the sec- tions, to assemble the convention at Bourges with the least possible delay, and to transmit this decree to the departments l)y extraordi- nary couriers." The IMountain was surprised for a moment by Guadet's motion. Had his measures been at once adopted, there would have been an end to the domination of the commune, and to the projects of the conspirators ; but it is also probable that the agitation of parties would have brought on a civil war, that the convention would have been dissolved by the assembly at Bourges, that all center of action would have been destroyed, and that the revolution would not have been sufficiently strong to contend against internal struggles and the attacks of Europe. This was what the moderate party in tlie assembly feared. Dreading an- archy if the career of the commune was not stopped, and counter- revolution if the multitude were too closely kept down, its aim was to maintain the balance between the two extremes of the con- vention. This party comprised tlie committees of general safety and of public safety. It was directed by l':u-rcrc, who, like all men 256 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 of Upright intentions but weak characters, advocated moderation so long as fear did not make him an instrument of cruelty and tyranny. Instead of Guadet's decisive measures, he proposed to nominate an extraordinary commission of twelve members, deputed to inquire into the conduct of the municipality; to seek out the authors of the plots against the national representatives, and to secure their persons. This middle course was adopted; but it left the commune in existence, and the commune was destined to triumph over the convention. The commission of twelve threw the members of the com- mune into great alarm by its inquiries. It discovered a new con- spiracy, which was to be put into execution on May 22, and ar- rested some of the conspirators, and among others, Hebert, the deputy recorder, editor of Pere Duchesne^ who was taken in the very bosom of the municipality. The commune, at first astounded, began to take measures of defense. From that moment, not con- spiracy, but insurrection was the order of the day. The general council, encouraged by the Mountain, surrounded itself with the agitators of the capital ; it circulated a report that the twelve wished to purge the convention, and to substitute a counter-revolu- tionary tribunal for that which had acquitted Marat. The Jacobins, the Cordeliers, the sections, sat permanently. On May 26 the agi- tation became perceptible; on the 27th it was sufficiently decided to induce the commune to open the attack. It accordingly appeared before the convention and demanded the liberation of Hebert and the suppression of the twelve; it was accompanied by the deputies of the sections, who expressed the same desire, and the hall was surrounded by a large mob. The section of the city even presumed to require that the twelve should be brought before the revolu- tionary tribunal. Isnard, president of the assembly, replied, in a solemn tone : " Listen to what I am about to say. If ever by one of those insurrections, of such frequent recurrence since March 10, and of which the magistrates have never apprised the assembly, a ^ The newspapers of Paris during the revokition were legion and of every shade of poHtics. The most prominent royalist journals were the Journal de la Cour et de la Ville, the Journal dcs Ilallcs, the Ami du Roi, the Actes dcs Apotres. Of revolutionary journals may be mentioned the Revolutions dc Paris, edited by Loustallot, the Oratcur du Peuplc, edited by Freron, the Revolu- tion de France et dc Brabant, edited by Camille Dcsmoulins, the I^oint de Jours, by Barrere. The worst sheets were the Ami du Pcuple, of Marat, and the Pcrc Duchesne, of Hebert. FALL OF GIRONDISTS 257 1793 hostile hand be raised against the national representatives, I de- clare to you in the name of all France, Paris will be destroyed. Yes, universal France would rise to avenge such a crime, and soon it would be matter of doubt on which side of the Seine Paris had stood." This reply became the signal for great tumult. " And I declare to you," exclaimed Danton, " that so much impudence begins to be intolerable; we will resist you." Then turning to the Right, he added : " No truce between the Mountain and the cowards who wished to save the tyrant." The utmost confusion now reigned in the hall. The strangers' galleries vociferated denunciations of the Right; the Mountain broke forth into menaces; e\ery moment deputations arrived with- out, and the convention was surrounded by an immense multitude. A few sectionaries of the Alail and of the Butte-des-Moulins, com- manded by Raffet, drew up in the passages and avenues to defend it. The Girondists withstood, as long as they could, the deputa- tions and the Mountain. Threatened within, besieged without, they would have availed themselves of this violence to arouse the indignation of the assembly. But the minister of the interior, Garat, deprived them of this resource. Called upon to give an account of the state of Paris, he declared that the convention had nothing to fear; and the opinion of Garat, who was considered impartial, and whose conciliatory turn of mind involved him in equivocal proceedings, emboldened the members of the IMountain. Isnard was obliged to resign the chair, which was taken by Herault de Sechelles, a sign of victory for the ]\Iountain. The new presi- dent replied to the petitioners, whom Isnard had hitherto kept in the background. " The power of reason and the power of the people are the same thing. You demand from us :i magistrate and justice. The representatives of the people will give you both." It was now very late; the Right was discouraged, some of its mem- bers had left, llic petitioners had moved from the hall to the seats of the representatives, and there, mixed up with the ]\Ioun- tain, with outcry and disorder, tlicy voted, all together, for the dismissal of the twelve and the liberation of the prisoners. It was at half-past twelve, amid the applause of the galleries and the people outside, that this decree was passed. It would, perhaps, have been wise on the part of the Gi- rondists, since thev were really not the strongest party, to have made no recurrence to this matter. The movement of the preced- 258 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 ing- day would liave had no other result than the suppression of the twelve, if other causes had not prolonged it. But animosity had attained such a height that it had become necessary to bring the quarrel to an issue ; since the two parties could not endure each other, the only alternative was for them to fight; they must needs go on from victory to defeat, and from defeat to victory, growing more and more excited every day, until the strongest finally tri- umphed over the weaker party. Next day the Right regained its position in the convention; they declared the decree of the pre- ceding day illegally passed, in tumult and under compulsion, and the commission was reestablished. " You yesterday," said Danton, " did a great act of justice; but I declare to you, if the commission retains the tyrannical power it has hitherto exercised; if the magis- trates of the people are not restored to their functions; if good citizens are again exposed to arbitrary arrest; then, after having proved to you that we surpass our enemies in prudence, in wisdom, we shall surpass them in audacity and revolutionary vigor." Dan- ton feared to commence the attack; he dreaded the triumph of the Alountain as much as he did that of the Girondists : he accordingly sought, by turns, to anticipate May 31, and to moderate its results. But he was reduced to join his own party during the conflict, and to remain silent after the victory. The agitation, wdiich had been a little allayed by the sup- pression of the twelve, became threatening at the news of their restoration. The benches of the sections and popular societies resounded with invectives, with cries of danger, with calls to in- surrection. Hebert, having quitted his prison, reappeared at the commune. A crown was placed on his brow, which he trans- ferred to the bust of Brutus, and then rushed to the Jacobins to demand vengeance of the twelve. Robespierre, ]\Iarat, Danton, Chaumette, and Pache then combined in organizing a new move- ment. The insurrection was modeled on that of August 10. May 29 was occupied in preparing the public mind. On the 30th mem- bers of the electoral college, commissioners of the clubs, and deputies of sections assembled at the Eveche, declared themselves in a state of insurrection, dissolved the general council of the com- mune, and immediately reconstituted it, making it take a new oath ; Henriot received the title of commandant-general of the armed force, and the sans-culottes were assigned forty sous a day while under arms. These preparations made, early on the morning of FALL OF GIRONDISTS 259 1793 the 31st the tocsin rang, the drums beat to arms, the troops were assem.bled, and all marched toward the convention, which for some time past had held its sittings at the Tuileries. The assembly had met at the sound of the tocsin. The min- ister of the interior, the administrators of the department, and the mayor of Paris had been summoned, in succession, to the bar. Garat had given an account of the agitated state of Paris, but appeared to apprehend no dangerous result. L'Huillier, in the name of the department, declared it was only a moral insurrection. Pache, the mayor, appeared last, and informed them, with a hypo- critical air, of the operations of the insurgents; he pretended that he had employed every means to maintain order; assured them that the guard of the convention had been doubled, and that he had prohibited the firing of the alarm cannon ; yet, at the same moment, the cannon was heard in the distance. The surprise and excite- ment of the assembly were extreme. Cambon exhorted the mem- bers to union, and called upon the people in the strangers' gallery to be silent. " Under these extraordinary circumstances," said he, " the only way of frustrating the designs of the malcontents is to make the national convention respected.'' " I demand," said Thuriot, " the immediate abolition of the commission of twelve." " And I," cried Tallien, " that the sword of the law may strike the conspirators who profane the very bosom of the convention." The Girondists, on their part, required that the audacious Henriot should be called to the bar for having fired the alarm cannon without the permission of the convention. "If a struggle take place," said Vergniaud, " be the success what it may, it will be the ruin of the republic. Let every member swear to die at his post." The entire assembly rose, applauding the proposition. Danton rushed to the tribune: "Break up the commission of twelve! you have heard the thunder of the cannon. If you are politic legis- lators, far from blaming the outbreak of Paris, you will turn it to the profit of the rcpu1)lic, by reforming your own errors, by dis- missing your commission. I address those," he continued, on hearing murmurs around him, " wlio possess some political talent, not dullards, who can only act and speak in obedience to their passions. Consider the grandeur of your aim; it is to save the people from their foes, from the aristocrats, to save them from their own blind fury. If a few men. really dangerous, no matter to what partv they belong, should then seek to prcjlong a move- 260 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 nient, because useless, by your act of justice, Paris itself will hurl them back into tiieir original insignificance. I calmly, simply, and deliberately demand the suppression of the commission, on political grounds." The commission was violently attacked on one side, feebly defended on the other; Barrere and the committee of public safety, who were its creators, proposed its suppression, in order to restore i>eace, and to save the assembly from being left to the mercy of the multitude. The moderate portion of the Mountain were about to adopt this concession, when the deputations arrived. The members of the department, those of the municipality, and the commissaries of sections, being admitted to the bar, demanded not merely the suppression of the twelve, but also the punishment of the moderate members, and of all the Girondist chiefs. The Tuileries was completely blockaded by the insurgents; and the presence of their commissaries in the convention embold- ened the extreme Mountain, who were desirous of destroying the Girondist party. Robespierre, their leader and orator, spoke : " Citizens, let us not lose this day in vain clamors and unnecessary measures; this is, perhaps, the last day in which patriotism will combat with tyranny. Let the faithful representatives of the people combine to secure their happiness." He urged the con- vention to follow the course pointed out by the petitioners rather than that proposed by the committee of public safety. He was thundering forth a lengthened declamation against his adversaries, when Vergniaud interfered : " Conclude this ! " " I am about to conclude, and against you ! Against you, who, after the revolu- tion of August lo, sought to bring to the scaffold those who had effected it. Against you, who have never ceased in a course which involved the destruction of Paris. Against you, who desired to save the tyrant. Against you, who conspired with Dumouriez, Against you, who fiercely persecuted the same patriots whose heads Dumouriez demanded. Against you, whose criminal vengeance provoked those cries of vengeance which you seek to make a crime in your victims. I conclude : my conclusion is I propose a decree of accusation against all the accomplices of Dumouriez, and against those who are indicated by the petitioners." Notwith- standing tlie violence of this outbreak, Robespierre's party were not victorious. The insurrection had only been directed against the twelve, and the committee of public safety, who proposed their suppression, prevailed over the commune. The assembly FALL OF GIRONDISTS 261 1793 adopted the decree of Barrere, which dissolved the twelve, placed the public force in permanent requisition and, to satisfy the peti- tioners, directed the committee of public safety to inquire into the conspiracies which they denounced. As soon as the multitude surrounding the assembly was informed of these measures it received them with applause and dispersed. But the conspirators were not disposed to rest content with this half triumph : they had gone further on May 30 than on the 29th; and on June 2 they went further than on May 31. The in- surrection, from being moral, as they termed it, became personal ; that is to say, it was no longer directed against a power, but against the deputies; it passed from Danton and the Mountain to Robespierre, Marat, and the commune. On the evening of May 31 a Jacobin deputy said: "We have had but half the game yet; we must complete it, and not allow the people to cool." Hcnriot offered to place the armed force at tlie disposition of the club. The insurrectional committee openly took up its quarters near the con- vention. The whole of June i was devoted to the preparation of a great movement. The commune wrote to the sections: "Citi- zens, remain under arms : the danger of the country renders this a supreme law." In the evening Marat, who was the chief author of June 2, repaired to the Hotel de Ville, ascended the clock-tower himself, and rang the tocsin; he called upon tlie members of the council not to separate till they had obtained a decree of accusation against tlie traitors and the " statesmen." A few deputies assem- bled at the convention, and tlic conspirators came to demand the decree against the proscribed parties; but they were not yet suffi- ciently strong to enforce it from the convention. The whole night was spent in making preparations ; the tocsin rang, drums beat to arms, the people gathered together. On Sun- day morning, about eiglit o'clock, Henriot presented himself to the general council and declared to his accomplices, in the name of the insurrectionary people, that they would not lay down their arms until they had obtained the arrest of the conspirator deputies. lie then placed himself at the head of the vast crowd assembled in the Place de I'Hotel de Ville, harangued them, and gave the signal for their departure. It was nearly ten o'clock when the insurgents reached the Place du Carnmsel. 1 lein-iot posted round the chateau bands of the most dcNotcd men, and the convention was soon sur- rounded by 80,000 men, the greater part ignorant of what was 262 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 required of them, and more disposed to defend than to attack the deputation. The majority of the proscribed members had not proceeded to the assembly. A few, courageous to the end, had come to brave the storm for the last time. As soon as the sitting commenced the intrepid Lanjuinais ascended the tribune. " I demand," said he, " to speak respecting the general call to arms now beating tliroughout Paris." He was immediately interrupted by cries of " Down ! down ! He wants civil war ! He wants a counter-revolu- tion ! He calumniates Paris ! He insults the people." Despite the threats, the insults, the clamors of the Mountain and the galleries, Lanjuinais denounced the projects of the commune and of the malcontents ; his courage rose with the danger. " You accuse us," he said, " of calumniating Paris ! Paris is pure ; Paris is good ; Paris is oppressed by tyrants who thirst for blood and dominion." These words were the signal for the most violent tumult; several IMountain deputies rushed to the tribune to tear Lanjuinais from it; but he, clinging firmly to it, exclaimed, in accents of the most lofty courage: "I demand the dissolution of all the revolutionist authorities in Paris. I demand that all they have done during the last three days may be declared null. I demand that all who would arrogate to themselves a new authority contrary to law, be placed without the law, and that every citizen be at liberty to punish them." He had scarcely concluded, when the insurgent petitioners came to demand his arrest, and that of his colleagues. " Citizens," said they, " the people are weaiy of seeing their happiness still postponed ; they leave it once more in your hands ; save them, or we declare that they will save themselves." The Right moved the order of the day on the petition of the insurgents, and the convention accordingly proceeded to the previ- ous question. The petitioners immediately withdrew in a menacing attitude ; tb.e strangers quitted the galleries ; cries to arms were sliouted, and a great tumult was heard without : " Save the people ! " cried one of the IMountain. " Save your colleagues, by decreeing their provisional arrest." "No, no!" replied the Right, and even a portion of the Left. "We will all share their fate!" exlaimcd La Rcvcillere-Lepaux. The committee of public safety, called upon to make a report, terrified at the magnitude of the danger, pri^jxjscd, as on ]\Iay 31, a measure apparently concilatory, to satisfy the insurgents, without entirely sacrificing the proscribed FALL OF GIRONDISTS 263 1793 members. " The committee," said Barrere, " appeal to the gener- osity and patriotism of the accused members. It asks of them the suspension of their power, representing to them that this alone can put an end to the divisions which afflict the republic, which can alone restore to it peace." A few among them adopted the proposi- tion. Isnard at once gave in his resignation ; Lanthenas, Dessaulx, and Fauchet followed his example; Lanjuinais w^ould not. He said: " I have hitherto, I believe, shown some courage; expect not from me either suspension or resignation. When the ancients," he continued, amid violent interruption, " prepared a sacrifice, they crowned the victim with flowers and chaplets, as they conducted it to the altar; but they did not insult it." Barbaroux was as firm as Lanjuinais. "I have sworn," he said, "to die at my post; I will keep my oath." The conspirators of the Mountain themselves protested against the proposition of the committee. Marat urged that those wdio make sacrifices should be pure; and Billaud- Varennes demanded the trial of the Girondists, not their sus- pension. While this was going on Lacroix, a deputy of the Mountain, rushed into the house and to the tribune, and declared that he had been insulted at the door, that he had been refused egress, and that the convention was no longer free. i\Iany of the Alountain ex- pressed their indignation at Henriot and his troops. Danton said it was necessary vigorously to avenge this insult to the national majesty. Barrere proposed to the convention to present themselves to the people. " Representatives," said he, " vindicate your lib- erty; suspend your sitting; cause the bayonets that surround you to be lowered." The whole convention arose and set forth in pro- cession, preceded by its sergeants and, headed by the president, who was covered, in token of his aflliction. On arriving at a door on the Place du Carrousel they found there Henriot on horseback, saber in hand. " What do the people require? " said the president, Herault de Sechelles : '' the convention is wholly engaged in pro- moting their happiness." " Herault," replied Henriot. "the people have not risen to hear phrases; they rc(iuirc twenty-four traitors to be given up to them." " Give us all up! "' cried those who sur- rounded the president. Henriot then turned to his people and exclaimed : " Cannoneers, to your guns." Two pieces were di- rected upon the convention, who, retiring to the gardens, sought an outlet at various points, but found all the issues guarded. The 264 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 soldiers were everywhere under arms. Marat ran through the ranks, encouraging and exciting them. "No weakness," said he; " do not quit your posts till they have given them up." The con- vention then returned within the house, overwhelmed with a sense of their powerlessness, convinced of the inutility of their efforts, and entirely subdued. The arrest of the proscribed members was no longer opposed. Marat, the true dictator of the assembly, im- periously decided the fate of its members. " Dessaulx," said he, " is an old twaddler, incapable of leading a party; Lanthenas is a poor creature, unworthy of a thought; Ducos is merely chargeable with a few absurd notions, and is not at all a man to become a counter-revolutionary leader. I require that these be struck out of the list, and their names replaced by that of Valaze." These names were accordingly struck out, and that of Valaze substituted, and the list thus altered was agreed to, scarcely one-half of the assembly taking part in the vote. These are the names of the illustrious men proscribed : the Girondists, Gensonne, Guadet, Brissot, Gorsas, Petion, Vergniaud, Salles, Barbaroux, Cambon, Buzot, Birotteau, Lidon, Rabaud, Lasource, Lanjuinais, Grangeneuve, Lehardy, Lesage, Louvet, Valaze, Lebrun, minister of foreign affairs, Clavieres, minister of taxes, and the members of the council of twelve, Kervelegan, Gardien, Rabaud-Saint-fitienne, Boileau, Bertrand, Vigee, Molle- veau, Henri la Riviere, Gomaire, and Bergoing. The convention placed them under arrest at their own houses, and under the pro- tection of the people. The order for keeping the assembly itself prisoners was at once withdrawn, and the multitude dispersed, but from that moment the convention ceased to be free. The consequences of this disastrous event did not answer the expectations of anyone. The Dantonists thought that the dis- sensions of parties were at an end : civil war broke out. The mod- erate members of the committee of public safety thought that the convention would resume all its pow'er: it was utterly subdued. The commune thought that Alay 31 would secure to it domination; domination fell to Robespierre and Danton, and to a few men de- voted to his fortune, or to the principle of extreme democracy. Lastly, there was another party to be added to the parties defeated, and thenceforth hostile; and as after August 10 the republic had been opposed to the constitutionalists, after May 31 the reign of terror was opposed to the moderate party of the republic. PART IV THE TERROR AND THE REACTION JUNE 2, 1793-OCTOBER 28, 1795 Chapter X BEGINNING OF THE TERROR JUNE 2, 1793-APRIL, 1794 IT was to be presumed that the Girondists would not bow to their defeat, and that May 31 would be the signal for the insur- rection of the departments against the Mountain and the com- mune of Paris. This was the last trial left them to make, and they attempted it. But in this decisive measure there was seen the same want of union which had caused their defeat in the convention. It is doubtful whether the Girondists would have triumphed had they been united, and especially whether their triumph would have saved the revolution. How could they have done with just laws what the Mountaineers effected by violent measures? How could they have conquered foreign foes without fanaticism, restrained parties with- out the aid of terror, fed the multitude without a maximum, and supplied the armies without requisition? If ]\Iay 3 had had a differ- ent result, what happened at a much later period would probably have taken place immediately, namely, a gradual abatement of the revolutionary movement, increased attacks on the part of Europe, a general resumption of hostilities by all parties, the days of Prairial, without power to drive back the multitude ; the days of Vendemiaire, without power to repel the royalists; the invasion of the coalesced powers, and, according to the policy of the times, the partition of France. The republic was not sufficiently powerful to meet so many attacks as it did after the reaction of Thermidor. However this may be. the Girondists, who ought to have re- mained quiet or fought all together, did not do so, and after June 2 all the moderate men of the party remained under the decree of arrest; the others escaped. Vergniaud, Gensonne, Ducos, Ton- frede, were among the first : Pction, Barbaroux, Guadct, Louvet, Buzot, and Lanjuinais among the latter. They returned to Evreux, in the department of tlie Eurc, where Buzot had much intluence, and thence to Caen, in Cnlvados. They made tin's town the center o>f the insurrection. r>rittany soon joined them, 'i'he insurgents, under the name of the assembly of the departments assemblcil at Cac:i, 2(i7 268 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 formed an army, appointed General Wimpfen commander, arrested the Mountaineers Romme and Prieur de la Marne, commissaries of the convention, and prepared to march on Paris. From this place a young, beautiful, and courageous woman, Charlotte Corday, went to punish Marat, the principal author of May 31 and June 2. She hoped to save the republic by sacrificing herself to its cause. But tyranny did not rest with one man; it belonged to a party, and to the violent situation of the republic. Charlotte Corday, after exe- cuting her generous but vain design, died with unchanging calmness, modest courage, and the satisfaction of having done well.^ But Marat, after his assassination, July 13, 1793, became a greater object of enthusiasm with the people than he had been while living. He was invoked on all the public squares ; his bust was placed in all the popular societies and he was granted the honors of the Pan- theon. At the same time Lyons arose, Marseilles and Bordeaux took arms, and more than sixty departments joined the insurrection. This attack soon led to a general rising among all parties, and the royalists for the most part took advantage of the movement which the Girondists had commenced. They sought especially to direct the insurrection of Lyons, in order to make it the center of the move- ment in the south. This city was strongly attached to the ancient order of things. Its manufactures of silver and gold and silken embroidery, and its trade in articles of luxury, made it dependent on the upper classes. It therefore declared at an early period against a social change which destroyed its former connections and ruined its manufactures by destroying the nobility and clergy. Lyons ac- cordingly, in 1790, even under the constituent assembly, when the emigrant princes were in that neighborhood, at the court of Turin, had made attempts at rising. These attempts, directed by priests and nobles, had been repressed, but the spirit remained the same. There, as elsewhere after August 10, men had wished to bring about the revolution of the multitude and to establish its government. 1 The following are a few of the replies of this heroic girl before the revolu- tionary tribunal: "What were your intentions in killing IMarat?" "To put an end to the troubles of France." "Is it long since you conceived this project?" " Since the proscription of the deputies of the people on May 31." " You learned then by the papers that Marat was a friend of anarchy?" "Yes, I knew that he was perverting France. I have killed," she added, raising her voice, " a man to save a hundred thousand; a villain, to save the innocent; a wild beast, to give tranquillity to my country. I was a republican before the revolution, and I have never been without energy." But compare Stephens' account, " French Revolution," vol. l[. p. 251, and especially his estimate, p. 253. THETERROR 269 1793 Chalier, the fanatical imitator of :Marat, was at the head of the Jacobins, the sans-culottes, and the municipahty of Lyons. His audacity increased after the massacres of September and January 21. Yet nothing had as yet been decided between the lower repub- lican class and the middle royalist class, the one having its seat of power in the municipality and the other in the sections. But the disputes became greater toward the end of May; they fought and the sections carried the day. The municipality was besieged and taken by assault. Chalier, who had fled, was apprehended and executed. The sectionaries, not as yet daring to throw off the yoke of the convention, endeavored to excuse themselves on the score of the necessity to which the Jacobins and the members of the corpora- tion had reduced them of taking arms. The convention, which could only save itself by means of daring, losing everything if it yielded, would listen to nothing. ]\Ieanwhile the insurrection of Calvados became known, and the people of Lyons, thus encouraged, no longer feared to raise the standard of revolt. They put their own town in a state of defense ; they raised fortifications, formed an army of 20,ooo men, received emigrants among them, intrusted the com- mand of their forces to the royalist Precy and the ]\Iarquis de Vir- ieux, and concerted their operations with the King of Sardinia. The revolt of Lyons was so much the more to be feared by the convention that by its central position it w^as supported by the south, which took arms, while there was also a rising in the west. At Marseilles the news of May 31 had aroused the partisans of the Girondists : Rebecqui repaired thither in haste. The sections were assembled; the members of the revolutionary tribunal were out- lawed; the two representatives, Baux and Antiboul, were arrested, and an army of 10,000 men raised to advance on Paris. These measures were the work of the royalists, who, there as elsewhere, only waiting for an opportunity to revive their party, had at first assumed a republican appearance, but n.)w acted in their own name. They had secured the sections; and the movement was no longer effected in favor of the Girondists, but for the counter-revolutionists. Once in a state of revolt, the i)arty whose opinions are the most violent and whose aim is the clearest supplants its allies. Rebecqui perceiving this new turn of the insurrection threw himself in despair into the port of ]\Iarseilles. The insurgents took the road to Lyons ; their example was rapidly imitated at Toulon, Ximes, Montauban, and the principal towns in the south. In Calvados the insurrection 270 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 had had the same royalist character, since the Marquis de Puisaye, at the head of some troops, had introduced himself into the ranks of the Girondists. The towns of Bordeaux, Nantes, Brest, and L'Orient were favorable to the persons proscribed on June 2, and a few openly joined them ; but they were of no great service, because they were restrained by the Jacobin party or by the necessity of fighting the royalists of the west. The latter, during this almost general rising of the departments, continued to extend their enterprises. After their first victories the Vendeans seized on Bressuire, Argenton, and Thouars. Entirely masters of their own country, they proposed getting possession of the frontiers and opening the way to revolutionary France, as well as communications with England. On June 6 the Vendean army, composed of 40,000 men under Cathelineau, Lescure, Stofflet, and La Rochejacquelin, marched on Saumur, which it took by storm. It then prepared to attack and capture Nantes, to secure the possession of its own country and become master of the course of the Loire. Cathelineau, at the head of the Vendean troops, left a garrison in Saumur, took Angers, crossed the Loire, pretended to advance upon Tours and Le Mans, and then rapidly threw himself upon Nantes, which he attacked on the right bank, while Charette was to attack it on the left. Everything seemed combined for the overthrow of the conven- tion. Its armies were beaten on the north and on the Pyrenees, vrhile it was threatened by the people of Lyons in the center, those of Marseilles in the south, the Girondists in one part of the west, the Vendeans in the other, and while 20,000 Piedmontese were invading France. The military reaction which, after the brilliant campaigns of Argonne and Belgium, had taken place, chiefly owing to the dis- agreement between Dumouriez and the Jacobins, between the army and the government, had manifested itself in a most disastrous man- ner since the defection of the commander-in-chief. There was no longer unity of operation, enthusiasm in the troops, or agreement l)ctween tlie convention, occupied with its quarrels, and the discour- aged generals. The remains of Dumouriez's army had assembled at the camp at Famars, under command of Dampierre; but they had been ol)iigcd to retire after a defeat under the cannon of Bouchain. Dampierre was killed. The frontier from Dunkirk to Givet was threatened by superior forces. Custine was promptly called from the Moselle to the army of the north, but his presence did not restore THETERROR 271 1793 affairs. Valenciennes, the key to France, was taken (July 24, 1793); Conde shared the same fate (July 10, 1793); the army, driven from position to position, retired beyond the Scarpe, before Arras, the last post between the Scarpe and Paris. Mayence, on the other side, sorely pressed by the enemy and by famine, gave up all hope of being assisted by the army of the Moselle, reduced to inac- tion; and despairing of being able to hold out long, capitulated (July 23, 1793). Lastly, the English government, seeing that Paris and the departments were distressed by famine, after May 31 and June 2 pronounced all the ports of France in a state of blockade and that all neutral ships attempting to bring a supply of provisions would be confiscated. This measure, new to the annals of history and destined to starve an entire people, originated the law of the maximum, which was authorized September 29, 1793. It regu- lated the maximum price of food-stuffs and the wages of artisans. An absolute prohibition was put upon foreign imports, and the penalties for infringement were very severe. The situation of the republic could not have been worse. The convention was, as it were, taken by surprise. It was dis- organized, because emerging from a struggle, and that the conquer- ors had not had time to establish themselves. After June 2, before the danger became so pressing both on the frontiers and in the de- partments, the Mountain had sent commissioners in every direction and immediately turned its attention to the constitution, which had so long been expected and from whicli it entertained great hopes. The Girondists had wished to decree it before January 21, in order to save Louis XVI., by substituting legal order for the revolutionary state of things; they returned to the subject previous to ]\Iay 31 in order to prevent their own ruin. But tlie Mountaineers, on two occasions, had diverted the assembly from this discussion by two coups d'etat, the trial of Louis XVI., and the elimination of the Gironde. Masters of the field, they now endeavored to secure the republicans by decreeing the constitution. Herault de Scchelles was the legislator of the iMountain, as Condorcet had been of tiie Gironde. In a few days this new constitution was adopted in the convention and submitted to the approval of the primary assemblies. It was approved by 1,800.000 votes, out of about 4.000,000 electors. There were very few negative votes, those disapproving of it staying away from the polls. It is easy to conceive its nature with tlie ideas that then prevailed respecting democratic government. Tlie con- 272 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 17S3 stituent assembly was considered as aristocratical ; the law it had es- tablished was regarded as a violation of the rights of the people, because it imposed conditions for the exercise of political rights ; be- cause it did not recognize the most absolute equality ; because it had deputies and magistrates appointed by electors, and these electors by the people ; because, in some cases, it put limits to the national sov- ereignty, by excluding a portion of active citizens from high public functions and the proletariats from the functions of acting citizens ; finally, because, instead of fixing on the population as the only basis of political rights, it combined it in all its operations with property. The constitutional law of 1793 established the pure regime of the multitude: it not only recognized the people as the source of all power, but also delegated the exercise of it to the people ; an unlim- ited sovereignty ; extreme mobility in the magistracy ; direct elec- tions, in which everyone could vote; primary assemblies, that could meet without convocation, at given times, to elect representatives and control their acts; a national assembly, to be annually renewed, and which, properly speaking, was only a committee of the primary assemblies ; such was this constitution. As it made the multitude govern, and as it entirely disorganized authority, it was impractica- ble at all times; but especially in a moment of general war. The Mountain, instead of extreme democracy, needed a stern dictator- ship. The constitution was suspended as soon as made, and the revolutionary government strengthened and maintained till the peace. Both during the discussion of the constitution and its presenta- tion to the primary assemblies the Mountaineers learned the danger which threatened them. These daring men, having three or four parties to put down in the interior, several kinds of civil war to terminate, the disasters of the armies to repair, and all Europe to repel, were not alarmed at their position. The representatives of the 44,000 municipalities came to accept the constitution. Adinitted to the bar of the assembly, after making known the assent of the people, they required the arrest of all suspected persons and a levy en masse of the people. " Well," exclaimed Danton, " let us respond to their wishes. The deputies of the primary assemblies have just taken the initiative among us in the way of inspiring terror! I demand that the convention, which ought now^ to be penetrated with a sense of its dignity, for it has just been invested with the entire national power, I demand that it do now, by decree, invest the pri- THETERROR 273 1793 mary assemblies with the right of supplying the state with arms, provisions, and ammunition ; of making an appeal to the people, of exciting the energy of citizens and of raising 400,000 men. It is with cannon-balls that we must declare the constitution to our foes ! Now is the time to take the last great oath that we will destroy tyranny or perish ! " This oath was immediately taken by all the deputies and citizens present. A few days after Barrere, in the name of the committee of public safety, which was composed of revolutionary members and which became the center of operations and the government of the assembly, proposed measures still more general: "Liberty," said he, "has become the creditor of every citizen; some owe her their industry; others their fortune; these their counsel ; those their arms ; all owe her their blood. Accord- ingly all the French, of every age and of either sex, are summoned by their country to defend liberty; all faculties, physical or moral; all means, political or commercial ; all metal, all the elements, are her tributaries. Let each maintain his post in the national and military movement about to take place. The young men will fight ; the mar- ried men will forge arms, transport the baggage and artillery and prepare provisions ; the women will make tents and clothes for tlie soldiers and exercise their hospitable care in the asylums of the wounded; children will make lint from old linen; and the aged, resuming the mission they discharged among the ancients, shall cause themselves to be carried to the public places, where they shall excite the courage of the young warriors and propagate the doctrine of hatred to kings and the unity of the republic. National buildings shall be converted into barracks, public squares into workshops ; the ground of the cellars will serve for the preparation of saltpetre; all saddle-horses shall be jjlaced in requisition for tlie cavalry; all draught-horses for the artillery ; fowling-pieces, pistols, swords, and pikes belonging to individuals shall be employed in the scrv-ice of the interior. The republic being but a large city in a state of necessity bTance must be converted into a vast camp." The measures proposed by Barrere were at once decreed. All Frenchmen from eighteen to twenty-five tcjok arms, the armies were recruited by levies of men and supported by levies of provisions. One million two hundred thousand soldiers were exi)cctcd as the result of the Icrcc cii masse. The united armies did not exceed 750,000 men. I'^rance, while it became a camp and a workshop for the republicans, became at the same time a pri.^tMi for those who did 274 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 not accept tlie republic. While marching against avowed enemies it was thought necessary to make sure of secret foes, and the famous law of suspects was passed. All foreigners were arrested on the ground of their hostile machinations, and the partisans of constitu- tional monarchy and a limited republic were imprisoned, to be kept close until the peace. At the time this was so far only a reasonable measure of precaution. The bourgeoisie, the mercantile people and the middle classes furnished prisoners after May 31, as the nobility and clergy had done after August 10. A revolutionary army of 6000 soldiers and 1000 artillerymen was formed for the interior. Every indigent citizen was allowed forty sous a day to enable him to be present at the sectionary meetings. Certificates of citizenship were delivered in order to make sure of the opinions of all who cooper- ated in the revolutionary movement. The functionaries were placed under the surveillance of the clubs, a revolutionary committee was formed in each section, and thus they prepared to face the enemy on all sides, both abroad and at home. The insurgents in Calvados were easily suppressed ; at the very first skirmish at Vernon the insurgent troops fled, Wimpfen en- deavored to rally them in vain. The moderate class, those who had taken up the defense of the Girondists, displayed little ardor or activity. When the constitution w^as accepted by the other depart- ments it saw the opportunity for admitting that it had been in error when it thought it was taking arms against a mere factious minority. This retraction was made at Caen, which had been the headquarters of the revolt. The Mountain commissioners did not sully this first victory with executions. General Carteaux, on the other hand, marched at the head of some troops against the sectionary army of the south ; he defeated its force, pursued it to Alarseilles, entered the town after it, and Provence would have been brought into sub- jection like Calvados if the royalists, who had taken refuge at Tou- lon after their defeat, had not called in the English to their aid and placed in their hands, August 2^, I793> this key to France. Ad- miral Hood entered the town in the name of Louis XVII., whom he proclaimed king, disarmed the fleet, sent for 8000 Spaniards by sea, occupied tlie surrounding forts and forced Carteaux, who was advancing against Toulon, to fall back on Marseilles. Notwithstanding this check the conventionalists succeeded in isolating the insurrection, and this was a great point. The iMoun- tain commissioners had made tlieir entry into the rebel capitals: T H E T E R R O R 275 1793 Robert Lindet into Caen ; Tallien Into Bordeaux; Barras and Freron into Marseilles. Only two towns remained to be taken Toulon and Lyons. A simultaneous attack from the south, west, and center was no longer apprehended, and in the interior the enemy was only on the defensive. Lyons was besieged by Kellermann, general of the army of the Alps ; three corps pressed tlie town on all sides. The veteran soldiers of the Alps, the revolutionary battalions, and the newly levied troops reinforced the l)esiegers every day. The people of Lyons defended themselves with all the courage of despair. At first they relied on the assistance of the insurgents of the south ; but these having been repulsed by Carteaux, the Lyonnese placed their last hope in the army of Piedmont, which attempted a diversion in their favor, but was beaten by Kellermann. Pressed still more energet- ically, they saw their first positions carried. Famine began to be felt and courage forsook them. The royalist leaders, convinced of the inutility of longer resistance, left the town, and the republican army entered the walls, where they awaited the orders of the con- vention. A few months after Toulon itself, defended by veteran troops and formidable fortifications, fell into the power of the repub- licans. The battalions of the army of Italy, reinforced by those which the taking of Lyons left disposable, pressed the place closely. After repeated attacks and prodigies of skill and valor they made themselves masters of it, and the capture of Toulon, December 19, 1793, finished what that of Lyons had begun. Everywhere the convention was victcjrious. The Vendeans had failed in their attempt upon Nantes, after having lost many men and their general-in-chief, Cathelineau. This attack put an end to the aggressive and previously promising movement of the Vendean insurrection. The royalists repassed the Loire, abandoned Saumur, and resumed their former cantonments. They were, however, still formidable; and the republicans who pursued them were again beaten in La Vendee. General Biron, who had succeeded General Berru3'er, unsuccessfully continued the war with small bodies of troops; his moderation and defective system of attack caused him to be replaced by Canclaux and Rossignol, who were not more for- tunate than he. There were two leaders, two armies, and two cen- ters of operation the one at Xantcs and the other at Saumur, placed under contrarv influences. General Canclaux could not agree with General Rossignol, nor the moderate Mountain commissioner 276 T H E F R E N C H REVOLUTION 1793 rhilip})eaux with l^ourbotte, the commissioner of the committee of piil)lic safety; and tliis attempt at invasion failed like the preceding attempts, for want of concert in plan and action. The committee of public safety soon remedied this by appointing one sole general- in-chief, Lechelle, and by introducing war on a large scale into La Vendee. This new method, aided by the garrison of Mayence, con- sisting of 17,000 veterans, who, relieved from operations against the coalesced powers after the capitulation, were employed in the interior, entirely changed the face of the war. The royalists under- went four consecutive defeats, two at Chatillon, two at Cholet. Lescure, Bonchamps, and D'Elbee were mortally wounded, and the insurgents, completely beaten in Upper Vendee, and fearing that they should be exterminated if they took refuge in Low'er Vendee, determined to leave their country, to the number of 80,000 persons. This emigration through Brittany, which they hoped to arouse to insurrection, became fatal to them. Repulsed before Granville, utterly routed at Mons, they were destroyed at Savenay, and barely a few thousand men, the wreck of this vast emigration, returned to Vendee. These disasters, irreparable for the royalist cause, the taking of their land of Noirmoutiers from Charette, the dispersion of the troops of that leader, the death of La Rochejacquelin, rendered the republicans masters of the country. The committee of public safety, thinking, not wnthout reason, that its enemies were beaten but not subjugated, adopted a terrible system of extermination to prevent them from rising again. General Turreau surrounded Vendee with sixteen intrenched camps; twelve movable columns, called the infernal columns, overran the country in every direction, sword and fire in hand, scoured the woods, dispersed the assemblies and diffused terror throughout the unhappy country." Tlie foreign armies had also been driven back from the fron- tiers they had invaded. After having taken Valenciennes and Conde, blockaded ]\Iaubeuge and Quesnoy, the enemy advanced on Cassel, ITondtschoote, and Furnes, under the command of the Duke of ^'ork. The committee of public safety, dissatisfied with Custine, whose measures they looked on with suspicion as a Giron- dist, superseded liim by General Houchard. The enemy, hitherto successful, was defeated at Hondtschoote, September 6-8, 1793, and - On tlic Vendean War, see Stephens, " French Revohition," vol. IT. p. 259 ff. ; Von Syl)el, "History nf the French Revohition," vol. III. pp. 251-257; Fyffe, " Modern Furope," vol. I. p. 83 ff. THETERROR 277 1793 compelled to retreat. The military reaction began with the daring measures of the committee of public safety. Houchard himself was dismissed. Jourdan took the command of the army of the north, gained the important victory of Wattignies, October i6, 1793, over the Prince of Coburg, raised the siege of Maubeuge, and re- sumed the offensive on that frontier. Similar successes took place on all the others. The immortal campaign of 1 793-1 794 opened. What Jourdan had done with the army of the north, Hoche and Pichegru did with the army of the ]\IoselIe, and Kellermann with that of the Alps. The enemy was repulsed and kept in check on all sides. Then took place, after Alay 31, that which had followed August 10. The want of union between the generals and the lead- ers of the assembly was removed ; the revolutionary movement, which had slackened, increased, and victories recommenced. Armies have had their crises, as well as parties, and these crises have brought about successes or defeat, always by the same law. In 1792, at the beginning of the war, the generals were consti- tutionalists and the ministers Girondists. Rochambeau, Lafayette, and Luckner did not at all agree with Dumouriez, Scrvan, Claviere, and Roland. There was, besides, little enthusiasm in the army ; it was beaten. After August 10 the Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, Kellermann, and Dillon, replaced the constitutionalist gen- erals. There was unity of views, confidence, and cooperation be- tween the army and the government. The catastrophe of August 10 augmented this energy by increasing" the necessity for victory; and the results were the plan of the campaign of Argonne, the victories of Valmy and Jemappes, and the invasion of Belgium. The struggle between the Alountain and the Gironde, between Dumouriez and the Jacobins, again created discord between the army and govern- ment and destroyed the confidence of the troops, who experienced immediate and numerous reverses. There was defection on the part of Dumouriez, as there had been withdrawal on the part of Lafayette. After May 31, which overtlircw the Gironde party, after the committee of public safety had become established and had replaced the Girondist generals, Dumouriez, Custine, Houchard, and Dillon, by the ?^Ionntain generals, Jourdan, Hoche, Pichegru, and ^Moreau; after it had restored the revolutionary movement by tlie daring measures we hax'c described, tlie cam])aign of Argonne and of j^)elginin was renewed in that of 1794, and the genius of Carnot ecjualed tliat of Dumouriez, if it did n(jt surpass it. 278 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793-1794 During this war the committee of public safety gave way to the most terrible executions. Armies confine themselves to slaugh- ter on the field of battle ; it is not so with parties, who, under violent circumstances, fearing to see the combat renewed after the victory, secure themselves from new attacks by inexorable rigor. The usage of all governments being to make their own preservation a matter of right, they regard those who attack them as enemies so long as they fight ; as conspirators when they are defeated ; and thus destroy them alike by means of war and of law. All these views at once guided the policy of the committee of public safety, a policy of vengeance, of terror, and of self-preserva- tion. This was the maxim upon which it proceeded in reference to insurgent towns : " The name of Lyons," said Barrere, " must no longer exist. You will call it Ville Aifranchie, and upon the ruins of that famous city there shall be raised a monument to attest the crime and the punishment of the enemies of liberty. Its history shall be told in these words : ' Lyons warred against liberty ; Lyons exists no more.' " To realize this terrible anathema, the committee sent to this unfortunate city Collot d'Herbois, Fouche, and Couthon, who slaughtered the inhabitants with grapeshot and demolished its buildings. Couthon was reproved by the convention for being lenient! Between December, 1793, and April, 1794, 1682 persons were executed in Lyons alone. x-Vt Nantes, Carrier's noyadcs drowned 58 priests at one time, 90 at another, we know not how many at other odd intervals, but on one occasion no less than 800 persons; Legendre had suggested this means of execution in a speech at the Jacobin Club in May, 1792. The insurgents of Tou- lon underwent at the hands of the representatives, Barras and Freron, a nearly similar fate. At Caen, Marseilles, and Bordeaux the executions were less general and less violent, because they were proportioned to the gravity of the insurrection, which had not been undertaken in concert with foreign foes. It must also be remem- bered tliat the Vendeans and Chouans were not one whit behind the republicans in massacres when they had the opportunity. There was real system in the conduct of the committee of public safety. For tlie second time in history the first being Sulla's dic- tatorship in tlic latter days of the Roman republic the world wit- nessed tlie scientific application of terror as a principle of rule. In the interior the dictatorial government struck at all the par- ties with which it was at war in the persons of their greatest mem- MAKIF. \X roIXKlTI--. iiX TIIK \VA^ lO IIKK KNF.rrTIOV THETERROR 279 1793 bers. The condemnation of Queen Marie Antoinette was directed against Europe; that of the twenty-two against the Girondists; of the wise Bailly against the old constitutionaHsts ; lastly, that of the Duke of Orleans against certain members of the Mountain who were supposed to have plotted his elevation. The unfortunate widow of Louis XVI. was first sentenced to death by this sanguinary revo- lutionary tribunal. The proscribed of June 2 soon followed her. She perished on October 16 and the Girondist deputies on the 31st. Those who then met death were: Brissot, Vergniaud, Gensonne, Fonfrede, Ducos, Valaze, Lasource, Sillery, Gardien, Carra, Duprat, Beauvais, Duchatel, Mainvielle, Lacaze, Boileau, Lehardy, Anti- boul, and Vigee.^ Seventy-three of their colleagues, who had pro- tested against their arrest, were also imprisoned, but the committee did not venture to inflict death upon them. Custine and Beauhar- nais, generals of the French army, were recalled to Paris for not having attempted to deliver Valenciennes and IMainz, tried before the revolutionary tribunal, and guillotined. During the debates these illustrious prisoners displayed uniform and serene courage. Vergniaud raised his eloquent voice for a moment, but in vain. Valaze stabbed himself with a poignard on hearing the sentence, and Lasource said to the judges : " I die at a time when the people have lost their senses ; you will die when they recover them." They went to execution displaying all the stoicism of the times, sino-ing tlie " Marseillaise " and applying it to their own case: "Allans, cnfants dc la patrie, Lc jour dc ^loirc est arriz'c: Contrc nous dc la tyrainiic Le coutcaii saui^lant est Ict'c," etc. Nearly all the other leaders of this party had a violent end. Salles, Guadet, and Barbaroux were discovered in the grottos of 2 Upon the work of tlic terror government in the departments see Ste- phens, " French Revohition," vol. IT. ch. ii. ; Taine, "' French Rcvohition," vol. IT. p. 35 ff. ; Wallon, "' Trihiowl rcvolutionaiyc," vol. V. p. 326 ff. .\ snccinct ac- count of the organization of the rcvohitionary government, from the pen of Auhird, is to be found in Lavisse and Rambaud, " llisloirc ^encralc," vol. VIII. pp. 196-199. Historians are divided into tliose who condemn and those who. justify the terror, some contending, like Alignet, Thiers, Qninet, Louis Blanc, and Aulard, who is the greatest living authority upon the period, that the terror saved France from being destroyed by anarchy within and made the armies effective abroad; others, notably Sorel and Taini\ seek to prove that "the victories were in spite of, not because of the terror." C{. I'yfTe, "Modern Furope," vol. I. p. 46; Fletcher's Carlyle, "French Revolution," \ul. III. \). i iS. note very valuable. 280 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 Saint Emilion, near Bordeaux, and died on the scaffold. Petion and Buzot, after wandering about some time, committed suicide; they were found dead in a field, half devoured by wolves. Rabaud- Saint-Etienne was betrayed by an old friend ; Madame Roland was also condemned to death, and displayed the courage of a Roman matron. Her husband, on hearing of her death, left his place of concealment and killed himself on the highroad. Condorcet, out- lawed soon after June 2, was taken while endeavoring to escape, and saved himself from the executioner's knife only by poison. Lou- vet, Kervelegan, Lanjuinais, Henri la Riviere, Lesage, La Reveil- lere-Lepeaux, were the only leading Girondists who, in secure retreat, awaited the end of the furious storm. The revolutionary government was formed ; it was proclaimed by the convention on October lo. Before May 31 power had been nowhere, neither in the ministry, nor in the commune, nor in the convention. It was natural that power should become concentrated in this extreme situation of affairs, and at a moment when the necessity of unity and promptitude of action was deeply felt. The assembly being the most central and extensive power, the dictator- ship would as naturally become placed in its bosom, be exercised there by the dominant faction and in that faction by a few men. The committee of public safety of the convention created on April 6 in order, as the name indicates, to provide for the defense of the revolution by extraordinary measures, was in itself a complete frame- work of government. Formed during the divisions of the Mountain and the Gironde, it was composed of neutral members of the con- vention till May 31 ; and at its first renewal of members of the extreme Alountain. Barrere remained in it; but Robespierre ac- ceded and his party dominated in it by Saint-Just, Couthon, Collot d'Herbois. and Billaud-Varennes. He set aside some Dantonists who slill remained in it, such as Herault de Sechelles and Robert- Lindet, gained over Barrere, and usurped the lead by assuming the direction of the public mind and of police. His associates divided the various departments among themselves. Saint-Just undertook the sur\-eil]ance and denouncing of parties; Couthon, the violent propositions requiring to be softened in form; Billaud-Varennes and Collot d'Herbois directed the missions into the departments; Carnot look the war department; Cambon, the exchequer; Prieur de la Cote d'Or, Prieur de la Marne, and several others, the various branches of internal administration ; and Barrere was the daily ora- THETERROR 281 1793 tor, the panegyrist ever prepared, of the dictatorial committee. Below these, assisting in the detail of the revolutionary administra- tion, and of minor measures, was placed the committee of general safety, composed in the same spirit as the great committee, having, like it, twelve members, who were reeligible every three months, and always renewed in their office. The whole revolutionary power was lodged in the hands of these men. Saint-Just, in proposing the establishment of the decem- viral power until the restoration of peace, did not conceal the motives nor the object of this dictatorship. " You must no longer show any lenity to the enemies of the new order of things," said he. " Liberty must triumph at any cost. In the present circumstances of the repub- lic the constitution cannot be established ; it would guarantee impu- nity to attacks on our liberty, because it would be deficient in the violence necessary to restrain them. The present government is not sufficiently free to act. You are not near enough to strike in every direction at the authors of these attacks ; the sword of the law must extend everywhere ; your arm must be felt everywhere." Thus was created that terrible power which first destroyed the enemies of the Mountain, then the Mountain and the commune, and, lastly, itself. The committee did everything in the name of the conven- tion, which it used as an instrument. It nominated and dismissed generals, ministers, representatives, commissioners, judges, and juries. It assailed factions; it took tlie initiative in all measures. Through its commissioners, armies and generals were dependent upon it and it ruled the departments with sovereign sway. By means of the law touching suspected persons, it disposed of men's liberties; by the revolutionary tribunal, of men's lives; by levies and the maximum, of property : by decrees of accusation in the terrified convention, of its own members. Lastly, its dictatorsliip was sup- ported by the multitude, who debated in tlie clubs, ruled in the revo- lutionary committees ; whose services it paid by a daily stipend and whom it fed with the maximum. The multitude adhered to a sys- tem which inflamed its passions, exaggerated its importance, as- signed it the first place and ap]:)eared to do everything for it. Tlie innovators, separated i)y war and Ijy their laws from all states and from all forms of government, determined to widen the separation. Bv an unprecedented revohition they estabhshed an entirelv new era; thcv cliangcd the dix'isions of the year, the names of the months and days: they substituted a republican for the Chris- 282 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1792-1793 tian calendar, the decade for the week, and fixed the day of rest, not on the Sahhath, but on the tenth day. The new era dated from Sep- tember 22, 1792, the epoch of the foundation of the repubHc. There were twelve equal months of thirty days, which began on Septem- ber II in the following order: Vendemiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, for the autumn ; Nivose, Pluviose, Ventose, for the winter ; Germi- nal, Floreal, Prairial, for the spring ; Messidor, Thermidor, Fructi- dor, for the summer. Each month had three decades, each decade ten days, and each day was named from its order in the decade: Primidi, Duodi, Tridi, Quartidi, Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, Octidi, Nonidi, Decadi. The surplus five days were placed at the end of the year; they received the name of sans-culottides, and were con- secrated, the first, to the festival of genius; the second, to that of labor; the third, to that of actions; the fourth, to that of rewards; the fifth, to that of opinion,^ The constitution of 1793 led to the establishment of the republican calendar, and the republican calendar to the abolition of the Christian worship. We shall soon see the commune and the committee of public safety each proposing a religion of its own : the commune, the worship of reason ; the com- mittee of public safety, the worship of the Supreme Being. But we must first mention a new struggle between the authors of the catastrophe of May 31 themselves. The commune and the Mountain had effected this revolution against the Gironde, and the committee alone had benefited by it. During the five months we have just gone over, from June to No- vember, the committee, having taken all the measures of defense, had naturally become the first power of the rqDublic. The actual struggle being, as it were, over, the commune sought to sway the committee, and the Mountain to throw off the yoke of the latter. The municipal faction was the end of the revolution. Having an object opposed to that of the committee of public safety, instead of the conventional dictatorship, it desired the most extreme local democracy; and instead of religion, the consecration of materialism. Political anarchy and religious atheism were the symbols of this party, and the means by which it aimed at establishing its own rule. A revolution is the effect of the different systems which have agi- 4 Napoleon abolished this decimal calendar in 1806. Fletcher makes the pomt that " the calendar is not at all an nnrcasonable one, as September 22 is the first day of autumn and is the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian New Year's Day." Fletcher's edition Carlylc's " French Revolution," vol. III. p. 88, note. THETERROR 283 1793 tated the age which has originated it. Thus, during the continuance of the crisis in France, ultramontane Cathohcism was represented by the nonjuring clergy; Jansenism by the constitutionist clergy; philosophical deism by the worship of the Supreme Being, instituted by the committee of public safety; and the materialism of Hol- bach's school by the worship of Reason and of Nature, decreed by the commune. It was the same with political opinions, from the royalty of the ancient regime to the unlimited democracy of the municipal faction. The latter had lost in ^Nlarat its principal sup- port, its true leader, while the committee of public safety still re- tained Robespierre. It had at its head men who enjoyed great popu- larity with the lower classes ; Chaumette ^ and his substitute, He- bert, were its political leaders ; Ronsin, commandant of the revolu- tionary army, its general ; the atheist, Anacharsis Clootz, its apostle. In the sections it relied on the revolutionary committees, in which there were many obscure foreigners, supposed, and not without probability, to be agents of England sent to destroy the republic by driving it into anarchy and excess. The club of the Cordeliers was composed entirely of its partisans. The old Cordeliers of Dan- ton, w^ho had contributed so powerfully to August lo, and who con- stituted the commune of that period, liad entered the government, and the convention, and had been replaced in the club by members whom they contemptuously designated the patriotes dc la troisieinc requisition. Hebert's faction, which, in the sheet called Pcrc Duchesne, popularized obscene language and low and cruel sentiments, and which added derision of the victims to the executions of party, in a short time made terrible progress. It compelled the Bishop of Paris and his vicars to abjure Christianity and decree that the worship of Reason should be substituted for the Catholic religion. In tb.is policy we must carefully distinguish between the ci^nduct of the commune and the conduct of the convention. In the beginning the conven- tion adopted without ch;inge the religi()ns policy of the national and the legislative assembly. It scrupulously respected the civil constitution of the clergy. On September 30, 1792, Cambon, ^* Cliaumettc's blood-thirstiness seem? to have l)ecn tlic most extravagant type of pohtical fanaticism. When not politically intlnenced, he seems to have hccn a kind-hearted man. It was due to lu'm that a separate bed was provided for each patient in the h'wpifals of Pari^, that whipping was abolished in the schools, and that e(|ual i)iirial honors should lie given to all citizens, without di.-tinction of wealth or of class. 284. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 in the name of the committee of finance, had demanded the suppression of the salaries of the clergy. Robespierre strongly opposed the proposition, and the convention declared that it " never had had the intention to deprive the country of the ministers of the Catholic religion." On June 27, 1793, during the terror, it again declared that " the support of the clergy was a part of the national debt." On August i, 1793, the convention authorized the destruc- tion of the tombs of the kings of France at St. Denis. This act is probably the most outrageous piece of legislation of which the con- vention was the author, for it is not true that the convention ever proscribed Christianity. In general, such legislation was due to the commune of Paris, which actually passed an ordinance for the destruction of church spires, because they were " symbols of inequality." But the civil wars prevailing in the provinces, in which some of the priests of France were active, had the effect of producing vigorous measures against the "recalcitrant" clergy (decrees of April and September, 1793). On September 18, 1793, all clerical salaries were reduced, and on the i6th Brumaire, communes were given the legal right to suppress parishes.^ This policy seemed too moderate for radical revolutionists like Chaumette and Anarcharsis Clootz, who wished to dechristianize France. Under their influ- ence the commune of Paris, not the convention, passed decrees (No- vember 28) ordaining the festival of Reason (November 10) and the closure of the churches. Gubel, the " constitutional " Archbishop of Paris, Thomas Lin- det. Bishop of Evreux, with a few others, abjured the Christian religion. Gregoire courageously vindicated his conscience, and at the \-cry height of the terror sat upon the benches of the Mountain, clad in the violet robes of a bishop. Not so Sieyes, who issued a "letter of renegation " on November 10, 1793. The convention, while not strong enough to crush the madness of the commune, nevertheless frowned upon it. The churches were shut up or con- verted into temples of reason, and fetes were established in every town, which became scandalous scenes of atheism. The committee of public safety grew alarmed at the power of this ultra-revolution- ary faction and liastcncd to stop and to destrov it. Robespierre soon attacked it in tlic asscm1)]y on tlie 15th iM-imairc (December 5, 1793). "Citizens, representatixc? of the people." said he. "the *"' C'/. Aulard, "La scpayation dc VEglise ct dc I'Etat sous la Convention." T H E T E R R O R 285 1793 kings coalesced against the republic are making war against us with armies and intrigues; we will oppose their armies by braver ones; their intrigues, by vigilance and the terror of national justice. Ever intent on renewing their secret plots, in proportion as they are destroyed by the hand of patriotism, ever skillful in directing the arms of liberty against liberty itself, the emissaries of the enemies of France are now laboring to overthrow the republic by repub- licanism and to rekindle civil war by philosophy." He classed the ultra-revolutionists of the commune with the external enemies of the republic. " It is your part," said he to the convention, " to prevent the follies and extravagances which coincide with the projects of foreign conspiracy. I require you to prohibit particular authorities (the commune) from serving our enemies by rash measures, and that no armed force be allowed to interfere in questions of religious opinions." And the convention, which had applauded the abjura- tions at the demand of the commune, decreed, on Rol^espierre's motion, that all violence and all measures opposed to the liberty of religion are prohibited. The committee of public safety was too strong not to triumph over the commune; but at the same time it had to resist the moder- ate party of the 3,Iountain, which demanded the cessation of the revolutionary government and the dictatorship of the committees. The revolutionary government had only been created to restrain, the dictatorship to conquer; and as Danton and his party no longer considered restraint and victory essential, they sought to establish legal order and the independence of the convention ; they wished to frown down the faction of the commune, to stop tlie operation of the revolutionary tribunal, to empty the prisons now filled with sus- pected persons, to reduce or destroy the powers of the committees. This project in favor of clemency, humanity, and legal government was conceived by Danton, Philippeaux, Camille Dcsmoulins, Fabre dEglantine, Lacroix, General Westcrmann, and all the friends of Danton. Before all these things they wanted that the republic should secure the field of battle; but after conquest they wished to conciliate. Danton proved his statesmanship in advocating this policy. As a matter of fact, the terror government had done its work, both within and without iM-ancc. After tlie great victories of the autumn of 1703 and tlie crusliing -if ci\-il war in tlie depart- ments, terror had no longer a reason for l)cing. This party, become moderate, had renounced power; it had 286 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793 withdrawn from tlie government, or suffered itself to be excluded by ]\obes{)icrre's jiarty. Aforeover, since May 31, zealous patriots had considered Dantun's conduct equivocal. He had acted mildly on that day and had subsequently disapproved the condemnation of the twenty-two. They began to reproach him w^ith his disorderly life, his venal passions, his change of party, and untimely moderation. To avoid the storm he had retired to his native place, Arcis-sur- Aube, and there he seemed to have forgotten all in retirement. During his absence the Hebert faction made immense progress; and the friends of Danton hastily summoned him to their aid. He re- turned at the beginning of Frimaire (December). Philippeaux im- mediately denounced the manner in which the Vendean war had been carried on ; General \\^estermann, who had greatly distinguished himself in that war, and who had just been dismissed by the com- mittee of public safety, supported Philippeaux, and Camille Des- moulins published the first numbers of his Viciix Cordelier. This brilliant and fiery young man had followed all the movements of the revolution, from July 14 to May 31, approving all its exaggerations and all its measures. His heart, however, was gentle and tender, though his opinions were violent and his humor often bitter. He had praised the revolutionary regime because he believed it indis- pensable for the establishment of the republic ; he had cooperated in the ruin of the Gironde, because he feared the dissensions of the republic. For the republic he had sacrificed even his scruples and tlie desires of his heart, even justice and humanity; he had given all to his party, thinking that he gave it to the republic; but now he was able neither to praise nor to keep silent ; his energetic ac- tivity, which he had employed for the republic, he now^ directed against those who were ruining it by bloodshed. In his Vieiix Cordelier he spoke of liberty with the depth of IMachiavelli, and of men with the wit of Voltaire. But he soon raised the fanatics and dictators against him by calling the government to sentiments of moderation, compassion, and justice. He drew a striking picture of present tyranny, under the name of a past tyranny. He selected his examples from Tacitus. " At this period,"' said he, " w^ords became state crimes: there wanted hut one step mf)rc to render mere glances, sadness, pitv, sighs c\-en silence ilsclf criminal. It soon became high treason or an anti-revolutionary crime, for Crcmutius Cordus to call Brutus and Cassius the last of the Romans ; a counter-revolutionarv crime in T H E T E R R O R 287 1793-1794 a descendant of Cassius to possess a portrait of his ancestor; a counter-revolutionary crime in Mamercus Scaurus to write a trag- edy in which there were hnes capable of a double meaning; a counter-revolutionary crime in Torquatus Silanus to be extrava- gant; a counter-revolutionary crime in Pomponius, because a friend of Sejanus had sought an asylum in one of his country houses; a counter-revolutionary crime to bewail the misfortunes of the time, for this was accusing the government ; a counter-revo- lutionary crime for the consul Fusius Geminus to bewail the sad death of his son. " If a man would escape death himself, it became necessary to rejoice at the death of his friend or relative. Under Nero, many went to return thanks to the gods for their relatives whom he had put to death. At least, an assumed air of contentment was necessary; for even fear was sufficient to render one guilty. Every- thing gave the tyrant umbrage. If a citizen was popular, he was considered a rival to the prince, and capable of exciting a civil war, and he was suspected. Did he, on tlie contrary, shun popularity, and keep by his fireside, his retired mode of life drew attention, and he was suspected. Was a man rich, it was feared the people might be corrupted by his bounty, and he was suspected. Was he poor, it became necessary to watch him closely, as none are so enterprising as those who have nothing, and he was suspected. If his disposition chanced to be somber and melancholy, and his dress neglected, his distress was supposed to be occasioned by the state of public affairs, and he was suspected. If a citizen indulged in good living to the injury of his digestion, he was said to do so because the prince lived ill, and he was suspected. If virtuous and austere in his manners, he was thought to censure the court, and he was suspected. Was he philosopher, orator, or poet, it was un- becoming to have more cele1)rity than the government, and he was suspected. Lastly, if anyone had oljtained a reputation in war, his talent only served to make him dangerous; it became necessary to get rid of the general, or to remove him speedily from the army; he was suspected. " The natural death of a celebrated man, or even of one merely in place, was so rare lliat historians handed it down to posteritv as an event worthy to l)e rcmemlicrcd in remote ages. The death of so manv innocent and wfM'tliy citizens seemed less a ca- lamitv than the insolence and disgraceful opulence of their mnr- 288 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793-1794 derers and tlenouncers. Every day the sacred and inviolable informer made his triumphant entry into the palace of the dead, and received some rich heritage. All these denouncers assumed illustrious names, and called themselves Cotta, Scipio, Regulus, Sievius, Severus. To distinguish himself by a brilliant debut, the Marquis Serenus brought an accusation of anti-revolutionary practices against his aged father, already in exile, after which he proudly called himself Brutus, Such were the accusers, such the judges; the tribunals, the protectors of life and property, became slaughter-houses, in which theft and murder bore the names of punishment and confiscation." Camille Dcsmoulins did not confine himself to attacking the revolutionary and dictatorial regime ; he required its abolition. He demanded the establishment of a committee of mercy, as the only way of terminating the revolution and pacifying parties. His journal produced a great effect upon public opinion ; it inspired some hope and courage. Have you read the Viciix Cordelier? was asked on all sides. At the same time Fabre d' Eglantine. Lacroix, and Bourdon de I'Oise excited the convention to throw off the yoke of the committee; they sought to unite the Mountain and the Right in order to restore the freedom and power of the assembly. As the committees were all powerful, they tried to ruin them by degrees, the best course to follow. It was important to change the public opinion, and to encourage the assembly, in order to support themselves by a moral force against the revolutionary force, by the power of the convention against the power of the committees. The Dantonist Mountaineers endeavored to detach Robespierre from the other Decemvirs; Billaud-Varennes, Collot d'Herbois and Saint-Just alone appeared to them invincibly at- tached to the reign of terror. Barrere adhered to it through weakness Couthon from his devotion to Robespierre. They hoped to gain over the latter to the cause of moderation, through his friendship for Danton, his ideas of order, his austere habits, his profession of public virtue, and his pride. He had defended seventy-three imprisoned Girondist deputies against the commit- tees and the Jacobins ; he had dared to attack Clootz and Hebert as ultra-revolutionists ; and he had induced the convention to decree the existence of the Supreme Being. Robespierre was the most popularly renowned man of that time; he was, in a measure, the moderator of the republic and the dictator of opinion; by gaining THETERROR 289 1793-1704 him, they hoped to overcome both the committees and the com- mune, without compromising the cause of the revolution. Danton saw him on his return from Arcis-sur-Aube, and they seemed to understand one another; attacked at the Jacobins, he was defended by him. Robespierre himself read and corrected the Vicux Cordelier, and approved of it. At the same time he pro- fessed some principles of moderation; but then all those who ex- ercised the revolutionary government, or who thought it indis- pensable, became aroused. Billaud-Varcnnes and Saint-Just openly maintained the policy of the committees. Desmoulins had said of the latter: " He so esteems himself, that he carries his head on his shoulders with as much respect as if it were the holy sacra- ment." " And I," replied Saint-Just, " will make him carry his like another Saint Denis.'' Collot d'tlcrbois, who was on a mis- sion, arrived while matters were in this state. He protected the faction of the anarchists, who had been intimidated for a moment, and who derived fresh audacity from his presence. The Jacobins expelled Camille Desmoulins from their society, and Barrere at- tacked him at the convention in the name of tlie government. Robespierre himself was not spared; he was accused of moderat- ism, and murmurs began to circulate against him. However, his credit being immense, as they could not attack or conquer without him, he was sought on both sides. Taking advantage of this superior position, he adopted neither party, and sought to put down the leaders of each, one after the other. Under these circumstances he wished to sacrifice the com- mune and the anarchists; the committees wished to sacrifice the IMountain and the moderates. They came to an understanding : Robespierre gave up Danton, Desmoulins, and their friends to the members of the conmiittee ; and the members of the committee gave up Hebert, Clootz, Chaumette, Ronsin, and their accom- plices. By favoring the moderates at first, he prepared the ruin of the anarchists, and he attained two (objects favorable to his domination or to his pride he overturned a formidable faction and he got rid of a revolutionary rc])utaii()n. the rival of his own. Motives of public safety, it must be adnn'tted, mingled with these combinations of party. At this ]icri(Hl oi general fury against the repul)lic, and of victories nni yet definitive on its ])art, the com- mittees (lid not think tlic moment for ])oacc witli Rin-ope and the internal dissentients had arrived ; and they considered it impossible 290 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1793-1794 to carry on the war without a dictatorship. They, moreover, re- garded the Hebertists as an obscene faction, which corrupted the people, and served the foreign foe by anarchy; and the Dantonists as a party whose poHtical moderation and private immorahty com- promised and dishonored the repubhc. The government accord- ingly proposed to the assembly, through the medium of Barrere, the continuation of the war, with additional activity in its pursuit; while Robespierre, a few days afterward, demanded the continu- ance of the revolutionary government. In the Jacobins he had already expressed himself opposed to the Vieiix Cordelier, which he had hitherto supported. He rejected legal government in the following terms : "Without," said he, "all the tyrants surround us; within, all the friends of tyranny conspire against us; they will continue to conspire till crime is left without hope. We must destroy the internal and external enemies of the republic or perish with it. Now, in such a situation, the first maxim of your policy should be, to lead the people by reason, and the enemies of the people by terror. If, during peace, virtue be the mainspring of a popular government, its mainspring in the times of revolution is both virtue and terror; virtue, without which terror becomes fatal, terror, without which virtue is powerless. Subdue, then, the ene- mies of liberty by terror; and, as the founders of the republic, you will act rightly. The government of the revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny." In this speech he denounced the moderates and the ultra-revo- lutionists, as both of them desiring the downfall of the republic. " They advance," said he, " under different banners and by differ- ent roads, but they advance toward the same goal ; that goal is the disorganization of the popular government, the ruin of the con- vention, and the triumph of tyranny. One of these two factions reduces us to weakness, the other drives us to excesses." He pre- pared the public mind for their proscription ; and his speech, adopted witliout discussion, was sent to all the popular societies, to all the authorities, and to all the armies. After this beginning of hostilities, Danton, who had not given up his connection with Robespierre, asked for an interview with him. It took place at the residence of Robespierre himself. They were cold and bitter; Danton complained violently and Robes- pierre was reserved. " I know," said Danton, " all the hatred the THETERROR 291 1793-1794 committee bear me ; but I do not fear it." " Yon are wrong," re- plied Robespierre; "it entertains no ill designs against you; but you would do well to have an explanation." "An explanation?" rejoined Danton, "an explanation? That requires good faith!" Seeing that Robespierre looked grave at these words, he added: " No doubt it is necessary to put down the royalists, but we ought only to strike blows which will benefit the republic; we must not confound the innocent with the guilty." " And who says," ex- claimed Robespierre sharply, " that an innocent person has been put to death?" Danton turned to one of his friends who had ac- companied him, and said, with a bitter smile : " What do you say to this? Not one innocent person has perished!" They then separated and all friendship ceased between them. A few days afterward Saint-Just ascended the tribune and threatened more openly than had yet been done all dissentients, moderates, or anarchists. " Citizens," said he, " you wished for a republic; if you do not at the same time desire all that constitutes it, you will overwhelm the people in its ruins. What constitutes a republic is the destruction of all that is opposed to it. We are guilty toward the republic because we pity the prisoners; we are guilty toward the republic because we do not desire virtue; we are guilty to the republic because we do not desire terror. What is it you want, those of you who do not wish for virtue, tliat you may be happy? [Tlie anarchists.] What is it you want, those of you who do not wish to employ terror against the wicked? [The moderates.] What is it you want, those of ycing, to Truth. Justice, Modesty, iM-iendship, Frugality, Fidelity, Immortality, !\lisfortunc, in a word, to all 1 An opposite viow may well he taken. StMnc years before the revolution began S.iint-Just bad stolen bis niotlier's plate and sf|iiand'Ted the m.)ney be received for it. ITc was iinpri;oiii-d in conseqnenee, and imbibed a tierce batred of Icttrcs dc UKhci and all the pulice power of the ancient regime. 800 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 the moral and republican virtues. In this way he prepared the establishment of the new worship of the Supreme Being. Barrere made a report on the extirpation of mendicity, and the assistance the republic owed to indigent citizens. All these reports passed into decrees, agreeably to the wishes of the democrats. Barrere, whose habitual speeches in the convention were calculated to dis- guise his servitude from himself, was one of the most supple instruments of the committee; he belonged to the regime of terror, neither from cruelty nor from fanaticism. His manners were gentle, his private life blameless, and he possessed great modera- tion of mind. But he was timid ; and after having been a consti- tutional royalist before August lo, a moderate republican prior to ]\Iay 31, he became the panegyrist and the cooperator of the decemviral tyranny. This shows that, in a revolution, no one should become an actor without decision of character. Intellect never knows when to stop, at a time when one ought always to be prepared to die, and to end one's part or end one's opinions. Robespierre, who was considered the founder of this moral democracy, now attained the highest degree of elevation and of power. He became the object of the general flattery of his party; he was the great man of the republic. ]\Ien spoke of nothing but of his virtue, of his genius, and of his eloquence. Two circum- stances contributed to augment his importance still further. On the 3d Prairial an obscure but intrepid man, named L' Admiral, was determined to deliver France from Robespierre and Collot d'Herbois. He waited in vain for Robespierre all day, and at night he resolved to kill Collot. He fired twice at him with pistols, but missed him. The following day a young girl, named Cecile Renaud, called at Robespierre's and earnestly begged to speak with him. As he was out, and as she still insisted upon being ad- mitted, she was detained. She carried a small parcel, and two knives were found on her person. " What motive brought you to Robespierre's?" inquired her examiners. "I wanted to speak to him." "On what business?" "That depended on liow I might find him." " Do you know Citizen Robespierre? " " No, I sought to know him ; I went to his house to see what a tyrant was like." "What did you propose doing with your two knives?" " Notli- ing, having no intention to injure anyone." "And your parcel?" " Contains a change of linen for my use in the place I shall be sent to." " Where is that? " " To prison : and from there to the guil- FALL OF ROBESPIERRE 301 1794 lotine." The unfortunate girl was ultimately taken there, and her family shared her fate. Robespierre received marks of the most intoxicating adula- tion. At the Jacobins and in the convention his preservation was attributed to the good genius of the republic, and to the Supreme Being, whose existence he had decreed on the i8th Floreal. The celebration of the new religion had been fixed for the 20th Prairial throughout France. On the i6th Robespierre was unanimously appointed president of the convention, in order that he might officiate as the pontiff at the festival. At that ceremony he ap- peared at the head of the assembly, his face beaming with joy and confidence, an unusual expression with him. He approached alone, fifteen feet in advance of his colleagues, attired in a magnificent dress, holding flowers and ears of corn in his hand, the object of general attention. Expectation was universally raised on this occasion : the enemies of Robespierre foreboded attempts at usur- pation, the persecuted looked forward to a milder regime. He disappointed everyone. He harangued the people in his capacity of high priest, and concluded his speech, in which all expected to find a hope of happier prospects, with these discouraging words : " People, let us to-day give ourselves up to the transports of pure delight ! To-morrow we will renew our struggle against vices and against tyrants." Two days after, on the 22d Prairial, Couthon presented a new law to the convention. The revolutionary tribunal had dutifully struck all those who had been pointed out to it: royalists, consti- tutionalists, Girondists, anarcliists, and ^Mountaineers, had been all alike dispatched to execution. But it did not proceed expeditiously enough to satisfy the systematic exterminators, who wished promptly, and at any cost, to get rid of all their prisoners. It still observed some forms; these were sui)pressc(l. "All tardi- ness," said Couthon, " is a crime, all indulgent formality a public danger; there should be no longer delay in jnmishing the enemies of the state than suffices to recognize them." Hitherto the pris- oners had counsel ; they had them no longer. The law furnishes l)atriot jurymen for the defense of calumniated patriots; it grants none to conspirators. They tried them, at first, individually; now they tried them ai masse. There had been some precision in the crimes even when revolutionary; now all llie enemies of the people were declared guilty, and all were pronounced enemies of the peo[)le 302 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 who sought to destroy Hberty by force or stratagem. The jury be- fore had the law to guide their determination; they now only had their conscience. A single tribunal, Fouquier-Tinville, and a few jurymen were not sufficient for the increase of victims the new law threatened to bring before it : the tribunal was divided into four sec- tions, the number of judges and juries was increased, and the public accuser had four substitutes appointed to assist him. Lastly, the deputies of the people could not before be brought to trial without a decree of the convention; but the law was now so drawn up that they could be tried on an order from the committees. The law respecting suspected persons gave rise to that of Prairial. As soon as Couthon had made his report a murmur of aston- ishment and alarm pervaded the assembly. " If this law passes," cried Ruamps, " all we have to do is to blow our brains out. I demand an adjournment." This motion was supported ; but Robespierre ascended the tribunal. " For a long time," said he, " the national assembly has been accustomed to discuss and decree at the same time, because it has long been delivered from the thraldom of faction. I move that without considering the question of adjournment, the convention debate, till eight in the evening, if necessary, on the proposed law." The discussion was im- mediately begun, and in thirty minutes after the second reading, the decree was carried. But the following day a few members, more afraid of the law than of the committee, returned to the de- bate of the day before. The Mountaineers, the friends of Danton, fearing, for their own sakes, the new provisions, which left the representatives at the mercy of the Decemvirs, proposed to the con- vention to provide for the safety of its members. Bourdon de rOise was the first to speak on this subject; he was supported. Merlin, by a skillful amendment, restored the old safeguard of the conventionalists, and the assembly adopted Merlin's measure. Gradually objections were made to the decree; the courage of the Mountaineers increased and the discussion became very animated. Couthon attacked the Mountaineers. " Let them know," replied Bourdon de TOise " let the members of the committee know that if they are patriots, we are patriots too. Let them know that I shall not reply with bitterness to their reproaches. I esteem Couthon, I esteem the committee; but I also esteem the unshaken Mountain which has saved our liberty." Robespierre, surprised at this unexpected resistance, hurried to the tribune. " The conven- FALL OF ROBESPIERRE 303 1794 tion," said he, " the Mountain, and the committee are the same thing! Every representative of the people who sincerely loves liberty, every representative of the people who is ready to die for his country, belongs to the Mountain! We should insult our country, assassinate the people, did we allow a few intriguing per- sons, more contemptible than others, because they are more hypo- critical, to draw off a portion of the ^Mountain and make themselves the leaders of a party." " It never was my intention," said Bour- don, " to make myself leader of a party." " It would be the height of opprobrium," continued Robespierre, "if a few of our colleagues, led away by calumny rcsjiecting our intentions and the object of our labors. . . . " " I insist on your proving what you assert," rejoined Bourdon. " I have been very plainly called a scoundrel." " I did not name Bourdon. Woe to the man who names himself! Yes, the Mountain is pure, it is sublime; in- triguers do not belong to the Mountain ! " " Name them ! " "I will name them when it is necessary." The threats and the im- perious tone of Robespierre, the support of the other Decemvirs, and the feeling of fear which went round caused profound silence. The amendment of ]\Ierlin was revoked as insulting to the com- mittee of public safety, and the whole law was adopted. From the day of the 22d Prairial until the 9th Thermidor June ii-July 27 there were 1366 executions, or 31 per diem. This was much the highest average. h>()m 13 per month before November, 1793, it rose to 65 from thence till February, 1794; during IMarch and April the average was 135; between April 20 and June 10 there were 636 executions. During the course of the revolution the number of small pro- prietors, already more considerable in iM-ance under the ancient regime than elsewhere in Europe, was much increased. Among tlie causes which favored this movement may be enumerated the abo- lition of feudal rights, the abolition of the tithes, the supjircssion of the taille and other reforms in taxation, the sale of the property confiscated from the emigrants, and abo\c all the sale of the land of the clergy. It was this class which suffered most in the last days of the terror. But the end of this system drew near. The sittings of Prairial were the end of union for the members of the committees. From that time silent dissensions existed among them. Thev had advanced together, so Ictng as they had to contend together; but 304 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 this ceased to be the case when they found themselves alone in the arena, with habits of contest and the desire for dominion. Moreover, their opinions were no longer entirely the same : the democratic party were divided by the fall of the old commune; Billaud-Var- ennes, Collot d'Herbois, and the principal members of the com- mittee of general safety, Vadier, Amar, Vouland, clung to this overthrown faction, and preferred the worship of Reason to that of the Supreme Being. They were also jealous of the fame and anxious at the power of Robespierre, who, in his turn, was ir- ritated at their secret disapprobation and the obstacles they opposed to his will. At this period the latter conceived the design of putting down the most enterprising members of the ]\Iountain, Tallien, Bourdon Legendre, Freron, Rovere, and his rivals of the committee. Robespierre had a prodigious force at his disposal; the com- mon people, who considered the revolution as depending on him, supported him as the representative of its doctrines and interests ; the armed force of Paris, commanded by Henriot, was at his com- mand. He had entire sway over the Jacobins, whom he admitted and ejected at pleasure ; all important posts were occupied by his creatures ; he had formed the revolutionary tribunal and the new committee himself, substituting Payan, the national agent, for Chaumette, the attorney-general, and Henriot for Pache, in the office of mayor. But what was his design in granting the most influential places to new men, and in separating himself from the committees? Did he aspire to the dictatorship? did he only seek to estabhsh his democracy of virtue by the ruin of the remaining immoral Mountaineers, and the factious of the committee? Each party had lost its leaders ; the Gironde had lost the twenty-two ; the commune, Hebert, Chaumette, and Ronsin; the Alountain, Danton, Chabot, Lacroix, and Camille Desmoulins. But while thus proscribing the leaders, Robespierre had carefully protected the sects. Pie had defended the seventy-three prisoners against the denunciations of the Jacobins and the hatred of the commit- tees ; he had placed himself at the head of the new commune ; lie had no longer reason to fear opposition to his projects, whatever they might be, except from a few Mountaineers and the members of the conventional government. It was against this double ob- stacle that he directed his efforts during the last moments of his career. It is probable that he did not separate the republic from FALL OF ROBESPIERRE 305 1794 his protectorate, and that he thought to estabhsh both on the over- throw of the other parties. The committees opposed Robespierre in their own way. They secretly strove to bring- about his fall by accusing him of tyranny ; they caused the establishment of his religion to be considered as the presage of his usurpation; they recalled the haughty attitude he assumed on the 20th Prairial, and the distance at which he kept even the national convention. Among themselves they called him Pisistratus, and this name already passed from mouth to mouth. A circumstance, insignificant enough at any other time, gave them an opportunity of attacking him indirectly. An old woman, called Catherine Theot, played the prophetess in an obscure habitation, surrounded by a few mystic sectaries; they styled her the Mother of God, and she announced the immediate coming of a Messiah. Among her followers there was an old associate of Robespierre in the constituent assembly, the Chartreux dom Gerle, who had a civic certificate from Robespierre himself. When the commit- tees discovered the mysteries of the ]^Iother of God, and her pre- dictions, they believed or pretended to believe that Robespierre made use of her instrumentality to gain over the fanatics, or to announce his elevation. They altered her name of Theot into that of Theos, signifying God; and they craftily insinuated that Robespierre was the Messiah she announced. The aged Vadier, in the name of the committee uf general safety, was deputed to bring forward a motion against this new sect. He was vain and subtle; he denounced those who were initialed into these mysteries, turned the worship into derision, implicated Rubesi)icrre in it without naming him, and had the fanatics sent to prison. Robes- pierre wished to save them. Tlie conduct of the comnn'ttee of general safety greatly irritated him, and in the Jacobin Club he spoke of the speech of Vadier with contenii)t and anger. He ex- perienced fresh opposition from the committee of public safety, which refused in proceed against the persons he pointed (nit to them. From that time he ceased to j lin his colleagues in the government, and was rarely present at the sittings oi the conven- tion. But he attended tlic Jacobins regiil:iiiy ; and from the tribune of that club he hoped t(j overthrow his enemies as he had hitherto done. Naturally sad, suspicious, and timid, he became more melaii- cholv and mistrustful than ever. He never went out without being 306 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 accompanied by several Jacobins armed with sticks, who were called his body-guard. He soon commenced his denunciations in the popular assembly. " All corrupt men," said he, " must be expelled the convention." This was designating the friends of Danton. Robespierre had them watched with the most minute anxiety. Every day spies followed all their motions, observing their actions, haunts, and conversation. Robespierre not only attacked the Dantonists at the Jacobins; he even arose against the committee itself, and for that purpose he chose a day when Barrere presided in the popular assembly. At the close of the sitting the latter returned home discouraged. " I am disgusted with men," said he to Villate. " What could be his motive for attacking you?" inquired the other. "Robespierre is insatiable," rejoined Barrere; "because we will not do all he wishes, he must break with us. If he talked to us about Thuriot, Guffroi, Rovere, Lecointre, Panis, Cambon, Monestier, and the rest of the Dan- tonists, we might agree with him; let him even require Tallien, Bourdon de I'Oise, Legendre, Freron, well; but Duval, Audoin, Leonard Bourdon, Vadier, Vouland it is impossible to consent." To give up members of the committee of general safety was to expose themselves; accordingly, while fearing, they firmly awaited the attack. Robespierre was very formidable, with respect to his power, his hatred, and his designs ; it w^as for him to begin the combat. But how could he set about it? For the first time he was the author of a conspiracy; hitherto he had taken advantage of all popular movements. Danton, the Cordeliers, and the faubourgs had made the insurrection of August lo against the throne; Marat, the Mountain, and the commune had made that of May 31 against the Gironde ; Billaud, Saint-Just, and the committees had efYected tlie ruin of the commune and weakened the Mountain, Robespierre remained alone. Unable to procure assistance from the government, since he had had declared against the committees, he had recourse to the populace and the Jacobins. The principal conspirators were Saint-Just and Couthon in the committee; Fleuriot, the mayor, and Payan, the national agent, in the commune; Dumas, tlic president, and Coffinhal, the vice-president, in the revo- lutionary tribunal ; Henriot, the commander of the armed force, and the popular society. On the 15th Messidor, three weeks after the law of Prairial and twenty-four days before the 9th Ther- 1794 FALL OF ROBESPIERRE 307 midor, the resolution was already taken ; at that time and under that date Henriot wrote to the mayor : " You shall be satisfied with me, comrade, and w^ith the way in which I shall proceed; trust me, men who love their country easily agree in directing all their steps to the benefit of public affairs. I would have wished, and I do wish, that the secret of the operation rested with us two; the wicked should know nothing of it. Health and brotherhood." Saint-Just was on a mission to the army of the north; Robes- pierre hastily recalled him. While waiting liis return he prepared the public mind at the Jacobins. In the sitting of the 3d Thermidor he complained of the conduct of the committees, and of the persecu- tion of the patriots, whom he swore to defend. " There must be no longer traces of crime or faction," said he, " in any place what- ever. A few scoundrels disgrace the convention; but it will not allow itself to be swayed by them." He then urged his colleagues, the Jacobins, to present their reflections to the national assembly. This was the transaction of May 31. On the 4th he received a depu- tation from the de])artmcnt of the Aisne, who came to complain to him of the operations of the government, to which, for a month past, he had been a stranger. "The convention," said Robes- pierre, in his reply to the deputation, " in the situation in which it now stands, gangrened l)y corrupticMi. and being wholly unable to recover itself, cannot save the republic l)oth must perish. The proscription of patriots is the order of the day. As for me, I have one foot in the tomb; in a few days tlic other will follow it. The rest is in the hands of Providence." lie was tlien slightly indis- posed, and he purposely exaggerated his discouragement, his fears, and the dangers of the rcpul)Iic in order to inflame tlie patriots, and again bind the fate of the revolution with his own. In tlie meantime Saint-Just arrived from the army. He ascer- tained the state of affairs from Ivoljcspicrrc. He presented himself to the committees, tlie members of which received him coldly; every time he entered they ceased to dcliljcrate. Saint-Just, who, from their silence, a few chance words, and the expression of per- plexity or hostilitv on th.eir C(mntenances, saw there was no time to be lost, pressed Robesjuerre to act. His maxim was t(j strike at once, and resolutely. " i:)are." said he, " that is the secret of revolutions." But he wislicd to prevail on Robespierre to take a measure, which was impossible, by urging him to strike his foes without apprising tliem. The force at his disposal was a force of 308 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 revolutionary opinion, and not an organized force. It was neces- sary for him to seek the assistance of the convention or of the com- mune, the legal authority of government, or the extraordinary authority of insurrection. Such was the custom, and such must be all coups d'etat. They could not even have recourse to insurrec- tion until after they had received the refusal of the assembly; other- wise a pretext was wanting for the rising. Robespierre was there- fore obliged to commence the attack in the convention itself. lie hoped to obtain everything from it by his ascendency, or if contrary to its custom it resisted, he reckoned on the people, urged by the commune, rising on the 9th Thermidor against the proscribed of the ]\Iountain, and the committee of public safety, as it had risen on May 31 against the proscribed of the Gironde and the commis- sion of twelve. It is almost always by the past that man regulates his conduct and his hopes. On the 8th Thermidor he entered the convention at an early hour. He ascended the tribunal and denounced the com- mittee in a most skillful speech. " I am come," said he, " to de- fend before you your authority insulted, and liberty violated. I will also defend myself; you will not be surprised at this; you do not resemble the tyrants you contend with. The cries of out- raged innocence do not importune your ears, and you know that this cause is not foreign to your interests." After this opening he complained of those who had calumniated him; he attacked those who sought the ruin of the republic, either by excesses or modera- tion ; those who persecuted pacific citizens, meaning the committees, and those who persecuted true patriots, meaning the ^Mountaineers. He associated himself witli the intentions, past conduct, and spirit of the convention; he added that its enemies were liis: "What have I done to merit persecution, if it entered not into the general system of their conspiracy against the convention? Have you not observed that, to isolate you from the nation, they have given out tliat you are dictators, reigning by means of terror, and disavowed by the silent wishes of all Frenchmen? For myself, what faction do I belong to? to yourselves. What is that faction that, from the beginning of the revolution, has overthrown all factions and got rid of acknowledged traitors? It is you, it is the people, it is principles. Hiat is the faction to which I am devoted, and against which all crimes are leagued. T'or at least six weeks my inal^ility to do good and to ch.cck evil has oblijred me absolutelv to renounce FALL OF ROBESPIERRE 309 1794 my functions as a member of the committee of public safety. Has patriotism been better protected? have factions been more timid? or the country more happy? At all times my influence has been confined to pleading the cause of my country before the national representation and at tlie tribunal of public opinion." After having attempted to confound his cause with that of the convention, he tried to excite it against the committees by dwelling on the idea of its independence. " Representatives of the people," said he, " it is time to resume the pride and elevation of character which befits you. You are not made to be ruled, but to rule the depositaries of your confidence." While he thus endeavored to tempt the assembly by the re- turn of its power and the end of its slavery, he addressed the mod- erate party by reminding tlicm that they were indebted to him for the lives of the seventy-three, and by holding forth hopes of returning order, justice, and clemency. lie spoke of changing the devouring and trickster system of finance, of softening the revolu- tionary government, of guiding its influence, and punishing its prevaricating agents. Lastly, lie invoked tlie people, talked of their necessities, and of llieir power. And wlien he had recalled all that could act upon tlie interests, hopes, or fears of the convention, he added : " We say, then, that there exists a conspiracy against public liberty; that it owes its strength to a criminal coalition wliicli intrigues in the very heart of the convention ; tliat this coalition has accomplices in the committee uf general safety; that the enemies of the republic have opposed tliis committee to the committee uf public safety, and have thus constituted two governments; that members of the committee of public safety are concerned in this plot; that the coalition thus formed seeks the ruin both of patriots and of the country. What remedy is there for this evil? Punish the traitors; compose anew the committee (jf general safety; purify this committee, and make it subordinate to tlie C(jmniitlee of public safety; purify the latter committee itself; constitute tlie unity of the government under the supreme anil;. 'ir.y of the convention; crush every faction under the weight oi natiov:;il ;au]iority. and establish on th.cir ruins the jjower of justice and liberty." Xot a murmur, not a m;irk of ap[)l;uise welcomed this declara- tion of ^\ar. Tlie .-ilence with which Robespierre wa.-^ heard con- tinued long after ^ e luul ceased S])eaking. -Vuxious looks were exchanged in all parts of the dotibtir.g a embly. At length Le- 310 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 cointre of Versailles arose and proposed that the speech should be printed. This motion was the signal for agitation, discussion, and resistance. Bourdon de I'Oise opposed the motion for printing the speech as a dangerous measure. He was applauded. But Barrere, in his ambiguous manner, having maintained that all speeches ought to be published, and Couthon having moved that it should be sent to all the communes of the republic, the convention, intimidated by this apparent concord of the two opposite factions, decreed both the printing and circulation of the speech. The members of the two committees thus attacked, w^ho had hitherto remained silent, seeing the Mountain thwarted and the majority undecided, thought it time to speak. Vadier first opposed Robespierre's speech and Robespierre himself. Cambon went further. " It is time," he cried, " to speak the whole truth : one man paralyzed the resolution of the national assembly; that man is Robespierre." " The mask must be torn off," added Billaud- Varennes, *' whatever face it may cover ; I would rather my corpse should serve an ambitious man for his throne than by my silence to become the accomplice of his crimes." Panis, Bentabole, Char- lier, Thirion, Amar, attacked him in turn. Freron proposed to the convention to throw off the fatal yoke of the committees, " The time is come," said he, " to revive liberty of opinion ; I move that the assembly revoke the decree which gives the committee power to arrest the representatives of the people. Who can speak freely while he fears an arrest?" Some applause was heard; but the moment for the entire deliverance of the convention was not yet arrived. It w^as necessary to contend with Robespierre from behind the committees, in order subsequently to attack the committees more easily. Freron's motion was accordingly rejected. " The man who is prevented by fear from delivering his opinion," said Billaud- Varennes, looking at him, " it not worthy the title of a representa- tive of the people." Attention was again drawn to Robespierre. The decree ordering his speech to be printed was recalled, and the convention submitted the speech to the examination of the com- mittees. Robespierre, who had been surprised at this fiery re- sistance, then said: "What! I had the courage to place before the assembly truths which I think necessary to the safety of the country, and you send my discourse for the examination of the members whom I accuse." He retired, a little discouraged, but hoping to bring back the assembly to his views, or rather, bring FALL OF ROBESPIERRE 311 1794 it into subjection, with the aid of the conspirators of the Jacobins and the commune. In the evening lie repaired to the popular society. He was received with enthusiasm. He read the speech which the assembly had just condemned, and the Jacobins loaded him with applause. He then recounted to them the attacks which had been directed against him, and to increase their excitement he added : "If neces- sary, I am ready to drink the cup of Socrates." " Robespierre," cried a deputy, " I will drink it with you." " The enemies of Robes- pierre," cried numbers on all sides, " are the enemies of the coun- try; let them be named and they shall cease to live." During the whole night Robespierre prepared his partisans for the following day. It was agreed that they should assemble at the commune and the Jacobins, in order to be ready for every event, while he, ac- companied by his friends, repaired to the assembly. The committees had also spent the night in deliberation. Saint- Just had a])peared among them. His colleagues tried to disunite him from the triumvirate; they deputed him to draw up a report on the events of the preceding day and submit it to them. But instead of that, he drew up an act of accusation, which he would not communicate to them, and said, as he withdrew: "You have withered my heart ; I am going to open it to the convention." The committees placed all their hope in the courage of the assembly and the union of parties. The ^Mountain had omitted n(3thing to bring about this salutary agreement. They had addressed them- selves to the most influential members of the Riglit and of the Marsh. They had entreated P.oissy d'Anglas and Durand Mail- lane, who were at their head, to join them against I'^obespierre. They hesitated at iirst : they were so alarmed at his power, so full of resentment against tlie Alountain, tliat they dismissed the Dan- tonists twice witliout listening to them. At last the Dantonists returned to the charge a third time, and then the Right and the Plain engaged to support them. There was thus a coiispiracy on both sides. AH the parties of the assembly were united against Robespierre, all the accomplices of tlie triumvirs were preparetl to act against the convention. In this state of affairs the sitting of the 9th Thermidor began. The members of the assciubly repaired there earlier than usual. About half-past eleven they gathered in the i)assages. encouraging each other. The ^Mountaineer Bourdon de I'Oise approaching Du- 312 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 rand-Maillane, a moderate, pressed his hand, and said: " The peo- ple of the Rig^lit are excellent men." Rovere and Tallien came up and mingled their congratulations with those of Bourdon. At twelve they saw, from the door of the hall, Saint-Just ascend the tribune. " Now is the time," said Tallien, and they entered the hall. Robespierre occupied a seat in front of the tribune, doubt- less in order to intimidate his adversaries with his looks. Saint- Just began: "I belong," he said, "to no faction; I will oppose them all. The course of things has perhaps made this tribune the Tarpeian rock for him who shall tell you that the members of the government have quitted the path of prudence." Tallien then interrupted Saint-Just and exclaimed violently : " No good citizen can restrain his tears at the wretched state of public affairs. We see nothing but divisions. Yesterday a member of the government separated himself from it to accuse it. To-day another does the same. Alen still seek to attack each other, to increase the woes of the country, to precipitate it into the abyss. Let the veil be wholly torn asunder." "It must! it must!" resounded on every side. Billaud-Varennes spoke from his seat. " Yesterday," said he, " the society of Jacobins was filled with hired men, for no one had a card ; yesterday the design of assassinating the members of the national assembly was developed in that society ; yesterday I saw men uttering the most atrocious insults against those who have never deviated from the revolution. I see on the Mountain one of those men who threatened the republic; there he is." "Arrest him! arrest him! " was the general cry. The sergeant seized him and took him to the committee of general safety. " The time is come for speaking the truth," said Billaud. " The assembly would form a wrong judgment of events and of the position in which it is placed, did it conceal from itself that it is placed between two massacres. It will perish, if feeble." "No! no! It will not per- ish!" exclaimed all the members, rising from their seats. They swore to save the republic. The spectators in the gallery applauded, and cried: " JHz'c la convention iiationalc! '" The impetuous Lebas attempted to speak in defense of the triumvirs : he was not allowed to d(j sr), and Billaud continued. He warned tlie convention of its dangers, attacked Robespierre, pointed out his accomplices, de- nounced his conduct and liis ])lans of dictatorship. All eyes were directed tijward him. He faced tliem firmlv for some time; but FALL OF ROBESPIERRE 31S 1794 at length, unable to contain himself, he rushed to the tribune. The cry of " Down with the tyrant " instantly became general, and drowned his voice, " Just now," said Tallien, " I required that the veil should be torn asunder. It gives me pleasure to see that it is wholly sundered. The conspirators are unmasked; they will soon be de- stroyed, and liberty will triumph. I was present yesterday at the sitting of the Jacobins; I trembled for my country. I saw the army of this new Cromwell forming, and I armed myself with a poignard to stab him to the heart if the national convention wanted courage to decree his impeachment." He drew out his poignard, brandished it before the indignant assembly, and moved, before anything else, the arrest of Henriot. and the permanent sitting of the assembly. Both motions were carried in the midst of cries of " Vive la rcpublique! " Billaud also moved the arrest of three of Robespierre's most daring accomplices, Dumas, Boulanger, and Dufrese. Barrere caused the convention to be placed under the guard of the armed sections, and drew up a proclamation to be caution. Vadier diverted the assembly for a moment from the addressed to the people. Everyone proposed a measure of pre- danger which threatened it, to the affair of Catherine Theos. " Let us not be diverted from the true object of debate," said Tallien. " I will undertake to bring you back to it," said Robespierre. " Let us turn our attention to the tyrant," rejoined Tallien, attacking him more warmly than before. Robespierre, after attempting to speak several times, ascend- ing and descending the stairs of the tribune, while his voice was drowned by cries of " Down vs'ith the tryant ! " and the bell which the president, Thuriot, continued ringing, now made a last effort to be heard. " President of assassins," he cried, " for the last time, will you let me speak?" But Thuriot continued to ring his bell. Robespierre, after glancing at the spectators in the public gallery, who remained motionless, turned toward the Right. '' Pure and virtuous men,'' said he, '' I have recourse to you ; give me the hearing which the assassins refuse." Xo answer was returned; profound silence prevailed. Then, wholly dejected, he returned to his place and sank on his seat exhausted by fatigue and rage. He foamed at the moutli and his utterance was choked. " Wretch ! " said one ()f the Mouniain, " tlic l)l()
    ut as the convention, with the support of the committees, had become coura- geous, so the section, relying on tlie courage of the convention, would naturally declare against the insurgents. By attacking the government, he aroused the assembly ; by arousing the assembly, he aroused the people; and this coalition necessarily ruined him. The convention on the 9th Thermidor was no longer, as on May 31, divided, undecided, opposed to a compact, numerous, and daring faction. All parties were united by defeat, misfortune, and the proscription ever threatening- them, and would naturally become allied in the event of a struggle. It did not, therefore, depend on Robespierre to escape defeat. As little was it in his power to secede from the committees.'' At the point he had attained, one wishes to be sole; one is consumed by one's passions, deceived by one's hopes, and by one's fortune, hitherto successful : and war once declared, peace, repose, the ]\'irtition of power, are as impos- sible as justice and clemency when the scaffolds have once been erected. One must tlien fall by the means by which one has arisen ; the man of action must perish by the scaffold, as the concjuenjr by war. "The progress of events from the fall of T^aiiton to th.e death of Rolies- pierre has been called the 'labyrinth of the revolution," Xn other period is so intricate. I'-ven the actual sequence of event- on tlie Sth and yth 'I'hennidnr is still a debated question. The be>t authority for the period is llrricaidt, "Lfl Revolution dc Tlicrmidnr'' Paris, ^'i<7'^. .\do,^. '^ too jiartisan to be trustworthy. The notes to Fletcher's Carlyle. ' French Revohition." vol. VI. ch. vi., are valuable. Chapter XII THE THERMIDORIAN REACTION JULY 28, 1794-MAY 20, 1795 THE 9th Thermidor was the first day of the revolution in which those fell who attacked. This indication alone manifested that the ascendant revolutionary movement had reached its term. From that day the contrary movement necessarily began. The general rising of all parties against one man was calculated to put an end to the compression under which they labored. In Robespierre the committees subdued each other, and the decemviral government lost the prestige of terror which had constituted its strength. The committees liberated the con- vention, which gradually liberated the entire republic. Yet they thought they had been working for themselves, and for the pro- longation of the revolutionary government, while the greater part of those who had supported them had for their object the overthrow of the dictatorship, the independence of the assembly, and the establishment of legal order. From the day after the 9th Ther- midor there were, therefore, two opposite parties among the con- querors, that of the committees and that of the Mountain, which was called the Thermidorian party. The former was deprived of half its forces; besides the loss of its chief, it no longer had the commune, whose insurgent members, to the number of seventy-two, had been sent to the scaffold, and which, after its double defeat under Hebert and under Robespierre, was not again reorganized, and remained without direct influence. But this party retained the direction of affairs through the com- mittees. All its members were attached to the revolutionary sys- tem; some, such as Billaud-Varennes, Collet d'Herbois, Barrere, Vadier, Amar, saw it was their only safety ; others, such as Carnot, Cambon, and the Prieurs, feared the counter-revolution, and the punishment of their colleagues. In the convention it reckoned all the commissioners hitherto sent on missions, several of the Mountain who had signalized themselves on the 9th Thermidor, 320 THEREACTION 321 1794 and the remnant of Robespierre's party which was called the New Mountain, or more often Cretois (from la crete, top of a moun- tain). Without, the Jacobins were attached to it; and it still had the support of the faubourgs and of the lower class. The Thermidorian party was composed of the greater number of the conventionalists. All the Center of the assembly, and what remained of the Right, joined the Mountain, who had abated their former exaggeration of views. The coalition of the Moderates, Boissy d'Anglas, Sieyes, Cambaceres, Chenier,^ Thirbeaudeau, with the Dantonists, Tallien, Freron, Legendre, Barras, Bourdon de rOise, Rovere, Bentabole, Dumont, and the two Merlins, entirely changed the character of the assembly. After the 9th Thermi- dor the first step of this party was to secure its empire in the convention. Soon it found its way into the government, and suc- ceeded in excluding the previous occupants. Sustained by public opinion, by the assembly, by the committees, it advanced openly toward its object; it proceeded against the principal Decemvirs and some of their agents. As these had many partisans in Paris, it sought the aid of the young men against the Jacobins, of the sec- tions against the faubourgs. At the same time to strengthen it it recalled to the assembly all the deputies whom the committee of public safety had proscribed: first, the seventy-three who had pro- tested against May 31, and then the surviving victims of that day themselves. The Jacobins exhibited excitement: it closed their club; the faubourgs raised an insurrection: it disarmed them. After overthrowing the revolutionary government it directed its attention to the establishment of another, and to the introduction, under the constitution of the Year III., of a feasible, liberal, regu- lar, and stable order of things, in place of the extraordinary and provisional state in which the convention had been from its com- mencement until then. But all this was accomplished gradually. The two parties were not long before they began to differ, after their common victory. The revolutionary tril-unal was an especial object of general horrc-ir. On the iith Thermidor it was suspended ; but Billaud-X'arenncs, in the same sitting, had the decree of suspension rescinded, lie maintained that tlie accomplices of Robespierre alone were guilty, that tlie majority of the judges and jurors being men of integrity, it was desirable to retain tliem 1 Marie-Joseph Chenier. His brother Andre, the poet, had been guillotined on 7th Thermidor. 322 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 in their offices. Barrere presented a decree to that effect : he urged that the triumvirs had done nothing for the revolutionary govern- ment ; that they had often even opposed its measures ; that their only care had been to place their creatures in it, and to give it a direction favorable to their own projects; he insisted, in order to strengthen that government, upon retaining the law of suspects and the tribunal, with its existing members, including Fouquier- Tinville. At this name a general murmur rose in the assembly. Freron, rendering himself the organ of the general indignation, ex- claimed : " I demand that the earth be, at length, delivered from that monster, and that Fouquier be sent to hell, there to wallow in the blood he has shed." His proposition was applauded, and Fouquier's accusation decreed.^ Barrere, however, did not regard himself as defeated ; he still retained toward the convention the imperious language which the old committee had made use of with success; this was at once habit and calculation on his part, for he well knew that nothing is so easily continued as that which has been successful. But the political tergiversations of Barrere, a man of noble birth, and who was a royalist Feuillant before August lo, did not countenance his assuming this imperious and inflexible tone. " Who is this president of the Feuillants," said Merlin de Thionville, " who assumes to dictate to us the law ? " The hall resounded with applause. Barrere became confused, left the tribune, and this first check of the committees indicated their decline in the convention. The revolutionary tribunal continued to exist, but with other mem- bers and another organization. The law of the 22d Prairial was abolished on August i, 1794, and there were now as much delibera- tion and moderation, as many protecting forms in trials, as before there had been precipitation and inhumanity. This tribunal was no longer made use of against persons formerly suspected, who were still detained in prison, though under milder treatment, and who, by degrees, were restored to liberty on the plan proposed by Camille Desmoulins for his committee of clemency. On the 13th Thermidor the government itself became the - This is Mignet's original statement, but it is clear he is confused as to time. The revolutionary tribunal was about the last feature of the terror gov- ernment to be abolished. Fouquier's trial was in the spring of 1795 (March 28-May 6). He and fifteen others were executed on May 7, and ten days later the tribunal's final sitting took place. It was legislated out of existence on the 31st. THEREACTION 323 1794 subject of discussion. The committee of public safety was deficient in many members; Herault de Sechelles had never been replaced; Jean-Bon-Saint- Andre and Prieur de la Marne were on missions; Robespierre, Couthon, and Saint-Just had perished on the scaffold. In the places of these were appointed Tallien, Breard, Eschas- seriaux, Treilhard, Thuriot, and Laloi, whose accession lessened still more the influence of the old members. At the same time were reorganized the two commitlees, so as to render them more de- pendent on the assembly and less so on one another. The com- mittee of public safety was charged with military and diplomatic operations; that of general safety with internal administration. As it was desired, by limiting the revolutionary power, to calm the fever which had excited the multitude, and gradually to disperse them, the daily meetings of the sections were reduced to one in every ten days ; and the pay of forty sous a day, lately given to every indigent citizen who attended them, was discontinued. These measures being carried into effect, on the nth Fruc- tidor, one month after the death of Robespierre, Lecointre of Versailles denounced Billaud, Collot, Barrere, of the committee of public safety ; and Vadier, Amar, and Vouland, of the committee of general safety. The evening before Tallien had vehemently assailed the reign of terror, and Lecointre was en- couraged to his attack by the sensation which Tallien's speech had produced. He brought twenty-three charges against the accused ; he imputed to them all tlie measures of cruelty or tyranny which they threw on the triumvirs, and called them the successors of Robespierre. This denunciation agitated the assembly, and more especially tliose who sup])orted tlie committees, or who wished that divisions might cease in the republic. " If the crimes Lecointre re- proaches us witli were ])r()vc(l/' said Billaud-Varennes. " if they were as real as tliey are absurd and cliimerical. tliere is. doubtless, not one of us but would deserve to lose his head on the scaffold. But I defy Lecointre to prove, by documents or any evidence worthy of belief,' any of tlie facts he has charged us with." lie repelled the charges brought against him i)y Lecointre; he reproached his enemies with heintr corrui)t and inlriii-uing men, who wished to sacrifice him to tlie memory of Danion, rni odious cons])n-ator, the hope of all parricidal factions. " W hat seek these men."' he con- tinued, " what seek these men wlio call us the successors of Robes- pierre? Citizens, know you what they seek? To destroy liberty SU THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 on the tomb of the tyrant." Lecointre's denunciation was prema- ture; ahnost all the convention pronounced it calumnious. The accused and their friends gave way to outbursts of unrestrained and still powerful indignation, for they were now attacked for the first time ; the accuser, scarcely supported by anyone, was silenced. Billaud-Varennes and his friends triumphed for the time. A few days after, the period for renewing a third of the com- mittee arrived. The following members were fixed on by lot to retire : Barrere, Carnot, Robert Lindet, in the committee of public safety; Vadier, Vouland, Moise Baile, in the committee of general safety. They were replaced by Thermidorians ; and Collot d'Her- bois, as well as Billaud-Varennes, finding themselves too weak, re- signed. Another circumstance contributed still more to the fall of their party, by exciting public opinion against it ; this was the pub- licity given to the crimes of Joseph Lebon and Carrier, two of the proconsuls of the committee. They had been sent, the one to Arras and to Cambrai, the frontier exposed to invasion ; the other to Nantes, the limit of the Vendean war. They had signalized their mission by, beyond all others, displaying a cruelty and a caprice of tyranny, which are, however, generally found in those who are invested with supreme human power. Lebon, young and of a weak constitution, was naturally mild. On a first mission he had been humane; but he was censured for this by the committee, and sent to Arras, with orders to show himself somewhat more revolu- tionary. Not to fall short of the inexorable policy of the committee, he gave way to unheard of excesses ; he mingled debauchery with extermination ; he had the guillotine always in his presence, and called it holy. He associated with the executioner and admitted him to his table. Carrier, having more victims to strike, surpassed even Lebon ; he was bilious, fanatical, and naturally blood-thirsty. He had only awaited the opportunity to execute enormities that the imagination even of Marat would not have dared to conceive. Sent to the borders of an insurgent country, he condemned to death the whole hostile population priests, women, children, old men, and girls. As the scaffold did not suffice for his cruelty, he substituted a company of assassins, called Marat's company, for the revolution- ary tribune, and, for the guillotine, boats, with false bottoms, by means of which he drowned his victims in the Loire. Cries of vengeance and justice were raised against these enormities. After the 9th Thermidor Lebon was attacked first, because he was more THEREACTION 325 especially the agent of Robespierre. Carrier, who was that of the committee of public safety, and of whose conduct Robespierre had disapproved, was prosecuted subsequently. There were in the prisons of Paris ninety-four people of Nantes, sincerely attached to the revolution and who had defended their town with courage during the attack made on it by the Ven- deans. Carrier had sent them to Paris as federalists. It had not been deemed safe to bring them before the revolutionary tribunal until the 9th Thermidor; they were then taken there for the pur- pose of unmasking, by their trial, the crimes of Carrier. They were tried purposely with prolonged solemnity; their trial lasted nearly a month; there was time given for public opinion to declare itself; and on their acquittal there was a general demand for jus- tice on the revolutionary committee of Nantes, and on the i:iro- consul. Carrier. Legendre renewed Lecointre's impeachment of Billaud, Barrere, Collot, and Vadier, who were generously defended by Carnot, Prieur, and Cambon, their former colleagues, who de- manded to share their fate. Lecointre's motion was not attended with any result; and, for the present, they only brought to trial the members of the revolutionary committee of Xantes ; but we may observe the progress of the Thermidorian party. This time the members of the committee were obliged to have recourse to defense, and the convention simply passed to the order of the day, on the question of the denunciation made by Legendre, without voting it calumnious, as they had done that of Lecointre. The revolutionary democrats were, however, still very power- ful in Paris; if they had lost the commune, the tribunal, the con- vention, and the committee, they yet retained the Jacobins and the faubourgs. It was in these popular societies that their party concentrated, especially for the purpose of defending themselves. Carrier attended them assiduously and invoked their assistance; Billaud-Varennes, and Collot dTIerbois also resorted to them; but these, being somewhat less threatened, were circimispect. They were accordingly censured for their silence. " The lion sleeps," replied Billaud-Varennes, " but his waking will be terrible." This club had been expurgated after tlie 10th Then nidor, and it had con- gratulated the convention in the name of the regenerated societies on the fall of Robespierre and of tyranny. About this time, as many of its leaders were proceeded against and many Jacobins were imprisoned in the departments, it came in the name of tlie 326 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 united societies " to give utterance to the cry of grief that resounded from every part of the republic, and to the voice of oppressed pa- triots, plunged in the dungeons which the aristocrats had just left." The convention, far from yielding to the Jacobins, prohibited, for the purpose of destroying their influence, all collective petitions, branch associations, and correspondence between the parent society and its offsets, and in this way disorganized the famous confedera- tion of the clubs. The Jacobins, rejected from the convention, began to agitate Paris, where they were still masters. Then the Hiermidorians also began to convoke their people by appealing to the support of the sections." At the same time Freron called the young men to arms in his journal, I'Orateur dii Peiiple, and placed himself at their head. This new and irregular militia called itself La jeunesse doree dc Freron. All those who composed it belonged to the rich and the middle class; they had adopted a particular cos- tume, called Costume a la victime. Instead of the blouse of the Jacobins, they wore a square open coat and very low shoes ; the hair, long at the sides, was turned up behind, with tresses called cadenettcs; they were armed with short sticks, leadened and formed like bludgeons. A portion of these young men and of the section- aries were royalists ; the others followed the impulse of the moment, which was anti-revolutionary. The latter acted without object or ambition, declaring in favor of the strongest party, espe- cially when the triumph of that party promised to restore order, the want of which was generally felt. The other contended under the Thermidorians against the old committees, as the Thermi- dorians had contended under the old committees against Robes- pierre; it waited for an opportunity of acting on its own account, which occurred after the entire downfall of the revolutionary party. In the violent situation of the two parties, actuated by fear and re- sentment, they pursued each other unrelentingly, and often came to blows in the streets to the cry of "Vive la Montague! " or " Vive la convention! " The Jeunesse Doree were powerful in the Palais Royal, where they were supported by the shopkeepers ; but the Jacobins were the strongest in the garden of the Tuileries, which was near their club. These cjuarrels became more animated every day, and Paris 3 On December 24. 1794, the forty-eight sections of Paris were reduced to twelve, and their local meetings to one every ten days. Schmidt, " Tableaux dc la Revolution," vol. II. pp. 228, 254. THERE ACTION 327 1794 was transformed into a field of battle, where the fate of the parties was left to the decision of arms. This state of war and disorder would necessarily have an end ; and since the parties had not the wisdom to come to an understanding, one or the other must in- evitably carry the day. The Thermidorians were the party in progress, and victory naturally fell to them. On the day following that on which Billaud had spoken of the waking of the lion in the popular society, there was great agitation throughout Paris. It was wished to take the Jacobin Club by assault. Men shouted in the streets : " The great Jacobin conspiracy ! Outlaw the Jacobins ! " At this period the revolutionary committee of Nantes were being tried. On their defense they pleaded that they had re- ceived from Carrier the sanguinary orders they had executed, which led the convention to enter into an examination of his con- duct. Carrier was allowed to defend himself before the decree was passed against him. He justified his cruelty by the cruelty of the Vendeans, and the maddening fury of civil war. " When I acted," he said, " the air still seemed to resound with the civic songs of twenty thousand martyrs, who had shouted ' Vive la rcpiibliquc! ' in the midst of tortures. How could the voice of humanity, which had died in this terrible crisis, be heard? What would my ad- versaries have done in my place? I saved the republic at Xantes; my life has been devoted to my country, and I am ready to die for it." Out of 500 voters, 498 were for the impeachment; the other 2 voted for it, but conditionally. The Jacobins, finding their opponents were going from sub- altern agents to the representatives, regarded themselves as lost. They endeavored to rouse the multitude, less to defend Carrier than for the support of their party, whicli was threatened more and more. But they were kept in check by the Jeunesse Doree and the sectionaries, who eventually proceeded to the place of their sittings to dissolve the chib. A sharp conllict ensued. The be- siegers broke tlie windows witli stones, forced the doors, and dis- persed the Jacol)ins after some resistance on their part. The latter complained to the convention of this violence. Rewbel, deputed to make a report on the subject, was not favorable to them. " WHiere was tyranny organized? " said he. " At the Jacobin Clulx Where had it its supports and its satellites? At the Jacobin Club. Who covered France witli mourning, tlirew families into despair, filled the republic with bastiles, made the republican system so 328 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794 odious that a slave laden with fetters would have refused to live under it? The Jacobins. Who regret the terrible reign we have lived under? The Jacobins. If you have not courage to decide in a moment like this, the republic is at an end, because you have Jacobins." The convention suspended them provisionally, in order to expurgate and reorganize them, not daring to destroy them at once. The Jacobins, setting the decree at defiance, assembled in arms in their usual place of meeting; the Thermidorian troop who had already besieged them there came again to assail them. It surrounded the club with cries of "Long live the convention!" " Down with the Jacobins ! " The latter prepared for defense ; they left their seats, shouting " Long live the republic ! " rushed to the doors, and attempted a sortie. At first they made a few prisoners, but soon yielding to superior numbers, they submitted and traversed the ranks of the victors, who, after disarming them, covered them with hisses, insults, and even blows. These illegal expeditions were accompanied by all the excesses which attend party struggles. The next day, November 12, 1794, commissioners came to close the club and put seals on its registers and papers, and from that moment the society of the Jacobins ceased to exist. A handful of old members continued the club under another name, Societe du Pantheon, and even met for a short time in the next year in the original Jacobin convent. That popular body had powerfully ser\^ed the revolution, when, in order to repel Europe, it was necessary to place the government in the multitude, and to give the republic all the energy of defense ; but now it only obstructed the progress of the new order of things. The situation of affairs was changed; liberty was to succeed the dictatorship, now that the salvation of the revolution had been effected, and that it w^as necessary to revert to legal order in order to preserve it. An exorbitant and extraordinary power, like the confederation of the clubs, would necessarily terminate with the defeat of the party which had supported it, and that party itself expire with the circumstances which had given it rise. Carrier, brought before the tribunal, was tried, and condemned to be executed on December 16, 1794, with the majority of his accomplices. During the trial, the seventy-three deputies, whose protest against ^Vlay 31 had excluded them from the assemblies, were reinstated. Merlin de Douai moved their recall in the name of THE REACTION 329 1794 the committee, of public safety; his motion was received with ap- plause, and the seventy-three resumed their seats in the convention. The seventy-three, in their turn, tried to obtain the return of the outlawed deputies, but they met with warm opposition. The Thermidorians and the members of the new committees feared that such a measure would be calling the revolution itself into question. They were also afraid of introducing- a new party into the conven- tion, already divided, and of recalling- implacable enemies, who might cause, with regard to themselves, a reaction similar to that wdiich had taken place against the old committees. Accordingly, they vehemently opposed the motion, and ^Icrlin de Douai went so far as to say: " Do you want to throw open the doors of the Temple? " The young son of Louis XVI. was confined there, and the Girondists, on account of the results of May 31, were con- founded with the royalists; besides, May 31 still figured among the revolutionary dates beside August 10 and July 14. The retro- grade movement had yet some steps to take before it reached that period. The republican counter-revolution had turned back from the 9th Thermidor, 1794, to October 3, 1793, the day on which the seventy-three had been arrested, but not to June 2, 1793, when the twenty-two were arrested. After overthrowing Robespierre and the committee it had to attack Marat and the Mountain. In the almost geometrical progression of popular movement a few months were still necessary to effect this. They went on to abolish the decemviral system. The decree against the priests and nobles, who had formed two proscribed classes under the reign of terror, was revoked; the maximum was abolished December 2^^, ^794^ 5ii order to restore c(jnndence by putting an end to commercial tyranny ; tlie general and earnest effort was to substitute the most elevated liberty for the despotic pressure of the committee of public safety. 1'his period was also marked by the independence of the ])ress. the restoration of religious worship, and the return (jf the property confiscated from the feder- alists during- the reign of the committees. Here was a complete reaction against the rcvolutionarv gov- ernment; it soon reached Marat and the Mountain. After tlie 9th Thermidor it had been considered necessary to o])pose a great revolutionary reputati(.)n to that of Robespierre, and Marat had been selected for tlii-^ ]:)urpose. To him were decreed the honors of the I'antheon. which Robespierre, while in power, had deferred 330 T H E F REN C U R E VOLUTION 1794-1795 granting him. lie, in his turn, was now attacked. His bust was in the convention, the theaters, on the public squares, and in the popular assemblies. The Jeunesse Doree broke that in the Theatre L^vdeau. 1'he Mountain complained, but the convention decreed that no citizen could obtain the honors of the Pantheon, nor his bust be placed in the convention, until he had been dead ten years. The bust of Marat disappeared from the hall of the convention, and as the excitement was very great in the faubourgs, the sections, the usual support of the assembly, defiled through it. There was, also, opposite the Invalides, an elevated mound, a Mountain, sur- mounted by a colossal group, representing Hercules crushing a hydra. The section of the Halle-au-ble demanded that this should be removed. The Left of the assembly murmured. " The giant," said a member, " is an emblem of the people." " All I see in it is a mountain," replied another, " and what is a Mountain but an eternal protest against equality." These w^ords were much ap- plauded, and sufficed to carry the petition and overthrow the monu- ment of the victory and domination of a party. Next were recalled the proscribed conventionalists ; already, some time since, their outlawry had been reversed. Isnard and Louvet wrote to the assembly to be reinstated in their rights ; they were met by the objection as to the consequences of May 31 and the insurrections of the departments. " I will not," said Chenier, who spoke in their favor, " I w-ill not so insult the national conven- tion as to bring before them the phantom of federalism, which has been preposterously made the chief charge against your colleagues. They fled, it will be said; they hid themselves. This, then, is their crime! would that this, for the welfare of the republic, had been the crime of all ! Why were there not caverns deep enough to pre- serve to the country the meditations of Condorcet, the eloquence to Vergniaud? Why did not some hospitable land, on the loth Thermidor, give back to light that colony of energetic patriots and virtuous republicans? But projects of vengeance are apprehended from these men, soured by misfortune. Taught in the school of suffering, they have learned only to lament human errors. No, no; Condorcet, Rabaud-Saint-Etienne, Vergniaud, Camille Desmoulins seek not holocausts of blood ; their manes are not to be appeased by hecatombs." The Left opposed Chenier's motion. " You are about," cried Bentabole, "to rouse every passion; if you attack the insurrection of May 31, you attack the eighty thousand men T H E R E A C T I O N 331 1794-1795 who concurred in it." " Let us take care," replied Sieyes, " not to confound the work of tyranny with that of principles. When men, supported by a subaltern authority, the rival of ours, succeeded in organizing the greatest of crimes, on the fatal May 31 and June 2, it was not a work of patriotism, but an outrage of tyranny; from that time you have seen the convention domineered over, the ma- jority oppressed, the minority dictating laws. The i)resent session is divided into three distinct periods; till May 31 there was op- pression of the convention 1>y the people; till the 9th Thermidor. oppression of the people of the convention, itself the object of tyr- anny; and lastly, since the 9th Thermidor, justice, as regards the convention, has resumed its rights." He demanded the recall of the proscribed members, as a pledge of union in the assembly and of security for the republic. ]\lcrlin de Douai immediately proposed their return in the name of the committee of public safety; it was granted, and after eighteen months' proscription the twenty- two conventionalists resumed their seats ; among them were Isnard, Louvet, Lanjuinais,* Kervelegan, Henri la Riviere, La Reveilliere, Lepeaux, and Lesage, all that remained of the brilliant but unfortu- nate Gironde. They joined the moderate party, which was com- posed daily more and more of the remains of different parties. For old enemies, forgetting their resentments and their contest for domination, because thev had now the same interests and tlie same objects, became allies. It was the commencement of jiacification between those who wished for a republic against the royalists, and a practicable constitution, in opposition to tlie revolutionists. At this period all measures against the federalists were rescinded, and the Girondists assumed the lead of the republican counter-revo- lution. The convention was. howe\cr, carried much too far by the partisans of reaction; in its desire to repair all and t(^ punish all it fell into excesses of justice. After the abolition of the deccm- viral regime, the ]^ast slionld have been buried in oblivion, and rlic revolutionary abyss closed after a few expiatory victims had been thrown into it. vSecurity alone l)rings about ]iacilication ; and pacifi- cation only admits of liberty. I'y again entering tipon a course characterized by passion, they only effected a transference of tyr- anny, violence, and calamity. Hitherto the bourgeoisie had been sacritked to thie multitude, to the consumer^ : now it was just th.c t.anjninais was not an ()ulri,t;ht (iirondi.^t. 332 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1794-1795 reverse. Stock-jobbing was substituted for the maximum, and informers of the middle class altogether surpassed the popular informers. All who had taken part in the dictatorial government were proceeded against with the fiercest determination. The sec- tions, the seat of the middle class, required the disarming and punishment of the members of their revolutionary committees, composed of sans-culottes. There was a general hue and cry against the terrorists, and the number included under this denomination was daily increased. The departments denounced all the former proconsuls, thus rendering desperate a numerous party, in reality no longer to be feared, since it had lost all power, by thus threaten- ing it with great and perpetual reprisals. Dread of proscription and several other reasons disposed them for revolt. The general want was terrible. Labor and its produce had been diminished ever since the revolutionary period, during which the rich had been imprisoned and the poor had gov- erned ; the suppression of the maximum had occasioned a violent crisis, which the traders and farmers turned to account, by disas- trous monopoly and jobbing. To increase the difficulty, the as- signats were falling into discredit, and their value diminished daily. More than eight thousand millions' worth of them had been issued. The insecurity of this paper money, by reason of the revolutionary confiscations, which had depreciated the national property, the want of confidence on the part of the merchants, tradesmen, etc., in the stability of the revolutionary government, which they considered merely provisional, all this had combined to reduce the real value of the assignats to one-fifteenth of their nominal value. They were received reluctantly, and specie was hoarded up with all the greater care, in proportion to the increasing demand for it and the depreciation of paper money. The people, in want of food and without the means of buying it, even when they held assignats, were in utter distress. They attributed this to the merchants, the farmers, the landed and other proprietors, to the government, and dwelt with regret upon the fact that before, under the committee of public safety, they had enjoyed both power and food. The convention had indeed appointed a committee of subsistence to supply Paris with provisions, but this committee had great difficulty and expense in procuring from day to day the supply of fifteen hundred sacks of flour necessary to support this immense city; and the people, who waited in crowds for hours together before the bakers' shops, for THEREACTION 333 1795 the pound of bad bread distributed to each inhabitant, were loud in their complaints, and violent in their murmurs. They called Boissy d'Anglas, president of the committee of subsistence, Boissy- Famine. Such was the state of the fanatical and exasperated mul- titude, when its former leaders were brought to trial. On the 1 2th Ventose, a short time after the return of the re- maining Girondists, the assembly had decreed the arrest of Billaud- Varennes, Collot d'Herbois, Barrere, and Vadier. Their trial before the convention was appointed to commence on the 3d Ger- minal. On the 1st (March 20, 1795), the Decade day, when the sections used to assemble, their partisans organized a riot to pre- vent their being brought to trial; the outer sections of the Fau- bourgs Saint Antoine and Saint ^Marceau were devoted to their cause. From these cpiarters they proceeded, half petitioners, half insurgents, toward the convention to demand bread, the constitu- tion of '93, and the liberation of the imprisoned patriots. They met a few young men on their way, whom they threw into the basins of the Tuileries. The news, however, soon spread that the convention was exposed to danger, and that the Jacobins were about to liberate their leaders, and the Jeunessc Dorce. followed by about 5000 citizens of the inner sections, came, dispersed the men of the faubourgs, and acted as a guard for the assembly. The latter, warned by this new danger, revived, on the motion of Sieycs, the old martial law, under the name of Loi de Grande Police. This rising in favor of the accused having failed, they were brought before the convention on the 3d Germinal. Vadier alone was contumacious. Their conduct was investigated with the great- est solemnity; they were charged with having tyrannized over the people and oppressed the convention. Though procjfs were not wanting to support this charge, the accused defended themselves with much address. They ascribed to Roljespierre tlie oppression of the assembly and of themselves; they endeavored to i^alliate their own conduct by citing the measures taken by the committee and adopted by the convention, Iw urging ihc excitement of the period, and the necessity of securing the defense and safety of the republic. Tlieir former colleagues appeared as witnesses in tlieir favor, and wished to make comuKMi cause witli them. I'he Cretois (the name then given to tlic remnant of tlie Mountain) also sup- ported them warmly. Their trial had lasted nine days, and each sitting had been occupied by the prosecution and the defense. The 334. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 sections of the faubourgs were greatly excited. The mobs which had collected every day since the ist Germinal increased twofold on the 1 2th (April i), and a new rising took place, in order to suspend the trial, which the first rising had failed to prevent. The agitators, more numerous and bold on this occasion, forced their way through the guard of the convention and entered the hall, having written with chalk on their hats the words " Bread," " The Constitution of '93," " Liberty for the patriots." Many of the deputies of the Crete declared in their favor; the other members, astounded at the tumult and disorder of this popular invasion, a\\aited the arrival of the inner sections for their deliverance. All debating was at an end. The toscin, which had been removed from the commune after its defeat and placed on the top of the Tuileries, where the convention sat, sounded the alarm. The committee or- dered the drums to beat to arms. In a short time the citizens of the nearest sections assembled, marched in arms to assist the con- vention, and rescued it a second time. It sentenced the accused, whose cause was the pretext for this rising,^ to transportation, and decreed the arrest of seventeen members of the Crete who had favored the insurgents, and might, therefore, be regarded as their accomplices. Among these were Cambon, Ruamps, Leonard Bour- don, Thuriot, Qiasles, Amar, and Lecointre, who, since the recall of the Girondists, had returned to the ]\Iountain. On the following day they and the persons sentenced to transportation were con- veyed to the castle of Ham. The events of the 12th Germinal decided nothing. The fau- bourgs had been repulsed, but not conquered ; and both power and confidence must be taken from a party by a decisive defeat before it is effectually destroyed. After so many questions, decided against the democratists, there still remained one of the utmost importance the constitution. On this depended the ascendency of the multitude or the bourgeoisie. The supporters of the revo- ^ The fact that the rising of 12th Germinal was due to economic and social discontent, and not to political causes, is well brought out by Von Sybel, " French Revolution," vol. IV. 252 ff. The repeal of the maximum law hastened the crisis. It was used by some of the IMountain, who had been opposed to the restoration of the Girondists, in the hope of procuring a political alternation. The timely arrival of some battalions of the national guard, commanded by Pichegru, saved the constitution. It was this rising which made the convention resolve to stamp out the last vestige of the terror and so bring Fonquier- Tinville to trial. Collot d'Herbois, Rillaud-Varennes, Barrere,. and Vadier were also condemned to deportation. The last managed to escape. THEREACTION 335 1796 lutionary government then fell back on the democratic consti- tution of '93, which presented to them the means of resuming the authority they had lost. Their opponents, on the other hand, endeavored to replace it by a constitution which would secure all the advantage to them, by concentrating the government a little more, and giving it to the middle class. For a month, both parties were preparing for this last contest. The constitution of 1793, having been sanctioned by the people, enjoyed a great prestige. It was accordingly attacked with infinite precaution. At first its assailants engaged to carry it into execution without restriction; next they appointed a commission of eleven members to prepare the organic laws, which were to render it practicable ; by and by they ventured to suggest objections to it on the ground that it distributed power too loosely, and recognized only one assembly dependent on the people, even in its measures of legislation. At last a sectionary deputation went so far as to term the constitution of '93 a decemviral constitution, dictated by terror. All its parti- sans, at once indignant and filled with fears, organized an insur- rection to maintain it. This was another ]\Iay 31, as terrible as the first, but whicli, not having the support of an all-powerful commune, not being directed by a general commandant, and not having a terrified convention and submissive sections to deal with, had not the same result. The conspirators, warned by the failure of tlie risings of the ist and I2th Germinal, omitted nothing to make up for their want of direct object and of organization. On the ist Prairial'"' (Alay 20), in the name of the people, insurgent for tlic purpose of ob- taining bread and their rights, they decreed the abolition of the revolutionary government, tlie establishment of the democratic constitution of '93, the dismissal and arrest of tlie mcml)ers of the existing government, the liberation of the patri(^ts, tlie convocation of the primary assemblies on the 25th Prairial. the convocation of " Cy. Von Syl)cl, "History of the French Revolution," vol TV. pp. 300-3T5: Sebmidt, "Tableaux dc la Rrrolnlion," vol. Ih p. 3-V, IT. Like that of the i_nh Germinal, this rising was also chiefly economic, thout^h there was much more politics in it than in the tlrst. Von Syhel says the daily ration of food di'-trihiited was a half-pound of hread and a half-pound of rice. Prices had soared heyond all previous figures hetween these two insurrection'^, (^win;-:: to the resumptinn cf specie export on April 27. .As a conscf|uence. the disparity hetween gold coin and the paper assignats hecame great it than ever. .Selnnidt, vol. 11. pp. 7,::f)-T,2/. cites the case of a louis d'or (20 francs) heing olTered for sale for 900 francs in April, 1795- 336 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 the legislative assembly, destined to replace the convention, on the 25th Messidor, and the suspension of all authority not emanating from the people. They determined on forming a new municipal- ity, to serve as a common center; to seize on the barriers, tele- graph,'^ cannon, tocsins, drums, and not to rest till they had se- cured repose, happiness, liberty, and means of subsistence for all the French nation. They invited the artillery, gendarmes, horse and foot soldiers, to join the banners of the people, and marched on the convention. Meantime, the latter was deliberating on the means of pre- venting the insurrection. The daily assemblages occasioned by the distribution of bread and the popular excitement had concealed from it the preparations for a great rising, and it had taken no steps to prevent it. The committees came in all haste to apprise it of its danger; it immediately declared its sitting permanent, voted Paris responsible for the safety of the representatives of the republic, closed its doors, outlawed all the leaders of the mob, sum- moned the citizens of the sections to arms, and appointed as their leaders eight commissioners, among whom were Legendre, Henri la Riviere, and Kervelegan. These deputies had scarcely gone when a loud noise was heard without. An outer door had been forced, and numbers of women rushed into the galleries, crying: '* Bread and the constitution of '93 ! " The convention received them firmly. " Your cries," said the president, Vernier, " will not alter our position ; they will not accelerate by one moment the arrival of supplies. They will only serve to hinder it." A fearful tumult drowned the voice of the president and interrupted the pro- ceedings. The galleries were then cleared ; but the insurgents of the faubourgs soon reached the inner doors, and finding them closed, forced them with hatchets and hammers, and then rushed in amid the convention. The hall now became a field of battle. The veterans and gendarmes, to whom the guard of the assembly was confided, cried " To arms ! " The deputy Auguis, sword in hand, headed them, and succeeding in repelling the assailants, and even made a '' The brothers Claude and Ignace Chappe, born 1763 and 1760, both mechanical engineers, were the creators of the semaphore system of telegraphs. The scheme was presented to the legislative assembly March 2, 1792 ; on April 4, 1793, the convention voted a sum of money for experiments, and on August 4 ordered the establishment of a line from Paris to Lille. Fletcher's Carlyle, " French Revolution," iii. p. 161, note i. 1795 THEREACTION 337 few of them prisoners. But the insurgents, more numerous, re- turned to the charge and again rushed into the house. The deputy Feraud entered precipitately, pursued by the insurgents, who fired some shots in the house. They took aim at Boissy d'Anglas, who was occupying the president's chair, in place of Vernier. Feraud ran to the tribune, to shield him with his body; he was struck at with ])ikes and sa1)ers, and fell dangerously wounded. The insurgents dragged him into the lobby, and, mis- taking him for Freron, cut off his head and placed it on a pike. After this skirmish they became masters of the hall. ;Most of the deputies had taken flight. There remained only the mem- bers of the Crete and Boissy d'Anglas, who, calm, his hat on. heed- less of threat and insult, protested in the name of the convention against this popular violence. They held out to him the bleeding head of Feraud ; he bowed respectfully before it. They tried to force him, by placing pikes at his breast, to put the propositions of the insurgents to the vote ; he steadily and courageously refused. But the Cretois, who approved of the insurrection, took possession of the bureau ^ and of the tribune, and decreed, amid the applause of the multitude, all the articles contained in the manifesto of the insurrection. The deputy Romme became their organ. They further appointed an executive commission, composed of Bour- botte Duroy, Duquesnoy, Prieur de la Marne, and a general-in- chief of the armed force, the deputy S'Uibrany. In this way they prepared for the return of their domination. They decreed the recall of their imprisoned colleagues, the dismissal of their enemies, a democratic constitution, the recstablishment of the Jacobin Club. But it was not enough for them to have usurped the asseml)ly for a short time; it was necessary to cnnf|uer the sections, for it was only with these they could really contend there. The commissioners dispatched to the sections had quickly gathered them together. The battalions of the Butte des Moulins, Lepelletier, des Piques, de la Fontaine-Grenelle, who were the near- est, soon occupied the Carrousel and its principal avenues. The ^ The bureau was the clerical staff of the ccmvcufion while in session. It was the duty of these officials to keep a record of the proceedings, count votes, receive notices of motion, propo-^ed laws, etc. I"or in I'rance then and now the deputies speak from a platform the trilnnie and each mcmher wishing to speak sent his name to the bureau. The officials of the bureau thus roughly correspond to the clerks of the House of Ri'pre^entatives and the Senate, with the difference that they are actual members of the house, also. 338 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 aspect of affairs then underwent a change ; Legendre, Kervelegan, and Auguis besieged the insurgents, in their turn, at the head of the sectionaries. At first they experienced some resistance. But with fixed bayonets they soon entered the hall, where the conspirators were still deliberating, and Legendre cried out : " In the name of the law, I order armed citizens to withdraw." They hesitated a moment, but the arrival of the battalions, now entering at every door, intimidated them, and they hastened from the hall in all the disorder of flight. The assembly again became complete; the sections received a vote of thanks, and the deliberations were re- sumed. All the measures adopted in the interim were annulled, and fourteen representatives, to whom were afterward joined four- teen others, were arrested for organizing the insurrection, or approving it in their speeches. It was then midnight; at five in the morning the prisoners were already six leagues from Paris. Ten thousand arrests were made. Despite this defeat the faubourgs did not consider them- selves beaten ; and the next day they advanced en masse with their cannon against the convention. The sections, on their side, marched for its defense. The two parties were on the point of engaging; the cannons of the faubourg, which were mounted on the Place du Carrousel, were directed toward the chateau, when the assembly sent commissioners to the insurgents. Negotiations were begun. A deputy of the faubourgs, admitted to the con- vention, first repeated the demand made the preceding day, adding: " We are resolved to die at the post we now occupy, rather than abate our present demands. I fear nothing! My name is Saint- Leger. Vive la republiqiie ! Vive la convention! if it is attached to principles, as I believe it to be." The deputy was favorably received, and they came to friendly terms with the faubourgs, without, however, granting them anything positive. The latter having no longer a general council of the commune to support their resolutions, nor a commander like Henriot to keep them under arms till their propositions were decreed, went no further. They retired after having received an assurance that the convention would assiduously attend to the question of provisions, and would soon publish the organic laws of the constitution of '93. That day showed that immense physical force and a decided object are not the only things essential to secure success ; leaders and an au- thority to support and direct the insurrection are also necessary. T H E R E A C T I O N 339 1795 The convention was the only remaining legal power: the party which it held in favor triumphed. Six democratic Mountaineers, Goujon. Bourbotte, Romme, Duroy, Duquesnoy, and Soubrany, were brought before a military commission. They behaved firmly, like men fanatically devoted to their cause, and almost all free from excesses. The Prairial movement was the only thing against them ; but that was sufficient in times of party strife, and they were condemned to death. They all stabbed themselves with the same knife, which was transferred from one to the other, exclaiming, " Vive la rcpuhlique! " Romme, Goujon, and Duquesnoy were fortunate enough to wound themselves fatally ; Duroy and Bourbotte went to the scaf- fold, June 17, 1795. Meantime, the faul>ourgs, though repelled on the ist, and diverted from their object on the 2d of Prairial, still had the means of rising. An event of much less importance than the pre- ceding riots occasioned their final ruin. The murderer of Feraud was discovered, condemned, and on the 4th, the day of his execu- tion, a mob succeeded in rescuing him. There was a general outcry against this attempt, and the convention ordered the faubourgs to be disarmed. They were encompassed by all the interior sec- tions. After attempting to resist they yielded, giving up some of their leaders, their arms, and artillery. The democratic party had lost its chiefs, its clubs, and its authorities ; it had nothing left but an armed force, which rendered it still formidable, and insti- tutions by means of whicli it might yet regain everything. After the last check tlie inferior class was entirely excluded from the government of the state, the revolutionary committees which formed its asseml)lies were destroyed; tlie cannoneers forming its armed force were disarmed; the constitution of '93, which was its code, was abolished ; and here the rule of the multitude terminated. From the 9th Thermidor to the ist Prairial the ^Mountaineer was treated as the Girondist party had been treated from June 2 to the 9tli Tliermidor. Seventy-six of its nieml)ers were sentenced to death or arrest. In its turn it underwent the destiny it had imposed on tlie other; for in times wlien tlie jiassions are called into play, parties know not how to come to terms, and seek only to conquer. Like the Girondists, they resorted to insurrection, in order to regain the ])o\ver wliich they !i;i(l lost: and like them, 340 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 they fell. Vergniaud, Brissot, Guadet, were tried by a revolu- tionary tribunal; Bourbotte, Duroy, Soubrany, Romme, Goujon, Duquesnoy, by a military commission. They all died with the same courage : which shows that all parties are the same, and are guided by the same maxims, or, if you please, by the same necessi- ties. From that period the middle class resumed the manage- ment of the revolution without, and the assembly was as united under the Girondists as it had been, after June 2, under the Mountaineers. Chapter XIII THE CLOSE OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTION MAY 20-OCTOBER 26, 1795 THE exterior prosperity of the revolution chiefly con- tributed to the fall of the dictatorial government and of the Jacobin party. The increasing- victories of the re- public to which they had very greatly contributed by their vigorous measures, and by their enthusiasm, rendered their power super- fluous. The committee of public safety, by crushing with its strong and formidable hand the interit)r of France, had developed resources, organized armies, found generals, and commanded vic- tories which ultimately secured the triumph of the revolution with respect to Europe. A prosperous positiiMi no longer required the same efforts; its mission was accomplished, the peculiar province of such a dictatorship being to save a countr}' and a cause, and to perish by the very safety it had secured. Internal events ha\c prevented our rapidly describing the impulse which the committee of public safety gave to the armies after May 31, and the results which it obtained from it. The levy en masse that took place in the summer of 1793 formed the troops of the jNIountain. The leaders of that party soon selected from the secondary ranks Mountaineer generals tn replace the Girondist generals. Those generals were Jourdan. Pichegru, Hoche, ]\Ioreau, W'estermann, Dugommier, Marceau, Joubert, and Kleber. Carnot, by his admission to the committee of public safetv, became minister of war and major general of all the republican armies. Instead of scattered bodies, acting without concert upon isolated points, he proceeded with strong masses, concentrated on one object. He commenced the practice of a great plan of warfare, which he tried with decided success at W'attignies, in his capacity of commissioner of the convention. This important victory, at which he assisted in person, drove the allied generals. Clairfait and the Prince of Cnburg, behind the Sambre and raised the siege of ^laui)cugc. During the winter of 3il 342 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 1793 and 1794 the two armies continued in presence of each other without undertaking anything-. The revolution had disorganized the army. Tlie national assembly had suppressed the provincial militia. The army of the line had been depleted by desertions, by the emigration of the officers, and was ill-disciplined and mutinous. The military re- forms included the suppression of the old militia and the dismissal of the troops of the Maison du Roi, together with those of the foreign regiments. The plan of reorganization included ( i ) an active army of 150,000 men voluntarily enlisted for four years: (2) a reserve army of 100,000; (3) a national guard composed of all active citizens between eighteen and fifty years of age. The regiments ceased to be designated after the old form, but were known by numbers. New measures, such as fixed rules for pro- motion, the abolition of merely nominal posts of command, the establishment of courts-martial with a jury, and the adoption of a new military code, entirely reorganized the army. At the first threat of war the national assembly had had the thought of using the national guard. In June, 1791, the assembly ordered a volunteer enrollment of men of twenty-one or over in each department; on August 17 it called for 101,000 volunteers the " Volunteers of '91." They were formed into battalions. The officers were elected by popular vote of the soldiers, and among the first are to be found Davout, Kleber, Hoche, Massena, and Marceau. The volunteers of 1792 were similarly called, and organ- ized in battalions of federes, but did not make as good soldiers as those of '91, who had become a disciplined and hardened soldiery. This was owing to the fact that there were yet enough of the trained officers of the ancient regime to leaven the mass. Under- officers of the old line filled the places vacated by their superiors and trained the raw recruits. The French artillery was the best in Europe. The first volunteers were superior to the second group. But all alike w^ere filled with a magnificent patriotism. The " Mar- seillaise " to-day the national song of France was the expressir^n of popular feeling at this time. The great losses of the summer of 1793 had brought matters to a crisis in the army. The levy of 300,000 had not been effective. There was not enough cohesion between the old and the new troops. There was a new emigration of officers, of moderate royalist sentiments, after the execution of the king, and the army CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 343 1795 became disorganized. Moreover, there was friction between the generals and the administration. They were spied upon, their orders changed, deposed, imprisoned, by the deputies on mission, to such an extent that a place of high command became almost equivalent to a death-warrant. Evidently great modifications must be made or the army would dissolve in anarchy. " Amalgamation " became the new order of the day. On June 19, 1793, the convention ordered the consolidation of all the heterogeneous elements regiments of the ancient service, volunteers of '91, federes of '92. One battalion of infantry of the line was combined with two battalions of volun- teers to form a demi-brigade ; there were ninety-six such regi- ments. The cavalry were organized in a similar way, by regiments and squadrons. Eight regiments of mounted artillery were cre- ated. Two brigades formed a division, an army corps of from twelve to fifteen thousand men, composed of twelve battalions, eight squadrons, and a battery of six to eight cannon. These changes made the great levy en inassc of August 23, 1793, a success. It created the army capable of the victories of 1793- 1794. In June, 1793, the effective army was 477,000 men; in December it was 628,000, and in 1794 over a million, of whom 750,000 were actually facing the enemy! Simultaneously with the new composition of tlie armies a new sort of tactics was introduced. Carnot recommended the com- manders-in-chief to direct the hottest fire at one point and break the enemies' lines in two. This new policy of concentrating fire be- came the basis of Napoleon's victories. At the same time, the sol- diers were allowed more freedom than under the iron regime of Frederick the Great, and individual effort came to count for more. Fired bv a vivid patriotism, the offensive movements of the h>ench became irresistible. In storming intrenchments or battery-posi- tions, as at \\'oertli in December, 1793, the bayonet became a ter- ribly effective weapon. Moreover, a new generation of field officers was coming up of men capable of commanding, loving their troops and loved by them. The barrier of caste between private and superior vanished with the revolution. Tlie generals who commanded in 1792, La- favette, Tuckner. Rochambcan. had disappeared from the scene. Those who supi)1anted them, like Dumouriez. Custine. ^^lontes- quiou, were little better, for they. too. harl been sclifw^led in the 344 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 Seven Years' War or under the ancient regime. Finally came the genuine sons of Mars the generation of 1792, composed first of subordinate officers raised to rank, like Kleber, Kellermann, Scherer; then the young graduates of military schools, like Bona- parte, Davout, Desaix, Clarke, Macdonald, Grouchy, Marmont ; finally, new recruits who had risen by sheer merit, such as Lazare Hoche, son of a soldier, born at Versailles, a stable-boy getting the rudiments of education from the cure, working after hours to earn the wherewithal to purchase books ; a volunteer in the national guard, a volunteer of '92, he fought in the army of the Ardennes and in Belgium, when he became aide-de-camp of General Veneur, who recommended his promotion for merit at the siege of Dunkirk. In October, 1793, he was put in command of the army of the ^loselle. He saved Alsace, but was unjustly cashiered and im- prisoned in April, 1794, by Saint-Just, then deputy on mission to the army, for not taking Treves ; he was released after Thermidor. At the opening of the campaign of 1793- 1794 each side con- ceived a plan of invasion. The Austrian army advanced upon the towns on the Somme, Peronne, Saint-Quentin, Arras, and threat- ened Paris, while the French army again projected the conquest of Belgium. The plan of the committee of public safety was com- 1795 CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 345 bined in a very different way to the vague design of the coalition. Pichegru, at the head of 50,000 men of the army of the north, entered Flanders, resting on the sea and the Scheldt. On his right, Moreaii advanced with 20,000 men upon Menin and Courtray. General Souham, with 30,000 men, remained under Lille to sustain the extreme right of the invading army against the Austrians; while Jourdan, with the army of the Moselle, directed his course toward Charleroi by Arlon and Dinant, to join the army of the north. The Austrians, attacked in Flanders and threatened with a surprise in the rear by Jourdan, soon abandoned their positions on the Somme. Clairfait and the Duke of York allowed themselves to be beaten at Courtray and Hooghlede by the army of Pichegru ; Coburg at Fleurus by that of Jourdan, who had just taken Char- leroi. The two victorious generals rapidly completed the invasion of the Netherlands. The Anglo-Dutch army fell back on Antwerp, and thence upon Breda, and from Breda to Bois-le-Duc, receiv- ing continual checks. It crossed the Waal and fell back upon Holland. The Austrians endeavored, with the same want of suc- cess, to cover Brussels and Maestricht; they were pursued and beaten by the army of Jourdan, which since its union had taken the name of the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, and which did not leave them behind the Roer, as Dumouriez had done, but drove them beyond the Rhine. Jourdan made himself master of Cologne and Bonn, and communicated by his left with the right of the army of the ]Moselle, which had advanced into the country of Luxemburg, and which, conjointly with him, occupied Coblentz. A general and concerted movement of all the French armies had taken place, all of them marcliing toward the Rhenish frontier. At the time of the defeats the lines of Weissenburg had been forced. The com- mittee of public safety employed in the army of the Rhine the expeditious measures pecuh'ar to its policy. The commissioners, Saint-Just and Lebas, gave the cliief command to Hoche, made terror and victory the order of the day; and Generals Brunswick and Wurmser were very siion driven from Hagucnau on the lines of the Lauter. and not Ix-ing al)le even to maintain that position, passed the Rliine at Philipsburg. Spire and Worms were retaken. Hoche was deprived of In's command 1)y Saint-Just on April 8, 1794, under orders from Carnot, who was angered because of iiis not endeavoring to take Treves. He was imprisoned and not re- 346 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 leased until after gtli Thermidor. The republican troops, every- where victorious, occupied Belgium, that part of Holland situated on the left of the Meuse, and all the towns on the Rhine, except Mayence and Mannheim, which were closely beset. The army of the Alps did not make much progress in this campaign. It tried to invade Piedmont, but failed. On the Span- ish frontier the war had commenced under ill auspices; the two armies of the eastern and western Pyrenees, few in number and badly disciplined, were constantly beaten ; one had retired under Perpignan, the other under Bayonne. The committee of public safety turned its attention and efforts but tardily on this point, which was not the most dangerous for it. But as soon as it had introduced its system, generals, and organization into the two armies, the appearance of things changed. Dugommier, after re- peated successes, drove the Spaniards from the French territory and entered the peninsula by Catalonia. Moncey also invaded it by the valley of Bastan, the other opening of the Pyrenees, and became master of Saint Sebastian and Fontarabia. The coalition was everywhere conquered, and some of the allied powers began to repent of their too confiding adhesion. In the meantime news of the revolution of the 9th Thermidor reached the armies. They were entirely republican, and they feared that Robespierre's fall would lead to that of the popular govern- ment; and they, accordingly, received this intelligence with marked disapprobation; but as the armies were submissive to the civil authority, none of them rebelled. The insurrections of the army only took place from July 14 to May 31 ; because, being the refuge of the conquered parties, their leaders had at every crisis the ad- vantage of political precedence, and contended with all the ardor of compromised factions. Under the committee of public safety, on the contrary, the most renowned generals had no political influ- ence, and were subject to the terrible discipline of parties. While occasionally thwarting the generals, the convention had no difficulty in keeping the armies in obedience. A short time afterward the movement of invasion was pro- longed in Holland and in the Spanish peninsula. The United Prov- inces were attacked in the middle of winter, and on several sides, by Pichegru, who summoned the Batavian patriots to liberty. The party opposed to the stadtholderate seconded the victorious eft'orts of the French army, and the revolution and conquest took place CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 347 1795 simultaneously at Leyden, Amsterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. The stadtholder took refuge in England; his authority was abol- ished, and the assembly of the states-general proclaimed the sov- ereignty of the people and constituted the Batavian republic, which formed a close alliance with France, to which it ceded, by the Treaty of Paris, of May i6, 1795, Dutch Flanders, Maastricht, Venloo, and their dependencies. The navigation of the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the Meuse was left free to l)oth nations. Holland by its wealth powerfully contributed toward the continuance of the war against the coalition. This important conquest at the same time deprived the English of a powerful support, and compelled Prussia, threatened on the Rhine and by Holland, to conclude at Basel with the French republic a peace for which its reverses and the affairs of Poland had long rendered it disposed.^ The fact of having secured an equivalent in Poland for her losses was the decisive factor with Prussia. The peace with Prussia was signed April 5, 1795. The articles guaranteed France the left bank of the Rhine, so far as Prussia was concerned, but a secret article provided for future indemnification of Prussia through secularization of certain ecclesiastical states. A neutral line run- ning due east through Germany was marked out, the states north of it, as Saxony and Hesse, being guaranteed protection from French aggrandizement, since they were regarded as under the wing of Prussia. The South German states continued to adhere to Austria and were marked for conquest by the directory. It is interesting to notice that patriotic P'rance. in three years, had accomplished more than all the armies of Louis XIV. What with Nice and Savoy, the left bank of the Rhine and Holland, the most extravagant advocate of " natural frontiers '" ought to have been satisfied, h'iguieres and the fortress of Rosas had been taken, and Perignon was advancing into Catalonia, while ]\Ioncey. after becoming master of Villa Real. Bilbao, and X'ittoria. marched against the Spaniards, who had retired to the fn^nlicrs of Old Ca^lilc. The cabinet of Madrid demanded peace. Saint Sebastian and Fontarabia were taken by the French in August. 1794. This was followed by an invasion of * Historians are divided in opinion as to rcspoii-^ihility for the breach hc- tween the Prussian and the An-trian armies wliich tof,)k phacc at tin's time. The eminent German In'storian, Von Syhel. champions tlie conduct of Pru--ia and throws the blame upon Austria. On the other hand, the Austrian lii-torians, Videnot and liuftcr, make Prussia ropou-ibic lor the division. 348 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 the Basque provinces, so that Spain had no other course. She fenced diplomatically for a long time, for the sake of the dauphin, for Spanish honor regarded the Family Compact as sacred. Final settlement was made at Basel, July 22, 1795. It recognized the French republic, who restored its conquests, and who received in exchange the portion of Saint Domingo possessed by Spain. The two disciplined armies of the Pyrenees joined the army of the Alps, which by this means soon overran Piedmont, and entered Italy Tuscany only having made peace with the republic on Feb- ruary 9, 1795. These partial pacifications and the reverses of the coalesced troops gave another direction to the efforts of England and the emigrant party. The time had arrived for making the interior of France the fulcrum of the counter-revolutionary movement. In 1 79 1, when unanimity existed in France, the royalists placed all their hopes in foreign powers; now dissensions at home and the defeat of their allies in Europe left them no resource but in con- spiracies. Unsuccessful attempts, as we have seen, never make vanquished parties despair: victory alone wearies and enervates, and sooner or later restores the dominion of those who wait. The events of Prairial and the defeat of the Jacobin party had decided the counter-revolutionary movement. At this period, the reaction, hitherto conducted by moderate republicans, became generally royalist. The partisans of monarchy were still as divided as they had been from the opening of the states-general to August 10. In the interior, the old constitutionalists, who had their sittings in the sections, and who consisted of the wealthy middle classes, had not the same views of monarchy with the absolute royalists. They still felt the rivalry and opposition of interest natural to the middle against the privileged classes. The absolute royalists them- selves did not agree ; the party beaten in the interior had little sympathy with that enrolled among the armies of Europe ; but besides the divisions between the emigrants and Vendeans, dissen- sions had arisen among the emigrants from the date of their departure from France. Meantime, all these royalists of different opinions, not having yet to contend for the reward of victory, came to an agreement to attack the convention in common. The emi- grants and the priests, who for some months past had returned in great numbers, took the banner of the sections, quite certain, if they carried the day by means of the middle class, to establish their own CLOSE OF THE CON'VENTION 349 1795 government; for they had a leader, and a definite object, which the sectionaries had not. This reaction, of a new character, was restrained for some time in Paris, where the convention, a strong and neutral power, wished to prevent the violence and usurpation of both parties. While over- throwing the sway of the Jacobins, it suppressed the vengeance of the royalists. Then it was that the greater part of the Jeunesse Doree deserted its cause, that the leaders of the sections prepared the bourgeoisie to oppose the assembly, and that the confederation of the journalists succeeded that of the Jacobins. La Harpe, Richer, de Serizy, Poncelin, Trongon du Condray, and Marchena became the organs of this new opinion, and were the literary clubists. The active but irregular troops of this party assembled at the Theatre Feydeau, the Boulevard des Italiens, and the Palais Royal, and began the chase of the Jacobins, while they sang the '' Rcvcil du Peuple." The word of proscription at that time was terrorist, in virtue of which an honest man might all conscientiously attack a revolutionist. The terrorist class was extended at the will or the passions of the new reactors, who wore their hair a la victimc, and who, no longer fearing to avow their intentions, for some time past had adopted the Chouan uniform a gray turned-back coat with a green or black collar. But this reaction was much more ardent in the departments, where there was no authority to interpose in the prevention of bloodshed. Here there were only two parties, that which had dominated and that which had suffered under the Mountain. The intermediate class was alternately governed by the royalists and by the democrats. The latter, foreseeing the terrible reprisals to which they would be subject if they fell, held out as long as they could ; but their defeat at Paris led to their downfall in the depart- ments. Party executions then took place, similar to those of the proconsuls of the committee of public safety. The south was, more especially, a prey to wholesale massacres and acts of personal vengeance. Nearly alfthe South had its September 2. The power in the convention had shifted from the Left to the Right, but the Thermidorians, the moderates, and the Girondists, who dominated in the convention, now perceived that from being threatened by revolutionists, they were now threatened by counter-revolutionists. After the 9th Thermidor there had been a large intlux of the emigrants into France. The royalists again became a force in the 350 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 country. In the west of France bands of royalist brigands ap- peared, who called themselves chaufifeurs. The Companies of Jehu and of the Sun infested the public roads, robbed travelers and mer- chants, and even pillaged whole towns. Lyons, Marseilles, Aix, and Tarascon were even entered by them." At Lyons, after the first revolutionary massacres, the members of the companies hunted out those who had not been taken ; and when they met one, without any other form than the exclamation, "There's a Matavon " (the name given to them), they slew and threw him into the Rhone. At Tarascon, they threw them from the top of the tower on a rock on the bank of the Rhone. During this new reign of terror and this general defeat of the revolutionists England and the emigrants attempted the daring enterprise of Quiberon. The Vendeans were exhausted by their repeated defeats, but they were not wholly reduced. Their losses, however, and the divisions between their principal leaders, Charette and Stofflet, ren- dered them an extremely feeble succor. Charette had even con- sented to treat with the republic, and a sort of pacification had been concluded between him and the convention at Jusnay. The Mar- quis de Puisaye, an enterprising man, but volatile and more capable of intrigue than of vigorous party conceptions, intended to replace the almost expiring insurrection of La Vendee by that of Brittany. Since the enterprise of Wimpfen, in which Puisaye had a com- mand, there already existed, in Calvados and Morbihan, bands of Chouans, composed of the remains of parties, adventurers, men without employment, and daring smugglers, who made expeditions, but were unable to keep the field like the Vendeans. Puisaye had recourse to England to extend the Chouanerie, leading it to hope for a general rising in Brittany, and thence in the rest of France, if it would land the nucleus of an army, with ammunition and guns. The ministry of Great Britain, deceived as to the coalition, desired nothing better than to expose the republic to fresh perils, while it sought to revive tlie courage of Europe. It confided in Puisaye, and in the spring of 1795 prepared an expedition, in which the most energetic emigrants took a share, nearly all the officers of the former navy, and all who, wearv of the part of exiles and of - Mahan, " Influence of Sea-Power upon the French Revohition," vol. I. 175 fF., is good upon this " White Terror." The reaction in the southern main- land was watched with deep concern from the decks of English vessels. CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 351 1795 the distresses of a life of wandering, wished to try their fortune for the last time. The English fleet landed on the peninsula of Quiberon 1500 emigrants, 6000 republican prisoners who had embraced the cause of the emigrants to return to France, 60,000 muskets, and the full equipment for an army of 40,000 men. Fifteen hundred Chouans joined the army on its landing, and it was soon attacked by General Hoche. His attack proved successful ; the republican prisoners who were in the ranks deserted, and it was defeated after a most energetic resistance. In the mortal warfare between the emigrants and the- republic, the vanquislied, being considered as outlaws, were mercilessly massacred. Their loss inflicted a deep and incurable wound on the emigrant party. Hoche conrpiered La Vendee by a systematic " rounding-up " of the p()])ulation and com- plete disarmament. This success had been followed by that at Qui- beron, June 27, 1795. Tallien, who was deputy on mission in his army, forced him, much against his will, to shoot 690 of the royal- ists and Vendeans, at Arglos. Having had hard experience of deputies on mission, he complied. This royalist reaction, combined with the death of the daupliin, in the same month, on June 10, ruined the faintest hopes of a monarchical constitution.'' The hopes founded on the victories of Europe, on the prog- ress of insurrection and the attempt of the emigrants, being thus overthrown, recourse was had to the discontented sections. It was hoped to make a counter-revolution by means of the new constitu- tion decreed by the convention on August .22. 1795. The consti- tution was, indeed, the work of the moderate republican ])arty; but as it restored the ascendency of the middle class, the nn-alist leaders thought that by it they might easily enter the legislative body and the government. This constitution was tlie best, the wisest, the most liberal, and the most provident that had as yet been established or projected: it contained the result of six years' revolutionary and legislative experience. At this period tlic convention felt the neces- sity of organizing power, and of rendering tlie ])eo})lc settled, while the first assembly, from its p(-)sition. felt (Mily the necessity of weak- ening royalty and agitating the nriti(Mi. All had been exhausted, from the throne t(^ tlie peo])lc: existence now depended on recoiv ''On llie prisdP.-lifc of tliis child, the inench Revolution." vol. 111. pp. i8g-iQ0. 86 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 structing and restoring order, at the same time keeping the nation in great activity. The new constitution accomphshed this. It differed but Httle from that of 1791, with respect to the exercise of sovereignty, but greatly in everything relative to government. It confided the legislative power to two councils, that of the Cinq- cents and that of the Anciens, and the executive power to a direc- tory of five members. It restored the two degrees of elections destined to retard the popular movement, and to lead to a more enlightened choice than immediate elections. The wise but moder- ate qualifications with respect to property, required in the members of the primary assemblies and the electoral assemblies, again con- ferred political importance on the middle class, to which it became imperatively necessary to recur after the dismissal of the multitude and the abandonment of the constitution of '93. In order to prevent the despotism or the servility of a single assembly, it was necessary to place somewhere a power to check or defend it. The division of the legislative body into two councils, which had the same origin, the same duration, and differed only in functions, attained the twofold object of not alarming the people by an aristocratic institution, and of contributing to the formation of a good government. The council of five hundred, whose members were required to be thirty years old, was alone intrusted with the initiative and the discussion of laws. The council of an- cients composed of 250 members, who had completed their fortieth year, was charged with adopting or rejecting them. In order to avoid precipitation in legislative measures, and to prevent a compulsory sanction from the council of ancients in a moment of popular excitement, they could not come to a decision until after three readings, at a distance of five days at least from each other. In urgent cases this formality was dispensed with ; and the council had the right of determining such urgency. This coun- cil acted sometimes as a legislative power, when it did not thor- oughly approve a measure, and made use of the form " Lc Conscil dcs anciens ne pent pas adopter," and sometimes as a consen-ative power, when it only considered a measure in its legal bearing, and said '' La Constitution annulc." For the first time partial re- elections were adopted, and the renewing of half of the council every two years was fixed, in order to avoid that rush of legislators who came with an immoderate desire for innovation, and suddenly changed the spirit of an assembly. CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 353 1795 The executive power was distinct irom the councils, and no longer existed in the committees. Monarchy was still too much feared to admit of a president of the republic being named. They, therefore, confined themselves to the creation of a directory of five members, nominated by the council of ancients, at the recommenda- tion of that of the five hundred. The directors might be brought to trial by the councils, but could not be dismissed by them. They were intrusted with a general and independent power of execution, but it was wished also to prevent their abusing it, and especially to guard against the danger of a long habit of authority leading to usurpation. They had the management of the armed force and of the finances, the nomination of functionaries, the conducting of negotiations, but they could do nothing of themselves ; they had ministers and generals, for whose conduct they were responsible. Each member was president for three months, holding the seals and affixing his signature. Every year one of the members was to go out. It will be seen by this account that the functions of royalty as they were in 1791 were shared by the council of ancients, who had the veto, and the directory, which held the executive power. The directory had a guard, a national palace, the Luxembourg, for a residence, and a kind of civil list. The council of the ancients, destined to check the encroachments of the legislative power, was invested with the means of restraining the usurpations of tlie direc- tory; it could change the residence of the councils and of the government. But this foresight has another aspect. In their effort to avoid the exorbitant concentration of powers whicli the terror government had enjoyed, the framers of the constitution went to the other extreme. As in the constituticm of 171)1, there was so great a separation of the functions of government that, in case of conflict, only an appeal to force was possible. The provisions that one director sliould retire each year soon divided the executive a""ainst itself a condition which brought about the coup d'etat of the i8th Eructidor ( Septem1)cr 4. i;*)/). The truth is, the directory held its place only througli negative forces. Since the death of the daupliin and tlie royalist fia>co at Ouibcrcni a monarchy was impossil:)lc. A rc])iih]ic;ni form of government, with a single executive, was inipMssihlc. for who could he ])resi(leni .' Then, again, much of the nation was too tired of ])ohtics to he ni- terested. The directorv, from the first, was a makeshift govern- 354 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 ment, and was accepted because nothing else was possible. More than any other class, the army was representative of France a state of things which logically led to Napoleon, And yet the directory was partially inclined to peace, as the exchange of Madame Royale, the sister of the dauphin, shows. But it dared not disband the armies after Basel, lest their home-coming increase the army of unemployed and discontented, and to pay them aggres- sion had to continue. The soldiery of Napoleon were paid out of the loot of Italy.* The members of the commission of eleven, who, previous to the events of Prairial, had no other mission than to prepare the organic laws of the constitution of '93, and who, after those events, made the constitution of the year III., were at the head of the con- ventional party. This party belonged neither to the old Gironden nor to the old Mountain. Neutral up to May 31, subject till the 9th Thermidor, it had been in the possession of powder since that period, because the twofold defeat of the Girondists and the Moun- tain had left it the strongest. The men of the extreme sides, wdio had begun the fusion of parties, joined it. Merlin de Douai repre- sented the party of that mass Avhich had yielded to circumstances, Thibaudeau, the party that continued inactive, and Daunou the courageous party. The latter had declared himself opposed to all coups d'etat, ever since the opening of the assembly, both January 21 and to May 31, because he wished for the regime of the con- vention, without party violence and measures, x^fter the 9th Ther- midor he blamed the fury displaA^ed toward the chiefs of the revolutionary government, whose victim he had been as one of the seventy-three. He had obtained great ascendency, as men grad- ually approached toward a legal system. His enlightened attach- ment to the revolution, his noble independence, the solidity and extent of his ideas, and his imperturbable fortitude rendered him one of the most influential actors of this period. He was the chief author of the constitution of the year III., and the convention deputed him, with some others of its members, to undertake the defense of the republic during the crisis of Vendemiaire. The reaction gradually increased ; it was indirectly favored by the members of the Right, who, since the opening of that assem- bly, had only been incidentally republican. They were not prepared to repel the attacks of the royalists with the same energy as that of the revolutionists. Among this number were Boissy d'Anglas, 'See Sorcl, " L' Europe ct la Revolution francaisc." vol. 'IV. p. 453 ff. CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 355 1795 Lanjuinais, Henri la Riviere, Saladin, and Aubry; they formed in ine assembly the nucleus of the sectionary party. Old and ardent Mountaineers, such as Rovere and Bourdon de I'Oise, carried away by the counter-revolutionary movement, suffered the reaction to be prolonged, doubtless in order to make their peace with those whom they had so violently combated. But the conventional party, reassured with respect to the democrats, set itself to prevent the triumph of the royalists. It felt that the safety of the republic depended on the formation of the councils, and that the councils being elected by the middle class, which was directed by royalists, would be composed on counter- revolutionary principles. It was important to intrust the guardian- ship of the regime they were about to establish to those who had an interest in defending it. In order to avoid the error of the con- stituent assembly, w'hich had excluded itself from the legislature that succeeded it. the convention decided by a decree that two- thirds of its members should be reelected. By this means it secured the majority of the councils and the nomination of the directory ; it could accompany its constitution into the state, and consolidate it without violence. This reelection of two-tliirds was not exactly legal, but it was politic, and the only means of saving b^rance from the rule of the democrats or counter-revolutionists. The convention granted itself a moderate dictatorship, by the decrees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor (August 22 and 30. 1795). one of which es- tablished the reelection, and the other fixed the manner of it. But these two exceptional decrees were suljniiited to the ratification of the primary assemblies at the same time as the constitiuional act. The royalist party was taken by surprise by the decrees of Fructidor. It hoped to form part of the government by the coun- cils, of the councils by elections, and to cft'ect a change of system when once in power. It inveigb.cd against tlie Cdiivention. The royalist committee of Faris. wliose agent was an obscure man. named Lemaitre, the jotirnah'st^. and the leaders of the sections coalesced. They had no difhculty in securing tiie su])i:iort (U" public opinion, of which tb.ey were the only organs; they .'iccuscd the con- vention of perpetuating its ])ower and of assailing the sovereignty of the people. The chief advocates of tlie two-thirds. I.ouvet. Daunou, and Chenier, were nr^t spared, and every preparation was made for a grand movement. Tlie l\-aibourg Saint Germain, lately aliuost deserted, gradually filled : emigrants docked in, and the 356 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 conspirators, scarcely concealing their plans, adopted the Chouan uniform. The convention, perceiving the storm increase, sought support in the army, which, at that time, was the republican class, and a camp was formed at Paris. The people had been disbanded and the royalists had secured the bourgeoisie. In the meantime the primary assemblies met on the 20th Fructidor, to deliberate on the constitutional act and the decrees of the two-thirds, which were to be accepted or rejected together. The Lepelletier section (formerly Filles Saint Thomas) was the center of all the others. On a mo- tion made by that section, it was decided that the power of all constituent authority ceased in the presence of the assembled people. The Lepelletier section, directed by Richer de Serizy, La Harpe, Lacretelle junior, and Vaublanc, turned its attention to the organi- zation of the insurrectional government, under the name of the central committee. This committee was to replace in Vendemiaire, against the convention, the committee of August 10 against the throne, and of May 31 against the Girondists. The majority of the sections adopted this measure, which was annulled by the conven- tion, whose decree was in its turn rejected by the majority of the sections. The struggle now became open; and in Paris they sep- arated the constitutional act, which was adopted, from the decrees of reelection, which were rejected. On the ist Vendemiaire the convention proclaimed the ac- ceptation of the decrees by the greater number of the primary assemblies of France. The sections assembled again to nominate the electors who were to choose the members of the legislature. On the loth they determined that the electors should assemble in the Theatre Frangais (it was then situated on the left bank of the Seine) ; that they should be accompanied there by the armed force of the sections, after having sworn to defend them till death. On the nth, accordingly, the electors assembled under the presidency of the Duke de Nivernois, and the guard of some detachments of chasseurs and grenadiers. The convention, apprised of the danger, sat permanently, sta- tioned round its place of sitting the troops of the camp of Sablons, and concentrated its powers in a committee of five members, who were intrusted with all measures of public safety. These members were Colombel, Barras, Daunou, Le Tourneur, and Merlin de Douai. For some time the revolutionists had ceased to be feared, 1795 CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 357 and all had been liberated who had been imprisoned for the events of Prairial. They enrolled, under the name of battalion of patriots of '89, about 1500 or 1800 of them, who had been proceeded against, in the departments or in Paris, by the friends of the reaction. In the evening of the nth the convention sent to dissolve the assembly of electors by force, but they had already adjourned to the following day. During the night of the nth the decree which dissolved the college of electors, and which armed the battalion of patriots of '89, caused the greatest agitation. Drums beat to arms ; the Lepelletier section declaimed against the despotism of the convention, against the return of the reign of terror, and during the whole of the 12th prepared the other sections for the contest. In the evening, the convention, scarcely less agitated, decided on taking the initiative by surrounding the conspiring section and terminating the crisis by disarming it. Menou, general of the interior, and Leporte, the representative, were intrusted with this mission. The convent of the Filles Saint Thomas was the headquarters of the sectionaries, before which they had 700 or 800 men in battle array. These were surrounded by superior forces, from the boulcxards on eac'n side and the Rue Vivienne opposite. Instead of disarming them the leaders of the expedition began to parley. It was agreed that both parties should withdraw: but the conventicMial tr^.-ops had no sooner retired than the sectionaries returned reinforced. This was a complete victory for them, wliich being exaggerated in Paris, as such things always are. increased their mnnlier and gave them courage to attack the conventitm the next day. About eleven at night the convention learned the issue of tlie expedition and the dangerous effect which it had produced; it in^- mediately dismissed Menou. and gave tlie c(Mnniand of the armed force to Barras. tlie general in command on the 9th Thermidor. Barras asked the comniitiec of fue to appoint as liis second in com- mand a young officer who had distinguished himself at the siege of Toulon, but had been dismissed by Atibry of the reaction ])arty; a young man of talent and resolution, calculated to do good service to the republic in a miMuent of ])eril. 1'his young officer was Bona- parte."' He appeared before the c(tmniittec, but there w;is nothing ' Xapoleo!! Rdnaprirtc v\a- li'irit on Aii,t;M-i 15. ijfw). at Ajaccio in Cnr-ioa. in the very vear \v'''n the i.^land pa-^.-ed to I-'rance. Tlie family oriyir.ally ranie from Tuscany. Mis fatlier was a hiwyer, wlio iHcd liefdre the reviTiUi'Ui. 358 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 in his appearance that announced his astonishing destiny. Not a man of party, summoned for the first time to this great scene of action, his demeanor exhibited a timidity and a want of assurance, which disappeared entirely in the preparations for battle and in the heat of action. He immediately sent for the artillery of the camp of Sablons, and disposed them, with the 5000 men of the conven- tional army, on all the points from which the convention could be assailed. At noon on the 13th Vendemiaire the enclosure of the convention had the appearance of a fortified place, which could only be taken by assault. The line of defense extended, on the left side of the Tuileries along the river, from the Pont Neuf to the Pont Louis XV. ; on the right, in all the small streets opening on the Rue Saint Honore, from the Rues de Rohan, de I'Echelle and the Cul- de-sac Dauphin, to the Place de la Revolution. In front, the Louvre, the Jardin de 1' Infante, and the Carrousel were planted with cannon ; and behind, the Pont Tournant and the Place de la Revolu- tion formed a park of reserve. In this position the convention awaited the insurgents. The latter soon encompassed it on several points. They had about 40,000 men under arms, commanded by Generals Danican, Duhoux, and the ex garde-du-corps, Lafond, The thirty-two sec- His mother, Laetitia Ramolino, survived her famous son. Napoleon was the second member of the familj-. The eldest brother was Joseph, afterward King of Spain, and the three younger were Lucien, Louis, and Jerome. There were three sisters also, Elisa, Caroline, and Pauline. In 1778 Napoleon was sent to a college in Autun, through the benefaction of Marbeuf, the governor of Corsica. Thence he passed to a military school in Brienne, and later to Paris. He showed a remarkable aptitude for scientific studies. He became an officer of artillery in the regiment of La Fere, and lived in garrison at Valence, Douai, and Auxonne. At this time he had no love for France, indeed was bitterly hostile toward his adopted country. He sided with the revolution, but took no active part in its movements tmtil late in its course. After the fall of the monarchy, in September, 1792, he became a captain in the fourth regiment of artillery. During the terror he was an advocate of Robespierre and his name has been found upon a list of members of the Jacobin Club. After the 9th Thermidor he fell under suspicion, like all the terrorists, and lost his place in the army. He refused to serve under Hochc in the Vendean war, and was contemplating going to Constantinople with the hope of entering the army of the sultan, when the insurrection of the 13th Vendemiaire brought him again into fame. For this service he was made a general of division in the army of the interior, and soon afterward married Josephine, the widow of General Beauharnais, who had been guillotined during the revolution. When the triple campaign against Austria was planned Na- poleon was given command of the army of Italy, and thenceforth his career was European in its importance. CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 359 1795 tions which formed the majority had suppHed their mihtary contingent. Of the other sixteen, several sections of the faubourgs had their troops in the battahon of '89. A few, those of the Quinze-vingts and Montreuil, sent assistance during the action; others, though favorably disposed, as that of Popincourt, could not do so; and lastly, others remained neutral, like that of L'lndivisi- bilite. From two to three o'clock, General Carteaux, who occupied the Pont Neuf with 4000 men and two four-pounders, was sur- rounded by several columns of sectionaries, who obliged him to fall back on the Louvre. This advantage emboldened the insurgents, who were strong on all points. General Danican summoned the convention to withdraw its troops, and disarm the terrorists. The officer intrusted with the summons was led into the assembly blind- folded, and his message occasioned some agitation, several members declaring in favor of conciliatory measures. Boissy d'Anglas ad- vised a conference with Danican; Gamon proposed a proclamation in which they should call upon the citizens to retire, promising then to disarm the battalion of '89. This address excited violent murmurs. Chenier rushed to the tribune. " I am surprised," said he, *' that the demands of sections in a state of revolt should be discussed here. Negotiation must not be heard of; there is only victory or death for the national convention." Lanjuinais wished to support the address, by dwelling on the danger and misery of civil war; but the convention would not hear hin., and on the motion of Fermond, passed to the order of the day. Tlie debates respecting measures of peace or war with the sections were con- tinued for some time, when about half-past four several discharges of musketry were heard, which put an end to all discussion. Seven hundred guns were brought in, and the convention took arms as a body of reserve. The conflict had now commenced in the Rue Saint Honore, of which the insurgents were masters. The first shots were fired from the Hotel de Noailles, and a murderous fire extended tlie whole length of this line. A few moments afterward, on tlie other side, two columns of sectionaries. abcAit 4000 strong, commanded by the Count de ^Maulcvier, advanced by the c[uays and attacked tlie Pont Royal. Tlie action then became general, Init it could not last long; the place was too well defended to be taken by assault. After an hour's fighting the sectionaries were driven froui Saint Roche and the Rue Saint Honore bv the cannon of the convention 360 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 and the battalion of patriots. The column of the Pont Royal re- ceived three discharges of artillery in front and on the side, from the bridge and the quays, which put it entirely to flight. At seven o'clock the conventional troops, victorious on all sides, took the offensive; by nine o'clock they had dislodged the sectionaries from the Theatre de la Republique and the posts they still occupied in the neighborhood of the Palais Royal. They prepared to make barri- cades during the night, and several volleys were fired in the Rue de la Loi (Richelieu) to prevent the works. The next day, the 14th, the troops of the convention disarmed the Lepelletier section and compelled the others to return to order.'' The assembly, which had only fought in its own defense, dis- played much moderation. The 13th Vendemiaire was the August 10 of the royalists against the republic, except that the conven- tion resisted the bourgeoisie much better than the throne resisted the faubourgs. The position of France contributed very much to this victory. Men now wished for a republic without a revolutionary government, a moderate regime without a counter-revolution. The convention, which was a mediatory power, pronounced alike against the exclusive domination of the lower class, which it had thrown off in Prairial, and the reactionary domination of the bourgeoisie, which it repelled in Vendemiaire, seemed alone capable of satisfy- ing this twofold want, and of putting an end to the state of warfare between the two parties, which was prolonged by their alternate entrance into the government. This situation, as well as its own dangers, gave it courage to resist and secured its triumph. The sections could not take it by surprise, and still less could they take it by assault. After the events of Vendemiaire the convention occupied itself with forming the councils and the directory. The third part, freely elected, had been favorable to reaction. A few convention- alists, headed by Tallien, proposed to annul the elections of this third, and wished to suspend, for a longer time, the conventional government. Thibaudeau exposed their design with much courage and eloquence. The whole conventional party adopted his opin- ion. It rejected all superfluous arbitrary sway, and showed itself impatient to leave the provisional state it had been in for the last ^ The royalists lost about two hundred men. Upon this revolt the following references may be consulted : Von Sybel, " French Revolution," vol. IV. p. 412- 426; Thiers, "French Revolution," vol. III. pp. 312-332; Buchez et Roux, " Histoire J'arlcmeniaire," vol. XXXVI. pp. 405-484. CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 361 1795 three years. The convention estabhshed itself as a national elec- toral assembly, in order to complete the two-thirds from among its members. It then formed the councils; that of the ancients, of 250 members, who according- to the new law had completed forty years ; that of five hundred, from among the others. The councils met in the Tuileries. They then proceeded to form the govern- ment. The attack of Vendemiaire was quite recent; and the republi- can party, especially dreading the counter-revolution, agreed to choose the directors only from the conventionalists, and further from among those of them who had voted for the death of the king. Some of the most influential members, amcjng whom was Daunou, opposed this view, which restricted the choice and continued to give the government a dictatorial and revolutionary character; but it prevailed. The conventionalists thus elected were La Reveillere- Lepeaux, invested w'ith public confidence on account of his ctjur- ageous conduct on May 31, for his probity and his moderation; Sieyes, the man who of all others enjoyed the greatest celebrity of the day; Rewbel, possessed of great administrative ability; Le- Tourneur, one of the members of the commission of five during the last crisis; and Barras, chosen for his two pieces of good fortune of Thermidor and Vendemiaire. Sieyes, who had refused to take part in the legislative commission of tlie eleven, also refused to enter under the directory. It is difticult to say whether this reluc- tance arose from calculation or an insurmountable antipathy for Rewbel. He was reijlaced by Carnot, the only member of the former committee whom tliey were disposed to favor, on account of his political purity and his great sliare in the victirries of the republic. Such was the first composition of the directory. On the 4tli Brumaire the convention passed a law of amnesty, in order to enter on legal government: changed i'ne name el the Place de la Revolution into Place de la Concorde, and declared its session closed. The convention lasted three years, frdm September 21. 1792, to October 26, 1795 ( 4lh P.rnmaire. year IW). it took several directions. During the six first nmnths of its existence it was drawn into the struggle wliich arose between tlie legal party of the Gironde and the revolutionary jxirty of the Mountain. The latter had the lead from M;iy 31, 1793, to the 9th Thermidor, year IT.. July 26, 1794. '1 hiC ci'n\enti()n then obeyctl llie comniiiiee ot 362 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 public safety, which first destroyed its old allies of the commune and of the Mountain, and afterward perished through its own divisions. From the 9th Thermidor to the month of Brumaire, year IV., the convention conquered the revolutionary and royalist parties and sought to establish a moderate republic in opposition to both. During this long and terrible period the violence of the situa- tion changed the revolution into a war, and the assembly into a field of battle. Each party wished to establish its sway by victory and to secure it by founding its system. The Girondist party made the attempt, and perished; the Mountain made the attempt, and perished; the party of the commune made the attempt, and perished; Robespierre's party made the attempt, and perished. They could only conquer, they were unable to found a system. The property of such a storm was to overthrow everything that attempted to be- come settled. All was provisional ; dominion, men, parties, and systems, because the only thing real and possible was war. A year was necessary to enable the conventional party, on its return to power, to restore the revolution to a legal position ; and it could only accomplish this by two victories that of Prairial and that of Vendemiaire, But the convention having then returned to the point whence it started, and having discharged its true mission, which was to establish the republic after having defended it, dis- appeared from the theater of the world which it had filled with surprise. A revolutionary power, it ceased as soon as legal order recommenced. Three years of dictatorship had been lost to liberty, but not to the revolution. The convention is the only legislative body of the revolutionary epoch any portion of whose work was really of a constructive char- acter. As the political ideas and institutions of many states in Europe may be to-day traced to the revolution, so some of the less noticeable institutions of everyday life owe their origin to the legis- lation of the convention. The metric system of weight and measures was decreed upon the report of Arbogast, August i, 1795. According to this system the metre (39.37 inches) with its sub-divisions by tenths, was ap- plied to all measures of length, surface, capacity and weight. The most important reform of the convention, however, was in the mat- ter of public education. To quote its own words. " There sliall be created and organized a system of ])ublic instruction, common and CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION 363 1795 free to all citizens, in those parts of education indispensable to all men." In conformity with this programme three sorts of schools were created. First, primary schools in every commune, where read- ing, writing-, and arithmetic were taught, proficiency in which was required for one's name to be inscribed upon the public registers. Unfortunately, the lack of resources obliged the convention to forego the immediate establishment of many of these schools, but the purpose of the assembly became the realization of France ere many years. Second, central or secondary schools, intended to re- place the old colleges. On an average there was to be one for each department, but in Paris two were immediately organized; that of the Quatre Nations, in the Palais ]\Iazarin, and that of the Pan- theon, now the Lycee Henri Quatre. In these schools puj)ils over twelve years of age were received and were taught the ancient languages, mathematics, and the sciences, and a certain amount of philosophy. As with the former class, the idea of the convention was too great to be achieved. Third, special schools or ccolcs sii- pcriciircs, notably the medical schools of Paris, Strasburg, and Montpelier, the veterinary colleges of Lyons and Alfort, the school of Oriental languages, designed to be of practical utility, but above all the ficole Normale and the ficole Polytechnifjue, created for the education of teachers and destined to exercise a greater in- fluence upon the intellectual development of France than probably any other two educational institutions. Other educational institutions, famous throughout France and the world to-dav, also owe their authorship to the convention: the Conservatory of IMusic, the ^vluseum of Natural History, the Jardin des Plantes, the Observatory of Astronomical Studies, the Con- servatory of Arts and Inventions, the Military Museum, the National Institute for Ueaf flutes, and the Institution of the Blind. The Biblothcf|ue Nationale, begun l)y Charles V., was increased through the operation of a law requiring the (le])osit with it of two copies of every work printed in iM-ancc. as well as by the confiscation of the libraries of the suppressed convents, so that it attained at one bound its rank as the largest c(^llccti>)n ^^\ books in the world. The Archives Nationalcs received most of the decome consolidated, because they were all exclusive. But during their attempts each class, in power for a time, destroyed of the higher classes all that was intolerant or calculated to oppose the progress of modern civilization. When the directory succeeded the convention the struggle betw'een the classes was greatly weakened. Tlie higher ranks of each formed a party which still contended for tlie possession and for the form of government; but the mass of the nation, which had been so profound! v agitated from T^Sf) to 1705. longed to become settled again, and to arrange itself according to the new order of things. This period witnessed the end of the mcnement for liberty and the beginning of the movement toward civilization. The revo- lution now took its second character, its diaracter of order, founda- tion, repose, after the agitation, the immense toil, and system of complete demolition of its early years. This second period was remarkable, inasmuch as it seemed a kind of abandonment of liberty. The difTcrent parties being no longer able to possess it in an exclusive and durable manner, be- came discouraged and fell back from public into private life. This 367 368 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 second period divided itself into two epochs : it was liberal under tlie directory and at the commencement of the consulate, and mili- tary at the close of the consulate and under the empire. The revo- lution daily grew more materialized; after having made a nation of sectaries it made a nation of working men, and then it made a nation of soldiers. Many illusions were already destroyed ; men had passed through so many different states, had lived so much in so few years, that all ideas were confounded and all creeds shaken. The reign of the middle class and that of the multitude had passed away like a rapid phantasmagoria. They were far from that France of July 14, with its deep conviction, its high morality, its assembly exer- cising the all-powerful sway of liberty and of reason, its popular magistracies, its citizen-guard, its brilliant, peaceable, and animated exterior, wearing the impress of order and independence. They were far from the more somber and more tempestuous France of August 10, when a single class held the government and society, and had introduced therein its language, manners, and costume, the agitation of its fears, the fanaticism of its ideas, the distrust of its position. Then private life entirely gave place to public life; the republic presented, in turn, the aspect of an assembly and of a camp ; the rich were subject to the poor; the creed of democracy combined with the gloomy and ragged administration of tlie people. At each of these periods men had been strongly attached to some idea : first to liberty and constitutional monarchy, afterward to equality, fra- ternity, and the republic. But at the beginning of the directory there was belief in nothing; in the great shipwreck of parties all had been lost, both the virtue of the bourgeoisie and the virtue of the people. Men arose from this furious turmoil weakened and wounded, and each, remembering his political existence with terror, plunged wildly into the pleasures and relations of private life which had so long l)een suspended. Balls, banquets, debauchery, splendid car- riages became more fashionable than ever; tliis was the reaction of the ancient regime. The reign of the sans-culottes brought back the (lomini(jn of the rich ; the clubs, the return of the salons. For the rest, it was scarcely possible but that the first symptom of the resumption of modern civilization should be thus irregular. The directorial manners were the product of another society, which had to appear again before the new state of society could regulate THE DIRECTORY 369 1795 its relations and constitute its own manners. In this transition luxury would give rise to labor, stock-jobbing to commerce, salons bring parties together who could not approximate except in private life; in a word, civilization would again usher in liberty. The situation of the republic was discouraging at the installa- tion of the directory. There existed no element of order or ad- ministration. There was no money in the public treasury ; couriers were often delayed for want of the small sum necessary to enable them to set out. In the interior anarchy and uneasiness were general; paper currency, in the last stage of discredit, destroyed confidence and commerce ; the dearth became protracted, everyc^ne refusing to part with his commodities, for it amounted to giving them away; the arsenals were exhausted or almost empty. With- out the armies were destitute of baggage-w'agons, horses, and suj)- plies; the soldiers were in want of clothes, and the generals were often unable to liquidate their pay of eight francs a month in specie. an indispensable supplement, small as it was, to tlicir pay in as- signats ; and lastly, the troops, discontented and undisciplined, on account of their necessities, were again beaten and on the defensive. Things were at this state of crisis after the fall of the com- mittee of public safety. This committee had foreseen the dearth, and prepared for it, both in the army and in the interior, by the requisitions and the maximum. No one had dared to exempt him- self from this financial system, which rendered the wealthy and commercial classes tributary to the soldiers and the multitude, and at that time provisions had not been withheld from the market. But since violence and confiscation had ceased, the people, the con- vention, and the armies were at the mercy of the landed proprietors and speculators, and terri])]e scarcity existed, a reaction against tlic maximum. The system of the convention had consisted, in ]iolitical economy, in the consumption of an immense capital, represented by the assignats. This assembly had been n rich government, which had ruined itself in defending the revolntion. Nearly half the French territory, consisting of domains of the crown, eccle- siastical pro]:)erty. or tlie estates of the emigrant nobility. Iiad been sold, and the produce applied to the support of tlie people, who did little labor, and to the external defense of tlie republic by the armies. More than eight thousand millions of assignats had been issued before the 9th Thermidor, and since that period thirty thousand millions had been added to that sum. already 370 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 SO enormous. Such a system could not be continued ; it was neces- sary to begin the work again and return to real money. The men deputed to remedy this great disorganization were, for the most part, of ordinary talent ; but they set to work with zeal, courage, and good sense. " When the directors," said Bailleul,^ " entered the Luxembourg there was not an article of furniture. In a small room, at a little broken table, one leg of which was half eaten away with age, on which they placed some letter-paper and a calumet standish, which they had fortunately brought from the committee of public safety, seated on four straw- bottom chairs, opposite a few logs of dimly-burning wood, the whole borrowed from Dupont, the porter; who would believe that it was in such a condition that the members of the new government, after having investigated all the difficulties, nay, all the horror of their position, resolved that they would face all obstacles, and that they would either perish or rescue France from the abyss into which she had fallen ? On a sheet of writing-paper they drew up the act by which they ventured to declare themselves constituted, an act which they immediately dispatched to the legislative chambers." The directors then proceeded to divide their labors, taking as their guide the grounds which had induced the constitutional party to select them. Rewbel, possessed of great activity, a lawyer versed in government and diplomacy, had assigned to him the de- partments of law, finance, and foreign affairs. His skill and com- manding character soon made him the acting man of the directory in all civil matters. Barras had no special knowledge ; his mind was mediocre, his resources few, his habits indolent. In an hour of danger his resolution qualified him to execute sudden measures, like those of Thermidor or Vendemiaire. But being, on ordinary occasions, adapted only for the surv^eillance of parties, the intrigues of which he was better acquainted with than anyone else, the police department was allotted to him. He was well suited for the task, being supple and insinuating, without partiality for any political sect, and having revolutionary connections bv his past life, while his birth gave him access to the aristocracy. Barras took on himself the representation of the directory and established a sort of repub- lican regency at the Luxembourg. The pure and moderate La Reveillere, whose gentleness tempered with courage, whose sincere '^" Rxamcn Critique dcs Considerations de Madame dc Stael, sitr la Revo- lution fran^aise," by '\\. J. Ch. Bailleul, vol. II. pp. 275-281. THE DIRECTORY 371 1795 attachment for the repubHc and legal measures had procured him a post in the directory with the general consent of the assembly and public opinion, had assigned to him the moral department, em- bracing education, the arts, sciences, and manufactures. Le Tour- neur, an ex-artillery officer, member of the committee of public safety at the latter period of the convention, had been appointed to the war department. But when Carnot was chosen, on the refusal of Sieyes, he assumed the direction of military operations, and left to his colleague Le Tourneur the navy and the colonies. His high talents and resolute character gave him the upper hand in the direc- tory. Le Tourneur attached himself to him, as La Reveillere to Rewbel, and Barras was between the two. At this period the directors turned their attention with the greatest concord to the improvement and welfare of the state. The directors frankly followed the route traced out for them by the constitution. After having established authority in the center of the republic they organized it in the departments, and established, as well as they could, a correspondence of design be- tween local administrations and their own. Placed l>etween the two exclusive and dissatisfied parties of Prairial and Vendcmiaire, they endeavored, by a decided line of conduct, to subject them to an order of things, holding a place midway between their extreme pretensions. They sought to revive the enthusiasm and order of the first years of the revolution, " You, whom we summon to share our labors," they wrote to their agents, " you who have, with us, to promote the progress of the republican constitution, your first virtue, your first feeling, should be that decided resolution, that patriotic faith, which has also })roduced its enthusiasts and its miracles. All will be achieved when, by your care, that sincere love of liberty which sanctified the dawn of the revolution, again ani- mates the heart of every Frenchman. The banners of liberty float- ing on every house, and' the rei)ublican device written (-)n every door. doubtless form an interesting sight. Obtain more ; hasten the day when the sacred name of the republic shall be graven voluntarily on every heart." In a short time the wise and firm proceedings of the new gov- ernment restored confidence, labor, and plenty. The circulation of provisions was secured, and at the end of a month the direct. m'v was relieved from the obligation to provide i'aris with sup]>lies. which it eft'ected for itself. The immense activity created by tlie 372 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 revolution began to be directed toward industry and agriculture. A part of the population quitted the clubs and public places for work- shops and fields ; and then the benefit of a revolution, which, having destroyed corporations, divided property, abolished privileges, in- creased fourfold the means of civilization, and was destined to produce prodigious good to France, began to be felt. The directory encouraged this movement in the direction of labor by salutary in- stitutions. It reestablished public exhibitions of the produce of industry and improved the system of education decreed under the convention. The national institute, primary, central, and normal schools formed a complete system of republican institutions. La Reveillere, the director intrusted with the moral department of the government, then sought to establish, under the name of Theophi- lanthropie, the deistical religion which the committee of public safety had vainly endeavored to establish by the fete of the Supreme Being. He provided temples, hymns, forms, and a kind of lit- urgy for the new religion; but such a faith could only be indi- vidual, could not long continue public. The theophilanthropists, whose religion was opposed to the political opinions and the un- belief of the revolutionists, were much ridiculed. Thus, in the passage from public institutions to individual faith all that had been liberty became civilization, and what had been religion became opinion. Deists remained, but theophilanthropists were no longer to be met with. The directory, pressed for money and shackled by the disas- trous state of the finances, had recourse to measures somewhat extraordinary. It had sold or pledged the most valuable articles of the wardrobe in order to meet the greatest urgencies. National property was still left, but it sold badly and for assignats. The directr)ry proposed a compulsory loan, wliich was decreed by the councils. This was a relic of the revolutionary measures with regard to the rich ; but, having been irresolutely adopted, and ex- ecuted without due authority, it did not succeed. The directory then endeavored to revive paper money ; it proposed the issue of mandals territoriaux, which were to be substituted for the assignats then in circulation, at the rate of thirty for one. and to take the place of money. The councils decreed the issue of mandats terri- toriaux t(j tlie amount of two thousand four hundred millions. They had the advantage of being exchangeable at once and upon presentation for tlie national domains which represented them. 1795 T H E D I R E C T O R Y 373 They caused the sale of a large extent of these, and in this way completed the revolutionary mission of the assignats, of which they were the second period. They procured the directory a momentar>- resource; but they also lost their credit, and led insensibly to bank- ruptcy, which was the transition from paper to specie. The military situation of the republic was nut a brilliant one; at the dose of the convention there had been an abatement of victories. The equivocal position and weakness of the central authority, as much as the scarcity, had relaxed the discipline of the troops. The generals, too, disappointed that they had distinguished their commands by so few victories, and were not spurred on by an energetic government, became inclined to insubordination. The convention had deputed Pichegru and Jourdan. one at the head of the army of the Rhine, the other with that of the Sambre-et-Meuse, to surround and capture Mayence, in order that they might occui)y the whole line of the Rhine. Pichegru m;ide tliis project com- pletely fail: although possessing the entire confidence of the re- public, and enjoying the greatest military fame of tlie day, he formed counter-re\olutionary schemes witli the Prince de Conde; but they were unable to agree. Pichegru urged tlie emigrant prince to enter France with his troops, by Switzerland or the Rhine, promising to remain inactive, the only thing in his power to do in favor of such an attempt. I'hc prince recjuired as a pre- liminary that Pichegru should hoist the wliite Hag in his army, which was, to a man, republican. Tliis Iiesitation, no doubt, in- jured the projects of the reactionists, who were preparing tlic con- spiracy of Vendemiaire. But Picliegru wisliing, one way or tlie other, to serve his new allies and to betray liis countrv. allowed himself to be defeated at Pleidelbcrg, compromised tlie army of Jourdan, evacuated Mannheim, raised tlie siege of Mayence with considerable loss, and exposed tliat frontier to tlic enemy. The directory found the Rliine open tcnvarrl Mayence; the war of La Vendee rekindled; tlie cr)asts of i'rance and Holland threatened with a descent from England: lastly, the army of Italy destitute of evervthing, and merely maintaining the defensive under Scherer and Kellermann. France was really not in a C(inditi(^n t^) wage offensive war. torn as the country was by political taction and fierce reaction, with its commerce destroyed and agricnitnre rdmost at a standstill. T!ie responsibility for the continuation of the war is to be laid upon hhigland and Austria. IJoth of these powers 374 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1795 believed that France was so exhausted that it would be easily possi- ble to crush out the last vestiges of Jacobinism.^ Carnot prepared a new plan of campaign, which was to carry the armies of the republic to the very heart of the hostile states. Bonaparte, appointed general of the interior after the events of Vendemiaire, was placed at the head of the army of Italy, Jourdan retained the command of the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, and Moreau had that of the army of the Rhine, in place of Pichegru. The latter, whose treason was suspected by the directory, though not proved, was offered the embassy to Sweden, which he refused, and retired to Arbois, his native place. The three great armies, placed under the orders of Bonaparte, Jourdan, and Moreau, were to attack the Austrian monarchy by Italy and Germany, combine at the entrance of the Tyrol, and march upon Vienna in echelon. The generals prepared to execute this vast movement, the success of which would make the republic mistress of the headquarters of the coalition on the Continent. The directory gave to General Hoche the command of the coast, and deputed him to conclude the Vendean war. Hoche changed the system of warfare adopted by his predecessors. La Vendee was disposed to submit. Its previous victories had not led to the success of its cause; defeat and ill-fortune had exposed it to plunder and conflagration. The insurgents, irreparably injured by the disaster of Savenay, by the loss of their principal leader and their best soldiers, by the devastating system of the infernal col- umns, now desired nothing more than to live on good terms with the republic. The war now depended only on a few chiefs, upon Charette, Stofflet, and others. Hoche saw that it was necessary to wean the masses from these men by concessions and then to crush them. He skillfully separated the royalist cause from the cause of religion and employed the priests against the generals by showing great indulgence to the Catholic religion. He had the country scoured by four powerful columns, took their cattle from the inhab- - Grenville wrote (to Eden, April 17, 1795): "We can never hope that the circumstances, as far as they regard the state of France, can be more favor- able than they are now." Quoted in Fyfife, " Modern Europe," vol. I. p. 98, note. As Fyffe points out in three excellent pages (97-99), it would have been well if every power in Europe had accepted the situation, for the territory gained by France at the treaty of Basel was not more than the balance of power justified, considering the recent partitions of Poland. But Austria and England made an error of judgment at the psychological moment, and on a high wave of militarism Napoleon rode to power. THE DIRECTORY 375 1796 itants, and only restored them in. return for their arms. He left no repose to the armed party, defeated Charette in several encounters, pursued him from one retreat to another, and at last made him prisoner. Stofflet wished to raise the Vendean standard ag-ain on his territory, but it was given up to the republicans. These two chiefs, who had witnessed the beginning- of the insurrection, were present at its close. They died courageously, Stofflet at Angers, Charette at Nantes, after having displayed character and talents worthy of a larger theater. Hoche likewise tranquilized Brittany. Morbihan was occupied by numerous bands of Chouans, who formed a formidable association, the princijxd leader of which was Georges Cadoudal. Without entering on a campaign they were mastering the country. Hoche directed all his force and activity against them, and before long had destroyed or exhausted them. Most of their leaders quilted their arms and took refuge in Eng- land. The directory on learning these fortunate pacifications formally announced to both councils, on the 28th Messidor (June, 1796), that this civil war was definitely terminated. In this manner the winter of the year IV. passed away. But the directory could hardly fail to be attacked by the two parties, whose sway was prevented by its existence, the democrats and the royalists. The former constituted an inflexible and enterprising sect. For them the 9th Thermidor was an era of pain and oppres- sion: they desired to establish absolute equality, in spite of the state of society, and democratic liberty, in spite of civilization. This sect had been so vanquished as effectually to prevent its return to power. On the 9th Thermidor it had been driven from the government, on the 2d Prairial from society, and it had lost both power and insurrections. But though disorganized and also ])r()scribed, it was far from having disappeared. After the unfortunate at- tempt of the royalists in Vendemiaire it arose through their abasement. The democrats reestablished their club at the Pantheon, which the directory tolerated for some time. They had for their chief " Gracchus " Balxcuf, who styled himself the " Tribune of the people." He was a daring man. of an exalted imagination, an extraordinary fanaticism of democracy, and with great influence over his party. In his journal he prepared the reign of general happiness. The society at the Pantheon daily became more numerous, and more alarnu'ng to the directory, who at first en- 376 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1796 deavored to restrain it. But the sittings were soon protracted to an advanced hour of the night; the democrats repaired thither in arms and proposed marching against the directory and the coun- cils. The directory determined to oppose them openly. On the 8th Ventose, year IV. (February, 1796), it closed the society of the Pantheon and on the 9th bv a message informed the legislative body that it had done so. The democrats, deprived of their place of meeting, had re- course to another plan. They seduced the police force, which was chiefly composed of deposed revolutionists, and in concert with it they were to destroy the constitution of the year III. The direc- tory, informed of this new maneuver, disbanded the police force, causing it to be disarmed by other troops on whom it could rely. The conspirators, taken by surprise a second time, determined on a project of attack and insurrection: they formed an insurrectionary committee of public safety, which communicated by secondary agents with the lower orders of the twelve communes of Paris. The members of this principal committee were Babceuf,^ the chief of the conspiracy, ex-conventionalists, such as Vadier, Amar, Chou- dieu, Ricord, the representative Drouet, the former generals of the decemviral committee, Rossignol, Parrein, Fyon, Lami. Many cashiered officers, patriots of the departments, and the old Jacobin mass, composed the army of this faction. The chiefs often assem- bled in a place they called the Temple of Reason ; here they sang lamentations on the death of Robespierre and deplored the slavery of the people. They opened a negotiation with the troops of the camp of Crenelle, admitted among them a captain of that camp, named Grisel, whom they supposed their own, and concerted every measure for the attack. Their plan was to establish common happiness, and for that purpose to make a distribution of property, and to cause the gov- ernment of true, pure, and absolute democrats to prevail ; to create a convention composed of sixty-eight Mountaineers, the remnant of the numbers proscribed since the reaction of Thermidor, and to join with these a democrat for each department; lastly, to start from the different quarters in which they had distributed themselves, and ' Bal)cxuf was a native of Artois and was of Protestant ancestry. At one time in life he was an engraver. In 1791 he became a member of the directory of the department of tlie Somme, but was convicted of dishonesty. For a short time during tlie revokition he pubhshed a new^spaper known as Le Tribun du THE DIRECTORY 37t (796 march at the same time against the directory and against the councils. On the night of the insurrection they were to fix up two placards; one, containing the words, "the constitution of 1793! liberty! equality! common happiness!" the other, containing the following declaration, " Those who usurp the sovereignty ought to be put to death by free men." All was ready, the proclamations printed, the day appointed, when thev w^ere betrayed by Grisel as generally happens in conspiracies. On the 2 1 St Floreal (Alay), the eve ot the day fixed for the attack, the conspirators were seized in their conventicle. In the house of Babceuf were found a plan of the plot and all the docu- ments connected with it. The directory apprised the councils of it by a message and announced it to the people by proclamation. This strange attempt, savoring so strongly of fanaticism, and whicli could only be a repetition of the insurrection of Prairial, without its means and its hopes of success, excited the greatest terror. The public mind was still terrified with the recent domination of the Jacobins. Babceuf, like a daring conspirator, prisoner as he was. proposed terms of peace to the directory. " Would you consider it beneath you, citizen directors," he wrote to them, "to treat with me, as power witli ])()wer? You have seen what vast confidence centers in me; wm ha\e seen that my party may well balance equally in the scale your own; you have seen its immense ramifications. I am con\inced you have trembled at the sight." He concluded by saying: " T see but one wise mode of proceeding : declare there has been no serious conspiracy, b'ive men, by showing themselves great and generous, may now save the country. I will answer for it, that the patriots will defend you with their lives ; the patriots do not hate you ; they only hated ycnir unpopular measures. h"or my part, I will give y(ni a guarantee as extensive as is mv perpetual franchise." The directors, instead of this reconciliation, published Babci-uf's letter and sent the con- spirators l)efore tlie high court of Vendome. Their partisans made one more attempt. On the 13th hTuc- tidor (August), about eleven at night, tlicy marched, to the nunil)er of six or seven hundred, armed witli sabers and pistols, against tlie directory, whom they fouml defended by its guard. They ihen repaired to the camp of Grenelle, whicli they ho])C(l to gain ovcm" by means of a correspondence which they had established with it. 378 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1796 The troops had retired to rest when the conspirators arrived. To the sentinel's cry of ''Qui vive?" they repHed: "Vive la repuh- lique! Viz'e la constitution dc '^3!" The sentinels gave the alarm through the camp. The conspirators, relying on the assist- ance of a battalion from Gard, which had been disbanded, advanced toward the tent of Malo, the commander-in-chief, who gave orders to sound to arms, and commanded his half-dressed dragoons to mount. The conspirators, surprised at this reception, feebly de- fended themselves; they were cut down by the dragoons or put to flight, leaving many dead and prisoners on the field of battle. This ill-fated expedition was almost the last of the party; with each defeat it lost its force, its chiefs, and acquired the secret con- viction that its reign was over. The Crenelle enterprise proved most fatal to it ; besides the numbers slain in the fight, many were condemned to death by the military commissions, which were to it what the revolutionary tribunals had been to its foes. The com- mission of the camp of Crenelle, in five sittings, condemned thirty- one conspirators to death, thirty to transportation, and twenty-five to imprisonment. Shortly afterward the high court of Vendome tried Baboeuf and his accomplices, among whom were Amar, Vadier, and Darthe, formerly secretary to Joseph Lebon. They none of them belied themselves; they spoke as men who feared neither to avow their object nor to die for their cause. At the beginning and the end of each sitting they sang the " Marseillaise." This old song of victory and their firm demeanor struck the public mind with astonishment and seemed to render them still more formidable. Their wives ac- companied them to the trial. Babceuf at the close of his defense turned to them and said : " They should accompany them even to Calvary, because the cause of their punishment would not bring them to shame." The high court condemned Babceuf and Darthe to death ; as they heard their sentence they both stabbed themselves with a poignard. Baboeuf was the last leader of the old commune and the committee of public safety, which had separated previous to Thermidor, and which afterward united again. This party de- creased daily. Its dispersion and isolation more especially date from this period. Under the reaction it still formed a compact mass; under Baboeuf it maintained the position of a formidable association. From that time democrats existed, but the party was broken up. THE DIRECTORY 379 1796 In the interim between the Crenelle enterprise and Baboeuf's condemnation the royalists also formed their conspiracy. The projects of the democrats produced a movement of opinion con- trary to that which had been manifested after Vendemiaire, and the counter-revolutionists in their turn became emboldened. The secret chiefs of this party lioped to find auxiliaries in the troops of the camp of Crenelle, who had repelled the Baboeuf faction. This party, impatient and unskillful, unable to employ the sectionary mass, as in Vendemiaire, or the mass of the councils, as at a later period on the i8th Fructidor, made use of three men without either name or influence; the x^bbe Brothier, the ex-counselor of parle- ment, La Vilheurnois. and a sort of adventurer, named Dunan. They applied at once, in all simplicity, to ]Malo for the camp of Crenelle, in order by its means to restore the ancient regime. Malo delivered them up to the directory, who transferred them to the civil tribunals, not having been able, as he wished, to have them tried by military commissioners. They were treated with much consideration by judges of their party, elected under the influence of Vendemiaire, and the sentence pronounced against them was only a short imprisonment. At this period a contest arose between all the authorities, appointed by the sections, and tlie director}\ supported by the army, each taking its strength and judges wherever its party prevailed ; the result was that the electoral i:)Ower placing itself at the disposition of the counter-revolution, the di- rectory was compelled to introduce the army in the state, which afterward gave rise to serious inconvenience. The directory, triumphant over the two dissident parties, also triumphed over Europe. The new campaign opened under the most favorable auspices. Bonaparte on arriving at Xice signalized his command by one of the most daring of invasions. Hitherto his army had hovered idly on the side of the AIjjs: it was destitute of everything," and scarcely amounted to 30,000 men; but it was well provided with courage and patriotism : and by tlieir means Bona- parte then commenced that world-astonishment in which he carried all before him for twenty years. lie broke up tlie cantoinnents. and entered the valley of Savona. in order to march into Italy between the Alps and the Apennines. There were before him 6t,ooo coalesced troops commanded in the center l)y Argentau, " The corrcspoiulciu-e of Xapfilcnn during tlic campaign in Italy is eloquent testimony to the truth of this assertion. 380 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1796 by Colli, commander of the Piedmontese troops, on the left, and Beaulieu on the right. This was the line of the Maritime Alps and of the Apennines from Stura to Bochetta. This immense army was dispersed in a few days by prodigies of genius and courage. Napoleon made a feint of attacking Genoa, thus forcing his enemies to strengthen their wings to the disadvantage of the center, through which he drove at the battle of Montenotte, April 12, 1796, which crushed the Austrians, and the day following, at Millesimo, he entirely divided the Sardinian from the Austrian army, and de- feated the Piedmontese at Diego, thus achieving the separation of the allies. They hastened to defend Turin and Milan, the capitals of their domination. Before pursuing the Austrians the republican general threw himself on the left to cut off the Sar- dinian army. The fate of Piedmont was decided at Mondovi, and the terrified court of Turin hastened to submit. At Cherasco an amnesty was concluded, which was soon afterward followed by a treaty of peace, signed at Paris, on May 15, 1796, between the republic and the King of Sardinia, who ceded Savoy and the countries of Nice and Tenda. The occupation of Alexandria, which opened the Lombard country; the demolition of the for- tresses of Susa and of Brunette, on the borders of France; the abandonment of the country of Nice, and of the Savoy, and the rendering available the other army of the Alps, under Kellermann, was the reward of a fortnight's campaign and six victories. Savoy was also forced to pay a money indemnity and to engage to take no part in any league against France. War being over with Piedmont, Bonaparte marched against the Austrian army, to which he left no repose. He passed the Po at Piacenza, May 6, and the Adda at Lodi, May 10, 1796. The lat- ter victory opened the gates of Milan, May 14, and secured him the possession of Lombardy. General Beaulieu was driven into the defiles of the Tyrol by the republican army, which invested Mantua (in June) and appeared on the mountains of the empire. General Wurmser came to replace Beaulieu, and a new army was sent to join the wrecks of the conquered one. Wurmser advanced to deliver Mantua, and once more make Italy the field of battle; but he was overpowered, like his predecessor, by Bonaparte, who, after having raised the blockade of Mantua, in order to oppose this new enemy, renewed it with increased vigor, and resumed his positions in the Tyrol. The plan of invasion was executed with much union THE DIRECTORY 381 1796 and success. While the army of Italy threatened Austria by the Tyrol, the two armies of tlie Meuse and Rhine entered Germany ; Moreau, supported by Jourdan on his left, was ready to join Bona- parte on his right. The two armies had passed the Rhine at Neuwied and Strasburg-, and had advanced on a front drawn up in echelons to the distance of sixty leagues, driving back the enemy, who, while retreating before them, strove to impede their march and break their line. They had almost attained the aim of their enterprise; Aloreau had entered Ulm and Augsburg, crossed the Lech, and his advanced guard was on the extreme of the defiles of the Tyrol, when Jourdan, who had beaten the Austrians at Alten- kirchen, in Rhenish Prussia, in June, 1796, and then marched by way of Frankfort, \\\irzburg, and Bamberg into south Germany, with the intention of joining Aloreau, who had crossed the Rhine, beaten the Archduke Charles at Rastatt and Baden and at Ner- scheim in Wurtemburg, passed beyond the line, was attacked by the Archduke Charles and completely routed. If Jourdan and Aloreau could have united, the archduke would have been lost, but in his extremity the Austrian commander performed a daring maneuver. At the risk of allowing Aloreau to advance into Ba- varia and so unite with Napoleon, who was expected to strike Germany through the Tyrol, the archduke left only a small detach- ment to oppose the advance of Aloreau, and uniting the bulk of his army to that of Wartensleben, he threw himself upon Jourdan with double the forces of the French. Jourdan had no other re- course but retreat. Rid of the danger of Jourdan, the archduke turned again upon Aloreau, in Bavaria, who, for fear oi being cut off from France, was obliged to retreat. For twenty-six days the French fell back through the Black Forest, and ultimately crossed the Rhine. The repulse of Jourdan was a capital one : it prevented the success of this vast plan of campaign and gave respite to the Austrian government. The cabinet of Vienna, which had lost Belgium in this war, and which felt the importance of preserving Italy, defended it with tlie greatest obstinacy. Wurmser, after a new defeat, was ()l)liged to tlirow himself into Alantua witli the wreck of his army. General Alvinczy, at the head of 50,000 Hungarians \v<\\ came to try his fortune, while his lieutenant made a detour around the Lake of Garda. to the west, in order to cut off the retreat oi the French. Bonaparte profited by this division of his enemies; reasoning that 382 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1796-1797 he could beat the two armies one after the other, he raised the siege of INTantua, defeated Quasdanovitch in two engagements (July 30, August 4, 1796), and then fell upon Wurmser at Cas- tiglione, before the two opposing armies had time to unite, and forced Wurmser to recross the Mincio and to retire to the Tyrol. The French army, before the battle of Castiglione, August 5, 1796, was in so critical a condition that Napoleon called a council of war the only one which he is said ever to have consulted. All of his staff, even Massena, advised a retreat. Augereau alone was in favor of attacking the enemy at daybreak. Napoleon, after listen- ing to all his officers, said to the latter: "Eh bien! Je resterai avec toi," and dismissed the conference. The checkmate of Jour- dan and Moreau in Germany had enabled Austria to send rein- forcements to Wurmser, under Alvinczy, who descended the Adige with 40,000 men, while another general, Pro vera, with 20,000, planned to effect a junction with Wurmser, who had returned from the Tyrol and been able to throw himself into Mantua on Septem- ber 12. The resulting actions, Arcole (November 15-17, 1796), Rivoli (January 14-15, 1797), between Lake Garda and the Adige, were almost decisive. Napoleon had 56,000 men, not all of whom were available, however, since many were engaged in the siege of IMantua. But by managing to keep his enemies separated from one another, Napoleon was enabled to crush them in detail, and all the efforts of Austria to relieve Mantua failed. Finally, after hav- ing been reduced to the necessity of killing his horses for food, Wurmser capitulated on February 2, 1797, surrendering Mantua with 13,000 prisoners and 350 pieces of artillery. It was this dis- T H E D I R E C T O R Y 383 1797 aster that opened the vvav to Vienna and forced the capitulation of Leoben. The army of Italy accomplished in Europe the work of the French Revolution. This wonderful campaign was owing to the union of a general of genius and an intelligent army. Bonaparte had for lieutenants generals capable of commanding themselves, who knew how to take upon themselves the responsibility of a movement or a battle, and an army of citizens all possessing culti- vated minds, deep feeling, strong emulation of all that is great; passionately attached to a revolution which aggrandized their country, preserved their independence under discipline, and which afforded an opportunity to every soldier of becoming a general. There is nothing which a leader of genius might not accomplish with such men. He must have regretted, at this recollection of his earlier years, that he ever centered in himself all liberty and intelli- gence, that he ever created mechanical armies, and generals only fit to obey. Bonaparte began the third epoch of the war. The campaign of 1792 had been made on the old system, with dispersed corps acting separately without abandoning tlieir fixed line. The committee of public safety concentrated the corps, made them operate no longer merely on what was before them, but at a dis- tance; it hastened their movement and directed them toward a common end. Bonaparte did for each battle what the committee had done for each campaign. He brought all these C()ri)s on the determinate point, and destroyed several armies with a single one by the rapidity of his measures. He disposed of whole masses of troops at his pleasure, moved them here or there, brought them forward or kept them out of sight, had them wholly at his disposi- tion, when, where, and how he pleased, whether to occupy a position or to gain a battle. His diplomacy was as superior as his military science. Napoleon's military successes are largely due to the fact tliat he utilized new conditions of warfare for a new strategy. He rarely wasted time in sieges. He never made but two in his life, at :\Iantua and at St. Jean d'Acre: he did not handle his army in separated columns, but on the contrary concentrated liis forces; f(^r. as he savs in a "Rapport siir la Positio)! drs .lr)urrs ihi Pinnouf ct d'Espagnc," of 1794. the essential is not to scatter attacks. Init to concentrate them. Tlis purpose ahnost invariablv was to tlirow all his forces upon a given point and break it through, and then, 884 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1797 after attacking- the main army, to attack and disperse the wing's. This strategy, of which Bonaparte has much to say in his writings and in reported conversations, was revolutionary of the art of war, hitherto grounded upon the practices of Frederick the Great. His four maxims of warfare were : " Scatter to forage ; concentrate to fight; unity of command is essential; time is everything." These tactics were applied in Italy in 1796- 1797, and Napoleon rarely departed from them. A notable exception is at ^Marengo, June 14, 1800, where there were really two battles fought, the first, which Napoleon lost, the second, which Desaix won. All the Italian governments, except Venice and Genoa, had adhered to the coalition, but the people were in favor of the French republic. Bonaparte relied upon the latter. He abolished Pied- mont, which he could not conquer; transformed the ^Milanese, hitherto dependent on Austria, into the Cisalpine republic ; he weakened Tuscany and the petty principalities of Parma and Modena by contributions, without dispossessing them; the Pope, who had signed a truce on Bonaparte's first success against Beau- lieu, and who did not hesitate to infringe it on the arrival of Wurmser, bought peace by yielding Romagna, Bologna, and Ferrara,* which were joined to the Cisalpine republic; lastly, the aristocracy of Venice and Genoa having favored the coalition, and raised an insurrection in the rear of the army, their government was changed, and Bonaparte made it democratic in order to oppose the power of the people to that of the nobility. In this way the revolution penetrated into Italy. Napoleon's double dealing with reference to Venice is one of the most notorious examples of his policy. He flattered the Vene- tian senate at the very minute he was planning its destruction. " I shall do everything in my power," he wrote to the seignory, " to give you proof of the great desire I have to see your liberty take root and to see this unhappy Italy, freed from the rule of the stranger, at length take its place with glory on the world's stage and resume among the great nations the rank to which nature, des- tiny, and its own position call it." At the same time he wrote to the home government, on ]May 26, 1797: " \'enice, which has been * After the fall of Mantua, the Pope, who hitherto had been hostile to the French, sued for peace. Napoleon granted it at Tolentino, upon the pay- ment of 30.000.000 francs, the cession of Avignon to France, and that of Bologna, Ferrara, Anroiia, and the entire Romagna, to form the Cisalpine republic, February 19, 1797. Cf. the remarks of Fyffe, " Modern Europe," pp. 135-136. THE DIRECTORY 385 1797 in decline since the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and the rise of Trieste and Ancona, can scarcely survive the blows we have just struck. With a cowardly and helpless population, in no way fit for liberty, without territory and without rivers, it is but natural that she should go to those to whom we give the mainland." Austria, by the preliminaries of Leoben, ceded Belgium to France and recognized the Lombard republic. All the confederate powers had laid down their arms, and England asked to treat; France, peaceable and free at home, had without attained her natural limits, and was surrounded by rising republics, which, such as Holland, Lombardy, and Liguria, guarded its sides and extended its system in Europe. The coalition was little disposed to assail anew a revolution all the governments of which were victorious: that of anarchy after August lo, of the dictatorship after May 31, and of legal authority under the directory; a revo- lution which at every new hostility advanced a step further upon European territory. In 1792 it had only extended to Belgium; in 1794 it had reached Holland and the Rhine; in 1796 had reached Italy and entered Germany. If it continued its progress the coali- tion had reason to fear that it would carry its concjuests further. Everything seemed prepared for general peace. But the situation of the directory was materiallv changed by the elections of the year V. (May, 1797). Tlicse elections, by in- troducing in a legal way the royalist partv into the legislature and government, brought again into question what the conflict of Vendemiaire had decided. Up to this period a good understand- ing had existed between the directory and the councils. Comjxxscd of conventionalists, united by a common interest, and tlie necessity of establishing the republic, after having been bli)wn about by the winds of all parties, they had manifested much good will in their intercourse, and mncli union in their measures. The councils had yielded to the various demands of the directory; and with the ex- ception of a few sliglit modifications tliey had approved its pr(\iects concernine the finance and the administrati(Mi, its conduct with regard to the conspiracies, the armies, and b'urope. The anti- conventional minorit\- liad formed an oj)position in the councils: but this opposition, while waiting tlic reinforcement of a new thiril, had but cautiouslv CMniemled against the jxilicy of the (lircchTy. At its head were lK-irl)c-Marl)o:s. J'astorct, X'aublanc. Dumas. Portalis, Simeon, Tronc^on-Ducondray, Oupont de Xem..urs. m. ^t 386 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1797 of them members of the Right in the legislative assembly, and some of them avowed royalists. Their position soon became less equiv- ocal and more aggressive by the addition of the elected of the year V. The royalists formed a formidable and active confederation, having its leaders, agents, budgets, and journals. They excluded republicans from the elections, influenced the masses, who always follow the most energetic party, and whose banner they mo- mentarily assume. They would not even admit patriots of the first epoch, and only elected decided counter-revolutionists or equivocal constitutionalists. The republican party was then placed in the government and in the army, the royalist party in the electoral assemblies and the councils. On the 1st Prairial, year V. (May 20), the two councils opened their sittings. From the beginning they manifested the spirit which actuated them. Pichegru, whom the royalists trans- ferred on to the new field of battle of the counter-revolution, was enthusiastically elected president of the council of the five hundred. Barbe-Marbois ^ had given him, with the same eagerness, the presi- dentship of the elder council. The legislative body proceeded to appoint a director to replace Le Tourneur, who on the 30th Floreal had been fixed on by ballot as the retiring member. Their choice fell on Barthelemy, the ambassador to Switzerland, whose mod- erate views and attachment to peace suited the councils and Europe, but who was scarcely adapted for the government of the republic, owing to his absence from France during all the revolution. These first hostilities against the directory and the conven- tional party were followed by more actual attacks. Its administra- tion and policy were now attacked without scruple. The directory had done all it had been able to do by a legal government in a situ- ation still revolutionary. It was blamed for continuing the war and for the disorder of the financial department. The legislative majority skillfully turned its attention to the public wants: it sup- ported the entire liberty of the press, which allowed journalists to attack the directory, and to prepare the way for another system ; it supported peace because it would lead to the disarming of the republic, and lastly, it supported economy. " Barbc-Marbois was secretary of the Frencli legation in the United States during the American Revohition. He rose to the position of minister of finance under Napoleon, who intrusted to him the negotiations cuhninating in the sale of Louisiana to the United States during the administration of Jefferson. T H E D I R E C T O R Y 387 1797 These demands were in one sense useful and national. France was weary and felt the need of all these things in order to complete its social restoration; accordingly, the nation half adopted the views of the royalists, but from entirely different motives. It saw with rather more anxiety the measures adopted by the councils relative to priests and emigrants. A pacification was desired ; but the nation did not wish that the conquered foes of the revolution should return triumphant. The councils passed the laws with regard to them with great precipitation. They justly abolished the sentence of transportation or imprisonment against priests for matters of religion or incivism ; but they wished to restore the ancient prerogatives of their form of worship ; to render Ca- tholicism, already reestablished, outwardly manifest by the use of bells, and to exempt priests from the oath of public functionaries. Camille Jordan, a young Lyonnese deputy, full of eloquence and courage, but professing unreasonable opinions, was the principal panegyrist of the clergy in the younger council. The speech which he delivered on this subject excited great surprise and violent oppo- sition. The little enthusiasm that remained was still entirely patriotic, and all were astonished at witnessing the revival of an- other enthusiasm, that of religion: the last century and the revolu- tion had made men entirely unaccustomed to it, and prevented them from understanding it. This was the moment when the old party revived its creed, introduced its language, and mingled them with the creed and language of the reform party, which had hitherto prevailed alone. The result was. as is usual with all that is unexpected, an unfavorable and ridiculous impression against Ca- mille Jordan, who was nicknamed " Jordan-Carillon. Jordan-les- Cloches." The attempt of the j^-otcctors of the clergy did not, however, succeed; and the council of five hundred did not venture as yet to pass a decree for tlie use of bells or to make the priests independent. After some hcsitatitMi llic moderate ]iarty joined the directorial partv and supported the civic oath with cries of " I iz'C la rcpuhliquc! " Meantime hostilities continued against tlie directory, espe- cially in the council of five hundred, wliich was more zealous and impatient than that of the ancients. All this greatly emboldened the royalist faction in the interior. The cinnner-revohitionary rc- ])risals against tlie patriots and those who had ac(|uirctl national property were renewed. I'^.migrant and dissentient priests returr.ed 388 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1797 in crowds, and being unable to endure anything savoring of the revolution, they did not conceal their projects for its overthrow. The directorial authority, threatened in the center and disowned in the departments, became wholly powerless. But the necessity of defense, the anxiety of all men who were devoted to the directory, and especially to the revolution, gave courage and support to the government. The aggressive progress of the councils brought their attachment to the republic into sus- picion; and the mass, which had at first supported, now forsook them. The constitutionalists of 1791 and the directorial party formed an alliance. The club of Salm, established under the auspices of this alliance, was opposed to the club of Clichy, which for a long time had been the rendezvous of the most influential members of the councils. The directory, while it had recourse to opinion, did not neglect its principal force the support of the troops. It brought near Paris several regiments of the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, commanded by Hoche. The constitutional radius of six myriametres (twelve leagues), which the troops could not legally pass, was violated; and the councils denounced this violation to the directory, which feigned an ignorance, wholly dis- believed, and made very weak excuses. The two parties were watching each other. One had its posts at the directory, at the club of Salm, and in the army ; the other, in the councils, at Clichy, and in the salons of the royalists. The mass were spectators. Each of the two parties was disposed to act in a revolutionary manner toward the other. An intermediate constitutional and conciliatory party tried to prevent the struggle, and to bring about a union, which was altogether impossible. Carnot was at its head : a few members of the younger council, directed by Thibaudeau, and a tolerably large number of the ancients, seconded his projects of moderation. Carnot, who at that period was the director of the constitution, with Barthelemy, who was the director of the legislature, formed a minority in the government. Carnot, very austere in his conduct and very obstinate in his views, could not agree either with Barras or with the imperi- ous Rewbel. To this opposition of character was then added difference of system. Barras and Rewbel, supported by La Re- veillerc, were not at all averse to a coup d'etat against the coun- cils, while Carnot wished strictly to follow the law. This great citizen, at each epoch of the revolution, had perfectly seen the mode 1797 T H E D I R E C T O 11 Y 389 of government which suited it, and his opinion immediately became a fixed idea. Under the committee of pubhc safety the dictator- ship was his fixed system, and under the directory, legal govern- ment. Recognizing no difference of situation, he found himself placed in an equivocal position ; he wished for peace in a moment of war; and for law, in a moment of coups d'etat. The councils, alarmed at the preparations of the directory, seemed to make the dismissal of a few ministers, in whom they placed no confidence, the price of reconciliation. These were Mer- lin de Douai, the minister of justice ; Lacroix, minister of foreign affairs, and Ramel, minister of finance. On the other hand, they desired to retain Petiet as minister of war, Benesech as minister of the interior, and Cochon de I'Apparent as minister of police. The legislative body in default of directorial power wished to make sure of the ministry. Far from falling in with this wish, which would have introduced the enemy into tlie government, Rcwbel, La Reveillere, and Barras dismissed the ministers protected by the councils, and retained the others. Benesech was replaced by Fran- gois de Xeufchateau, Petiet by IToche, and soon afterward by Scherer; Cochon de I'Apparent by Lenoir-Laroche, and Lenoir- Laroche, who had too little decision, by Sotin. Tallevrand like- wise formed part of this ministry. He had been struck off the list of emigrants from the close of the conventi(jnal session, as a revo- lutionist of 1 791, and his great sagacity, whicli always placed him with the party having the greatest ho\){t (if \icti')rv. made him at this period a directorial republican. lie lield tlie portfolio of Lacroix, and he contributed very much by his counsels and his daring to the events of Fructidor. War now appeared more and more inevitable. The directory did not wish for a reconciliation, which, at the best, would only have postponed its downfall and that of the rcjjublic to the elections of the year \'I. It caused tlireatening addresses against tlie coun- cils to be sent from the armies. I^onaparte had watched with an anxious eye the events which were preparing in Paris. Though intimate with Carnot. and corrcs])on(liiig directly witli him, he had sent Lavalette, his aide-de-camp, to furnish him with an account of tlic divisions in tlie governiiK'iit. and tlie intrigues and conspira- cies witli which it was beset. Bonaparte had priMiiiscd the directory the support of h.is army in case of actual danger. He sent .Vugereau to Paris with addresses from liis troops. 390 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1797 royalists ! " said the soldiers. " From the Adige to the Seine is but a step. Tremble ! Your iniquities are numbered ; and their recom- pense is at the end of our bayonets." " We have observed with indignation," said the staff, " the intrigues of royalty threatening liberty. By the manes of the heroes slain for our country, we have sworn implacable war against royalty and royalists. Such are our sentiments ; they are yours, and those of all patriots. Let the royalists show themselves, and their days are numbered." The councils protested, but in vain, against these deliberations of the army. General Richepanse, who commanded the troops arrived from the army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, stationed them at Ver- sailles, Meudon, and Vincennes. The councils had been assailants in Prairial, but as the success of their cause might be put off to the year VI., when it might take place without risk or combat, they kept on the defensive after Thermidor (July, 1797). They, however, then made every prep- aration for the contest; they gave orders that the constitutional circles should be closed, with a view to getting rid of the club of Salm ; they also increased the powers of the commission of inspec- tors of the hall, which became the government of the legislative body, and of which the two royalist conspirators, Willot and Pichegru, formed part. The guard of the councils, which was under the control of the directory, was placed under the immediate orders of the inspectors of the hall. At last, on the 17th Fructidor, the legislative body thought of procuring the assistance of the militia of Vendemiaire, and it decreed, on the motion of Pichegru, the formation of the national guard. On the following day, the 1 8th (September 4, 1797), this measure was to be executed, and the councils were by a decree to order the troops to remove to a distance. They had reached a point that rendered a new victory necessary to decide the great struggle of the revolution and the ancient system. The impetuous General Willot wished them to take the initiative, to decree the impeachment of the three directors, Barras, Rewbel, and La Reveillcre; to cause the other two to join the legislative body; if the government refused to obey, to sound the tocsin, and march with the old sectionaries against the direc- tory; to place Pichegru at the head of this legal insurrection, and to execute all these measures promptly, boldly, and at midday. Pichegru is said to have hesitated; and the opinion of tlie undecided prevailing, the tardy course of legal preparations was acU^pled. ,797 ^^"^^ BIRECTORY 391 It was not, however, the same with the directory. Barras, Rewbel, and La Reveillere determined instantly to attack Carnot, Barthelemy, and the legislative majority. The morning of the i8th was fixed on for the execution of this coup d'etat. During the night^ the troops encamped in the neighborhood of Paris entered the city under the command of Augereau. It was the design of the directorial triumvirate to occupy the Tuilerics with troops before the assembling of the legislative body, in order to avoid a violent expulsion ; to convoke tlie councils in the neighborhood of the Luxembourg, after having arrested their principal leaders, and by a legislative measure to accomplish a coup d'etat begun by force. It was in agreement with the minority of the couucils and relied on the approbation of the mass. The troops readied the II6tcl de Ville at one in the morning and spread themselves over the f|uavs, the bridges, and the Champs Elysees, and before long 12,000 men and forty pieces of cannon surrounded the Tuileries. At four o'clock the alarm-shot was fired, and Augereau presented himself at the gate of the Pont Tournant. The guard of the legislative body was under arms. The in- spectors of the hall, apprised the night before of the movement in preparation, had repaired to the national palace (the Tuileries) to defend the entrance. Ramel, commander oi the legislative guard, was devoted to the councils, and he had stationed his 800 grena- diers in the different avenues of the garden, sliut in by gates. But Pichegru, Willot, and Ramel could not resist the directory with this small and uncertain force. Augereau had no need even to force the passage of the Pont Tournant : as soon as he came before the grenadiers he cried out: "Are you republicans?" The latter lowered their arms and replied: " Vive Aw^ereau! Vive la diree- toire!" and joined him. Augereau traversed the garden, entered the hall of the councils, arrested Piclicgru, Willot, Ramel, and all the inspectors of the hall, and had them conveyed to the Temple. The members of the councils, convoked in liable by the inspec- tors, repaired in crowds to their place of sitting; but they were arrested or refused admittance by the armed force. Augereau an- nounced to them that the directory, urged by the necessity of de- fending the re])ul)lic from the conspirators among them, had assigned the Ode-on and the School of Medicine for the i)lace of their sittings. The greater part of the deputies present exclaimed 392 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1797 against military violence and the dictatorial usurpation, but they were obliged to yield. At six in the morning this expedition was terminated. The people of Paris on waking found the troops still under arms, and the walls placarded with proclamations announcing the discovery of a formidable conspiracy. The people were exhorted to observe order and confidence. The directory had printed a letter of Gen- eral Moreau, in which he announced in detail the plots of his pred- ecessor Pichegru with the emigrants, and another letter from the Prince de Conde to Imbert Colonies, a member of the ancients. The entire population remained quiet ; a mere spectator of an event brought about without the interference of parties, and by the assistance of the army only, it displayed neither approbation nor regret. The directory felt the necessity of legalizing, and more especially of terminating, this extraordinary act. As soon as the members of the five hundred and of the ancients were assembled at the Odeon and the School of Medicine in sufficient numbers to debate, they determined to sit permanently. A message from the directory announced the motive which had actuated all its meas- ures. " Citizens legislators," ran the message, " if the directory had delayed another day, the republic would have been given up to its enemies. The very place of your sittings was the rendezvous of the conspirators ; from there they yesterday distributed their plans and orders for the distribution of arms ; from there they cor- responded last night with their accomplices; lastly, from there, or in the neighborhood, they again endeavored to raise clandestine and seditious assemblies, which the police at this moment is em- ployed in dispersing. We should have compromised the public welfare, and that of its faithful representatives, had we suffered them to remain confounded with the foes of the country in the den of conspiracy." The younger council appointed a commission, composed of Sieyes, Poulain-Granpre, Villers, Chazal, and Boulay de la Meurthe, deputed to present a law of public safety. The law was a measure of ostracism ; only transportation was substituted for the scaffold in this second revolutionary and dictatorial period. The members of the five hundred sentenced to transportation were : Aubri, J. J. Ainie, Bayard, Blain, Boissy d'Anglas, Borne, Bourdon de I'Oise, Cadroy, Couchery% Delahaye, Delarue, Dou- mcre, Dumolard, Duplantier, Gibcrt, Desmolieres, Henri la Ri- ,797 ^^^ DIRECTORY 393 viere, Imbert Colomes, Camille Jordan, Jourdan (des Bouches du Rhone) Gall, La Carriere, Lemarchand-Gomicoiirt, Lemerer, Mer- san, Madier, Maillard, Noailles, Andre, Alac-Cartin, Pavie, Pas- toret, Pichegru, Polissard, Prairie-AIontaiid, Quatremere-Quency, Saladin, Simeon, VauvilHers, Vienot-Vaublan'c, Villaret-Joyeiisei Willot In the council of ancients: Barbc-Marbois, Dumas, Fer- raud-Vaillant, Lafond-Ladebat, Laumont, Muriare, Murinais, Paradis, Portalis, Rovere, Trongon-Ducoudray. In the directory: Carnot and Barthelemy. They also condemned the Abbe Broth ier. La Villeheurnois, Dunan, ex-minister of police Cochon ; ex-agent of the police Dossonville, Generals Miranda and Morgan: the journalist, Suard; the ex-conventionalist Alailhe; and the comman- der Ramel. A few of the proscribed succeeded in evading the decree of exile; Carnot was among the number. Most of them were transported to Cayenne, but a great many did not leave the Isle of Re. . The directory greatly extended this act of ostracism. The publishers of thirty-five journals were included in the sentence of transportation. It wished to strike at once all the avenues of the republic in the councils, in the press, in the electoral assemblies, the departments, in a word, wherever they had introduced themselves. The elections of forty-eight departments were annulled, the laws in favor of priests and emigrants were revoked, and soon after- ward the disappearance of all who liad swayed in the departments since the 9th Thermidor raised the spirits of the cast-down repub- lican party. The coup d'etat of h^uctidor was not ])urcly central : like the victory of Vendemiaire, it ruined the royalist party, which had only been repulsed by the preceding defeat. But. by again replacing the legal government by the dictatorship, it rendered another revolution necessary, of whicli we shall ])resently sj-)eak. We may say that on the i8th Fructidor of the Year V. it was necessary that tlie directory should triumph over the counter-revo- lution by decimating the councils; or that the councils should triumph over the republic by overthrowing tlie directory. The question thus stated, it remains to in(|uire. ilrst, if the (lirect(M-y could have conquered by any other means than a coup d'etat ; second, whether it misused its victory." The government had not the power of dissolving the cinuicils. * Upon the i8th Fructidor, see Lanfrcy, "Life of Xapolcon." vol. I. pp. 211-232; Fyfte, "Modern Europe," vol. 1. pp. 1.43-15J, 39* THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1797 At the termination of a revolution, whose object was to estabhsh the extreme Right, they were unable to invest a secondary author- ity with the control of the sovereignty of the people, and in certain cases to make the legislature subordinate to the directory. This concession of an experimental policy not existing, what means remained to the directory of driving the enemy from the heart of the state? No longer able to defend the revolution by virtue of the law, it had no resource but the dictatorship; but in having recourse to that, it broke the conditions of its existence ; and while saving the revolution, it soon fell itself. As for its victory, it sullied it with violence by endeavoring to make it too complete. The sentence of transportation was ex- tended to too many victims ; the petty passions of men mingled with the defense of the cause, and the directory did not manifest that reluctance to arbitrary measures which is the only justification of coups d'etat. To attain its object it should have exiled the leading conspirators only ; but it rarely happens that a party does not abuse the dictatorship, and that, possessing the power, it believes not in the dangers of indulgence. The defeat of the i8th Fructidor was the fourth of the Royalist party ; two took place in order to dis- possess it of power, those of July 14 and August 10; two to pre- vent its resuming it, those of the 13th Vendemiaire and i8th Fructidor. This repetition of powerless attempts and protracted reverses did not a little contribute to the submission of this party under the consulate and the empire. Chapter XV FALL OF THE DIRECTORY SEPTEMBER 5, 1797-NOVEMBER 10, 1799 THE chief result of the i8th Fructiclor was a return, with slight mitigation, to the revolutionary government. The two ancient privileged classes were again excluded from society; the dissentient priests were again banished. The Chouans and former fugitives, who occupied the field of battle in the depart- ments, abandoned it to the old republicans : those who had formed part of the military household of the Bourbons, the superior officers of the crown, the members of the parlements, commanders of the order of the Floly Ghost and Saint Louis, the Knights of Malta, all those who had protested against the abolition of nobility, and who had preserved its titles, were to quit the territory of the re- public. The ci-devant nobles, or those ennobled, could only enjoy the rights of citizens, after a term of seven years, and after having gone through a sort of apprenticeship as Frenchmen. This party by desiring sway restored the dictatorship. At this period the directory attained its maximum of power; for some time it had no enemies in arms. Delivered from all internal opposition, it imposed the continental peace on Austria by the Treaty of Campo-Formio (October, 1797), and on the empire by the congress of Rastatt. The provisions of the Treaty of Campo-Formio included the following : ( i ) Austria ceded Belgium to France. (2) In return for this cession France gave Austria the conquered territory of Venice, with Istria and Dalmatia, but retain- ing" (v3) t^i^ Ionian Islands. (4) Austria recognized the Cisalpine republic, and (5) agreed to the cession of the left bank of the Rhine from Basel to Andernach with free French navigation of the river. (6) A congress to be called at Rastatt was to settle the details of this peace. It was understood, just as in the treaty of 1795, that the losing Rhine princes were to receive indemnification in Germany for secularization, and there was a secret agreement that France was to use her influence at the conference to secure to Austria Salzburg and the Bavarian Tyrol, in order to increase 39j S96 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1797 Austria's new acquisitions of territory as much as those of Prussia and Russia through the partition of Poland. The events in Italy gave a new face to things. To the just demands and legitimate reprisals made in the beginning of the war were added the conquest and exploitation of a conquered country. By arbitrarily distributing the territory of Venice, Istria, and Dal- matia, the directory set the bad example of this traffic in nations since but too much followed. Besides, the Austrian dominion would sooner or later extend in Italy, through this imprudent ces- sion of Venice, To France, war had become both a means of exist- ence and a source of profit. The armies increased the depleted resources of the directory and hence had acquired an enormous influence in the state. Military service, by reason of its profits and its excitement, had ceased to be the fulfillment of a patriotic duty, and had become a profession all too cynically pursued. The corre- spondence between the directory^ and Napoleon affords ample evi- dence of the truth of this statement. The coalition of 1792 and 1793 was dissolved; England was the only remaining belligierent power. The cabinet of London was not at all disposed to cede to France, which it had attacked, in the hope of weakening it, Belgium, Luxembourg, Porentruy, Nice, Savoy, the protectorate of Piedmont, Genoa, Milan, and Holland. But finding it necessary to appease the English opposition, and reorganize its means of attack, it made propositions of peace ; it sent Lord Malmesbury as plenipotentiary, first to Paris, then to Lille. But the offers of Pitt not being sincere, the directory did not allow itself to be deceived by his diplomatic stratagems. The negotiations were twice broken off, and war continued between the two powers. While England negotiated at Lille, she was preparing at St, Petersburg the triple alliance, or second coalition.^ ^England was the soul of the coalition. Upon the Continent she supported the war by subsidies furnished to the enemies of France. On sea she blockaded the French ports and preyed upon French commerce, besides seizing the French colonies of the Antilles, and the Dutch colonies in the East Indies ; after the naval defeats of St. Vincent (February 14, 1797), and Camperdown (October 11. 1797) French sea-power was annihilated, and the directory was forced to have recourse to other means of retaliation. The most notable of these was French encouragement of the rebellion in Ireland between 1796 and 1798. In December, 1796, Iloche made an unsuccessful attempt to land in Ireland, being prevented by contrary winds. A new attempt was made in 1797, when 1500 men were landed in Ireland under General Humbert ; but within twelve days Humbert was obliged to capitulate, and the whole Irish enterprise ended in failure (September 3). FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 397 1797 The directory, on their side, without finances, without any party in the interior, having no support but the army, and no emi- nence save that derived from the continuation of its victories, was not in a condition to consent to a general peace. It had increased the pubhc discontent by the establishment of certain taxes and the reduction of the debt to a consolidated third, payable in specie only, which had ruined the fundholders. It became necessary to maintain itself by war. The immense body of soldiers could not be dis- banded without danger. Besides, being deprived of its power and being placed at the mercy of Europe, the directory had attempted a thing never done without creating a shock, except in times of great tranquillity, of great ease, abundance, and employment. The direc- tory was driven by its position to the invasion of Switzerland and the expedition into Egypt. Bonaparte had then returned to Paris. The conqueror of Italy and the pacificator of the Continent was received with enthusi- asm, constrained on the part of the directory, but deeply felt by the people. Honors were accorded him never yet obtained by any gen- eral of the republic. A patriotic altar was prepared in the Luxem- bourg, and he passed under an arch of standards won in Italy on his way to the triumphal ceremony in his honor. He was harangued by Barras, president of the directory, who, after congratulating him on his victories, invited him to crown so noble a life by a con- quest which the great country owed to its insulted dignity. This was the conquest of England. Everything seemed in preparation for a descent, while the invasion of Egypt was really the enterprise in view. Such an expedition suited both Bonaparte and the directory. The independent conduct of that general in Italy, his ambition, which, from time to time, burst through his studied simplicity, rendered his presence dangerous. He, on his side, feared by his inactivity to compromise the already high opinion entertained of his talents : for men always require from those whom they make great more tlian they are a1)le to perform. Thus, while the direc- tory saw in the expedition to Egypt the means of keeping a for- midable general at a distance, and a prospect of attacking the English by India, Bonaparte saw in it a gigantic conception, an employment suited to his taste, and a new means of astonishing mankind. Napoleon's Egv'ptian campaign, like the futile attack upon Ireland, was made with the intention of overcoming the sea- 398 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1797 pKDwer of England by indirect means. Fantastic as the scheme seems at first glance, it is an error so to consider it, for it really has a direct connection with the traditional policy of France in the eastern Mediterranean and in Asia. In the first place, there was hope of founding in Egypt a new French colony, and through it entirely to dominate the eastern Mediterranean, where for cen- turies France had had so many interests. Secondly, there was a possibility, in this event, of Egypt being made the basis of opera- tions against the English in India, not only in a military way, but in a commercial as well. Even if this latter portion of the project should prove unsuccessful. Napoleon felt sure, owing to the weak condition of the Turkish empire, of being able to flank Europe in the southeast. Those who so desire may attach whatever im- portance they wish to the idea ascribed to Napoleon that he was emulous of the career of Alexander the Great. He sailed from Toulon on the 30th Floreal, in the year VI. (May 19, 1798), with a fleet of four hundred sail and a portion of the army of Italy ; he steered for Malta, of which he made himself master, and thence to Egypt.^ The directory, who violated the neutrality of the Ottoman Porte in order to attack the English, had already violated that of Switzerland in order to expel the emigrants from its territory. French opinions had already penetrated into Geneva and the Pays de Vaud; but the policy of the Swiss confederation was counter- revolutionary, from the influence of the aristocracy of Berne. They had driven from the cantons all the Swiss who had shown them- selves partisans of the French republic. Berne was the headquar- ters of the emigrants, and it was there that all the plots against the revolution were formed. The directory complained, but did not receive satisfaction. The Vaudois, placed by old treaties under the protection of France, invoked her help against the tyranny of Berne. This appeal of the Vaudois, its own grievances, its desire to extend the directorial republican system to Switzerland, much more than the temptation of seizing the little amount of treasure in Berne, as some have reproached it v/ith, determined the di- rectory. Some conferences took place, which led to no result, and " In sailing from Toulon Napoleon had been fortunate in avoiding the fleet of Nelson, which was on watch for his own, but which had been obliged to put to sea on account of heavy weather. Malta was the property of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and was occupied on June lO. The French fleet dropped anchor in Aboukir Bay on July 2. FALL OF THE DIRECTORY S99 1798 war began. The Swiss defended themselves with much courage and obstinacy, and hoped to resuscitate the times of their ancestors, but eventually succumbed. Geneva was united to France, and Switzerland exchanged its ancient constitution for that of the year in. From that time two parties existed in the confederation, one of which was for France and the revolution, the other for the counter-revolution and Austria. Switzerland ceased to be a com- mon barrier, and became the high road of Europe. The portion of Switzerland annexed to France made two de- partments: Mulhausen and the bishopric of Basel formed the department of Mont Terrible; the canton of Geneva was formed into the department of Leman. This annexation was made between April and August, 1798. In the conquest of Switzerland the di- rectory had made a pretext of an insurrection of the Vaudois against the aristocratic senate of Berne. A democratic revolution was urged on in Zurich, Lucerne, and Schaffhausen, which resulted in a revolutionary diet being convened which promulgated a demo- cratic constitution modeled upon that of France on April 12, 1798. Switzerland has itself to blame, in some degree, however, for this overthrow. This revolution had been followed by that of Rome. General Duphot was killed at Rome in a riot; and in punishment of this assassination, which the pontifical government had not interfered to prevent, Rome was changed into a republic. At Rome Rossignol and other Jacobins, secretly backed by the French minister, Joseph Bonaparte, instigated the Roman population, already discontented owing to the heavy taxes imposed upon them as the result of the Treaty of Tolentino, to rebellion. General Duphot was killed in a riot on December 28, 1797. This was a pretext for intervention. The directory sent General Bertliier to Rome with 18,000 men, who proclaimed the Roman republic on l^'ebruary 15, 1798. The new republican government was an absurd revival of classical forms. The directors were called consuls, the divisions of the Roman legislature were known as the senate and the tribunate, and the civil and criminal courts of justice respectively known as the proctorship and the quaestorship. A demand had been made upon the Pope to renounce his temporal power, and when this was refused the Vatican was occupied by I'rcnch troops, the Pope him- self being exiled beyond the Alps to Valence, where he died in the next year. All this combined to complete the system of the direc- 400 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1798 tory and make it preponderant in Europe; it was now at the head of the Helvetian, Batavian, Ligurian, Cisalpine, and Roman re- publics, all constructed on the same model. The conquest of Belgium had been a stepping-stone to that of Holland. During the severe winter of 1794 Pichegru had been able to drag his artillery along the frozen canals of Holland and had entered Amsterdam on January 20, 1795. The capture of the Dutch fleet off the Texel followed. The stadtholder, William V., fled to Eng- land, whereupon the revolutionary party in Holland proclaimed the Batavian republic and signed a treaty of alliance with France on May 16, 1795. This treaty guaranteed France the possession of Dutch Flanders, with Maestricht, the right of maintaining garri- sons at important points, free navigation of the rivers of Holland and access to its ports, and a war indemnity of one hundred millions. But while the directory extended its influence abroad, it was again menaced by internal parties. The elections of Floreal in the year VI. (May, 1798) were by no means favorable to the directory; the returns were quite at variance with those of the year V. Since the i8th Fructidor the withdrawal of the counter-revolutionists had restored all the influ- ence of the exclusive republican party, which had reestablished the clubs under the name of Constitutional Circles. This party domi- nated in the electoral assemblies, which, most unusually, had to nominate 437 deputies, 298 for the council of five hundred, 139 for that of the ancients. When the elections drew near the direc- tory exclaimed loudly against the anarchists. But its proclamations having been unable to prevent democratic returns, it decided upon annulling them in virtue of a law by which the councils, after the 18th Fructidor, had granted it the power of judging the operations of the electoral assemblies. It invited the legislative body by a message to appoint a commission of five members for that purpose. On the 22d Floreal the elections were for the most part annulled. At this period the directorial party struck a blow at the ex- treme republicans, as nine months before it had aimed at the royalists. The directory wished to maintain the political balance which had been the characteristic of its first two years ; but its position was much changed. Since its last coup d'etat it could no longer be an impartial government, because it was no longer a constitu- tional government. With these pretensions of isolation, it dis- FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 401 1798 satisfied everyone. Yet it lived on in this way till the elections of the year VIL It displayed much activity, but an activity of a nar- row and shuffling nature. Merlin de Douai and Treilhard, who had replaced Carnot and Barthelemy, were two political lawyers. Rewbel had in the highest degree the courage without having the enlarged views of a statesman. La Reveillere was too much occu- pied with the act of the theophilanthropists for a government leader. As to Barras, he continued his dissipated life and his direc- torial regency; his palace was the rendezvous of gamesters, women of gallantry, and stock-jobbers of every kind. The administration of the directors betrayed their character, but more especially their position, to the embarrassments of which was added war with all Europe. While the republican plenipotentiaries were yet negotiating for peace with the empire at Rastatt, the second coalition began the campaign. The Treaty of Campo-Formio had only been for Austria a suspension of arms. England had no difficulty in gain- ing her to a new coalition; with the exception of Spain and Prussia, most of the European powers formed part of it. The subsidies of the British cabinet, and the attraction of the west, decided Russia ; the Porte and the states of Barbary acceded to it because of the invasion of Egypt; the empire, in order to recover the left bank of the Rhine, and the petty princes of Italy, that they might destroy the new republics. At Rastatt they were discussing the treaty relative to the empire, the concession of the left bank of the Rhine, the navigation of that river, and the demolition of some fortresses on the right bank, when the Russians entered Germany, and the Austrian army began to move. The French plenipotentiaries, taken by surprise, received orders to leave in twenty- four hours; they obeyed immediately, and set out, after having ol^tained safe con- duct from the generals of the enemy. At a short distance from Rastatt they were stopped by some Austrian hussars, who, having satisfied themselves as to their names and titles, assassinated them ; Bonnier and Riberjot were killed; Jean Debry was left for dead. This unheard-of violation of the right of nations, this premeditated assassination of three men invested with a sacred character, excited general horror. The legislative body declared war, and declared it with indignation against the governments on whom the guilt of this enormous crime fell. Plostilities had already commenced in Italy and on the Rhine. 402 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1798 The directory, apprised of the march of the Russian troops, and suspecting the intentions of Austria, caused the councils to pass a law for recruiting. The military conscription placed 200,000 young men at the disposal of the republic. This law, which was attended with incalculable consequences, was the result of a more regular order of things. Levies en masse had been the revolution- ary service of the country; the conscription became the legal service.^ The most impatient of the powers, those which formed the advanced guard of the coalition, had already commenced the at- tack. The King of Naples had advanced on Rome, and the King of Sardinia had raised troops and threatened the Ligurian republic. As they had not sufficient power to sustain the shock of the French armies, they were easily conquered and dispossessed. The Aus- trian General Mack, whom the military experts of the coalition regarded as the ablest commander in Europe, had forced the French to evacuate Rome on November 29, 1798, but receiving immediate reinforcements. General Championet recovered the city on Decem- ber 15, and having reestablished French rule there marched upon Naples, which was easily taken and the Parthenopean republic was proclaimed January 23, 1799. General Joubert occupied Turin, and the whole of Italy was in the hands of the French when the new campaign began. The coalition was superior to the republic in effective force and in preparation. It attacked it by the three great openings of Italy, Switzerland, and Holland. It planned to furnish 360,000 men, of which 240,000 were contributed by Austria, being thus distributed : 85,000 commanded by the Archduke Charles in Bavaria and upon the upper Danube; 25,000 under Marshal Hotze in the Vorarlberg; 45,000 under Bellegarde in the Tyrol; 75,000 with ^Marshal Kray on the banks of the Adige River. In addition there were 40,000 Russians under Suvarov, whose instructions were to unite with Kray ; 30,000 with Korsakov, who was to occupy the Lake of Con- " The law of the conscription was voted on September 5, 1798. in compliance with a report rendered by Jourdan. Every Frenchman between twenty and twenty-five years of age was required to do military service. The five years formed five classes. There was no exemption except for physical infirmity. This is the third form practiced with reference to the recruiting of the French army since the revolution began. In 1791-1792 there were voluntary enrollments. In 1793 the process was technically requisition, not conscription. Only in 1799 was conscription adopted. The first call was for 200,000 men. FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 403 1799 Stance, while 30,000 English and Russians were to operate in Hol- land and 20,000 English and Russians in south Italy. The directory- put 170,000 men in the field, divided into five armies: the army of Holland, under General Brune, 10,000 men; the army of Germany, under Jourdan, 40,000; the army of Massena in Switzerland, 30,000; that of Italy, under Scherer, 50,000; and that of Naples, under Macdonald, 30,000. The line of battle was 1500 miles long. A strong Austrian army debouched in the duchy of Mantua, and was soon joined by the bizarre and hitherto victorious Suvarov. Scherer was repulsed near Verona and at Legnano (April 5, 1799). In his retreat he abandoned the lines of the Mincio and the Oglio, and retired behind the Adda in order to protect Milan. IMoreau replaced Scherer, and was beaten at Cassano and forced to take refuge in the territory between the Po and the Tanaro. He re- treated toward Genoa in order to keep the barrier of the Apennines and to join the army of Naples, commanded by Macdonald, which was overpowered at Trebbia. The battle of the Trebbia was a three-days' engagement (June 17-19, 1799), in which the French lost half of their army, or 15,000 men. Nevertheless, by frightful exertions, Macdonald succeeded in crossing the Apennines and unit- ing the fragments of his army to that of Moreau in Genoa. The Austro-Russians then directed their chief forces upon Switzerland. Jourdan had crossed the Rhine on March i and pushed into the region of the upper Danube, but had suffered a de- feat on March 22 at the hands of the Archduke Charles, at Ostrach and three days later another at Stockach, which forced him to re- cross the Rhine. At the same time Massena had attempted to drive the Austrian out of Switzerland, and had penetrated the val- ley of the Inn River, but was forced to retire upon the appearance of the victorious Archduke Charles, and was not even able to hold Zurich, which was evacuated early in June. The Duke of York had landed in north Holland on August 26, and after seizing the Dutch fleet, had beaten Brune on the Zip, September 10. The small republics which protected France were invaded, and a few more victories would have enabled the confederates to penetrate even to the scene of tlic revolution. In the midst of these military disasters and the discontent of parties the election of the I'loreal in the Year VII. (May, 1799) took place; they were republican, like those of the preceding year. The directory was no longer strong enough to contend with public 404. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1799 misfortunes and the rancor of parties. The retirement of Rewbel, who was replaced by Sieyes, caused it to lose the only man able to face the storm, and brought into its bosom the most avowed antag- onists of this compromised and worn-out government. Hitherto the victories of the armies had obscured the rottenness of the direc- tory, but now that defeat was staring France in the face the direc- tory was discredited. After the elections of Floreal, the directory, feeling that " coming events cast their shadows before," proposed an annullment of a portion of the elections. The proposal was met by the demands of the moderate party and extreme republicans for an account of the internal and external situation of the re- public. The councils sat permanently. Barras abandoned his col- leagues. The fury of the councils was directed solely against Treilhard, Merlin, and La Reveillere, the last supports of the old directory. They deposed Treilhard because an interval of a year had not elapsed between his legislative and his directoral functions, as the constitution required. The ex-minister of justice, Gohier, was immediately chosen to replace him. The orators of the councils then warmly attacked Merlin and La Reveillere, whom they could not dismiss from the directory. The threatened directors sent a justificatory message to the councils and proposed peace. On the 30th Prairial the republican Bertrand (du Calvados) ascended the tribune, and after examining the offers of the directors exclaimed : " You have proposed union ; and I pro- pose that you reflect if you yourselves can still preserve your func- tions. If you love the republic you will not hesitate to decide. You are incapable of doing good; you will never have the confidence of your colleagues, that of the people or that of the representatives, without which you cannot cause the laws to be executed. I know that, thanks to the constitution, there already exists in the directory a majority which enjoys the confidence of the people and that of the national representation. Why do you hesitate to introduce unanimity of desires and principles between the two first authorities of the republic? You have not even the confidence of those vile flatterers who have dug your political tomb. Finish your career by an act of devotion, which good republican hearts will be able to appreciate."' 2^1erlin and La Reveillere, deprived of the support of the gov- ernment by the retirement of Rewbel, the dismissal of Treilhard, and the desertion of Barras, urged by the councils and by patriotic FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 405 1799 motives, yielded to circumstances and resigned the directorial au- thority. This victory gained by the republican and moderate par- ties combined turned to the profit of both. The former introduced General Moulins into the directory ; the latter Roger Ducos. The 30th Prairial (June 18), which witnessed the breaking up of the old government of the year III., was an act of reprisal on the part of the councils against the directory for the i8th Fructidor and the 226. Floreal. At this period the two great powers of the state had each in turn violated the constitution : the directory by decimating the legislature, the legislature by expelling the directory. This form of government, which every partv complained of, could not have a protracted existence, Sieyes after the success of the 30th Prairial labored to destroy what yet remained of the government of the year III., in order to establish the legal system on another plan. He was whimsical and systematic; but he had the faculty of judging surely of situations. He reentered upon the scene of the revolution at a singular epoch with the intention of strengthening it by a definitive constitution. After having cooperated in the principal changes of 1789 by his motion of June 17, which transformed the states-general into a national assembly, and by his plan of internal organization, which substituted departments for provinces, he had remained passive and silent during the subsequent interA^al. He waited till the period of public defense should again give place to institutions. Appointed under the directory to the embassy at Berlin, the neutrality of Prus- sia was attributed to his efforts. On his return he accepted the office of director, hitherto refused by him because Rewbel was leaving the government, and he thought that parties were suffi- ciently weary to undertake a definitive pacification and the establish- ment of liberty. With this object he placed his reliance on Roger Ducos in the directory, on the council of ancients in the legislature, and without on the mass of moderate men and the middle class, who after desiring laws merely as a novelty now desired repose a^ a novelty. This party sought for a strong and secure government, which should have no past, no enmities, and which thenceforward might satisfv all opinions and interests. As all that had been done from July 14 till the 9th Thermidor by the people in connection with a part of the government had been done since the 13th Ven- demiaire by tlic soldiers, Sieyes was in want of a general. He cast his eyes upon Joubert, who was put at the head of the army of 406 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1799 Italy, in order that he might gain by his victories and by the dehver- ance of Italy a great political importance. The constitution of the year III. was, however, still supported by the two directors, Gohier and Moulins, the council of five hun- dred, and without by the party of Manege. The decided republi- cans had formed a club that held its sittings in that hall where had sat the first of the assemblies. The new club, formed from the remains of that of Salm, before the i8th Fructidor; of that of the Pantheon, at the beginning of the directory ; and of the old society of the Jacobins, enthusiastically professed republican principles, but not the democratic opinions of the inferior class. Each of these parties also had a share in the ministry, which had been renewed at the same time as the directory. Cambaceres had the department of justice ; Quinette, the home department ; Reinhard, who had been temporarily placed in office during the ministerial interregnum of Talleyrand, was minister of foreign affairs; Robert Lindet was minister of finance, Bourbon (de Vatry) of the navy, Bernadotte, of war; Bourguignon, soon afterward replaced by Fouche (of Nantes), of police. This time Barras remained neutral between the two divisions of the legislature, of the directory, and of the ministry. Seeing that matters were coming to a more considerable change than that of the 30th Prairial, he, an ex-noble, thought that the decline of the republic would lead to the restoration of the Bourbons, and he treated with the pretender, Louis XVIII. It seems that in nego- tiating the restoration of the monarchy by his agent, David Mon- nier, he was not forgetful of himself. Barras espoused nothing from conviction and always sided with the party which had the greatest chance of victory. A democratic member of the Mountain on May 31, a reactionist Mountainist on the 9th Thermidor, a revolutionary director against the loyalists on the i8th Fructidor, extreme republican director against his old colleagues on the 30th Prairial, he now became a royalist director against the government of the year III. The faction disconcerted by the i8th Fructidor and the peace of the continent had also gained courage. The military successes of the new coalition, the law of compulsory loans and that of host- ages, which had compelled every emigrant family to give guaran- tees to government, had made the royalists of the south and west again take up arms. They reappeared in bands, which daily became FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 407 1799 more formidable, and revived the petty but disastrous v^^arfare of the Chouans. They awaited the arrival of the Russians and looked forward to the speedy restoration of the monarchy. This was a moment of fresh competition with every party. Each aspired to the inheritance of the dying constitution, as they had done at the close of the convention. In France people are warned by a kind of political odor that a government is dying, and all parties rush to be in at the death. Fortunately for the republic, the war changed its aspect on the two principal frontiers of the Upper and Lower Rhine, The allies, after having acquired Italy, wished to enter France by Switzerland and Holland ; but Generals Massena and Brune arrested their hith- erto victorious progress. Massena advanced against Korsakov and Suvarov, During tw^elve days of great combinations and consec- utive victories, hastening in turns from Constance to Zurich, he repelled the efforts of the Russians, forced them to retreat, and dis- organized the coalition, Brune won the victories of Bergen (Sep- tember 19), Alkmaar (October 2), and Castricum (October 6). The Duke of York, whose army had been reduced by disease and battle, capitulated on October 18. French fortune was favored by dissension among the allies. Paul I. of Russia had no mind to have his. army used as a catspaw of Vienna, and neither the Austrian of- ficers nor soldiers got along well with Russians. The Austrian government tried to mend matters by arranging that the Russians should have a clear field in Switzerland, leaving Italy and Ger- many to its own armies. It was a false move, militarily speaking, by which ]\Iassena profited. His position was a very precarious one, for he had been caught between the army of the Archduke Charles on the north and the united armies of Korsakov and Suvarov on the east and south. But the new order from Vienna forbade Charles to move farther in Switzerland, and Massena was able to slip away be- fore the Russians could overtake him. When Korsakov made the attempt to capture the French in Zurich he lost 13,000 men, a good one-half of his troops (September 25), and was obliged to beat a hasty retreat to the Rliinc, so hasty indeed that he abandoned his baggage and one hundred pieces of artillery. Meantime Suvarov had crossed the Saint Gbthard in the hope of making a flank move- ment against the French, whom he expected to find hard pressed by the Russians, but the ill luck of his lieutenant embarrassed him, and he was forced to fight a costly, though not losing, battle on Septem- 408 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1799 ber 26. At last, after fearful privations and having suffered enor- mous losses, Suvarov succeeded in making his way into Bavaria. But furious at the discomfiture of his best general, Paul I. withdrew from the coalition. France had lost Italy, but still retained Switzer- land and Holland, and the peril of invasion had vanished. The army of Italy alone had been less fortunate. It had lost its general, Joubert, killed at the battle of Novi while leading a charge on the Austro-Russians. But this frontier, which was at a distance from the center of action, despite the defeat of Novi, was not crossed, and Championet ably defended it. It was soon to be repassed by the republican troops, who, after each resumption of arms, having been for a moment beaten, soon regained their superiority and recommenced their victories. Europe by giving additional exercise to the military power, by its repeated attacks, rendered it each time more triumphant. But at home nothing was changed. Divisions, discontent, and anxiety were the same as before. The struggle between the mod- erate republicans and the extreme republicans had become more determined. Sieyes pursued his projects against the latter. In the Champs de Mars on August 10 he assailed the Jacobins. Lucien Bonaparte, who had much influence in the council of five hundred, from his character, his talents, and the military importance of the conqueror of Italy and Egypt, drew in that assembly a fearful pic- ture of the reign of terror, and said that France was threatened with its return. About the same time Sieyes caused Bernadotte to be dismissed, and Fouche, in concert with him, closed the meetings of the Manege. The multitude, to whom it is only necessary to pre- sent the phantom of the past to inspire it with fear, sided with the moderate party, dreading the return of the reign of terror ; and the extreme republicans failed in their endeavor to declare the country in danger, as they had done at the close of the legislative assembly. But Sieyes, after having lost Joubert, sought for a general who could enter into his designs and who would protect the republic without becoming its oppressor. Hoche had been dead more than a year. Moreau had given rise to suspicion by his equivocal con- duct to the directory before the i8th Fructidor and by the sudden denunciation of his friend Pichegru, whose treason he had kept secret for a whole year ; Massena was not a political general ; Berna- dotte and Jourdan were devoted to the party of the Manege ; Sieyes was compelled to postpone his scheme for want of a suitable agent. FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 409 1799 Bonaparte had learned in the east from his brother Lucien and a few other friends the state of affairs in France and the dedine of the directorial government. His expedition had been brilliant, but without results. The Battle of the Pyramids was fought July 21, 1798, and was followed by the French occupation of Cairo. Desaix pursued Mourad-Bey southward and defeated him at the battle of Sediman, October 7, but he managed to escape into Upper Egypt. Napoleon left Egypt late in January, 1799, with 13,000 men, and after traversing the Mediterranean seaboard began the siege of Saint Jean d'Acre on March 19. For sixty days the combined troops of England and Turkey resisted every effort of the French. On May 20 Napoleon gave it up. It was the second siege and the last he ever attempted, and was of decisive importance. He never forgot the humiliation he experienced at Acre, and was wont to allude to it as " that miserable hole which came between me and my destiny.""* The failure of the siege of Saint Jean d'Acre compelled Na- poleon to return to his first conquest. There, after defeating an Ottoman army on the coast of Aboukir, so fatal to the French fleet the preceding year,^ when Nelson had gained the victory in the Bat- tle of the Nile, he decided on leaving that land of exile and fame in order to turn the new crisis in France to his own elevation. Napoleon had been left for months in the east without information or instructions from the directory, too much engaged in its own affairs to watch over the interests of its general. He now learned of the political situation in France through some French newspapers which were sent to him by Sir Sidney Smith, the English com- mander, during an exchange of prisoners. He left General Kleber to command the army of the east and crossed the Mediterranean, then covered with English ships, in a frigate. He disembarked at Frejus on the 7th Vcndemiaire, year VHI. (October 9, 1799), nineteen days after the battle of Bergen, gained by Brune over the Anglo-Russians under the Duke of York, and fourteen days after that of Zurich, gained by ]\lassena over the Austro-Russians under Korsakov and Suvarov. Fie traversed France, from the shore of the ^Mediterranean to Paris, in triumph. His expedition, almost fabulous, had struck the public mind with surprise and had * For the famous massacre of the prisoners at Jaffa by Napoleon consult Ropes, " Napoleon," and Lanfrey, " Life of Napoleon," who give opposite views. "' Fought on August i, 1798. 410 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1799 Still more increased the great renown he had acquired by the con- quest of Italy. These two enterprises had raised him above all the other generals of the republic. The distance of the theater upon which he had fought enabled him to begin his career of independ- ence and authority. A victorious general, an acknowledged and obeyed negotiator, a creator of republics, he had treated all interests with skill, all creeds with moderation. Preparing afar off his ambi- tious destiny, he had not made himself subservient to any system, and had managed all parties so as to work his elevation with their assent. He had entertained this idea of usurpation since his vic- tories in Italy, On the i8th Fructidor, had the directory been con- quered by the councils, he purposed marching against the latter with his army and seizing the protectorate of the republic. After the 1 8th Fructidor, finding the directory too powerful and the inactivity of the continent too dangerous for him, he accepted the expedition to Egypt, that he might not fall and might not be forgotten. At the news of the disorganization of the directory, on the 30th Prai- rial, he repaired with haste to the scene of events. His arrival excited the enthusiasm of the moderate masses of the nation. He received general congratulations and every party contended for his favor. Generals, directors, deputies, and even the republicans of the Manege waited on and tried to sound him. Fetes and banquets were given in his honor. His manners were grave, simple, cool, and observing; he had already a tone of con- descending familiarity and involuntary habits of command. Not- withstanding his want of earnestness and openness, he had an air of self-possession, and it was easy to read in him an afterthought of conspiracy. Without uttering his design, he allowed it to be guessed; because a thing must always be expected in order to be accomplished. He could not seek supporters in the republicans of the Manege, as they neither wished for a coup d'etat nor for a dic- tator; and Sieyes justly feared that he was too ambitious to fall in with his constitutional views; accordingly Sieyes hesitated to open his mind to him, but, urged by their mutual friends, they at length met and concerted together. On the 15th Brumaire they determined on their plan of attack on the constitution of the year III. Sieyes undertook to prepare the councils by the commissions of inspectors, who placed unlimited confidence in him. Bonaparte was to gain the generals and the different corps of troops stationed in Paris, who displayed much enthusiasm for him and much attachment to FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 411 1799 his person. They agreed to convoke an extraordinary meeting of the moderate members of the councils, to describe the public danger to the ancients, and by urging the ascendency of Jacobinism to demand the removal of the legislative body to Saint Cloud, and the appointment of General Bonaparte to the command of the armed force as the only man able to save the country ; and then, by means of the new military power, to obtain the dismissal of the direc- tory and the temporary dissolution of the legislative body. The enterprise was fixed for the morning of the i8th Brumaire (No- vember 9). During these three days the secret was faithfully kept. Barras, Moulins, and Gohier, who fonned the majority of the directory, of which Gohier was then president, might have frustrated the coup d'etat of the conspirators by forestalling them, as on the i8th Fruc- tidor. But they gave them credit for hopes only, and not for any decided projects. On the morning of the i8th the members of the ancients were convoked in an unusual way by the inspectors; they repaired to the Tuileries, and the debate was opened about seven in the morning under the presidentship of Lemercir. Cornudet, Le Brun, and Fargues, the three most influential conspirators in the council, drew a most alarming picture of the state of public affairs, protesting that the Jacobins were flocking in crowds to Paris from all the departments, that they wished to reestablish the revolu- tionary government, and that a reign of terror would once more desolate the republic if the council had not the courage and wisdom to prevent its return. Another conspirator, Regnier de la Meurthe, required of the ancients, already moved, that in virtue of the right conferred on them by the constitution they should transfer the legis- lative body to Saint Cloud, and depute Bonaparte, nominated by them to the command of the seventeenth military division, to super- intend the removal, ^^'hether all the members of the council were accomplices of this maneuver, or whether they were terrified by so hasty convocation and by speeches so alarming, they instantly granted what the conspirators required. Bonaparte awaited witli impatience the result of this delibera- tion at his house in the Rue Chantereine ; he was surrounded by generals, bv Lefevre. the commander of the guard of the directory, and bv three regiments of cavalry whicli he was about to review. The decree of the council of ancients was passed about eight and brought to him at half-past eight by a state messenger. He received 412 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1799 tlie congratulations of all around him; the officers drew their swords as a sign of fidelity. He put himself at their head and they marched to the Tuileries; he appeared at the bar of the ancients, took the oath of fidelity, and appointed as his lieutenant Lefevre, chief of the directorial guard. This was, however, only a beginning of success. Bonaparte was at the head of the armed force ; but the executive power of the directory and the legislative power of the councils still existed. In the struggle which would infallibly ensue it was not certain that the great and hitherto victorious force of the revolution would not triumph. Sieyes and Roger Ducos went from the Luxembourg to the legislative and military camp of the Tuileries and gave in their resignation. Barras, Moulins, and Gohier, apprised on their side, but a little too late, of what was going on, wished to employ their power and make themselves sure of their guard; but the latter, having received from Bonaparte information of the decree of the ancients, refused to obey them. Barras, discouraged, sent in his resignation and departed for his estate of Gros-Bois. The directory was, in fact, dissolved, and there was one antagonist less in the struggle. The five hundred and Bonaparte alone remained opposed. The decree of the council of ancients and the proclamations of Bonaparte were placarded on the walls of Paris. The agitation which accompanies extraordinary events prevailed in that great city. The republicans, and not without reason, felt serious alarm for the fate of liberty. But when they showed alarm respecting the intentions of Bonaparte, in whom they beheld a Caesar or a Crom- well, they were answered in the general's own words: " Bad parts, wornout parts, unworthy a man of sense, even if they were not so of a good man. It would be sacrilege to attack the representative government in this age of intelligence and freedom. He would be but a fool who, with lightness of heart, could wish to cause the loss of the stakes of the republic against royalty after having supported them with some glory and peril." Yet the importance he gave him- self in his proclamations was ominous. He reproached the directory with the situation of France in a most extraordinary way. " What have you done," said he, " with that France that I left so flourishing in your hands ? I left you peace, I find you at war ; I left you vic- tories, I find nothing but reverses; I left you the millions of Italy, I find nothing but plundering laws and misery. What have you done with the hundred thousand Frenchmen whom I knew, my FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 413 1799 companions in glory? They are dead! This state of things cannot last; in less than three years it would lead us to despotism." This was the first time for ten years that a man had ventured to refer everything to himself, and to demand an account of the republic as of his own property. It is a painful surprise to see a newcomer of the revolution introduce himself thus into the inheritance, so labor- iously acquired, of an entire people. On the 19th Brumaire the members of the councils repaired to Saint Cloud ; Sieyes and Roger Ducos accompanied Bonaparte to this new field of battle; they went thither with the intention of supporting the designs of the conspirators: Sieyes, who un- derstood the tactics of revolutions, wished to make sure of events by provisionally arresting the leaders and only ad- mitting the moderate party into the councils; but Bonaparte refused to accede to this. He was no party man; having hith- erto acted and conquered with regiments only, he thought he could direct legislative councils like an army, by the word of command. The gallery of Mars had been prepared for the ancients, the Oran- gery for the five hundred. A considerable armed force surrounded the seat of the legislature, as the multitude on June 2 had sur- rounded the convention. The republicans, assembled in groups in the grounds, waited the opening of the sittings; they were agitated with a generous indignation against the military brutalism that threatened them, and communicated to each other their projects of resistance. The young general, followed by a few grenadiers, passed through the courts and apartments, and prematurely yield- ing to his character, he said, like the twentieth king of a dynasty: " I will have no more factions; there must be an end to this; I abso- lutely will not have any more of it." About two o'clock in the after- noon the council assembled in their respective halls, to the sound of instruments which played the " Marseillaise." As soon as the business of the sitting commenced Emile Gau- din, one of the conspirators, ascended the tribune of the five hun- dred. He proposed a vote of thanks to the council of ancients for the measures it had taken, and to request it to expound the means of saving the republic. This motion was the signal for a violent tumult ; cries arose against Gaudin from every part of the hall. The republican deputies surr(nmded the tribune and the bureau, at which Lucien Bonaparte presided. The conspirators, Cabanis, Boulay (de la Meurthe), Chazal, Gaudin, and Lucien, turned pale on their 414 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1799 seats. After a long scene of agitation, during which no one could obtain a hearing, calm was restored for a few moments, and Delbred proposed that the oath made to the constitution of the year III. sliould be renewed. As no one opposed this motion, which at such a juncture was of vital importance, the oath was taken with an enthusiasm and unanimity which was dangerous to the con- spiracy. Bonaparte, learning what had passed in the five hundred, and in the greatest danger of desertion and defeat, presented himself at the council of ancients. All would have been lost for him had the latter, in favor of the conspiracy, been carried away with the enthu- siasm of the younger council. " Representatives of the people," said he, " you are in no ordinary situation ; you stand on a volcano. Yes- terday, when you summoned me to inform me of the decree for your removal, and charged me with its execution, I was tranquil. I immediately assembled my comrades ; w^e flew to your aid ! Well, now I am overwhelmed with calumnies ! They talk of Caesar, Cromwell, and military government ! Had I wished to oppress the liberty of my country I should not have attended to the orders which you gave me; I should not have had any occasion to receive this authority from your hands. Representatives of the people ! I swear to you, that the country has not a more zealous defender than I am ; but its safety rests with you alone! There is no longer a govern- ment ; four of the directors have given in their resignation, the fifth (Moulins) has been placed under surveillance for his own security; the council of five hundred is divided; nothing is left but the council of ancients. Let it adopt measures ; let it but speak ; I am ready to execute. Let us save liberty; let us save equality!" Linglet, a republican, then arose and said: "General, we applaud what you say: swear with us to obey the constitution of the year IIL, which alone can maintain the republic." All would have been lost for him had this motion met with the same reception which it had found in the five hundred. It surprised the council, and for a moment Bonaparte was disconcerted. But he soon re- sumed:" The constitution of the year III. has ceased to exist; you violated it on the i8th Fructidor; you violated it on the 22d Flor- eal ; you violated it on the 30th Prairial. The constitution is invoked by all factions, and violated by all ; it cannot be a means of safety for us. because it no longer obtains respect from anyone; the consti- tution being violated, we must have another compact, new guaran- FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 415 1799 tees." The council applauded these reproaches of Bonaparte and rose in sign of approbation. Bonaparte, deceived by his easy success with the ancients, imagined that his presence alone would sujffice to appease the stormy council of the five hundred. He hastened thither at the head of a few grenadiers, whom he left at the door, but within the hall, and he advanced alone, hat in hand. At the sight of the bayonets the assembly arose with a sudden movem.ent. The legislators, conceiv- ing his entrance to be a signal for military violence, uttered all at once the cry of " Outlaw him ! Down with the dictator! " Several members rushed to meet him; and the republican Bigonet, seizing him by the arm, exclaimed: "Rash man! what are you doing? Retire; you are violating the sanctuary of the laws." Bonaparte, pale and agitated, receded and was carried off by the grenadiers who had escorted him there. His disappearance did not put a stop to the agitation of the council. All the members spoke at once ; all proposed measures of public safety and defense. Lucien Bonaparte was the object of general reproach; he attempted to justify his brother, but with timidity. After a long struggle he succeeded in reaching the trib- une, and urged the assembly to judge his brother with less severity. He protested that he had no designs against their liberty, and recalled his services. But several voices immediately exclaimed : " He has lost all their rt^erit. Down with the dictator ! Down with the tyrants ! " The tumult now became more violent than ever, and all demanded the outlawry of General Bonaparte. " What," said Lucien, " do you wish me to pronounce the outlawry of my brother?" "Yes! yes! outlawry! It is the reward of tyrants!" In the midst of the confusion a motion was made and put to the vote that the council should sit permanently ; that it should instantly repair to its palace at Paris ; that the troops assembled at Saint Cloud should form a part of the guard of the legislative body ; that tlie command of them should be given to General Bernadotte. Lucien, astounded by these propositions, and by the outlawry, which he thought had been adopted with the rest, left the president's chair and, ascending the tribune, said, in the greatest agitation : " Since I cannot be heard in tliis assembly, I put off the symbols of the popular magistracy with a deep sense of insulted dignity." And he took off his cap, robe and scarf. Bonaparte, meantime, on leaving the council of the five hun- 416 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1799 dred, had found some difficulty in regaining his composure. Unac- customed to scenes of popular tumult, he had been greatly agitated. His officers came around him; and Sieyes, having more revolution- ary experience, besought him not to lose time and to employ force. General Lefevre immediately gave an order for carrying off Lucien from the council. A detachment entered the hall, advanced to the chair which Lucien now occupied again, placed him in their ranks, and returned with him to the troops. As soon as Lucien came out he mounted a horse by his brother's side, and although divested of his legal character, harangued the troops as president. In concert with Bonaparte, he invented the story, so often repeated since, that poignards had been drawn on the general in the council of five hun- dred, and exclaimed : " Citizen soldiers, the president of the council of five hundred declares to you that the large majority of that council is at this moment kept in fear by the daggers of a few repre- sentatives, who surround the tribune, threaten their colleagues with death, and occasion the most terrible deliberations. General, and you, soldiers and citizens, you will only recognize as legislators of France those who follow me. As for those who remain in the Orangery, let force expel them. Those brigands are no longer rep- resentatives of the people, but representatives of the poignard." After this violent appeal, addressed to the troops by a conspirator president, who, as usual, calumniated those he wished to proscribe, Bonaparte spoke: " Soldiers," said he, " I have led you to victory; may I rely on you? " " Yes! yes! Vive Ic General! " " Soldiers, there were reasons for expecting that the council of five hundred would save the country; on the contrary, it is given up to intestine quarrels; agitators seek to excite it against me. Soldiers, may I rely on you?" "Yes! yes! Vive Bonaparte!" "Well, then I will bring them to their senses ! " And he instantly gave orders to the officers surrounding him to clear the hall of the five hundred. The council, after Lucien's departure, had been a prey to great anxiety and indecision. A few members proposed that they should leave the place in a body and go to Paris to seek protection amid the people. Others wished the national representatives not to for- sake their posts, but to brave the outrages of force. In the mean- time a troop of grenadiers entered the hall by degrees, and the officer in command communicated to the council the order for their dispersion. The deputy Prudhon reminded the officer and his sol- diers of the respect due to the representatives of the people; General FALL OF THE DIRECTORY 417 1799 Jourdan also represented to them the enormity of such a measure. For a moment the troops hesitated, but a reinforcement now arrived in close column. General Leclerc exclaimed : " In the name of General Bonaparte, the legislative body is dissolved; let all good citizens retire. Grenadiers, forward ! " Cries of indignation arose from every side, but these were drowned by the drums. The gren- adiers advanced slowly across the whole width of the Orangery, and presenting bayonets. In this way they drove the legislators before them, who continued shouting " Vive la rcpuhlique! " as they left the place. At half-past five, on the 19th Brumaire of the year VIII. (November 10, 1799), there was no longer a rep- resentation. Thus this violation of the law, this coup d'etat against liberty, was accomplished. Force began to sway. The i8th Brumaire was the May 31 of the army against the representation, except that it was not directed against a party, but against the popular power. But it is just to distinguish the i8th Brumaire from its conse- quences. It might then be supposed that the army was only an auxiliary of the revolution as it had been on the 13th Vendemiaire and the i8th Fructidor, and that this indispensable change would not turn to the advantage of a man a single man, who would soon change France into a regiment, and cause nothing to be heard of in a world hitherto agitated by so great a moral commotion save the tread of his army and the voice of his will. <5 Much new light has been thrown upon the history of the directory, and especially upon the events of the i8th Brumaire, by the recent work of Albert vandal, " L'Avcncmcnt de Bonaparte." The book is the most recent and the most critical estimate of Napoleon at this important stage in his life. Chapter XVI THE FINANCES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION BEFORE proceeding to the events in sequence on the i8th Brumaire it is well to consider what was the economic and financial condition of this France to whose respon- sibilities Napoleon succeeded. From the meeting of the states- general in 1789 to the fall of the directory the financial difficulty of the nation had remained the great question, obscured from time to time, but not obliterated in the progress of the revolution. Mirabeau, before the prospect of bankruptcy, " horrible, hideous bankruptcy," put forth a plan for the issue of treasury notes secured by church lands, and moved the confiscation of the church estates on October 12. On November 2, 1789, the assem- bly declared the church property to be at the disposal of the state, and then immediately Mirabeau moved his plan, that the admin- istration of the national debt be intrusted to a distinct board, which, he said, would put into circulation paper notes resting on good security, and thereby efifect the liquidation of the deficit. This proposition was defeated by Lafayette and Necker, who were momentarily drawn together through their mutual antagonism to Mirabeau. It was at this juncture that Necker brought forth his idea of a national bank, with a circulation secured by the confiscated lands of the church. But the paper money idea had taken hold of the assembly, and it would have nothing to do with the national bank. One of the speakers in the assembly argued as follows : " Men ascribe this disorder to the revolution. It is completely independent of it. It would have arisen just as well at another time. The origin of the evil is to be found, in reality, in the ' Bank of Discount.' It inundates the country with a most dangerous spe- cies of paper money, since the fabrication of this money rests in the hands of a company in no way accountable to the government. This money, which is forced upon the people of France by law and which 418 FINANCES 419 is not convertible on presentation, is without value in the foreign markets. We are not able to buy except for cash. They will not accept our paper, for on presentation for payment they would be paid in notes of the Bank of Discount. For these reasons wealth must depart from France, even to the last crown, if this is not remedied. Again, the need of grain and the necessity for paying for it in gold will precipitate the same result." Mirabeau argued against Necker's scheme that if the state had no credit its guarantee of the circulation of the Bank of Discount would be worthless, and that if it did have credit it did not need the help of the bank. " But," said Petion of Villeneuve, on December lo, 1789, *' why are we not able ourselves to hypothecate that wealth of which the necessity is acknowledged? Are we not able to give it ourselves the confidence of which it has need in order to circulate in all parts of the realm ? We have at our disposal ecclesiastical domains. Let us create obligations to order. Let us make them bear a certain interest. Let us assign to them a certain payment. Shall we give to the bank the apparent advantage of these deeds ? Let us give to our true creditors the interest which we would give to the bank." The committee on finance brought in a report, through its chairman, Montesquiou, in which it stated that the debt of the state already due was 950 millions, and then added, in the same breath, that there was a surplus of 33 millions in tlie revenue. It made no objection to a loan from the Bank of Discount, but insisted on a sale of clerical lands to the amount of 400 millions. On this propo- sition there followed a long discussion, in which the merits and demerits of the issuing of assignats were discussed. Allarde and Gouy supported the scheme of issuing 400 millions of assignats against the church property on the ground that it w-as " securing resources without paying interest." On March 6 Necker was obliged to bring into the assembly a report stating that he would need, in addition to the revenue, 280 to 310 millions. However, he said that he would be able to raise it by surplus income, fresh anticipations, and a final loan from the Bank of Discount. But the assembly and Paris w^ere impa- tient to strike the final blow against the church and take pos- session of its property. Thcref(M-e. on March 10, Bailly, the mayor of Paris, proposed that I^aris should purchase from the state all the monastic pr()i)crty situated within the city limits val- ued at 150 millions and sell it again, and be satisfied with 16 mil- 420 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION lions as a commission for making the sale. So on March 17, 1790, it was decreed that church property to the amount of 400 millions should be turned over to the municipality and sold on a commission of one-sixteenth. After stormy debates on April 14-17, 1790, the assembly decreed the payment of the expenses of the church, the confiscation of all the church property, the immediate sale of 400 millions, and the issue of assignats to that amount. Therefore the assignats were devised simply to anticipate the sales and by relieving the stress to furnish money with which the people might purchase the lands. The face value of each assignat was guaranteed by an equivalent amount of the confiscated lands of the clergy, and each assignat was to be destroyed when that amount of land was sold by the government. Mirabeau was conscious of the two-edged character of this financial proposi- tion, but he knew no choice of means. This was the beginning of that assignat mischief which was to end in total bankruptcy. His intention was to clear the road of the obstructions that it was indispensable to get out of the way if a strong government was to be established. Those who came after him used the assignats as a handy means for disposing of the necessity of recon- structing the economical basis of the commonwealth. The assem- bly accepted what to him was only a regrettable but necessary means to the attainment of a great end, and made it impossible for him to use it for such a means, and therefore also impossible to attain the end. The assignat fever had seized hard hold of the members of the national assembly. The committee on finance had reported : " It is time to repudiate the principles of our ancient financial methods. We shall offer you a new resource, a bold operation, but simple. It is time to lay the foundation of a credit truly national. Let us show to entire Europe that we know our resources and that we shall shortly retake the highroad of our liberation." One speaker said: "What is an assignat? It is a letter of exchange, of which the cash value is guaranteed by the nation. It is a better means of reanimating the circulation of money and of traversing the difficult passage from an administration remarkable for depredation and disorder to one just and wise." ^ " Further," he continues, " are 400 millions enough ? The anticipations and present expenses amount to 1559 millions; you will receive only 450 millions. Therefore there are still 1109 millions unprovided for. ^Moniteur, vol. IV. p. 87. FINANCES 421 The 400 millions proposed are insufficient. I think there should be decreed enough assignats to reimburse the public debt." The theory upon which the first issue of assignats was put forth was this; That, if the state could, by means of the church property, pay its immense debt and restore public credit and at the same time put that much more money into circulation, it would at once relieve the stringency in the money market and restore pros- perity. The state had confiscated church lands variously estimated to be worth from 1200 to 2000 millions. To throw this immense amount of property on the market at a time when specie had disap- peared and the country was held in the double grasp of hard times almost bankruptcy and famine, meant to sacrifice it at much less than its value, if it were possible to dispose of it at all. But from the outset a serious miscalculation was made. The Jansenists and disciples of Voltaire hated the convents, and the finance committee began with them. The pensions required for the 20,000 inmates were about 16,000,000. The theory'' was: previous income per year, 70,000,000. Value of real estate is thirty-three times yearly rental. Therefore, 2,300,000,000 will be realized, of which the clergy were to receive 100,000,000. These calculations were a mistake. Of this 70 millions, 20 belonged to Maltesian Knights, schools, and hospitals, Moreover, 33 was too high a figure for most of the land. The results were that church property sold for 1,250,000,000, instead of 2,300,000,000. Morris, writing to Washington in January, 1790, says: " It is proposed and detennined to sell about ten or twelve millions sterling of the crown and church lands, . . . but as it is clear that these lands will not sell well just now, they have appointed a treasurer to receive what they will sell for here- after, and they issue a kind of order upon this treasurer, which is to be called an assignat, and is to be paid (out of the sales) one, two, and three years hence. They expect that on these assignats they can borrow money to face the engagements of the Bank of Dis- count, and they are at the same time to pay some of the more pressing debts with the same assignats. Now this plan must fail, as follows: First, there will be some doubt about the title of these lands, at least till the revolution is completed. Secondly, the repre- sentative of lands must always (for a reason which will presently appear) sell for less than a representative of money, and therefore, until public confidence is so far restored as that the five per cents. 422 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION are above par, these assignats, bearing five per cent, must be below par ; money, therefore, cannot be raised upon them but at a consid- erable discount. Thirdly, the lands to be disposed of must sell a great deal below their value, for there is not money to buy them in this country, and the proof is that they never obtained money on loan at a legal interest, but always upon a premium . . . and as the revolution has greatly lessened the mass of money, the effect of the scarcity must be greater. But further, there is a solecism in the plan which escapes most of them and which is never- theless very palpable. The value of lands in Europe is, you know, estimated by the income. To dispose of public lands, therefore, is to sell public revenue, and, therefore, taking the legal rate of interest at five per cent., land renting for loof. ought to sell for 2000/. ; but they expect that these lands will sell for 3000/., and that thereby not only public credit will be restored, but a great saving will be made, as the 3000/. will redeem an interest of i^of."' To add to their other errors, the advocates of the new financial measures took no account of the fact that the revenues, always hard to collect, were now reduced to half their former sum. In other words, they forgot altogether August 4. Since that day more than 170 millions of taxes had been voluntarily given up, and much of what remained was uncollectable, owing to the state of the country. Necker estimated that the redemption of the offices abolished by August 4 would cost the state 350 millions. Ramel estimated it at 492 millions, the national assembly at 800 millions. All these renunciations had been left out of consideration in the theory of the assignats. True, it was intended that they should be used only for the liquidation of the existing public debt, but here theory and practice failed to coincide. Of the first 1200 millions of assignats issued only 108 millions were used toward reducing the public debt. A larger share of the first issue was consumed in cur- rent expenses. Within six montlis the government found itself again in dis- tress. The assignats were exhausted and the tide had again turned against the government. Immediately there went up from all over the land, and from the assembly, the cry of the thoughtless for more assignats. There, however, the more thoughtful people, both in the assembly and outside of it, began to be alarmed. Many of the members who had favored the first issue under the restrictions placed upon it now began to doubt. A few of the schemers of the - Morris, " Diary and Letters," vol I. p. 284-285. FINANCES 423 assembly were outspoken for another issue. It would effect the sale of the lands more quickly, they said, by making- money plentier. In vain Maury, Cazales, Necker, Le Brun, and others opposed it with all their strength. Le Brun said : " All will change itself to paper. Will you pay the soldiers with paper? Will you equip the waiting vessels on the sea with paper? They say that these ' belle* opera- tions will save the revolution. As for me, I say they will kill the revolution and this assembly." ' Necker, discouraged and fatigued, resigned September 3, 1790. Mirabeau's speech carried all with it, and on September 29-October 12 the assembly voted to increase the assignats to 1200 millions, with the solemn pledge that the total should never exceed this amount, and that as fast as they were paid into the treasury in return for land they should be burned. It remains to be shown now what the assignats proved to be in practice. How they failed in realizing the prosperity and abundance predicted by their advocates before their issue. The same causes that swallowed up the first issue of 400 millions were still in opera- tion and were increasing in destructive force in a geometric ratio as time advanced. On September 29, 1790, the emission of 800 millions of assignats was determined upon, with the provision that the amount in existence at any time should not be more than 1200 millions. The excise taxes were given up, and hence 382 millions had to be raised from real estate, making a crushing burden. The yearly budget presented a deficit of 220 millions. In three-quarters of a year the 800 millions had been used up! After this issue all felt that the proper plan to pursue would be to run the finances for 1 79 1 on a close, S3'stematic basis, and in accordance with this idea the finance committee brought in a budget of 640 millions for 1791. These figures, however, from a desire to conceal the fact that the government under the assembly was costing more than under the ancient regime, were underestimated to the amount of more than 150 millions. But taking the total as reported by the committees, it soon became evident from a study of the ways in which thev propose to raise the amount that there will be, on their own estimate, a deficit of 220 millions. Moreover, as this deficit increased so did the national debt, but of this no mention was made in the budget. Since August 4, 1789, there was a total new debt of ncarlv T500 millions, bearing an annual interest of 72 millions. It was for the payment of this del)t that the assignats 424 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION had been issued, and yet, of the entire 1200 millions, as before mentioned, less than 200 millions were applied to this purpose. Thus the lands were gone, and still the debt remained. The result of this issue on France at large in a commercial way was very evident. Owing to the abundance of money everything " boomed " for a time. Foreign merchants, owing to the difference in exchange, hastened to place orders of all kinds with French man- ufactories. It was simply the difference in exchange, however, not any true, permanent want, that created this demand, and as soon as exchange was equalized it ceased. Specie began to disappear from circulation, prices rose, owing to the abundance of paper money, and soon there broke forth again the cry, " lack of circulating medium." This cry resulted in the evasion of the solemn pledges to keep the issue of assignats down by burning all that were received in payment for lands. The treasury, instead, reissued 100 millions again, in the form of small notes. This, however, served only as a drop in the bucket, and on June 19, 1791, nine months after the last issue, 600 millions more were authorized, and the extreme limit again fixed at 1800 millions. From this time forth France was committed wholly and thoroughly to the paper-money idea, and issue follows issue with frightful rapidity. At the time of the second issue, October, 1790, the assignats had depreciated to 92 per cent., while in June, 1791, at the third issue, they fell to 87 per cent. With this third issue began that greatest of evils, the issue of the smaller bills. By February, 1792, silver, and even copper, had disappeared from circulation, and church bells were melted down. In order to bolster up the price of their paper money the assem- bly decreed the sequestration of the estates of the emigrants. It did not raise the price of assignats a single sou. In spite of the abun- dance of money, and in spite of the high prices, wages did not rise. One manufactory after another was closed. All that tariffs and custom-houses could do was done to prevent the closing of factories, but all in vain. Soon there were thousands of idle workmen all over France. It was no longer safe for the government to trans- port specie. Bread riots broke out all over the country. The na- tional assembly voted millions for public workshops; 100,000 men found employment in the army. In order to assist the woollen manufacturers the assembly, in February, 1792, forbade the exportation of wool, and in March a FINANCES 426 duty of fifty per cent, was placed upon cotton to keep it out of the country. The same troubles that beset the manufacturers appeared among the agricultural classes. The property-holders had not in- creased much in number. Land had just been differently grouped, and had changed owners. Owing to the long terms on which the government sold the land many of the peasantry had taken up as much land as they could raise money :o make first payments on, and as a result the majority had no capital left with which to work the land, and it soon fell into the hands of speculators and capital- ists. Then, too, many speculators would make a small advance on the land, and then, having stripped it of its timber and whatever else of value could be moved away, would default on any further payments. Landowners, as the yields diminished and assignats depreciated, soon abolished money-rents and received their rent in corn, which they stored up in hope of a better price. Soon the prohibition of the export of wool showed its effect : breeding of sheep came to an end. Then came more complaints of the scarcity of wool. The state of opinion in the assembly as their troubles thickened cannot better be shown than by an extract from the report of the committee on finance, on July 31, 1792. It explains that a further issue of assignats is impossible, and then asks for 300 millions more. It asserts that the sale of the emigrants' land would depress rather than raise the value of paper, and yet it does not conceal a desire to see such a rich source of money made accessible. It warns against taking the state forests, and then begs to be allowed to take them. At the opening of the convention, September 23, 1792, Cam- bon reported as follows : " There is no other financial resource except assignats. All the taxes are exhausted ; the government is neither able to borrow nor to lay taxes. Therefore it is necessary to recur to the assignat, and as security to hasten the sale of national goods and properties." He adds that the urgency is great and that the paper is all ready for the issue, awaiting only the decree of the convention. From this time on the finance committee had but two aims : one was to keep up in the issue with the demands of the state; the other was to try, by all means possible, to make their sale pro- gress naturally by the accruing of property, each day, through de- crees of confiscation that grew more and more severe. The measures adopted by the terror to maintain the value of this inflated currencv were ^iolent. A first decree forbade the sale 426 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION of specie in France or any of the countries held by the armies of France, on pain of six years in prison. All transactions were ordered to be exclusively effected in assignats. Anyone convicted of proposing or decreeing two different prices for things, depending on payments in assignats or in specie, was also liable to six years' imprisonment. All persons refusing to receive assignats were com- pelled to receive them and condemned to a fine equal to the sum refused. (Decree of April 11-16, 1793.) After August i, 1793, the fine was 3000 livres and three months' imprisonment, a repeti- tion of the offense making the offender liable to twenty years' im- prisonment. On September 5, 1793, the convention decreed that all persons convicted of having refused to receive assignats in pay- ment, of having given or received them at any reduction whatever, or of having held any conversation tending to discredit them, would be punished by death or with confiscation of goods. In May, 1794, the law of suspects was made to include (i) all persons suspected of having bought or sold specie; (2) all persons suspected of having decreed different prices in specie or assignats; (3) all persons suspected of having held conversation tending to discredit assignats; (4) all persons suspected of having refused assignats in payment; (5) all persons suspected of having given or received any reduction wdiatever, or of having asked before the conclusion or at the beginning of a purchase, " in what money the payment should be made." All such persons were to be immediately brought be- fore the revolutionary tribunal and punished by death. No appeal was allowed, and confiscation of goods was to follow conviction. (May 10-20, 1794.) Cambon, meanw^hile, proposed to effect a rise in the value of assignats by three measures : first, to proceed against the bankers ; second, to suppress the Bank of Discount ; and third, by a with- drawal of the king's face from the assignats. This last measure resulted in a virtual repudiation of over 200 millions of assignats w^iich bore the king's portrait. By far the most noteworthy measure adopted, however, to maintain the value of the assignats was the Law of Maximum. Early in 1793 a law had been passed fixing the maximum price for corn (May 3). This was variable for the different depart- ments. Now, however, in the fall of this same year a maximum price for corn and meal was fixed for the entire republic. These articles were only to be sold at fairs and markets and under the FINANCES 427 regulation of the municipal body. Nearly all articles of consump- tion, together with most raw materials, were also subject to a maximum price, which was fixed at one-third more than the price of the article in September, 1790. All people were forbidden to lay in stores of goods, and shopkeepers had to expose over their doors a list of the goods they had in stock. The government compelled all persons to sell to it the war supplies it needed, under requisition, at the maximum price, and paid for the goods in assignats at the nominal value. A maximum was also fixed for wages, the most the workman could receive being the wages he received in 1790. Such measures as these, with assignats at 33-J per cent, of their nominal value, worked untold hardships throughout all parts of the country and among all classes of citizens ; and still the value of the assignats kept on declining. The directory, upon one occasion, emitted three milliards of assignats at one time. In the first four months of its authority no less than twenty milliards were issued. An assignat of 100 livres was valued at 18 livres in the middle of the year 1795 ; it fell to .87 at the end of this year, then to .54 and even to .29. On February 19, 1796, Ramel announced to the councils that the various govern- ments of the revolution had issued 45,581,411,018 livres in paper currency ! A law of the 2d Nivose, year IV., forbade their emis- sion, and the press was broken to pieces. To such extremities was the directory brought at one time that a strike of printers threatened to stop all the machinery of the government by cutting off the supply of assignats. The printers were kept at work from 6 a. m. until 8 p. :m. every da}-. A con- spiracy among the printers was discovered in 1796, and immedi- ately four workmen were arrested on the charge of " arousing the workmen employed in fa])ricating assignats to cease work, thus making all offices bankrupt, and causing the overthrow of the re- public ! " By a decree of the i8th Brumaire, year IV., the directory ordered the erection of a new paper mill, in order that there might be on hand a sufficient supply of paper for the rapid fabrication of assignats.^ The end (A this state of things is admirably expressed in the following paragraph : "Nothing but bankruptcy could end this state of things; it ^ The follo\\in,i^^ tabic, from Stnurm, " l^cs Fiuancrs dc Vaucicnnc rc^^inig rt examples of Migiiet's \vritiii". THE CONSULATE 435 1799 sive dominations, after the violent transition from the constitution- aHsts of 1789 to the Girondists, from the Girondists to the Moun- tainists, from the ]\Ionntainists to the reactionists, from the reac- tionists to the director}-, from the directory to the councils, from the councils to the military force, there could be no repose or public life save in it. People were weary of wornout constitutions; that of Sieyes was new ; exclusive men were no longer wanted, and by elaborate voting it prevented the sudden accession of counter-revo- lutionists, as at the beginning of the directory, or of ardent demo- crats, as at the end of this government. It was a constitution of moderate men, suited to terminate a revolution and to settle a nation. But precisely because it was a constitution of moderate men, pre- cisely because parties had no longer sufficient ardor to demand a law of domination, for that very reason there would necessarily be found a man stronger than the fallen parties and the moderate legislators who would refuse this law, or, accepting, abuse it, and this was what happened. Napoleon took part in the deliberations of the constituent committee; with his instinct of power he seized upon everything in the ideas of Sieyes which was calculated to serve his projects and caused the rest to be rejected. Sieyes intended for him the functions of grand elector, with a revenue of six millions of francs and a guard of three thousand men, the palace of Versailles for a resi- dence and the entire external representation of the republic. But the actual government was to be invested in two consuls, one of war, the other of peace, functionaries unthought of by Sieyes in the year III. but adopted by him in the year VIII., in order, no doubt, to suit the idea of the times. This insignificant magistracy was far from suiting Xapoleon. " I low could you suppose," said he, " that a man of anv talent and lionor could resign liimself to the part of fattening like a hog on a few millions a year? " From that moment it was not again mentioned; Roger-Ducos and the greater part of the committee declared in favor of Bonaparte ; Sieyes, who hated discussion, was either unwilling or unable to defend his ideas. He saw that laws, men, and France itself were at the mercy of the man whose elevation he had ]:)romote(l. On Dccem1)er 24. 1799 (Xivose, 3-ear \^III.), forty-five days after the 18th Brumaire. was published the constitution of the year VI TT. : it was com])osed of the wrecks of that of Sieyes, now become a cen-tiiutiiin of \irl T H E E M P I R E 4.81 1810-1811 corporated with the empire. He shrank from no invasion, because he would not endure opposition or hesitation from any quarter. All were compelled to submit, allies as well as enemies, the chief of the church as well as kings, brothers as well as strangers; but, though conquered this time, all who had joined this new league only waited an opportunity to rise again. Meantime, after the Peace of Vienna, Napoleon still added to the extent and power of the empire. Sweden having undergone an internal revolution, and the king, Gustavus Adolphus IV., hav- ing been forced to abdicate, admitted the continental system. Bernadotte, Prince of Ponte-Corvo, was elected by the states gen- eral hereditary Prince of Sweden, and King Charles XIII. adopted him for his son. The blockade was obseiwed throughout Europe; and the empire, augmented by the Roman ctates, the Illyrian provinces, Valais, Holland, and the Hansa towns, had a hundred and thirty departments, and extended from Hamburg and Dantzig to Trieste and Corfu. Napoleon, who seemed to follow a rash but inflexible policy, deviated from his course about this time by a second marriage. He divorced Josephine that he might give an heir to the empire, and married, on April i, 1810, Marie Louise, Archduchess of iVustria. This was a decided error. He quitted his position and his post as a parvenu and revolutionary monarch, opposing in Europe the ancient courts as the republic had opposed the ancient governments. He placed himself in a false situation with respect to Austria, which he ought either to have crushed after the victory of Wagram, or to have reinstated in its posses- sions after his marriage with the archduchess. Solid alliances only repose on real interests, and Napoleon could not remove from the cabinet of Vienna the desire or power of renewing hostilities. This marriage also changed the character of his empire, and sep- arated it still further from popular interests; he souglit out old families to give luster to his court, and did all he could to amalga- mate together the old and the new nobility as he mingled old and new dynasties. Austerlitz had established tlie plebeian empire; after Wagram was established the noble empire. The birth, on March 20, 181 1. of a son, who received the title f)f King of Rome, seemed to consolidate the power of Napoleon by securing to him a successor. The war in Spain was prosecuted with vigor during the years 1810 and 181 1. The territory of the peninsula was defended inch 482 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1810-1811 by inch, and it was necessary to take several towns by storm. Siichet, Sotilt, Mortier, Ney, and Sebastiani made themselves mas- ters of several provinces; and the Spanish junta, unable to keep their post at Seville, retired to Cadiz, which the French army began to blockade. The new expedition into Portugal w^as less fortunate. Massena, who directed it, at first obliged Wellington to retreat, and took Oporto and Olivenza ; but the English general having entrenched himself in the strong position of Torres- Vedras, Massena, unable to force it, was compelled to evacuate the country. While the war was proceeding in the peninsula with ad- vantage, but without any decided success, a new campaign was preparing in the north. Russia perceived the empire of Napoleon approaching its territories. Shut up in its own limits, it remained without influence or acquisitions, suffering from the blockade, without gaining any advantage by the war. This cabinet, more- over, endured with impatience a supremacy to which itself aspired, and which it had pursued slowly but without interruption since the reign of Peter the Great. Recent researches have shown that the ultimate dream of Napoleon probably was the French occupa- tion of Constantinople and the overthrow of the Turkish empire; and this single fact is sufficient to explain the new hostility of Russia. This supreme purpose is the key to Napoleon's long and complicated negotiations with the czar, for his purposes here ran counter to the cherished tradition of the Russian state. After Tilsit all arrangements W'Cre completed between Alexander and Napoleon for a joint enterprise against Egy^pt (March i8, 1808), and the partition of Turkey was sketched out. But Caulaincourt and Roumantsov, the representatives of the two rulers, were un- able to arrange a satisfactory compromise with reference to Con- stantinople and the Dardanelles. Napoleon proposed a personal interview with the Czar, but Alexander refused if he was not promised Constantinople. In spite of the alliance at Tilsit Napoleon and Alexander remained divided with reference to the partition of Turkey. Talleyrand and Fouche did not sympathize with this policy of Napoleon, and from 1808 secretly worked to defeat his purposes. There is no doubt to-day of Talleyrand's absolute treason to his sovereign and of his treacherous relations with Metternich. Austria's determination to resort to war again in 1809 was partially influenced by the hope of preventing T H E E M P I R E 483 1810-1811 Napoleon from becoming dominant in the Balkan peninsula.*^ About the close of 1810, Russia increased its armies, renewed its commercial relations with Great Britain, and did not seem indis- posed to a rupture. The year 181 1 was spent in negotiations which led to nothing, and preparations for war were made on both sides. The emperor, whose armies were before Cadiz, and who relied on the cooperation of the west and north against Russia, ^ The following is tlie celebrated letter which Napoleon wrote to the Czar of Russia on February 2, 1808: " Paris, 2nd February, 1808. " SIR, jMY brother, General Savary has just arrived, I have spent hours speaking with him about your majesty. . . . You have seen the debates in the English parliament, and the decision to carry on the war. I have written to Caulaincourt on this subject, and if your majesty will condescend to speak with him he will acquaint you with my opinion. It is only by large and vast measures that we shall be able to arrive at peace and consolidate our system. Let your majesty augment and fortify your army. I will give you all the help I can: no feeling of jealousy animates me against Russia: I desire her glory, prosperity, and extension. Will your majesty allow a person tenderly and truly devoted to you to give you a bit of advice? Your majesty should drive the Swedes to a greater distance from his capital. Extend your frontiers on this side as much as you like (id est, give up all idea of Constantinople). " An army of 50,000 men Russians, French, and perhaps Austrians march- ing upon Asia by way of Constantinople would no sooner have reached the Euphrates than England would tremble and go down upon her knees. I am ready in Dalmatia : your majesty is ready on the Danube. A month after coming to terms an army could be on the Bosporus. The blow would reecho through India and England would be subdued. I shall refuse none of the preliminary stipulations necessary to attain so great an end. But the reciprocal interest of our two countries should be combined and balanced. This can only be settled in an interview with your majesty, or after sincere conferences between Roman- zov and Caulaincourt, and a dispatch here of a man favorable to the system. Count Tolstoy is an excellent man, but he is prejudiced against and distrusts France, and is far from being on a par with the events of Tilsit and the new position in which the close friendship between your majesty and myself have placed the iniiverse. Everything can be signed and decided before March 15. On May I our troops can be in Asia, and at the same epoch the troops of your majesty at Stockliolm. Then the English, threatened in India, driven from the Levant, will be crushed under the weight of events with which the atmosphere is laden. Your majesty and myself would have preferred the pleasures of peace, ar.d to pri'^s our lives in the midst of our vast empires, engaged in vivifyintr them and rendering them happy by means of arts and a beneficent administration. The enemies of the world object to this. We must become greater in spite of ourselves. It is both wise and politic to do what destiny orders, and to i^o wliere the irresistible march of events leads us. Then this cloud (jf i)igmics will }ield and will follow the movement which your majesty and I shall order, and the Russian people will be content with the glory, the wealth, and the fortune which will be the result of these great events. " Napoleon." I'Voin Piinyham's "Letters and Dispatches of Xapolcfju," vol. II. pp. 36-I-365. 484 TPIE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1812 made with ardor preparations for an enterprise which was intended to reduce the only power as yet untouched, and to carry his victori- ous eagles even to Moscow. He obtained the assistance of Prussia and Austria, which engaged by the treaties of February 24 and March 14, 1812, to furnish auxiliary bodies, one of 20,000 and the other of 30,000 men. All the unemployed forces of France were immediately on foot. A scnaUis considtum divided the national guard into three bodies for the home service, and appro- priated a hundred cohorts of the first ban (nearly 100,000 men) to active military service. On March 9 Napoleon left Paris on this vast expedition. During several months he fixed his court at Dresden, where the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and all the sovereigns of Germany came to bow before his high for- tune. On June 22 war was declared against Russia. In this campaign Napoleon was guided by the maxims he had always found successful. He had terminated all the wars he had undertaken by the rapid defeat of the enemy, the occupation of his capital, and concluded the peace by parceling out his territory. His project was to reduce Russia by creating the kingdom of Poland, as he had reduced Austria by forming the kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, after Austerlitz; and Prussia, by organizing those of Saxony and Westphalia, after Jena. With this object he had stipulated with the Austrian cabinet by the treaty of March 14 to exchange Galicia for the Illyrian provinces. The establish- ment of the kingdom of Poland was proclaimed by the diet of Warsaw, but in an incomplete manner, and Napoleon, who, accord- ing to his custom, wished to finish all in one campaign, advanced at once into the heart of Russia, instead of prudently organizing the Polish barrier against it. His army amounted to about 500,000 men. The causes of the war with Russia may be said to be Russia's refusal to sustain the continental system ; her fear lest Napoleon would destroy Poland ; the deposition of the Duke of Oldenburg, a relative of the czar, which Alexander regarded as a personal affront; and finally, Russia's opposition to Napoleon's projects in Turkey. He passed the Niemen on June 24. A halt was made at Wilna from June 28 to July 16. It was here that Napoleon made his first great blunder. Until this time the Poles had constantly looked forward to the restoration of the kingdom of Poland. Napolcf.n's failure to do this roused them to hostility and created an enemy in his rear. He defeated the Russians at T H E E M P I R E 485 1812 Witepsk, Astrowno, Polotsk, Mohilev, Smolensk (August i8), at the Moskova, known as the battle of Borodino, and on September 14 made his entry into ^Moscow. The Russian cabinet did not only rely for its defense upon its troops, but on its vast territory, and on its climate. As the con- quered armies retreated before the French, they burned all the towns, devastated the provinces, and thus prepared great difficulties for the foe in the event of reverses or retreat. According to this plan of defense, Moscow was burned by its governor, Rostopchin, as Smolensk, Dorigoboui, Viama, Gjhat, IMojaisko, and a great num- ber of other towns and villages had already been. The em- peror ought to have seen that this war would not terminate as the others had done ; yet conciueror of the foe, and master of his capital, he conceived hopes of peace which the Russians skillfully encour- aged. Winter was approaching, and Napoleon prolonged his stay at ]\Ioscow for six w'eeks. He delayed his movements on account of the deceptive negotiations of the Russians, and did not decide on a retreat till October 20. This retreat was disastrous, and began the downfall of the empire. Napoleon could not have been de- feated by the hand of man, for what general could have triumphed over this incomparable chief? what army could have conquered the French army? But his reverses were to take place in the remote limits of Europe, in the frozen regions which were to end his conquering domination. He lost, with the close of this cam- paign, not by a defeat, but by cold and famine, in the midst of Russian snows and solitude, his old army, and the prestige of his fortune.'^ . The retreat was effected with some order as far as the Beresina, where it became one vast rout, November 26-29. After the passage of this river Napoleon, who had hitherto accompanied his army, started in a sledge for Paris, in great haste, a conspiracy having broken out there during his absence. General IMallet, wit1i a few others, had conceived the design of overthrowing this colos- sus of power. His enterprise w-as daring, and as it was grounded on a false report of Napoleon's death, it was necessary to deceive too many for success to l)c probable. Besides, the empire was still firmly established, and it was not a plot, but a slow and general defecticMi to destroy it. ]\lallet's plot failed and its leaders were executed. The emperor on his return found the nation astounded ^ Upon the Russian campaign sec the recent \vork of 11. B. George, " The Russian Campaign of 1812." 486 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1813 at so unusual a disaster. But the different bodies of the state still manifested implicit obedience. He reached Paris on December i8, obtained a levy of 300,000 men, inspired a spirit of sacrifice, re- equipped in a short time, with his wonderful activity, a new army, and took the field again on April 15, 1813. But since the retreat of Moscow, Napoleon had entered on a new series of events. It was in 181 2 that the decline of his empire manifested itself. The weariness of his domination became gen- eral. All those by whose consent he had risen took part against him. The priests had conspired in secret since his rupture with the Pope. Eight state prisons had been created in an official manner against the dissentients of his party. The national masses were as tired of conquest as they had formerly been of factions. They had expected from him consideration for private interests, the promo- tion of commerce, respect for men; and they were oppressed by conscriptions, taxes, the blockade, provost courts, and duties which were the inevitable consequences of this conquering system. He had no longer for adversaries the few who remained faithful to the political object of the revolution, and whom he styled idealo- gists, but all who, without definite ideas, wished for the material advantages of better civilization. Without, w^hole nations groaned beneath the military yoke, and the fallen dynasties aspired to rise again. The whole world was ill at ease; and one check served to bring about a general rising. " I triumphed," says Napoleon him- self, speaking of the preceding campaigns, " in the midst of con- stantly reviving perils. I constantly required as much address as voice. Had I not conquered at Austerlitz, all Prussia would have been upon me; had I not triumphed at Jena, Austria and Spain would have attacked my rear; had I not fought at Wagram, which action was not a decided victory, I had reason to fear that Russia would forsake, Prussia rise against me, and the English were before Antwerp." Such w'as his condition ; the further he ad- vanced in his career, the greater need he had to conquer more and more decisively. Accordingly, as soon as he was defeated, the kings he had subdued, the kings he had made, the allies he had aggrandized, the states he had incorporated with the empire, the senators who had so flattered him, and even his comrades in arms successively forsook him. The field of battle extended to ]\Tosco\v in 181 2. drew back to Dresden in 1813, and to Paris in 1814; so rapid was the reverse of fortune. T H E E :M P I II E 487 1812 There is an ominous change in the spirit of France in 1812 a loss of conviction on the part of the people and a diminishing of spirit in the army. There was also an alteration in the spirit of the great military leaders, resulting in a coldness and even estrange- ment between Napoleon and his older officers. But, as Seeley points out : " To desert Napoleon at that moment was indeed im- possible to France, for no other government could be thought of and he alone could be expected to save the nation in a danger he himself had brought on it." Seeley goes on to say that Napoleon's resources were still great, the Confederation of the Rhine did not dissolve, nor for some time was there even a defection from it, and that " the defection of Austria from his cause did not take place until a later time when all the circumstances were altered." The unique position of Prussia at this moment is to be noticed, for owing to the exhaustion of Russia and the silence of Austria, Prussia was in a position to dictate. "Commanding some 18,000 Prussian troops in excellent condition, he [Yorck] w^as really in a manner the arbiter of the situation." ^ The great fact in favor of Prussia, however, was that her government had been completely reorganized since Tilsit, chiefly through the efforts of two men : Stein, who was born in Nassau, but had been in the Prussian civil service since 1780, and in 1804 became minister of finance; Scharn- horst, who had formerly been an officer in the Hanoverian army, but in 1 80 1 became a lieutenant colonel in Prussia and through whose agency the army was thoroughly reorganized. The work done by these two great men in Prussia was precisely that which the revo- lution had accomplished in France and in the states of southern Germany. The judicial and financial administrations were reor- ganized and brought up to date. Serfdom was abolished, industry and commerce liberated, and the army put upon a tlioroughly modern basis. Universal military service was adopted and promo- tion was made according to merit. But the regeneration of Prussia was more than a material improvement. The deep moral nature of the people of nortli Germany was wakened to a patriotic fervor by the utterances of Fichte and Schleiermacher, the poetry of Arndt and K()rner, while even the scientific labors of the great scholars, Humboldt and Niebuhr, wakened enthusiasm. It is not a mere accident that the founding of the University of Berlin (1810) coincides with the birth of the German spirit of liberation. The cabinet of Berlin began the defections. On March i, ^ Seolc}-, " Life of Stein," vol. TIT. p. 26. 488 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1813 1813, it joined Russia and England, which were forming the sixth coaHtion. Sweden acceded to it soon after; yet the emperor, whom the confederate powers thought prostrated by the last dis- aster, opened the campaign with new victories. The battle of Lutzen, won by conscripts on May 2, the occupation of Dresden, the victory of Bautzen, May 20-21, and the war carried to the Elbe, astonished the coalition. Austria, which since 1810 had been on a footing of peace, was resuming arms and already meditating a change of alliance. She now proposed herself as mediatrix be- tween the emperor and the confederates. Her mediation was accepted ; an armistice was concluded at Plesswitz on June 4, and a congress assembled at Prague July 21 to negotiate peace. It was impossible to come to terms. Napoleon would not consent to di- minished grandeur; Europe would not consent to remain subject to him. The confederate pov\^ers, joined by Austria, required that the limits of the empire should be to the Rhine, the Alps, and the Meuse. The negotiators separated without coming to an agree- ment. Austria joined the coalition June ^y, and war, the only means of settling this great contest, was resumed. The emperor had only 280,000 men against 520,000; he wished to force the enemy to retire behind the Elbe, and to break up, as usual, this new coalition by the promptitude and vigor of his blows. Victory seemed, at first, to second him. At Dresden, August 26-27, he defeated the combined forces ; but the defeats of his lieutenants deranged his plans. Macdonald w^as conquered in Silesia ; Ney near Berlin ; Vandamme at Kulm. Unable to obstruct the enemy, pouring on him from all parts. Napoleon thought of retreating. The princes of the Confederation of the Rhine chose this moment to desert the cause of the empire. A vast engagement took place around Leipsic between the two armies. Leipsic was the center of the struggle, but the battlefield included the whole surrounding country. It was fought during five days (October 14-19, 1813). The retreat of the French was made more dis- astrous because of the error of a French subaltern who blew up the wrong bridge over the river. The carnage of these days was terrible. The French lost over 50,000 killed, wounded, and pris- oners ; the allies lost even more. The Saxons and Wurtembergers passed over to the enemy on the field of battle. This defection to the strength of the coalesced powers, who had learned a more com- pact and skillful mode of warfare, obliged Napoleon to retreat THE EiNIPIRE 489 1813 after a struggle of three days. The army advanced with much confusion toward the Rhine, where the Bavarians, who had also deserted, attempted to prevent its passage. But it overwhelmed them at Hanau, and reentered the territory of the empire on Oc- tober 30, 1813. The close of this campaign was as disastrous as that of the preceding one. France was threatened in its own limits, as it had been in 1799; but tlie enthusiasm of independence no I(jn<4er existed, and tlie man who depi'ived it of its rights found it, at this great crisis, incap;ible of sustaining Iiim or defending itself. The servitude of nations is, sooner or later, ever avenged. Xapoleon returned to Paris on Xoveml>er 9, 181 3. He ob- tained fruni the senate a lc\y of 300,000 men, and made with great ardor preparations for a new campaign. He convtjked the legis- Iati\-e bodv to associate it in the common defense; he communi- cated t(j it the documents relative to the negotiations of Prague, 490 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1814 and asked for another and last effort in order to secure a glorious peace, the general wish of France. But the legislative body, hitherto silently obedient, chose this period to resist Napoleon. He shared the common exhaustion, and without desiring it, was under the influence of the royalist party, which had been secretly agitating ever since the decline of the empire had revived its hopes. A commission, composed of Laine, Raynouard, Gallois, Flaugergues, Maine de Biran, drew up a very hostile report censuring the course adopted by the government, and demand- ing that all conquests should be given up, and liberty restored. This wish, so just at any other time, could then only favor the invasion of the foe. Though the confederate powers seemed to make the evacuation of Europe the condition of peace, they were disposed to push victory to extremity. Napoleon, irritated by this unexpiected and harassing opposition, suddenly dismissed the legis- lative body. This commencement of resistance announced internal defections. After passing from Russia to Germany, they were about to extend from Germany and Italy to France. But now, as before, all depended on the issue of the war, which the winter had not interrupted. Napoleon placed all his hopes on it, and started from Paris on January 25 for this immortal campaign. The empire was invaded in all directions. The Austrians entered Italy; the English, having made themselves masters of the peninsula during the last two years, had passed the Bidassoa, under General Wellington, and appeared on the Pyrenees. Three armies pressed on France to the east and north. The great allied army, amounting to 150,000 men, under Schwartzenberg, advanced by Switzerland ; the army of Silesia of 130,000, under Bliicher, by Frankfort; and that of the north, of 100,000, under Bernadotte, had seized on Holland and entered Belgium. The enemies, in their turn, neglected the fortified places, and taking a lesson from the conqueror, advanced on the capital. When Napoleon left Paris the two armies of Schwartzenberg and Bliicher were on the point of effecting a junction in Champagne. Deprived of the support of the people, who were only lookers on. Napoleon was left alone against the whole world with a handful of veterans and his genius, which had lost nothing of its daring and vigor. At this moment he stands out nobly, no longer an oppressor, no longer a conqueror, but defending, inch by inch, with new victories, the soil of his country, and at the same time, his empire and renown. T H E E M P I R E 491 1814 He marched into Champagne against the two great hostile armies. General Maison was charged to intercept Bernadotte in Belgium ; Augereau, the Aiistrians, at Lyons ; Soult, the English, on the Spanish frontier. Prince Eugene was to defend Italy; and the empire, though penetrated to the very center, still stretched its vast arms into the depths of Germany by its garrisons beyond the Rhine. Napoleon did not despair of driving these swarms of foes from the territory of France by means of a powerful military reac- tion, and again planting his standards in the countries of the enemy. He placed himself skillfully between P^liicher, who was descending the Marne, and Schwartzenberg, who descended the Seine; he hastened from one of these armies to the other, and de- feated them alternately (February lo, 1814). The Russian divi- sion under Olssouviev was beaten at Champ-Aubert, February 10, 1814; the Prussian Field Marshal Yorck was repulsed at Chateau Thierry, February 12; and Bliicher at Vauchamps, February 13. In six days tlie army of Silesia lost 40,000 men and 100 cannon. When his army was destroyed Napoleon returned to the Seine, de- feated the Austrians at Alontereau, February 18, and drove them before him. His combinations were so strong, his activity so great, his measures so sure, that he seemed on the point of entirely disorganizing these two formidable armies, and with them anni- hilating the coalition. Napoleon's military genius probably never was more conspic- uous than just at this time. Three great armies were advancing upon Paris, and Napoleon had only the remnants of the army of Germany to oppose them, hardly 70,000 men. His best troops were far from the scene, or outside of France entirely. More than 100,000 were in Spain under Soult and Suchet: 40,000 were in Italy under Eugene, and 120,000 were scattered in various cities throughout Germany, notably at Hamburg, Dresden, Stettin, and Dantzig. It is notliing short of marvelous that the emperor was able not merely to prevent his enemies from uniting their forces, but actually to defeat them. Under these blows the allies wavered at Chatillon and offered Napoleon the possession of France with the boundaries of 1792, but the emperor refused the terms. But if he conquered wherever he came, the foe triumphed wherever he was not. The English had entered Bordeaux, where a party had declared f(^r the Bourbon family; the Austrians occu- pied Lyons; the Belgian army had joined the remnant of that of 492 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1814 Bliichcr, which reappeared on Napoleon's rear. Defection now entered his own family, and Murat had just followed, in Italy, the example of Bernadotte, by joining the coalition. The grand offi- cers of the empire still served him, but languidly, and he only found ardor and fidelity in his subaltern generals and indefatigable sol- diers. Napoleon had again marched on Bliicher, who had escaped from him thrice : on the left of the Marne, by a sudden frost, which hardened the muddy ways among which the Prussians had involved themselves, and were in danger of perishing; on the Aisne, through the defection of Soissons, which opened a passage to them, at a moment when they had no other way of escape; at Craonne (March 7), by the fault of the Duke of Ragusa, who prevented a decisive battle by suffering himself to be surprised by night. After so many fatalities, which frustrated the surest plans, Napoleon, ill sustained by his generals, surrounded by the coalition, conceived the bold design of transporting himself to Saint Dizier, on the Marne River, and then to crush his enemies between his own army and Paris. But the faint-heartedness of Joseph Bonaparte and Mar- mont, upon whom the safety of Paris rested, ruined his project. It is true that the position of Paris was little short of desperate, but it was a sort of desperation out of which Napoleon might have snatched victory. This daring march, so full of genius, startled for a moment the confederate generals, from whom it cut off all retreat; but, excited by secret encouragements, without being anx- ious for their rear, they advanced on Paris. This great city, the only capital of Europe which had not been the theater of war, suddenly saw all the troops of Europe enter its plains, and was on the point of undergoing the common humilia- tion. It was left to itself. The empress, appointed regent a few months before, had just left it to repair to Blois. Napoleon was at a distance. There was not that despair and that movement of liberty which drive a people to resistance ; w^ar was no longer made on nations, but on governments, and the emperor had centered all the public interest in himself, and placed all his means of defense in mechanical troops. The exhaustion was great ; a feeling of pride, of very just pride, alone made the approach of the stranger painful, and oppressed every Frenchman's heart at seeing his native land trodden by armies so long vanquished. But this sentiment was not sufficient!}^ strong to raise the masses of the population against the enemy; and the measures of the royalist party, at the head of which T H E E M P I R E 493 1814 the Prince of Benevento placed himself, called the allied troops to the capital. An action took place, however, on March 30, under the walls of Paris; but on the 31st the gates were opened to the confederate forces, who entered in pursuance of a capitulation. The senate consummated the great imperial defection by forsaking its old master; it was influenced by Talleyrand, who for some time had been out of favor with Napoleon. This voluntary actor in every crisis of power had just declared against him. With no attachment to party, of a profound political indifference, he foresaw from a distance with wonderful sagacity the fall of a government; withdrew from it opportunely; and when the precise moment for assailing it had arrived, joined in the attack with all his talents, his influence, his name, and his authority, which he had taken care to preserve. In favor of the revolution, under the constituent assem- bly; of the directory, on the i8th Fructidor; for the consulate, on the i8th Brumaire; for the empire, in 1804, he was for the restora- tion of the royal family in 1814; he seemed grand master of the ceremonies for the party in power, and for the last thirty years it was he who had dismissed and installed the successive govern- ments. The senate, influenced by him, appointed a provisional government, and declared Xapoleon deposed from his throne, the hereditary rights of his family abolished, the people and army freed from their oath of fidelity. It proclaimed him tyrant whose des- potism it had facilitated by its adulation. Meantime, Napoleon, urged by those about him to succor the capital, had abandoned his march on Saint Dizier, and hastened to Paris at the head of 50,000 men, in tlie hope of preventing the entry of the enemy. On his arrival ( A])ril i ) he heard of the capitulation of the preceding day, and fell back on I'ontainebleau, where he learned the defection of the senate and his de])ositi(jn. Then finding that all gave way around him in his ill f()rtune, the people, the senate, generals and courtiers, he decided on abdicating in favor of his son. He sent Caulain- court, Marslial Xey, and ^Marshal Macdonald as plenipotentiaries to the confederates ; on their way they were to take with them Marmont, who covered Fontainebleau with a corps. Xapoleon, with his fifty thousand men and strong military position, could yet oblige the coalition to admit the claim of his son. But the Duke of Ragusa forsook his post, treated with the enemy, and left b^jntaineblcau exposed. X'apoleon was then obliged to submit to the conditions of the allied powers; their pretensions 494 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1814 increased with their power. At Prague they ceded to him the em- pire, with the Alps and the Rhine for Hmits ; after the invasion of France, they offered him at Chatillon the possessions of the old monarchy only; later they refused to treat with him except in favor of his son; but now, determined on destroying all that re- mained of the revolution with respect to Europe, its conquest and dynasty, they compelled Napoleon to abdicate absolutely. On April I, 1814, he renounced for himself and children the thrones of France and Italy, and received in exchange for his vast sov- ereignty, the limits of which had extended from Cadiz to the Baltic Sea, the little Island of Elba. On the 20th, after an affecting fare- well to his old soldiers, he departed for his new principality. Thus fell this man, who alone, for fourteen years, had filled the world. His enterprising and organizing genius, his power of life and will, his love of glory, and the immense disposable force which the revolution placed in his hands, have made him the most gigantic being of modern times. That which would have rendered the destiny of another extraordinary, scarcely counts in his. Rising from an obscure to the highest rank ; from a simple artillery officer becoming the chief of the greatest of nations, he dared to conceive the idea of universal monarchy, and for a moment realized it. After having obtained the empire by his victories, he wished to subdue Europe by means of France, and reduce England by means of Europe, and he established the military system against the Con- tinent, the blockade against Great Britain. This design succeeded for some years ; from Lisbon to Moscow he subjected people and potentates to his word of command as general, and to the vast sequestration which he prescribed. But in this way he failed in discharging his restorative mission of the i8th Brumaire. By exercising on his own account the power he had received, by attack- ing the liberty of the people by despotic institutions, the independ- ence of states by war, he excited against himself the opinions and interests of the human race ; he provoked universal hostility. The nation forsook him, and after having been long victorious, after having planted his standard on every capital, after having during ten years augmented his power, and gained a kingdom with every battle, a single reverse combined the world against him, proving by his fall how impossible in our days is despotism. Yet Napoleon, amid all the disastrous results of his system, gave a prodigious impulse to the Continent; his armies carried witfc T H E E M P I R E 495 1814 them the ideas and customs of the more advanced civilization of France. European societies were shaken on their old foundations ; nations were mingled by frequent intercourse ; bridges thrown across boundary rivers; high roads made over the Alps, Apennines, and Pyrenees brought territories nearer to each other; and Napo- leon effected for the material condition of states what the revolu- tion had done for the minds of men. The blockade completed the impulse of conquest; it improved continental industry, enabling it to take the place of that of England, and replaced colonial com- merce by the produce of manufactures. Thus Napoleon, by agi- tating nations, contributed to their civilization. His despotism rendered him counter-revolutionary with respect to France; but his spirit of conquest made him a regenerator with respect to Europe, of which many nations, in torpor till he came, will live henceforth with the life he gave them. But in this Napoleon obeyed the dic- tates of his nature. The child of war war was his tendency, his pleasure; domination his object; he wanted to master the world, and circumstances placed it in his hand, in order that he might make use of it. Napoleon has presented in France what Cromwell presented for a moment in England ; the government of the army, which always establishes itself when a revolution is contended against; it then gradually changes, and from being civil, as it was at first, becomes military. In Great Britain, internal war not being com- plicated with foreign war, on account of the geographical situ- ation of the country, which isolated it from other states, as soon as the enemies of reform were vanquislied, the army passed from tlie field of battle to the government. Its intervention being pre- mature, Cromwell, its general, found parties still in the fury of their passions, in all the fanaticism of their opinions, and he directed against them alone his military administration. The French Revolution taking place on the Continent saw the nations disposed for liberty, and sovereigns leagued from a fear of the lib- eration of their people. It had not only internal enemies, but also foreign enemies to contend with ; and while its armies were repel- ling Europe, parties were overthrowing each other in the assemblies. The militaiy intervention came later; Napoleon, finding factions defeated and opinions almost forsaken, obtained obedience easily from the nation, and turned the military government against Europe. 496 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1814 This difference of position materially influenced the conduct and character of these two extraordinary men. Napoleon, dis- posing of immense force and of uncontested power, gave himself up in security to the vast designs and the part of a conqueror. While Cromwell, deprived of the assent which popular exhaustion accords, incessantly attacked by factions, was reduced to neutralize them one by the other, and was to the last the military dictator of parties. The one employed his genius in undertaking ; the other in resisting. Accordingly, the former had the frankness and decision of power; the other, the craft and hypocrisy of opposed ambition. This situation would destroy their sway. All dictatorships are transient ; and however strong or great, it is impossible for anyone long to subject parties or long to retain kingdoms. It is this that, sooner or later, would have led to the fall of Cromwell (had he lived longer), by internal conspiracies;^ and that brought on the down- fall of Napoleon, by the rising of Europe. Such is the fate of all powers which, arising from liberty, do not continue to abide with her. In 1814 the empire had just been destroyed; the revolutionary parties had ceased to exist since the i8th Brumaire. All the gov- ernments of this political period had been exhausted. The senate recalled the old royal family. Already unpopular on account of its past servility, it ruined itself in public opinion by publishing a constitution, tolerably liberal, but which placed on the same footing the pensions of senators and the guarantees of the nation. The Count d'Artois, who had been the first to leave France, was the first to return, in the character of lieutenant general of the kingdom. He signed, on April 23, the convention of Paris, which reduced the French territory to its limits of January i, 1792, and by which Belgium, Savoy, Nice, and Geneva, and immense military stores ceased to belong to France. Louis XVIII. landed at Calais on April 24, and entered Paris with solemnity on May 3, 1814, after having on the 2d made the declaration of Saint Omar, which fixed the prin- ciples of the representative government, and which was followed on June 2 by the promulgation of the charter. At this epoch a new series of events begins. The year 18 14 was the term of the great movement of the preceding twenty-five '* This estimate of Cromwell preserves the eighteenth century tradition of him. Carlyle's " Cromwell's Letters," Gardiner's " England under the Common- wealth and Protectorate," and Firth's " Oliver Cromwell," have proved the true moral as well as political and military greatness of the Protector. T H E E M P I R E 497 1814 years. The revolution had been political, as directed against the absolute power of the court and the privileged classes, and military, because Europe had attacked it. The reaction which arose at that time only destroyed the empire, and brought about the coalition in Europe, and the representative system in France; such was to be its first period. Later, it opposed the revolution, and produced the Holy Alliance against the people, and the government of a party against the charter. This retrograde movement necessarily had its course and limits. France can only be ruled in a durable manner by satisfying the twofold need which made it undertake the revo- lution. It requires real political liberty in the government; and in society, the material prosperity produced by the continually progressing development of civilization. Chapter XIX THE HUNDRED DAYS. MARCH-JUNE. 1815 THE measures which resuhed in the elevation of Louis XVni. to the throne of France were taken by the alhed governments during the months of April and May, 18 14. They were all agreed as to the deposition of Napoleon, but divided as to the policy to be pursued. To give the crown to the King of Rome under the regency of his mother, Marie Louise, would have given Austria too great an ascendency ; Alexander wanted Berna- dotte, formerly one of Napoleon's marshals, and now King of Swe- den, to be made king, and had proposed such a plan even before Na- poleon's fall, in January. But no one else took kindly to the sug- gestion, and the Bourbons alone remained to be considered. But the voice of the French nation was silent, and the powers had re- solved not to impose a government upon France at least not in appearance. It was therefore necessary to organize a movement that would have, at any rate, the semblance of natural feeling in favor of the Bourbons. Talleyrand and Metternich undertook the delicate task. On March 31, when the allies made their entrance into Paris, shouts of " vive le roi! " the voices of some carefully se- lected agents of Talleyrand began the " demonstration " in favor of the exiled dynasty. Already the senators had been provided for, through the foresight of Talleyrand, after the fall of Napoleon. The senate had hastily compiled a constitution, the purpose of which was to save the senators, deputies, and other governmental officials from the anger of the powers, assure peaceable enjoyment of their prop- erty to purchasers of the national domain, and pacify the fears of the government's creditors. Talleyrand quieted the anxiety and at the same time purchased the support of the senate by protecting it. The senators became peers under the restoration, and all officials of the imperial regime held over. Li return the senate, on April 6, by a vote of 142 to 62,, and the chamber by one of 143 to yy, declared that " the French people freely calls Louis of France, brother of the late king, to the throne." But Louis XVHI., in 498 THE HUNDRED DAYS 499 1814 order to save his sovereignty, rejected the proposed constitution, so far as recognizing the right of the senate in the matter was con- cerned, although he accepted it in form and ordained it as a measure emanating from his own authority. Thus was the charter put into operation. On April 23 the allies signed an armistice with the Count d'Artois, the sole provision of which was that France renounced every conquest made since 1792. The definitive treaty of peace remained to be made. The negotiations were delayed by the v;ish of the Russian emperor to exile Napoleon to Elba. By the terms agreed upon France re- turned to the boundaries it had possessed in 1792, with the excep- tion of Savoy, Sarrelouis, and Landau ; the Isle of France, Tabago, and Sainte-Lucia were ceded to England; no war indemnity was demanded by the powers, but Prussia for a time insisted upon com- pensation for the moneys Napoleon had wrung from them. The treaty was signed on May 30, 18 14. The skill of Talleyrand had saved France from being penalized to a greater degree by victorious Europe. Meanwhile, bitter antag- onism had developed among the powers. The great difficulty was with reference to Poland and Saxony. Russia and Prussia wanted to let Alexander have Poland, and to give Saxony to Prussia, in- demnifying the Saxon king by a gift of territory upon the Rhine; but Austria opposed the plan, for fear Prussia would become too strong in Germany, and England was unwilling to see the czar estab- lish his power so firmly in central Europe. Accordingly Russia and Prussia made common cause together, and Austria and England united policies. Tallevrand profited by the dissension to group the minor states around him and invoked the principle of " legitimacy " the policy of restoring things to the status of 1789. While this policy was hard on the little states, for it united Belgium to Hol- land, Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark, and reestablished Austrian Lombardy, it saved France from greater humiliation. The work of the Congress of Vienna was not completed when Napoleon returned to France. The new order of things in France had been far from pleasing to the people. It is true that the country was tired of war and of Bonaparte's arbitrary government. But Louis XVIII. had stirred up the resentment of the people : to pretend that he was king by the grace of God when, as was wit- tily said, " he had been brought back in the baggage of the allies," and to talk about " the twenty-fifth year of our reign " was an 500 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1815 offensive affectation. There were lesser grievances also: the abolition of tlie tricolor and the return of the white cockade; the reduction of the officers to half-pay; the octroi. Napoleon profited by the discontent, and aided by Fouche, who formed an imperialist party, he returned to France. Avoid- ing the royalist region of the Rhone valley, he came straight to Paris. The peasantry, the liberals, the imperials flocked to his standards. Marshal Ney, whom the government sent to arrest him, yielded to the influence of his old chief over him. Meanwhile the Congress of Vienna, having outlawed Napoleon by a joint declaration on March 13, 1815, hastened to conclude its labors. The pen of the diplomat was laid aside for the sword of the soldier. In Paris Napoleon made herculean preparations for conflict. Most of the old marshals, Macdonald, for example, had refused to THE HUNDRED DAYS 501 1815 take up arms again. Only Ney, Soult, Suchet, Brune, and Davout espoused his cause. Marmont accepted a command against the emperor. Aiming to prevent England from supporting the other allies, Napoleon took the offensive and crossed the Sambre at Charleroi with 128,000 men. The allied army numbered about 200,000, that of Austria operating in Italy against Murat Na- poleon's plan was to attack his enemies separately, and prevent the union of the English and the Prussians. The battle of Waterloo was really several separate engagements. On June i6th the French, after a furious fight at Ligny, near Fleurus, put the Prussian army under Bliicher to rout. Then ordering Grouchy to pursue the Prus- sians in the direction of Namur, the emperor himself turned against the English coming from Brussels. Ney, with a slight number of troops at his disposal, on this first day had been unable to stop the English progress, a misfortune which was aggravated by a false maneuver, which left a whole army corps, under Drouet d'Erlon, inactive between the two armies. In consequence the English penetrated as far as Waterloo, where they entrenched themselves upon the plateau of Mont St. Jean (June 18). About 70,000 men on each side, of whom 15,000 were cavalry, were pitted against each other on this famous day. Napoleon planned to take the English advance position, and then to crush their left wing, in order to cripple the side of the army nearest to the Prus- sians. But the rain had fallen in torrents during the night, and owing to the mud the French could not begin the battle until nearly noon. The loss of time was of serious consequence. The English, at first overwhelmed by the heavy artillery fire from the height of La Belle Alliance, where the emperor had taken up his position, were driven back upon Ilougoumont by the infantry of Reille and Drouet d'Erlon. But on the summit of the plateau the English made a heroic and successful stand against the furious charges of Xey's cavalry. Twice the English cannon were taken and their lines broken. It seemed as if the last ounce of effort had been expended on either side. Napoleon had anxiously sent courier after courier ordering Grouchy to come; just as anxiously Wellington watched fur Bliicher. Late in the day a new cannon- ading was heard far off on the right. Was it Grouchy with re- inforcements? or was it Bliicher? It was the Prussian generals Bliicher and BiiUnv. Grouchy had made the fatal blunder of attacking a Prussian column merely, and let the main body of the 502 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1815 Prussians, more than 60,000 men, effect a junction with the Eng- Hsh forces. For a while the brave Lobau had delayed Biilow's advance at Wavre, but when Blucher's column also came the French could not longer hold their ground. They were ex- hausted and outnumbered; brain and heart and hand could do no more. In vain Ney cried out to his men : " Follow me, I will show you how a marshal of France can die!" The Old Guard was the only portion of the French army that stood firm in the universal rout, the only group whom consternation, despair, and the panic of defeat did not overcome. Even if the famous words " the Guard dies but never surrenders " were not said until after- ward, the Guard acted in the spirit of the utterance. The day of Napoleon's destiny was over; the star of Auster- litz and Wagram had declined forever. With more moderation he might have made his conquest permanent; but when the people of Europe realized that Napoleon's heel was treading down the free ideals and crushing the institutions by which he himself had been raised to power, then the France which he had robbed of liberty and the Europe which he had despoiled rose against him. Yet the mists of time transfigure. Not all the learning and critical research of modern scholarship has dispelled the illusion that has gathered around his name. The words of Chateaubriand are still true: "The Bonaparte which we see to-day is not the true Bonaparte : he is a legendary figure formed of the reveries of the poet, the tales of the soldier, and the songs of the people. He is the Charlemagne and the Alexander of the medieval epoch. The hero of the imagination will remain the real personage: the other portraits will vanish away." For the second time France was crushed under the tread of invading armies. The Hundred Days formed but an episode in the history of Europe ; but it had serious consequences for France. For after this second victory of the allies it was manifest that the feel- ing of the powers toward France had hardened. France had taken the part of the man whom Europe had outlawed and was there- fore the accomplice of the emperor. The first restoration had been merciful, the second would be terrible in its righteousness, in its determination to subdue revolution. An indemnity of seven hundred millions, payable in five years, with military occupation ^y 150^000 men to be supported by France until it was paid, and a reduction of territory to the limits of 1790, was the punishment THE HUNDRED DAYS 608 1815 meted out to the conquered country. Even her " natural fron- tiers " were denied to France, for Savoy and part of Alsace were taken away. France faced the future with an alienated, if not an alien, king, upon the throne; with a government which in principles and in policy antagonized the nation. Fortunately, in the bosom of the nation the truths of the great revolution still lived and were destined to will and to work in succeeding years. Beneath Bour-, bon suppression and beyond Bourbon reaction was the force of things intense, elemental, national, which the spirit of 1789 had waked imperishably. The history of France in the nineteenth century is the epilogue of the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, and the prologue to the drama of the twentieth century. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY GENERAL HISTORIES Carlyle, Thomas. " The French Revolution." Many editions, the best being that edited by Fletcher. New York, 1902. Fyffe, Charles Alan. " History of Modern Europe." New York. Vol. I. of this history contains an excellent brief account of the Revolution in France. Gardiner, Mrs. B. M. "The French Revolution." London and New York. An excellent manual, in the " Epochs of Modern History " series. Mallet, Charles E. " The French Revolution." New York. This is one of the best of the single volume histories. Mathews, Shailer. " The French Revolution." New York, 1898. Morris, W. O'Connor. "The French Revolution and the First Empire." Lon- don and New York. Rose, J. H. " The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era." New York, 1894. Stephens, H. Morse. " The French Revolution." 2 vols. New York, 1886. " The Revolution and Europe." New York. Stephens's works rank as the most scholarly in English. Sybel, H. K. L. Von. " History of the French Revolution." 4 vols., London, 1868. Impartial but unfavorable. Excellent in economic matters. This work is translated from the German, Von Sybel being a pupil of Ranke. Taine, H. A. " The French Revolution." London, 1885. Brilliant and depicting vividly the social condition of France. Thiers, Adolphe. " History of the French Revolution, the Consulate, and the Empire." 10 vols. New York, 1862. SPECIAL PERIODS AND TOPICS Aulard, Prof. " Le Culte de la Raison ct dc I'Elrc snprhnc." 1892. "La Diplomatie du premier Comitc dc Saint public" (Revue dc la Revolu- tion franqaisc, 1890, vols. XVIII and XIX). " L' Eloquence parlementaire pendant la Revolution." Paris, 1885. Belloc, Hilaire. "Life of Danton." New York, 1902. Beesley. " Robespierre." London, 1901. Boiteau. "La France en 1789." Paris, 1883. Ranks among the authorities on France just prior to the Revolution. Bire, Edmond. "La Lcgendc des Girondins" Paris, i88r. Buckle, Henry Thomas. " History of Civilization." New York. Chapters VTTI to XIV in volume I bear directly on the Revolution. This is the best authority to consult on the intellectual state of France. 50T 608 BIBLIOGRAPHY Chuquet, A."Les guerres de la Revolution." Vol. I, "Premiere invasion prussieune," Paris, 1886; vol. II., " Valniy," Paris, 1887; vol. III., "La rctraite de Brunswick," Paris, 1887 ; vol. IV, " Jemmapcs ct la conquete de la Bclgique," Paris, 1890 ; vol. V.," L' Expedition de Custine," Paris, 1890. Doniol, 11. " La Revolution et la Feodalite." Paris, 1874. Droz, Th. " Histoire du regne de Louis XV IL" 3 vols., 1839. Dubost, Antonin. " Danton et les massacres de Septembre." Paris, 1885. Duruy, George. "Histoire de France." Paris, 1858. Hall, H. F. " Napoleon's Letters to Josephine." London, 1901. This is the first time these letters have been collected and translated. Hamel, Ernest. "Histoire de Robespierre." 1865. Lewes, G. H. " Life of Maximilian Robespierre." London, 1849. Lowell, E. J. " The Eve of the French Revolution." Boston, 1893. An excellent work. Lebon, Andre. " L'Angleterre et V Emigration." Paris, 1882. Morley, John. " Rousseau." London, 1873. "Voltaire." London, 1871. Morris, Gouverneur. " Diary and Letters." New York. Robinet, J. E. " Memoires stir la vie privee de Danton." Paris, 1865. " Proces des Dantonistes." Paris, 1879. "Danton emigre." Paris, 1887. Sciout, L. " Le Directoire." 3 vols., 1897. Sorel, A. " U Europe et la Revolution frangaisc." Paris. Beyond question one of the ablest histories ever written. Extremely valu- able for its discussion of the influence of the Revolution on Europe. Sin- gularly strong and exact. "La Paix de Bale." (Revue historique, vols. V to VII, 1877-1878). " L'Autriche et le Comiie de Saliit public." (Ibid., vols. XVII and XVIII). " L' Europe et le Directoire." {Revue des Deux Mondcs, 15 juillet-15 aout, 1897.) Taine, H. A. " The Ancient Regime." New York. It is said that Taine read 300,000 documents in the preparation of this work. Tocqueville, Ale.xis de. " France before the Revolution." New York. Terneaux, Mortimer. " Histoire de la Terreur, d'apres Documents authen- tiques et inedits." Paris, 1862-1869. Highly praised by Von Sybel. Wallon, A. H. "Les Rcprcsentants en Mission." 5 vols., 1889-1890. Young, Arthur. " Travels in France during the Years 1787, 1788, 1789." Lon- don and New York. This book gives much information respecting the agricultural condition of the country. It is a valuable work, and is quoted by practically all historians of the French Revolution. NAPOLEON AND THE NAPOLEONIC ERA Adams, Henry. " Historical Essays." New York. Containing " Napoleon at St. Domingo." Ashton, John. " English Caricature and Satire on Napoleon I." London, 1885. Barras, Paul Francis John N., Comte de. " Memoirs." New York, 1895. Bowman, H. M. " The Preliminary Stages of the Peace of Amiens." Toronto, 1900. BIBLIOGRAPHY 509 Bingham, D. A. "Letters and Dispatches of the First Napoleon." 3 vols. London, 1884. Edited in a spirit hostile to Napoleon. Bonaparte, Joseph de. "Memoirs." (An English translation of the letters in these memoirs was published as " Confidential Correspondence of Na- poleon Bonaparte and his Brother Joseph," New York, 1856.) Browning, Oscar. " England and Napoleon in 1803." London, 1887. With Lord Whitworth's dispatches. Castlereagh, Lord. " Correspondence." Relating to the first negotiations for peace, 1814. Chesney, General C. " Waterloo Lectures." 3d edition. 1875. Fay, S. B. " The Execution of the Due d'Enghien." (American Historical Re- view, July and October, 1898.) Ford, G. S. " Hanover and Prussia, 1795-1803." New York, 1903. A study of the Prussian neutrality system. Fisher, H. A. L. " Studies in Napoleonic Statesmanship." Oxford, 1903. Fournier, Auguste. " Napoleon the First." Tr. by E. G. Bourne. New York, 1903. Probably the best single volume life yet written. The appendix contains an excellent bibliography. George, H. B. " Napoleon's Invasion of Russia." London, 1899. Lanfrey, P. " Histoire de Napoleon Icr." 4 vols. Hostile to Napoleon. Laughton, J. K. " Life of Nelson." 2d edition. London, 1900. Mahan, A. T. " Life of Nelson, the Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain." Boston, 1897. " Influence of Sea Power on the French Revolution and the Empire, 1793- 1812." Boston, 1892. Maxwell, W. H. "Life of Wellington." London, 1839-1841. Meneval, Baron. "Napoleon ct Marie Louise." New edition. 1894. Metternich, Prince " Nachgclassene Papiere." Morris, W. O. " Napoleon." New York. " The Campaign of 1815." London, 1900. Napier, Sir William F. P." History of the Peninsular War." New York. Oman, C. W. C. " History of the Peninsular War." London, 1903. Paget, Sir Arthur. " Diplomatic and Other Correspondence, 1794-1807." Lon- don, 1896. Sir Arthur Paget was the English ambassador at Vienna and the " Paget Papers " will be found extremely interesting and of unique value. Roberts, L. M. " The Negotiations Preceding the Peace of Luneville." (Trans. of the Royal Historical Society, New Series, Vol. XV.). Ropes, J. C. " The Campaign of Waterloo." Boston, 1892. A military history of special excellence, with atlas. " The First Napoleon." Boston. Rose, J. H. (Ed.) "Dispatches of Colonel T. Graham on the Italian Campaign of 1796-1797." (English Historical Review, vol. XIV, pp. 111-124, 321-331.) "Napoleon and English Commerce." (Hnglish Historical Review', Vol. VIII, 1893.) " Life of N^apoleon T." 2 vols. London and New York, 1902. One of the most excellent in English. Ruseell, Lord John, " Memorials and Correspondence of Charles J. Fox." Vol. IH. 510 BIBLIOGRAPHY Sargent, H. H. " Napoleon Bonaparte's First Campaign." London, 1897. " The Campaign of Marengo." London, 1897. Seeley, Sir John Robert. " Short History of Napoleon the First." London. " Life and Times of Stein." Boston. Sloane, W. M. " Life of Napoleon Bonaparte." 4 vols. New York, 1896. Scholarly yet popular. The set is beautifully illustrated. " Napoleon's Plans for a Colonial System." (American Historical Review, April, 1889.) Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles Maurice de. " Memoir : Written by Himself." 2 vols. New York. Taine, H. A. " Les origines de la France contemporaine, 'La regime moderne'." Paris, 1890. Described as a brilliant analysis of the creative work of the Consulate, finely conceived but dominated exclusively by a single point of view as regards Napoleon. But Taine's works are really studies in folk-psychology, it should be remembered. Tompkins, W. " Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns." London, 1894. Wilkinson, Spenser. " Napoleon, the First Phase." (Owens College Historical Essays.) London, 1902. Wolseley, Field Marshal, Viscount Lord. " The Decline and Fall of Napoleon." London, 1895. INDEX INDEX Aboukir: battle of (i799), 409 Absolute Power: progress of, during the consulate, 459 Admiral, L' : attempts to kill Collot- d'Herbois, 300 Aix-la-Chapelle : battle of (1793), 246 Alkmaar: battle of (1799), 407 Adige: battles of the (1809), 479 Amiens, Treaty of (1802), 444 Ancicns, Council of the, 352 Andre: leader of the Center, 139 Antoinette : see Marie Antiboul : death of, 279 Argonne : campaign of the, 209 Aspern-Essling: battle of (1809), 479 Assignats : sale of, 372 Astrowno: battle of (1812), 485 Aubiers: battle of (1793), 249 Augereau, Pierre Frangois Charles, Duke of Castiglione : enters Paris at the head of the troops, 391 ; arrests Pichegru, 391 Angers : taken by Cathelineau, 270 Aumont, Duke d' : offered the command of the militia, 62 Austerlitz: battle of (1805), 465 Austria : plan of the campaign against, 380 B Babneuf, Gracchus: proposes terms of peace to the directory, 2>77 '> trial and death of, 378 Baboeuf Conspiracy, The, 376; betrayed by Grisel, 277', trial and death of the accomplices in, 378 Bailleul: his account of the state of the T.uxembourg when the directors first entered, 370 Bailly, Jean Sylvain : elected member of the states-general, 39; presides over the assembly, 51; appointed mayor of Paris, 71 ; presents Louis XVI with the keys of Paris, 72 Bancal-des-Issarts: appointed deputy to the Versailles assembly, 69 Banquet of October First, The, 92 Barbaroux, Charles Jean Marie: death of, 279 Barbe-Marbois, Franqois, Marquis de : elected president of the elder coun- cil, 386 Barentin : makes speech at the opening of the states-general, 43 ; opposes in- fluence of Necker, 50 Barnave, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie : leader of the national party, 81 ; opposes the granting of the veto power to the king, 119; directs the Jacobin Club, 128; escorts Louis XVI back to Paris, 138; his speech in the assembly on the question of the king's trial, 140 Barras, Paul Jean Franijois Nicolas, Count of: appointed commander of the armed force under the directory, 357; chosen a member of the direc- tory, 361 ; harangues Bonaparte on his return to Paris, 397; his disso- lute course of life, 401 ; his change of party, 406 ; treats with the pre- tender, 406; resigns, 412 Barrcre de Vieuzac, Bertrand: elected member of the states-general, 39; proposes liberal measures in the con- vention, 2y2, ; character and princi- ples of, 300; arrest and trial of, 333 Barthelemy, Frangois, Marquis de : re- places Le Tourneur in the directory, 386 Basel (Rale), Peace of (1795). 347 Bastile, The: siege of (1789), 63 Batavian Republic, The : constituted and allied with PYance, 347 513 514 INDEX Battalion of Patriots : enrollment of the, 357 Bautzen: battle of (1813), 488 Bavaria : erected into a kingdom, 466 Baylen: battle of (1808), 477 Bcauharnais, Alexandre de : death of, 279 Beauharnais, Eugene de : made viceroy of Italy, 462 Beaulieu : made minister of finance, 176 BeaLipreau: battle of (i793)> 249 Beauvais : death of, 279 Belgium : ceded to France by Austria, 385 Bergen: battle of (1799), 407 Berlin: taken by the French (1806), 470 Berlin, University of: founded, 487 Berlin Decree (1806), 473 Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules : see Charles (XIV) John, King of Sweden Berthier : death of, TZ Berthier, Alexandre : invested with the principality of Neufchatel, 468 Billaud-Varrennes, Jean Nicolas : leader of the commune, 203; attacks Robe- spierre, 310; trial of, 2)ZZ Biron, Armand Louis, Duke of: ordered to advance upon ]\Ions, 173 ; retreat of, 173 Blacons, Marquis des : pronounces re- nunciation of privileges of Dauphine, 75 Bliicher, Gebhard Leberecht von : at the battle of Waterloo, 501 Boileau : death of, 279 Boissy d'Anglas, Count Francois Antoine de : his courageous conduct in the assembly, before the insurgents, 2>2>7 Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Viscount : his influence on Voltaire, 13 Bonaparte, Jerome : receives Westphalia, 471 ; driven from his capital, 479 Bonaparte, Joseph : declared king of the two Sicilies, 467; receives the crown of Spain, 475 ; leaves Madrid, 479 Bonaparte, Louis; made king of Holland, 467 Bonaparte, Lucien: resigns his insignias of office, 415 Bonaparte, Napoleon: see Napoleon (I) Bonaparte Borodino: battle of (1812), 485 Bouille, Frangois Claude Amour, Mar- quis de: duplicity of, 124; establishes a camp at Montmedy for the recep' tion of the king, 137; death of, 125 note Bread Riot, The, 93 Breteuil, Baron de: made member of the ministry, 56 Brezenval, Baron de : imprisonment of, Brienne, fetienne Charles de Lomenie de : made minister of finance, 32; takes oath of loyalty to the nation, 113 Brissot de Warville, Jean Pierre : peti- tion drawn up by, demanding the dethronement of the king, 142; divides the emigrants into three classes, 157; advocates rigorous measures against the emigrants, 157; his speech respecting abdica- tion, 183; attacked by Robespierre and Marat, 254 ; death of, 279 Broglie, Victor Frangois, Duke de: made member of the ministry, 56 Brune, Guillaume Marie Anne : victories of, in Holland, 407; joins Napoleon after his return, 501 Brunswick, Manifesto of (1792), 186, Biilowr, Friedrich Wilhelm von : at the battle of Waterloo, 501 Buzot, Frangois Nicolas Leonard : de- mands trial of king, 141 ; death of, 280 Cadoudal, Georges : principal leader of the Chouans, 375; conspiracy of, 455 ; execution of, 455 Caisse Patriotique: established, 107 Calendar, The Republican, 282 Calonne, Charles Alexandre de: made minister of finance, 31 ; joins royal exiles, 72 Calvados: insurrection in, 269; sup- pressed, 274 Campo-Formio, Treaty of (1797), 395 Camus, Armand Gaston : at the meet- ing of the assembly (1789), Si'i presents the book of the constitu- tion to the national assembly, 151 Capet: origin of name, 227 note. INDEX 515 Carnot, Lazare Nicolas Marguerite : ap- pointed minister of war, and major- general of the republican armies, 341 ; replaces Sieyes in the directory, 361 ; tries to prevent the struggle between the directory and the roy- alists, 388 Carra, Jean Louis : death of, 279 Carrier, Jean Baptiste: impeachment of, 325 ; trial of, 328 Carteaux, Jean Franqois : pursues the sectionary army to Marseilles, 274 Cassano: battle of (1799), 403 Castricum: battle of (1799), 407 Catherine II, Empress of Russia : growth of Russia under, 133 Cazales, Jacques Antoine Marie dc : sketch of, 79 Center, The : origin and use of the term, 82; makes overtures to the court, 139 Chambonnas, Scipio : made minister of finance, 176 Champ-Aubert : battle of (1814), 491 Champ de Mars : confederation of the kingdom at, 121 Championet, Jean fitienne : enters Na- ples, 402 Chapelier: his opinion on the renewal of the assembly, 114; directs the Feuillant Club, 128 Chappe, Claude : invents system of tele- graphs, 336 note Chappe, Ignace : invents system of tele- graphs, 336 note Charles X, King of France : elected mem- ber of the states-general, 39; opposes influence of Nccker, 50; leaves France, 72; opens correspondence with Lyons, 115; hastens the de- termination of the cabinets of the coalition, 136; impeached, 164; signs armistice with the allies, 499 Charles (XIV) John, King of Sweden: dismissed through Sieves, 40S; elected king of Sweden, 481 Chateau Thierry: battle of (1814), 491 Chateauvieux Regiment: revolt of, 125 Ciiatelct, Duke du : proi^o-^es the redemp- tion of titlies, 74 Chatillon: battles of (1703). 276 Clugny de Nuis, Jean fitionnc Bernard: becomes minister of linancc, 28 Chenier, Marie Joseph de : advocates the tause of the proscribed conventional- ists, 330 Cherasco, Amnesty of (1796), 380 Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of: anticipates the French Revolution, 12 Cholet: battles of (1793), 248 note, 249, 276 Chouannerie, The: sketch of, 248 note Chouans : plot against Napoleon, 441 Cinq-cents, Council of the, 352 Cintra: battle of (1808), 477 Cisalpine Republic: formed by Bona- parte, 384 Clergy, The : oppose the revolution, 106 Clermont-Tonnerre, Stanislas, Count of: opposes the sending of the deputa- tion to the king, 69 ; favors the Eng- lish constitution, 80 Clichy, The Club of, 388 Club Monarchique : sketch of, 128 Coalitions against France : the first (1792-1797), 182, 244; the second (1799-1801), 401; the third (1805), 462; the fourth (1806-1807), 469; the fifth (1809), 476; the sixth (i8i3-i8i5),488 Code Napoleon, 447 Collot-d'Herbois, Jean Marie : leader of the commune, 203 ; arrest and trial of, 2,?>2, Commission of Eleven : formation of, 335 Commission of Twelve : appointment of, 256; insurrection against, 256 Committees, The : strive to bring about the fall of Robespierre by means of Catherine Tlieot, 305 ; its members, 320 ; democratic members replaced by Thermidorian members, 323 Communal List, The : 433 Compte Rendu : Necker issues, 30 Compulsory Loans, Law of: effect of, 406; abolished, 432 Concordat of 1801. The, 449 Conde : taken by the allied powers. 271 Conde, Louis Joseph de Rourbnn. Prince dc : opposes influence of Necker, 50; leaves I'rauce, ~2\ opens correspond- ence with Lvons, 11;; impeached, 164 Cciudorcct, Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas 516 INDEX Caritat, Marquis of: poisons himself, 280 Constitutional Circles, The: ordered to be closed, 390 Constitutionalists, The : oppose the meas- ures against the emigrants, 158 Constitutions of France: (1791), 145; (i793) 271; (the year III), 351; of Sieyes, 432; (the year VIII), 435; (the year X), 453 Conti, Prince de : opposes influence of Necker, 50 ; leaves France, 72 Convention, The National (the third na- tional legislative assembly of the deputies of the French people) : con- stitutes itself, 215 ; animosity of the Gironde and the mountain, 215 ; de- nounces Robespierre, 218; animosity toward Marat, 218; fresh accusa- tion of Robespierre, 222 ; question of the king's trial, 228 ; speech of Saint- Just, 230 ; speech of Robespierre, 231 ; the king brought to its bar, 232; De Seze's defense of the king, 234; condemns the king to death, 235 ; revival of animosities in, 240 ; summons Dumouricz to its bar, 251; arrest of its commissioners by Du- mouricz, 252; Isnard's reply to the deputies of the insurrections of May, 1793. 256; question of the abolition of the Commission of Twelve, 259; debate on the accusation of the Gi- rondists, 262; position of, through the insurrection of the departments, 270; liberal measures proposed by Barrere, 273 ; its successes against the insurrectionary towns and de- partments, 275 ; condemns Marie Antoinette to death, 278; condemns the twenty-two Girondists to death, 279; decrees the existence of the Supreme Being, 288 ; question of the arrest of Danton, 293 ; Robespierre appointed president, 301 ; Couthon presents the law of the 22d Prairial, 301 ; Robespierre's speech of the 8th Thermidor, 308; decrees the arrest of the two Roliespierres, Couthon, Lebas, and Saint-Just, 314; position of, after tlie fall of Robespierre, 320; question of recalling the proscribed memberi, 330 ; arrest of Billaud, Col- lot, Barrere, and Vadier, 333; re- vives the old martial law, 333 ; its reception of the insurgents of Ger- minal, 336; united under the Girond- ists, 340; decrees the constitution of the year III, 351 ; passes decrees requiring the reelection of two-thirds of its members, 355 ; concentrates its powers in a committee of five members, 356; moderation of, in the insurrection of the 13th Vendemiaire, 360; establishes itself as a national electoral assembly, 361 ; its close, 362 Copenhagen: bombardment of (1801), 446 Corday, Charlotte : assassinates Marat, 268; her replies before the tribunal, 268 note; death of, 268 Cordeliers Club : sketch of, 128, 283 Council of Ancients, The : members of, 352; form of decision and rejection, 352; dispersed by Napoleon's orders, 416 Council of Five Hundred, The : its mem- bers and functions, 352 ; list of its members condemned to exile by the law of public safety, 392 Courtray: battle of (1795), 345 Couthon, Georges: his character, 299; presents the law of the 22d Prairial, 301; arrested, 314; released, 315; executed, 318 Craonne: battle of (1814), 492 Crete (remnant of the Mountain) : arrest of seventeen members of, 334 Custine, Adam Philippe, Count of: su- perseded by General Houchard, 276; death of, 279 D Danican, General : summons the conven- tion to withdraw its troops, 358 Danton, Georges Jacques : political leader of the Cordeliers, 128; his character and policy, 204; his interview with Robespierre. 290 ; his refusal to de- fend himself, 292; his arrest, 293; his execution, 294 Dantonists, The: policy of, 285; fall of, 290 ; execution of their leaders, 295 Daunou, Pierre Claude Francois : his character and principles, 354 INDEX 517 Davout, Louis Nicolas, Duke of Auer- stadt and Prince of Eckmiihl : joins Napoleon after his return, 501 Delaunay, Jourdan : at the siege of the Bastile, 63 Delbred : proposes the renewal of the oath to the constitution of the year III, 414 Delessart, Antoine de Valdec : impris- oned, 168 Democrats : system of, 297 ; symbolical terms used by, 297; revolutionary power of, 325 ; reestablish their club at the Pantheon, 375 ; their society closed by the directory, 376; last at- tempt and final defeat of, 378; elec- tions of the Year VI, 400; elections of the Year VII, 403 Departments : insurrection of the, 267 Desmoulins, Benoit Camille : induces populace to take up arms, 56; leader of the Cordeliers, 128; his character, 286; expelled from the Jacobins, 289 ; his execution, 294 Dillon, Theobald: ordered to advance upon Tournai, 173 Directory, The : creation of, 353 ; dura- tion and powers of its members, 353 ; first composition of, 361 ; wretched condition of, in the Luxembourg, 370; its division of labor, 370; its address to its agents, 371 ; attempts to revive paper money, 372 ; proposes mandats territoriaux, 372 ; attacked by the royalists and democrats, 375 ; changes in, 385 ; determines to at- tack the legislative majority, 391 ; re- moves the place of sittings of the councils, 391 ; its message explaining the reason of its measures, 392; the act of ostracism, 392; returns to the revolutionary government, 395 ; its condition makes war its only sup- port, 395; its nnavowed object in the expedition to Lgypt, 397; an- nuls the democratic elections of the year VI, 400; disorganized by the councils, 403 ; two new parties in, 405; reorganized, 406; end of, 412 Dresden: battle of (1813), 488 Du Portail : replaced by Narbonne, 164 Duchatel : death of, 279 Ducos, Jean Franqois : death of, 279 Ducos, Roger : introduced into the direc- tory, 405 ; appointed one of the con- suls, 432 Duniouriez, Charles Franqois: character and ministry of, 169; his report as to the political situation of France, 171; campaign of, 209; his expedi- tion into Holland, 241 ; hostilities between him and the Jacobins, 242; his design of reestablishing constitu- tional monarchy, 245 ; defection of, 249; his interview with a deputa- tion from the Jacobins, 249; declared a traitor by the convention, 252; ar- rests the commissioners of the con- vention, 252 Duphot, General: shot at Rome in a riot, 399 Duplain : leader of the commune, 203 Duport, Adrien: announces the capture of the Bastile to the assembly, 69; leader of the national party, 81 ; executes the confederation of the clubs, 82 Duprat : death of, 279 Duranthon : made provisional minister of the marine, 176 Durfort, Count Alphonse de : at the Mantua Conference, 136 E, F Eckmuhl : battle of (1809), 479 Egypt : expedition to, 398 Elie: leads attack on the Bastile, 65 Emigrants : consternation of, on the king's arrest, 142; Girondists desire rigorous measures against, 157; in- vited by the king to return, 159; act of pardon proposed in favor of the, 446 Empire, The : proclaimed, 458 Empremesnil, D' : joins advocates of lib- erty, 46 Enghien, Louis Antoine Henri de Bour- bon-Conde, Duke d' : death of, 456 Entraigues, D' : his pamphlet on the states-general, 38; joins advocates of liberty, 46 Epremesnil (Espremesnil), Jean Jacques Duval d' : arrest of, 35 518 INDEX Eylau: battle of (1807), 470 Fargeau, Lepelletier Saint: stabbed, 240 Favras, Marquis de : plans abduction of the king, 115 Federation Alsacienne: formed, 120 Federation de I'Etoile : formed, 120 Federation de Lyons : formed, 120 Federations de I'Est: formed, 120 Feuillant Club: organized, 128; opened in opposition to the Jacobins, 139 Feraud : killed by the insurgents, 337 ; condemnation and rescue of his mur- derer, 339 Finances of the French Revolution, 418 Flesselles, Jacques de : attempts to quiet the populace, 60; death of, 67 Fleurus: battle of (1795), 345 Fleury, Andre Hercule de : sketch of, 25 note Florence, Treaty of (1801), 444 Fonfrede, Jean Baptiste : death of, 279 Fontarabia: taken by the French (1795), 347 Fouche, Joseph, Duke of Otranto : ap- pointed minister of police, 436; aids return of Napoleon, 500 Foulon: made member of the ministry, 56; death of, 73 Fouquier-Tinville, Antoine Quentin : his accusation decreed, 322 Fox, Charles James : makes overtures of peace to Napoleon, 467 Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor : ac- cession of, 167 Franklin, Benjamin: believes in the single legislative house, 88 note Frederick the Great, King of Prussia : growth of Prussia under, 133 Frederick William, King of Prussia : power of, 133 French Club, The: established by Ber- trand de Molleville, 160 French Revolution, History of: the old regime, 3 ; the beginning of the Revolution, 17; establishment of the states-general, 41 ; the rise of popu- lar government, 79 ; separation of national parties, loi ; the close of the assembly, 132; the national legislative assembly, 151; the na- tional convention and the trial of Louis XVI, 215; fall of the Girond- ists, 239 ; beginning of the terror, 267; fall of Robespierre, 296; the Thermidorian reaction, 320; the close of the national convention, 341 ; the government of the directory, 367 ; fall of the directory, 395 ; the fi- nances of the French Revolution, 418; Napoleon and the consulate, 431 ; the empire, 461 ; the Hundred Days, 498 Freron, Louis Stanislaus: obtains the accusation of Fouquier - Tinville, 275 ; forms the Jeunesse Doree, 326 Friedland: battle of (1807), 470 Ganilh, Charles : appointed deputy to the Versailles assembly, 69 Gardien : death of, 279 Gaudin, Emile : tumult occasioned by his proposal of a vote of thanks to the council of ancients, 413 Geneva : united to France, 399 Gensonne, Armand : attacked by Robe- spierre and Marat, 254; death of, 279 Georgia, State of: experiments with a single legislative house, 88 note Gerona: battle of (1808), 477 Girondist Ministry, The: formed, 168; fall of, 176 Girondist Party, The: its principal speakers, 154 ; its true chief, 155 ; wishes for rigorous measures against the emigrants, 158; attacks the min- istry, 161 ; motives of, 164 ; its prin- ciples and position at the opening of the convention, 215 ; denounced by the Mountainists, 240; struggle of with the Jacobins, 247; con- spiracies against, 253 ; attacked by Guadet, 255 ; accused by Vergniaud of conspiring with Dumourier, 260; insurrection against its two and twenty leading members of, 260; fall of, 265 ; raises an insurrection in the departments, 267 Goislard : arrest of, 35 Grand Champ: battle of (1800), 441 Granville: battle of (1793), 276 INDEX 519 Gregoire, Abbe Henri: elected member of the states-general, 39 Gregorian Calendar: replaces the re- publican calendar, 467 Grenelle, Camp of: reception of the Baboeuf conspirators at, 377 Grenoble : rebellion of, 102 Grouchy, Marquis Emmanuel de : at the battle of Waterloo, 501 Guadet, Marguerite He : attacked by Robespierre and Marat, 254; at- tacks the Girondists in the conven- tion, 255 ; death of, 279 Guillotin : elected member of the states- general, 39 H Hanau: battle of (1813), 489 Hebert, Jacques Rene: arrest of, 256 Hebertists, The : principles of, 283 ; at- tacked by Robespierre, 284 ; struggle of, with the committee of public safety, 284 Heliopolis: battle of (1800), 440 Henriot : receives the title of command- ant-general of the insurrectionists, 258; released by Coffinhal, 315; out- lawed by the convention, 315; turns the cannon upon the convention, 316; his execution, 318 Hoche, Lazare : receives the chief com- mand of the republican army, 345 ; successful attacks on the Chouans and the English army on its landing, 351; his generalship, 374; receives the command of the coast, 374 riochstadt: battle of (1800), 442 Hohenlinden: battle of (1800), 442 Holland: expedition of Dumouriez into, 246; conquest of, by the armies of the republic, 346; converted into a kingdom, 467 Hondtschoote : battle of (1793), 276 Hood, Samuel, Viscount Hood: enters Toulon, 274 Hooghlede: battle of (1795), 345 Hostages, Law of: efYect of, 406; abol- ished, 432 Houchard, Jean Nicolas: supersedes Custine, 276 llulin: leads attack on tlie Bastilc, 65 Hundred Days, The, 498 T, J, K Infernal Machine : the conspiracy of, 441 Insurrection of the loth of August, 190 Isnard, Maximin : his speech on the question of a declaration of the king, 162; his reply to the deputies of the agitation of May, 1793, 256; resigns the chair, 257 Italy : conquest of, 381 ; second cam- paign in, 438 Jacobin Club: founding and growth of, 127; struggle of, with the Giron- dists, 246; attacked by the Ther- midorians, 327 Janus I, Emperor of Saint Domingo: accession of, 445 Jarente : takes oath of loyalty to the nation, 113 Jassy, Treaty of (1791), 134 Jeunesse Doree, The: formed by Freron, 326; costume and composi- tion of, 326 Jena: battle of (1806), 470 Jews : declared eligible for all civil and military offices, 115 note Jordan (Jourdan), Camille : ridicule at- tached to him, 387 Joubert, Barthelemy Catherine : put at the head of the army of Italy, 405 ; death of, 408 Jourdan, Count Jean Baptiste : com- mands the army of the Sambre-et- Meuse, 373 Jourdeuil : leader of the commune, 203 Junot : his campaign in the Spanish Peninsula, 474 Kaunitz, Prince von : attacks Jacobins, 166 iwte Kulm: battle of (1813), 488 La Galissonniere : made member of the ministry, 56 La Reveillere-Lepeaux, Louis Marie: elected a member of the directory, 361 ; endeavors to establish the dcistical religion, 372; attacked by the councils, 404; resigns the direc- torial autliority. 404 620 INDEX La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Frangois Alexandre Frederic, Duke de : pleads for the constitution, 59; di- rects the Feuillant Club, 128 La Salle, Marquis de : made second in command of militia, 62 La Vauguyon, Duke de : made member of the ministry, 56 Lacaze: death of, 279 Lacoste : made provisional minister of justice, 176 Lacroix : death of, 294 Lafayette, Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis of: elected vice president of the as- sembly, 60; appointed commander- in-chief of the citizen guard, 71 ; attempts to quell bread riot, 93; favors war with England, 118; at the confederation of the kingdom, 122; directs the Feuillant Club, 128; procures an amnesty for those who favored the king's flight, 146; be- gins to lose his high reputation, 177; his last attempt in favor of legal monarchy, 181 ; discussion of his ac- cusation, 189; his acquittal, 189; military insurrection of, against the authors of the loth of August, 199; arrested and confined at Magdeburg and at Olmutz, 200 Lajarre: made minister of war, 176 Lally-Tollendal, Trophime Gerard, Mar- quis de : pleads for Necker, 59 favors the English constitution, 80 desires the creation of a senate, 87 deserts the assembly, loi ; sketch of, loi note Lambesc, Prince de : attempts to quell insurrection in Paris, 57 Lameth, Alexandre Theodore Victor, Count : elected member of the states- general, 39; leader of the national party, 81 ; directs the Jacobin Club, 128 Lameths, The: join with the Center to reestablish the king, 139 Lamoignon : policy of, 35 Lasource, Marie David Albin: death of, 279 Latour-Maubourg, Charles Fay, Mar- quis de : escorts Louis XVI back to Paris, 138 Lavarre, Bishop of Nancy: at opening of the states-general, 41 Law of Public Safety, The : presented by the commission of the younger coun- cil, 392 Lebas, Philippe Frangois: arrested, 314; released, 315; his death, 318 Lebon, Joseph: character of, 324; im- peachment of, 324 Lechelle: appointed sole general-in- chief by the committee of public safety, 276 Lecointre : denounces Billaud, Collot, Barrere, of the committee of public safety, and Vadier, Amar, and Vouland, of the committee of gen- eral safety, 323 Lefent : leader of the commune, 203 Left, The : origin and use of the term, 82; its principal speakers, 155 Legendre, Louis : renews Lecointre's im- peachment of the democratic party of the committees, 325 Legion of Honor: proposed by Napo- leon, 451; reception of, 451 Legnano: battle of (1799), 403 Lehardy : death of, 279 Leipsic : battle of (1813), 488 Leoben, Treaty of (1797), 383 Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor : death of, 167 Le-Tourneur : appointed member of the directory, 361 hevy-en-masse. Decree of, 272 Ligny: battle of (1815), 501 igurian Republic, The : threatened by the king of Sardinia, 402 Lille: siege of (1792), 212 Lindet, Robert : his report concerning the king, 232 Lobau, George Mouton, Count de : at the battle of Waterloo, 502 Lomenie de Brienne, fitienne Charles de: see Brienne, fitienne Charles de Lomenie de Longwy: siege of (1792), 205 Louis XV, King of France : summary of his reign, 22 Louis XVI, King of France : accession of, 25 ; at the meeting of the as- sembly (1789), 52; surrounds Paris with troops, 54; before the Versailles assembly, 71 ; given title of Restorer INDEX 521 of French Liberty, 75 ; goes to Paris from Versailles, 97 ; at the confed- eration of the kingdom, 122; re- ceives announcement of assistance from the coalition, 136; sets out for Montmedy, 137; arrested at Va- rennes, 138; suspension of, 140; declaration of Pilnitz regarding, 143 ; closes the assembly, 145 ; his re- ception of the deputies announcing the opening of the National Legis- lative Assembly, 151; question in the assembly as to the manner of addressing him, 152; his speech at the assembly, 153 ; sanctions the de- cree of the assembly respecting his brother, 158; puts his veto on de- crees respecting the emigrants and the dissentient priests, 159; message to, from the assembly, respecting the neighboring princes, 162; intim- idated by the impeachment of Delesart, 168; visits the assembly with a view to the question of war, 171 ; dismisses the Girondist min- istry, 176; riots of the petitioners, 180; proposal of Lafayette for him to go to Compiegne, 181 ; reviews the defenders of the chateau on the morning of the loth of August, 193; treatment of, on leaving the Tuil- eries, 195 ; imprisoned in the Tem- ple, 198; his trial demanded, 226, 230; brought to the bar of the con- vention, 232; Malesherbes offers to be his defender, 233; the defense, 234; condemned to death, 235; his conduct on hearing sentence, 237 ; his death, 237; his character, 238 Louis XVIII, King of France: elected member of the states-general, 39; decree of the assembly relative to, 158; lands at Calais, 496; accession of, 498 Louis Philippe, King of France : his early career, 250 note Lucca: given to the Prince of Piombino, 462 Luneville, Treaty of (1801), 442 Lutzen: Ijattle of (1813), 402 Lyons : revolt of, 269 ; defense and tak- ing of, 275 ; sentence of the com- mittee of public safety against, 278 'M Macdonald, fitienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre, Duke of Tarentum: re- fuses to take up arms for Napoleon, 500 Madrid, Treaty of (1801), 444 Mailhe : opposes the dogma of the king's inviolability, 229 Mainvielle : death of, 279 Maitre-de-camp Regiment : revolt of, 125 Malesherbes, Christian William de La- moignon de: sketch of, 26; offers to defend the king on his trial, 233 Mallet, General : plot of, 485 ; its failure, 485 Mallet-Dupan, Jacques : his mission to the allied powers, 177 Malmesbury, James Harris, Earl of: sent as plenipotentiary to France and Lille, 396 Malouet, Victor : elected member of the states-general, 39 Mandat, A. J. Gaillot de: plans to crush insurrection of August 10, 190; murdered at the Hotel de Ville, 192 Manege, The: so called, 406; meetings of, closed, 408 Mans: battle of (1793), 248 note Mantua : conference at, by the powers opposed to the revolution, 136; ca- pitulation of, 382 Manuel, Procurer : suspended, 184 Marat, Jean Paul : leader of the Com- mune, 203; denounced in the con- vention, 220; attacks the Girondists, 254 ; assassination of, 268 ; his in- fluence after his death, 268 Marengo: battle of (1800), 439 Marie Antoinette, Queen of France: secures the recall of the Duke of Orleans, 34 ; sentence and execution of, 279 Marie Louise, Empress of the French : her marriage with Napoleon, 481 Marniont, Auguste Frederic Louis Viesse de : accepts a command against Napoleon, 501 "Marseillaise: " composed, 167 note Martia' law: revived by the convention, 333 Massacre of September 2, The, 207 622 INDEX Massena, Andre: victories of, in Switz- erland, 407 Maupeou, Rene Nicolas Charles: vice- chancellor, 12 Maurepas, Jean Frederic Philippe, Count : influence of, 26 ; death of, 30 Maury, Jean Siffrein : elected member of the states-general, 39 ; sketch of, 79 ; his opinion on the renewal of the assembly, 114 Maximun, Law of the (i793). 271 [Mayence: taken by allied powers, 271 Menou, Baron Jacques Francois de : re- placed in the command of the army by Barras, 357 Merlin de Douai, Count Philippe An- toine : attacked by the councils, 404 ; resigns the directorial authority, 404 IMetternich, Prince Clemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar von : plans resto- ration of the Bourbons, 498 Milan Decree (1807), 473 Mirabeau, Gabriel Honore Riquetti, Count: elected member of the states-general, 39; at the meeting of the assembly (1789), 52; sug- gests address to be presented to king, 54; attempts to quell insur- rection in Paris, 68; sketch of, 84; foretells fate of the king, 98; his greatest speech, 100; his opinion on the renewal of the assembly, 114; attempts to give the revolution stability, 116; upholds the veto power of the king, 119; urges ad- mission of ministers to the assembly, 124 ; opposes fugitive law, 130 ; death of, 83, 130 Miranda, Franisco Antonio Gabriel : his campaign against the allied powers, 246 Mohilev: battle of (1812), 485 Molleville, Bertrand de: chief tool of the court, 160 Mons: battle of (1793), 276 Montebello: battle of (1800), 439 Monteil, Terrier : made minister of the interior, 176 Montereau : battle of (1814), 491 Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, Baron de : sketch of, 13 Mont Lngon, Treaty of (1800), 441 Montmedy ; camp established at, by General Bouille, for the reception of the king, 137 Montmorin : commissioned by the assem- bly to inform the European powers of its pacific intentions, 137 Moreau, Jean Victor: appointed by Bonaparte to command the army of the Rhine, 438 Moulins, Auguste: introduced into the directory, 405 Mounier, Jean Joseph : elected member of the states-general, 39; pleads for Necker, 58; joins Necker's party, 80; desires the creation of a senate, 87; deserts the assembly, loi Mountain, The: sketch of, 216; demands the trial of Louis XVL 226; decrees the constitution of 1793, 271 ; its success against the insurrectionary towns and departments, 274; its measures against Robespierre, 311; seventy-six of its members con- demned to death, or arrested, 339 Moscow: taking of, 485 Mother of God : see Theot, Catherine Murat, Joachim : made king of Naples, 475 N Nancy: revolt of, 125 Nantes : trial of ninety-four of the in- habitants of, 325 Naples : taken by General Championnet, 402 Napoleon (I) Bonaparte: early life of, 357 note; appointed second in com- mand under Barras, 357; appointed general of the interior, and placed at the head of the army of Italy, 374; his campaign against Austria, 379; his conquest of Italy, 381; his return to Paris, 397; his expedition to Egypt, 397; learns the state of affairs in France, 409; returns to Paris in triumph, 409; plots with Sieyes against the directory, 410; his answer to the republicans, 412; creates a commotion in the council of the five hundred, 415 ; appointed one of the consuls, 432; his govern- ment, 436; sets out on the conquest of Italy, 438; returns to Paris, 440; INDEX 523 the infernal machine, 441 ; progress of France under, 447; proposes the creation of a Legion of Honor, 451 ; appointed sole consul, 452; his answer to a deputation from the senate, 456; crowned emperor, 459; receives the crown of the Lombards, 462; victories of Ulm and Auster- Htz, 464; takes Vienna, 464; marches against Prussia, 470; turns his attention towards England, 472; threatened with excommunication by the Pope, 476; his entry into Madrid, 478; divorces Josephine, and marries the Archduchess Marie- Louise, 481 ; birth of his son, the king of Rome, 481 ; his campaign against Russia, 484; his retreat from Moscow, 485 ; the reaction against his power, 485 ; his return to Paris, 489; his abdication at Fontainebleau, 493 ; his character, 494 ; compared with Cromwell, 495 ; his return, 500 Narbonne: replaces Du Portail as min- ister of war, 164; dismissed from the ministry, 168 National Legislative Assembly: early relations between it and the king, 151; question of the manner of ad- dressing the king, 152; the king's speech, 153; opening of the, 156; its decree relative to the king's brother, 158; its decree with regard to the emigrants, 158; with regard to the dissentient priests, 158; Is- nard's speech, 162 ; decrees the dec- laration, 162 ; question of a declara- tion to the king requesting him to require the neighboring princes to summon the military gatherings, 162; passes a decree impeaching the king's brother, the Count d'Artois, and the Prince de Conde, 164; question of war, 171 ; decrees the formation of a camp of twenty thou- sand men at Paris, 174; decrees the banishment of the nonjuring priests, 175; letter to, from Lafayette, 177; debates concerning the riots of the 20th of June, 178; division between it and the commune, 201 ; question of waiting for the Prussians under the walls of Paris, 205; desires to prevent the massacre of the 2d of September, 207; concluding observa- tion on, 212; see also Convention, The National Necker, Jacques: appointed minister of finance, 28; retires, 30; recalled, 37; at the opening of the states-general, 42; becomes the leader of assembly, 53; banished, 56; returns to France, 72; favors the English constitution, 80; desires the creation of a senate, 87; invested with a financial dic- tatorship, 106; resigns, 123 Neerwinden: battle of (1793), 249 Nelson, Horatio: at the battle of Traf- algar, 463 Neutrals, League of (1800), 446 Ney, Michel: yields to Napoleon's influ- ence, 500 Nile: battle of the (1798), 409 Noailles, Viscount Louis Marie de: in- forms the assembly of the Paris insurrection, 69 Novi: battle of (1799), 408 O, P, Q Orleans, Louis Philippe Joseph, Duke of, surnamed Egalite: banished, 34; joins the assembly, 53; his influence in the assembly, 84 ; sent to Eng- land, 102; returns to Paris, 123 Ormesson, Henri Frangois de Paule d' : announces the capture of the Bastile to the assembly, 69 Ostrach: battle of (1799), 403 Ott, Charles, Baron : his campaign in Italy, 438 Paine, Thomas : his career in France, 23s note Palais Royal : description of. 55 note Panis : leader of the commune, 203 Paper Money : attempt of the directory to revive, 2>72 Paris, Treaties of: (1795), 347; (1801), 444 Parthenopean Republic: proclaimed at Naples. 402 Parties : state of. at the opening of the national legislative assembly, 153 ; 5^4 INDEX state of, at the death of Louis XVI, 240 Pennsylvania, State of: experiments with a single legislative house, 88 note Peter I, Emperor of Russia: growth of Russia under, 133 Petion de Villeneuve, Jerome: elected member of the states-general, 39; denounces the banquets of the guards, 94; escorts Louis XVI back to Paris, 138; suspended, 184; at- tacked by Robespierre and Marat, 254; death of, 280 Philippeaux, Pierre : denounces the manner in which the Vendean war had been carried on, 286; death of, 294 Pichegru,. Charles: elected president of the younger council, 386; arrested by Augereau, 391 ; conspiracy of, 455 ; death of, 455 Piedmont: termination of war with, 380; united to France, 453 Pilnitz, Declaration of, (1791), I43 Plenipotentiaries, The French : murdered near Rastatt, 401 Plesswitz, Armistice of, (1813), 488 Polotsk: battle of (1812), 485 Portugal : invasion of, 474 Precy, Francois Perrin, Count: ap- pointed to command the insurrec- tionists of Lyons, 269 Presburg, Peace of, (1805), 415 Priestl}', Dr. : supports suggestion to exile Louis XVI to the United States, 235 7iote Priests, The Dissentient: banished, 395; allowed to conduct their worship on taking an oath of obedience, 446 Protestants : declared eligible for all civil and military offices, 115 note Provincial List, The, 433 Prussia : campaign against, 470 Puisaye, Joseph, Marquis de : his con- duct in the Vendean war, 350 Pyramids, Battle of the (1798), 409 Quesnay, Frangois : sketch of, 14 Quiberon: descent upon by the English and the emigrants, 351 Quinze-Vingts: threaten insurrections unless the king is dethroned, 189 Regiment-du-roi : revolt of, 125 Reichenbach, Convention of (1790), 133 Renaud, Cecile : her suspicious visit to Robespierre's house, 300; her ex- amination and fate, 300 Republican Party: first appearance of, 139; alarm of, at the increasing power of Bonaparte, 412; proscrip- tion put in force against, 432 Revolution, The French : see French Revolution, History of Rewbel, Jean Frangois : elected a mem- ber of the directory, 361 Right, The: origin and use of the term, 82 ; its principal speakers, 154 Riot, The Bread, 93 Robespierre, Maximilien Marie Isidore: elected member of the states-general, 39; demands that the fate of the king be left with the people, 141 ; op- poses war, 165 ; animosity of the convention towards, 218; character of, 219; again accused by Louvet, 222; excuses himself, 223; attacks the Girondists, 254; attacks the Hebertists, 284; accused of modera- tion, 289; his speech regarding legal government, 290; his interview with Danton, 290; Cecile Renaud's visit to his house, 300; his power and position, 300; officiates at the cele- bration of the new religion, 301; appointed president of the conven- tion, 301 ; his speech demanding a renewal of the committees, 308; violently attacked by Billaud-Va- rennes, 310; his arrest, 314; liberated and taken in triumph to the Hotel de Ville, 315; his death, 319 Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeure, Count of : his opinion re- specting the war with Holland and Belgium, 173 Rcjederer, Pierre Louis : sent for by the queen and questioned as to the safety of the king, 192 Roland, Marie-Jeanne Phlipon : con- demned to death, 280 Roland de la Platiere, Jean Marie : character and ministry of, 169; anecdote of him on going to court. INDEX 625 170; kills himself on hearing of the death of his wife, 280 Rome: riots at, 399; changed into a republic, 399 Romme, Gilbert : appointed the organ of the insurrection of Germinal, 337 Rouairie, Count de la : arrest of, for the insurrection of La Vendee, 248 Royalist Conspiracy, 379 Royalist Party, The: its opposition to the reelection of two-thirds of the members of the convention, 355 ; insurrection of, 356 Russia: at war with France, 484 Saint Jean d'Acre: siege of (1799), 409 Saint-Just, Antoine : his speech on the king's inviolability, 230; his threat- ening speech in the convention, 291 ; his person and character, 299; re- called from the army, 307 ; arrested, 314; released, 315; death of, 318 Saint-Leger : conduct and reception of, at the convention, 338 Saint Sebastian: taken by the French (1795), 347 Saint Vincent: battle of (1793), 249 note Salles, Jean Baptiste : death of, 279 Salm, Club of, 388 San Domingo (Saint-Domingo) : revolt of, 160; insurrection in, 445 Saragossa: siege of (1808), 477 Savenay: battle of (1793), 248 note. 276 Sections, The: reduction in the meet- ings of, 323; disperse the insurgents of Germinal, 337 Self-denying Ordinance, The (1791), 145 note Senators : nomination of, 436 Scrgent : leader of the commune, 203 Seze, De : delivers the defense of the king, 234 Sieyes (Sieyes), Count Emmanuel Jo- seph : his pamphlet on the third es- tate, 38; elected memljer of the states-general, 39: at the meeting of the assembly (1789), 52; sketch of, 83; directs the Feuillant Club. 128; demands the recall of tlie proscribed conventionalists, 331; replaced by Carnot, 361 ; elected a member of the directory, 361 ; labors to establish legal reform, 405 ; attacks the Jacobins, 408; appointed one of the consuls, 432 Sillery: death of, 279 Smolensk: battle of (1812), 485 Sombreuil, Charles Virot de : pleads with the mob at the Hotel des In- valides, 63 Spain : invasion of, 474 States-General : establishment of, 41 ; conduct of, on the departure of the king, 137; commissions Montmorin to inform the European powers of their pacific intentions, 137; orders arrest of anyone leaving the king- dom, 138; question of the king's trial, 140; closed by the king, 146 Steyer, Armistice of (1800), 442 Stockach: battle of (1799), 403 Suchet, Louis Gabriel : joins Napoleon after his return, 501 Swiss Regiment : at the insurrection of Nancy, 125 note Switzerland : its change of constitution, 399 Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles Maurice de. Prince of Benevento : elected member of the states-general, 39; proposes renunciation of church property in favor of the nation, 109; takes oath of loyalty to the nation, 113; at the confederation of the kingdom, 122 ; appointed minister of foreign affairs, 436: invested with the principality of Benevento, 468; plans restoration of the Bourbons, 498 Tallien, Jean Lambert; leader of the commune, 203 ; his speech denounc- ing the triumvirate, 313; proposes to annul the third, 360; exposed by Thibaudeau, 360 Target, Jean Baptiste : elected member of the states-general, 39 Terror, Reign of. 265 Theophilanthropie : attempt of La R^- vcliiere to establish the deistical religion under that name, 2>7^ 526 INDEX Theot, Catherine: made use of by com- mittees against Robespeirre, 305 Thermidorian Party: composition of, 321 ; replaces the democratic mem- bers in the committee, 322; attacks the Jacobin Ckib, 327 Thibaudeau, Count Antoine Claire de: exposes the plan for annulling the third, 360 Thuriot de La Rosiere : at the siege of the Bastile, 63; sketch of, 66 note; demands the abolition of the com- mission of twelve, 258 Terray, Joseph-Marie, Abbe: controleur- general of finances, 12; sketch of, 25 note Tilsit, Peace of, (1807), 471 Tithes : abolition of, 109 Toulon: capture of, 275 Trafalgar: battle of (1805), 463 Trebbia: battle of C1799), 403 Treilhard : deposed, 404 Trianon Decree (1810), 473 Tribunes : nomination of, 436 Triumvirate, The Democratic : principles and effects of the, 297; general at- tack upon, 311; arrest of, 314; re- leased, 315; death of, 318 Turgot, Anne Robert Jacques, Baron de I'Aulne : sketch of, 14, 26 Tuileries, The : deserted by the king, 195 ; attack of, on the loth of Au- gust, 196; blockade of, 260 Twelve, The Commission of: See Com- mission of Twelve U,V Ulm: battle of (1805), 464 Vadier, Marc Guillaume : arrest and trial of, 333 Valaze, Charles Dufriche : death of, 279 Valenciennes : taken by the allied powers, 271 Valmy : battle of (1792), 210 Varcnnes : see Billaud Vaublanc: leads deputation to the king, 162 Vauchamps: battle of (1814), 491 Vendee, La: insurrection of, 248; pacifi- cation of, 374 Verdun: siege of, (1792), 205 Vergniaud, Pierre Victurnien: his pic- ture of the peril in which the country stood in the middle of 1792, 182; at- tacked by Robespierre and Marat, 254; accuses the Girondists of con- spiring with Dumouriez, 260; death of, 279 Vermont, State of: experiments with a single legislative house, 88 note Verona: battle of (1799), 403 Vienna: taking of (1805), 464; Peace of (1809), 396 Vigee: death of, 279 Vincennes, Chateau of : attacked by mob, 129 Virieu, Count de: pleads for the con- stitution, 59; proposes abolition of law protecting doves and pigeons, Virieux, Marquis de: appointed with Precy to command the insurrection- ists at Lyons, 269 Voltaire (Frangois Marie Arouet) : an- ticipates the French Revolution, 12; sketch of, 13 W, X, Y, Z Wagram: battle of (1809), 480 Waterloo: battle of (1815), 501 Wattignies: battle of (1793), 277 Weissenburg : battle of (1795), 345 Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of: takes possession of Portugal, 477 ; at the battle of Waterloo, 501 Wertingen: battle of (1805), 464 Westphalia: given to Jerome Napoleon, 471 Westphalia, Treaty of (1648), 135 note Witepsk: battle of (1812), 485 Wurtemberg: erected into a kingdom, 466 York, Frederick Augustus, Duke of: disembarks in Holland with an Anglo-Russian army, 403 Zip: battle of the (1799), 403 Zurich: battle of (1799), 407 13 ^, JE 10 li'' /""'ooeN "i --.-i/Jc -^'/o -f?fc ?tE '"' ""**, \M 3, Stocky I'kronj C3 ^0^1!^^"^''^^ -< ^f^^ dlaiulia \i^W^^: .^T-/vA X^'T^ -.'5' -*'., ^v? *'""',, 4,- i^ Dooail 8 iTl Mp of Euitpe. 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