5 s S 1 VWDH^ s txa S > \\\E-UN!VER% 1^511 35 <3,*3 ^& V/SJQAWfl-1^ S & 3 X 24 ibl REPLY L. N. M. CARNOT, PRICE THREE SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE. . REPLY OF L. N. M. CARNOT, CITIZEN OF FR4NCE, ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC, AND CONSTITUTIONAL MEMBER Of THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY; TO THE REPORT made on the CONSPIRACY of the iSth Fruftidor, $th Tear, by J. CH. BAILLEUL, in the Name of the Seleft Committee. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. WRIGHT, OPPOSITE OLD. BOND- STREET, PICCADILLY. 1799. T Stack Annex INTRODUCTION. IT is not eafy to difcover the motive which could have led to the publication of the following work ; a work which, when we confider the fituation of the Author, whether with a view to the ambitious prof- pefts which he may be fuppofed ftill to entertain, or to that regard for character which is never wholly abandoned by the moft profligate of mankind, muft appear equally prejudicial to his interefts and to his reputation. Under the form of a Reply to the Ca- lumnies (for fuch they appear to be) alledged againft him by the Directorial Reporter, Bailleul, the Author has contrived to give a general view of his political Character and Opinions, and an Apology (or, more pro- perly fpeaking, a Juftification, for fuch the Author feems to confider it) of his Prin- ciples and Conduct during the Revolution. And this Apology, including an arrogant amimption of merit, from the murder of his fovereign, and confining his whole ex- culpation of the innumerable murders com- mitted in his own name and under his own authority to a flight afiertion of a difappro- bation exprefled in the prefence of Robe- fpierre and his other colleagues This apo- logy, devoting its Author to infamy (in the opinion of all thofe, by whom his conduct may be eflimated according to the ancient and immutable principles of morality), is at the fame time fo contrived, that, of the three par- ties exifting in France, the Royalifts, the Jacobins, and the Directory, it is calculated [ iii ] to irritate and exafperate every one? the Directors, as they are perfonally, and viru- lentlyy and (what is ftill more unpardonable) juftly denounced to the world as the enemies of peace and the oppreflors of mankind j the Royalifts, of courfe j and the Jacobins, as their former confpiracies are cited, and a merit afTumed from having aflilled in their fuppreffion. The publication of fuch a work, how- ever, though a little extraordinary, is not wholly unaccountable. That Sully and Cla- rendon, men whofe lives were devoted not to any felfifh or fenfual purpofes, but to the benefit and improvement of mankind ; that fuch men fhould have thought a por- tion of their leifure ufefully occupied, in accounting to mankind for the employment of their time and the application of their talents this is not extraordinary. They felt no embarraHment, no anxiety for the arrangement of a fpecious narrative, no ne- ceflity for concealment of the truth or for t iv 3 an artful infmuation of falfehood ; to recol- lect and record the tranfaclions of a merito- rious and honourable life was in itfelf no unpleafmg duty ; and they were confcious that the purpofes for which alone they ex- jfted would extend themfelves, and be per- petuated with the influence of their example. But there are other writers of a very diffe- rent character, men whofe lives have been pernicious or ufelefs to fociety; who have, never thelefs, conceived it important that pof- terity fhould be acquainted with their princi- ples, fuch as they were, and with the courfe of their tranfaclions and intrigues. This rage for perpetuating the portraitures of men- tal deformity has been at all times remarka- .bly prevalent in France j and the immenfe collection of French memoirs prefents us with a feries of thefe felf-accufers unexam- pled in the literature of any other country. The paffions, by which thefe writers muft have been actuated, like all others, feem to have gained new force and activity from the events of the Revolution. The reitleff- nefs attendant upon involuntary retirement, that impatience of filence and obfcurity which embitters the exile or feceflion of a banifhed or abdicating ftatefman, the bejoin de faire parler de foi, have been felt in their full force by all the fucceffive viclims whom ambition has raifed to notice for an iniiant and then replunged in their ori- ginal obfcurity. It is to thefe pailions that we are indebted for almofl all we know of the Revolution j for the Memoirs of GA- RAT, and ROLAND, and DUMOURIER ; the Narratives of LOUVET, and RIOUFFE ; and the Apologies of NECKAR, and of FOUQJJIER TINVILLE. rHttt^weptfWi This laft (a worthy magiftrate, and prefident of the Revolutionary Tribunal under the direction of that committee of which CAR NOT was a member) confines his juftification to the following metaphorical af- fertion, " that bis tender heart had expanded 5 [ vi ] like a jfower at the firjl dawning of the Revo- lution 5 " and he very fairly confefTes, that fmce that time he had been milled by his zeal ; and that, in point of murder > he is apprehenfive he may have carried things a little farther than was neceffary, or indeed perhaps altogether juftiiiable. The Apology offered by his principal, the Ex-direclor, is not quite fo modeft ; he takes upon him to reproach the world in general, for their ignorance as to what uied to pafs in the Committees of Public Safety " It is not fufficiently known (fays he) that I ufed to reproach ROBESPIERRE jor his un- neceffary cruelties" It certainly is not known -, nor will it be credited, upon fuch affertion ; nor, even if it were true, would it be a ftifficient apology, or any thing like it. The Author would certainly have done, better, not to have deviated into thefe extraneous exculpations ; unlefs, in- deed, he could have proved that, by fome inexplicable chain of obligation, it had [ vii ] originally his duty to become a member of the Committee of Public Safety ; and that, once appointed to that facred trail, he was bound to continue his fervices, and to retain life at the expence of guilt and infamy. He certainly would have done better to have confined himfelf to the fingle thefis which forms the profeffed fubjecl: of his work, namely, to prove that BAILLEUL'S accufation of Royalifm, and LEPAUX'S imputations of Chriftianity, are unfounded ; and that the Author is, in fa6l, as found an Atheifl and as good a Regicide as heart could wifh or Republicanifm require. Upon this point he is completely triumphant, and mull be ad- mitted, we think, in the opinion of every impartial perfon, to have left his adverfaries without the poilibility of a reply. The next point in difcuffion is not calcu- lated to infpire much intereft ; it confifls of the fimple fact of the Author's having been betrayed and outwitted by his accomp- lices. Your rivals having made their pufh, And kick'd you out without remorfe^ Whether it fignifies a ru(h, Is the next part of this difoourfe : You think yourfelves abufed and put-on^ 'Tis natural to make a fufs ; To fee it and not care a button, Is juft as natural for us ; Like people viewing at a diftance Two perfons thrown out of a cafemcnt^ All we can do for your afliftance, Is to afford you our amazement. To Citizen Carnot therefore, in return for the ftriking and amufing fpcclacle, which he has difplayed on the theatre of the Republic, from the time of his original debut in the character of the Committee- man, to the period of his final difappearance through the trap-door, like Schillers Fiefco, in the laft a6l of the Confpiracy, entangled in the Ikirts of his Directorial Toga, and dragged over-board and drowned by his [ ix Ijl Republican brethren in gratitude for the whole of this interefting and furprizing exhibition, we fhall offer the humble tribute of our artlefs and unfeigned aftonifhment, unmixed with any of thofe emotions of fympathy, which belong to the province of a different fpecies of the political drama; that drama which, in the downfal of em- pires and the overthrow of ancient and efta- blifhed governments, difplays thofe charac- ters which Heaven itfelf furveys with ap- probation : A great man ftruggling with the ftorms of fate, And greatly falling with a falling ftate. We truft that the nations of Europe, though weakened and fubdued, are not yet fo debafed in fpirit and character, that they are prepared to take an intereft, and to fide as factious partizans with the contending leaders of the Great Nation ; that, like the tributary fovereigns of Numidia, or Bithy- nia, or Egypt, under the old overbearing t * ] Republic or Rome, they will be proud to rank themfelves as ' Cedar ians or Pompeians> to combat for a choice of oppreiTors, and difcufs and controvert the pretenfioris of their rival plunderers. We proceed there- fore to the only point of view in which the quarrels and altercations of the accomplices in blood and robbery can excite an inter eft in the minds of honeil men namely, the examination of fuch facts as may be brought to light in the cburfe of their mutual recri- minations ; but for thefe the reader muft be referred to the work itfelf j he will there fee that the facrifice of the Cape and our other ccnquefts in the Eaft, which was attempted to be exacted as a preliminary to negotiation, would have reftored them, not to their old mailers, and our former allies, the Dutch, but, to our own inveterate rivals^ and irreconcileable enemies; after which, or more probably on the firft attempt to remonftrate againft Jo Icnndalous a breach of faith, we ihould (under every drfadvantage) have been driven xi ] -Again to a renewal of hoftilities, of which, in facl, this armiftice obtained by an aitifice at once fo infolent and fo fraudulent would only have been a neceflary, and not the lead evident pa/t. With refpect to the authenticity of the work, we have no means of forming a judgement but what are equally open to our readers, namely, an attentive examination of the evidence contained in the work itfelf : considering the circumilances under which it is written, it is hardly to be expected jjpat the Author fliould come forward to claim and avow his own production ; upon the teft, therefore, of internal evidence (in our opinion a perfectly fatisfaftory one), we muft be content to form our judgement, unlefs (which is not improbable) the Direc- tory, who muft be the beft judges, ihould think fit to filence all objection, and fanc- tion the authenticity of the work, by em- ploying their ufual advocates for its refuta- tion. -In the mean time, their agents in t X" ] this country, apprehenfive that its contents might be offenfive to their patrons and em- ployeis, have thought it right, as a niea- fure of precaution, to infert a paragraph in the paper which ferves as the ufual vehi- cle of their mifreprefentations : the para- graph too is in their ufual and favourite ftyle ( a ftyle perfectly familiar to thofe who have at all attended to the fyftem of falfe- hood and mifreprefentation of which they are the indefatigable propagators), infmuat- ing a falfehood under the flippant affecta- tion of a fort of negligent fcepticifm We are told that. " It is a curious publication " if genuine. It appears to be publifhed " by the French emigrants, and, true or " falfe, it is a captivating title," We our- fclves profefs to be wholly uninformed with refpe6l to the circumfl ances of the publica- tion ; but we are Itrongly inclined to be- lieve, that if the Author of this paragraph had any information of his own upon the iubje6l (which however we by no means give him credit for), it would be found to be in direct contradiction to his own infr- nuation : we fhould be farther inclined to iufpect., that the writer had not even feen the work, the authenticity of which he is fo forward to call in queftion ; certainly no one who had read it attentively would have attempted to overthrow the credit of its authenticity by fo foolifh and inapplicable a calumny, as that of its being forged by the emigrants ; whereas, from the begin- ning of the book to the end, there is not a fingle pailage to be found, directly or indi- rectly, favourable to the .particular caufe of the emigrants, or to their character -, nor is the word " Emigrant" (we believe), except in a fingle paflage where Barras is accufed of protecting them, to be found in the whole book, .ni'j > i^ot Baqbi But it is impoflible to attempt to meet every objection with its particular refuta- tion ; the internal evidence, to thofe who are capable of eftimating it, will be a ftronger and more convincing tefl of au- 8 thenticity than ten thoufand external proofs > and for thofe who may be difpofed to con- trovert it, in oppofition to their own con- viction, the example of the Letters from Egypt, the authenticity of which, after be- ing fo long, fo ftrenuoufly, and fo impu- dently, denied in this country, is now finally eftablifhed by the confefiion of the French themfelves ; will, we hope, teach them a little caution, and that they will wait, at leail, for the determination of their friends at Paris, before they engage in a difpute, in which thofe very friends may find it ne- cefTary to contradict them. London, 7 March 22, 1799. 3 fi'l 1fc'1:f OP ..i '.jnt :} L. N. M. CARNOT, &c. AT length I have received a copy of the Report of Bailleul on the Confpiracy of Fru&idor, and have eagerly examined whether any thing it con- tained concerned me perfonally. I there found, that the committee had honoured me with par- ticular attention, and that it had recorded my fuppofed delinquencies in about twelve lines of text, and forty-five of notes. I know not whether, in the remainder of the report, it adheres as ftriftly to the truth as in that part of which I am the fubjecl ; but, I 1 [ 2 I fct out f>y declaring, and fhall prefently de- monftrate, that this part of trie report is one continued tiffue of abominable impofturcs; that > there is not a fingle wbrd in it, which does not bear the ftamp of premeditated falfehood, and of the moft flagrant perfidy. ; When a committee is appointed by the legif- lative body to prepare an authentic report rela- tive to an event which that committee iffelf has contributed to produce j when, after fix months- of refearch, it announces that at length it has- collected all the fa6h; and when, after the enu- meration of all it confiders as merely probable, if declares (page 26', note) that all the remainder of the, report is confirmed by official documents depo- fited in the hands of the minijicrs; when this, I fay, is the cafe, and yet the fubfequent part of the report contains a feries of fats which are not fup- ported by any official document whatever; when/ on the contrary, there exift innumerable official papers which give the lie to them all, which radically overturn and deftroy them; then, I fay,- that not only this reporter is infamous t J but all thofe who have participated in this work f iniquity; 'Odfm Bailleul ? drefted like a Chouan, aiid taderci&rg the trade of a Chouan in the time of the Na- tional Convention, is fuddenry become a high' flown patriot : that is, according-, to the - new acceptation ;of the word, a man fervilery devoted to the Executive Directory;' defiroius -that the legiflative body ihould be reduced to a mere Chancellcrie^ the blind inilrument to regift^r the Uipreme orders of this abfolute mafter; to expel thofe whom it is commanded to expel by the Directory; to profcribe thofe whom it is corrf- manded to profcribe ; applauding its violence^, and facriricing to its caprice and avidity, the labours, the liberty, the "honour, and the lift! of every citizen, \0 " What has induced Bailleul to ru(h into this new career? doubtlefs, the promife of an eoj- bafly, or of fome other important poft. But Bailleul and his co-adjutors will learn, that the Pirefctory prornife. much, while they, perform B 2 little. He, as well: as his aflbciates, will find; that fervility and- meaimefe, in: the end, alway* receive their juft reward the contempt of thofe. whom they ferve. Such are the republicans of the prefent day t the patriots par excellence ! while the man, who choofes rather to ruin himfelf than exceed the bounds of the Conftitution, is ftigmatized as a royalist; the man, who voted for the death of the King, who has made war on Kings, who has contributed to the humiliation of all Kings, this man is a royalift 1 This, forfooth, is evident : we do not attempt (fays Bailleul, p. 2) to prove existence of light, : This great principle once eflablifhed, the train of argument to be adopted by the reporter be- comes perfectly eafy. He has no occafion to attempt to prove ; it is enough for him to ftate fa&s ; and as St. Juft, when accufing his col- leagues in the tribune of the National Conven- tion, faid, " the documents are in the hands 1* grant that it would be ' but imperfectly to c6& ccirc the icijbes ' of thofe, who know that rfo proofs exift but the proofs of their own crimes, to fubmit fuch proofs to their infpeftion to the infpeftion of the people- to the infpetion of all Europe. Thofe who, like you, are pcrfeftly * acquainted, by their own feelings, who were tHe Teal Fru&idorian confpirators ; thofe who trem- ble, even at this day, left they mould be forced too clearly to contemplate that immortal viftory, that victory in which the Conftitution expired under their ppignards, in which the rights of man were torn in piees by their facrilegious hands ; [ * 3 rhofe men, I.feyv wfll thank you for this tredt of genius, worthy of Fauquier-Tinville. But all mankind have not, like you, or like them, the art of fetting themfelves above the reproaches -of confcience ^ and, therefore, thofc C>f,the r^eprefentatives who, on that glorious day, paralyzed with terror, profcribed their colleagues in a mafs ; or, through weaknefs or impotence, fufjered f.hem to be profcvibed, yet ihuddering at their own art, and hoping that they might one day be relieved from the burden with which Jhey were overwhelmed ; thofe men, Citizen Bailleul, would not have, thought that you had imperfectly conceived Ihcir xijhes, or that- you had undertaken an unncceflary labour, in proying to them that what they were then doing, if-jt ,l^as ^ot conlritutional, was at lealt radically juft. Yes ; I, who am far removed from the cabinet, of minifters ; I, w]io .am -Hying, in retirernent jin an obfcure village in tl>e heart of Germany. j I will prove to Bailleul, tbuit the . dojc undents *\iiic;h:_ he fays are depofi^iji the luuifls, of tlu. r&njiftars, and which he declares he has feen and read) have in fat no exiftence. I will prove to Bailleul, that there docs e'xift a- multitude ,of do-* cuments, which eftablifh fa6te diametrically op- pofite to thofe to which he has pledged himfelf; I will' prove to Bailleul, that -he is the vikft.ahd bafeft of impoftors. si ' tl : .eJnomif 3C*i> 1 lliall examine, fentetlce by iejitence,^ what lie has-faid concerning nie 5 to each of:.; them I ihall'teply fucceffively. I begin with tli&texjt^ which is literally as follows, (p.- 35.) to .^ViV-. ">M i/ V/^H'^ ' Cdrnut denies that aja/uiatioji^ werb cmrimit^A^ . J fi? Is it in writing, Citizen Bailleul, or vefbajj$ ^hat I have denied this fact ? If it be in writing, the. official documents muft be in the hands. if the minifters, as you have before declared : produce thefe documents ^ Explain to us what kind of documents could prove fuch a diual\ or by what fort of declaration any one can aflert; that throughout France, or only, for inftance, in the South', no crime has been committed [ 8 1 But to have done with this trifling abfurdity ; I will prefently demonftrate that the official do- uments, which actually exift, ftate the diret contrary to be the fact* In the firft place then> YOU LIE when you affert that all the facts are proved by official documents. It is on4y verbally then that I have denied this fact ? And from whom could you learn this, Citizen Bailleul ? From the Dire&ory, no doubt, whofe afleftions are equally deferring of confidence With the official documents depo- Jited in the hands of the minijlers. But, Citizen Bailleul, the Directory give evidence here in their own caufe ; either the Directory, there- fore, muft acknowledge that it has been guilty X)f a horrid outrage, or it muft maintain that thofe whom it profcribed were really criminal. The Directory is all-powerful whereas the other parties are either fugitives or in prifon, Do you believe they will proclaim the innocence of thefe men, and declare themfelves deferving of the moil fevcre punilhment r 14 t * g The number of aiTamnations- was doubtless much exaggerated by the ^news-papers^ and. the caufes of thefe affamnations were not always thofe attributed to them. But fo far from haying ever denied their existence, no one has been fo urgent as myfelf for the prpfecution of the aflaf- fms ; no one has fo bitterly complained of the glaring partiality of the tribunals j no one ,has with fo much warmth and earneftnefs recom- mended to the members of the legislative body .to place adequate means in the hands of |l}e Directory to put a ftep to. this deluge primes, . The official proofs of all this, Citizen Bailleul, are to be found in the letters which I wrote in the name of the Directory to the generals com- manding in the interior, and which are deposited with the Directory itfelf ; they are to be found in the teftimonies ot all thofe who heard me {peak on this execrable fyftem of aHaffmation. I will, in my turn, itate a fat, which proves, that far from denying thefe atrocities, I, on the contrary, exerted the utmoft of my power to C [ 10 ] have the authors of them punifhed; a circiim- {lance which would appear fmgular, did we not know the unparalled villany of the tyrants, of whom you, Bailleul, are the worthy tool : But the fa6t is proved by official documents depoftted in the hands of the minifters ! Afts of violence took place at Dijon and at Arras : in the lirft of which a murder had even been committed ; nor could it be doubted that thefe outrages were the work of the counter- re volutionifts. Of thefe fats I had collected numerous proofs which I imparted to the Di- rectory, and alfo placed them in the hands of the Minifter of General Police, with a requeft that he would profecute the perpetrators. Yet, incredible as it may appear, I could never ob- tain a report on this fubjecl. Incredible as it may appear, I fpoke in the warmeft manner to the Directory no. lefs.than fifteen times, who never deigned to attend to the bufmefs ! The papers which I communicated will atteft the facl ; the deputies from the department of the Cote d'Or in particular can prove with what ardour I pro- L " 1 fecuted the affair of their own department : yet all my labour was in vain ! And why? Becaufe the Dire6toty were well pleafed that aifaffmations mould be committed :- becaufe, (ac- cording to their doctrine) the true remedy being the excefs of the evil, they were delirous that ihe evil Ihould be carried to excefs. V n &ftI$#&ffV >r r/6f!%''ff/ omiTj But thefe were, in fat, mere pretexts for ac- cufations againft the members of the legiflature, and thofe of the Diretory whom they were re* folved to ruin Above all, they feized with the utmoft avidity every opportunity of directing againft me that indignation which the impunity of crimes neceifarily produced in the depart- ments where I was particularly interelted. I was born in the department of the C6te d'Or, and was married in that of the Pas de Calais -, this is the reafon I have never been able to obtain juftice for either the one or the other of thefe departments. C 2 ' He oppofcs the difmffion of Willot' Either Willot was culpable, Citizen Baillevri, or he was not. If Willot was innocent, it was my duty to oppofe his difmiflal : if he was guilty, it is not I that mould be accufed ; but thofe very triumvirs who wifli to charge me with the crime they have themfelves committed. Did they not form the majority of the Directory ? Could they not difmifs Willot in fpite of my in- dividual opinion? It follows then, cither that the triumvirate thought like me, that Willot was not criminal, or that they were themfelves the ac- complices of Willot. Choofe, Citizen Bailleul, which alternative you pleafe. How is it, that after taking fix months to forge lies, you at laft allow fuch bungling falfehoods to efcape you? Can any thing more abfurd be conceived, than three men faying, We formed a majority in the- Directory, and we could take whatever meafures we thought proper to flop the progrefs of dif- orders ; yet we allowed affaflinations with- out number to be committed, bccaufe one of [ 13 ] our colleagues did not believe that aflafilnations really exifted, although we were perfe&ly cer- tain that they were perpetrated every day : we fuffered the principal cut-throat to continue in place, becaufe this fame colleague of ours did not believe him to be an affaffin, although we had a thoufand proofs of his criminality ? 'wmtf? ^ff^fc-^/^f ?L, Our colleague may have been deceived ; he is in an error j confequently he is a royalift, and ought to be exiled. As for us, no one has im- pofed upon us ; it is knowingly, and with our eyes open, that we have permitted thoufands of aflaflinations to be committed ; thus we are only guilty of cowardice and cruelty ; confequently we are the true patriots, and ought to continue in the Directory in order to bring about Fructidorian revolutions. Willot was fent to MarfciUes as a man of character, and qualified to keep all parties with- in bounds. He had combated with fuccefs the rebels of La Vendee. It will be found, even in his letters, that he thinks Hoche is not fufficiently fufpicious of them. He fears their fubmiffion may be only a feint ; that they are abufmg the indulgence of government ; and that they will take advantage of the firft favourable opportunity to renew their plots and confpira- cies. '~ ? ' In a mort time, however, we received contra- ditory reports from Marfeilles relative to the con- dut of Willot j thofe who propagated them, call themfelves true patriots, and treat all their adver- faries as robbers and aflaffins ; fome as the agents of anarchy, others as the advocates of royalifm. Barras propofed the difmiffal of Willot. But what friends, what correfpondents could Barras have at Marfeilles ? Probably thofe who, during his million with Freron, fuggeiled to him fo many dilapidations, fo many maffacres, fo many fcenes of horror j the authorities recently con- ftituted by this fame Freron in his fecond miflion 5 by this difciple, this co-adjutor, of Marat, who boafts of having compofed the moll virulent articles of his bloody pages; and who even, after the ninth of Thermidor, con- tinued to invoke him as his tutelary divinity. .,. : .; -vi^iji^t^r'tnf^ff}^ I oppofed the removal of Willot until fur- ther examinations were made. The other mem- bers of the Directory did the fame. This is evi- dent ; fince, if they had thought with Barras, they would have been a majority, and Willot would have been difmifTed. Thefe are th'e wretches who accufc me now of having oppofed Willot's difmiffal! In the departments of the South was a man named Cadet, who was in the confidence of the Direftory. It was agreed to refer the i- bufmefs to him ; he was ordered immediately to repair to Marfeilles, and tranfmit an exaft and pofitive account of the conduct of Willot. Cadet wrote that Willot conduced himfelf very well, that he difplayed much energy and impar- tiality, and that his conduct was abfolutely irre- proachable. Willot was unanimously continued at Marfeilles, and Barras himfelf dared not to vote againft him. [ 16 ] In the mean while complaints were made againft Moynat-d'Auxon, who commanded at Toulon. The Directory ordered Cadet to pro- ceed to Toulon, and fend them an account of -the conduct of Moynat. Cadet returned for anfwer, that Moynat was unfit for the command, and that he leaned to ariftocracy. I immediate- ly propofed the removal of Moynat, and taking a pen, drew up the decree myfelf. The Secre- tary-General can and ought to atteft this fat. The deliberations of the Directory were re- corded in the journals, and the letters of Cadet are among the official papers depofited in the offices. Are you fatisfied now, Cilizcn Bail- leul? But there cxift other official documents wjth refpeft to Willot. I mean the letters I wrote to him in the name of the Executive Dire&ory ; and that which I addrefled to him in my own private capacity, after his taking his feat in the legiflative body. All thefe letters formally prove the reverfe of what you advance. The laft of 11 them contains bitter reproaches on the Hep he took in the Council of Five Hundred. The Di- rectory got poflefiion of this minute, by putting their feal upon my papers : and what illuftrates the good faith that governs both them and you, Citizen Bailleul, who fay you have collected all the documents ; is, that you not only omit to mention this minute which would confound your jmpofture ; but that you even dare to advance as a facl, the direct contrary of what is fubftan- * tially proved by that letter. Affuredly, when every thing that was dear to me, when even my family papers fell into the hands of the tyrants, it cannot be aflerted, that I only left thofe let- ters which I was willing mould be read. Do there exift in any part of the Republic, or elfe- where, any letters of mine written in a different ftvle ? I challenge all thofe who have any fuch in their pofleflion to fend them to the Executive Directory. Not only my letter to Willot muft have been found among my papers, but all my private correfpondence with Bonaparte ; all my official D [ 18 j corrcfpondencc with the Generals during the campaign of 1793 and 1794 ; all my private letters to different reprcfentatives of the people from the opening of the laft feflion. It can be e;ilily feen, whether I have varied in my prin- ciples ; "whether the language I held under the revolutionary government contradicts that which I held under the constitutional government ; whether it is not uniformly that of the moft ar- dent civifm, combined with the deepeft fenfe of humanity, and the pureft morality. Thefe papers contain the belt anfwers that can be given both to thole who wifhed to implicate me in the con- fpiracy of Robefpierre, and to thofe who have included me in the Fruclidorian profeription. I mall, one day, perhaps, be accufed of having .even participated in the new tyranny itfelfi i When Willot was elefted into the legiflative body, it was thought the beft meafure to purfue, was to order Bonaparte to replace him, by fending to Marfeilles any of the Generals in the Army of Italy, he thought beft qualified to execute that delicate and important commiflioii. Bonaparte, fent Sahuguct, and prefently the fame reproaches were lavimed on Sahuguet, as had been laviihcd on Willot: and thus, Citizen Bailleul, you have an accufation prepared for Bonaparte whenever occafion mall require. f Though once an implacable enemy to Picltegm, yet now he has taken his feat in the legi/lative body, he has daily uitewie&s -a'ith him privately and confidentially.' I have never been either the friend or the enemy of Pichegru. I have never been either the perfonal friend or the perfonal enemy of any of the Commanders in Chief in the fervice of the Republic. I have efteemod and cultivated the friendmip of thofe who were able and Ikilful officers, and I have contributed as much as I could to employ them, while I endeavoured to remove fuch as were unfortunate, without giving them any perfonal pain or offence. My confidence in Pichegru began to diminifii, when his conduct gave birth to doubts in my: D2 [ 20 ] mind, relative to the firmncfs of his principle's. Reubel alfo ftated fome facls to the Direftory, which increafcd my fufpicions. As Pichegru, t&erefore, had thrice offered to retire, I propofed at laft to accept of his refignation. Pichegru was no longer employed, but came to Paris, \vhere he complained bitterly, and faid, that he had not .exprefily offered his refignation, but had only demanded leave of ab fence. Great pains were now taken to irritate him againft me. He was really my enemy, but I was not his. The fame newfpapers that now defcribe me as his accomplice, then imputed his retreat to me as a crime. It was even pretended that he was ftarving, and that he was obliged to maintain himfelf by keeping the Diligences at Vefoul. On my fuggeftion, however, the Directory continued his pay as General of Divifion. i When Pichegru appeared in the legiflative body, I was defirous of being beforehand with him, and paid him a vifit. I did the fame with Jourdan. I was accompanied by two general officers, and we converfcd feveral hours oh the fituation of political affairs, and the ne* ceflity of re-eilabliftiing harmony between the chief conftituted authorities. Pichegru fpoke with more fhrewdncfs than I had imagined him to poiTefs, for I fcarcely knew him, except through the medium of his military talents; and they do not always infer that cultiva- tion of mind which is the offspring of a liberal education ; and, in the few opportunities I had of feeing him, he had always appeared very re- ferved and filent. When we left him, one of the general officers faid to me, " I am not pleafed " with Pichegru ; I do not think him fmcere : " I fufpecl: (faid I), it is becaufe, he is no longer Commander in Chief of the Army of the Rhine. I was defirous, however, of drying up the fource of ever}' animofity, and of preventing the revival of thofe factions that had fo long torrt the bofom of the Republic ; I therefore invited to dinner the general officers, who were deputed to the legiflative body, particularly Pichegru and Jourdan, whom I wiihed to reconcile. t 22 ] Jourdan came, but Pichegru ftaid away, al- though he had promifcd. Since that time, I invited him again, for I was deiirous of know- ing the real rlate of his mind ; but, as he con- ffantly made cxcufes, I at length dcfiiicd from repeating my invitations. r lie waited on me, however, one evening, to- gether with eight or ten others of the reprc- fentativcs of the people ; but they only came by accident, and did not ftay above two or three minutes in my garden, where I received them, Pichegru did not once fpeak to me, nor did I addrefs myfelf to him. Thefe were the only occafions on which J. have feen Pichegru fmce his admiffion into the legiflative body ; this is what Bailleul calls having daily interviews with him privately and confidentially; but if thev were fo, how J J cfid Bailleul become acquainted with our meetings ? How could he be fure of them ? Is this alfo proved by official papers in the hand's of the minifars ? Let him name the [ 23 ] places where I met Pichcgru, the hoiifes when? we were together, and the perfons who have feen us. Have the numerous fentinels of the ..-,/ 1 Tut riLC 1 "*!? rrrifl rvytivfn Luxembourg ever feen him ? Have the porters, the fervants, the fpies of the little Reveillere,. who lived in the fame ftair-cafe with myfelfj ever feen him ? r i JJO i) D J H l Vy -' ; v And as I have not received him at my own apartments, neither have I feen him elfe- where ; for, during the whole duration of my dictatorial functions, I did not go out a dozen n J - times, except with fome part of my familv-r-4 r OLD. LITp")!' ".') ? unlefs, indeed, my wife, my fifter, my children, my domeftics, are all fuppofed to be the accom- plices -of my fecret, confidential interviews with ' ; 3fU OTJW M^fllT Pichegru ! The affertion I am now difproving is the moll important of them all. Even fuppofmg Pichegra was guilty, I might have been deceived in him, and feen him without fufpicion. But who would have exculpated me from the prejudice which would refult from it? What an abyG, of calumny is ia & [ 2+ ] the accufation ! WHAT MONSTERS ARE THESE TRIUMVIRS ! What a degraded being is this J. Ch. Bailleul ! ! , A few days previous to the catailrophe of the J8th Fructidor, the female citizen Eble, fitter of the celebrated General of artillery, came to my apartments. " Is it then certain, Citizen Carnot (laid (he), that Pichegru will defert the patriots?" I knownothing of it, I replied, but his condut is by no means calculated to infpire confidence. " I am determined (replied flic) to go and fee> him. I am determined to read his heart in his countenance, and know the real itate of his mind." I approved her determination, and me returned two or three days after, faying, " No, Pichegru does not defert us. He alks what he {hall do to prove that he does not abandon the caufe of the patriots." Pichegru, replied I, mult afcend the tribune of the Cpuncil of Five Hundred, and there declare himfelf in a man- ner that will leave no doubt what his real fen- timents are, and nrike terror into the confpirators of, the counter-revolution. His actions mivft [ 25 ] correfpond with his words, and in lieu of feed" ing criminal hopes, by an ambiguity of conduct, he muft at length rally all the defenders of li- berty around the national ftandard. This, faid I, is the only part that is becoming the charac- ter of Pichegru, and in doing this there is net time to lofe. .' : ill The female citizen Eble told me (he would inftantly communicate to him my advice. But this happened, I believe, on the 16th Frufctidor, and I never faw her afterwards. She may be confulted relative to the fa6V, ar *d I have no fear of her refufing to bear an authentic teili- mony to the truth. Let us hope the legiflative body of the great nation will one day be fufficiently free, to dare modeilly to demand of our demi-gods what proofs they can adduce, that the vittim; who efcaped their murderous knife, in the night between the 17th and 18th FrutHdor, had daily interviews with Pichegru. E [ 26 ] 1 am far from wiihing to decide whether Pichegru was or was not guilty ; guilty he cer- tainly was, if a hundredth part of what is faid of him in the committee's Report is true. But when I demonftrate that, with regard to all the fats that are thoroughly known to me, this re- port has violently diftortcd the truth with the ut- moft degree of impudence and perfidy, it is furely allowable to fuppole they have not treated it with more rcfpeft in what relates to others. When we behold them carrying their injuftice fo far as to depreciate the fervices of Pichegru, as commander in chief of the Army ot the North, and reduce them to nothing, merely left the world mould place thefe fervices in the fcale againft the crimes with which they accufe him. . If Pichegru is innocent, the fame infcription may be put upon his tomb as on that of Scipio, which ftill cxifts in the vicinity of Naples ; " Ineiata patria ! neque ofl'a mea habgjjis." c A declared advocate of kinga, he exclaimed,, when the republican directors made fuch propa. t 37 ] fats for peace us were, honourable to France, YOU ARE DESIROUS, THEX,' TO OPPRESS. THE EMPEROR.' Was I the advocate of kings when I voted for the death of the King, of France, and made every other king tremble upon his throne? And you, Bailleul, how did you fignalize yourfelf in this celebrated itruggle, while the refult was doubtful? Afk thefe kings which they love beft, an advocate like me, or a valet like your- felf? | - r ;L. ' Republican directors /' I know of none fuch among the triumvirs; I know only of aflaffins of the Republic and of the Conftitution. - ' Honourable, propojals ! ' whe,rd are they? Can any thing honourable be propofed by men deftitute of every principle of honour and of juftice ? Does not truth itfelf become falfehood when it paffes through their corrupted organs ? Would not honour itfelf, could it approach them, E 2 *a 1 be tarniihcd by their infefted breath ? woujd'it not expire on their gangrened lips ? If it was I who prevented the adoption of their -'honourable -propofals, they ought to have renewed them when 'I ceafed to be a member of the Directory ; they ought to have explained their new conditions in the Treaty of Campo Formio. But where are thefe conditions ? In what refpett is the Emperor more .appreffed by this Treaty than by that of Leoben ? The ; Treaty of Campo Formio is not even fo favour- able as that of Leoben, as I fhall prefently de- monftrate. - It was in their power to have concluded peace five months earlier, on the conditions that have been adopted ; a,nd it was becaufe \ was defirous it ihould he" concluded immediately, it was becaufe I w>as unwilling that Jioftilities ffeouW be renewed, or that they mould place the Republic in new dilemmas and difficulties (as 1 myfelf wrote to Bonaparte), that they faid I was fearful oC their opprefling the Emperor. [ 29 ] Will they talk of the furrender of Mentz ?. But it was I who propofed not to evacuate Palma-nova till the Emperor had retired from Mentz, and from the whole right bank of the Rhine. It was I who wrote various letters to Bonaparte on this fubjeft. Our republican di- rectors paid it no attention whatever. ''YOU ARE DESIROUS, THEN, TO OPPRESS THE EMPEROR.' Thefe are not my words, Bailleul ; no : I faid to thefe political Quixotes, " You are not, then, " defirous of peace with the Emperor. If your " conditions are fo opprejjvce to him, that it is " impoffible for him to accept them without evi- " dently incurring his own deftru&ion, you had " better frankly declare that you- mean to re- " fume hoflilities, and are refolvcd on a war " of extermination." At thefe words, Reveil- Here leaped upon his feat and faid he knew not whether he ought not to break up the fitting. I obferved to Reveilliere, that I only repeated what Bonaparte had frequently written, that no peace r so ] could be permanent, the conditions of which were intolerable to the vanquifhed party ; that, otherwife, a levcn of irritation would remain 1 , which fooncr or later would produce a fatal ex- plofion. This explanation fcemed to pacify the acrimonious viper, who coiled himfeif again otf his chair. In ihis place I muft unveil the atrocious'per- iidy of thefe three mifcreants! BONAPARTE WAS EVER ODIOUS TO THEM, AND THEY NE- VER LOST SIGHT OF THEIR DETERMINATION TO DESTROY HIM. From this accufation I do not even except Barras: the gnafhing of his teeth when that General fent Sahuguet to Matfeilles, his- exclamations againit the preliminaries of jLeobcn, his grofs and calumnious farcafms on a perfon who mull be dear to Bonaparte, prove the blacknefs of his inmoft thoughts. This man, under an outfide of pretended levity, conceals the ferocity of a Caligula. . It is not true that it was he who firft propofed the appointment of Bonaparte to the command of- [ 31 ] the, Army of. Italy ; it .was I who ] But oil this point they L ftiould mow how he would. fucpqeci; and it was ojily among the intimate friends of Barras tha he boafted of having been the original propofo of him to the Directory. Had Bonaparte failed, it was I alone that was to bear the blame far having recommended to that command an inex- perienced youth and an intriguer ; I ihould the-n have been the evident betrayer of my country. The others took no (hare in the condul of the war; it was on me that aH the refponilbility would have fallen. But Bonaparte was trium- phant ; and, from that moment, it was Barras who caufed him to be appointed, and to him alone was due all the praife. He was his pro- tector, his defender againft my attacks ; while I was jealous of Bonaparte, crofled him in all his plans, perfecuted him, flandered him, refufed him the ncceOary fuccours, and was evidently refolved to ruin him ! Such are the filthy ex- crements of falfehood with which, from time to time, the^ journals in the pay of Barras are filled. [ 32 ] Some, it is true, there were, who were defirous of ruining Bonaparte. I allude to the famoui triumvirate, who were continually trembling left they mould be deprived of their authority and power. The afcendency which that General had acquired, through his innumerable vi&o- ries, began to goad and torment them. While they attempted to ruin Bonaparte, I was alfo to be involved in the confequences ; and thus the triumvirate would get rid of two of their ene- mies at once. Then it was evident that I was the fecret rival of the Hero of Italy, whofe fall I had prepared ! My fentence would have been fpeedily pronounced ; and they would have then performed the obfequies of Bonaparte* as mag- nificently as they did thofe of General Hoche. But it will be anfwered, that I ought in my turn to prove my affertions. This would be per- fe&ly eafy, if, like Bailleul, I had the official papers in the hands of the minifters at my dif- pofal. Nt>r will it by any means be impofliblci though living in retirement in an obfcure village of Germany. 6 [ 33 ] Bonaparte, as that General well remembers, had fuggefted, that it would be expedient to di* minifh the number of our enemies, by conclud- ing treaties of peace with fome of them. Hg recommended that we mould treat with the King of Sardinia, and (till more particularly with the King of Naples. Reubel was appointed to con* dut the diplomatic department, as I was that of the war. What did he do in confequence of the earnefl requeft of Bonaparte r Nothing. What did I fay? Nothing! Yes, he raifed innu- merable paultry difficulties relative to the Treaty of Piedmont, and abfolutely refufed to treat with Naples. It was I who, fatigued with thefe af* feted delays, of which I clearly perceived the objeft, tranfa&ed alone (except a few obferva-? tions of Charles de la Croix) the Treaty with Sardinia, which, I believe, is by no means the worft. It was I, too, who fet that of Naples on foot ; and, being unable to procure a ferious de- liberation on this fubjecl at the Directory, called a meeting of fome of its members tg draw up the articles of the Treaty. [ 34 ] This meeting- took place the fame evening be- tween Le Tourneur, Le Revelliere, and myfelf* at the refidence of the latter. Had Ban-as beerf a friend to Bonaparte, knowing as he did the* wifhes of that General, that we fhould treat im- mediately, he would have attended this meeting, in order to accelerate its objer. But on the contrary, he abfented himfelf, and Reubel flayed at home to meditate new expedients and eva- fions for the enfuing day. The Treaty, how- ever, was drawn up in a fingle evening, and the next day, notwkhilanding the accuftomed apathy of Barras, notwithftanding his difdainful air, which mame prevented him from mani- j citing by a direct refufal ; notwithftanding the oppofition of Reubel, notwithftanding his fa- vourite cry of honourable conditions., and his po- fitive declaration thr:-t he would not fign the Treaty, it was, as it were, wreftecl from them by force, and inftantly concluded. This, I am of opinion, was the greateft fer- vice it was poflible for me to render my ' country, in the circumftances- which we were [ 35 J then placed. But this infringement on the di- plomatic province of Reubel, which the fitua-' tion of affairs rendered indifpenfably neceflary, was an affront never to be forgiven by that de- ceitful and vindictive ftatefman. Although the collective force of the enemies oppofed to Bonaparte was thus confiderably di- miniflied, and although he had now his flanks and his rear free from annoyance, yet he had not fufficient forces to procure him any decifive advantages over the Emperor. He demanded a fuccour of 15,000 men; I formed a plan for fending him GO,OOO. The nccefTary orders were immediately communicated to the army of the Rhine and Mofelle, and to that of the Sambre and Me ufe, to detach without delay., and as fe- cretly as pofTible, 15,000 men each to join the Army of Italy, filing off under various pretexts along the frontiers of Switzerland. It was a fimilar movement of 40,000 men, detached from the army of the Mofelle towards the Mcufe, under the orders of Jourdan, at the moment when they were expected to march towards the F 2 r ss ] Rhine, that decided, in the year .1793, the fate of that famous campaign. The 00,000 men, deftined for the army of Italy, were to be at firft detached from the army of the Rhine and Mofelle, and then one half of the number replaced from that of the Sambre and Meufc. Never were orders more punctually or more faithfully executed, Moreau, who fore- faw the poffibility of an arrangement of that nature, had long held a body of troops in re- fcrve for that purpofe; and although his army was in a v worfe condition than the other, be- caufe it could not like that live at the expences of the enemy, and the poverty of the finances prevented any relief being given to their necefTi- ties, yet he made fome facrifices, in order that the corps de referve might be tolerably well equipped, and ready to depart at the firft fignal. The fignal was given, and the troops marched and arrived on the frontiers of Montblanc, be- fore the enemy could fufpeft they were deftined for the Army of Italy. [ 87 ] O Moreau! O beloved Fabius of France ! how great didft thou appear in this glorious tranfao tion ! how fuperior wert thou to thofe petty rival- ftiips that fometimes caufe the belt concerted projects to mifcarry ! Let men accufe thee, on the one hand, of f not having denounced Piche- gru, and on the other for denouncing him ; all I know is, that my heart whifpers me, that Mx> reau cannot be guilty. Yes, my heart proclaims thee a true hero. Yes, poilerity will be more juft than thy cotemporaries, and will eret altars to thy memory. 4 Eve n the political exijlence of the Pope was dear to him* It is moft probable, fmce Bailleul does not fay any thing that is not fupported by official papers in the hands of the minifters, that there muft have been found, among thofe papers, a correfpondence between Pius VI. and myfelf, which muft have been intercepted ' Why then does not Bailleul amufe the public with fome [ 38 ] extracts from this correfpondence ? The Pope, no doubt, muft have fent me Come relics and plenary indulgences to bring, me over to his interefts, and thefe muft have been feized when the feals were put upon my papers ! The little Reveillere was in factyt> much afraid of the Pope that he continually fancied he faw him purfuing him, and holding up his fingers to give him his benediction. The Vicar of Chrift was a dangerous rival to a man who was alfo defir- ous of becoming the head of a feet. One night Reveillere formed the defign of becoming a Great Man. We ought never to refift infpira- tions from above but how was fo laudable an object to be attained ? After deep confideration, Reveillere determined to become one of the Theophilanthropifts. This, it is true, might be confidered as a new road to the temple of Fame, although it had already been tried by feveral. But we mould recollect, that, although Sir Ifaac Newton was not the original difcoverer of the principle of gravity, he is neverthelefs confidered 11 [ S9 ] as the author of the fyftem of attra&ion, be- caufe it was he who difcovered its laws, and fixed its proportions. ,-W; >;...;/*.';:. ; Reveillere then, who difbelieves the exiftence of a God, and paflfes his life in tormenting mankind, enrolled himfelf among thofe who profeffed to be worlhippers : of the Supreme Being and benefa&ors of the human race ; and dreaming that he was already the founder of a new religion, that he was another Mahomet, he immediately fet about compofing his Koran. This work, to produce which he tortured all his mental powers during feveral months (not' having, like his predeceflbr, a pigeon to whifper in his ear), (hows the exacl: extent of his capa- city. This chef d'teuvre was read to the National Inftitute, and nothing but the high dignity of; the, author retrained the laughter of the audi- ence, who pinched and tormented themfelvea to avoid fleeping. But, alas ! they were not de* lighted as they ought to have been at hearing this work : it was too profound to be intelligible - to the members of the Inftitute. He received no compliments, and the journals even forgot to notice it. Reveillere was flung to the foul at this negleft, and from that moment became captious, peeviih, and a planner of new revo- lutions : unable to be a Mahomet, he now rc- fblved to be a Cid. The Catholic religion in particular became the object of his Theophilanthropic rage ; and all who laughed at the name of Theophilan- thropift, all who thought of the Theophilan- thropifts as Cicero did of the Arufpices, were confidered by Reveilliere as furious Papifts, I had the mortification to be no admirer of the dogmas of this new feet, though I did not abfo-^ lutely ridicule them. Univerfal toleration is the only dogma I profefs. I think the balance is nearly equal between the good arifmg from fin- Gere religion, and the evil from its abufes ; J abhor fanaticifm, and am of opinion that the fanaticifm of irreligion, which was brought into famion by the Marats and the Peres Duchtne, is the moft baneful of all. In a word, I think we ought not to put men to death to make. t 41 ] believe, nor to prevent their believing, but that we ought to pity the weaknefies of others, fince each of us has fome of his own, and leave prejudices to wear themfelves out by time, when we cannot overcome them by rea- fon. I am nearly of the fame opinion with regard to the liberty of the prefs. The abufe of that liberty is, no doubt, a great evil, but an attempt to fix its limits is a ftill greater. I am of opinion that the licentioufnefs of the prefs produces in time its own remedy ; that there is neither civil nor political liberty wherever the prefs is not free ; that we muft unavoidably either fubmit to an arbitrary government, or endure the editors of newfpapers. Yet no one ha-s been more the victim of their calumnies than myfelf. .Such is my creed on thefe two important points ; erroneous perhaps in its theory, but furely it may be maintained without incurring; Criminality. I have often declared it to the G t 42 ] Directory, but to them it is an unintelligible language : it might with equal hope of fuccefs be propofed to the Grand Signer to throw open his feraglio to all the youth of Conftantinople. Our republican Directors wifh France to be under the dominion of a political inquilition, and to become a vaft living tomb, rcfembling the prifons of Genoa, on the gates of which was infcribed, as it were in derifion, the word .Libert as. But to return to the Pope. ReVeillere, who believes that whoever is not a Theophilanthro- pift mud neceffarily be a Catholic and ought to be crucified, thought he beheld in me a ftaunch friend of the court of Rome. I had beftowed much praife on Bonaparte for having difdained the empty glory of marching againft that city, in order to attack a more dangerous enemy, the defeat of whom muft neceflarily caufc the fall of Rome and of all the ftatcs of Italy. The Theophilanthropift, on the contrary, was defirous that the army fhould march directly to the Capitol, and chant a hymn over the tomb of the Gracchi. To him the carrying off the worm-eaten Virgin of Loretto appeared 'a 1 far more important victory than the bearing away in triumph the ftandards of the batallion of Vienna. I might have renounced both Jefus Chrift and the Pope a hundred times a day, yet it would have been impoflible to perfuade Re- veillere but that I was one of the moft rigid of Catholics. Great men have fometimes certain moral diforders of which it is extremely difficult to cure them : Pafcal fancied himfelf conftantly plunged up to the navel in a river. Reveillere continually fancies himfelf in a veffcl of holy water. But we ought to forgive this weaknefs, in confideration of the memorable fercices he has rendered to his country. He is one of our faviours, and all who behold this " lamb with- out blemilh " fliould exclaim with the Italian preacher, Ecco il tero policinello ! ' He was for converting all our conquers inlu fcparate kingdoms, and the creation of a kingdom G 2 [ 44 ] f>f Lombardy particularly flattered his imagina- tion i and Barthelemy Jhoived, by the mojt ,/tgni- fiCitnt .nods, how much tins fyjtem pieafcd him' My memory is fo treacherous, on this occa- flon, that I fhould have been glad if Bailleul had proved this fuel, by citing fome paffagcs from .the official papers in the hands of the mi- nifters, by which, as he has declared, all the fafts advanced by him are confirmed. It feems that on this point I have not refcrved my plans, in petto, but that I have explicitly propofed them to the Directory. I muft have fully explained my fyftem, fince Barthelemy exprcffed his appro- bation by fignificant nods. Could no traces of all this be found in the journals of the Directory, and the proces-verbaux of their fittings, where every thing of importance that pafles is taken down ? Each member has a right, according to the Conftitution, to record his opinion on the journals ; and this is very frequently done. The Directory , who, according to the expref- fion of Barras in his fpeech to Bonaparte, had [ 45 ] long ftnce premeditated in its isifdom the immor- tal victory of the 1 8th Fruftidor, had now a very fine opportunity of convicting me of royalifm, and of preparing an aft of accufation againft me which I could not have rebutted, when the great day mould come ; by infcribing in the proces-verbal the thundering anfwer each of the members muft have made to me, when I had the bafenefs to propofe the converfion of all our conquefts into fo many kingdoms. What fay you to this, Bailleul? Confefs that it is an unpardonable omiflion. This is really a blunder, and the moft ikilful men fome- times commit them. I have, however, al- ready obferved to you, Bailleul, that you took full fix months to give a femblance of truth to your lies ; but, for want of thefe precious docu- ments, which would have thrown fo much light on the fecret fprings of the confpiracy, I am ob- liged to have recourfe to the repofitory of my memory for the grounds on which the triumvirates have built this impertinent falfehood ; at length, 9 C *6 ] I think, I have difcovered a {lender clue that leads to it. Here it is. I recommended giving to the Duke of Parma fome portions of the Papal territories, (notwith- Handing my affection for his holinefs), and part of thofe of Modena in exchange for Louifiana and Florida, which the King of Spain was to have ceded to us for the fake of procuring a more con- fiderable eftabliftiment for the Infant. In this I perceived two advantages; 1ft, The advantage, not of creating a new republic in Europe, but, on the contrary, of republicanism^ a fine exten-> Jive' tract of country in America, which would have given us fo great an influence over the United ' States, and of which the blunderers, or the traitors, who negotiated the Treaty with Spain did not procure the ceflion, although it was per- feftly eafy to be obtained. 2d. That of oppofmg a ftrongcr barrier to the Emperor in Italy than the Cifalpine Republic alone ; for the King of Spain being thereby powerfully interefted in the protection of that country, would have been an 1 important counterpoife to the Houfe of Auftria. Add to this, it would have been a farther means of fecuring the continuance of peace, and of the alliance of the French Republic with Spain : for then, Spain would have felt the want of us to affift her in oppofmg the Emperor in Italy ; and had (lie been inclined to declare war, flic would have been expofed to be attacked by vis in two places at once. This, then, was the bcft pledge we could receive of a permanent alliance with Spain. But the penetrating eye of the triumvirate immediately difcovercd, that the true object was to revive the kingdom of Lom- bardyj and the dread of this imaginary kingdom prevented them from aggrandizing the Republic with an immenfe territory now ufelefs and even prejudicial to Spain, and from holding out their helping hand to thofe Frenchmen who have fo long been panting for a re-union with their true mother-country much to the honour of our re- publican director's ! As to that multitude of petty kingdoms with which (like fo many planets) I was defirous of [ 43 ] farro'unding the fun of the -Republic, although this is particularly calculated to flatter the ima- gination, I confefs I have not the fmallcft recol- leftion of it whatever j but', I promifc Bailleul, to anfwer him on this point as foon as he mall produce the official papa's which are in the hands of the miniftcrs. The figniiicant nods of Bartheleiny arc alfo, Ho doubt, among the official papers in the hands of the minijlerS) and Bailleul will one day tell us- in what fhape they appear there. Poor Bar- thelemy would be extremely aftonifhed were it- annouriced to him, on the bed of ftraw where his infirmities repofe in a country of favagcs, that he was fent thither for his Jignificunt nods when I propofed the creation of kingdoms. " Alas!" ho would fay, " I thought I 'had never heard my colleague Garnet talk of kingdoms but't^ dellroy them. Let me, I befeech'you, die in peace among thefe good people who are far Icfs deferving the name of favages than yourfelves. Co, depart from thefe huts into which corrup- tion has never' yet found its way. Is- it poilibK* [ 49 ] that any government fhould be reduced to the neceflity of juftifying its a&s of cruelty, by re- curring to fuch bafe artifices, fuch barefaced lies?" )-\^ I have now exhaufted the article of the text relative to myfelf in the Report of Bailleul. I proceed to the note (pages 52 and 53). Here, no doubt, the grand fecrets will all be divulged. * It was not merely by fupporting the caufe of Aujtria, and faying it zvas intended to opprefs her, that Carnot betrayed the fyftem he was fe~ cretly purfuing in order to overthrow the Re- public! ( When the affairs of Holland icere under dif* jciiffion ; when the plan of the treaty was digefting, wherein it teas intended faithfully to perform the promift made to that new republic, not tofeparate .our interejis from hers; when the means were under conjideration> by zvhich that country might be refcaed from the convulfionj with which it was H f 50 ] fqitallii threatened by the Stadtholderia.'ns and the 'jAnarchifts ; tcheiimeafures were fought for by which n government might be eftablijhed in that country >> and its liberty fecurcd, Carnot maintained that Hol- land mujl be facrificed, that we ought to be indiffc* rent, to hcrfate<, ami that we ought not to makeour- filvcs uneafyjhould England keep fame of her jttllc-- tncnls. Let them .fighfi* faid he, ' as long as they mil; to US) that will be no great d if advantage* "Whence, Bailleul, did you get all thcfe fine things? not from the official papers in the hands of the minijlers: for words are not placed in the bands ol' the minifters, and particularly words fpoken in the fittings of the Directory ; you muft, then, have received them from our auguil direc- tors, whofe veracity they fully demonflfa'te. It is curious to hear a Reubcl talk of fidelity; it is curioits to hear the triumvirate unfold their prin- ciples- of morality* and accufe him of violating its precepts who has been ruined merely by his adherence to principle and to the laws, and bc- raufe he would not employ any other arms than principle and the laws, againlt men who ad- vanced to the combat with all the weapons f Macchia-elifm and of crimes; .?tf$i'^ Ij3pvim M*f v&&. But you yourfelf, Bailleul, you who are their faithful interpreter, do you not (in page 47) de- liver their profeffion of faith and your own, when you fay to the legiflative body, * / repeat if, Let us ban(fli thefe abfurd theories of pretended prin- ciples , thcfe Jtupid innovations of theConjtitutwnf 1 ' The whole of your own fyftem, and that of your heroes, is comprifed in thefe few words: Principle is only fit for fools; the Conftitution is only fit for fools; honour and fidelity to our engagements are only fit for fools; there is no fuch thing as right, . but for him who is the itrongeft ; all other theories of pretended principles are abfurd, and he who appeals to them is a dolt I Have not the events of the 18th Fru&idor de- monftrated this? And, befides, it is needlefs to prove the e.rijlence of light. All the annals of an- tkmity are in favour of the fyilem of Bailleul ! JI 2 r 5-2 i The ftupid Ariftide> was banifhed from hi$ live 'country j the ftupid Miltiades died in prifpn.; the ftupid Socrates fwallowed hemlock ; the ftupid Cato was reduced to the neceffity of putting an end to his own exiftence ; the ftupid Cicero was aflaffinated 'by the order of the triumvirs; the ftupid Phocion, when an Athenian who faw him conducted to prifon cried outj " Oh ! worthy old man, who could have believed it poflible thou fhouldft come to fuch an end," replied, " Have not all thofe who have rendered important fer* vices to their country experienced a fimilar fate?" ' You, Bailleul, have laid down in your work fome moft admirable maxims ; far fupcrior to the dull precepts of philofophy! But let us return to the fubjecl: of Holland, Never was it under difcuffion with the Execu- tive Directory, to find means of ref cuing that country from the conmdfions zvitfi which the Stad- tholderians and the Anarchijls equally threatened, it. Never did they talk of meafures to be taken to ejlablijh a government and fecurc their liberty. 'I JLdefy any one to find a word on the fubjet in their journals, except a few letters, written by jnyfelf to the Generals, on the internal police of the country. Our republican directors were employing themfelves on much more important affairs, on proportions far more honourable to France ! They were bufy in inquiring HOW THEY MIGHT PLUNDER HoLLANP, and by what lure they could induce the Dutch themfelves to (J/fift in this generous dejign ! At the difcuffion which was held, to deter- mine on what footing that country mould be placed in the treaty then negotiating at Lifle with Lord Malmefbury, Reubel made a violent harangue againil the Batavian nation. He faid, they were all Stadtholderians, and had con- .ftantly betrayed us. They were a nation of mer- chants, whofe interefts were centered in Eng- land, whofe wimes were in favour of the Eng- lifli, who were only watching for an opportu- nity to furrender themfelves to the Engliih, into \vhofe hands Admiral T. Lucas had recently de- livered his fleet at the Cape of Good Hope. :[ 54 thing that Holland had to gain in profpe- rityand in riches/ it was evident, could only be 'at the expence of France, arid 'to the advantage of England. In fhort, there was but one -line of conduft to purfue with regard to HoUarid^- ' TO KEEP HER IN THE MOST ABSOLUTE DE- PENDENCE TO SUBJECT HER TO A PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND TO TREA1* HER AS A CON- QUERED COUNTRY ! ! ! ' " If this be fo," faid I, " we are very unwife to continue the war merely for the reiteration of -their colonies ; or, when our own are offered us, to exhauft the remains of our marine in vain efforts to ferve fo ungrateful a nation, I am of opinion that Holland mould be alked, what fa- crifices (he is willing to make to obtain peace?" " But do you imagine," replied Reubel, " that it is for Holland that I would demand the refti- tution of the Cape and Trincomale? The firffob- jeQ: is that of recovering the pbffeflion of them, for which purpofe, the Dutch muft furnifli the mips and the money, and afterwards I will if ** ] clearly convince them that the'fe .colonies belong -to us ! ! ! " 'Vvith ail that can fcduce a people who place 11 implicit confidence in their leaders, and excite their enthufiafm in the caiife. It is evident, on the other hand, that they perfuaded the Dutch that it is merely' on their account, and through a ftrift fidelity to their engagements to them, thai: they make this great facrifice of peace and of national profperity. '. ' .'.- Confefs; then; Bail-lcul, that if the pra&iee of fidelity is only calculated for the Jlupid, the term is at leaft convenient to men of talents. But you are not, perhaps, aware, that in holding this language you are making the Directory contract never to treat with the Englijh fo long as they fliall perfijl in retaining any part of their Dutch conqucjis ; that is, you are announcing to all France, that there remains no hope whatever of peace ; that the honour of the nation requires that the Republic mould no longer enjoy any commerce ; that Martinique mould be defi- nitively facririced ; the Eaft India Settlements irretrievably given up to Great Britain ; and that our allies mould be, in point of fact, com- pletely facrified, .provided that, in point rof I [ 58 ] right, neither they nor ourfelves have given up the fmallefl portion of their territorial poffef- fions. It clearly appears, that there are lawyers in the Executive Directory ! And thefe are what are called honourable propofals, worthy of our republican directors ! c When the republican troops were defending Kchl with fo much bravery, Carnot maintained that this fort could not be prefervcd, and that ii was a folly to defend, it. And yet, had not the long defence of that pojl detained the enemy' a army before ii, that army would have marched to the relief of the Imperial troops in Italy' . In fupport of this affertion, I appeal to th official papers, whence it will appear with what effrontery this BAREFACED LIE is penned. Let all the letters I have written on this fubjel be read, and it will be fecn that I have a thou- fand and a thoufand times laid down the ne- ceffity of defending Kehl to the laft extremity. A great many lives, it is true, were facrificed there $ and had our republican directors feen n$ 5 [ 'Of- ] objeft in the defence of Kehl, but that of a fmgle poft, they would have facrificed the whole army to preferve it, without knowing what ad- vantage would be derived from it. This advan- tage I afterwards explained to them. The ob- ilinacy with which I perfifted in defending Kehl arofe, in fat, from my wifh to detain Prince Charles on the banks of the Rhine, by working upon his felf-love, and thus to prevent him from marching into Italy. Prince Charles committed that grand error; and, in lieu of abandoning Kehl (where nothing could be done during the winter, on account of the fnows that prevented the French from penetrating again into Swabia), and flying to relieve Mantua, he perfifted in his determination to take this fort, and was too late to relieve that city. r^q-rli ^f^td^9t^ll^^^b4^i^toi. The whole of this fyftem is detailed in innu- merable letters which I wrote, on this fubjeft, to the army. But my colleagues, except Le Tourneur, did not even know their contents ; they figncd them confidentially ; and I have, from time to time, joked with them on this I 2 t 80 ] fubjec\ and reminded them of their unjultly re-- proaching me on the fubjet of fignatures, when I was a member of the Committee of Public Safety. But they then ftood in need of my co-operation and fupportj and it was not till the danger was palled and there was nothing more to be done, that thefe republican and honourable directors thought proper to fend me to Guvana, When Kehl was reduced to the laft extremity, when Moreau difpatehed a courier to inform us that he was lofing a prodigious number of his troops, and that he was in danger of having his bridges destroyed and his retreat to Straf- burg cut off, I propofed to empower that ge- neral to furrender the fort as foon as he ihould judge it indifpenfably neceffary for the preferva- tion of the army. But Reubel, who makes a fport of facrificing the defenders of our country, who, detefting Moreau, was defirous of involv- ing him in misfortunes, oppofed the furrender of Kehl, and I had great difficulty in procuring P' l rmifiion to flop the effufion of human blood j nor did I at length fucceed but by rendering this Reubel, and his v/orthy rivals in cruelty,- refponfible for all that fliould be ufelefily fhed. The danger was fo imminent that M oreau could not wait for this laft anfwer, his bridges being broken and upon the point of giving way under his troops. i ?>*: Sf^iM'-*-'^ ' When the lajl pajjage over the Rhine was un^ der difcujfion, Carnot continually retarded it^ notwithftanding it was inceffantly urged to him how ufeful this diverjion would be to the army of Italy : he always maintained that this movement was impracticable, and that all was not ready, although the whole army can atteji the contrary ; he would not even admit of a feint of that na* ture, which would have drawn the imperial troop* to that fide, and would have relieved and encou- raged the army of Italy, which was in a Jitua- lion of di/lrefs. He even wrote to the army of Italy, that the army of the Rhine could not pafs that river within two months at foonejl. It was at this time that the Treaty of Leoben was con- cluded, wherein fome facr(fices were confented [ 62 ] *?, which would not have been necetjary had the enemy been attacked on both fides at once. No fooner did the fignature of that treaty tranfpire, than Carnot came forward inftantly, with every arrangement ready for the paflage of the Rhine, for which orders were given the very fame day. 1 There are no fats here dated but what are proved to be abfurd by the official papers; and the major part are abfolutely impofiible. The Treaty of Leoben was figned on the 18th of April, at a diitance of nearly 300 leagues from Paris, where the news could not arrive till fix days after at the fooneft, that is, till the 24th. But the paflfage of the Rhine took place on the 20th of April, and therefore was effected four days before the treaty of Leoben was known at Paris ; it could by no means, therefore, be refolved on in confequence of that intelligence arriving at Paris. LIARS, Bailleul, ought to be more accurate in calculating dates, The paffage of the Rhine took place two days after the fignature of the Treaty of Leoben, con- fequejntly it was impoflible it fhould be known either at Paris or at Straiburg. It follows, there r fore, that the paflage of the Rhine was neither ordered, nor executed in confequence of the in- telligence of the Treaty of Leoben being figned. i fb^M-ffirn- E)p you not perceive, Bailleul, that your af- fertion refembles that of a certain honourable witnefs, who fwore that he had feen a murder perpetrated by moon-light, on a night when there was no moon ? This honourable witnefs, it is faid, was, like you, honourable Bailleul, from Normandy ! The Directory know how to chufe their agents : All that you have faid is, neverthelefs, proved by official papers in the cuf- Lody of the minijlers. [ Not only the pa(Tage of the Rhine did not take place in confequence of an order given fub- fequently to the knowledge of the Treaty of ly.eoben, but all hoftilities had already ceafed upon the Rhine when the news of the Treaty of [ 64 ] Leoben arrived at Paris. A courier extraordi- nary, fent through Germany to the Generals of the army of the Rhine, produced this ceffation of hoftilities. In confequence of what orders then did Mo- reau pafs the Rhine on the 20th of April ? He muft neceiTarily have afted either in conformity to orders given long before, which could not till then be obeyed, and therefore you LIE when you fay that no former orders exifted, or it was in confequence of recent orders. But as the Rhine was in faft patted on the 20th of April; the orders muft at the lateft have left Paris on the 17th, and therefore the moft recent orders that could have been given for the paf- fage of the Rhine, muft have been at leaft feven days anterior to the earlieft intelligence that could arrive at Paris of the Treatv of Leoben. j This all Europe knows, honeft Bailleul, yet even this does not prevent you from declaring, dn the face of all Europe, and that from official papers in the hands of the mimjlers, that the paflage of the Rhine was Ordered merely in confequence [ 65 ] t>f the intelligence of .the iignature of the Treaty of Leoben. ' i >*'"'*i^'^' t K- ti Y Let us now examine the honourable' confe- i - quences of your officious lies, with regard to our republican directors. / r- r -r The intelligence of the Treaty of Leoben having arrived at Paris, at the fooneft, on the 24th of April, as I have proved, and the orders to pafs the Rhine having been given, as you aflert, on the fame day, there were on the 24th orders ready figned by the Executive Directory for palling the Rhine ; but the Rhine being patted on the 20th, the news of that movement arrived at Paris on the 22d ; that is to fay, I propofed to the Directory to order the army to pafs the Rhine two days after all Paris knew the Rhine had been actually patted, and the Dirc&ory figned this order : Much to the ho- nour of the republican directors and to the .honour of yourfelf, J. Ch. Bailleul ! ! ! ' ->({* L 66 ' 1 And the Directory figned this order with- out remembering, that, on the 17th of April, that is, feven days before, they muft have Ggned a fimilar order, finee in fact the Rhine had been pafled 011 the qoth : yet they faw me come forward inftantly idtk every, arrangement ready, without remembering that feven days before they had already fccn me come forward in the fame manner irith tvery arrangement ready. Thus then were the republican directors perfectly well informed of the affairs of the re- public ! And all this is proved by official papers in the hands of the minijlcrs ! If you .are not ftutoid, honeft- Bailleul, you are at leaft fometimes ' * j * *iij rather.fimple ! . 1 am aware, honeft Bailleul, how tedious tbefc odious calculations muft appear to you ; but allow me to purfue them a little farther, they are ne- ceffary for my juftification ;. and I am fully con- vinced you are very happy, as well as the Direc- Ory, that I am able to prove my innocence ! ' The whole army, you fay, can attcft that every preparation had been made long before' for palling the Rhine, and that they were only waiting for the orders of the Direftory ; but jfince the triumvirate, honeft Bailleul, knew th'is, why did they not, without regarding my objec- tions, give orders for the palTage of the Rhine ? Did they not form a majority in the Dire&ory '? Have you not, in the preceding article, decla- red that it was contrary to my opinion that they had caufed the fortrefs of Kehl to be defended to the laft extremity ? Why then did they not alfo caufe the Rhine to be patted contrary to my opinion ? I had made a treaty of peace againft the opinion of Reubel ; furely he might Jiave given orders for a military operation with- out my interference ! How can they explain this complaifance for a man ^by whom they knew they were deceived : if they were not yet pert fettly certain that every thing was prepared for pafllng the Rhine, although the ichole army can prove that erery thing was ready, could they not inform thcmfelves of the fact by fending thither a confidential perfon ? Could they not, as K 2 [ 6$ ] you have ingenioufly faid, make a feint at leajl of jxijing the Rhine ? Did this neglet arife froiiv their puiillanimity, their careleffhefs, or their treachery ? It is to you, honeft BailleuJ, that I leaye the decifion of this queftion. The paffage of the Rhine, you fay, was or-. dered the fame day that intelligence arrived of the Treaty of Leoben ; but do you obferve, ho- neft Bailleul, the encomium you hereby beftow on the fidelity and honour of the Directory, of wjiich you fo loudly boaft ? Having learnt that a treaty is concluded, the very firft aft they per- form is to give orders for the violation of it: they give orders for a bloody battle the very, moment they receive intelligence of the cclTation of hoflilities ! But fuppofmg, as you would artfully infmuate, that the official news of the treaty had not vet * * arrived, that it had. only tran/pired j was not 3 rumour, fpread abroad among the public, a fuf- ficient inducement to wait a few hours for the arrival of the courier with difpatches, before 14 orders for new maflacres were iflfued? I had, therefore, fufficient ground for faying, that thefe humane directors fported with the lives of men, as you, honeft Bailleul, fport with truth, and principalj and honour. Produce this letter which you fay I wrote on the very day the news of the Treaty of Leoben arrived. You deny that any orders were pre- vioufly given to pafs the Rhine, although innu- merable orders to that cffe6t exift in the official papers. You aflert with the boldeft effrontery, that orders were given on that very day, where- as the fa6t is evidently abfurd and impoflible. Thus do you accumulate lies and con traditions with equal impudence and folly. Moft afTuredly you deferve to be made an ambaffador, or your lords and mailers are unpardonably ungrateful ! uw (<',-; Obferve, honeft Bailleul, that I have no offi- cial papers to refer to. I deny the fals, how- ever, becauic I can rely with certainty on mv memory, and I demonftrate your impoftures, be- cauiSe ypu have been aukward enough, notwith- [ 70 ] landing the time you have employed, and cal- ; culated fo ill, that you have left me the means of proving them phyfically impoflible. The Di- re&ory have every -thing in their own hands, and may make ufe of whatever fuits their pur- pofe, and lay aiide what oppofes it, putting half fentences in Italics, in order to diltort the mean- ing. The mere want of accufation, after '& elaborate an exertion, would fufnce to prove my innocence, in the eyes of every reafonable per-* fon. I wonder they have not caufed fpurious papers to be fabricated, and my fignature to be" forged, for they are, like you, above thofe idle fcruples which are calculated only for the ftnpid. But, whether they fabricate fpurious papers or not, truth and time, thai reveal all things (as you' very juftly remark, in p. 6), will ultimately pro- vail, and thus the biters will be bit. Thofo muft expeft to meet with many rocks, who take fo much pains to embark on a fea of pcr- fidv. I have dcmonftrated their HORRID LIES: - how, then, can they dr.rc to gxpccl that: they [ 'I 3 Oiall be any. longer believed? A word or two more on the Rhine, Bailleul, and I will then difmifs this fubjecl, which, I am fenfible, muft have made you ficeat alrcadv. J J ' ' ; -i*YB.-f YTO#4T iu -;-:t?~;, '..m b~i What ! did the directors who, as they them- felves cohfefs, have fo long been planning in their idfdom the means of ruining .me; who, for this purpofe, carried on a private correfpondeace^ in the. army ; did the directors let this happy, opr portunity efcape ! "What ! did they omit to make the palace of the Directory re found with . the cry. p/ their indignation, when I had the cru- elty to propofe the gratuitous maflacre of feveraj thoufand men ! Yet, not one among them all rofe to accufe me ; or, affuming that fuperiority which every man mufl feel over a criminal whom he furprizes in the Very fatt, exclaimed, f "Wretch ! we have, during two whole months, preiTed and conjured you to order that the Rhine be paffcd, yet you have always raife< infurmountable difficulties ; and now* that we receive intelligence of the fignatuie of a treaty, which procures for the Republic that peace for [ 72 ] Which we have fo long been panting, you coldly recommend the violation of the treaty, and thlow, even were he not prepared for it. Moreau, however, had no need of being prcfled on this point. Never had the Republic a more faithful or a more modeft fervant. He returned, and the paflage of the Rhine was executed ! lie aftoniilied no .one, except the enemy. In France they were fatiated with victory. I did^ not myfelf expect fo rapid a fuccefs. To avoid deceiving . [ ** I flie Army of Italy, and prevent thete sfrttjl ad- ttmcin too far, before fuccours couM arrive'^ iti fhort, to prevent them from placing- them* felves in a dangerous predicament (read over your accufation once more, Bailleul), it was requifitc that I mould tranfmit them an accurate ^accotmt of what I learned from the Rhine, and, con- fequently, inform them that all was not yet ready, nor would be for fome time. 1'he paffage of that river, however, was exe- cuted quicker than could have been expeted, or even hoped ; for they hazarded a great deal, merely to refcue the Army of Italy from its dangerous predicament. But, afluredly, had the Army of Italy even been apprized, by a tele- graph, that the Rhine would be paffed in two ilziys, it would have been no lefs neceffary to conclude the Treaty of Leoben. Joubert, not- withftanding his more than human refiftance ; notwithllanding his gigantic combats j was ne- verthelefs forced in the Tyrol ; the enemy en- tered Tried ; and the army was threatened on both its flanks, and harrafled in its rear, by the L 2 [ 76 ] ifrfurgents of the Venetian territories, who weH5 waiting, 'with poniards', a farour-able memtnt for otir extermination. " At length, the Army of the Sambre and Meufe patted the Rhine, on the very day when the Treaty of Leoben was figned. Was this ftep alfo taken .becaufe they had received intelligence of the Signature of the treaty ? Yet this army was the only one that was in a condition to pufh the enemy with vigour, fmce it was at the gates of Frankfort when the courier arrived, through Germany, to inform it of the Treaty of Leoben, and caufe hoftilities to ceafe. When the Preliminaries of Leoben were re- ceived at Paris, I rejoiced at beholding the return of peace to blefs my country ; and Le Tourneur participated my rejoicings : but the triumvirs groaned with vexation. Rcceillcre was -as furious as a tigei', and Eeubel Jlghed deeply ; while Barras, though he highly difapproved the treaty, yet declared that it ought, neverthc- lefs, to be accepted. On one of the following C 7? days, unable to. contain his rags, J^e , arofe, and, addrelTmg himfelf to. me man, " Yes (faid he),. zY is- to^em t fat. we indebted for the infamous Tt*eaty of: Lepfyqy" To which I replied, that I exulted in : having contributed to put an end to the horrors of war. And Reubel made a lign to Barras, to intimate that it was impolitic, to attribute to me all the honour of the pacification, . V>\MfO V/; 'Mfr^^&'-^^C^^ Finally : Bailleul fays, as his laft charge , * In another point of view t Cariwt arrefted the progrefs of the confederation which the Republic was acquiring abroad. Under pretext of a mijiaken economy ', the real tendency of which was to de- grade the Republic, he propofed not to appoint any ambaffddors ; he would only have employed charges d'affaires : the confequence would have been, that the envoys of the Republic would have held the loweft rank at every court whereas -, the ambajjfadors of France have the precedency of all others, except thofc of the Germanic Confedera- tion ! ' r 78 ] I have already obfcrvea that truth ittel* transformed into a lie, when it rvaflbs through Hie impure organs of T H K s K JHR r. F. r \ R AX; -. and 'their tools. This is an additional con tiorrofmy aflertion. ; It is true I thought it would be a for a considerable time to abftain from fending minifters and ambaffadors to the various courts, excepting thofe where we could nearly dictate the law; as> for inftance, in Piedmont, in J'Io]l johcib,^ ,5CL^mi J ' 1 am aware J^wclifploaimg: this mud be to thofq-fvvho are fuing for cmbaffies at tlie han4s of the Directory j but the little ceremony thgy ufe towards every foreign minilter, of whom they think they have any caufe of complaint, cxpofes them to reprifals, the dangerous effcU of which I was deli ro us of preventing. r o .JTfl -H>q Thus it appears, that fo far from endeavouring 10 degrade the Republic, it was from a defire ihat we fliould not lofe our confederation abroad, that I propofed to continue fome years without fending ambafladors to the diliant courts ; and m that the Directory, attributing my propofal to [ 86 J motives which they well knew were' not my genuine reafons, here again LIE with their accuftomed perfidy. But how are nations degraded ? not, I ima- gine, .by endeavouring to fbrefee and prevent whatever might become a fubjeft of humilia- tion, or deftroy the pledge of their tranquillity ; not, I imagine, by endeavouring to place it in that profperous fituation, in which the difplay of their ftrcngth, being proportioned to their reproductive refources, infures the liability ''of their government. No : a nation is degraded by its reprefenta- tives, when they abufe the office they fill ; in order to deceive it by the moft execrable im- poftures, and profcribe the moft faithful defenders of its interefts. They are degraded when they are milled, and rendered unprincipled, hardened, and corrupted ; when they are made to blufh for their virtues, taught to trample all principle under their feet, I and when thofe who aft conformably to the tfonftitution arc branded with "the epithet of ftupid. They are degraded, when they 'are robbed of all their rights, and an arbitrary arid tytranriiS fyftem is fubftituted for the focial compact they had accepted, and are told that this is liberty ! They are degraded, when the calumniators, the intolerant, and the (hamelefs, obtain the title of true patriots ; when he whom the public Voice points out as the greateft muffler, the molf depraved and the moft defpotic, is fure to be the man who obtains the confidence of the go- vernment. They are degraded, when the fervants of the people, betraying the facred caufe they had un- dertaken to defend, become the fabricators of their own flavery ; when we behold them fawn- ing in the antichambers of the diftributors of places ; when they are proud of humbling themfelves to the duft, cover themfelves with M [ 82 } difgrace, and acknowledge, as an Invariable maxim, that whoever rcfpets the national re- prefentation is a royalift ! Thus it is, honefl Bailleul, that a people arc degraded, or, rather, that they would in time become fo, were it poffible that a nation of thirty millions of intrepid and generous citizens could be degraded by the depravity of their go- vernors, and the bafenefs of a few faithlefs fer- vants. No ! to that nation every thing that is grand and fublime belongs, nor can any thing that is great be performed but by their refiftlefs mafs 3 while all the follies and littlenefles they feem to commit are but the work of a few in- dividuals whom alone they can difhonour. Thus have I detailed the at of accufation drawn up by the Executive Directory. I have examined it charge by charge ; I have proved that each of thefe charges was the act of accu- fation of the Dir.e6r.oiy themfelves, nor can all their refentrnent tear a fingle trophy from the mo- iiument of infamy I have been erecting -to their memory, Let them, on their part, ereft anoflief to immortalize their victory of the 18th Fru6ti- tdor. The true friends of^ liberty muft be defir- ous they iliould ; it is a triumph they are pre^ paring for them : thefe monuments will, how- ever, be one day deftroyed, they will be carried away with a breath of .air, like a Coloffus with feet of crumbling clay, or like that ftatue which crufhed the chimera of federation in the Place cks Invalids, The 2d of September and the 3lft of May were alfo at one time immortal to rob the Republic of its confide- ration abroad^ I propofed the not fending am- bq/adors to the various courts : whereas our republican directors well know that, on the con- trary, my motive was to prevent the Republic from lofing its confideration abroad whereas it is they who, by their puerile haughtinefs of conduct towards the envoys of foreign courts, expofe thofe of the Republic to humiliating reta- liations, and the Republic itfelf to the perpetual danger either of fuffering unrefented degrada- tions, or of renewing the war, and that nume- N 90 ] rous examples have proved the juilice of my fears in this refpeft ! I aflc, therefore, do not the fabricators of fuch an act of accufation deferve that men Jhouldfpit in their faces, horfeivhip them in all the jtreets and fquares of Paris, affix labels on their backs and on their breajls, with the words IMPOSTORS, MISCREANTS, ASSASSINS, and fend them to the Pantheon of Marat, to enjoy the immorta- lity they have merited ? And is not the impu- nity .-- if?., >>*rH>'ttrr yrv ^ ' ">'> feii8fiiii4ttttf}ri France herfelf, if this equilibrium is not re- ftored between her receipts and her expendi- r -Hi -IfOIt .YO T3<7f tures, re;/// infallibly experience new JJwcks. But -.l':~ T. >tniiTI 115117 refufal of juftice to the patriots, however pure their, characters ; the degradation of every thing _ that related to the executive power; the (hackles every where prevailing ; the unjuir. reproaches and abfurd interpretations of all the proceeding V .1- o O i s [ 97 ] of the Directory ; lying reports on the finances ; infults, menaces ; refufal of every means of ad- Ing with advantage, thefe are the crimes with which the leading members of the Council have to reproach thcmfelves ! But how many of thefe leaders were there ? They did not amount to fifteen. All that was necefl'ary was to exclude them from the commit- tees, and this was the tine of conduct that would have been purfued by every wife and enlightened man. They even began to put this plan in execution, and the Directory trembled left any arrangement mould be adopted whereby the minds of the people would have been calmed ; for then, perhaps, they would have be*en at a lofs for pretexts to juftify, or means to execute, their grand defigns. The perpretrators of crimes, however, were triumphant ; and, as in all other confpiracies, every one of the confpirators inferted his per- fonal enemies in the lifts of profcriptions, without oppofition from his accomplices. Thus Octa- t 99 ] vius, Anthony, and Lepidus, reciprocally gave up to each other's revenge thofe who were their deareit and moil faithful friends ! ^ s > * \} . Had not terror petrified the reprefentatives of the people ; had not a military force fur- rounded them ; or, rather, had not the parts in the farce been previoufly diftributed to the aftors ; they would have refufed to deliberate till the liberty of the legiflative body was re- ftored. But, even fuppofing fear could force thofe to deliberate who refufed, it would have been enough had they obferved that the affembly ought to confine themfelves to the arreft of the accufed members ; fince, as far as regarded the public fafety, this accufation would produce the fame effecT: as their con- demnation j a procedure which in no wife be- longed to the legiflative body, and of which the reporter himfelf declared he could not afiign the grounds. But who could have prevented this proportion from being adopted, had they been pofleflTed of proofs, had they not been reduced to declare, like Bailleul, that 'we do O 2 Df. not attempt to prove the exijterice of light, and that they would imagine they had but feebly apprehended the intentions of the Icgi/latite 7 } ,7 /- 7 , body, if they came forwards witn proofs or furnijhedjujliji cat ions ! ' On this occafion, they fpoke of the conjtitii- tional jury of Sieyes as of a means that might have prevented the events of the 18th Fruftidor, but this idea was deftitute of the leaft foun'- dation ; the conftitutional jury would them- felves have been exiled as well as the repre- fentatives of the people and the members of the Diretory. I know of no focial compact that can refift the attacks of cannon ; no work fuf- ficiently folid to continue unimpaired, when thofe who are appointed its guardians are fa- crilegious enough to deftroy it themfelves ! But if at fome future period when the people of France fhall have burft their fetters, and the reprcfentatives fhaken off the lamentable oppref- fion under which they groan, thefe faviours of their country and their accomplices ihould be t dragged to trial for the immortal day, could they with any juftice complain when they arc told, " You arc brought before this tribunal for having meditated in your wifdom, and, in your love for the conftitution, effected the diflblution of the legiflative body, and for acts of tyranny worthy of Louis XI., of Chriftiern, and of Cromwell. You mall be dealt with in the very fame manner, and with the very fame weight yjyu have ufed towards others. Thus are you, flrfl of all, condemned, and now you are allowed to enter on your defence. But this you muft con- fider is a particular favour, for you have refufed it to others, even after their profcription." " What proofs," could they fay, " are brought againft us ? " ' We do not attempt to prove the extfience of light,' would be the anfwer. " But why deny the people, who are anxious to be informed, the demonftration of our crimes?" ' We are not come to adduce proofs or funiijk j unifications? " But we demand the obferv- ance of the conftitutional laws." ' Let us bani/k thofc abfurd theories of pretended principles, thofe jlufiid invocations of the conftitution.' " Are we J l [ 102 ] then to be put to death ? " c No, we are full of humanity and you will not be put to death, be- caufe we have but a very few of you in our power, and we will not dip our hands in blood for fo trifling an object ; and befides we know not what efTecl: it would have upon the people. It is merely an experiment we are making. We want no blood : at prefent a copious flow of tears will fatisfy us. We know this is a grand means of fucceeding in our experiment. You fhall only be exiled and your families ruined ; for it is perfectly juft that children at the bread fliould be punimed for the crimes of their fa- thers. If your co-operators in the counter-revo- lution, whom we have not in our power, will have the goodnefs to go to Rochefort to be em- barked for transportation, the property of thcir relations mall be reftored until the neceflities of the (late fhall oblige us to pronounce their final confifcation. We had at firit intended to fend you to Madagafcar, but as it is faid the inhabi- tants of that ifland no longer devour men, we have determined to fend you to Guyana, where you will be furnifhed with implements of husbandry, 6 and will be very happy. Thus you fee how mild and merciful we are. But the manners that prevail in this republic are too effeminate. We will aft better when we fhall "have wound up the public opinion to its proper pitch, which we 'hope to accomplifli by influencing the next' eleftions, as ought to be the practice in every : c free country. You will farther obferve, that in your aft of accufation, where the principal charges are entirely the offspring of our own invention, you are not all expreflly named. This formality did not appear neceffary to the repub- lican dictators, becaufe it is not your names 'but your perfons that are condemned. It is true we ; would guillotine the loweft officer of police who mould make fuch a rhapfody ; this degree of . perfection belongs exclufively to the fupreme authorities. It has been invented expreflly for this new feflion of the revolutionary tribunal, , which has indulgently brought you to their bar. Thank ns then for this elegant 'difcourfe, the appofitenefs'of which is as (hiking as that of your' Grand 'Matter Reveille-re's to [ 104 ] ambafTador, when he received him, and then- Depart, go about your bufinefs.' Perhaps fome of the reprefentatives were really guilty ; perhaps fome among them were really royalifls. Why not fufpcnd them and bring them to trial according to the forms of the conftitution ? It would have been a great and a ftriking example. " But in the midli of a vaft plot and confpiracy on the point of exe- cution, we cannot adhere to legal forms with- out incurring the greatell danger." This was the very reafon why the Directory have given to the fecret and impotent manoeuvres of a few in- dividuals the ihow of a confpiracy, the thread of which extended to the moft diftant corners of the. Republic. It was the next morning they were to be mafTacred. The very next day the . Republic was no longer to exift. It was the Genius of Liberty alone that had infpired the resolution to fly to arms for the indifpenfabk calls of felf-de fence. The outpofts of the direc- torial palace had already been forced, although - ' 4 L 105 J ; the Directory had long been meditating, in their wifdom, that immortal day for which their orders were already drawn up and their proclamations j r r **iv*-*rT They were determined then to rid themfelves of two hundred members of the two councils $ but how could this be accomplimed without feparating them, by fome previous operation, from the legiflative body? The fuppofition of a & ,- j rr vaft plot and confpiracy was, therefore, indif- penfably neceflary to the fuccefs of the fcheme the Diretory were meditating in their zvifdom-, and who can blame them for having done what was iiidifpenfkblv neceflary? It was equally indifpeniable, that after the Execution of this fcheme they fliould juftify it in the eyes of the public ; and that the truth, and the fats, being againft them, they mould call in the aid of lies. How can they be accufe'd on J this account ? When lies are neceflary, are they not alfo excufable ? Would it not be Jlupidity itfelf, to be fcrupulous on fuch an occafion? P In fhort, a crime was become necelTary to fave- the commonwealth. Than this, nothing can be more evident. We do not attempt to prove the exiftence of light. A fecond crime was necef- fary to juftify the former, a third to juftify the fecond, a ferics, an accumulation of every crime was become indifpcnfablc to conceal thefe hor- rors. Thus, are thefe horrors in fact no horrors, and thefe crimes no crimes: they are the virtues of the Directory who, amidft all their crimes, cannot be charged with the guilt of jlupidity. I venerate, as their merits deferve, men who are diftinguifhed for their virtues ! But, I would thank any one who would have the goodnefs to inform me, how three villains would have acted in their place had they wiftied to become maf- ters of the Republic, and execute their pro- fcription-lifts? I would afk, in what refpect would the conduct of thefe mifcreants have dif- fered from that of the virtuous directors? I would inquire, whether they would not have made precifely the fame ufe of the words re- public, royalifm, liberty, and fidelity 5 whether [ 107 J they would not have affociated the fame co-ope- -rators in their noble labours ; whether they would ,not have juftified their actions by ftill more atro- cious calumnies; and proved the criminality of their victims by faying, 'that ive do not attempt to prove the exijience of 'light ? The celebrated Mandrin alfo boafted of his humanity: when he had brought about an 18th Fruftidor in the recefles of fome remote foreft; when he had robbed the paflen- gers on the highway, he did not always kill them, and, above all, he did not calumniate them after he had plundered them of their property ! He alfo adopted the fublime principles of the honeft Bailkul. He would in cafe of need, with the affiftance of a fpecial committee compofed of the moll diftinguiihed of his gang, have adduced luminous proofs that the paflengers had only come there with an intention of murdering him, and that they had already forced his outpofts. Re- tiring with his prote&ing comrades to mare the fpoil of their immortal day, he was willing the divifion mould be made with a truly trium- . P 2 [ 108 ] viral fidelity; and had he lived in thefe days, it may be doubted, whether the republican direc- tors would not have preferred him to Augereau, for the execution of the fcheme they had medi* tated in their zvifdom. But then, virtuous and republican direftors well know, that the great Mandrin at length received the juft reward of his crimes. * Very well (fome one will reply), you have cVmonilrated that the tranfactions of the 18th and 1 :)th Fructidor were great political crimes ; 'but tell us what ought to have been done in the critical circumftances in which we 'were placed ? Tell us what we ought to do, when it clear- ly appears that a part of the legiflative body are about to effect a counter-revolution, and that this part of that legiflature is poiTefTe^l of fo much influence that they will carry eveiy refolution they fupport, and negative every falu- tary raeafure r ' ' ' rrht~ 1 reply, ift, That they might have avoided this crifis., by more deference and tendernefs f 109 ] .towards the legiflative body, by fending them meiTages lefs harfli and imperious, by recalling fume of the commiflfaries of the executive power, of whole ill-conduct thefe reprefentatives ad- duced innumerable proofs ; in Ihort, by mowing .jj more fmcere defire of making peace with the foreign powers, for that was the principal caufe of the want of confidence in them. They feared that, by giving the Directory too much latitude, efpecially in financial refources, they would avail themfelves of thefe merely to prolong the war, rather than to bring it to a fpeedy termination. Jt is certain that this line of conduct would have reconciled the greater number of the irri- tated reprefentatives, and that the reft would have foon blufhed at the (hameful part they had been induced to act, J anfwer, 2dly, that having by their haughti- nefs and impudence loft the opportunity of 1 adopting this firft mode, which however was the beft, the mifunderflanding being at length fo great that every one was confcious of the dan- ger he mould individually incur, they ought [ "0 ] fpcedily to have applied themfelves to concilia- tory meafures. The legiflative body had already felt the neceffity of adopting thefe meafures, and had renewed their committees and their officers, and removed thofe who had abufed the confidence repofed in them : the reprefentatives, who were the. bell known for their good charac- ter and their talents, had ventured to oppofe all their incidental motions which threw the Council of Five Hundred into diforder, that it might exclufively attend to queftions of higher importance, "and chiefly to the re iteration of the finances. Here indeed k is, that the greateft reproach muft fall on the Executive Directory, as the fmalleft motion on their part would have reunited the ' majority of the reprefentatives to them : but fo far from taking this line of conci- liatory conduct, or even endeavouring to difco- ver what would produce that cffeft, the Direc- tory dreaded left a reconciliation mould take place. They laboured with incredible activity daily to augment the caufes of difcontent and of alarm, and were fearful their deep-laid plots arid preparations mould prove fruitlefs. In i , -*<-, t ihort, thcv were determined on the execution * of the grand fcherae they had fo long been me- dilating in their icifdom. I reply, 3dly, that the evil having once become irremediable, a 20th of June was more wanted than a 31ft of May. The patriotic reprefen- tatives then ought to have prefented an addrefs' to the people of France, wherein they fhould have demonftrated with energy the continual violations of the conftitution, and proved that a part of the councils were determined to fubvcrt it. They ought at the fame time to have de- manded of the Direclory, who, like them, had fworn to fupport the conftitution, to afford them an afylum againil the tyranny of thefe declared enemies of the Republic, to protet them by force, and to provide for their perfonal fecurity in their character of reprefentatives of the people. This proceeding would have been inconteftably adopted by a majority of the councils, or at leaft by all thofe whom the Directory thought worthy of continuing in it after the 18th Fruli- dor. From that moment the legislative bod\- . . -. ' t 112 T - . ' i : b liMtJfc diffolvccl: t),, Djjga no b^the non and the bayonet forced the reft- to /klibe- .6j2H}qfi Ifinovinu nitv/ Sbii rate r by r terror x ,aji4 erc&ed them, into a rtvolu- *vKr niJlT fifi/OW Osltfjjq ir>little paffion&/-and em phaticadly^ do ctered - tfie mfelyos on, the fp^tEJotkvi^.'^Cjrhaps a ray of ligfetl Might iiav(r:tot(jti QB them, -nhd -rfhti t<^etioof difeord heinghe^tinguillaod, ' 'France -would have' 1 beheld a granti fyitcmrof re-contiHatifcu, iirft^icl of uni-* verful mouraic^, and the roofltciilia'nrj triumph of th^cpafiSttition'mftead'of its -utter annihila- ate 'But it might be fold, # tit-Was in fa& fat will of the majority of the reprefentativefef' that fhejcounteprrvolution mould take place ^ tho& \vho, adopting what you have ftated, fcparated thcmfelves from . tbe councils, and, were Jeft in a minority, i would -have been eoniidered by ilis public as a faction/' nVifKv \ ::*.": ^ 'j .. .. i..-: : "' '.'.-': i - To this, I fepiy. rft, that even . were. tbia p0k lible it was not fo pn the i^th FruftidDr, 4 &fcc the- expurgation made by the Diretoryi only produced the exclufiQn of about two hundred members} a very great majority therefore, ECGording. to themfelvcs, were for the the Gonftitutipny .which, therefore, might -have ^>efi faved by its own rcfources. . But to anfwer every pbjeftion, let us fup^jfe for a moment, that it was the Will of the majority of the legiflative body that th,e counter-revolution ihou!4 take place: then, I fay, not only that infur- reclion is justifiable, but that it become.^ a duty ; and, can it be thence inferred that I would advJfe, that an aftof the legiflative bod? mbuld be pafled Q 2 would proclaim a Jking, or the conftitu- tjon of 1793, .of the outlawry of the members of the Directory? certainly not. But every infur- reftion impofes 6n thofe by whom it is cfpoufcd (efpecially .when its partizans are any of the con,- ftituted authorities) two duties, tpe omiflion of which becomes either tyranny or high treafon. The firft is to demonftrate to the people, that the mfurre&ion was indifpenfable to the prefer- vation of the conftitution, the annihilation of whicfy cowld by no other means have been pre- vented. The fecond is to demonftrate, that cvtry one whom therjrevolutionary. movement de- ftroys was truly and individually guilty. : Neither of thefe duties were djfcharged by the Direftory; and the law of the 19th Fruftidor is no. pthtr than an outlawry (without any juftifiable ground) of a part of the national reprefentation, and of the firft magiftrafes of the Republic, In the firft place, the Direftory might have .ayed the conftitutioq by its own re four ces, -as I have already proved j but, as I have aUb de- d, t^ey were far, very far, from cnv ploying or endeavouring to*, difcoycr tae.'mean* il offered to prevent the bio, v aimed at it^ cxiil- ence. Secondly, They have not proved the members included in the profcription was guilty ; they have not ftated any Crime a'gairrft the greater number, nor were their names eveh pronounced previous to ... itence of con- 4emnationj which, as I juftftatccl,' "was nd.oiher than, an outlawry, After iix months elaborate exertion, the chairman ui the committee tomes forward and declares to the c.. ..icil, that he- has " no proofs to give^that the documents are? te the hands of the mimfters, and that we dd>nat iit- tempt to prove the cxiftence of light." But fuppofing it were even as clear as the ligHr, that it was their intention to produce a counter- revolution, yet it is not as clear as the light that fueh and fuch individual members were among the confpirators ; and this want of evidenced'' is proved by the legiflative body having crafeVF'te- veral ; 0f- its members from the lift: hcnc<% if np- t H8 3 pears, they were fully eonrinced that J)iretory themfelves were guilty of falfehood ; Or, at leaft, that they were in an error. And who can prove that the council would not have erafed a ftill greater number, had -every member dared to fpeak, had they not been fur. rounded by a military force, or had they .voted on each individual name by ballot? .... Either proofs exifted againft each of the ac- cufed, or they. did not; I do nqt mean legal but moral evidence, fuch as would convince every intelligent and honefl man ; -if .there die] not, the Directory were guilty of an .outrage againft rtlic national reprefentation ; if there did,. they. are now guilty of high treafon far: fupprefljing it. For, not only have they brutally violated the conftitution, contaminated it by the pQifprj of their touch, and deftroyed the facred forms which gave it, in the eyes of the people, a celcjijial dig- nity, but, by the horrid example of condom*!: ' ing men in a mafs, without affigning the grQun^^ of accufation, they have furnillied weapons to all thofe who, in the critical circumftances which, . .; , t . ,,..,.,*. ...,,. 14 c M9 j they may have themfelves produced, are defiroiis* to take advantage of thofe very circumftances lo proscribe their perfonal enemies, The immortal day of the 18th Fruftidor is the archtype of all the days of calamity and horror which will fuck ceed it} it will furnim a juftification to every!, mifcreant who, in future ages, mail tear the $$ talsof his country; yes, it will be an immortal- day in the annals of crimes ! 'vjfiislq ' -r r. >$ # iTffeys are the Dire&ory guilty of high treafon^ evfcn- t 'fhould tkey be* poflfcffed of real- proofs ag?iin(i : each individual they have profcrihcrjv If not,- a worfe alternative femains, and ftil> mote fuperlativety criminal is their condinSr, Should thofe which in faft exift, exculpate . accufed and prove them 'guilty j pr^fhould v t tkeift owft aflertions, as I have mown, demon* * ftrate that they are continually contradicting, themfelves, and that, even were thefe affertions true, h would be the Dircftory themfelves that would be chargeable with all the crimes which- they impute to others. And can any rational believe' that, had they been pofleflfed ol* [ 120 ] pfttbiVthey 'would have omitted to pfl*dUc them r -They have produced all they did pof- fefs : nor have they fpoken of papers in 'the iamb t)f thVminifters but-'iti order'- to .imply tbafc tliey had farther evidence to adduce:; when, on the contrary,' by their artlfieeHin drawing in- ferences fr-om-tho facts they ftate, and bv fup- . * * A j^ffift^ilftlfes which perhaps .might have ex- plained or extenuated the impkfed criminali- ty, they fhow that they have omitted no fpe- cies of 'deli'ifioft that could But I hfive ^-afeHed : tlieir fidious prehatif^n, \-#rxl their Machiavelian" art t^ l&g, ^^Sffeft- wilh" c^nfKleA^e -thrff ^ Directory have no oith. proofs than thofe 'they have pubiimed > and that afc'tfat is refirved, or dcptfk&mkKPhaKfc of the 'mini/en, cnald only ferve to weaken or belie the foas they afferted. r, tb>n, remains to be done r I do not* ftffitato to declare (nor is it for myfelf I fpeak ; the freedcri J : 'anguage relative to the friumvjrs-il a fttfticjfent ptoof-that I have no de- "t 121 ; either to enjoy their indulgence or again td exnofe myfelf-to their fury) I do not heiitate to declare then, that the perfons profcribed ought to be recalled. If their return is not effected by the - operation of a law resulting from an emo* tion of generoiity, it may one day be attended rio with the moil fatal eonfequences, J -; ; T. 1 ' ' 1 It is impoffible biit that the heart of many a worthy man, from whom this act of tyranny was extorted by mame and terror, (hould b corroded with remorfe^ and that they fliould J proteft, .as foon ^is it is in thdr power, affainft * the outrage in which they had been forced to participate. It is impoffible but that the nation^ Who are always, juft in the end, mould not at J laft punifh the real authors. I do not fay, and r jj I am very far from thinkinsfj that the profcribed members ought to refiime their feats in the le-* giflative body, This would give birth to new calamities No ! I fay that each of them ought % 6 to be reftored to their domeftic circles, as citi- - . zens under the protection of the law. The i public opinion has already pronounced Judge*- [ 133 ] ment on each of them in particular : it has diC- tinguiftied the true criminals, if any there really are, from thofe (at leaft nineteen-twentieth s of the number) whofe minds are pure, and devoted to the Republic, The real criminals will live deprived of power, and happy .in the oblivion of their bafenefs. Thofe whofe conduct is irre- proachable will not expofe themfelves to cen^ fure by afferting rights which ftill exift, becaiife they have only been fufpendcd by tyranny, but which, if thefe rcprefentatives were reilored, would be eventually profcribed j becaufe that reftoration might give birth to new troubles. When the rights of the whole nation were cover-* $d with a funereal veil, could their, reprefentatives complain of the outrage exercifed againft theirs,? I am aware of thofe declamatory maxims by which it is afferted that we ihould relax from none of our rights. Arguments arc never wanting to juftify the defires of ambition or the. gratification of revenge. But J am.alfo aware that ftill better reafons may be adduced for the facrifice of fuch paffions, cfpecially when that {sacrifice is indifpenfably neceflary to the tran- 11 t * quiflity of our country. The mod glo'rious "tri- umphs are thofe over our own felf-love, becaufe they fatisfy it in a manner more affecting and durable. - So long as the legiflative body mail defer this meafure, they will prove, either that they are ftill under a&ual oppreflion, or, that the new members, who have fucceeded thofe excluded on the 19th Fruftidor, are afraid their predc- ceffors mould claim their feats ; a littlenefs which cannot be attributed to the reprefenta- tives of a great nation. The Conftitution was violated ; nor can any one venture to deny it : no one can attempt to prove that a crime which is committed is not committed. But we muft not perfift in render- ing that crime perpetual ; it muft not be con- verted into an inheritance, paffing from one feflion to that which fucceeds it, from one legif- lative generation to another. R 2 t In fatt, there were two hundred members in the Councils who were enemies of the di- rectors, but not of the Republic. The tyrants affected to confound the individual hatred of which they were themfelves the fole object, with a hatred for liberty itfel'f. Such, too, was the language of Robefpierre; His private ene- mies were always thofe of the people, and the .National Convention was but an affembly of confpirators. But, on the' contrary, to hate tyrants is in fact the ftrongeft proof of the love of liberty. Many of the reprefentatives, ho doubt, committed an er-ror in not facrificing their private anjmofities ; they did not perceive "the danger to which their imprudence not only cxpofed the common weal, but in which alfo they were themfelves involved, ' I exerted myfelf to reclaim thofe with whom '1 was acquainted ; yet none of them were the leading members : none of them appeared to me to have formed a fyitem for the deftru&ion of liberty. No : they were enlightened, coura- [ 125 -] gcous, republicans ; but, unfortunately, TC- Jlate of exafperation. Others, it is true, .at- tempted to vifit me, and my door was open indifcriminately to all the reprefentatives pf- the people ; but there were fome who were de- terred by the coldnefs of their reception. Two of the latter, addrefTed me in an ambiguous manner, and a third fpoke exprefHy of outlaw- ing the triumvirs. He afked me the effeft it would produce ; the effecl, faid I, would be tp ..reduce us to mere citizens, and impofe. on us r the duties of infurrection againft you : from .the .rnoment that you pronounce an outlawry againft a fingle individual, you have annihilated, the Conftitution, you are no longer reprefentatives of the people, you are tyrants, you are .your- felves outlaws a new revolution, a civil wat;, V and your certain death, are the effects it will produce. This deputy, as may eafily be ima- gined, did not repeat his vifit^ During this period, the generous directors were meditating in their idfdom how they fliould cut my throat. They prepared for this at, which [ 126 fo full of equity, of fidelity, and of honour*, 3 by the calumnies with which they filled the journals;^ they endeavoured to juftify it by' the" rfioft palpable lies, 'and the moft glaringly abfurd and the blacked accufations, that could have , . , i ,-, . - j / invented by the mind of man. Tn the mean while, the crifis was approach- ing. I might have fecured fome chances in my favour, by throwing myfelf either into the one or the other of the prevailing factions ; but I preferred expofmg myfelf to almoft certain deftru&ion, by their concuffion, and I (hall never repent of the line of conduct I purfued. When the triumvirs furrounded Paris, with a column of the Army of the Sambre and Meufe, Hoche came to vifit me. I had with great .difficulty faved his life in the time of Robef- pierre. I had reftored him to liberty immedi- ately after the 27th of July. And I had caufed ; the three "Weftern Armies to be united in one, that he might have the command of the whole, Tsecaufe I knew no man, except him, who could Jf. terminate the war of La Vendee, and of the Chouans. All this he knew, and feemed to reproach himelf with his injuftice towards me* and his weaknefs, in fufTering himfelf to be feduced into the party he had efpoufed* H6 thpn gave me to underftand that he was retained in that party, in fpite of his better judgement, by the influence of women : and it is certain that the women played a moft aUv part in the Fruftidorian Revolution. d&n$sk& I reproached him with this movement of the army, which had in no wife been approved of- by the Directory ; but he replied " that he could not undertake the expedition againft Ire- land without troops." You well know (faid-I), General, that there are 43,000 men upen the coafts ; and of what ufe are thefe numerous troops of cavalry that you are bringing with you ? " They are fome regiments (faid he) that, I have formed myfelf, and which are- extremdy- altached to me." [ 128 ] Hoche was a man of great abilities, and could not but be extremely dangerous, by tak- ing any party whatever in political affairs.* I / am of opinion that his old anirnolity againft Pichegru may have contributed to determine? what line of conduct he would purfue. Fdi* the military talents of that officer he affected a great degree of contempt, Their rivalfliip had commenced at the railing of the fiege of Landau, when Pichegru (though protected by t. Juft and Le Bas, then reprefevitatives of the people in the Army of the Rhine,.. and enjoying a great preponderancy) had, however, given up the chief command of the combined armies to Hoche (who was fupported by Cofte. and Baudot, reprefentatives.of the people with the Army of the Mofeile). At the commencement of the .war, Hoche, who wafc then but little known, fent a memo- rial to the Committee of Public Safety on the anieans of penetrating into Belgium. When I bad read this memorial, I faid, in the way of* 129 ;] %hvgrfatioir, ttfffce Committee, jcant of infantry who will get forward. " My colleagues afked'^me of whofm' I fpoke. Amtife vourfelves, faid I, with perilling that mernbnaf ; for, although you are not officers, it will infereft vou. Robefpierre took it up, and when he had read it faid, " This man is extremely danger- ous ;" and I am of opinion it was' from that tery moment he refolved to deftroy him: ' *.'.^ j v^ o^kM**^ A ftriking trait of the villany of the triumvirs appeared, when, having furrounded Paris ' with troops from the Army of the Sambre and Meufe, they declared that it was I who had given thfe orders for that manoeuvre. They imagined this impofture would have an air of probability,' befi caufe I was charged with the military c^tre- fpondence, and was alfo at that time Prefident of the Directory, and confequently had' t nature of the whole. Hoche mylterioufty bited a paper figned by me, and infmuated that/ it was an order for the marching of the troops. 1 This order had, in faft, firft been folicited uncter the pretext of the expedition againft Ireland, S [ 130 ] and the application had been afterwards renew- ed, and fupported by Reubel in particular, un- der that of new troubles among the Chemans. But I oppofed it, becaufe I knew that there were more troops than were neceffary on the coaft in the neighbourhood of Breft. In far, it w r as their intention that Paris fhould be furrounded with troops, and that it mould appear to be done by my orders. It was only when the triumvirs believed they could derive credit from their crimes that thefe myfteries be- gan to be cleared up, by their own avowal, that they had long been meditating thefe grand events in their wifdom, and that for this purpofe they had carried on a correfpondence in the armies. . Although terror had at length fo far taken poffeiTion of the reprefentatives of the people, that many of them no longer dared to fleep at their own homes, I did not ceafe to indulge fome hopes till the very laft moment. I even fancied they had only fent for Augereau merely as a bugbear. ' I remembered what Reubel had told me at the time of the firft journey of that- General, when he had brought fixty ftandards that were taken from the enemy by the Army of Italy, ** He has muck the appearance of a violent partisan" Said Reubel : " What a fero- cious mifcreant ! " To the firft part of his re- mark I readily aflented, for his external appear- ance was that of a Marius, and his oftentation was hardly to be reconciled with republican {implicity or undeviating probity. But it may be prcfumed that he rather acled as an ambaf- fador with the Directory, than as one of the Generals of the Army of Italy. The parade he employed on this occafion would not have appeared blame-worthy, had he not, on the one hand, carried it to ridiculous lengths, and on the other, had not his ambitious views been too flagrantly apparent. The gold and the diamonds with which he was covered refembled the fpoils of the vanquiihed, and the rings that loaded each of his fingers, reminded me of thofe which Annibal took from the Roman knights. S2 ^ [ 132 } 1 had an opportunity of feeing him in private at my own hoiife, where he gave me a very high idea of his military talents. He told me it was he alone who directed the affairs of Italy ; that Bonaparte might one day become a good Ge- neral, but that he was deficient in experience, that he had feen him almoil lofe his prefence gf mind in iituations of delicacy, that he had ex- tricated him from many dilemmas; in fliort, that it was himfelf who had done every thing. Nor was it to me alone that Angereau fpoke with this franknefs refpe6ting his own merit. He talked in the fame ftyle to all thofe who would liften to him, and the fycophants who filled their journals with fuch unbounded eulo- giums on Bonaparte, fo unworthy of that Ge- neral's real merit, at the very fame time pune- gyrifed, in the moft fulfome manner, the man who was claiming, without referve, all the credit of his fucceffes. . .. v In the month of Fruclidor, Augereau was flattered with the expectations of a place in the [ 133 ] Directory, as the reward of his afiidurty in cauiing. thofe to fall whofe deftruclion was refolved on^ But in this, not only himfelf, but all the repre- fentatives who were delirous of procuring him that elevation, were the dupes of the Directory. The triumvirs feared him becaufe he would have been too powerful a colleague. He would foon have exclufively enjoyed the popular favour by his revolutionary exaggerations, and his dif- organiling proportions. . In general, the more ignorant men are, the more factious they become. This maxim has been ftrongly verified in all the national aflem.- blies. Of the triumvirs, Reubel is the only one who preferves a regular plan, or poflefles any real knowledge ; but he coniiders liberty as chimeri- cal, and impoffible to be ellablifhed, and thinks no government can exift but the moft abfolute defpotifm. This maxim is his great rule of conduft. Barras is by no means an amiming or conceited man ; he knows he can acquire 12 [ '34 ] eminence only by revolutionizing, and he is al- ways ready to revolutionize, no matter in what manner, or with what ultimate effeh. In other refpets he is highly ariftocratical, that is, an enemy of every thing that tends to bring men nearer to equality. " Reviellere, tormented with a thirft of fame, and directing all of his conduct to that object, is become a Theophilanthropift, as old women who have once been coquettes become devotees, left they fliould be dead to the world ; but, provided that this plan did not fucceed, he preferred afting as a tyrant to prc- ferving the reputation of an honeft man, with which he entered on his directorial office. 1 I do not, however, well know on what this character is founded ; perhaps, on the inclination of mankind to be deceived, and to confole them* felves for the prevailing of evil, by indulging an idea that fome pure minds exift in the world ; perhaps on that pity, which a being fo unkindly treated by nature, in regard to his perfon, in- fpires. But, affuredly, there exifts not a greater hypocrite, nor a more immoral man, than Re- [ 135 ] viellere : and Nature having formed him dif gufting to the fight and fmell, feems to have de~ ilgnedly cautioned thofe who approach him againft the falfehood and depravity of his heart 1 ,.;! ..;- i Y fittthe fubjeft, and allured me, that General viewed things exactly in the fame light as myfelf ; but that he complained of my not having written for fome time to Mm. I replied, that my only mo- tive was, that Bonaparte feemed no longer to have the fame confidence in me, and that I con- ceived he had, at length, partly believed the lies propagated relative to me, by the newfpapers, efpecially by thofe which undertook to prove that I was his enemy. I added, that I would write to him with opennefs of heart,- by the firft courier that mould be di/patched. Sometime after this, and I believe fix days previous to the 4th of September, La Valette came and faid to me, (( You may be perfectly at eafe with regard to the cloud you conceived T2 I -MO ] TO have arifen in the mind of Bonaparte relative to yourfelf ; I have a letter from him, faying, that he has written to you by the fame courier, that von may rely on his higheft eftcem, arid ihis warmeft arTettion .;. and that he confiders political events, precifeiy in the fame point of view as yourfelf." I exprefled to Valette my great pleafure at what he communicated, "but," faid I, "the letter has not been delivered." He appeared prodigiously aftoniiried, and I never entertained a moment's doubt but that the little hypocritical Reveillere, who was then Preiident, had intercepted it, and that it was kept back by this trio fo full of jidtlity and honour, I was fo convinced that it was impollible Bonaparte ihould have contributed to my pro- fcription, that when, on his way to Raftadt, he parled through a fmall town where I happened to be for a fhort time, I was on the point of writing to him to afk for a momentary interview, and only waved my intention becaufe I was afraid of placing the General himfelf in a Deli- cate fituation ; for it never occurred to my mind . [ 141 ] to harbour the 'flighted doubt of his fmcerity and generality. But I fuffered him to pafs, aifcl illuminated my windows in common with all the other citizens, abandoning myfelf to my reflec- tions,; which were far from being of a melan- choly nature, on the vicifiitudes of human life. .>'ft- I rejoiced Come clays after at the conduct I had purfued, when I was informed, that in his paffage through Geneva, Bonaparte had arrefted a banker named Bontems, merely becaufe he was fufpected of having brought me from Paris to that place, after the event of the 4th. of Sep- tember, in order to fave me from the purfuit of the Directory, who had fent out whole batallions of troops, accompanied with artillery, to dif- covcr me in the vicinity of Paris. This fufpi- cion had no foundation. In fact, I had never feen Bontems at Paris, nor was it to him that I was indebted for conveying . me beyond the frontiers. That unfortunate man, however, re- mained fome months in prifon. Such is the ftory, as it was related to me by feveral perfons who caine from Geneva, and who have heard it from his own mouth, when, he added, Bona~ >arte flew into a violent paffion, and uttered the fevered menaces. Bonaparte was deiirous of peace, but the Directory were averfe to it ; and it would have been concluded five months fooner, had they been willing.. to makd it on the conditions which they ultimately accepted, merely becaufe they perceived, that -the beft argument that could be urged to the people, in favour of the 4th of September, was that of its having accelerated a peace. Hence, they pretended, when the treaty was at length concluded, that it was the other members of the Direclory who had hitherto conftantly refufed their affent ; and that, on the contrary, they had eagerly en- deavoured to procure that blefling for their country the moment they were relieved from their (hackles. Jt may be feen in their fub- fcquent conduct, whether in this pretended defire of peace they were really fmcere. OF all the modifications of treaties they had in their power to acfopt they have chofen the very worft j and it appears I was miftaking id. faying, thefe 'Republican Directors were de- lirous of oppreliing the Emperor. Far, very far, was the Emperor from being oppreffed. The Preliminaries of Leoben, which could im- mediately be converted into a definitive treaty*, would have been far better without the fmalleft alterations in them. The ceflion of Mantua was ftipulated for that of Venice, and Venice is furely a place of more importance than Mantua. Bonaparte had written, that Man- tua might be replaced^ as far as regarded the fecurity of the Cifalpine Republic, by Pizzighitone, and that the latter had feveral advantages over the former. But the Direftory determined to keep Mantua, although, by the Preliminaries of Leoben, it was ftipulated, that it mould be given up ; and this was the only objeft that prevented the peace from being concluded. As I was defirous, however, that peace ihould be fpcedily concluded j and as I perceived their [ 144 ] obftinate determination to keep Mantua ; I pro pofed, one day> a mode, which at the worft \\v. might adopt, to give up Venice in its Head ! and, to that effect, I had even prepared a letter to Bonaparte ; but they cried out, that it would be better to give up Mantua than Venice. Here they were right, and I had only propofed to give up the latter becaufe I perceived they Were obftinately refolved to keep the former 5 yet it was Venice they ultimately gave up. The letter I had written was thrown into the fire ; but by a fingular coincidence, Bonaparte had formed the fame idea with myfelf, and the next day or the day after we received difpatches from him propofmg to fubftitute Venice for Mantua in the Preliminaries of Leoben, adding, that with this condition peace would be fpeedily concluded. They had rejected this pro- pofal when it came from me, and they equally rejected it from Bonaparte. In a word, their wifli was to keep both Mantua and Venice, and, in cafe the Emperor would not acquiefce in this point, to refume their arms immediately ; fuch were the conditions on. which they con- ttnued difputing five months, and at their ex- piration chofe the worft of the two 'alternatives. * '' '*' ' r 'i^ The hatred feme of the members of the DiretoTy bore 'me, efpecially Barras, took its rife from events long anterior to the period when it broke out. Barras belonged to a faction which I always held in abhorrence, the faction which attempted to place Orleans on the throne, which, having failed in that defign, began to intrigue for themfelves, and at length divided into fubordinate parties ; the one under Danton, at the Cordeliers, the other under Robefpierre, at the Jacobins, and the Commune of Paris : in a word, he belonged to that faftion, which, though at firft fo oppofite to the re- publican fyftem, afterwards carried thofe prin- j. ciples to the utmoft extreme of enthufiafm, when they perceived that they could by thefe means -' '" themfelves at the head of the Republic. I was equally the enemy of the Cordeliers, and of the Jacobins, and never could be induced to enter either of their dens. Though I had u an equal averfion to Danton and Robefpierre, yet, as a member of the Committee of Public Safety, I was fuppofed to be a partizan of the latter, through its not being known perhaps that, . in that committee I inceflantly reproached him with his cruelties and his tyranny. Barras was of the faction of Danton, as were the greater part of thofe who have been called Thermidorians by way of diftmtlon, but who on the 9th Thermidor (July 27th), independently of the danger that threatened them, and which it was urgently neceflary to oppofe, were much lefs intent on deftroying one tyrant than on avenging another, and re-eftablifhing the tyranny of the former in their own hands. And who were thefe pretended avengers of humanity ? They were, in general, the fame men who had deluged Paris, Bordeaux, and Marfeilles, with blood ! The great crime of which, in their eyes, I was guilty, was that of having figned the arreft of Danton 5 and yet it was a fact. . . . [ 147 - 1 though very little known, that, at the Com- mittee of Public Safety, I oppofed that meafure $ not but that I confidered this chief of the Sep- temberizers as deferving the execration of man- kind, but from the motives I ftated to the members of the committee, to whom I faid : " You are no doubt powerful enough to have thofe, whom you may think proper to mark out, put to death ; but if you once open the road that leads the reprefentatives of the people to the fcaffold we fhall all fucceffively tread the fame path." The fignatures, as I explained to the Con- vention, did not prove any thing relative to the opinions of thofe individuals who figned them, but merely that fuch refolutions had palled the committee, in the fame manner as the fignatures of the Prefident and Secretaries of the Legifla- tive Body, or of the Diretory, certify, that fuch and fuch laws or refolutions have been patted, not that they received the aflent or concurrence of thofe individuals. They were by no means fignatures of confidence, as they have been called, but fignatures of forms pre- fcribed by law. [ 1*8 ] All the world knew this to be the fat, and thofe who were my perfecutors had been a thoufand times themfelves examples of fimilar fignatures ; but they collected all the afts figned by me, whether as member of the Com- mittee, or as a reprcfentative in the numerous millions to which I had been appointed, al- moft without interruption during eight months ; but being unable in all thefe documents to find the fiighteft ground of accufation, it be- came necefTary to attribute to me the crimes of other men ; and, in lieu of confidering as ^ats of enthufiafin what I had done while defending the accufed members of the com- mittee, to put a flop to the carnage ofthe repre- fentatives of the people, they accufed me of it as of an additional crime. I was indebted for my prefervation to the courage of a few vir- tuous men who were beyond^ fufpicion, and who at length, venturing boldly to undertake my defence, forced thofe mifcreants to let go their prey. But they only deferred the period of their vengeance to a more- favourable opportunity. 1 I had had the good fortune at the committee, to contribute to the extrication of the Republic from its danger by repelling its enemies ; and the only recompence I obtained was a horrid perfecution. When in the Directory, I con- tributed to extricate it from new dangers, wherein thefe fame villains, then acting as factious reactionaries, had plunged it ; and the recompence was my Fructidorian profoription. I well knew that Republics were ungrateful, but I did not yet know that the individuals who call themfelves republicans were guilty of fuch bafe ingratitude as I have fmce ex- perienced. If any one deferved to be exiled for having given rife to reaction, certainly that reward is /r ' '' T i ' f'^}' But the Anarchifts were not to be difcou- raged. Every day fome new attempt was made by them ; but they were only difperfed, and no one marked out for punifhment. Their impu- nity increafed their courage ; with them we were in the fame fituation as an antagonifl in a duel who only parries the weapon of his ad- verfary, without attempting to wound him in his turn. However unikilful this adverfary may be, he is certain at length to kill his enemy. Thus likewife would the Republic infallibly have funk, had not Baboeuf and his accompli- ces been arreiled ; a mcafure which ft ruck ter- ror into the hearts of thefe mifcreants, and et- t'-.-u-d their difperfion, This reminds me of a remarkable anecdote. One of thofe men, whom it is attempted to in- volve in all the fchemes and plots which fo ra- pidly fucceed each other for the definition of X 2 [ 156 ] the Government, waited on me one morning after the arreft of Baboeuf. He was a fhoe- maker, and explained to me the manner in which thefe intrigues were carried on by the journeymen of his trade, I ordered fome break- faft for him, and made him talk freely of every thing he knew, and among other curious obfer- vations, " My God" faid he, " Citizen Carnot, how much I was ajionijhed at what you have done againjt Babtfuf, I thought you a Brutus.'" All in good time, replied I. From this I per- ceived that this clafs of fociety had been purpofely filled with fuch wild ideas, that with them every conftitution, every law, and every govern- ment whatever, appeared an invasion of liberty, every man in office a tyrant, and every one who propofed to kill them, efpecially if he un- dertook the office himfelf, as a Brutus, The Dire&ory did not without jealoufy ob- feire that the man whom they had taken fuch pains to reprefent as the prote&or of anarchy was the very perfon who had given it fo fevere a blow. But they were ftill more irritated againft me after- wards, when they found it convenient to make [ 157 j me pafs for a Royalift for having arrefted nan, Brottier, and Lavilleheurnois. Certainly thofe were not deferving to be called ftupi4 t who invented the ftory, that I was the accom- plice of the agents of Louis XVIII. ; I, who had fo long been tracking them out, and had ultimately caufed them to be, arrefted and brought to trial, while the republican directors fuffered tjiefe fame agents to be acling almoft under their own eyes, without harbouring the leaft fufpicion of them. This confpiracy, however, of the agents of Louis XVIII. was by no means a matter of fmall importance. Their trial, fays Bailleul, had brought every thing to light. This is an important confeffion. It was I, then, who arrefted the very perfons that brought every thing to light. But have they brought to light, honeft Bailleul, that I was their accomplice ? From my having arrefted both Duverne and Baboeuf, it might perhaps be inferred that I was equally the ene- my of royalty and of anarchy. They argue d 4 however, on wifer grounds : becaufe I arrefted [ 158 ] Duverne, I w;is the accomplice of Baboeuf ; and becaufe I arrefted Baboeuf, I was the ac- complice of Duverne : but thofe who arrefted no man, were the accomplices of no man ; thofe who fuffer every faftion to continue, lv- long to no faction ; thofe who profcribe repub- licans that are free from reproach, are the true patriots ; thofe who tear the focial compact, are the firm fupporters of the conftitution j thofe who enflave the people, are the bell friends of liberty ; thofe who carry on wars of exter- mination, are the iincere lovers of peace ; and thofe who bring about Fruclidorian Revolutions, are the faviours of their country ! We do not ftek to prove the exijhnce of light, Cochon and Malo contributed as much and more than myfelf, to deteft and defeat the agents of Louis XVIII. But Louis XVIII. has o been amply revenged by the republican direc- tors, who have profcribed both Cochon and Malo. The worthy, the virtuous, Minifter, Co, whon, a thoufand times more a6live, more cou- rageous, more republican, than all our re-pub- [ 159 ] directors* was the man who difcovered to the Directory the whole hiftory of the coterie tics ,/ils legitimes with which Bailleul has dec% rated his report. All the details he has given are borrowed from the papers feized by the agents of Cochon. tnM*wW*'k^ If, however, we liften to Bailleul, it was to their own penetration that the Directory was in- debted for all thofe difeoveries. No, Bailleul, the penetration of the Directory difcovers only imaginary confpiracies > they can find no real plots; but in revenge thofe they difcover m their Kffihni are fo clear, that it would be fctb/y to apprehend their intentions to afk for proofs! What does it fignify who periili in a groat convuliion, whether they are the inno- <. cat or the guilty? Have the-y not, in all events, accomplilhed their object ; have they not deftroyed their enemies; are they not pof- ferled of the diftatoriliip ? I have already ob- terved, that it was the peculiar talent of the Orleans faction (the remains of which are now intriguing for themfelvcs, and are the true L '60 j authors of the Fruclidorian revolution) to ap- propriate to themfelves the fruits of the labours of others, and then to caufe the puniiliment of their own crimes to fall upon their heads. It was the alarming confpiracy of Baboeuf. and the imminent danger incurred by the pub- lic weal through the diffolution of the Legion de Police (a danger which few were able fully to appreciate), that at length convinced me of the neceffity of difplacing, from eveiy office of truft, that crowd of immoral and incorrigible beings, who fpread diforder, difcontent, and terror, into every corner of the Republic. To the appointment of fomc of thefe I had myfelf at firft contributed 5 not to the nomination of thofe whom I confidered as unprincipled vil- lains, but only of thofe whofe minds were inflamed with enthufiafm : and this I did as much with a view to diminifh the mafs of thefe inflammable elements at Paris, as with a hope of feeing men, who had been milled, return to the principles of moderation, and fin- cerely abjure a fyftem. which had been the caufe of fo many evils. But I foon perceived that, although fome of them faithfully returned to the good path, the majority endeavoured to employ the advantages they had obtained to throw every thing into confufion. It was at that period, too, that I began to perceive ftrong oppofitions in the Directory. Reubel was conftantly the prote&or of men ac- cufed of plunder and dilapidation, Barras of at- tainted and ruined nobles, and Reveilliere of unprincipled priefts. Whenever a deputation from any of the departments folicited the place of CommirTary or Receiver, for any particular individual whofe character, probity, and abili- ties they warranted, they began to calculate the number of votes ; and if there were eight or nine deputies for granting the requeft, and one or two for its rejection, it was negatived without farther examination ; becaufe they had laid it down as a maxim, that the majority ' of the Councils were rovalilts. [ 162 ] Reubel very often exprellly declared this pro- pofition as certain. He had memorandums rela- tive to almoft every member of the legislative body ; he collected all he could learn concern- ing them, no matter from what quarter, which he carefully laid by and arranged in the pigeon- holes of his bureau : and thus he was furniihed with a magazine,, by which he could involve in Avhateverconfpiracyhe pleafed, allthofe reprefen- tatives of whom he wifhed to rid himfelf. I here forewarn Jourdan that there are fome of thefe me- morandums particularly directed againft him ; I have heard Reubel pofitively declare that Jourdan was a traitor. This man was the principal of his difeuft, and obliwcf him to afk *>' leave to retire. Moil of the other celebrated generals of the Republic were equally noted down by him as- traitors. Kleber, in particular, was the object of his declared hatred. Yet that General has fince refumcd his poll ; becaufe, no doubt, they took advantage of the opportunity to perfuade t 163 ] him that I was the author of his difgra^ej whereas, on the contrary, it was I who (though unable to prevent it) endeavoured to foften it as much as poflible, by a letter which I wrote m the name of the Directory, expreffive of their regret at lofing an officer of fuch diftinguUhed merit. I am convinced the Directory would not have fuffered this letter to be fent to him, had they read it j but they figned it conjidjen- tially. In fhort, with regard to every man of eminence in the Republic, in any way what- ever, I never heard any language fo conform- able to that of Robefpierre, as that of Reubelj nor did I ever perceive fo conftant a defire to an- nihilate every one who had acquired reputation by his fuperior merit. He appears fully convinced that probity anc^ civifm are abfolutely incompatible. He cannot conceive how a man of unblemiflied character can have been induced to take a part in the re- volution. One day, when I made fome re- marks on the undifguifed extravagance of Mer- lin of Thionville, after the time of the famous Y 2 [ 164 ] furrcnder of Mentz, where he was fent, toge- ther with Reubel, a reprefentative of the people, although this fame Merlin had declared at the Convention that he had no property but his fa- lary as deputy, Reubel inftantly changed colour; yet no man is in general fo well able to com- mand his features. Some days after he faid, as if without defign, " that Merlin of Thionville is a rafcal, and I have told him as much ; for he fpends twenty-five louis a-day at the Mount Calvary. I have long been his friend, becaufe I thought him an honeft man, but now I have broken with him." In facl, however, he has not broken with him at all, and has never ceafed to maintain the moft intimate connection with him. . In Reubel the thirft of gold is infatiable. At the time when lots were drawn to determine which of the directors mould go out, his light was fo confufed when he opened the fatal ticket, that although it was In his favour, he read thai it was againft him, and the words, It is /, ef- caped him, making at the fame time a motion of his body exprcflive of his concern. Tliefb words I heard 'with perfect diftintnefs, becaufc I ftood clofe to him, and have often joked him on the fubjeft ; nor did he deny this fah -I I snic/otf ' // ' ' \ hit >&' -YJtsl As to Barras, I have already faid that he was the protector of the nobles ; and this js not the lefs true for his apparently declaiming againft them. He fecretly endeavours to procure the re-admiffion of the titled emigrants, and has always fome marquis or knight to propofe for every vacant place ; but then they are always marquiffes or knights who defpifed the advan- tages of their birth even under the old go- vernment. It is certain that Barras is an Arifto- crat, and that the name of patriot, which is conftantly in his mouth, is with him but a means of acquiring influence and power, ,f -4$ . '> H V f rrU. b:~M/iJ*f ' >fodi j-sKi After the affair of Crenelle, Barras bein* publicly accufed of not coming forward in tho defence of the Directorial Palace, caufed it to he inferted in fome of the journals, that ho had appeared on that occafion, and thus left; 9, [ 16(3 ] the truth quite uncertain, that he might be able afterwards to affert or deny it as might bed fuit his purpofe. The fafct is, that neither he, Reubel, nor Reveillere, made their appearance. Afterwards, however, they purfued this affair with much more warmth than I, who have al- ways been of opinion that no influence ought to be exercifed over the tribunals, when taking cognizance of any affair whatever. Reveillere, to whom I went myfelf to apprize him of the danger, as foon as I was informed that the infur- gents were marching to the Directorial Palace, and were within a ftone's throw of the gates, faid " that he would leave the bufmefs to Le Tour- neur, and myfelf, who were military men." When the infurgents knew that we were pre- pared for them they changed their route, and went to the camp of Crenelle. Barras and Reubel excufed themfdves the next day, by faying they were out of town, becaufe they were not apprifed of what was palling. But I am of opinion they were out of town becaufe 1 * they icerc apprifed of it. [ 16* ] . Thus they purmed the fyftem they uniformly adopt, of letting other men al in all cafes of danger, aud then attributing the fuccefs to themfelves, or throwing the blame on others. When feveral perfons came, #n the following day, to give us an account of what they had witneffed of them, one told us that Tallien, and feveral others of the Orleans fa6tion, had been waiting on the banks of the river to fee the re- mit of the attack of the Camp of Crenelle, and that as foon as they learnt that it had failed, they difperfed and took flight. Barras, who lived in habits of intimacy with Tallien, thought it might be better for him to feparate their ap- parent interefts, and therefore began to abufe and calumniate his friend. He faid, " that if there were five hundred conspiracies, Tallien would be concerned in them all.' Thefe two execrable men were united, not bv j the bonds of tru'e friendfhip, of which upright hearts alone are capable, but by an emulation in cruelty. They had equally pra&ifcd the molt atrocious barbarity ; they had equally bathed [ HS8 J ihemfelves. In human blood the one at Mar- fcilles, the other at Bordeaux. To defend myfelf, fafe of need, againfl the intrigues of their fac- tion, when they profecuted me with fo much fury, I had extracted fome parts of their letters to the ( ' .nimitiet's of Pablic Safety during their miflione. It is impoflible to conceive any thing more ter- rible thnn thcfe writings. All that has been yet publifhed. relative to them, gives but a feeble idea of the horrid language which. I literally extracted from their correfpondence. This curious correfpondence has fallen into the hands "of the guilty. It was among the papers which were taken from me. _ I well know that the regret which the trium- virs felt, at having failed in their defign to have me aiYaflmated on the night of the 17th of Fruc- tidor, arofe from a hope, that by my death they would have prevented the expofure of their crimes. A body of afiaffins had been ported at a back gate of my garden, whom the guard of the Directory, 'by my orders; commanded to re- tire, and they obeyed when they found that they were difcovered. A few minutes previous to the departure of the detachment, who were ap- pointed to arreft me, an aid de -camp was dif- patched to know if I was (till at my houfe ; where I certainly was, and quitted it but at the moment when the guard entered the apartments. The Luxembourg was, as it were, invefted by a large body of troops* fupported by artillery.; but I deceived the vigilance of .the afiaffins, by availing myfelf of a fecret paffage of which they were ignorant. I heard the difcharge of .the alarm gua, juft as I had fhut the laft door through which J was to pafe ; and, with a piftol in each hand, I wandered for three hours about the city, and took my way through bye ftreets, in order to avoid the detachments of foldiers wfrich had bn augmented on that occafion, and that I might, at length, reach the afylum where I fled for fafety. Reub.el could not exprefs the vio- lence of his anger at the officer who carried the order of arreft ; and Barras was fo inconceiv- ably bafe, as to accompany the foldiers who wera ordered io feize.the feeble Barthekmy. a [ 170 J . On the 19th, when the council excepted from -the proscription certain reprefentatives, and among others Doulcet, the Directory addreffed a Jvery infolent meflage to the Council on that oc- cafion, who, recovered from its firft impreflions of terror, rerafed -to change its determination. This meflage is well known. It was then the opinion of Reveiltere, that Doulcet fhould be aflafiinated. To fay the truth, give that man hut an opportunity "to d6 any thing, and he wilt Toon find the means of doing it. * "At length, they celebrated their immortal la- bours by public rejoicings, in which nothing; was wanting to complete their feftiyity but to- drink their intoxicating beverage out of the fculls of their enemies. At Rome, no triumph' was ever known to grace the victories that arofe out of civil difcord. They were events which the Roman citizens contemplated with fbrrow and mourning. The pert drops from- -tny hand, in writ- ing this affe&ing narrative ; and in reflecting 5 en the monfters to whonfr France Is aban- doned. Thefe misfortunes, great as they may be, are not, however, of a nature to make the friends ot liberty defpair, nor to prevent the legiflators irom preparing for their fellow citizens the means ot future profperity. Above all things they ought to give their attention to the reftoratiori of the finances, and the ftability of the l^ws'. Every one feels the abfolute neceffity of form- ing inftant regulations for the firft, and, it is time, that a due regard mould be paid to the fecond ; the rights of property alfo mould no longer be uncertain ! A fecure pofleflion can alone make Agriculture fiourifh ; attach the citizens, by the tranquil enjoyment of their property, to the .country which protects them, and caufe the love of the Republic to become the fovereign paflion of every breair. .>m. In the fame manner, when the obligations annexed to the ilate of every citizen are re- duced to a fmall number of fixed and fimple .duties, every, one will conform to them with pk-afiir- :) the readinefs with which he 3 Z9 comprehends them ; and rearing his children ift the praftice of them, will infenfibly form to himfelf a fyftem of public morals, which, iden- tifying itfelf with the exiftence of the nation, wiil 'fix its character, and fecure its duration. Hence it is, that all the great legiflators have difcovered lefs inconvenience in an imperfect - but fixed code of laws, than in more perfect fyftems, which, from the circumftances around them, are liable to change. The beft govern- ment is that which is obeyed from habit and education, and not from the influence of vary- ing inititutions : in one word, that in which thofe who govern have the leaft to do ; as that clock is the beft, which requires the leaft attention from the artizan. But the grand error, of the greater part of thofe who are placed at the head of public affairs, is, a very general opinion, that they would be of no ufe, whatever, in their Nations ; and that the bufmefs of the ftate would not proceed, if, on every occafion, and at every moment, their influence and in- terference was not perceived or felt, Univerfal toleration, and a calm promulgation of the I hiws, are the moft certain means of rendering a people contented, and preventing re volutions^ jt > fiv^i- "v m^fK'Vr^f'ftrto Allow every thing which can be allowed*,. without diflblving the bonds of fociety, or giving up all pretentious to freedom ; fuch an arrange- ment will perhaps beget, in the beginning,.,^ tendency to diforder ; but, in a ihort time, and by degrees, every one will Jake his natural portion, and the focial body will become more compat and united; becaufe you will have fubftituted the ties of nature for thofe of law. This is a doclrine which defpots cannot com- prehend y and they are fo fuccefsful in propa- gating their errors, that thofe who wifh to fee liberty eftablifhed in its greatelt latitude are precifely thofe who are diftinguifhed by the titles of ariftocrats and royalifts. The Gothic King Theodoric was, in this particular, far lefs a Goth than our republican directors, It is faid, that France is more tranquil than it was before Fru&idor. It may be fo, but if we fuppofe for a moment, that the triumvirs govern with as much fuccefs as O&avius, after he. was Emperor, or Cromwell when he was Protestor, would they be lefs the oppreffers of ilieir country ! They might be compared to the hunter, who having taken a wild elephant endeavours by kind treatment to reconcile hirn io.the flavery to which his future life is devoted. The ufurpation of power cannot be jultirlefl even by the beft employment of it ; otherwrfe, any one who fhould fuppofe himfelf more' "ca- pable of governing than another would have a right to deftroy him, and aflume his ' place*, as well as to fubilitute his will as fuperior to laws and tribunals, from the imperfection df the one, the delays of the other, and the abufe^ * j iivfeparable from all human inftitutions. And as a concentrated power appears to pofiefs a greater degree of ftrength, and ' more rapid execution, than that which is derived from a Conftltution ; the government of an ufiirpcr will wear, for foma'time, the femblanre of fuperior advantage, though in "fact, it is nothing more than the prelude of lading flavery. 1 If it were neceffavy to examine whether, ia Avhat relates to the adminiitration of public affairs, the consequences of (he 18th Fru&idor have been beneficial, it would be very eafy to prove the contrary. It would be very eafy to make it appear, that a fyitem of diffipation and waite has prevailed, inftead of a fyftem pf economy and reformation; and that to give fume degree of eclat to public meafures, thofe refpurces which had been accumulated with fo much care have been moft extravagantly con- fumed. The Directory has oftentatipufly reaped the fruits which others had fown, and has itfelf planted brambles for its fucceflbrs. I am perfuaded that, without engaging in war with any pf the great Powers, our armies will im4 themfelves reduced at the end of the campaign tp pne half, both as tp their numbers and equip- ments ; while the great Powers, on the contrary, have availed themfelves of the opportunity to recruit their forces. The embarrafled ftate of the finances is ftili greater, notwithftanding- the increafe pf contributions, the large fums which have been drawn from foreign countries, and [ "6 ] the fuppreflion of payments at home. The commercial fpeculations, which were in fuch a ftate of aftivity before Fruftidor, are annihilated <, mftead of a general peace, which might have been concluded, every channel of honourable accommodation has been fhut up, by fwearing to proceed in a war of extermination with the Englifh nation ; in rufhing into a whirlpool of political circumftances, which may engender new coalitions againft France, raife up new enemies in different parts of the world, 'aftd may throw a doubt upon the political character of the Republic, which had been fo honourably acknowledged by every power. No excufe can be found for continually, and without ' the leaft neceffity, Hiking the ftrength of our country j : as at a game of chance, though we fhould be . *. always fuccefsful. He who mould veil his whole fortune in a lottery muft be confidered J as an idiot, and I mould not confider him with more favour, though he mould be a gainer in the weak and hazardous enterprize > efpe- A cially if he were to continue his folly: but if j . j this fortune mould not be his own, and that [ 177 - ] ihe mould poflefs nothing more than the ; %&- : miniftration of it; and if inftead of increafing it gradually by prudent means, and employing itsifp* venues for urgent neceffities, he fhould expend it at the gaming table, I mould then accufe him not only of folly > but breach of confidence, and treafon. . With refpect to the obfervation which has been already made, that France is faid to be more tranquil than it was before Fructidor, it becomes us to confider what is the nature of that tranquillity : Does it arife from ftupor or fecurity ? Is it the repofe of a fpring in a ftate of compreflion, or free to move ? Is it the filence of citizens who never know whether they are the objects of love or hatred, fubmitted as they are to the authority which is fuperior to laws? or that calm in which the heart is difpofed to dilate, from a confcioufnefs that it is prote&ed by the laws againfl the caprices of arbitrary power. With refpct to the tranquillity produ- ced by oppreflion, we kno\v it to be the natural of defpotic government, which is always A a [ "8- ] more tranquil than that of a republic. Athens is at this day in a more peaceable flate, than ii> the time of Themiftoclcs. Rome enjoyed a greater degree of quiet under the Tarquins, and under Sylla, than at the lirft eftabliiliment of the tribunes. There is more tranquillity in a dungeon, than in a public fquare. But is France mqre happy now, than me was before Fru&idor^ I declare the reverfe. But fhould I be miftaken, the people muft be happier under a defpotic government (for that of the Dire&ory is more defpotic than any which has hitherto exifted), than under that of a republic. This, however, is the fyftem of Reubel and of all the Royalifts. They only differ refpeting the nature of the monarchy j the latter wilh it to be hereditary > while Reubel is anxious that it ihould be elec- tive, provided that the choice Ihould fall upon himfelf.. We are compelled, therefore, for the honour even of the Republic, to believe that the people, now fuffer more than they fuffered before Fruc- tidor : but every citizen is obliged to concen- [ J79 ] trate his grief; and fince the liberty of the prefs- has been deftroyed, no means are poffeffed of giving vent to it. Nay, if he dares to make his complaints known in his diftritt, he would be inftantly dragged before the agents of the executive power, loaded with irons, and aban- doned or put to death, as a counter-re volutiomft. If he mould be bold enough but to claim, even in a whifper, his rights as a republican, he would be profcribed as a royalijt. In a free country, the fuffering is final 1 and the outcry great, while, on the contrary, under a tyrannical government, the fulTerings are great and the complaints are flender. Such is the difference between the epoch which preceded the 18th Fructidor, and that which has followed it. Before FruUdor the public agitation was ex- treme, becaufe a divifion had taken place be- tween the two higher conftituted authorities. Such are the ftorms which muft be expeted in democratic governments. There were two modes, however, of tranquillizing this agitation which prefented themfelves : that of concilia- Aa 2 [ 180 ] - tion, by the fentimcnt of patriotifm and a lenfe of common danger, which would not intrude upon their refpcctive powers, was flirted to the republican fyftem, and eftablimed confidence in the focial compact. 2dly, The other was, that one of thefe authorities mould crufh the other; and this the' Executive Directory, which had the power in its hand, thought proper to adopt. It not only refufed to attempt the firft mode of fettling the exifting differences, but manifefted an unfurmountable reluctance, and repelled with fcorn every advance that was made on the oc- cafion. And what has been the rcfult of fuch a conduct ? A monarchy vefted in five perfons. Nor can we fail to remark, that the men who have formed this monarchical fyftem, the new monarchs themfelves, as well as thofe who did not blulh to be their humble agents, who called them- felves republicans, are the very perfons who have denominated others royalijls, and under that character have profcribed and banifhed them.' Thus it has been, and thus it will ever be when fimilar circumftances happen in the world. 6 .] It would be too dangerous to tell the people^ that they are about to be deprived of their li- berty ; and it has ever been the policy of ty- rants, to affurc them that they would break their chains afunder, at the very moment when they were about to add to the weight of them. O6tavius would not abolifh the name of repub- lic. England was denominated a republic under the oppreffion of Cromwell j and never was the title of republic fo fearfully refpe&ed in France as under the revolutionary government. At this moment, not only in France, but in Switzer- land, in Holland, at Rome, Genoa, and Milan, nay, in every part of Europe where the Direc- tory governs openly or fecretly, by its procon- fuls arid armies, is not every one compelled, from fear, to affirm that he is free ? The time may be approaching, when men, while they are roafting alive, mail be compelled to declare how happy they are ; like the favages, who glory in partaking of, and even furpaffing, the joy of thofe who are mangling their bodies, as a pre- paration for eating them. 1 182 ] And who are they whom we muft coniider, 3s the real friends of royalty, if they are not thofe who force us to regret the departure of it by their own tyranny ? And who are the de- cided enemies of the republican government, but thofe who ftrive to render it odious ? Since words alone are of no value, it is expe- rimental happinefs which the people, require. If they are wretched in a republic, they will demand a monarchy. If they are made to be- lieve that a republic offers nothing but a per- petual ib-te of felf-denial ; that it is a govern- ment where juftice is aclminidered by cannon- balls, and where it is difpenfed with when any one cuts the throat of a royalift ; where fear is the univerfal principle ,of aftion ; where natural affections are weakneffes, and the prejudices of education are confidered as crimes ; where de- corum and good faith are ridiculous, and a wifli for tranquillity a breach of public duty ; where liberty confifts in a right to opprefs, and the character of the government is violent and arbi- trary ; I fay, if fuch a defcription of a republic [ 183 ] is offered to the people, thev will demand a i*i. * ' monarch. Such, alas, is the falfe but mifcrable opinion which the greater part of the French nation . have been brought to adopt. Examine then, particularly in the country, and you will noir. difcover that each of them has quietly termed a diftin6t and two-fold arrangement of his fel- low-citizens. In one of thefe clafles, he places thofe who are gentle in their manners, of peace- able difpofition, very fufceptible of alarm, but regular in their lives, and fupporters of gcod order, and thefe he will dcfcribe as Ariftocrats. In the other he arranges all thofe whofe qua- lities appear to be infenfibility, effrontery, luxu- rioufnefs, calumny, and impiety ; and he names, them Patriots. Such will be almoft univerfallv the confcquenee of fuch an examination. lie revolts within himfelf at the idea or a Republic ; but it is becauie he is deceived ; k i is becaufe, in the republic which is offered to his adoption, he heholds all the vices, of monai- [ 184 ] chy : and thus forming an opinion of the latter", diametrically oppofite to its real charafter, he attributes to it all the advantages which belong only to the former. Hence it is that the people^ who are naturally republicans, appear to long for monarchy, when they are only agitated wkh the defire of improving their fituation, and of enjoying the benefits which the republican com- pat had promifed them. It will ever prove a fruitlefs attempt to tear from our nature that inftinft, by which man perceives that he has a principle of reciprocal benevolence within him that is pre-exiftent to all human inftitutions, by which he fympathizes in the happinefs and mifery of his fellow-creatures. He is fenfible that if this principle, which is the law of nature, ceafes to exift, fociety itfelf would be inftantly diffolved, or would poiTefs but a precarious being under the terror of defpotifm ; he per- ceives that all the pofitive laws muft re-unite themfelves to this bafis as to their natural root ; that their genuine objecl: is to augment the in- herent difpofition and efficacy of this principle, and to complete, with a bolder line, that happy E 185 ] flcetch of nature, under the fanHon of cuftoms and ufages. The legiflator, who lofes fight of this objet, commits every thing to chance, and runs counter to his principal defign when, in- ftead of enforcing, he weakens this principle, and fubftitutes in its place a fyftem of fallacious independence and egoifm ; for egoifm is a lead- ing principle in political divifion, in fovereignty, and monarchical power j while reciprocal bene- volence is, on the contrary, the bafis of that national equality which forms the fimple founda- tion of liberty, which fecures the property of every individual by the protection of all the reft, and is, in one word, the genuine principle of a Republic. There never was a king who made fuch an oftcntatious and tyrannical difplay of kingly power as each of our republican diretors ; never did any monarch equal them in watching the mod trifling actions of his fubjets. Never did the former monarchs of France treat their parliaments with the contempt which the I)i- re&ory have manifefted to the legiQative bodies. Bb t 1*6 ] Cromwell himfelf did not reduce the Parlia> merit of England to fimilar ignominy. The na- tional roprefentation could 'not be reduced to a more abject ftate than that of being con- verted, under the cannon of the Directory, into a revolutionary tribunal. '"What is become of the folcmiT engagements entered into by the reprcfentatives of the people? Where is the man who will hereafter dare to exert himfelt in defending the rights of thefe very peo|>}ey and will have the courage to condemn thofe who wafte the contributions raifed by their own arbitrary exactions ? ^hcre is the man who . will venture to oppofe himfelf to thofc who make peace or war without his participation' - r who at midnight violate the afylum of the peaceful citizen, and fend him to Cayenne, which is become the feat of thofe baftilles that have been eftabltfhed by the Republic? If there mould be a man pofletfed of a degree of courage equal to fuch a conduct, let me aflc,, whether he would not be involved in the firft t-onfpiracy which .the directors may find euential "to the execution of their grand projects ? But f '87 ] to be reduced to applaud fuch a fccne. of bafenefs, is to link into a ftate of ignominy that is fcarce exceeded by the vile courtier, who, when the tyrant of Alia had pierced the heart of his fon with an arrow, compared the fkil| of the royal affaffin to that of Apollo. If I had confcnted to fit upon the fame throne with the republican direclors, they would not have denounced me as a royalift ; if I had joined them in dragging the national reprefentation through the dirt, they would have coniidered me as a diftinguimed patriot j if I had been an accomplice in their crimes, they would have permitted me to ihare in their boafted innocence : but I defy them, and I chal- lenge all thofe, who have pronounced my con- demnation, to bring home to me any cxpreffion, writing, or act, whatever, iince the commence- ment of the Revolution, which is not alto- gether confiftent with the genuine principles pf moderation, of juftice, and an ardent love of my country. How many are there amorg thern who can, from their hearts, make, the Bb 2 [ 188 ] fame boaft, and challenge the fame examina- tion ? and, neverthelefs, who has been more expofed, than myfelf, to fituations of difficulty and danger ? I have been fucceflively expofed to every fa&ion, becaufe I have never ceafed to oppofe them. I have been reviled by the venal writers of every party, but without one proof to fupport their calumnies ; but thofe men, who employ their talents in defamation at fo much per page, are ready to ferve the republican or the royal caufe, as cither may demand their afllflance. It may be readily conceived that fuch a man as Bailleul, to feize on an employ- ment, will cringe before any one who has the power to beftow it, whether a prince or a di- retor. JJut what had I, who was one of the direftors, to gain by a counter-revolution ? What had I to expe6t of kings, popes, and emperors.? Could they raife me into a fituation of more dif- .tinguimed pre-eminence than that which I pof- feffed 5 in which I treated them as my equals, and fometimes even with that fuperiority in which I was clothed by the victories of the Republic ? 11 [ 189 ] I cannot name a fituation, on the globe wo inhabit, which can be compared with that of a Conftitutional Member of the Executive Direlory ; nor more brilliant functions to fulfil, than thofe whofe object it is to preferve the people from the grafp of abfolute power. It is the prominent feature of his duties. . And of what materials muft that man be compofed, the meafure of whofe defires and ambition would not be filled by receiving fuch a high and im- portant charge from the confidential preference of fo greaj: a nation as our own? At the -fame time it my be afked, what is the magnitude of that man's guilt, who receives this truft from a free people in order to become a defpot? Neverthelefs, the triumvirs, inftead of preferving the people from abfolute power, have clothed themfelves with it. They have difcovered that the office of dictator is fuperipr to that of di- rector, and they afpire to be dictators. Indeed . their prevailing object is to perfuade the peo- . pie that hey may live ha,ppy in a ftate of fub- jection. After the government of fuch men as thefe, the nation would receive an Henry IY- as the firft of bleflings . It would be no w-orfe change for them than the abfolute government- of one in- ftead of five. The people would reafon no farther on the fubject j they no longer know the nature of liberty and the rights of man, nor feel a hatred for tyrants: nay, they begin to think that tyrants may be refpectable I A-s for me., I would rather be an exile than a director. An oppreflbr of the people is a character replete with infamy ; and I boait of the honourable al- lotment, of having become a victim of my fide* iity to them. The tiger of anarchy has long difplayed his hungry jaws - 3 and what mult have been his delight, when he beheld the Directory throw to him two pf its members to appeafe his fa^ vage appetite- when HE became his prey who had fo long deprived him of his meal - who ?ilone, of the Directory, loved liberty from prin- ciple, and for its own fake, and who had ferved it with effect ! for it is fuch men, above all others, that fuch monfters feek to devour ; for jt is the pure patriot alone that can fatisfy his t palate ; and it is for fuch food that he will lick, for an inflant, the hands of his purveyors. The gang of royalifts ex-preffed neither: lefs -furprize or futisfa&ion, when they perceived the opinion of -Vergniaud fulfilled, that the Revolution, like Saturn, devoured its own children. All the rao- narchs of Europe mould have offered their moil grateful acknowledgements to their breth- ren of France, for having delivered them, at length, from an intractable enemy, which, -from the .moment of their coalition, had caufed them *ib much alarm and difquietudc. The choice of fuch a victim, fulfilled at once the wifhes^-of ' thofe who were the protectors of J^ouis XVIII. as well as the Orleans party. It .is, however, greatly -to be lamented that the good inten- tions of the republican directors, refpecling it, have failed of fuccefs. What a fcene of caprice and extravagance !-* The triumvirs have -patted the'-laft two years -tn * ftate of indifference and indolence ; . the legifiative body to the; fury- [ 192 ] every fa&ion; they have continually infulted it, and as often treated its members with perfonal -degradation ; they have even proceeded to tread it under their feet; and, neverthelefs, thefe very men are held forth by it, as the prefervers of li- berty. During thefe two years, I, on the con- trary, have been employed as a vigilant fentinel . of the national reprefentation ; and have formed a rampart againft the freebooters who wifhed to be its aflaffins; I have difperfed the ftorms that menaced it; the wifli of my heart has been, that it mould be the object of univerfal honour ; that, even in its extravagancies, it mould remain inviolate, and that its members fhould be treated- with ref- pet ; and yet I am profcribed ; nor was one voice heard from the midft of it, to oppofe fuch an al of extreme injuftice ! the fruits of my. de- votion to it have been exile, defamation, and mifery I Yes, legiflators, triumvirs, and gene- rals, who have betrayed your -duties ; miniftcrs, Who have ferved the caufe of iniquity; yes, I prefer my allotment to yours ; the ftato of banilh- ment in which J live is dear to^me; and I only that I had merited it, by a ftill more ar- dent zeal for the glory and profperity of my country. .-....{ ' i; '-^ *"'' But am I not guilty of injuftice in declaring, that not one voice was heard in my behalf? Yes; OUDOT, had the courage, in the Council of Five Hundred, to fupport my caufe ; while LA CUBE, in the Council of Elders, gave his teftimony for me ; and in fuch an oppreflad Hate as mine, thefe were acts of no common generofity : and much . do I wifli, that I could offer to men, who are worthy to be the reprefentatives of a free people, fuch expreffions of gratitude as their courage demands from me. The fuf- frages of two men who, a'midft fo much conta-. mination, (till maintain their purity, fatisfies 1 j x every wiih of my heart; and will continue to awaken thofe fentiments, which they who or- dered my procription can never infpire: may this noble acl: of juftice, never be the occalion of caufmg thofe who performed it to become par-, takers of my perfecution !* * Many others, who deferve a place among the dent patriots, have expreffed to me their deep concern on the CQ I thought it my duty to anfwer the Report of the Committee, as it was an authentic document ; and I fhould confider it as deferving of reproach, if I had fuffered any gall to mix in my reply. No one condemns more fincerely than myfelf, the pra&ice of anfwering injury by injury ; and I fhould not readily forgive myfelf for any which I might have unncceflarily uttered againft my af- faflins. But I muft entreat the reader to confi- der, that the nature of an accufation muft always determine the manner in which it muft be an- fwered. If the only objeft had been to expofe errors ; if proofs had been produced to that ef- feft, and I had been called upon to do nothing more than prove their infignificance, a calm, con- troverfial difcuffion would have been fufficient; and I fliould, moft affuredly, have preferred it. Bat the Directory announces pofitive fats, and gives no other proof of their truth, but the moral occafion; but, they perceived, that it was impoffible torefift a faction, whofe meafures had been formed on a fyftem of ' villany, of which the hiilory of the world does not offer an example. 3 C 195 ] virtue of the accufers. It became, then, a duty I owed to myfelf, to prove the frail nature of their teftimony ; to make it appear, that they have not afted from error or mifconception, but from the worft principles; that my accufers have not been deceived, but are themfelves the de- ceivers. I rnuft, at length, unmaik thefe impof- tors and univerfal plunderers, I do not, indeed, poffefs the art of telling any one, in polifhed terms, that he is a liar, a traitor, and a cut- throat. If I had applied thefe titles to the tri- umvirs without proof, and when fuch a mode of addre fling them was not connefted with unfold- ing their execrable fyftem, I could not have juftified myfelf. But the contempt which I feel for them, aflures me, that I have not indulged myfelf in any emotions of paffion which might turn me afide from rigid truth. They would not occupy my thoughts for a moment, if they were not blended with the means I muft employ for my juf- tification. How many of their bafe and vile ac- complices could I expofe ; and I have never named them ! Not, indeed, from any tendernefs to them, but becaufe, I would not degrade my Cc 2 pen in writing their names; and, becaufe, their miferable hiftory could not have fupported thofe testimonies which I have prefented to the attention of the public. There furely can- not be one independent character exifting who, when he reflets on thcfe villains, does not .feel himfelf moved by that awful indignation, which never fails to arife, when triumphant vil- lainy bafely infults the victim that it has facri- ficed. It Was my ultimate objeft to make the Re- public beloved, by erefting it on the bafis of true genuine Liberty, and not according to any of thcfe ridiculous definitions by which it has been mifreprefented and mifunderftood. It was my ardent wifli to preierve, to the national re- prefentation of a great people, the fupreme rank which the nature of things requires, and the conftitution has marked out for it. It has been my defire, that every citizen fliould be governed in his conduct by inftitutions which were be- come habitually practical, rather than by the threats of the law. In ihort, it has ever been [ 197 ] my opinion, that prejudice fliould be fuffered to difperfe infenfibly before the light of reafon, rather than be extirpated by the violence of power. I have certainly committed many errors in pur- fuing a career to which I had not been originally deftined ; but I never deferted the principles which formed a compafs to guide me through the revolutionary tempefts. If I availed myfelf of an univerfal enthufiafm to pufh on the war with an unexampled vigour, it was rather to put an end to the critical ftate in which that enthufiafm had placed the nation. I had conceived the defign of writing the hiftory of this hallowed war, which has fixed the bafis of the great Republic on its own immortal trophies j and to coniign, in its annals, the innumerable ats of its heroes, for the glory and inftrution of their pofterity. With this view I eftabliflied the office, called the Typographical and Hiftorical Cabinet, where I had caufed a very large quantity of materials to be colle&ed ; and which others may be better qualified to unfold to the world than myfelf. t I did not employ the power which was dele- gated to me in amaffing riches, or in raifmg my relations to lucrative employments : I have clean hands and a pure heart, I mall never ceafe to diret my thoughts to- wards my country. No one can defpoil me of the chara&er of a citizen, which the conftitution has given me, and which I have merited by the affedion I bear it, and my zeal to its fervice. I am not confcious of having committed one arbitrary or tyrannic aft : I demand a regular and conftitutional trial, and I do not fear either the feverity of my judges or the appointment of the jury; whatever they may be, I am certain of being as good a republican as the moft zea- lous of them. The only crime with which I (hall be charged, is the vain but patriot attempt to fave the French people from the dominion of tyrants. It was not, however, poffible for me to fucceed in this deiign, becaufe I employed only fucli means as were authorized by the conltitu- tion which was confided to me, and I was [ 199 ] oppofed by monfters, to whom nothing that thwarted their views was inviolable or facred. O France ! O my country ! O great and re- nowned people ! it was in thy bofom that I had the happinefs to be born ; and I cannot ceafe to belong to thee, till I exift no more. You con- tain all the objefts of my affe&ion ; the work which my hands contributed to eftabliih ; the virtuous old man that gave me life ; a family without ftain ; friends who know the bottom of my heart, and can affirm, that it never con- ceived a thought but for the happinefs of my countrymen, or formed a wim but for their im- mortal glory and continual profperity. Receive, O my country ! this vow, which is renewed every fucceeding day of my life, which I, at this moment, addrefs to all thofe great and virtuous charaters which you pofiefs 3 to all thofe who cherifh in their hearts the facred fpark of liberty. I conclude by the Spartan prayer, "ENABLE US, YE GODS, TO BEAR INJUSTICE!" THE END. V I 8 3 S g 1 1 ^ s ^ t ^v ^ S** & f ! ^g01049 sg S0