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 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
 
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 rni id' ninio;iK *}* 
 
 REPLY 
 
 OV!!i;il >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 <?/ 
 the committee : " fo Ba,ille,ul,< .aecufmg Ms col- 

 
 t 1 
 
 leagues in the tribune of the Council of Five 
 Hundred, fays, the documents are in the hands 
 of the minifters. 
 
 ' Your committee (adds he, p. 2) would have 
 but imperfectly conceived your wi/kes, had they 
 directed their attention to adduce proofs orfurni/k 
 jujtif cations.' " ' ! ' ! ' 
 
 Excellent, Citizen Bailleul' it is eafy &<*- 
 ceive the true meaning of this declaration. ;> 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 ! ! ! " 'V<v ,^v !p:sttuV ? 
 
 .-.-o .V-: v y,- ; y&rftfi\ 
 
 I was not a little ftruck with -the deep policy 
 ef Reubel, and I clearly perceived that he had 
 dived to the bottom of his fubjeft. I was de- 
 firous, however, that he Ihould explicitly 'declare 
 what wa& intended to be done at 'Lifte, that it 
 might be understood whether there was a real 
 wiih to effet a pacification, or me'rely to impdfe 
 on the world. It was neceffary that the delt- 
 beration iliould be brought to a conclufion. The 
 plenipotentiaries were urgent to receive pofitivc 
 inftrilftions. At length we concluded (and 
 Reubel himfelf was the fpeakcr) by ordering the 
 minifter of foreign affairs to write, that* with 
 refpeft to the Batavians, the Direftory had ful- 
 filied the duties of a faithful ally, by declaring 
 they would not give up any of their poffeffions^ 
 but that it now remained for them to fay what 
 facrijkes they could rcfohe on for .the fake of 
 pence ; that if it uas their determination not IQ 
 up any thing, they Jiiould declare what re- 
 they would offer for the continuance of the
 
 t so ] 
 
 war ; that if tliefe refources, added to thofe of 
 France, were inadequate to thofe which the Eng- 
 lijh would employ agafajl them, France would then 
 be necejjitatcd to make a feparale peace. 
 
 . 
 
 Thus, Bailleul, you perceive that my conclu- 
 Ylons were adopted. But it was done merely 
 through refpet, and becaufe they could not at 
 iotherwife, without proving themfclves refolved, 
 .nt any rate, to continue the war. All that I 
 know, is, that fuch was the refult of the deli- 
 -beration. The official document exifts in the 
 hands of the minifter for foreign affairs ; and it 
 proves that on this, as on every other point, you, 
 impofed en the Icgf/latire body and the whole 
 nation, : f; t <,; 
 
 - Now that the Direaory, no longer retrained 
 
 by the fear of oppofition, HAVE TAKEN OFF 
 
 THE MASK 5 now that they have declared they 
 
 would not lay down their amis //// England 
 
 Jhould be exterminated-, they have nothing left 
 
 to do but to glofs over their fury for maffacres 
 
 >vith 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 th<s 
 fruitlefs maflacrc of the defenders of our coun- 
 try !* 
 
 
 ' My colleagues ! (he would have continued, 
 
 kddreffing the reft of the directors) I demand 
 that the words I have juft pronounced be re- 
 corded in the proces-verbal, as a ground for the 
 future conviction of the criminal, and I recom- 
 mend to you to follow my example; I demand 
 that a menage be immediately fent to the legi 
 lative body to denounce this traitor and prepare 
 an act of accufation.' 
 
 . What could I have replied to this charge? 
 Who, in that body, would have dared to have 
 opened his mouth in my favour ? Had any one 
 attempted to defend me, would he not have 
 been immediately hifled down, and compelled 
 to be filent ? What corner of the world would 
 have offered me an afylum againft the furies 
 that would have purfued me, or the Promethean 
 Vulture that would have gpawed my liver ?
 
 [ M -] 
 
 On the contrary, what was the fal ? Each of 
 thcie benignant directors- figned, without hefi- 
 tation or obfervation, the fatal order for a maf- 
 facre, and difpatched it to the army the very 
 fame day. Parricidal directors ! it is evident 
 yoti would really have figned thofe abominable 
 orders, had they been offered to you for figna- 
 ftrre. In the blindnefs of your fury, you do not 
 'even' perceive that you are accufing yourfelves. 
 The confeiTion of the crime escapes you un- 
 kwares. You mifs your prey, are caught in 
 ycrdr own fnare, and remain bound to the 
 flake of* ignominy AND THERE MAY Yotr 
 
 REMAIN !!! 
 
 And yet all France does not rife with one 
 acicord againft thefe monfters of iniquity ! And 
 
 yet France calls itfelf free 11 And the legifla- 
 
 1 
 
 tive body remains unopprefled !!! 
 y PP 
 
 T 
 Never was art operation urged . with ib 
 
 fnuch ardour, as the paflage of the Rhine 
 by me. The triumvirs, who, as I have faid, 
 never knew the ^ktent of our refources ; who, 
 
 L
 
 If 74 ? 
 
 like Xerxes, would willingly have flogged the 
 Rhine, the fea, and all the elements that 
 oppofed the leaft refinance to their will j 
 lolling at cafe on their couches, declared that the 
 Rhine mujl be patted but how this was to f ,b? 
 effected gave them very little concern, Tlu 
 Rhine is not to be forded, and bridges were 
 neceflary. Moreau alked for a very trifling fura 
 of money, which was indifpenfably neceflary for 
 their conftruclion. . This money, which the Mi- 
 ni fler of Finances was continually faying fhould 
 immediately be fent off, or was a6tually fent, 
 never arrived. At length, Moreau determined 
 to come himfelf to Paris to wreft it- from the 
 Treafury. I prevailed with him to fet off on 
 his return immediately, and rifle a \>low, 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<tmL 
 and in Spain : and this I propofed to the Direc- 
 tory. But' the motive of economy was but a 
 very inferior confederation. The true rcafon I 
 afligned was, that the Republic having humi- 
 liated all the other powers by their victories, 
 it was to be feared that, peace being once 
 made, thofe of the powers who were beyond 
 bur reach would mow their refentment for this 
 humiliation, if not by direct infults, at leaft bv 
 expreffions of pointed indignities towards our 
 ambaffadors, and by marked preferences of the 
 envoys of the royal courts, highly offenfive to 
 the Republic. That hence we fliould be ex-
 
 [ 7. 
 
 poled cither to uitvc up arms to revenge^ 
 outrages, or ihamc-Uilly to put .up: with the. af- 
 front. It appears to me, that'^he-eveqt&^hiclj 
 have fmce taken place, the innumerable infults 
 to the national flag, and the violences 
 mitted.on the very perfons of our envoys 
 thu.ugh the great work of.pejafe is not 
 completed), are no fmail j unifications .qf 
 train of argumeafo, o<r> 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 
 <days. But what are they now ? They are 
 precifely what the 18th Fru&idor will one day 
 become. Marat was carried in triumph to 
 the Pantheon, and foon after his carcafe was 
 thrown into a common fewer; and SUCH is 
 
 THE FINAL JUDGEMENT THAT AWAITS THE 
 TRIUMVIRS. 
 
 In the meanwhile I will endeavour to throw 
 a few rays of light on the character of thofe 
 hideous monfters. But to do this I muft refume 
 the aft of accufation. The proofs muft be had 
 from, the honcft Bailleul, who will certify upon 
 M 2
 
 [ 84 ] 
 
 his conference (which is not thai ofajlupid fellow} 
 that they are in the hands of the minifters ; that is 
 to fay, in the mouth of their cannon. Republican], 
 directors mull certainly be believed upon their 
 words. Every one knows it is by implicit faith 
 that men are to be faved, efpecially the repre- 
 fentatives of the people, and that there is a place 
 called Guyana for infidels. 
 
 After fix months then of laborious refearch, 
 and after employing all the talents of their hired 
 fabricators of documents, the republican Direc- 
 tory have at length discovered- 
 
 . 
 
 1ft, That I denied that a flct (filiations were com- 
 mitted : whereas all I have faid or written 
 proves diametrically the oppofite to be the truth 
 whereas the Directory have in their own hands 
 the papers I myfelf furnifhed for the profecution 
 and conviction of affaffins- whereas it is this 
 very republican Directory., who have flickered 
 thefe afiafiins beneath their protecting wing, 
 and have conftantly refused to caufc them to 
 be.puniihed,
 
 [ 85 ] 
 
 2d, That I oppofed the difmiffal of 
 whereas the republican directors formed a majo- 
 rity in the Directory, and confequently retained 
 Willot in place, notwithstanding the conviftion : 
 they declare themfelves to have felt, that Willot 
 was a murderer and a cut-throat, 
 
 ;'' 
 
 3d, That I had every day fecret and confiden- 
 tial interviews with.Pichcgru: whereas I never 
 faw Pichegru but once by appointment, an$ 
 then not in fecret or confidentially, and onc$ 
 more by chance for two minutes in the prefence 
 of ten witnefTes, and without fpeaking to him 
 whereas I did all I could by indirect means to 
 induce him to decide in favour of the patriots, 
 
 4th, That I was the advocate of kings and of 
 the emperor : whereas I voted for the death of 
 Louis, made every other king tremble, and 
 ftormed the imperial throne whereas it was 
 the republican directors who, having during five 
 months refilled the conclufion of a treaty which 
 was advantageous for the republic, at laft con- 
 cluded a treaty that renders the emperor more
 
 [ 86 .] 
 
 r i ^ i r -L t ^ r. 
 
 powerful man ever, and inch as might nave 
 "been expe&ed had his troops been conftantly 
 vi&orious in Italy. 
 
 5th, That Ifupported the political exiftence of 
 the Pope : whereas by making peace with Na- 
 ples, notwithftanding the oppofition of the re- 
 publican directors, I robbed the Pope of the only 
 fupport by which he could maintain his politi- 
 cal exiftence whereas J propofed to the repub- 
 lican directors, who were averfe to the meafure, 
 to ftrip the Pope of his temporal power, in or- 
 der to transfer it to another power (Spain), that 
 might have become a counterpoife to the Houfe 
 of Auftria, and annihilated his pretenfions to the 
 titles of Emperor and King of the Romans 5 
 titles which will ere long be realifed in that houfe, 
 after having coft France a great deal of blood : 
 and all this arifing from the meafures of fuper- 
 lative wifdom and forefight purfued in Italy by 
 our republican directors. 
 
 '"rf-W : -V It 
 
 6th, That I was defirous to convert all our 
 Tonqucjh into kingdoms, and particularly to re-
 
 [ 87 ] 
 
 ?f ^ ie Lombards : whereas, 
 on the contrary, I propofed to our republican, 
 directors, who were averfe to the meafures, to 
 turn our conquefts to advantage in order to 
 aggrandize the French republic, to convert into 
 a republic an extenfive country of the new 
 world, which languifhes under the. dominion 
 of a king whereas our republican directors 
 have royalized a republic which , was among 
 our conquefts, by delivering up Venice to the 
 Emperor ! 
 
 7th, That I was dejirous of Sacrificing Hol- 
 land : whereas it was our republican directors, 
 who, full of fidelity and honour, were refblved to 
 plunder that nation whereas it was they who 
 there fyftematically maintained anarchy and dif- 
 order whereas it was they, who boaft of ac~ 
 knoivledging no law but the law of the Jlrongejl - 
 whereas it is certain, and will be proved fo by 
 the event, that the plan of the republican direc- 
 tors^ w r ho are fo full of fidelity and honour, is 
 to unite with England, with England that is a 
 kingdom, with England, whofe extermination 
 12
 
 they have iworn, in fharing the plunder of the 
 poiTeffions belonging to the Batavian republic! 
 
 8th, That I oppofed the defending Kehl as long 
 as it was pojfible to defend it .-whereas the re- 
 publican directory have in their hands the orders 
 given by me, and a thoufand times repeated, 
 to defend Kehl to the laft extremity whereas 
 it would be to themfelves, who formed a majo- 
 rity of the Directory, that the crime was to be 
 imputed, had Kehl not been defended as it 
 ought to have been. 
 
 9th, That I would not give orders for the laji 
 pajfage of the Rhine till we had received inteHi- 
 
 
 
 gence of the Treaty of Leoben: whereas the 
 Rhine was pafied on the very day of the figiia- 
 ture of the Treaty of Leoben (which is 300 
 leagues from Paris) by the army of the Sambrc 
 and Meufe, and two days after by that of the 
 Rhine and Mofclle whereas all Paris knew of 
 the paffage of the Rhine t\vo days before' 
 they could receive any intelligence of the Treaty 
 of Leoben whereas our republican directors
 
 accufe themfelves of the twofold crime, ifty 
 of having themfelves, who formed the majority, 
 neglected to give orders for paffing the Rhine 
 at the time when, according to them, it was 
 practicable and neceiTary ; and, 2d, of having 
 given orders for that manoeuvre at a time when 
 it could only tend to the maflfacre of the defend* 
 ers of the country, to the violation of the laws 
 of nations, and to revive the flames of war at 
 the very moment when the war was brought to 
 a conclufion. 
 
 ..Jiiguc 
 
 10th, That> 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 <lf ihffe MONSTERS an irrefragable proof 
 thai FRANCE is UNDER THE YOKE OF THE 
 
 MOST ABJECT SLAVERY? 
 
 The fyftem purfued by the Directory is by 
 no means ambiguous to any one who has atten- 
 tively obferved their proceedings : their fyftem 
 is evidently to found the power of the nation 
 Icfs on the aggrandifement of the Republic, 
 than on the weakncfs and dcllruclion of its 
 neighbours ; to fight them one againit another, 
 to treat them as friends fo long as they may have 
 occafion to paralyfe them by exhaufting all the 
 
 11
 
 - c ] 
 
 fuccours they can yield, and when the time is 
 come for crulhing them, inftantly to employ 
 their fertile genius in inventing fufficient pre- 
 texts to practice the fable of- the Wolf and the 
 Lamb. 
 
 Let us but attend to their conduct towards 
 the little Cantons of Switzerland. Here it was 
 not the oligarchy of Berne they had to contend 
 with ; it was not thofe againft whom fo many 
 grievances were alleged ; it was not thofe 
 Cantons that had a treafure of thirty mil- 
 lions, and a magnificent arfenal ; No, it was 
 the true children of William Tell, real demo- 
 crats, poor men almoft deftitute of any traffic, 
 even with their neighbour ! No matter, they 
 muftbe revolutionized. Confequently, that liberty 
 which has rendered them, happy during a pe- 
 riod of 500 years, that liberty which has fo long 
 been the envy of France, is now proved not 
 to be the liberty their welfare requires ; no, 
 they muft chufe between the conftitution that 
 is preferred to them and death. They refufed 
 this conftitution, which they found lefs demo- 
 N 2
 
 t & 1 
 
 eratical than their own, and therefore they were 
 mafTacred : for it is clear that nothing but fa- 
 naticifm and intrigues could diffuade them from 
 feccepting this pledge of their new-fangled feli- 
 city. To kill them is indeed the fureft means 
 of preventing them from believing priefts and 
 intriguers ! This handful, however, of fimple 
 men, who have during 30O years been utter 
 ftrangers to fighting, dare to refift their invaders ; 
 their republican blood is mingled with that of 
 the republicans of France, not jointly to defend 
 the facred rights of nations, but gratuitoufly to 
 maffacre each other. 
 
 O impious war ! in which the Dire6tory feem 
 to have had no other object than to know how 
 many victims they could facrifice to their ca- 
 price, from among the free, the poor, and the 
 moft virtuous, part of mankind ; to afTafTmate 
 Liberty in her native foil, and to punim the 
 mountains of Helvetia for having given her 
 birth. Worthy rivals of Grifler; the triumvirs 
 were determine-d to exterminate the race of 
 William Tell ; and by them w r as the death of
 
 the tyrant to be revenged. The heads of the 
 democratic families were offered up to his 
 manes; they died defending the frontiers of 
 their little territory, and refitting the violation 
 of their own homes. Their affrighted flocks 
 fled to the defarts ; the Glaciers refounded with 
 the cries of orphans perifhing with hunger ; and 
 the fources of the Rhine, the Rhone, arid the 
 Adda, bore the tears of difconfolate and de- 
 fpairing widows to the moft diftant feas ! 
 
 'Trt ' 
 
 Happily for me, I cannot be accufed of hav- 
 ing been a party to thefe difgraceful tranfa&ions. 
 Had I been a member of the Directory at that 
 time, againft me would the accufation Jiave 
 been one day brought forward. May the po- 
 litical confequences of thefe transactions never 
 prove fatal to France ! 
 
 t 
 
 Formerly, even in time of war with foreign 
 powers, the frontiers of Switzerland, from Hu- 
 ninguen to Geneva, were difarmed, becaufe 
 the fidelity and the neutrality of the Cantons 
 were deemed perfectly fecure ; but now that
 
 [ * 1 
 
 frontier will always require T OR T Y T H o u s A N 
 men, partly to occupy Switzerland itfelf, and 
 partly to preferve the neighbouring departments, 
 .which are deftitute of military pofts ! 
 
 . 
 
 It was by their induftry, and their virtue, that 
 the democratic Cantons of Switzerland main- 
 tained their political exigence. It is imjjq/fible 
 J-hefe poor countries Jliould long be able to fupport 
 a foreign army,, and_ the expences of an adininif- 
 tration lefs popular and more cojlly than their 
 former government. I have already obferved that 
 there can be no liability in a ftate, whatever be 
 the nature of its conflitution, unlefs there exifts 
 an equilibrium between the exertion of its re- 
 fources and its reproductive powers. This equi- 
 librium is evidently deftroyed in Switzerland ; it 
 is alfo equally deftroyed in the Cifalpine Republic, 
 in that of Genoa, and in Rome. Each of thefe 
 countries confume more than they annually re- 
 ceive from nature. Thus as foon as the funds', 
 on which thofe governments fubliit, are ex- 
 haufted, new troubles and diforders will imme- 
 diately arife. What will then be the iffue, I
 
 know not : but I hope it will not be a new war 
 
 . 
 
 of EXTERMINATION FOR THE FRENCH 
 
 ?UBLIC: ->.-- 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. >t</ 
 
 in France it is not nature that refufes the means 
 
 _ 
 
 of fubfiftence : on the contrary, fhe lavifhes, 
 
 J 
 
 them in abundance, and a deficiency could only 
 
 arife from the defefts of the adminiftration.- 
 
 
 
 Had France, mjlead of the revolution of the 18 /A 
 Fructidor, concluded a general peace, her prof- 
 perity would at this day have furpaiTed that of 
 
 the happieil nations recorded in hiilory ; but at 
 
 . 
 
 this moment Jlie is on the ve?'ge of inevitable ruin, 
 
 . 
 
 unltfs her ei/es are fpeedily opened to the Jituation 
 
 ' 
 
 of her finances unlefs the foundation of a i^ife 
 
 'in i ahii^.Y? "i 
 
 fiiftem of political economy is fpeedily laid. 
 
 jjj J r y ~i j 
 
 The fame line of conduft is adopted by the 
 
 Directory within as they have puriued without. 
 
 * 
 Thev coniider themfelves in the fame point of 
 
 '
 
 96 J 
 
 view, with regard to the citizens of France, a 
 they confider the Republic with regard to other 
 powers ; they confider them but as fo many ene- 
 mies, on the weakening and divifion of whom 
 their authority can alone be founded. Inftead 
 of labouring, from the moment of their creation, 
 to unite the hearts of the people, and rally them 
 around the Conflitution ; inftead of pouring balm 
 into the wounds occafioned by a long and 
 bloody revolution; they irritate their paffions 
 afrefh, and make odious nicknames the ordef 
 of the day. They fend the torch of difcord into 
 the bofom of the legiflative body ; the moft 
 violent expreflions are laviflied in the mefTages 
 of the Directory, in harangues that are totally 
 foreign to domeftic affairs, and even in the molt 
 familiar difcourfes. Their armies are feduced, 
 and their minds inflamed ; they are become a 
 deliberative body. The bitternefs of gall is 
 fpread abroad by means of the newfpapers, and 
 they employ under them the vileft of creatures 
 men to whom no one would confide the rrioft 
 trifling of his perfonal concerns. Thus was the
 
 immortal day concluded, a funeral veil ^ex- 
 tended over the rights of man, and the Corjfti- 
 tution ftabbcd to its YitafokjK^,^ J^ 
 
 ' ' - '^ftHH^ r ^^3i&g 
 The refolution to mutilate the national repre.- 
 
 I ft iVJ ' 
 
 fentation was formed from the time of the elec- 
 o '/ j rno to 
 
 tion of the year V. It was Reubel who con- 
 
 ' rj 
 ccived the plan ; and the reft acquiefced in it, 
 
 H ^ 
 
 when the particulars were explained, and the 
 
 tiUflllfPti 
 
 fuccefs reprefcnted as infallible. 
 
 ! . 
 Tliis plan being once adopted and decided 
 
 on,, they began elaborately to fearch for pretexts 
 to juftify the tranfation they were meditating in 
 their liifdom , and thefe pretexts the; leading 
 members in the Council of Five Hundred but 
 too amply furnilhcd them with. The favours 
 granted to the . enemies of the revolution ; the 
 
 Jj>niiTI 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 <?& To 
 
 tionary tribunal. But, on the contrary, the, ma- 
 
 . ' 
 
 jority of the reprefentatives would have fought for 
 
 refuse againft the violence of the minority, un- 
 
 G & / fIDJJC 
 
 der the prote6tion of an armed force, that ihcir 
 r r0 ho 
 
 o 
 
 deliberations mi<^ht be free. The public would 
 4 
 
 havc.fcen, on the one hand, this wife majority, 
 
 \yith the viftory on its fide, bom in intejitiort 
 ; u fl'jbrl -.r/ufl 
 
 and fentiment : and on the pther, a pitiful an,d 
 
 1 
 
 naked minority, a minority to whom the agita- 
 
 ; ; .^ 
 
 tation which reigned there from the JDegmnjng 
 
 . ^ . * 
 
 of the new feffion, was already imputed. "\Vhat 
 
 j i 
 
 could this minority have done ? It would have 
 
 J 
 
 been immediately abandoned by all parties, 
 
 its members would have been fhamafullv dif- 
 
 J 
 
 perfed, and would never have t re-appeare r d - 3 
 every citizen would have applauded this confti- 
 
 * l ' -OJS. K '.- 
 
 tutiojial meafurc, the public opinion would have 
 
 1 
 
 raUiad freely and without fear arpund^ the Icgif- 
 
 . 
 
 lative body and the Directory, and if there were 
 
 1
 
 t ] 
 
 among thofe who had been difmhTed any who 
 were charged with ppfitive crimes, they would 
 have been constitutionally tried by the high na- 
 tional court, where they would have been con- 
 demned with univerfal applaufe, becaufe the 
 eyes of the public would then have been com- 
 pkiely opened* 
 
 - ( Miipe'9l 
 
 t:Sudi;wo\i*Jl*j been their condua had their 
 objeft been the prefervation of their country, 
 ha<f not ambition, jealoufy, and revenge been 
 the fecret (prmgs of all their actions. It would 
 then helve been unneceflary to have procured 
 addreffes from the Army of Italy, it would thdri 
 have been unneceflary to havd fufroitnded Paris 
 With the Army of the Sambre and Meufe, it 
 xvould have been unneceflary to have taken the 
 Command of the 17th military Divifion from the 
 brave Hatry to place it in the hands of a rriif- 
 ereant; Tlioie whofe views are honeft have 
 occafion only to employ honeft means. To pre* 
 fcrve a good conflitution, we need only fearch 
 among its own refources for the means of hs 
 pxefervation ; and to pretend that it cannot be
 
 [ 
 
 &fed -;from -its cjucwics jgaacopt ,by plunging 
 
 rff -friuit 
 
 efta- 
 
 blilhment of their Diftatorihip xL&Wj}gfe! jfoff 
 could not then have deftroyed all thofe who 
 
 to.dccide, aye oqr..np;uW 
 
 their ^6verR9ts,W5S ! dTa^gmg. thenvi *hey Would 
 have abjured th>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 fitt<VhV 
 
 I ihall ever remember his anthropophagous grin, 
 when, as Prefident of the Directory, he clofed 
 the fitting of the 3d of September which he knew: 
 would be the laft J fhould attend. He thought 
 that a few hours after nothing of me would 
 remain but a mangled and bloody carcafs. 
 What a hideous fpe&re he appeared 1 I fancied 
 I beheld Charles IX. when the tocfin of St, Bar- 
 tholomew was about to found, taking leave of 
 thofe who were prefently to be murdered by his 
 own orders. A poignard feemed to leap from 
 every angle of his diftorted countenance ; his 
 head was inclined upon his moulders, j his eyes, 
 grown almoft opaque, looked afkaunce ; the flefh 
 on his cheek bones feemed agitated with a con- 
 vulfive motion, and his half-opened lips pro- 
 truded forwards, as it were, to meet the expeted 
 cup filled with the blood of his virim.
 
 { 136 ] 
 
 1 do not believe it was without defign, that 
 the night between the 1 7th and 18th Fru&idor 
 was fele&ed for the accomplimment of this 
 fcheme, which the concertors had fo long medi- 
 tated in their wifdom. The 17th and 18th Fruc- 
 tidor exactly correfpond with the 3d and 4th of 
 September, the epoch of the famous maffacres 
 in 1793. Many of thofe who fignalized them- 
 felves at the firft Septemberization, were alfo the 
 fecret dire&ors of the fecond, and fldlfully made 
 their dates to coincide, the better to identify 
 thefe two events. They were defirous of having 
 a great number of accomplices, that they might 
 make ufe of the fimilitude of the circumftances 
 to divide the powder that was concentered in 
 themfelves among a great number of individuals, 
 and thus to prevent the public opinion, which 
 continually, harrafTes them, from purfuing them 
 cxclufively. 
 
 It is certain, that thefe new Septemberizers 
 have identified their caufe with the former, w r ho 
 have now pleafed them by adducing the fame 
 reafons in juftification of their conduft, and fliel-
 
 ] 
 
 tcring themfelves under the -feme fthisf 'pfyiiti, 
 &hd that it is impoiTible to defend them without 
 exculpating the other. If the latter have not 
 committed maflacres, it is becaufe they neither 
 dared, nor had it in their power. They were 
 not fuffic'iently confident of the fuccefs of their 
 enterprize, and knew they ihould excite t&p 
 much horror in the people, who had had fuffi- 
 cient time to reflefcl and profit by the experifene 
 of the pair. But they exercifed their cruelty 
 with fuperior refinement, and have created 
 :an equal number of 'unfortunate individuals. 
 The perfons profcribed in this fecond Septera- 
 berization are victims immolated to the manes 
 of the Duke of Orleans, Hiftory will clafs the 
 infatuated Coryphaei of both under the fame ge- 
 neral term ; it will be confidered as one and 
 the fame tranfaftion by thofe who endeavour -tto 
 trace every event to its true caufe. 
 
 Many of the reprcfentatives were not aware of 
 the infamous part they were made to act which 
 was precifely the fame that the National Conven- 
 tion was obliged to perform, when Tallien, intht? 
 
 T
 
 [ 138 ] 
 
 name of the Commune, came to announce, that' 
 France was about to be delivered from her ene- 
 mies, and the prifons to be cleared by a univer- 
 fal maffacre. The firft Septemberizers had a. 
 great fource of enjoyment in feeing the number 
 of their aflbciatcs and partizans increafed by the 
 acceffion of thofe very men whom, till then, 
 they had, at leaft in appearance, pretended to 
 fliun. They were defirous, that, in honour of 
 the immortal triumph of Fruclidor, monuments 
 mould be erected to them, and feftivals cele- 
 brated on their account, which in their orgies 
 and fecret councils they would have referred at 
 once, to the events of 1793, and thofe of 1797. 
 Probably this fecret has efcaped them, and this 
 is the reafon they have adjourned the execution 
 of their intentions till a more favourable oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 Bonaparte, deceived by falfe reports, irritated 
 by the unjuft calumnies continually uttered 
 againft him, at length departed from the line 
 which his natural penetration had pointed out to 
 him. Latterly I faw one of his aids-de camp,
 
 [ 139 ] 
 named La Valette, \\hom he had himfelf intro* 
 
 flBj 
 
 duced to me in one of his letters. This officer 
 came to Paris to inform Bonaparte of the 
 fituation of affairs ; I had feveral interviews with 
 him, in the courfe of which I communicated the 
 whole fyftem I was purfiiing. He told me, that 
 Bonaparte had formed a very juft idea on,->the 
 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 
 <lue to thofe infamous characters, who, through 
 their perfecutions of the prefent republicans, 
 and by confounding the innocent with the 
 guilty, while they themfelves were covered 
 with crimes, brought about the events of the'
 
 f 150 ] 
 
 15th Vendemiaire. But it is the privilege of 
 thefe men always to caufe the puniihment of 
 their own crimes to fall on the heads of their 
 enemies. Thus, after having feduced and mif- 
 led the Parilians by their counter-revolutionary 
 manoeuvres ; when they perceived that they 
 were themfelves about to become the vi&ims 
 of their own infernal policy, they maffacred 
 them with their artillery to punifli them for 
 their credulity. I was then an abfolute nullity 
 in the Republic. I rejoined the Legiflative 
 Body on the 13th Vendemiaire, to pcrifh to- 
 gether with them if it was neceifary ; but I 
 was abfolutely deftitute of any mare in all thofe 
 tranfations. 
 
 I have more than once heard Barras exprefs 
 his grief and concern, that there were not enough 
 individuals killed in Vendemiaire ; and Reubel, 
 who was precifely of the fame opinion, propof- 
 ing one day, when we were in a ftate of great 
 pecuniary diftrefs, to levy a forced contribution 
 of fixty millions of livrcs on Paris within four- 
 and-twenty-hours : " You mean, then," cried I,
 
 [ 151 ] 
 
 " that terror and death fhould again be the or. 
 der of the day:" " I wifli they were fo al- 
 ready," replied Reiibel: " I never faw but one 
 fault in Robefpierre, that of being two mild." 
 And Barras repeated his favourite maxim (that 
 maxim with which Germain has fince, in other 
 terms, reproached him) " We mould not be in 
 this condition if the Parifians had been more fe- 
 verely chaftifed in Vendemiaire." 
 
 I 
 
 Sieves having refufed the office of director, at 
 the period when every thing was in fo defperate 
 a fituation that the Directory had a difficulty to 
 find domeflics willing to enter into their preca- 
 rious fervice, the councils turned their eyes 
 towards me. A rumour to this effect having 
 fpread abroad, the Directory fent for me, Sieyes, 
 and Merlin, to attend them. We all three 
 attended them together. They offered to Merlin, 
 the office of Minifter of Juftice ; to Sieyes, that 
 of Foreign Affairs; and to me, that of the War 
 Department. Merlin accepted the propofal, but 
 Sieyes and myfelf refufed. I could fcarcely con- 
 ceive how a fet of men (among whom I knew
 
 [ 152 ] 
 
 I had, at leaft two mortal enemies) would offer 
 me a place of fuch diftinguiihed eminence ; and 
 I have no doubt but their objet was, to prevent 
 me from being placed in the Directory : it was 
 principally that I might re-eflablifh the affairs 
 of the war, that the legiflative body were defirous 
 'of promoting me to that office ; and had I ac- 
 cepted the office of minifter, the object would 
 have been apparently anfwered. A few days 
 after, they would have difplaced me from that 
 very office, and would, perhaps, at the fame 
 time have accufed me of the ill-fucceffes which 
 were then very probable, immediately to enfue, 
 
 On my refufal, they named Aubert-Dubayet , 
 and it is to be obferved, that it was on me that 
 the blame of the incapacity of that minifler was 
 afterwards thrown; and it was in the ncwfpa- 
 pers, in the pay of Barras, that the accufation 
 appeared. Though Aubert-Dubayet was full of 
 intelligence, and of courage, he himfelf felt that 
 he was not qualified for the office he filled ; and 
 he was inceffantly conjuring me to relieve him 
 from this heavy burden.
 
 I 15S j 
 
 
 
 !i At the outfet of their adminiftration, the Di- 
 rectory were lurrounded with the greateft diffi- 
 culties; yet, good fortune, and the zealous afli- 
 duity and co-operation of the Conftituted Au- 
 thorities, who were united by the common 
 danger, foon reftored their ftrength : the war in 
 Vendee was terminated; the armies refumed 
 their original enthufiafm ; the paper circulation 
 'difappeared ; the free circulation of the necef- 
 faries of life, arifing from the exertions of the 
 minifter, Benezech, reftored plenty to the people ; 
 and only one real caufe of inquietude remained, 
 arifing from the party of the Anarchifts who were 
 boldly confpiring, at the club of the Pantheon, 
 daily challenging the mafTacre of the legiflative 
 body, and of the Directory, and refolving, by 
 "every fpecies of crimes, to re-eftablifh the con- 
 ftititition of 1793. 
 
 I know riot on what ground it had been ima- 
 gined, that I flyuld efpoufe the party of the 
 Anarchifts. All thofe who had any perfonal 
 knowledge of me, all thofe who had obferved 
 my conduft at the Convention and in the millions 
 
 X
 
 t 154 } 
 
 .1 . had difcharged, could not entertain the* 
 ilighteli doubt that I was their, mortal eilemy. 
 
 Neither is my appearance that of a defperate 
 Revolutionift. I have known people who, from 
 the defcription of me in the newfpapers, ex- 
 ploited the greateft furprife on feeing me, and 
 
 <! " 
 \Vould fcarcelv believe that I was that terrible 
 
 j 
 
 member of the Committee of Public Safety, that 
 aftbciate of Robefpierre. Others, who knew 
 rile before the revolution a carelefs, folitary, 
 abfent being, and full of thought ; in ihort, a 
 kind of* philofopher, or rather an original, would 
 Hill leis believe that I had now become a cou.r- 
 tier and a friend of kings, or that I, having 
 participated in the dory of founding the moll 
 
 1 tU ; 
 
 majeftic of republics, could afterwards am life 
 myfelf with destroying it. Such inconliliencies 
 were referved for the fublime members of the 
 Executive Directory, that is, for the very men 
 who belt knew the contrarv. 
 
 t 
 
 He this as it may, the Directory could then 
 dlfcoviT no other means of (afety than (hutting
 
 . [ 155 ] 
 
 np the Club of the Pantheon, which Bonaparte, 
 who commanded the ift Military Diviiion, was 
 
 appointed to execute that very night. 
 
 /:!, i a;i:>/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.
 
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